@database "ar501.guide"
@Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #5.01 -- January 23, 1997"
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  January 23, 1997            @{" Turn the Page " link MENU}             Issue No. 5.01
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Subject: Mods Anthology Review in AR411 Hello Jason! I'm the author of the Mods Anthology CDROM, and I've *just* found out that you had reviewed it in a previous AR issue! (shame on me ;) First, thanks for this! Secondly, I read that you didn't manage to use the "MAFind" tool? I quote you: > There is an informative AmigaGuide readme file included and a search > facility. Unfortunately, the search script does not seem to work > completely on my system: it will locate strings in song titles on all > four CDs, but will not interactively load them. I guess that you forgot to do something _important_ before running MAFind, either: - Forgot to execute the "Click_Me_First" script (on any CD)? These scripts include some important 'Assign' commands, *required* for MAFind to be able to send the mods to Delitracker from the AmigaGuide just-built document. - Forgot to launch Delitracker!? eheh this may happen... - Forgot to launch "RexxMast" in your system? It is of course needed. Otherwise, I don't know what happened... but you must have forgotten something, as the MAFind worked very well for all other users. Too bad that you didn't manage, because MAFind is really a strong point of this collection! Those who hadn't any problem to make it run were all very delighted with its power, believe me ;) Best regards, Nicolas gryzor@club-internet.fr --- --- --- From: ROI@hotline.pfalz.de (EMMANUEL HENNÉ) Subject: Re: AMIGA - What pisses *YOU* off? Take note JASON COMPTON! "Captain !"-"Yes, Data ?"-"There`s an incoming subspace message concerning "Re: AMIGA - What pisses *YOU* off? Take note JASON COMPTON!"!"-"Who sent it ?"- "Jason Compton, Sir." "To the captain`s lounge, Mr Data." Thanks a lot, Jason, for AR 415. Do You have the FIRST of all AReports still on Your harddisk ? That must be a collector`s item, could You send it to me :) ? CU, Emmanuel - Amiga Report 1.01, and all back issues, are available on Aminet. I wasn't even an AR reader when the first issue came out, I started reading in AR 1.14 and had my first article published in 1.19...and the rest is history... - Jason --- --- --- From: Donald Feldbruegge Subject: Amiga Thoughts Hello Jason, I have been following (with interest) the recent series of posts about QuikPak and VIScorp, and the effect on the future of the Amiga. I decided to make a brief, private, non-inflammatory comment. If you are correct about the inability of the many interested parties to work together for the future of the Amiga, then I fear that the A4000 was the last Amiga that will ever be produced. I hope you are wrong this time, but my gut feeling is that you may be correct. I don't think that any of the companies, individually, has the needed resources (people and/or money) to produce an Amiga. I doubted that VIScorp could pull off the computer along with the set-top box. My feeling is that QuikPak can manufacture, advertise and sell; however, Operating System and hardware design is beyond their capabilities. I think that PIOS has probably lost interest in the AmigaOS, but would be unable to deal with manufacturing and selling, if it were to regain interest. Each company, alone, has strengths and weaknesses. If any of them try to do the whole thing alone, they will fail due to lavk of resources. What was the old saying about "together we may succeed, but individually we will undoubtedly fail." I know that each of the companies has their own interests, but I feel an alliance would benefit all of them. If they can't work together, I don't think that the Amiga name and AT property is worth anything at all. As I said, I hope you are wrong, but you are probably correct. In that case, we had better stop worrying about the Amiga and start to think about what is the best replacement. Otherwise the whole market will finally fragment (PIOS ONE, A\BOX, who knows what else) and there will be no successor at all. Of course, I suppose that I could just shrug my shoulders and say that my Amigas are working fine; however, there will be no future software developement and I will eventually end up in a time-warp like the Amiga. :-) Enough of my comments. Best wishes, Donald Feldbruegge - Mr. Feldbruegge is referring to posts where I expressed doubts that a successful "consortium of Amiga companies" could