@database "ar403.guide" @Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #4.03 -- February 19, 1996" =========================================================================== February 19, 1996 @{" Turn the Page " link MENU} Issue No. 4.03 =========================================================================== ,a c4%&; 1%%%b 9%=~ " m; mmmm; nmm mmmmm .,pmq,. m; j#6 ##6 j### ### ,#'~ ~`g, j#6 ##&; ##&; #### ### ,#f `# ##&; jP##6 ###6 jP### ### .##' " jP##6 #'$#&; #$#&; #'### ### i## #'$#&; jP l##6 #l##6 jP ### ### &## jP l##6 #' $#&; # $#&;#' ### ### &## #' $#&; j#mmmd##6 # l##6P ### ### ?## mmmw j#mmmd##6 #' $#&; # $##' ### ### ##; $#$ #' $#&; jP l##6 # l#P ### ### `#l ,&#'jP l##6 #' ###mm # $' mm###mm mm###mm `#q,.,p#' #' ###mm (R) "~^~" &&&&q, , ,P `b d' tm d' ,P d&&&P ;P .,d' ,c&&q, &&&&q, ,c&&q, q&,e&q ;P' d&&&P ;P' `& d' `b ;P' `b dP~ `P d' ;P'`&; dB&&&&P ;P ,P d' P ;P ;P d' `&; &, , d' .,d' &, .,d' d' d' , &&& &&'`&&&P' ;B&&&P' `&&&P' &&& `&P' d' ;P &&& "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!" Copyright 1996 FS Publications All Rights Reserved @endnode @node MENU "Amiga Report Main Menu" @toc MAIN =========================================================================== == Main Menu == =========================================================================== @{" Editorial and Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Featured Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" News & Press Releases " link NEWS} @{" Aminet Charts " link FTP} @{" Reader Mail " link MAIL} --------------------------------- @{" About AMIGA REPORT " link ABOUT} @{" Dealer Directory " link DEALER} Contact Information and Copyrights Amiga Dealer Addresses and Numbers @{" Where to Get AR " link WHERE} @{" Advertisements " link COMMERCIAL} Mailing List & Distribution Sites Online Services, Dealers, Ordering ______________________________________________ // | | // ========//====| Amiga Report International Online Magazine |======//===== == \\// | Issue No. 4.03 February 19,1996 | \\// == ==============| "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!" |============= |______________________________________________| @endnode @node JASON "Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== EDITOR =========================================================================== Jason Compton ============= Internet Address -------- ------- jcompton@shell.portal.com 1203 Alexander Ave jcompton@xnet.com Streamwood, IL 60107-3003 USA Fax Phone --- ----- 708/741-0689 708/332-6243 @endnode @node KATIE "Assistant Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == ASSISTANT EDITOR == =========================================================================== Katherine Nelson ================ Internet -------- Kati@cup.portal.com @endnode @node ROBERT "Senior Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== SENIOR EDITOR =========================================================================== Robert Niles ============ Internet Address -------- ------- rniles@Wolfe.NET 506 W. Orchard Selah, WA 98942 FidoNet Fax ------- --- 1:3407/103 509/697-5064 @endnode @node WILLIAM "Contributing Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== CONTRIBUTING EDITOR =========================================================================== William Near ============ Internet -------- wnear@epix.net @endnode @node ADDISON "Contributing Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== CONTRIBUTING EDITOR =========================================================================== Addison Laurent =============== Internet -------- addison@jobe.shell.portal.com @endnode @node EDITORIAL "compt.sys.editor.desk" @toc OPINION =========================================================================== compt.sys.editor.desk By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== Brrrr. The February chill descends upon us. Retail sales traditionally are poorest this month, so try to keep your favorite commercial developer in good spirits. The rest of the market plods on. Cheaper RAM is the biggest substantial news in the pipelines, a lot of the rest of it is the same old posturing. The Amiga hurtles towards its first anniversary with Escom, and Commodore's second "deathday." Even as we speak, independent engineering firms are at work on the Amiga, re-engineering the chipset and trying to come up with a new "stopgap" machine to show off at Cebit in March. AT won't talk much about this machine except to say it will be AGA and will have Zorro slots. The "A1200+" will not be built, however. The A1200 Surfer pack is being test-marketed in Germany, and we're looking forward to receiving our own to review in the near future. AT may just have put together a price/performance package that can sell in appreciable numbers. But for now it's a waiting game. If you like, say a few words of remembrance for the soon to be devoured Atari Corp, which, like Commodore, pioneered so much but in the end will wind up just like Commodore--a brand name for a mainstream PC company. So enjoy what you have. The upcoming CeBit and World of Amiga UK shows should prove quite telling. No more "we're just getting started" excuses for AT. It'll be cards-on-the-table time for them and for the industry, and we're all waiting to see the ace the AT boys have been, hopefully, working on for a while. Jason P.S. On a completely unrelated note, I've been lucky enough to have a chance to sit down at the keyboard of a Draco recently. The incredible speed of this thing has to be seen to be believed. It really makes you appreciate the fact that the 060 is indeed available and that, with any luck, we'll be seeing PowerPC availability for the Amiga in due time. The Draco certainly isn't priced for everyone, but is a pretty righteous Amiga software performer if you throw the right tasks at it. @endnode @node COMMERCIAL "Commercial Products" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Commercial Products =========================================================================== @{" National Amiga Canada " link AD1} New, used, and odd Amiga stuff @{" Editor's Choice " link EDITORCHOICE} Jason's picks @{" Portal Information Systems " link PORTAL} A great place for Amiga users. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node AD1 "National Amiga Canada" @toc COMMERCIAL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- N A T I O N A L A M I G A C A N A D A * NEW * USED * ODD * ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- National Amiga is a small mailorder company based in Ontario Canada. The main thing we want to do is help out other Amiga owners and give them a place to find out about and purchase Amiga products. National Amiga does most of it's business over the internet. We have a World Wide Web site that contains our full catalog along with information on many of the products we sell and support. Something is added almost on a daily basis. Don't see it? Ask! We actually LOOK for things all over the world. Not only does our web site contain prices, but it also contains links to other Amiga related sites. Our Technical Information page has jumper settings, diagrams, specs, and how-to-do it sections. It's growing all the time and has become quite popular for many FAQ's! Hard-Drives * 3.1 Kits * Networking * RAM * CD-ROMs * Cables * Accelerators Chips * Mice * Graphics Cards * Software * We BUY and SELL! * Email us to be put on our weekly up-date list containing specials * on new and used products! * Don't have email access? Call for our current print catalog! NATIONAL AMIGA 1229 Marlborough Ct. #1401 Email: gscott@interlog.com IRC: NAN (_NAN) Oakville, Ontario http://www.interlog.com/~gscott/NationalAmiga.html L6H3B6 CANADA Phone: (905) 845-1949 Fax: (905) 845-3295 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- @endnode @node MAIL "Reader Mail" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Reader Mail =========================================================================== From: Michael Wilkins (michaelb@mbox.kyoto-inet.or.jp) Subject: Hi from an Amigan in Kyoto, Japan Hello I'm an Aussie married to a Japanese (2 kids) living here in chilly Kyoto. I bought a CSA Derringer 030 25mhz, 882 50 mhz + 16 meg this year. It uses some CSA osftware "D3" in the user startup to promote speed enhancing modes, one of which (D3 -res) maps the kickstart image into a special area that will survive a warm re-boot and also further enhance speed. After installing OS3.1, I lost the warm re-boot facility and thus accordingly some speed. I have only a tech contact telephone number for CSA, which is a recorded message and despite leaving messages with appeals for email contact, nothing. Is CSA still in business? Do you have a number or email address for them? Does anyone know of any way to cure this warm re-boot problem? I do not have news "Posting" ability yet so I'm hoping you might kindly ask some knowledgeable soul to help out a very isolated Amiga fanatic. I'm interested in hearing from any CSA Derringer owners. Unfortunately, I don't have any contact information for CSA. Perhaps someone out there can give him a hand? -Jason @endnode @node NEWS1 "MacroSystem Products Receive Accolades" @toc NEWS Amiga Magazin from Martin Technik in Munich just printed their Product of the Year awards for 1995, in their March 1996 issue. VLab Y/C won in the digitizer category with 59% of the vote. Toccata won the audio category with 89% of the vote. VLab Motion won the Motion JPEG category with 71% of the vote. Eric Kloor *****DraCo***** Proprietor The Nonlinear Workstation =============== DraCo Systems, Inc. 3591 Nyland Lafayette, CO 80026 303.499.1975 eric@draco.com @endnode @node NEWS2 "Atari Swallowed by JTS" @toc NEWS [Honestly, I'm not trying to hearken back to the Atari-slanted Amiga Report days of old. But the 90's do seem to be the decade of collapse for the pioneers in the personal computing industry, and it's worth noting that Commodore is not alone. -Jason] DOW JONES NEWS 02-13-96 10:09 AM Sunnyvale, Calif. (Dow Jones) -- Atari Corp. (ATC) and JTS Corp. agreed to merge. August Liguori, chief financial officer of Atari, said the transaction is a stock swap for about 40 million Atari common shares, valued at about $80 million. Liguori said Atari will continue to support its Jaguar video-game system through 1996, despite heavy competition from Sony Corp.'s (SNE) Playstation and Sega Enterprises Ltd.'s Saturn systems. JTS Corp., of San Jose, Calif., is a privately held maker of computer disk drives. Atari said in a press release that under the agreement the merged company will operate under the name of JTS Corp. and the current officers of JTS Corp. will become the officers of the merged company. The Atari entertainment business and the JTS disk drive business will operate as separate divisions of the merged company. The boards of Atari and JTS approved a definitive agreement for the merger. Closing, set for the end of the second calendar quarter, is subject to some shareholder and regulatory approvals and other conditions. After the merger, Atari shareholders will own about 60% of the outstanding shares of the new company. The transaction is structured as a tax-free reorganization and will be accounted for as a purchase. Atari also said it extended a $25 million bridge loan to JTS Corp. and if the merger is not consummated, the loan will be convertible into JTS series A preferred shares at the option of Atari or JTS and subject to some conditions. (END) DOW JONES NEWS 02-13-96 10:09 AM @endnode @node NEWS3 "Almathera Hits the Web" @toc NEWS We're pleased to 'officially' announce the going-live of our Website for support, information and sales of all Almathera's products, including Photogenics, Video Creator and our CD-ROM range. [We're currently doing specials on all our products to free up some space around here, including CDs from UKP3.99, Video Creator for UKP10 and Photogenics for UKP45, a saving of UKP15 on the RRP] Point your browser at http://www.compulink.co.uk/~almathera/ - currently it's big on text and small on graphics, but it'll be expanding [links, info, forms, imaps, more downloadables] soon. Suggestions, crosslinks, gripes, feedback, orders [!], all are welcome. In case you missed the Aminet upload listings, Photogenics is now at release 1.2a, which is a patch application for 1.2 HD users and can be found in biz/patch/pgs12-12a.lha on your local Aminet site - unfortunately for floppy-only users, the disk structure between 1.2 and 1.2a changed radically and a patch is impractical, however if you return your disks to Almathera and cover return post, we'll remaster free of charge. And the EuroScene 2 CD-ROM is out - the best of the demo-scene's releases during '95. Reviews soon, and more information available via the website. thp/c!truS'96 mail://thp@cix.compulink.co.uk / thp@mono.org http://thp@work.almathera.uk.tech.netsurf.opticalmastering @endnode @node NEWS4 "Stylus Hits the Web, Too" @toc NEWS Feb. 12, 1996 For Immediate Release Contact: Jeff Blume (970) 484-7321 stylus@ezlink.com Stylus, Inc. World Wide Web Site Ft. Collins, CO. - Stylus, Inc. has a new World Wide Web site at "http://www.ezlink.com/~stylus/ProVector.html". Currently available at the site are detailed specifications of ProVector(R) 3, StylusTracer(TM), PSImport(TM), and other support utilities for ProVector. A demo archive of ProVector, etc. is also available for download via the page links. As the site evolves, it will feature news about products from Stylus, Inc., example graphics produced with ProVector, updated import/export drivers, and ARexx macros. With the Web site comes new means of contacting Stylus, Inc. via Internet email to "stylus@ezlink.com". "We hope this new email address will help to improve technical support for our international customers," said W. Jeffrey Blume of Stylus, Inc. "However," Blume added, "voice tech support is still just the price of a phone call for registered ProVector users; and frankly, we prefer talking to you." On that subject, Stylus, Inc. also wishes to inform its customers that it has a new area code (970). Thus, the new tech support number is (970) 484-7321. Finally Blume said, "Stylus, Inc. wishes to thank all of the Amiga(R) faithful (old and new) who have stuck with ProVector and the Amiga through this recent period of transition. Stylus, Inc. is looking to Amiga Technologies, GmbH to raise the Amiga to new heights of technical acheivement." ProVector is a registered trademark of Stylus, Inc. StylusTracer and PSImport are trademarks of Stylus, Inc. Amiga is a registered trademark of ESCOM AG. @endnode @node NEWS5 "Team Amiga Press Release" @toc NEWS PRESS RELEASE *** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE *** PRESS RELEASE Team AMIGA - JOIN TODAY! What is Team AMIGA? Team AMIGA started life as a tongue-in-cheek joke in the FidoNet AMIGA (international) echo conference, by my signing my messages as: Ricardo.Amiga Charter Member, Team AMIGA It was just a fun poke in the ribs at the "other" team we all know and love for our rival platform, the PC. I was wondering how long it would take for someone to get a boot out of it. Instead, all I got was inquiries like "Hey, this sounds like a great idea! What _is_ Team AMIGA and how can I join?" After getting tired of explaining that it was just a joke, I stepped back and took a look at the concept. I talked it over with a few of the more well known denizens of the AMIGA echo, and decided maybe it was a good idea after all and not just a joke. With almost three hundred members as of today, from Russia to Australia, Spain to the United States and Canada, Team AMIGA is growing daily, so fast that I have a hard time keeping up with entries to the database in my free time. There are no dues, there are no real "rules" (of course, it goes without saying that software pirates and known crackers/phreakers, etc. are not members...). There are no officers (well maybe except myself, but all I am doing is trying to co-ordinate efforts and communicate with Amiga Technologies, GmbH. ATG is reportedly looking very seriously at the activities of Team AMIGA and we hope to attain a good working relationship with them. Until these negotiations are final, we are holding off on doing some things we really want to get busy on, like having a contest to design a team logo, T-shirts, bumperstickers and other paraphernalia with the logo, membership cards that we would be working with vendors to give discounts to Team AMIGA members, etc. Basically, Team AMIGA exists to show _our_ committment to the Amiga, as ATGmbH has shown us. We want both to continue and thrive. Team AMIGA is also very much _un_like another "union" that (I'm not sure even still exists), is very demanding and makes threats to ATG saying essentially, "You do what we want or else." Team AMIGA exists solely to _support_ the efforts of Amiga Technologies in whatever way we can, not bite the hand that feeds by making demands. Below is the template that is posted in the AMIGA FidoNet echo conference, as well as cross posted in many other networks, as well as many Internet NewsGroups. We hope _you_ will take the time to fill out the application and get it to Team AMIGA! [BEGINNING OF TEXT INSERT] Modified: February 06, 1996 This is a regular posting in the international AMIGA echo for prospective Team AMIGA members. Please use the template below to send in your request to join. Feel free to cross-post the below to other networks and services liberally! 8<---cross post beginning--cut here---8<--- In the FidoNet AMIGA echo, we've started our own "kick in the pants" response to the PC's TEAM OS/2. It's taking off like wildfire! We'd like to extend the invite to every Amiga devotee, everywhere! We have hundreds of members from several countries and from Fido, Internet and on-line services. It's free. There are no dues. There are no rules. There are no officers. There are no idiots with a sense of pretentiousness (like CCISU or whatever the name of that "club" for Amiga Sysops was... ;). To join, all you have to do is: 1) Swear that you are an Amiga enthusiast who extols the virtues of the Amiga to anyone and everyone you meet who is interested in computers (ESPECIALLY the PC crowd! ;) and now that the Amiga's future is looking up, you'll continue to do so even more fervently than before. 2) If you decide to join, fill out the application below and send it to me to be added to the list, so if there are any billion dollar sweepstakes prizes or warehouses of Amigas to be awarded (WINK WINK, GRIN GRIN ;) , we'll know how to contact you. Seriously, a database is being kept and will be forwarded to AT/Escom, should they decide to pick up the ball and run. (Footnote: Since this all started, we do know that Amiga Technologies is observing Team AMIGA activities closely and has expressed interest in the near future of "officially recognizing" us. One objective of Team AMIGA of course, was to get as many Amiga enthusiasts worldwide to make a statement of support, but another objective, is to show AT/Escom how much of a mistake it would be to not adequately support other continents, like North America and Australia) 3) Always acknowledge that I am the one who started all this (hey, I want SOME credit! (It's a JOKE, people, a JOKE! ;) 4) Know and understand that your stats will be in a database kept by me (Rick Lembree) and _not_ released to _anyone_. If it comes to the point that AT/Escom wants to take the ball on this, they are the _only_ ones I will release the database to, and I will at that time ask that if they release the database to other companies, that they be released only to AMIGA oriented ones. The only other thing we ask of you, is if you use the name in your on-line signature, that you type it exactly as shown below: Team AMIGA The reason is for consistency, and for recognition. If everyone types it a different way, it appears that we don't "have our act together". If you agree to all the above, just send in the following information: (Important! Please use this template as is and with ALL necessary info requested to facilitate database entry, ok? If replying from a Fido node, don't assume that I will have your Fido address when doing the database! INCLUDE IT in the template! Thanks. :) 8<---cut here---8<--- SEND ONLY THE BELOW PORTION OF THE TEMPLATE! Name:____________________________________________________________ Address:_________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Postal or ZIP code: _____________________________________________ City & State/Province: __________________________________________ Country:_________________________________________________________ Birthdate (optional):____________________________________________ Phone Number (optional):_________________________________________ Email addresses (Fido, Internet, etc):___________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Computers owned: (A1000, A2000, A2000/030, A3000/16mHz CDTV, CD32, etc.) No need for a lot of details, just the model number & CPU is needed: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ 8<---cut here---8<--- SEND ONLY THE ABOVE PORTION OF THE TEMPLATE! To: FidoNet: Rick Lembree, 1:326/209.0 Internet: Rick.Lembree@326-209.mx1.fidonet.org Home of Team AMIGA: Harbour Lights BBS (207) 967-3719 US Mail: Harbour Lights Computer Services Attention: Team AMIGA P.O. Box 207 Kennebunkport, Maine USA 04046-0207 Team AMIGA fax/voice mail: (207) 967-0988, ext. 3 Please note that the sheer volume of mail I am receiving on this does not allow me to answer _every_ application submission personally, although as time permits, I make every attempt to do so. Depending on my workload at the time I receive your application, you _may_ get an Email reply, if you have an address available. Postal mail will _not_ be replied to, unless you provide SASE. EVERYONE will receive a postcard at a later date, advising what the latest news is. Feel free to take this template (in its entirety and unedited, please!) and cross post this to other networks and on-line services! Welcome to the team! @endnode @node NEWS6 "Silent Paw Seeks Backing" @toc NEWS [While past the deadline stated in this news item, I felt it was worth reprinting. Originally from various Usenet groups.] Hello all, This may not be the appropriate venue to make this offer however due to the time contraints involved the Internet seemed the best way to put this information out. Please read all the way through this message and I hope you will not be dissappointed. Silent Paw Productions, the makers of the PAWS - Portable Amiga Workstation and the Gecko, are currently seeking investors who believe in the Amiga. This is mainly due to a recent situation where a distributor, that was to provide needed capital, had to bail out at the last minute to deal with reorganization issues within their own company. What we are currently offering is the following : * With the purchase of 20 shares from Silent Paw you may choose to recieve one of our products free. This free product will be delievered within 3 months of the beginning of production. For each addition 20 shares you may choose another free product. An example would be, I purchased 40 shares of Silent Paw stock and with that purchase I selected to recieve free one PAWS 1200 and one Gecko. The maximum amount of shares that can be purchased is 400. Any share purchase beyond 100 will gain you certain other benifits. The minumum purchase is 20 shares ( $5,000 ). I realize that this is alot of money, for most of you, but the nature of our development has us heavily invested in the company as well. All share purchases will recieve a stock certificate, share holders agreement, and a yearly company performance report and benifit from yearly dividends. Other options : * Short term investments with Silent Paw. Short term loans to our company are being paid back at very attractive rates. 6 months = 17% and 1 year = 25%. Minumum for short term investment is $10,000. An example would be : I give Silent Paw $10,000 for a 6 month loan. After that 6 months I am paid back $11,700. If it was for one year I would be paid back $12,500. These offers are good until Feb 5th. This is a short time to respond however,due to the very rapidly changing situation with investors, this is necessary for Silent Paw to keep on track with production schedules. Buy a piece of a cutting edge Amiga development company and be part of the next generation of Amiga products. Invest in Silent Paw Productions, Inc. Please feel free to call me at any of the numbers below or send E-Mail to Silent Paws address. Thanks all, Shawn P.B. Randolph President Silent Paw Productions, Inc. 703-330-7290 (Voice) 703-330-5752 (Fax) Internet : slntpaw@ix.netcom.com CIS : GO SPAW @endnode @node NEWS7 "Amiga Meeting, Basel, Switzerland" @toc NEWS ============================================================== ================ A M I G A M E E T I N G ================== ============================================================== Saturday, 24. February 1996 11:00 - 22:00, Free entry. At the hall in Restaurant L'Escale Messeplatz 1-3 (MUBA), Basel, Switzerland ============================================================== - Digital Video with AMIGA: DraCo, VLAB Motion - Videosoft- and Hardware: Amiga Hollywood Bundle - Amiga 4000Tower, A1200 Magic, CD32-SX32 - Portable Amiga Workstation PAWS 1200 ! (*) - "Amiga SURFER" Internet-Bundle Presentation - Internet Tips&Tricks - Amiga Technologies & ESCOM representative at the meeting (*) - Music with Amiga and MIDI: Octamed, Bars&Pipes - Graphics-Software: Lightwave, Real3D, ImageFX, SCALA... - New Games to try and buy at the meeting - HW/SW private market - AMIGA Technologies Fan-articles on sale - Four Amiga-dealers from Basel present their products ============================================================== Organized by AUGS - Amiga User Group Switzerland Information: AUGS, Tel. +41 61 401-2117 claudem@ghost.aare.chnet.ch ============================================================== (*) = Not definitive yet at day of this message. @endnode @node NEWS8 "Atrophy from OTM Distribution" @toc NEWS A T R O P H Y After a bit of delay, Atrophy is now set for release on 28th March 96 * Atrophy has no less than 10 Ham-8 pictures (16.5 million colour), count in the other graphics and your talking a staggering 100+ MB worth of gfx for the game! * Over 3MB of some of the best sounding music ever * 6 giant levels * 12 end of level/mid level guardians * over 5000 frames of animation * 60+ objects on screen at any one time * over 300 colours on screen during the game * Keyboard, Joystick operation, and redefinable keys * Hard disk installable, executable from WB * Minimum disk swapping. As big as the game is, it still only comes on 4 disks or CD * Simultaneous 2 player action, shared lives option * Flexible configuration and options * Quarter/Half pixel smooth dual playfield scrolling * Intelligent, random aliens * Super smooth anims * No slow-down even with two players with total firepower! -- Release Date : 28th March 96 RRP : 29.95 Formats : Amiga 1200/4000 , CD32 to follow ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OTM Ltd. 1st Floor, 11 Aldergate, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 7DL, UK Tel. 01827 312 302 Fax. 01827 670 10 Email. OTM@OTMltd.demon.co.uk ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @endnode @node NEWS9 "Video Backup System Amiga" @toc NEWS Dear Video Backup System Amiga users, I would like to announce 2 things: 1. I moved from The Netherlands to New York City! After this big move, the address for Lyppens Software Productions has become: Lyppens Software Productions 152 E.84 th Street, Apt 2d New York, NY 10028 USA Tel/Fax: +1-212-7440973 2. The Video Backup System Amiga is a product that lets you hook up your VCR to the Amiga and use it to back up your hard disk or other data to video tape. It's very affordable and very reliable. The price has been reduced to US$69,-! A Web page is now available with technical details and specifications of the VBS package: http://www.stack.urc.tue.nl/~hugo/vbsinfo.htm If you have any questions, please contact me at the address above or by sending an E-mail to: hugo.lyppens@fw.gs.com. Sincerely, Hugo Lyppens LYPPENS SOFTWARE PRODUCTIONS @endnode @node NEWS10 "World of Amiga UK" @toc NEWS AMIGA SET TO RETURN TO CENTRE STAGE WITH MAJOR NEW NATIONAL SHOWCASE The Amiga is set to return to centre stage on the UK computer scene with a major new showcase event to be held in APRIL. Sponsered by Amiga Technologies GmbH, the German based subsidiary of Escom, the show is being developed to effectively relaunch the Amiga following the rescue of the machine from the ruins of Commodore. World of Amiga '96 has been designed as a major public platform to rehabilitate the Amiga in the eyes of the existing user base - as well as a potential new generation of Amigoids - and to provide the Amiga business sector with a significant source of revenue. All the top Amiga companies are expected to attend the event - to be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 13 / 14 at the Novatel, Hammersmith. Supported by all the major Amiga titles, the show line up will include; - Amiga Technologies GmbH which will use the event to unveil all the latest development for the Amiga. (though yet to be confirmed, it is expected that the new Amiga 1200+ will have its first public showing in the uk at the event.) [As the A1200+ has been cancelled, this is not going to happen. However, AT has indicated that its replacement will hopefully be on display in some form or other by CeBIT. -Jason] - Key software developers, many of whom have been holding Amiga packages on the backburner in the light of recent problems, but are now rushing to complete them in time to use the event as a launch pad. - Add on developers whose interest in the Amiga has been stimulated once again. - Amiga distributors. - Amiga dealers from throughout the UK. SHOW FEATURES ; - A Games Arcade - High End Applications - Retailers - Technical Advice Centre ( Being Manned by ICPUG ) World of Amiga organisers PBA Events has retained the services of one of the most experienced show promotion agenciesin this sector, Cape Cowley Associates, to ensure a well attended event. CCA has previously been responsible for the launch of ECTS, Computer Shopper and the Future Entertainment Show. "All the components are inplace for an AMIGA event, like of which we have not seen since the hey day of the machine," says Peter Brameld of PBA Events. "We have a new and well financed manufacturer behind both the machine and the event, all the Amiga mags have promised active support, all third parties are eager to make money - and there is still a substantial user base out there." "Just how substantial can be seen by the fact on leading games house recently sold 50,000 units of an Amiga version of one of its blockbuster titles. Now if that doesn't prove there is still life in this sector, I don't know what does." "World of Amiga '96 will provide the catalyst for the rebirth of the Amiga. So let the good times roll again......" @endnode @node NEWS11 "RevUp 1.3" @toc NEWS TITLE RevUp VERSION 1.4 (8.1.96) PROXITY SOFTWORKS Proxity Engineering and Technical Support Usenet: pets@amiuni.tynet.sub.org Fidonet: 2:246/1416.0 (pets) AUTHOR Boris Folgmann Address: Friedrichstrasse 7 71546 Aspach Germany Usenet: Internet: WWW: Fidonet: 2:246/1416.41 (Boris) IRC: PRX PGP Fingerprint: 82 84 70 38 26 5E 50 5A 9C DB CA CA 62 0A 31 52 Phone: ++49-(0)7191-23439 Fax: ++49-(0)7191-2604 DESCRIPTION RevUp manages version strings following the Amiga standard for including in own programs, e.g. '$VER: YourTool 2.4 (11.9.95)'. It's a must for every serious C, Oberon or Assembler programmer, so have a look at it! Your makefiles together with RevUp will do all the work for you. RevUp {} [REV ] [BETA] [C] [ASM] [OBERON] [LOG] [EXTRA] [ENVVAR] [TINY] Required: VERSION : Version number. PROJECTNAME : Basename to use for all RevUp files. DEPENDENCIES: Files which dates are checked. Optional: REV : Explicit revision number. BETA : Generate beta information. C : Generate C headerfile (default). ASM : Generate Assembly includefile. OBERON: Generate Oberon definition module. LOG : Interactively add history info to logfile. EXTRA : Generate extra information. ENVVAR: Set envvar for archive naming. TINY : Don't print credits. EXAMPLE > RevUp 1 SuperTool EXTRA generates SuperTool_rev.h: /* C headerfile generated by RevUp 1.3 */ #define VERSION 1 #define REVISION 1 #define DATE 12.7.95" #define VERS "SuperTool 1.1" #define VSTRING "SuperTool 1.1 (12.7.95)\\r\\n" #define VERSTAG "\\0$VER: SuperTool 1.1 (12.7.95)" #define TIME "14:57:51" #define PRGNAME "SuperTool" #define BASENAME "SUPERTOOL" #define VSTR "SuperTool 1.1 (12.7.95)" #define USER "boris" #define HOST "prox" User and Host are imported from environment variables. FEATURES o RevUp generates and maintains include and header files with revision information. o Basically RevUp is similar to the developer tool BumpRev, but it offers a lot of additional features. o ANSI-C, Oberon and Assembly language supported. o Multiple dependency files. o Beta count management for beta versions included. o Interactive logfile generation. CHANGES SINCE 1.3 (17.11.95) FIX: RevUp no longer displays an error message, if file to overwrite didn't already exist. NEW: UserName is now always appended to the log file, even if HostName is not set. NEW: TIME to logfile. VERSTAG to stdout. Empty log messages are now possible. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Kickstart 2.04 Workbench 2.0 Workbench 2.1 for localized DOS error messages. AVAILABILITY PRICE Free DISTRIBUTABILITY Freeware (C) 1994-1996 by Proxity Softworks @endnode @node NEWS12 "The Latest News from XTReme Racing" @toc NEWS The Latest News from XTR........ None of the following is definite in any way so don`t come knocking on my door if they never appear!! However, there shouldn`t be any problems. XTR CDROM - due to a problem with delayed/lost email some files went missing. A gold disc is being done next week and if that goes ok then expect the game to be available by the end of the month. The CDROM will run on a CD32 and can also be partially or fully installed onto HD. The partial install is very small, and saves are made to the install directory. XTR Editor - just got a couple of bugs to remove and much of the On-Line manual to write (yuck!). Goes into Beta-Testing in 7-10 days time. The editor resembles a Doom editor more than a track editor. It is quite complex since it is effectively one of our in-house utils, but if we can use it, you can! It features : Fully OS3 compliant - yes, you can multitask and use it on gfx boards and set the number of colours to use etc. Friendly and Intuitive to use - standard Amiga menus with keyboard shortcuts. Full set of preferences. Include your own tile sets and objects - example palettes to be included in the distribution. Track layout is done by placing tiles upon a simple grid. Layout all the track boundaries, computer car routes, drop down points, surfaces (inc. jumps, water, etc), secret paths, etc. That gives you some idea of how powerful it is. But it will take a few hours to learn to use purely because its not a simple thing to do. A quick step guide is included via a window that you can have on the screen at all times - you can scroll through this window to see what you should do at each step. XTR Extra Tracks - 5 completely new tilesets and objects sets. Sillier than before, and more objects than before (just for those of us with faster machines!). Updated Frontend and Race executables - time and disc space allowing there maybe updated versions on the extra tracks discs. The main aim is to have each player able to select an Easy driving mode which doesn`t slide around - boring but easy. And also I may adapt the computer cars to slow down if you are doing badly, so you don`t get left behind too quickly. 