be put together to jointly purchase the Amiga. I stand by what I said, and it's backed up by a number of the exact companies that people like to bring up in this sort of discussion. This doesn't mean I have no hope for the continuation of the Amiga--quite the opposite--but I just don't find that particular scenario realistic. But yes, it will definitely be worth watching the Amiga-spawned technologies and where they go. - Jason --- --- --- From: "Eric Fortier" Subject: Letter to the editor Hello Jason. I would like to thank you for your commitment to AR. 1997 will hopefully be a better year, and I wish you receive the credit you deserve. First, regarding Windows 95. As a programmer, computer phreak and Amigaphile, I was anxious to get my hands on Windows 95 when it came out in August 1995. When i first installed it, it crashed, and I had to reformat my drive. But when it ran correctly, it was great! A new better interface, faster response to various activities, more robustness, it all made perfect sense! Then, I started REALLY using it. Ho boy, do I miss the Amiga! But why? Windows 95 is a MUCH more powerfull OS! it's has built-in virtual memory which is quite reliable! Built-in drivers for internet protocols and "almost" any devices, modems, cards, ect! a really cool taskbar that allows you to very easily switch programs! A System Tray which has mini icons representing various system utilities curently running which you can simply point and click to acces! and so much more!! Well, there are various reason why now, almost 1 1/2 year later I absolutely *HATE* windows 95 (soon to be 97). The system is so complex it's incredibly Crash-Prone. I won't get into more Windows 95 bashing, but I just want to spill my guts: It's because of such piece of software that we can't get along with just 16 megs of memory. It's because of such software that we can't stand our 486 computers anymore. It's HUUUGE, unoptimized. It's build as a pre-emptive OS on a computer that has only 1 processor. What's the deal here? Ha well, I guess newsgroups such as alt.windows95.crash.crash.crash have a reason to exist. And from this I would like to link to a letter Gustav Kjeldsen wrote you regarding MUI. This "Toolkit" is the embodiment of everything I don't like about today's Computers and OSes. It give people easier things to use at the expense of system resources. I agree that it's an incredible piece of software. it provide users with very advanced system configuration options. But to have EVERY program use this? I don't think so. Or if they would, we'd all have to get more memory and processor updates REAL soon. To quote Gustav: "Nobody could be dissatisfied with that... Unless they WANT something different, but then they won't follow ANY standard, and that's not too admireable..." I wouldn't have said that to people of Newtek when they were making the first release of the Toaster! You see, that is exactly what people feels like. Get with the flow! don't try and do things on your own, you won't succeed! Go with standards! It's easier! Don't Reinvent the wheel! And I just hope you don't think i'm getting this from my sick psyche. As a Windows programmer, I'm on several mailing list, and receive ~100 emails everyday. I can tell you that many developpers think in the line of "I won't do this software for anything below a pentium 90, people WILL switch!" This is what Microsoft tought, and today, due to competition, they provide Windows 3.1 users with their very own version of Internet Explorer. On another topic I would like to talk about the future of the Amiga. First, my personal views are that we need to embrace what first made the Amiga a success. Unique hardware. This is to my opinion the only way a computer can really stand apart. a PC box is just that. a box with an Intel processor in it. But there is a catch. A PC Pentium motherboard without the processor goes for around $130 canadian dollars. It all comes down to the price. The hardware must be so unique as to provide people with such power that the price would be worth it. And to my opinion it's not possible by embracing all the current PC standards. The only way I see that a computer can be profitable is by the brainstorming of people, pushing to make new developments in the area of hardware. In that respect, the only company I can support is Phase 5 which stand by these same principles. Coupled with the right software, something really new and improved,better and more pleasing can be made. The OS must be utterely configurable and should come with the