4 player joystick adapter support - its coded in but not tested yet! The coder has been busy buying and playing with a yucky P120 sysytem. Warp Engine bug - We have found someone who has a problem on his machine that is similar to this bug. We know where the problem is now but not quite what the cause is. This is being looked over this very minute. Fingers crossed. The Editor/Extra tracks/New Execs will hopefully be released early April, maybe for a certain Amiga show if we can nab a space on a stand somewhere :) They will be part of one package and will require the original XTR to run. Since there is quite a lot there including effectively a new version of XTR that takes into account what critics haven`t liked (its too difficult for them!!!) the price will probably be around 19.99 UKP. Best Lap Times - we are just writing a couple of quick utils to enable you display all your best lap times from any track (including add-ons) quickly, and also another program to go through several lap time files find the best lap times. There will be included in the aminet patch to be uploaded in the next 14 days (delayed slightly, many apologies) XTR Web Site - I looked at some html on Friday and decided it was a price of piss, so I am doing some proper Web pages. These will include any news about XTR, ordering information, screenshots of XTR, its editor, and the extra tracks, a best lap time table, some hints about secret paths etc., and anything else you feel should be on there. If there is enough disk space it will also include the patches, some extra tracks, and so on. Otherwise it should point to somewhere on aminet where the should be stored. I have had a couple of kind offers of web sites but if anyone (esp. in the UK on a fast site) has 2-3megs+ of space then please can they contact me. Very little work would need doing on the pages by anyone other than myself. Eventually I will extend this site to include any other projects of ours, although we may find our own site at that point. Anyone know good places to get cheap fast web sites? ----------------------------------------------------------------- | Alex Amsel : Silltunna Software Lead Programmer : Black Magic | | XTremeRacing 1x1 TMapping and Stunning Gameplay on AGA Amigas | | Alex@teeth.demon.co.uk | Steve Bull is Back | *PWEIPWEIPWEI* | ----------------------------------------------------------------- @endnode @node NEWS13 "Gadget23 Magazine" @toc NEWS TITLE AmigaGadget 23 - Freely Distributable German Magazine VERSION Issue 23 AUTHOR various published by : Andreas Neumann Email: DESCRIPTION The AmigaGadget is a freely distributable magazine. Most of its articles are in German language, only a few ones are written in English. The subjects covered range from news about the Amiga to jokes and stories (if there still is any kind of difference..?) : - "Aktuell" (= News) - "Forum" (= Discussion, interviews, letters to the editor, ...) - "Tests" (= Reviews of hardware, software, CD-ROMs, ...) - "Grundlagen" (= Basic informations of a certain topic) - "Programmieren" (= News, Hints and Workshops for programmers) - "Politik" (= Politics) - "Lifestyle" (= Reviews of new CDs, books, movies, etc.) - "Jokes & Stories" Most articles are written especially for the AmigaGadget, but there are also a few texts which were taken out of the net - representing some sort of "Best of the Net". Issue 23 of the AmigaGadget contains e.g. an interview with Angela "Meeting Pearls" Schmidt, an introduction to "Scheme", a lot of record and movie reviews and the "Mumpitz"-corner which reports the latest news from the world of the old but not forgotten home-computers. FEATURES Over 800 pages of text. Installation is done simply by unpacking the archive to the harddrive. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Some files are needed in your system's directories: LIBS : reqtools.library, iff.library, powerpacker.library, diskfont.library, medplayer.library, xpkmaster.library, compressors/xpknuke.library C: IconX, Run, Assign Harddrive strongly recommended for an easy installation. AVAILABILITY AmigaGadget is FD, i.e. freely distributable as long as it is kept intact and spread noncommercially. It is available from the Aminet : ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/docs/mags/gadget21.lha (554578) or contact me via e-mail for snail-mail-availability. PRICE It is FREE. (Snail-Mail : empty disc and stamps) DISTRIBUTABILITY It is FD. Articles are (C) Copyrighted by the authors, the compilation is (C) Copyrighted 1995 by Andreas Neumann. @endnode @node NEWS14 "Frodo V2.1" @toc NEWS TITLE Frodo VERSION 2.1 AUTHOR Christian Bauer EMail: bauec002@goofy.zdv.uni-mainz.de SMail: Christian Bauer, Max-Planck-Str.60, 55124 Mainz, Germany DESCRIPTION Frodo is a multitasking freeware C64 emulator for the Amiga. This emulator focuses on the exact reproduction of special graphical effects possible on the 64, and has therefore relatively high system requirements. Using a 68060-50 and a CyberVision card gives about 140-160% of the original C64 speed in standard text mode in the emulation's most precise mode and about 700% in its fastest mode. Using a line-based VIC model, Frodo is capable of running most games and demos correctly, even those with FLI, FLD, DYCP, open top/bottom borders, multiplexed sprites etc. A single-cycle version of the emulator, "Frodo SC", is included that runs even those programs that fail on the line-based emulation. A graphics card (any one whose modes are selectable with a screenmode requester will do) is strongly recommended for faster display as the emulator's routines have been designed for a chunky display memory. Some small demo programs and the full source code in C and assembly language are included in the archive. Changes from V2.0: - The C64 character ROM is now included in the archive - Fixed write errors in 1541 "Dir" mode - 1 bit Amiga mode fixed - SID type gadget is localized - Reset6526 stops timer B counting underflows of timer A - Sprite display can be turned off - Corrected VIC interrupt handling, raster interrupts can be triggered by writing to $d01a - CIA interrupts cannot be cleared by writing to the ICR - Better CIA 1 PRA/PRB emulation (keyboard/joysticks) - Corrected SAM CIA timer output mode display - SAM can be invoked from the "Illegal Opcode" requester - 6510 registers can be modified from within SAM - The file name for the "o" command in SAM must now be surrounded with quotation marks (") - Added load and save commands to SAM - Frodo SC: SAM "vv" command works - Frodo SC: Implemented 3-cycle-delay when starting timers - Frodo SC: LPY register reported wrong values - Frodo SC: Implemented simple sprite display (no collisions, no priorities, sprites are drawn over the border) - Frodo SC: Corrected display of background color in left/right border area SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OS2.1 and a 68020 (or better) are required, as well as copys of the original C64 ROMs, which are not included. AVAILABILITY Aminet sites: /misc/emu/Frodo.lha ftp://ftp.biologie.uni-erlangen.de/pub/frodo/FrodoV2_1.lha Next Generation BBS, Germany Port 1: +49-261-805012 (Zyx19.2/ISDN) Port 2: +49-261-84280 (V.FC) STATUS Freeware DISTRIBUTABILITY Freely distributable @endnode @node NEWS15 "Iconographics V3.0" @toc NEWS TITLE Iconographics -- Amazing Icon/NewIcon package. VERSION 3.0 AUTHOR Tom Ekstrom E-mail address: litoek@uta.fi DESCRIPTION Iconographics is a complete collection of high quality, 8 colour replacement icons for Workbench versions 2 and 3. This version contains over 400 icons. Also included are backdrops, MUI gadget and mouse pointer images and other extra stuff. FEATURES * Easy to use mouse driven installer, that replaces only the icons imagery, while keeping the other attributes intact. * Ability to install the icons as normal Amiga icons or NewIcons. * Icons for all standard Workbench files are included, with lots of custom drawer icons, program icons, Toolmanager dock icons and default icons for different types of files. * Eight colour palette incorporating all main colours (red, green, blue, yellow). * Construction Kit IFF picture for easy cutting-and-pasting of your own icons. * The icons retain their looks even on 4-colour screens. * Professional quality imagery. NEW FEATURES * IconInstaller bugfixes * Extra stuff to further enhance the Workbench appearance: Backdrops, MUI gadget images, mouse pointers, fonts. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AmigaDOS release 2.04 or newer is required. Lha or some similar utility is needed to unpack the archive. MultiView (or AmigaGuide) is required to easily read the documentation. NewIcon.library is optional, but provides extra functionality. AVAILABILITY Iconographics 3.0 is available from Aminet, e.g.: ftp://ftp.netnet.net/pub/aminet/pix/icon/IGfx30.lha and on mirrors. PRICE None. This software is priceless :-). DISTRIBUTABILITY Freely distributable as long as the contents of the archive are kept intact. OTHER E-mail address for bug reports and feedback: litoek@uta.fi @endnode @node NEWS16 "CyberShow Professional V6.0" @toc NEWS TITLE CyberShow Professional VERSION 6.0 AUTHOR Helmut Hoffmann Rubensstrasse 4 41063 Moenchengladbach Germany EMail: hhoff@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de DESCRIPTION A slideshow presentation program (including transition effects) and universal picture viewer (incl. PhotoCD support) and converter for all Amigas (and Draco) and esp. for CyberGraphX users (also usable without CyberGraphX). This program can display pictures in many file formats (see below) directly in windows on the Workbench (default public screen), in windows on public screens or on it's own screen. It also offers (borderless) viewing as slideshow. Optional transition effects can be used to make viewing multiple files more interesting. You can even zoom into pictures to magnify parts or zoom out to get even large pictures fully on screen very quickly. An automatic presentation mode (configurable delay time) incl. optional loop mode is also implemented. If you have a suitable graphic board with CyberGraphX WB emulation installed you can even watch the pictures in full color quality (HiColor/TrueColor) on your Workbench. Without CyberGraphX the normal color restrictions (2 to 256 colors) will lead to a reduced quality, but smart pen allocation during displaying will still give surprisingly high quality with 256 colors. You can switch forward and backward between images and scroll images in their resizable windows. An automatic preloading feature will reduce waiting time to a minimum. While you watch one picture (and maybe scroll it around), the next picture will already be loaded, so that it will be there if you decide to switch... You can select down- scaled loading for viewing in reduced size. Unlike many viewers, this viewer reduces most pictures during loading and will thus be faster for reduced size loading. Additional features include conversion to some 24Bit formats (incl. JPeg, IFF-ILBM24, Targa), fast direct transfer to famous image processing and painting programs (ImageFX, XiPaint, ArtEffect/PicoPainter) and deleting of pictures. Internally supported formats for loading: 1) IFF-ILBM (1 to 24Bit incl. HAM6/HAM8) 2) PhotoCD (Base format 768x512 or 512x768 (portrait)) 3) JPeg (color and greyscale) 4) PPM/PGM/PBM (P1&P4 b&w, P5 grey, P6 color) 5) QRT (also known as dump format by PD raytracers as POV-Ray) 6) Targa 7) PCX 8) BMP 9) TIF (packbit-compr./uncompr.) 10) EGS7.x window icons 11) DEEP 12) YUV 13) VLAB raw 14) RGB 15) HHsYUVSq sequence format 16) IFF-PBM (DPII) 17) ACBM 18) FBM 19) Sun raster (uncompressed) 20) MacPaint (b&w compressed 1Bit format; datafork only) 21) HHsXRL formats 22) binary-EPS bitmaps (RGB and CMYK) 23) TBCPlus frames/fields The additional DataType support extends this list by many formats; DataTypes can e.g. be found on Aminet in util/DType. The DataType support is very fast, so that you can also view pictures in GIF or other formats quite fast for which Datatypes exist. NEW FEATURES New in V6.0: + BestMode option for automatic selection of suitable screenmode + Width and Height options to select screenmode just by size New in V5.6: + Delete function to get rid of unwanted pictures + Immediate scrolling during use of scrollbars + Random option to display pictures in random order + Extended information requester (e.g. number of pictures) New in V5.5: + Additional menu functions for settings New in V5.4: + Automatic "downscaling to screensize" option New in V5.3: + Extended TIF support for "Intel" byte order formats + AppWindow (drop your pictures/drawers/disks into the window) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OS3.0 or higher required 4MBytes FastRAM recommended Optional for TrueColor/HighColor viewing: cybergraphics.library V40 or higher and a suitable graphic board or Draco. The CyberGraphX emulation is compatible with many graphic boards (e.g. CyberVision, Piccolo, SD64, Spectrum, Picasso2, Retina-Z3, Domino and Draco/Altais) AVAILABILITY Any Aminet site ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/gfx/board/cybershow60.lha PRICE Shareware fee: CyberShow Professional 30DM (in europe) or 25US$ (worldwide) Together with CyberShow you can order fast universal modules for several image processing/painting programs at the special add-on price of 10DM or 8US$ each; currently available: FastIFXModules (ImageFX), UniversalGIOModule (Photogenics) and UniversalXiPaintModule (XiPaint); all thoose modules include fast loading in many file formats and (new) TrueColor animation creation for CyberGraphX or EGS. DISTRIBUTABILITY Copyright by Helmut Hoffmann 1996 Limited demo version is freely distributable; registered users will receive a keyfile which enables all features. OTHER The freely distributable version has some restrictions (e.g. all pictures will only be displayed in greyscales) which disappear after you pay the shareware fee and receive a special personal keyfile (together with the latest version). Once registered, you can use new freely distributable versions as update with your keyfile. @endnode @node NEWS17 "MagiC64 V1.3" @toc NEWS TITLE MagiC64 VERSION 1.3 AUTHOR Michael Kramer Im Hirschfeld 28 52222 Stolberg Germany Fax: +49 (0)2402 909115 E-mail: michael_kramer@ac-copy.com DESCRIPTION MagiC64 is a C64 emulator for the Amiga, which tries to emulate a real C64 in an exact manner. The emulator has the following properties: - Complete emulation of the 6510-CPU (including illegal opcodes) - Line-by-line VIC emulation - All graphics modes - Horizontal and vertical scrolling - Complete sprite emulation - Sprite-sprite collisions - Sprite-background collisions - Sound emulation with 6581sid.library or playsid.library (only available in the registered version of MagiC64) - ROM emulation, you can also use the original Roms - Keyboard and joystick input - Floppy 1541 emulation - Fastload and fastsave for all programs - Nearly all 1541 commands are supported - Support for the following formats: D64, T64, P00 and plain C64 - Conversion between all formats possible - Bitplane optimized graphics functions, on fast Amigas original C64 speed is possible. - The emulator is programmed OS-friendly, it runs in a fully multitasking environment - Amiga Guide Docs in English, German and Swedish With MagiC64 1.3 nearly all programs not utilizing a fastloader should run without problems. MagiC64 was rated 90% in CU Amiga. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS - 68020 or higher (fast 68030 or 68040 recommended) - Kickstart 2.04 or higher - 1.7 MB free memory AVAILABILTY Any Aminet site e.g. ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/misc/emu/MagiC64.lha PRICE Shareware fee: $25 US (or 40 DM) DISTRIBUTABILITY MagiC64 is a shareware product. The unregistered version may be distributed freely. Registering means all features will be enabled. @endnode @node NEWS18 "HTML-Heaven V1.3" @toc NEWS TITLE HTML-Heaven VERSION 1.3 AUTHOR Paul Kolenbrander Email : paul@serena.iaehv.nl Snail : Turfveldenstraat 37 NL-5632 XH EINDHOVEN The NETHERLANDS DESCRIPTION * New and Improved Formula. Now with WYSIWYG Preview option. * HTML-Heaven is a suite of _four_ programs intended to make the creation and maintenance of WWW (HTML) pages easy. The programs in the suite interface with your favorite editor (providing it supports text insertion via ARexx) to provide you with a very comfortable environment. Now inserting HTML commands is as simple as point and click. This is the upgrade from version 1.2 with a host of exciting new features. NEW FEATURES Version 1.3 has all the features of version 1.2. Plus: * AutoView option allows automatic WYSIWYG preview of HTML documents using your Amiga WWW browser after each change you make. * Support for some more editors, like Write, Final Writer and BEd (Black's Editor) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS HTML-Heaven requires: * Workbench 2.04 or above. * ARexx (bundled with Workbench 2.04 and above.) * Around 1MB of free memory. * About 300KB of floppy or harddisk space. (installing the entire suite and docs.) * A supported editor. * A supported WWW browser for use with the AutoView feature. AVAILABILITY - WWW - http://www.iaehv.nl/users/paul/index.html - ftp://ftp.iaehv.nl/pub/users/paul/amiga/HTML-Heaven.lha - Most Aminet sites. Examples of which are: USA: ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/text/hyper/HTML-Heaven.lha EUR: ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/aminet/text/hyper/HTML-Heaven.lha PRICE The registration fee for the HTML-Heaven package still is only: - Nederland Dfl 15,- - Europe DM 15,- / Dfl 15,- - Rest of the World US$ 15.- / Dfl 20.- DISTRIBUTABILITY The unregistered version is freely distributable if done in a non- commercial way. The registered version and it's personal keyfile are *NOT* freely distributable. This suite of programs is copyright 1994, 95 by Paul Kolenbrander. OTHER To encourage users to register, (I'd like to get some return for all this effort I have put into creating the suite.) the freely distributable versions does not support ToolTypes/parameters and will not supply on-line help. Furthermore a 'reminder' requester appears on exiting any of the four programs comprising the suite. The unregistered versions will also not allow more than 5 ARexx commands per session. They'll keep functioning, but ignore any further ARexx commands given by the user as it has unloaded it's ARexx Host. @endnode @node NEWS19 "Frotz V1.01 Rel. 2" @toc NEWS TITLE Frotz VERSION 1.01 (Amiga Release 2) AUTHORS Frotz 1.01 (MS-DOS) Stefan Jokisch jokisch@euklid.informatik.uni-dortmund.de Amiga version David Kinder kinder@teaching.physics.ox.ac.uk DESCRIPTION Frotz is an interpreter for the games produced by Infocom, Inc., which were released in a machine-independant format. On all platforms the games were released as a data file plus an interpreter, so this program can be used to play Infocom games released for any platform. Frotz is the fastest and most accurate Infocom interpreter currently available for the Amiga. FEATURES - timed input ('Border Zone') - built-in graphic font ('Beyond Zork') - mouse support ('Beyond Zork') - function key support including number pad keys ('Beyond Zork') - command line editing - command line history - small save files (Zip 2.0 format is still understood) - switch for setting the Tandy bit - colour - sound effects ('Lurking Horror' and 'Sherlock') - cheat functions - support for V7 and V8 games - multiple UNDO (via hot key, even for old V1 to V4 games) - input line recording and playback (via hot key) - support for European characters ('Zork I German') - underlined, reverse and boldface text - fast performance without virtual memory - full standard 0.2 support (as defined by Graham Nelson) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Kickstart 2.04 or better is required. AVAILABILITY Aminet: game/role/Frotz101.lha, e.g. ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/aminet/game/role/Frotz101.lha DISTRIBUTABILITY Freely distributable. @endnode @node NEWS20 "Macro68 V3.175" TITLE Macro68, version 3.175 UPDATE NOTICE Apparently, lots of people have moved without informing The Puzzle Factory -- when update notices were mailed out recently, many of them were returned by the post office. Users of Macro68 who have not received an update notice and who want to get the updated version should get in touch with The Puzzle Factory at the address below. COMPANY The Puzzle Factory, Inc. Voice: (800) 828-9952 Orders P.O. Box 986 (541) 935-3709 Questions/support Veneta, OR 97487 BBS: (541) 935-7883 =>new area code<= USA Internet: jlavin@efn.org NEW FEATURES 68060 support added. Many bugs fixed, most of them minor. DESCRIPTION Macro68 is an assembler that supports the entire Motorola family including the MC68060, MC68882/030/040 FPU, and MC68851/030/040 MMU. Additional capability includes the Amiga Copper. The new Motorola syntax for 030 or later CPUs is supported, and Macro68 includes a utility to convert old-style syntax painlessly. Old syntax is also supported. A unique feature of Macro68 is the use of a shared library, which is always resident, and allows the use of preassembled resident include files for incredibly fast assemblies. These may be standard Amiga files, or any header files may be used. Additionally, a configuration file may be defined that will set up a particular environment, or insert specific code in all assemblies. Most features limited only by available memory. Directives include Structure Offset for compatibility with the Amiga's interface conventions, and Frame Offset for easy stack frames. Full listing control and cross-referencing. Ability to customize directives and run-time messages. Macro68 is fully re-entrant, and may be made resident. An AREXX(tm) interface provides "real-time" communication with the editor of your choice. A number of directives enable Macro68 to communicate with AmigaDos(tm). External programs may be invoked on either pass, and the results interpreted. Macro68 is compatible with the directives used by most popular assemblers. Output file formats include executable object, linkable object, binary image, pre-assembled symbol tables, and Motorola S records. REVIEWS There's a review of Macro68 v 3.165 on Aminet, for example: ftp://ftp.netnet.net/pub/aminet/docs/rview/Macro68.txt (10707) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS 2 Megs RAM, V1.3 OS or later PRICE US$150 + shipping. Ground shipping is included in the U.S. and Canada. Others please call. Upgrade price: $25 (from any version 3.xxx). DISTRIBUTABILITY Commercial software. Copyright 1994-95 The Puzzle Factory, Inc. Macro68 is a trademark of The Puzzle Factory, Inc. Amiga is a registered trademark of Commodore-Amiga, Inc. SUBMITTER Doug Sears . I work with The Puzzle Factory, and submitted this at their request. @endnode @node NEWS21 " Amiga CDROM Guide V1.4" @toc NEWS TITLE Amiga CDROM Guide VERSION 1.4 AUTHOR Anders Bakkevold. (anders.bakkevold@norway.bbs.no) DESCRIPTION Amiga CDROM Guide (ACDG) was made to help Amiga-owners to pick the right CDROM for their needs. It doesn't include commecial games or photoCD-discs, but all Amiga PD/clipart/fonts/modules collections. - It is in the Amigaguide-format. - You will find all the vital information on a CDROM, like price, contents, publisher etc. - Covers 285 CDROMs!!! - 110+ of the CDROMs have a review - If you're interrested in for instance raytracing, click on the keyword "Raytracing" to get a list of all CDROMs that can be assosiated with ratracing. - Other keywords: Clipart, fonts, pictures, utilities, GNU, text-files, fish etc - It's up-to-date with the latest CDROM releases. All in all: 600kB of pure information! NEW FEATURES v1.4 Fifth release. Contains information about 285 CDROMs. - 38 CDROMs Added: Amiga Animations Assassins Games No. 2 Cliptomania Club Toaster E.S. CD Archive Euroscene 2 FantaSeas2 Get Started2 Goldfish 3 Horror Sensation LIGHT-ROM 3 Lottery Predictors Lucky Dip 2 Maximum Mods #1 Meeting Pearls III Multimedia Network CD 2 Nothing But Tetris Personal Suite Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 ProPics #1 QRZ! Ham Radio CDROM RHS Colour Collection Scorched Tanks Deluxe SuperAUTOS 94/95 Texture Portfolio The Colour Library The DUP CDROM The FMV CD The Global Amiga Experience The Kara Collection TurboCalc 2.1 World Info '95 World Of Amiga World Of Sounds Your Privacy Assured - Form included (See Form.txt) - More info added/corrected. - 110+ of the CDROMs have a review SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS You will need a program able to display Amigaguide files, like Multiview or xkpGuide. AVAILABILITY Amiga CDROM Guide is available from any Aminet site, for instance: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/docs/hyper/ACDGv14.lha You can also email me (andersb@intercom.no) and I will send you the latest version uuencoded. PRICE Amiga CDROM Guide is freeware. DISTRIBUTABILITY Amiga CDROM Guide v1.4 is copyright 1995 Anders Bakkevold. All rights reserved. You may copy it as you like, as long as no changes are made to the archive, and you don't charge more than #2.00 for the media and copying fees. @endnode @node NEWS22 "CU Amiga Magazine" @toc NEWS PRODUCT NAME CU Amiga Magazine BRIEF DESCRIPTION A monthly printed Amiga magazine published in London, England. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Address: CU Amiga Magazine EMAP Images 30-32 Farringdon Lane London, EC1R 3AU United Kingdom. EDITORIAL Telephone: +44-(0)171-9726700 Fax: +44-(0)171-9726703 ADVERTISING Telephone: +44-(0)171-9726700 Fax: +44-(0)171-9726719 Ask for CU Amiga *advertising*. CIRCULATION ABC certified to 55,789 from January to Jun 1995. Approximately 10-12,000 of this was out of the UK. CONTENT The issue is split into 4 sections of 32 pages making a total of 128 pages though it may change from time to time. Section 1; Contents, editorial, technical disk contents, Game disk contents, News, Games news, coverdisk tutorial and lead feature(s). Section 2; Games previews and reviews. Technical section introduction and contents and some technical coverage. Section 3; Hardware and productivity software reviews. PD Scene and PD Utilities reviews. Art gallery and CD-ROM round-up. Section 4; [Superbright] Workshop introduction, A variety of tutorials running as part of a series. Comms coverage, Sound Lab, back issues, subscriptions. FAQ section, Q+A masterclass and Q&A. Backchat, Points of View and next month preview. COVERDISKS CU Amiga Magazine is normally published with two DD floppy disks cover mounted. Generally one will be some form of game demo(s) and the other some commercial productivity package for which we have become famous such as Directory Opus 4, Imagine FX 1.5, PageStream 2.2 and Imagine 3.0. This usually includes special upgrade deals to the latest version of the package. Tutorials for the packages will run in the following months. LIST PRICE SHELF PRICES United Kingdom - #4.25 United States - $9.95 Canada - #12.95 Italy - L16,000 Austria - ASCH 170 Belgium - BFR 380 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION United Kingdom and BFPO - #51.00 Rest of world via surface - #61.00 Airmail to Europe - #71.00 Airmail to rest of World - #112.00 Available from; Tower Publishing, Tower House, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harbrough, LE16 9EF. Subscription and back issues telephone: +44-(0)1858-468888 INTERNET SERVICES For the latest details on what E-mail boxes are available, finger root@cu-amiga.demon.co.uk. There is no WWW site at this time. Note: Advertising, back issues and subscriptions have NO E-Mail access so please do not direct your enquires in those areas to our services. MAILING LISTS CU Amiga Magazine maintains two E-mail mailing lists in order to correspond directly which the public and provide stimulating conferences out of which ideas and criticisms for the magazine can be raised. One list is an announce group which is a read-only group. You can't post to this group and it's a very low traffic group. A text file of the contents pages will be posted monthly along with other important announcements. It's known as 'cu-announce'. The second is a two-way discussion group with a medium traffic. You may post to this list and converse directly with staff and other readers about the magazine etc. It's known as 'cu-amiga'. You can subscribe or unsubscribe to the mailing lists by sending a single line E-mail to listserv@cu-amiga.demon.co.uk. The single line should consist of the following. ADD cu-amiga for the two way discussion list. ADD cu-announce for the read-only announce list. For further information, send HELP to the listserver. Note posts to the cu-amiga list go to cu-amiga@cu-amiga.demon.co.uk and listserver E-mails go to listserv@cu-amiga.demon.co.uk! AUTHOR INFORMATION I'm a staff writer for CU Amiga Magazine and I'm responsible for much of our coverage of the technical side of things. @endnode @node NEWS23 "AMOS Pro OS Dev-Kit V1.01" @toc NEWS TITLE AMOS Pro OS Dev-Kit VERSION V1.01 (January 1996) AUTHOR Fromentin Brice PUBLISHER Quartz Informatique. (Blittersoft are an appointed distributor) DESCRIPTION AMOS Pro OS Dev-Kit is a brand new extension for AMOS Pro, offering many long awaited features. This release introduces over 600 new commands, allowing you to write AMOS programs with the following features : o Fully multi tasking software o Intuition (Screens, Windows, Gadgets, Menus and Drawings) o Gadtools (Gadgets and Menus) o Exec (Memory management, Interrupts, MsgPort, Signals, Nodes...) o Graphics (AGA support, RTG support, Drawings, Sprites...) o Localization o Workbench (AppWindow, AppMenus, AppIcons) o Datatypes o StoneTracker support o ASL (Requesters) o Tag list support o DOS functions o Tooltypes There are over 100 Help procs to allow the novice to use these powerful new commands straight away. The extension fully supports the AMOS compiler, obtaining executables that are 100% OS legal and vert fast. Also included are demos, examples and complete documentation in AmigaGuide format. REQUIREMENTS Require OS 2.x or better AVAILABILITY Immediately. PRICE 49.95 (UK-Sterling) DISTRIBUTION Blittersoft, 6 Drakes Mews, Crownhill Industry, Milton Keynes. MK8 0ER. UK. Tel : +44 (0)1908 261466 Fax : +44 (0)1908 261488 Order also electronically on http://www.mag-net.co.uk/Bsoft POSTING MADE BY: plesurf@cix.compulink.co.uk of Blittersoft, by permission of Quartz Informatique as an appointed distributor. @endnode @node NEWS24 "World of Amiga Show - London" @toc NEWS EVENT NAME World of Amiga Show - London BRIEF DESCRIPTION An Amiga only consumer and trade show. LOCATION Novotel Exhibition Centre, Hammersmith, London. Press Enquiries to Ken Highes at Cape Cowley Associates; +44-(0)161-4809811 Trade Enquires to Peter Brameld at PBA Events; +44-(0)1462-480024 TIME Two days; Saturday, April 13th. Sunday, April 14th. CONTENT From the World of Amiga press release, main features; - A games arcade. - Competitions Galore. - Retail area. - Presentation theatre. - High End Applications. Amiga Technologies is said to attend. ENTRY PRICES #7.00 for adults #5.50 for children. Advance booking credit card hotline; +44-(0)1369-706346 Cheques and postal orders made payable to 'The World of Amiga' can be sent to PO Box 9, Dunoon, Argyll, PA23 8QQ. AUTHOR INFORMATION I'm a staff writer for CU Amiga Magazine and I'm responsible for much of our coverage of the technical side of things. @endnode @node NEWS25 "Voodoo V1.103" @toc NEWS TITLE Voodoo - A multithreaded GUI E-Mail reader VERSION 1.103 (First Aminet release) AUTHOR Osma Ahvenlampi E-Mail: Osma.Ahvenlampi@hut.fi DESCRIPTION Voodoo is a GUI E-Mail reader for AmigaOS 3.x with many unique features. Among these are multithreading (you can read several folders at once, or even write several messages at once), the best MIME support to be seen on Amiga yet (attachments are displayed right inside Voodoo using the Datatypes), and an Amiga User Interface Style Guide compliant GUI. Voodoo uses the ClassAct GUI toolkit. All necessary class libraries are included. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Voodoo requires AmigaOS 3.0 or later, at least 2 megabytes of memory, and a hard disk. It will work with any kind of an Internet connection, from UUCP to AmiTCP to Inet225. AVAILABILITY ftp://ftp.warped.com/pub/amiga/voodoo/ http://www.niksula.cs.hut.fi/~oahvenla/voodoo/ Any Aminet site: (430K archive) ftp://ftp.aminet.org/pub/aminet/comm/mail/Voodoo-1.103.lha PRICE Shareware, 150 FIM, 35 USD, or 50 DEM. DISTRIBUTABILITY The demo version is freely distributable through non-commercial channels. More information in documentation. @endnode @node NEWS26 "MasterISO V1.22" @toc NEWS TITLE: MasterISO VERSION: v1.22 COMPANY: Asimware Innovations Inc. 600 Upper Wellington St., Unit D Hamilton, Ontario Canada L9A 3P9 Phone: (905)578-4916 Fax: (905)578-3966 EMail: info@asimware.com MasterISO v1.22 Maintenance Release ----------------------------------- We would like to announce the availability of MasterISO v1.22, which was released as of January 29th, 1996. This is a maintenance update for the MasterISO v1 package. Registered uses may contact us directly for information on obtaining this update. About MasterISO... ------------------ The MasterISO software package allows a user to control a CD-R recorder to create custom CD-ROM and CD-Audio discs. CD-ROM discs are formatted in the universal ISO 9660 format, compatible with Amiga, IBM, Macintosh and virtually any other CD-ROM equipped platform. CD-Audio discs are formatted to the Red Book standard and offer universal compatibility with standard CD players. For reference, our current list of supported CD-R drives is: - Yamaha CDR-100, CDR-102 - Sony CDU-920 - Pinnacle RCD-1000, RCD-202 - Philips CDD-522, CDD-521, CDD2000 - Pioneer DW-S114X - HP 4020 Please contact us for a current list of tested CD-R and SCSI controller combinations. Asimware Innovations Inc. is an Amiga software development house specializing in CD-ROM and CD-Recordable technologies. Our current product line includes AsimCDFS, MasterISO, Texture Heaven, Texture Heaven 2 and PhotoCD Manager. Sincerely, Paul Reeves Asimware Innovations Inc. January 31st, 1996 @endnode @node NEWS27 "AsimCDFS V3.5" @toc NEWS TITLE: AsimCDFS VERSION: v3.5 COMPANY: Asimware Innovations Inc. 600 Upper Wellington St., Unit D Hamilton, Ontario Canada L9A 3P9 Phone: (905)578-4916 Fax: (905)578-3966 EMail: info@asimware.com AsimCDFS v3.5 Maintenance Release --------------------------------- We would like to announce the availability of AsimCDFS v3.5, which was released as of January 31st, 1996. This is a maintenance update for the AsimCDFS v3 package. The update highlights include: - support for ATAPI (IDE) CD-ROM drives on A1200/A4000's; - support for Panasonic's PD/CD-ROM optical read/write CD-ROM drive; - full support for the Nakamichi MBR-7 and NEC 7 disc changers; - additional support for the Sanyo 254 CD-ROM drive; - support for Panasonic CR503, CR504 CD-ROM drives; - a few minor bug fixes. Registered users can obtain this release via our BBS or ftp site. - ftp: ftp.asimware.com - BBS: 905-332-9207 In either case, you will need your AsimCDFS serial number to obtain access. About AsimCDFS v3... -------------------- The AsimCDFS software package is a CD-ROM control system which allows the user to read most CD-ROM discs with an Amiga computer and a suitable SCSI or ATAPI CD-ROM drive. AsimCDFS is equipped with the following advanced features: - access to ISO 9660, High Sierra, Rock Ridge and Macintosh HFS CD-ROM formats; - FishMarket, a CD-ROM disc containing the public domain Fred Fish collection; - AsimTunes, an audio librarian/controller providing advanced librarian and playback features; - support for direct digitizing from standard audio CDs and playing audio via the Amiga hardware; - CDTV and CD32 emulation modules, complete with autobooting from CD-ROM discs; - integrated support for Kodak and Corel PhotoCD discs. Colour WorkBench icons are created for easy identification. Support for resolutions from 192x128 up to 3072x2048; - support for both SCSI and ATAPI CD-ROM drives; - preferences editor for all AsimCDFS settings; and, - full ARexx command set available for all programs. Asimware Innovations Inc. is an Amiga software development house specializing in CD-ROM and CD-Recordable technologies. Our current product line includes AsimCDFS, MasterISO, Texture Heaven, Texture Heaven 2 and PhotoCD Manager. @endnode @node NEWS29 "XiPaint 24-bit Picture Competition" @toc NEWS 24 Bit Competition! =================== Please send in your magic 24-Bit pictures, which are not only rendered or digitized - also altered by a paint-programm. The best 50 pictures are honorized by a XiPaint 4.0 CD! Send in your pictures as jpg or any other 24-Bit-format until end of February to Thomas Dorn Kerpengasse 69 A-1210 Vienna or uuencoded to tdorn@xipaint.co.at. Please note, that I may publish the sent in pictures on the next XiPaint-CD, so they may not have copyrights of third persons on it. Don't forget to add a short note about yourself, your address and your needed tools for the picture. @endnode @node FEATURE1 "Baking Carrot Biscuits - Making Use of Old Amigas" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== Baking Carrot Biscuits - Making Use of Old Amigas Calum Tsang tsangc@io.org =========================================================================== [Perhaps some of you remember Mr. Tsang from his tongue-in-cheek yet practical series on having fun with old Bridgeboards. We're fortunate to have him back, with a tongue-in-cheek yet practical look at making use of the Amigas of yesteryear...-Jason] Introduction ~~~~~~~~~~~~ With all the recent introductions of new A1200's and A4000's from Escom/Amiga Technologies, many people are buying new Amigas, or even older ones with souped up expansion options. Maybe you were using an A500 with one floppy before you got your riproaring A4000T60, or perhaps you were a pioneer with your Amiga 1000, but have steadily progressed to each new model revision. Whatever your current machine, many Amiga users have older systems now relegated to a closet or sitting unused on a desk somewhere. I'm one of those people who hate to see computers wasted, especially capable ones like the Amiga. Even when it's as old as a Commodore PET or Apple II, there's plenty of life still left in most of the personal computers we've worked with in the last twenty years. While I don't actively use a PET or a II, nor do I recommend anyone to buy one at this stage, there are certainly many uses for them. Maybe you have an old Amiga lying around, and will get an idea from this article. Let's first look at some ideas for old Amigas, then examine where to find hardware for your used Amiga setup. No matter what you choose to do, the first place you should stop is your local Amiga user group. This is often the best source of tips, advice and deals that you can find. Also, remember to read Comp.sys.amiga.hardware for problem solving and troubleshooting information and other similar Internet resources. Finally, usergroups and libraries often have back issues of old, yet useful, magazines like AmigaWorld and Transactor for Amiga. These are just a few ideas I have, but I'm sure there are more! By the way, I'm an avid fan of the Secret Life of Machines, so some of the later suggestions get kinda odd. Idea 1: Using the Amiga as a Simple Home/First Computer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Believe it or not, home computing often doesn't require a Pentium 75 with 16MB of RAM and a quadspeed CDRom drive. A lot of simple tasks found in an average household don't require multimedia features. For instance, writing school reports and business correspondence or dialing up to a internet service provider to check for email from relatives are not Windows95 exclusive tasks. Wordprocessing and terminal emulation are relatively simple applications. This use is well suited towards expanded A500's and A2000's, with 2MB or more, and a small hard disk. Some of the latest software, like FinalWriter, still runs on these machines, albeit slower. If you have a non expanded A500, a 1MB system with two floppies is adequate, perhaps for something less intensive, like an older version of FinalCopy. I'd say, unless you have small children, a 1084 or similar RGB 15 Khz monitor is a must. Otherwise, you'll be stuck using a TV, which is neither easy to read nor a friendly option with TV watching siblings. It's an attractive solution to families with small budgets. I know that not many households can afford a $3500 computer but computer literacy is becoming more and more a must for children. An older Amiga maybe enough to bridge that gap temporarily, and put in some basic computing skills like keyboarding. Other folks that could benefit, could be younger children and seniors, who are often new to computers and can easily benefit from the skills found in even simple applications. Don't forget your local elementary school-sometimes computers get lost in the funding shuffle, and donating a low end Amiga could mean a welcome class room addition-not for playing games, but for example, for grade 1 students to use DeluxePaint to draw pictures, or for grade 4's to write short stories. Not everyone needs 24 bit truecolour or CGfonts-the simple block letters of some early Amiga wordprocessors would work great here, and the older Star 9pin colour dot matrix printers would be a cheap alternative to say, expensive colour inkjet supplies. One word of advice-stay away from floppies in this situation-a hard disk is a better choice, because floppies tend to get corrupted in the dusty environment of a school, plus kids and teachers don't like waiting around for slow drives. This is NOT an alternative to a PC if you're aiming to run incredible multimedia software like Encarta, unfortunately, the Amiga hasn't progressed to that point. But again, for simple tasks, that's not a problem. Idea 2: Using the Amiga as a Basic Video CG / SEG / Edit Controller ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Many school boards want to integrate video into school curriculums, but have no idea to do it. When it's done right, it can really enhance the educational process. I've seen examples of video use from rapping teachers to in house television studios. Schools often spend lots of money on expensive equipment, on some sort of contract buy for the entire board. They get mediocre hardware with little idea on how to use it. Why not put an Amiga to work in a journalism classroom, or as an after school video club? Not just a geeky AV Squad, but a hip, cool, radical activity for people interested in making television, be it rock videos, interviews, documentaries or strange art films. A good choice would be an A2000, with hard disk, and a genlock. The benefit of the A2000 is that it has a large industrial style case, which can either fit in a rackmount edit bay, or be easily mounted onto a rolling cabinet-it can take a pounding. Stuff goes inside, where it isn't easily stolen. A major attraction of this machine is the video slot, which can handle a cheap little genlock like a Commodore A2300, or a full fledged switcher/SEG like Toaster. Who cares about broadcast quality? An A2300 is adequate for VHS and SVHS output, and there are similar boards/external modules like it. A setup like this is more flexible and of a higher quality than say, one of those trashy Videonics products. Wire this system to the school edit suite and you're "Doing Video Just Like the Pros". Remember that video is kind of fuzzy anyways at VHS/SVHS level, so top resolution and colour depth isn't that big a deal. Software-wise, a paint program can get you started, but you should check out the discount bin at your local Amiga dealer-perhaps an old copy of DeluxeVideo, or some titler software. It doesn't have to be state of the art. Go online and download a pile of fonts, and away you go! You see, video (and everything else creative) isn't held back by the tools, but how much imagination you have. You can do wonders with just a genlock- you don't need digital nonlinear or even a switcher. 3D work isn't that far away either, but you'll absolutely need an accelerator board. Again, the A2000 can house cheap accelerators, like the A2620 Commodore 14 Mhz 020 with 4MBytes RAM. If you want to splurge, you could go for a GVP GForce or even an 040/060 later. Output of 3D animation is difficult, but you could use 3D stills for CG backgrounds, or alternatively, try using a DCTV or similar device to get 15-20 fps anims out to tape. Other effects outside of simple CG can be achieved using used Amiga video peripherals. A chromakey from yesteryear, or perhaps a framegrabber can add odd and amusing elements to videos. Don't forget editing controllers-old Gold Disk VideoDirectors were sold in Toronto for $25. This was a LANCS Sony Control L and IR control cable with some simple edit software which worked on a basic EDL setup. You cataloged your tapes with the LANCS control going into your 8mm Camcorder, and then set up for assemble edits via the IR control cable pointed at your VCR for recording. Idea 3: Using the Amiga as a Slide Projector ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sure, some might convince you that you need Macromind Director or even Scala MM300, but even the smallest Amiga can be used as a slide projector! This can be used for doing school presentations where you attach the Amiga to a large colour TV or videoprojector. Any Amiga can be used to do this, even an A500 with a single floppy. You'll need a Commodore 520 or similar composite adapter to hook up, but some Amigas already have the hardware-an A600 or A1000 have built in composite colour out. Simply prepare some slides using a paint program, restricting yourself to NTSC mode non interlace modes, and copy them into a "Boot and show" disk. This floppy should include a simple script to show all the images on boot, pausing for a keypress or mouseclick. When you do your talk or presentation, just click or press for each slide, instead of fussing with overhead transparencies. It may take a while to load each frame, so you'll want to experiment with using a RAM disk or hard disk to buffer frames. You could also get creative and set yourself up for paging forward and backwards. One negative aspect is that you can't write on the screen the way you can with transparencies. Animations and other visual elements could be used in educational/instructional settings too. This idea can be extended further into presentation or electronic signpost systems. For instance, say your community center has an old closed circuit TV system. Don't laugh, I've seen this before-someone writes messages up on scraps of paper, and puts them under a camera, which is displayed around the building. Why not put an Amiga there? You could use an A500 to display upcoming events, maps, and logos. That's all done via a paint program like DeluxePaint and a "show" script. You can get more complex, by adding an onscreen clock, scheduling, showing digitized photos, etc. I recently saw a university system which used a pair of A4000's for something much like this. Their setup cost $60,000, and used 25 colour TVs and an SVHS edit suite, but with some used televisions and spare wiring, you can setup a simple system much like it. Idea 4: Bring Your Amiga to a Rave ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, truthfully, I have never been to a rave, and promise myself not to do such a thing, so I can't say I know too much about this subject. However, you could try using the Amiga as a sound generator and hook it up to a spare input on the production mixer. Play around with samples, MODs, live distortion effects etc. A while ago, I brought a pair of Amigas to a high school dance and wired up to a LCD colour projector through a cheap genlock. My friend and I ran animations, copperdemos, textures and all sorts of visual imagery projected onto a 40 ft wide white wall through the crowd. We even at one point accidentally opened a Workbench screen, and typed stuff in open Shell windows. We wired my A3000 and my A600 to the inputs on the projector. The A600 was configured to show background animations, which could run while we were drawing up new images on the A3000 for display. We also used a VHS VCR and played back old commercials and cartoons, both direct and through the genlock. So, while I'm sure some rave productions are quite professional, there's always room to try out something at a high school or college pub or dance, provided you don't look too stupid or nerdy and refuse to answer the question "Is that Windows95?" As a side note, a lot of Amiga users are artists and they produce fine work on a variety of media, from print output to video animations. Some even combine Amiga output with traditional art tools or produce their pieces on large sized murals. However, you can also use the Amiga in installation art and the like, putting the system directly into the display. Idea 5: The Amiga as a Sample Player ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ School plays and college productions often use sounds to enhance a scene. Traditionally, they played it off of tape or CD, cued by the sound board operator. Recently, I saw a production using a Macintosh Classic II to play back sound cues. The fellow who set it up did a really good job-he even wrote a HyperCard application which arranged sounds by scene, and had the lines/text surrounding the actual sound cue. When the proper time came, the sound operator just clicked on an onscreen gadget/button to set off the sound. No screwups, flubs, mistakes, etc. An Amiga can do this job too, and may even do it better in some ways. For one, Amigas have good sample editors and multimedia sequencer programs, so you don't have to learn HyperCard. Second, we have DMA bandwidth, so we don't get bogged down loading samples direct from hard disk. Sure wish we had CD quality output though. Idea 6: Using the Amiga to Control the World! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Amiga applications don't stop at video and sound. You can also interface the machine to a variety of different devices to control your home, office or even...the WORLD! Mwahahaahah! The X10 System, a collection of modules for turning on and off appliances via radio and AC waves, had some shareware Amiga software, and there are similar devices both in shareware kit form and commercially. You could use an A500 set up on your TV to save energy by starting up lighting and powering down devices at preset times. If you're really technically oriented, you can try using the Amiga as a robotics controller. Building small robots to be controlled via a colourful Amiga screen would be great fun for small children, and you can integrate them into school projects as well. There's lots of information about Lego robots and simple robot controllers on the Internet, around MIT's Miniboard design. This can be used with the Amiga via a serial cable. The Amiga can integrated into realworld hardware for measuring and sensing things. With electronics design experience, you could build exhibits for science museums and the like. For example, you could build a temperature sensor and with approrpriate electronics, feed the data into an Amiga to show on a visually attractive or interactive display. It's cheaper than using a Mac or PC with expensive video output boards, especially when you need to use a video projector or wide television. Idea 7: An Amiga Fax Server ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Instead of controlling the world, you can SAVE the planet, by using an Amiga with a fax modem as a fax server, receiving inbound faxes and storing them to floppy. Then, when you come home, power up the monitor, and delete junk faxes, printing or saving only the important ones, instead of having a pile of unrecyclable fax paper trailing out of your normal fax machine. Amigas can be used as voicemail systems and outbound fax services, which means you can CONFUSE the planet too. Wouldn't it be cool to have people call up your home, even if it's a bachelor's apartment, and get voicemail boxes for you and your dog? Hardware ~~~~~~~~ Hardware will always define what kind of applications you can run, because software always drives the development of new processors and technologies. To begin, examine what original model of the Amiga you have. If it's an A3000 or A2500, that's adequate to handle most current Amiga software! You should be USING this machine primarily! :) However, if it's an A500, 1000, or 2000, you'll probably want to look at adding some more hardware to it to enhance your options. Used hardware is easily found at user group swap meets, local Amiga dealers, and through private individuals. You can find out about these through local Amiga BBSes, and user groups. Actually, a user group should often be the first stop for learning about old Amigas and their uses: almost every user group has someone who loves to tinker. Be careful not to pay too much, because this isn't your primary system. Sometimes people post prices that are too high, and it's customary to bargain down, unless they've noted they are firm. Don't bother them then with requests for lower prices, and in general, don't pester people with stupid offers like $5 for a A2000 or whatever. Floppies. A second floppy drive, for single floppy systems, is certainly a must if you're not going with a hard disk. Single floppies like the A1010/1011 or the multitude of clone external floppies are cheap and easy to find. Expect to pay $10-50 for one. However, a better alternative is to go directly for a hard disk, it'll save you frustation and agony, and let you run a lot of newer software. Hard Disks. Hard disks used to be really expensive for the Amiga, but now are really cheap, because subsequent models integrated the controller onto the motherboard. For an A500, a hard disk consists of the controller and a "shoebox" which slips on the side of the machine. These often include extra RAM and an external SCSI port for chaining more disks outside. An A2000 hard disk solution is much cheaper, where you can get an old A2090 or A2091 board for $50 or less (sometimes A2090 owners even PAY YOU to take the thing away! :) You couple this with a small SCSI disk like a 20MB Miniscribe or 40MB Quantum, or perhaps a ST506 like a Rodime 40 or Seagate. Hard disks make the Amiga much more usable, and they're preferred for large applications or situations where waiting is unacceptable. RAM. Amigas really like more memory, and expanding them isn't too hard. A500's can be upgrade to a full megabyte via their A501 trapdoor, and anyone considering using an A500 should automatically do this. A501's and their clones are cheap and plentiful. A quick way to kill two birds with one stone is to get a shoebox expander like a GVP Impact A500 or SupraDrive 500XP. 16bit RAM boards for the A2000 are similarily inexpensive, and you can often find old RAM for it, making population of the board easy (and often free). I like the SupraRAM 2000, for five years, it's never failed me. However, there's always the Commodore 2052/2058 boards, and you can always put 2MB on the A2091 hard disk controller, which has ran nicely on my A2000 too. Monitors. Monitors are difficult to find for the Amiga. In your application, you may just want a TV, say, if you're using it for a slideshow. However, if you're using it in a video suite, or at home, a good monitor is a must. The older Commodore 15 Khz monitors, like the A1084S, C2002, and 1080 are great, and don't cost a lot. Hooking up SVGAs and the like is hard, you'll need a flickerfixer, which is pretty expensive. In presentation situations, you can also use higher quality inputs for your Amiga. I have my CDTV, which has a special SVHS output, connected to our Sony TV, which has SVHS in, and the picture is fantastic! Older, expensive, models of Sony's Trinitron line, and their professional monitor range, have RGB inputs and you can build a special cable for them. [Much has been made of Toshiba's TIMM, a 20" monitor/TV that does 15-40khz, in other words, the entire Amiga range. Perhaps a review will be forthcoming... -Jason] Printers. Printers aren't hard to find, and most models work easily with the Amiga, since we have pretty decent official and public domain driver support. Aim to get a parallel port printer, which simplifies connection. School kids can try a colour dotmatrix, while a low end inkjet is quite nice for home use. You'll want an inkjet for reports, seeing dotmatrix print is pretty tacky these days, but they're not at all expensive. You can even find new ones at bargain basement discount from large electronics superstore chains. One model I always see being sold at ridiculously low prices is the Canon Bubblejet BJ5 or 10ex model. And remember that you can always bring this to a new PC, so your investment of $150 isn't lost on just an Amiga. No one can tell if you used FinalWriter on a 68000 3MB A2000, or MSWord 16 MB Pentium 133-the output is the same. Other Neat Stuff. There's always some wacky devices and software made for the Amiga and you can often find them in discount bins or at user group swap meets. Who can't resist an old Sunrize PerfectVision framegrabber? Or a DigiView slowscan digitizer? An Easyl drawing pad? An Okidata Okimate 20 colour thermal printer? A trackball? You can find cool uses for these, like say...a "take a picture of you and alter the colours of the image" kiosk, for instance, or added fun to an old Marble Madness game. @endnode @node FEATURE2 "Looking for Work" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== Looking For Work Adam Hough adamh@spots.ab.ca =========================================================================== This is not really connected to this area, but... This little tirade is based on my recent job hunting experiences in both Ottawa and Calgary, considered to be the best places to search for IT related jobs in Canada. For years, the computer industry has been crying out for computer knowledgeable university graduates. So they got them. Then they felt that what they really needed was to have computer people who could communicate effectively and efficiently. So, with this knowledge in hand, I've pursued that particular profile. And what's the result? "We want three to five years experience."; "Do you know IEF/ABF/SNA/ADS/SYBASE"; and so on. And that's if you get as far as an interview or an open house. Most of the time, the closest you get is a "Dear John" reply to your resume, seemingly from the same source as all those office faxes since the wording remains identical no matter what the source -- "We currently have no openings for your skills at this moment. We will keep your resume on file for 6 months..." What I'm really getting at is questioning how the computer industry expects to recruit the next generation of professionals if it's not willing to either train them or, heck, even give them a chance. No institutions I've seen handle anything more sophisticated than programming languages and assorted theory -- definitely nothing like Cognicase or the other million pieces of slightly obscure mainframe related software. Much as I would like to be able to say I know this, that and the other, I cannot afford to buy every single package out there and learn it -- and even that does count. One company I went to an open house to recently only wanted to see knowledge gained through work, academic and personal experience wasn't admissible; that resulted in a fairly empty sheet of paper. Is it TRUE that the only jobs out there are for people who happen to know those in the know? Is the computer industry needlessly rejecting thousands of capable people they need because they are not willing to take on the cost of letting them learn on the job? What makes it so ironic is that while at one open house, I talked to a team leader talking about a project that he'd just completed. That job required a substantial amount of work to be done in Visual Basic -- in his words his team "couldn't even spell Visual when they started on the project". So wherein lies the difference other than those people are already employed? Is the IT industry being too fussy and leaving jobs unfilled or is there a huge pool of people who just happen to have that few years of experience in hand that makes them employable? In the meanwhile I'm sitting on a collection of useful and relevant skills that are slowly becoming less valuable as new software is introduced and as I become more rusty while looking around for a chance to hone them. I'm not trying to set my sights too high by being unreasonable in job expectations or salary; I'm not unemployable through being socially incompetent or indeed any of the other shortcomings of many other technically skilled computer people. So why the problem? I wish I knew. Thoughts, people? @endnode @node REVIEW1 "MetaTool 40.4" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: MetaTool 40.4 Roberto Agria flash@pn.itnet.it =========================================================================== These days most Amiga people have access to the Net, giving everybody a vital opportunity to talk to each other (if they know the E-Mail address!), and widely available e-mail is probably one of the main reasons the Amiga was able to survive two years in the wilderness. There are now several mail programs available, most of them Shareware but openly available on Aminet, including Elm, Thor, Voodoo (now included in the AmigaSurfer pack) and MetaTool, which is freeware. Of course, it's also possible to write a message with any Text editor and then invoke the appropriate sendmail-like program to send the mail to the destination address. However, unless you are a Net-expert or at least, a Dos¶meters expert (and for the sake of your sanity) you choose a mail program, that will do everything automagically (more or less). I will not write here about programs other than Metatool, because I don't know their capabilities well, and because after I took a look at their Gui's, I'm no longer interested in those programs. Let's come to MetaTool then ! Most of you know (I suppose) what the Mime format is. But I'll explain for those of you who don't know ! Standard e-mail can only send plain ASCII characters because the mail gateways only handle 7-bit data, and also have a fixed line length (usually around 70 characters). The Mime format (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) gets around this by encoding 8-bit data into a 7-bit representation. This is just like uuencoding then? Well, not quite because Mime also wraps the data with a header to identify the type of data in the message so enabling the receipient's software to display it in an appropriate form. Mime also allows multipart messages containing lots of different pieces of data to be sent and supports splitting and merging of huge messages to allow them to be sent over networks which limit the size of individual messages. As you guess, MetaTool is able to use the Mime format, and obviously the normal plain-text mail format (rfc 822). MetaTool's Gui is easy to understand and to use: the main window is the Mailboxes window, where you choose a mailbox file to open from a list of several MetaTool knows about. You can also select a mailbox file created by other programs and show them. In fact, in the settings window, there's a parameter called Message Boundary, that can be set to Compatible or Custom. In Compatible mode, i've been able to open Mailfiles created by Elm with no problems. I don't know about files created by Thor or Voodoo (I suppose there will not be problem with those files also). When you choose a Mailbox, another window will popup with the list of messages, their dates, the name of who sent it to you, the title of the mex, and it's size in Kbytes. Multiple mailbox windows can be open at the same time and messages can be transferred between them. Double-clicking on a message opens a Display window which shows the message's parts, the header, that contains information on the writer address, the destination address and other stuff, and the Mime type of the part. MetaTool uses a mailcap file (of the same format as Mosaic and the metamail Mime package) to choose an appropriate viewer for the parts. Examples: audio/x-voc; play16 %s;label="A VOC Sample" (to listen audio samples) image/jpeg; CyberView %s (should i explain ? ;-> ) video/x-anim; xanim %s; label="An IFF ANIM Animation"; edit=3D"DPaint" application/x-lzx; Copy %s DOWNLOADS: ; label="An lzx Archive" Choosing Reply or New, brings up the Compose window. MetaTool has a built-in Address Book that can contain the names of people that you write often to (there's a menu option to automatically add addresses from currently viewed or selected messages), you can use this to quickly fill in the To: , CC: (carbon copy) and BCC: (blind carbon copy) addresses, or fill them in by hand (Reply fills in the To: address for you). Adding the message contents is where the fun starts! Any type of file can be added to the message either by choosing it from a file requester or dragging it's icon onto the Compose window; MetaTool automatically detects the type of the data in the part using a combination of datatypes and the file extension, and sets the Mime type for you (you can also do this by hand if you so wish). New text parts can also be added and edited, and MetaTool will include and quote text parts in a reply and append a signature (which could be a picture :*)) if enabled. MetaTool uses Mui, a well known programmers tool, that give MetaTool a nice Graphics Interface. The nice Gui, added to the easy of use, makes of MetaTool a powerful tool between Mailing Programs. You can find MetaTool version 40.4 on Aminet, under comm/mail/MetaTool.lha. The author, Ellis Protchard, is reachable at this address: efp90@nuke.dircon.co.uk (home) or ellis@cam-ani.co.uk (work). There's also a web page for MetaTool, the address is www.users.dircon.co.uk/~nuke. @endnode @node REVIEW2 "Review: XTReme Racing" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: XTReme Racing Ralph Debusmann rade@coli.uni-sb.de =========================================================================== For a quite desperate Amiga user like I am it's nice to see there are still some signs of action in the Amiga market - even when it comes to games. Recently, we have been delighted with quality-games like Worms, AB3D from Team17 and Gloom (Deluxe) by Black Magic. And even though all major companies have left the Amiga (even Team17 doesn't seem to further support our beloved machine) I am still not forced to buy a PC-clone. My faith in Amiga games has also been replenished by XTreme Racing (XTR) from Silltunna Software (distributed by Black Magic), the best clone of the SNES-game "Super Mario Kart" I can think of. As I said the idea behind XTR is neither new nor too original - it's the old story of racing around several different racing venues and be the first after a couple of laps. Of course there are lots of weapons, turbos and alike scattered about the track to add more variety to the gameplay. So what's giving XTR it's distinctive quality over games like ATR (great one from Team17) or RoadKill I hear you ask? It's the graphics and the new feeling which those graphics put into the game. This is the first Amiga racing game with fast, fully textured 3D-graphics. And those graphics really are fast and look quite cool. On my standard-A4000/030 (EC030, 25MHz) I get a fluid 2*1 full screen resolution. With a 50Mhz 030 you can easily get 1*1 full screen. And for people with non-accelerated A1200s (that's the minimum requirement hence XTR is AGA only) the game can be adjusted to run in 2*2 three fourth screen or so and still is big fun. You can even choose between a Blittermode and the (better) Chunky-2-Planar-conversion and it is possible to put cameras anywhere on the track. But not only the graphics are great - head programmer Alex Amsel said on IRC that he has spent most of the development time on gameplay issues - a fact which you are soon forced to believe. It just plays good and is fun from the beginning on. XTR provides you with four different modes, ranging from "Single Race", over "Cup" and "Season" to the (2+ player only) "Death Match"-mode. In "Single Race" you can choose any of the 12 tracks and practice it against a modifyable number of concurrent cars. These cars can be entirely controlled by the Amiga but - theoretically - it is also possible to play against 7 human controlled cars (!). 