basic tools used to maintain/use it: File manager, backup software, disk salvage/defragmenter, builtin internet support, ect. And it should not take 70 megs on your HD! (my windows directoy is actually 90.3 megs, excluding VM swapfile) These are some of my views. In it's current state, the Amiga is fun, but outragously underpowered. In the future, it should be highly modular, powered by the state of the art technology and Unique hardware. I thank you for reading this long email and wish you a really good and properous new year. Eric Fortier - RIR/TechLogic - Quality Document Imaging for all sizes --- --- --- @endnode @node NEWS1 "Easter 1997 Invite" @toc NEWS Invitation: Verion 1.1 Release date: 18.12.96 MEKKA '97 SYMPOSIUM '97 The Official Invitation V1.1 +------ Easter 1997 ------+ Polka Brothers * Phantasm Lego * Smash Designs Amable * Avena +---------+ + Content + +---------+ 1. Introduction 2. General Information (Date, Location, Bustrip, Price) 3. Features 4. Competitions 5. Timetable 6. CD-ROM 7. Organisers / Contacts 8. History 9. Disclaimer +---------------+ + 1. Introduction + +---------------+ Nearly one year ago two great parties took place: -> Mekka'96 (29th to 31st of march): Mekka was held the first time in 1996 and was a great success. Over 300 attenders from different countries joined the event. Before Mekka, there was no real party for the german pc demo scene in our country. -> Symposium'96 (5th to 8th of april): Symposium took place the 9th time and about 650 attenders from all over Europe came to be part of this special event. The multi-plattform party got a good reputation cause it is a scene party organized by scene people. At eastern 1997 these both parties will be combined - not competing like last year - to provide you even more fun, entertainment and partyfeeling. It does not matter what kind of computers you like - we will support all platform and most of them will be represented by well known and famous demo groups for sure. - PC - Amiga - C64 - Atari Falcon - Acorn RISC PCs - This time Symposium/Mekka'97 will be an event not to miss - and remember: If you don't come... it's your fault! +------------------------+ + 2. General Information + +------------------------+ Date: ----- Join us at Easter 1997. We will open the doors for you on -> Friday 28 to Monday 31 of March 1997 The doors will be opened on Friday at 12:00 CET. Location: --------- The party will take place at -> "Heidmarkhalle Fallingbostel" between Hamburg and Hannover (approximatly 100km to the south of Hamburg) with enough space for about 2000 attenders. By car: ------- You can reach the partyplace over the highway "Autobahn A7", exit "Fallingbostel". You will find signs directing you from this exit to the party. By train: --------- You will have to get to station "Fallingbostel" with the "Deutsche Bundesbahn". We will setup a bus-shuttle service to the party. Please contact: -> Michael Krause - Mannesallee 24 - 21107 Hamburg, GERMANY rawstyle@blackbox.dame.de, ii7349@fh-wedel.de (Raw Style/Lego) in advance to make sure that our bus is at the train-station if you are arriving. Bustrip: -------- Of course you can come by bus too. At the moment we have information about at least two bustrips coming from -> Switzerland and collection attenders from south germany too. If ----------- ------------- you want to join this bustrip or your need additional information about this bustrip please contact: "furball@space.ch". -> Sweden. This trip is organized by Excel/Balance and Newt/Abyss. If ------- enough people come together there might even be more than one bus. All this is not absolutely sure yet, but if you are interested, you can send Excel a mail: "excelblc@freenet.hut.fi". If have information about any other bustrips or you want to organize one please contact: -> Malte Kanebley - Im Dorfe 3 - 21629 Neu Wulmstorf, GERMANY amable@aol.com (Hardball/amable), voice: +49-4168-8611 Price: ------ The entrance fee amounts 40 DM / person (about 25 US-Dollars). We are not able to change foreign currencies. The organisation is !NON-COMMERCIAL! As usual the entrance-fee will be distributed among the winners of the competitions. Pay in advance (possible until 28.02.97): ----------------------------------------- If you decide to pay in advance you can save 5 DM / person.Please transfer the entrance-fee (35 DM / person) to the following bank- account: -> Name of the Bank : Kreissparkasse Harburg Bank-Nr (BLZ) : 207 500 00 Account-Nr (Kto) : 211 00 888 Name : "Malte Kanebley" You will have to choose a password to protect