4 players can share the same (split-) screen and XTR additionally gives you the opportunity to connect to another Amiga via Null-Modem-cable or via a real Modem. Unfortunately I haven't tested the (Null-) Modem-option yet so that I can't give any statements on this. In "Cup"-mode you attempt to finish three distinctive tracks in the top three (of eight cars). Like in "Single Race" and all other modes it is crucial for you to learn the track and know exactly where you are going. It is for example crucial to use as many of the "Turbo-pads" as possible. These let you run quite fast for a short amount of time. It is a must to learn the tracks because XTR doesn't seem know the word "mercy" at all. If you've hit one of the couple of barrels on track (which let you turn around - mostly you then look in the wrong direction) or if you've fallen off track into some ugly liquid or into space - only one "error" can be fatal. XTR's computer controlled cars won't hesitate to overtake you and be far ahead soon. This is one mayor gripe I have about the game - it's too hard. I for myself take this as a challenge but not too experienced players will surely find this very annoying. The third mode "Season" confronts you with all 12 tracks in a row. Here you need to collect points to be the first after you've gone through all the tracks and money to improve your car - and it is crucial to improve your car because the default "Season"-car is much slower and less maneuverable than the "Single Race" or the "Cup"-car. In "Season" you need the first 4 races just to improve the car while finishing 7th or 8th. Then again, after you actually have improved the car over the computer controlled cars the game becomes a bit too easy. Alex should have a look on this mode again IMHO because it doesn't seem to be as well thought out as the rest of the game. The fourth mode ("Death Match") also is the mode which is the most fun. Here you race around a track (no fixed course) not to finish it but to kill your up to 7 (human) opponents. The "killing" is done either by kicking a car into water or by shooting it with any of the possible weapons. These range from a simple missile over homing missiles, mines, bombs to sheep (!). Weapons are collected by running over a questionmark and then waiting what cute weapon the random generator gives you. Of course (nearly) all these weapons are available in all other modes either (e.g. you can shoot an opponent with a missile when he reaches the finish-line in "Single Race"). The "Death Match" is over when one player has accomplished a distinctive number of kills. Besides I should mention that the "cracked" version of XTR lacks this mode - sorry, bad luck Pirates :) Honest purchasers will get a really nice game. I liked it from the minute on I got the demo from Aminet. I like the speedy and good looking 3D-graphics, the good playability, the wide range of weapons and the variety of modes. I also like the huge amount of options as well as the possibility to play against up to 7 opponents via Modem. The sound is fairly good as well, although the ingame-musics are pretty poor (you can turn them off luckily). It should be noted that XTR also is quite system-friendly in that it quits without touching the Workbench and is easily HD-installable. Furthermore there is NO copy-protection at all. What a breeze after having quite much trouble with the latest Team17 "black-on-black" protection schemes. What I don't like about XTR is it's extreme difficulty level (hence the name). I dislike that you have to learn the courses so very very well to be able beat the computer. I also think that the "Season"-mode should be looked upon again by the programmer. The "Death-Match"-mode has potential to get better either, although it already is big fun in this stage. My last gripe is that although XTR lets you choose from 8 different looking cars the cars don't bear unique qualities like e.g. in Super Mario Kart - they seem to behave all the same. I give XTR a rating 4 out of 5 stars, the fifth star could be achieved by working a bit on several details and by decreasing the difficulty level. I've sent Alex a list of suggestions and I hope he'll incorporate a few of them in future versions of XTR. In comp.sys.amiga.games Alex has recently promised to lower the difficulty level, to bring out new tracks and publish a full-blown Track editor. So please support him by buying XTR if you like it. You can get a demo of XTR on Aminet in game/demo/xtrndemo.lha. Also available on Aminet is a Laptime-viewer and a FAQ. Again, if you like the game, please purchase a copy (directly from Silltunna would be the best way). I got my copy from Silltunna one week after I had sent them the money from Germany :) @endnode @node REVIEW3 "Review: Worms" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Worms By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== Wayyy back, it must have been a year now, Team17 sent me a preview package with some preliminary press releases and screen shots for upcoming titles. Of the 3 or 4 in there, only one came to fruition, and it contained screen shots labeled "Total Wormage", a cute pun on . It was these little things shooting at each other, as far as I could tell. Now, as the Team17 hype puts it, "The Worms have turned." Worms, perhaps the best thing to happen to the old artillery game, is out. The Artillery game dates back a loooong time. My first run in with it was on the Apple II, where friends and I would hold Artillery tournaments in programming class. (I was a second-rate programmer but a first-rate Artillery player.) Two castles were set up on a random landscape, and by setting angle and direction against a random wind, they took potshots at each other. Worms turbocharges this concept. A team of four little pink (well, they're usually pink) worms fight against 1, 2, or 3 other teams of worms on a randomly generated landscape, with an impressive battery of weapons ranging from the default bazooka to Uzis, homing missiles, mines, and even exploding sheep. Each worm has a set number of "hit points", and each weapon does varying damage. The goal is to either damage the enemy worms so they all die, or to blast them off the screen or into the water, both of which mean instant death. The landscape is fairly large and scrolled about using the mouse, so that's not always so easy to do, particularly when the enemy gets "entrenched." You see, Team17 introduced Artillery to Lemmings, so in addition to the tons of weapons, you get a big toolkit, including a drill, blowtorch, and "ninja rope", which can be used to hurl your worm around the screen, either into a strategically superior position or off the screen, into a pile of mines, etc., depending on the skill of the operator. In addition, random airdrops of new weapons fall from the sky, and are the property of whichever team gets to them first. These include extra issues of the rationed weaponry (Dynamite, Cluster Bombs, Air Strikes) and enhanced versions of certain weapons (The absolutely nasty Banana Bomb, the rather silly and aforementioned Exploding Sheep, and the reportedly unintentionally underpowered but still impressive-sounding Minigun) As previously mentioned, the playfield is a large scrolling world. By default, the game will randomly generate a landscape of one of several different types (Forest, jungle, alien, mars, Hell, etc.) with a long numerical code which can be recorded for future use. Some of the levels are interesting, some treacherous, some bland, and some so sparse the game will reject it and create a new one. In addition to the (reportedly) >4 billion possibilities, Team17 provides the specifications to create an IFF file to be used as the playfield. This has spawned a sizable trade in Worms worlds (the best so far, incidentally, is a city scape complete with subway tunnel and office building. Highly recommended.) One of the really memorable elements of Worms is the Worms' commentary, complaints, cries of pain, etc. The high-pitched (because they're small worms, get it?) Wormspeak can be altered (In case you've heard "Oy, nutter!" or "I'll get you!" too many times) by replacing Team17's samples with your own. Because the game loads all of the samples into chip ram and keeps them there, however, you have to budget your samples carefully. Control of the game is handled with keyboard (for moving your worms, aiming, and firing) and mouse (for scrolling the view and setting targets, such as for the Homing Missile and devastating Air Strike). The controls are basically as straightforward as they can be. As mentioned, up to 4 teams can play, so theoretically 16 of your friends can gather 'round the 1084 or 1950 or 1438, etc. for a round or two of Worms. However, controlling one Worm could be disappointing as the turn-based system (Worm from one team goes, worm from the next team goes, worm from the next team, etc. etc.) means it's quite possible your worm will be dead by the time you get to your turn. If you don't have any friends handy, the computer will be happy to square off against you, and 10 levels of computer opponents are provided, from the stupid (The team of Lemmings) to the absolutely impossibly deadeye (British royalty). While I find that a good round of 4-team Worms against the 3 highest levels of computer opponent can be a lot of fun, the computer team AI has a few flaws. It is possible for one of their Worms to get stuck in place, and while HRH (the royalty team) has good enough aim to calculate a bazooka shot that will actually travel over a hill, then be taken by the wind and head down a tunnel to hit its target, none of the teams are clever enough to use the Ninja Rope or Teleport. But I guess you can't have everything, and if you want that level of strategy you'll need to go out and find it. Simply put, the game is a ton of fun. I'm always skeptical of wildly popular things (I am still an Amiga user, after all), but a few rounds of the Worms demo and I was sold. Having the configurability of the game be so flexible (you can forbid the use of certain weapons or limit their use, if you find as I do that, for example, Dynamite is too devastating of a weapon to just give away at the outset) is a major plus, although I did find that the game didn't take your configuration into as much consideration as I'd hoped. If you make the use of an item that is by default limited available infinitely, it will still show up in airdrops. (For instance, I think cluster bombs should be available without end. But the airdrops will provide me with even more. Kinda pointless.) (On the subject of "pointless", Worms features the incredibly evil "Black type on black paper" document protection. My cries of agony over the past year on this subject have still gone unheard by Team17. It remains a very overdone and nasty solution to the piracy problem. Yes, I'd rather they made it tough to read than banged away at the floppy drive, but not by much. Legible type, please.) But Worms is a real blast to play with friends. It has a very comic (and comical) quality that makes the ridiculousness of militant worms that much more appealing. The play options are just about limitless, and the potential for a full-blown Worms tournament at my next party is growing. Worms will even track league scores for you, total kills, and award "Worm of the Match" honors. Yes, Worms really deserves to have sold as many copies as it has. It is being ported into basically every conceivable game format (even Gameboy. I've gotta see that one) now that Team17 has distribution through Ocean. Despite its apparent omnipresence in the UK on the Amiga and PC, a random test of a few game shops in the US confirmed my suspicion that Ocean US hadn't exactly been hyping the PC version to stores. However, wherever you are as an Amiga user, you should seriously consider picking the Worms demo up for yourself (available from Team17's FTP site on ftp.team17.com or through Aminet) and seeing if amusing mass destruction is for you. It's good stuff. Even if you're not totally sold on Worms as it stands, or if you're a player hoping for more, fear not. Team17 is working on a Worms Plus upgrade, slated to be UKP10, and featuring AGA color support, more flexible sample loading (as it stands, you need 2 megs of chip ram to hear the good samples. 1 meg machines get diminished quality and selection), and a host of other goodies, including some sort of networking. (The pressure is on to support TCP/IP). Worms ships on three floppies, is hard drive installable, and will run on basically any Amiga which can switch to PAL. However, 2 megs of chip RAM are highly recommended. Team17 Longlands House Wakefield Road, Ossett West Yorkshire, WF5 9JS ++44 1924 271637 voice ++44 1924 267658 fax dudes@team17.com e-mail http://www.team17.com/ @endnode @node REVIEW4 "Review: XTReme Racing" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: XTReme Racing By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== For a while this autumn, it seemed racing games were all the rage. First came Virtual Karting from OTM and published by Guildhall, which was tepidly reviewed in AR recently. Then came XTReme Racing, from Silltunna and published by Guildhall (I see a pattern here...). XTR's tradition goes back to Pole Position. You race a car over various tracks, with a camera view that defaults to just behind your vehicle. There are a number of other cars on the track and, of course, you want to beat them. The camera angle and horizon can be altered at will. Ok, so now we've moved to Virtual Karting status. Now it's time to talk about the stuff that's much better than any racing game I've seen on the Amiga so far. If you're a masochist, you can use a nasty black dithered screen with which to view the road. This is aimed at un- or minimally-expanded A1200 users. (However, the masochist comment still applies.) Thankfully, you can also adjust pixel width and height (1x1, 2x1, 1x2, 2x2) and turn that godawful dithering OFF. Yes, real, honest 1x1 full screen display is possible. Tack on the capability to add different camera views (either for more players than just yourself, or to track a different car or area), and you're talking about something significantly improved from Virtual Karting, and which doesn't bear much resemblance at all to Pole Position. The XTR courses also offer some very unconventional (and unrealistic, but hey, this is a game) features, such as random power-ups (including missiles!), turbo acceleration pads, and people and Lemming-like creatures to run over. You can also drive on such courses as floating cities, meaning that plummeting to your doom is a very real possibility. Fortunately, your car reappears shortly after any demises you may incur, but this tends to set your chances of winning the race pretty much out of the question. You have your choice of several different "characters" with different cars to drive (shades of Power Drift here), and can race in a cup, league, or single events. There are also three levels of difficulty, but... ...man, is this game hard. I mean, it's not impossible, but you'll need some serious learning time to get the hang of driving an XTR car. Since the best pre-race idea you can get of the track is a very simplistic look at its layout (No Virtual Karting helicopter flyby or Roadkill practice lap), you may want to race, say, with minimal computer competition on a track a few times before competing for real, because the tracks can be confusing and treacherous. The levels themselves range from fairly pedestrian to rather neat, in particular the beach and floating city tracks. The beach graphics are very nicely done, and the floating city is fun to look at. It does look pretty strange when your car falls, though...it looks like it's shrinking, not falling. The game features a small selection of music tracks for your listening and racing enjoyment. Take them or leave them, they're decent intense driving music without a ton of complexity. They're pretty annoying when you're in 8th place, though. The game allows you to play with up to 4 people on the same machine, but the screen gets pretty crowded beyond two different views. An option is to use the serial link (null modem cable or real live modem, 19200 baud suggested), which spreads out the processing demands, joystick availability, and monitor real estate. If racing isn't your thing, you can race in Deathmatch mode (networked or no), where the object is just to blow up the other players more times than they get you. This makes the power-up missiles a lot more satisfying to use... As those familiar with AR may be aware, our standard AGA test machine is an A4000 040/25 and we make no apologies for using a machine closer to the high than the low end. Other than the necessary switch to PAL, the game runs without complaint or incident. XTR runs like a charm in 1x1 fullscreen. CyberGraphX support is reportedly not forthcoming. The documentation for the game is a bit thin, they don't even describe all of the powerups (intentionally, they say, but I suspect it might have something to do with printing deadlines...). Functional, yes, and the game is fairly self-explanatory, but still... The game suffered some compatibility problems, but most of these have been remedied by a free patch. (There are reportedly still some problems with Warp Engine 040s) A future upgrade promises a track editor, more tracks, support for 4-joystick adapters, and other in-game features. Those of you lucky enough to have an Amiga store nearby that carries XTR will notice a quote on the back from yours truly. That rather glowing quote was based on a pre-release version of XTR I played, and I do stand by what I said. XTR is a good blend of arcade action and driving realism (except the missiles, sheep, floating cities, etc) and really is a quality game. XTR is hard drive installable (Extremely highly recommended), takes advantage of accelerated machines (again, highly recommended) and is AGA only. Guildhall Leisure 15 Guildhall Industrial Estate Kirk Sandall Doncaster DN3 1QR ++44 1302 890000 phone ++44 1302 890010 fax ted@blitzuk@demon.co.uk e-mail @endnode @node REVIEW5 "Review: Breathless" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Breathless By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== Doom, doom, doom. There's no denying it. The focus of the game development in 1995 was on Doom-ish games, whether or not a whole lot actually made it to the market. Around the time everyone was getting excited about Alien Breed 3D, from out of nowhere a demo started making its way around the net. The game was Breathless, so we were told, and the demo was an old one of the game's texturemapping 3D engine. The developers, Fields of Vision, quickly found a publisher in Power Computing of the UK. It comes in a purplish box, with your typical mega-suited up gun-slinging texturemapping game hero and some screenshots on the back. That's the preliminaries. But the storyline, background, etc. of these games are always pretty unimportant when they first arrive. So a quick hard drive installation later, Breathless is up and running. So, how does it play? Well, the engine is a rather flexible one, allowing control over screen resolution ranging from teeny-tiny-you've-gotta-be-kidding up to 320x200 (out of x256, this is of course PAL we're talking about here), with available pixel widths of 1x1, 2x1, 1x2, and 2x2. The bottom of the screen is taken up with your score, health, shield, weapon energy, and weaponry/key indicators. So, how does the game LOOK? Had you caught me with the stock Breathless release, I would have shrugged. The game was playable in reduced resolutions on a stock A4000/040, but certainly nothing exciting in a high resolution with a high pixel clarity. The control felt sterile, the configurability was only acceptable. Fortunately for this review's outcome, FOV released a Breathless V1.1 patch to Aminet. This has increased the output of the engine, added inertia to the player's movements (the lack of which caused the aforementioned sterile feeling), and in general made the game more configurable. So, how is it to play? Well, your job is to blast away at bad guys with a selection of increasingly nasty weaponry. You upgrade said weapons and buy new ones by collecting credit globes that happen to be lying around the levels you chug through. There are computer terminals throughout the levels ready to vend you these weapons, health, even keys if you can't find them. (Perhaps the evil bad guys should remove these conveniences, they'd have an easier time defeating you.) There are a dozen different aliens to blast, and after a short while you'll be sick of killing "Cyborg 1"s. Automapping is provided, as is a sight in the middle of the screen which may be turned off. It comes in handy when shooting up or down (you look up or down using the numeric keypad. The movement in this respect is considerably improved from the original Breathless in the 1.1 patch.) I was a bit disappointed in the number of times the shots seemed not to reach their target even when they were standing dead in my sights, though. The math on the "look up/look down" routines may not quite be perfect yet. Breathless' engine supports varying light, which at times can put you in rather dark and grey looking corridors. They also tried to support a bit of realistic detail in the form of floor-to-ceiling pipes, but again, the calculations fell a bit short, as the pipes look two-dimensional as they meet the floor. Weaponry could have been a bit more "realistic" as well. Errant shots simply disappear as they hit the wall, and the Cyborg 1 units seem to have silencers on their plasma guns. But those complaints don't detract from the fact that Breathless is a fast world to whip around in, providing your Amiga is equipped for the task. While 320x200 1x1 pixel depth is too much for the stock 040/25 to give a reasonable frame rate on, kicking the resolution down a notch or switching to 2x1 or 1x2 (my preferred of the two, although things can look a bit fringed at times) helps considerably. There have been reports that Breathless is stunningly slow (slower than an 030/50) on an 060, but as we haven't received any 060 accelerators yet, we can't verify this. I do enjoy running around the Breathless world, blasting away at the baddies. I find the speed tolerable, the background music (with configurable volume) appropriate, and the goal of getting to one more level enough to keep me coming back for a while. And of course, it's encouraging to see that the game continues to be developed and supported by FOV. What Breathless really needs, though, is a bit more atmosphere. Yes, it's a vague complaint, but right down to the stainless steel walls, Breathless is missing the spark that even AB3D's 2x2 chunky display had. I'm not sure I really CARE about this guy's struggle, particularly when all he needs to do is break open the gun vending machine to really wreak some havok. Improved sound effects (and more of them) would work wonders. Copy protection is a bit weird. It's red writing on orange paper, not easy to read. It's on a small card, which is another problem...and it's in runes! Numerical or letter protection is difficult enough, but tiny runes are another thing altogether. The game IS hard drive installable, but you have to fight with a teeny little card to get to your game. If you're toting an accelerated AGA Amiga and want to get a lot of shooting done, Breathless is a good investment. It's missing networking, which is a real loss because some levels would make for good deathmathches. It's missing that sense of style mentioned above. But it does have a very good, and growing, TMap engine that I would be pleased to see in other implementations. Breathless also was good for a couple of chuckles, but not for the game itself. The manual speaks of the planet "C64-6510", an obvious reference. The registration card lists "Magazine Review" in the "Where did you get this game?" list. I guess the publishers want us to register more often. Power Computing Ltd 44A/B Stanley St. Bedford MK41 7RW England ++ 1234 273000 phone ++ 1234 352207 fax @endnode @node CHARTS1 "Aminet Charts: 22-Jan-96" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 22-Jan-96 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- ar401.lha docs/mags 66K 0+Amiga Report 4.01, January 16, 1996 Floppy_fix.lha hard/hack 6K 0+Fix for the floppy problem of newer Voodoo-1.103.lha comm/mail 424K 1+Very nice GUI MIME E-Mail reader for mn_ansitest.lha comm/mebbs 3K 30+ANSI Test Door for MEBBSNet AMountains.lha gfx/fract 67K 1+Fractal landscape generator taskbar3.lha util/wb 19K 0+Win95 style taskbar (bugs fixed) ST210.lha biz/patch 767K 0+Studio V2.10b Update of the printer cybershow60.lha gfx/board 96K 1+SlideShow&Viewer(incl.PCD)for CybGfx DeliTracker222.lha mus/play 717K 1+Bugfixes & some new players/genies gsv.lha game/gag 17K 1+Win95's General Priviledge Violation uconv14.lha gfx/conv 1.1M 0+Best converter. 32 Filters...MPEG Su amtank.lha game/2play 322K 1+A tanks clone. GUItcp.lha comm/net 3K 1+Launches TCP & Related programs from mnews0_2.lha comm/news 45K 0+MUI news group reader for AmiTCP. V0 MagiC64.lha misc/emu 286K 0+The fastest C64 emulator for Amiga V RAM-icon.lha pix/mwb 10K 0+Replaces RAM-icons (Disk, Env, T, Cl xtd-tp5.txt demo/tp95 19K 1+Report from THE PARTY 5 - Worst Part IconifyGadget.lha util/misc 12K 1+Adds iconify gadget to windows. BETA Worms+.lha game/misc 37K 1+2 new WORMS Maps by Maxime/RamJam | The highest rated programs during the week until 22-Jan-96 | Updated weekly. Best program on top. Please rate all the programs you | download. To do so, send to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu : | RATE | where is the file you want to judge and is a mark from 0..10 | with 10 being the best. You can rate several programs in one mail, but | don't rate your own programs. Example: RATE dev/gui/mui23usr.lha 8 | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- imdbDiff951222.lha biz/dbase 704K 3+Diffs for the Internet MovieDatabase upcat13.lha biz/dbase 64K 91+A disk catalog program. Voodoo-1.103.lha comm/mail 424K 1+Very nice GUI MIME E-Mail reader for E-MailMosaic.lha comm/tcp 23K 6+To get & put E-Mail with Mosaic ar401.lha docs/mags 66K 0+Amiga Report 4.01, January 16, 1996 AmigaFAQg.lha docs/misc 489K 4+Amiga: H ufig gestellte Fragen ( 5.0 ParrotIsland.lha game/demo 761K 3+Very great adventure like Monkey Isl tritus_demo.lha game/demo 213K 6+Superb 3-player Tetris Clone DiamondCave2_3.lha game/misc 563K 4+The ultimate Boulder Dash Clone V2.3 JTEWorms.lha game/misc 54K 5+4 Custom Maps for Worms xanimwin003.lha gfx/show 34K 2+MUI based GUI for XAnim SoundBox22.lha mus/misc 122K 11+Converts soundfiles and plays 14 bit viva-amiga.lha pix/imagi 300K 7+Pro-Amiga Imagine raytrace - VIVA AM Repack3_4.lha util/arc 27K 2+Update of the best ->LZX repacker, G uuxt31.lha util/arc 109K 26+The Best UUcoder with full WB suppor Remind1.52.lha util/cdity 55K 19+Never forget an important event agai mcxp212.lha util/cdity 54K 2+MUI Preferences for MultiCX scrwiz11.lha util/cdity 68K 41+Small,configurable public screen man Index2GuideV13.lha util/conv 14K 4+AmiNets Index/Recent -> AmigaGuide V PGPtoGUIV2.0e.lha util/crypt 36K 1+A GUI for PGP. V2.0e-english-languag XPKDT-1.0B.lha util/dtype 14K 8+DataType for XPK compressed files ReqToolsUsr.lha util/libs 156K 1+ReqTools 2.4 - the requester toolkit GrabKick.lha util/misc 3K 1+Copy KICKSTART-ROM to a file V1.7 snoopdos30.lha util/moni 128K 70+System monitor, many new features ad VZ_II126.lha util/virus 160K 5+VirusZ v1.26 by Georg H rmann TimeConnect.lha comm/misc 66K 0+Phone Call coster/logger with MUI AmigaFAQ.lha docs/misc 468K 4+Amiga: Frequently asked questions 5 nemac4d1.lha game/demo 441K 6+3D T-mapped game demo 1/3. Read .rea nemac4d2.lha game/demo 695K 6+3D T-mapped game demo 2/3. Read .rea nemac4d3.lha game/demo 698K 6+3D T-mapped game demo 3/3. Read .rea @endnode @node CHARTS2 "Aminet Charts: 12-Feb-96" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 12-Feb-96 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- mui32fix.lha dev/gui 83K 1+Muimaster.library V13.687, little bu ar402.lha docs/mags 75K 0+Amiga Report 4.02, January 31, 1996 mui32usr.lha dev/gui 796K 1+MagicUserInterface V3.2, user files MCP110.lha util/cdity 395K 1+MAJOR UPDATE! The mother of the WB-U Play16_1.6.lha mus/play 91K 0+Plays WAV, IFF, MAUD, etc, 14 bit ou NewIconsV2.lha util/wb 400K 0+Revolutionary GUI Enhancement System Voodoo-1.209.lha comm/mail 485K 0+Premiere GUI MIME E-Mail reader for ClassPatch10b.lha util/wb 19K 0+Replaces standard GUI with other GUI lowfrag12.lha util/boot 6K 0+Prevent Memory Fragmentation! AmigaSurf.lha pix/illu 397K 0+Snapshots of Amiga Surfer HotNews.txt docs/misc 1K 1+Amiga-Scene *HOT* News (Read'n'Sprea VZ_II128.lha util/virus 166K 0+VirusZ v1.28 by Georg Hoermann SayMore.lha util/wb 12K 1+Say replacement with more options v0 xpkDMCB.lha util/pack 7K 0+Powerful data packer. 68020+, FPU, > aMiPEG05.lha gfx/show 116K 1+MPEG player with support for CyberGr SSpeed13.lha util/moni 361K 0+SysSpeed V 1.3 - THE Speedtester ..g BlocNotes36.lha util/cdity 48K 0+The unique Post-It commodity for AMI WBStartupPlus.lha util/boot 52K 1+V2.6 Expands WBStartup capabilities. Amiscape.lha pix/illu 9K 1+Preview Picture of Amiscape pckeybhack.lha hard/hack 45K 0+Plug a PC keyboard to your Amiga. | The highest rated programs during the week until 12-Feb-96 | Updated weekly. Best program on top. Please rate all the programs you | download. To do so, send to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu : | RATE | where is the file you want to judge and is a mark from 0..10 | with 10 being the best. You can rate several programs in one mail, but | don't rate your own programs. Example: RATE dev/gui/mui23usr.lha 8 | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- upcat13.lha biz/dbase 64K 94+A disk catalog program. AmiSlate1.4.lha comm/tcp 197K 2+Net paint & games v1.4 for AmiTCP an E-MailMosaic.lha comm/tcp 23K 9+To get & put E-Mail with Mosaic mftp1_33.lha comm/tcp 79K 2+Update for mftp1_31.lha (MUI ftp cli CNCD-Closer.lha demo/tp95 2.3M 2+Closer 1/1 *AGA* (1st Place At The D ar323.lha docs/mags 80K 5+Amiga Report 3.23, December 31, 1995 ar401.lha docs/mags 66K 3+Amiga Report 4.01, January 16, 1996 ParrotIsland.lha game/demo 761K 6+Very great adventure like Monkey Isl tritus_demo.lha game/demo 213K 9+Superb 3-player Tetris Clone JTEWorms.lha game/misc 54K 8+4 Custom Maps for Worms WhizzHD.lha game/patch 12K 1+Whizz (Amiga Tech) HD-Inst 1.2 local argus.lha game/shoot 356K 1+Vertical scrolling. Fast with great xanimwin003.lha gfx/show 34K 5+MUI based GUI for XAnim MagiC64.lha misc/emu 286K 3+The fastest C64 emulator for Amiga V sfx-bin_30.lha mus/edit 299K 2+V 3.3 Binary for 68030 sfx-bin_40m.lha mus/edit 285K 2+V 3.3 Binary for 68040+FPU SoundBox22.lha mus/misc 122K 14+Converts soundfiles and plays 14 bit viva-amiga.lha pix/imagi 300K 10+Pro-Amiga Imagine raytrace - VIVA AM Repack3_4.lha util/arc 27K 5+Update of the best ->LZX repacker, G uuxt31.lha util/arc 109K 29+The Best UUcoder with full WB suppor ToolManager21a.lha util/boot 24K 27+Small update for ToolManager 2.1 ToolManager21b.lha util/boot 490K 143+ToolManager 2.1 (Binaries and Docume ToolManager21g.lha util/boot 175K 143+ToolManager 2.1 (Anims, Brushes and ToolManager21s.lha util/boot 280K 143+ToolManager 2.1 (Source code and Pro ToolsDaemon21a.lha util/boot 87K 105+Add menus/submenus to WB menu strip BExchange12.lha util/cdity 142K 2+An exchange clone, using bgui.librar mcxp214.lha util/cdity 54K 2+MUI Preferences for MultiCX scrwiz11.lha util/cdity 68K 44+Small,configurable public screen man @endnode @node MAILLIST "Amiga Report Mailing List" @toc WHERE =========================================================================== Amiga Report Mailing List =========================================================================== If you have an internet mailing address, you can receive Amiga Report in @{"UUENCODED" link UUENCODE} form each week as soon as the issue is released. To be put on the list, send Email to majordomo@amigalib.com. Your subject header will be ignored. In the body of the message, enter subscribe areport The system will automatically pull your e-mail address from the message header. Your account must be able to handle mail of any size to ensure an intact copy. For example, many systems have a 100K limit on incoming messages. ** IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE be certain your host can accept mail over ** ** 100K! We have had a lot of bouncebacks recently from systems with a ** ** 100K size limit for incoming mail. If we get a bounceback with your ** ** address in it, it will be removed from the list. Thanks! ** @endnode @node UUENCODE @toc MAILLIST =========================================================================== UUDecoding Amiga Report =========================================================================== If you receive Amiga Report from the direct mailing list, it will arrive in UUEncoded format. This format allows programs and archive files to be sent through mail by converting the binary into combinations of ASCII characters. In the message, it will basically look like a lot of trash surrounded by begin and end, followed by the size of the file. To UUDecode Amiga Report, you first need to get a UUDecoding program, such as UUxT by Asher Feldman. This program is available on Aminet in pub/aminet/arc/ Then you must download the message that it is contained in. Don't worry about message headers, the UUDecoding program will ignore them. There is a GUI interface for UUxT, which should be explained in the docs. However, the quickest method for UUDecoding the magazine is to type uuxt x ar.uu at the command prompt. You will then have to decompress the archive with lha, and you will then have Amiga Report in all of its AmigaGuide glory. If you have any questions, you can write to @{"Jason Compton" link JASON} @endnode @node AMINET "Aminet" @toc WHERE Aminet ====== To get Amiga Report from Aminet, simply FTP to any Aminet site, CD to docs/mags. All the back issues are located there as well. Sites: ftp.netnet.net, ftp.wustl.edu, ftp.tas.gov.au, ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk @endnode @node WWW "World Wide Web" @toc WHERE World Wide Web ============== AR can also be read with Mosaic (in either AmigaGuide or html form). Reading AmigaReport with Mosaic removes the necessity to download it. It can also be read using programs found in UNIX sites such as LYNX. Simply tell Mosaic to open one of the following URLs: http://www.omnipresence.com/Amiga/News/AR/ http://www.pwr.wroc.pl/AMIGA/AR/ http://mm.iit.uni-miskolc.hu/Data/AR http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/amiga/ar/ http://ramiga.rnet.cgi.com/~AR http://www.sci.muni.cz/ar/ http://metro.turnpike.net/P/panther/main.html http://www.lysator.liu.se/amiga/ar/ http://ArtWorks.apana.org.au/AmigaReport.html http://www.vol.it/MIRROR2/EN/AMIGA/ http://www.cucug.org/ar/ar.html The following AR sites also have a mailto form, allowing you to mail to Amiga Report from the web site.