your money. Please attach this line [german: "Verwendungszweck"] to your money order: -> "97"-HANDLE-PASSWORD-REALNAME Additional you have to send an email or snail-mail to -> Malte Kanebley - Im Dorfe 3 - 21629 Neu Wulmstorf, GERMANY amable@aol.com (Hardball/amable), voice: +49-4168-8611. This is important because we need this to verify your money reached us properly. You will get a confirmation and an entrance-ticket. +-------------+ + 3. Features + +-------------+ Of course a lot of features await you: -> Everyone talks about *Internet* and so do we. We will have a Internet cafe installed for you with lots of terminals for IRC and Web access. -> A ethernet network running with a big fileserver and party chat connected to the IRC. Our equipment will hopefully provide a fast and save party network all 72 hours. -> We will present all compos on a big screen of 6 * 4 squaremeters and a powerfull Dolby Surround music system. -> 100% public voting on all compos for everybody at the partyplace. -> There will be a quiet place for you to sleep if you decide not to do this in front of your computer or under the table ;) -> Network: we are selling network equipment like NE2000 network cards or ethernet cables and connectors for a low price as well. -> Live performances on the stage (one hour per day). -> A mind blasting laser show (not absolutely sure). -> Many other features we are not able or not willing to tell you yet. Now that we're organizing this party, you might think that all you can do is visiting it. This is wrong: We give you the one and only chance to produce yourself. If you want to give a lecture on something or if you have another idea of enriching the event, you're very welcome to do so. We would like you to contact someone of us as soon as possible, though. +-----------------+ + 4. Competitions + +-----------------+ General competition rules: -------------------------- -> The Rules may change until the party starts. -> At least one of the competitors must be present. -> We must have all entries until deadline. -> We will have a preselection for the music compos. Only 15 entries will be presented. The preselection will be done by a jury of known scene people. -> Anonymous competition means that the entry must not reveal who the author is. A separate version including a tag can be provided and will be spread instead. -> The entry must be released at the party - not at any time before and not on other parties taking place at the same time (we will exchange us with the organizers of all other parties). -> You must release a "final"-version of your productions at the party. -> You have to license us to put your production on any digital media. -> The entry must be one archive with description (FILE_ID.DIZ).The name of the archive MUST be compatible with ISO 9660: only the characters "A"-"Z","0"-"9" and the underscore "_" are allowed! System configuration: --------------------- PC: --- -> The production must support a GUS or SB and -> your production MUST support NOSOUND too. -> The program must NOT use the commandline to select the soundcard. (use a soundcard-selection-menu or use a autodetect-function). -> 1oo% VGA-Register compatible videomode MUST BE SUPPORTED. -> Additionally you can use VESA 2.0-videomodes, too! -> Your can test your production up to 3 times on our PC to fix the latest hardware-problems. -> The Competition-PC will have following configuration: Prozessor : Pentium 100 (maybe better) RAM : 16 MByte Videocard : PCI-Board with fast Videocard and 2 MB RAM Soundboard : - Gravis Ultrasound with 1 MByte RAM - Creative SoundBlaster 16 ASP (maybe AWE32) Operating System: DOS 6.2 Max. Base-Mem : 600 KByte (3D 614400 Bytes) Memory Configs. : HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE; no FlatRealMode! Amiga: ------ -> Processor: 68030 running at 50MHz, AGA. 68060 is optional. -> RAM : 2 + 16 MByte Atari: ------ -> Standard Falcon configuration C64: ---- -> New SID -> Action Replay MK6 -> 1541-II disk drive. Acorn: ------ -> Bring your own ;) Competitions: ------------- Demo (PC, Amiga, Atari, Acorn, C64): ------------------------------------ -> Maximum size PC, Amiga, Atari, Acorn: 6 MByte (3D 6291456 Bytes). -> Maximum sizee C64: standard 5,25" DD disk. -> Must not require installation (Assigns, Libs, Drivers, etc.). -> No precalculated animations are allowed. -> Write access to the disk is NOT allowed. -> For PC: It must be possible to interrupt the Demo with ESC. -> Only the first 15 min. of the Demo will be shown on the screen. Intro (PC, Amiga, Atari): ------------------------- -> Maximum size PC: 64 KByte (3D 65536 Bytes). -> Maximum size Amiga: 40 KByte (3D 40960 Bytes). -> Maximum size Atari: 96 KByte (3D 98304 Bytes). -> Must not require installation (Assigns, Libs, Drivers, etc.). -> No precalculated animations are allowed. -> Write access to the disk is NOT allowed. -> For PC: It must be possible to interrupt the Intro with ESC. -> Only the first 10 min. of the Intro will be shown on the screen. Intro 4KB (PC, Amiga): ---------------------- -> Maximum size: 4 KByte (3D 4096 Bytes). -> Sound (MIDI, AdLib, PC-Speaker or whatever you want) is possible. [Please include nessesary drivers] -> Write access to the disk is NOT allowed. -> Only the first 5 min. of the Intro will be shown on the screen. Game 32KB (PC): --------------- -> Maximum size: 32 KByte (3D 32768 Bytes). -> Just code a little, funny game, e.g. jump'n'run or shoot`em`up or whatever you want (KLF: what about magic carpet 32KB? ;). -> The coder of the game will play it on the big-screen. -> Write access to the disk is allowed (hiscore, playerinfo, etc.). If these files are *not needed* to run the game they can increse size by 8KB (so 40KB possible). We will delete these files before running the game on the compo-pc. Protracker Module (4 channel, all plattforms): ---------------------------------------------- -> Maximum size: 1 MByte (3D 1048576 Bytes) unpacked. -> Only the first 3 min. will be played during the competition. Music (all plattforms): ----------------------- -> Maximum size: 1.4 MByte (3D 1457664 Bytes). -> For PC: must be playable with Cubic-Player 1.7. -> For other plattforms: must be executable. -> MIDI is not allowed. -> Only the first 3 min. will be played during the competition. Music (C64): ------------ -> All formats allowed, executable file. -> The C64 screen will not be shown during the compo. Graphics (all plattforms, ANONYMOUS): ------------------------------------- -> Allowed formats: max. 640x512 24bit, IFF, GIF, PNG, JPEG. -> Raytracing is possible. We need at least three significant steps of the picure. -> Scanned pictures are not allowed. Graphics (C64, ANONYMOUS): -------------------------- -> All formats/modes allowed. -> Must be an executable file. ANSi (all Plattforms): ---------------------- -> Not more than 200 Lines! Wild: ----- -> Anything possible, exept animations - only realtime calculation. -> Use any hardware you want. -> You must bring your hardware with you (we need F-BAS, Composite, VGA or RGB-output). Video: ------ -> Anything possible. -> Must be on VHS or S-VHS tape. Surprise: --------- -> We will have some surprise-competitions at the party, too. -> You really think we would tell you those compos yet? -> ...of course not. But there will be FAST and FUN-COMPOS! +-----------+ + 5. CD-ROM + +-----------+ We are trying to produce a CD-ROM with all productions on it. Therefore it is nessesary, that you authorise us to put your release on the CD-ROM. You will NOT lose the rights of your productions. We don't know how long it will take to produce the CD but we will try this as fast as possible. The CD-ROM will contain all productions of -> Mekka'96, -> Symposium'96 and -> Mekka/Symposium'97. We try to include the wild- and animation-compo too. The CD-ROM will be sold for a very low price (about or less than 20 DM). +-------------+ + 6. Timetable + +-------------+ Friday: ------- 12:00 The party will start Saturday: --------- 15:00 DEADLINE for Animation, Grafix, Music, Ansi DEADLINE for PC Game 32KB, PC 4KB Intro DEADLINE for all Acorn-, Falcon- and C64-compos Sunday: ------- 10:00 DEADLINE all other compos Monday: ------- 05:00 DEADLINE Voting 09:00 Prize ceremony 12:00 We will close the doors +--------------------------+ + 7. Organizers / Contacts + +--------------------------+ The groups involved in organizing the MeKKa/Symposium '97 are -> Amable (for PC) -> Avena (for Atari) -> Lego -> Phantasm (for Amiga) -> Polka Brothers (Amiga) and -> Smash Designs (for C64). But what do names mean? It's the experience that matters. And that's what we can *boast* with: ten Symposiums, the Mekka'96, the 680xx Convention 1993 and an in-depth knowledge of the scene provide us with the power necessary for organizing such an event. More information: ----------------- -> Get our upcoming invitation intros around X-Mas, at least for PC, Amiga and C64. -> On our extensive World Wide Web pages: http://134.28.37.10/~frank/Sym97/ http://www.szczecin.pl/~rawstyle/Sym97/ http://www.tu-harburg.de/~sijt2008/ms97/ -> On the Black Box BBS: +49-4105-84619 (v34) +49-4105-669011 (ISDN) -> Directly from the organizers: PC: --- Malte Kanebley - Im Dorfe 3 - 21629 Neu Wulmstorf, GERMANY amable@aol.com (Hardball/amable), voice: +49-4168-8611 Jan Tegtmeier - Reinckeweg 9 - 22399 Hamburg, GERMANY tegtmeier@tu-harburg.de (Starcode/amable) Amiga: ------ Frank Schliefer - Am Musterplatz 27 - 21220 Seevetal, GERMANY gandalf@blackbox.dame.de (Gandalf/Phantasm) Michael Krause - Mannesallee 24 - 21107 Hamburg, GERMANY rawstyle@blackbox.dame.de, ii7349@fh-wedel.de (Raw Style/Lego) C64: ---- chaotic@blackbox.dame.de (Chaotic/Smash Designs) Atari: ------ michael_wiegers@hh3.maus.de (Jet/Avena) +-----------+ + 8. History + +-----------+ Version 1.0 (09.12.96): ----------------------- -> First invitation text released. Version 1.1 (18.12.96): ----------------------- -> Bustrip from sweden added. -> Timetable added (deadlines only). -> Pay in advance only possible until end of february -> Compo rulez changed a very bit. -> Removed a few grammatical mistakes -> No more time to waste +---------------+ + 9. Disclaimer + +---------------+ -> We are not responsible for your equipment you bring to the party: keep an eye on it. -> We are not responsible for possible accidents during the party. -> We are not interested in troublemaking people and will throw them out. -> Drugs are forbidden at the party-place. Alcoholics and smoking is not desired. -> You have to pay for everything you damage. -> You have to bring your own wires with you. There is only one power- connection for each table/computer. -> Of course hacked, cracked or illegal programs are not allowed. -> Racism is not allowed. -> You are under German law and everthing that's forbidden outside the party-place will be forbidden inside, too! @endnode @node NEWS2 "ProDad P-OS" @toc NEWS Dear Amiga-fans ! We would like to inform you about the following event: ProDad will present their portable operating system P-OS on the Amiga at the Computer Graphics 97 exhibition, 29th - 31st January 1997, Kongresshaus Zurich, Switzerland. ProDad will be at the booth of B&S Digitronic (G32). We'd like to invite you to visit our booth and take a look at the Amiga's possible future: P-OS. We also show DraCo- and Casablanca Videosystems and more ! Please feel free to ask us for more information. B&S Digitronic Chr. Merian Ring 7, CH-4153 Reinach Schweiz +41 61 711-6565 info@digitronic.ch http://www.digitronic.ch @endnode @node NEWS3 "McAgenda" @toc NEWS Short: *McAgenda* is a phonebook very easy to use, nice and useful! Uploader: robiz@mbox.vol.it (Roberto Bizzarri) Author: Roberto Bizzarri, robiz@mbox.vol.it Type: biz/dbase Requires: OS 2.0 (v37) and ReqTools.library Version: 4.3 Replaces: biz/dbase/McA42.lha McAgenda wants to be a simple phonebook. I have written it to get rid of all those big applications which require you to wander through plenty of options just to get a phone number. I'd rather use paper phonebooks for that. :) Or maybe i'd rather have used, because now there is McAgenda! McAgenda needs OS 2.0+ (v37+) and "reqtools.library" (© Nico François & Magnus Holmgren). A u t h o r ~~~~~~~~~~~ You can find me here: Internet Email : robiz@mbox.vol.it Fidonet matrix : Roberto Bizzarri, 2:332/901.31 Snail mail : Roberto Bizzarri, v. Giolitti 124, I-61100 Pesaro, ITALY @endnode @node NEWS4 "McFiler" @toc NEWS Short: *McFiler* catalogues files w/ many useful functions (fit,unpack,..) Uploader: robiz@mbox.vol.it (Roberto Bizzarri) Author: Roberto Bizzarri, robiz@mbox.vol.it Type: biz/dbase Requires: OS 2.0 (v37) and ReqTools.library Version: 4.3 Replaces: biz/dbase/McF42.lha __ __ _____ _ _ _ _ ____ | \/ | ___| ___(_) | ___ _ __ | || | |___ \ | |\/| |/ __| |_ | | |/ _ \ '__| | || |_ __) | | | | | (__| _| | | | __/ | |__ _| ___) | |_| |_|\___|_| |_|_|\___|_| |_|(_)|____/ This program was born to achieve a better way to catalogue and archive files on ANY MEDIA DEVICE with special functions for FLOPPIES. It features functions able to quickly trace, view, unpack, rename, discard a file, as well as hide it from your list. You'll have at your disposal two nice routines, "FitDisk" and "SingleFit", which will allow you to optimize your collection of files to fit in the least possible number of disks. McFiler requires OS 2.0+ (v37+) and "reqtools.library" v38+ (© by Nico François & Magnus Holmgren). A u t h o r ~~~~~~~~~~~ You can find me here: Internet Email : robiz@mbox.vol.it Fidonet matrix : Roberto Bizzarri, 2:332/901.31 Snail mail : Roberto Bizzarri, v. Giolitti 124, I-61100 Pesaro, ITALY @endnode @node NEWS5 "McCloud" @toc NEWS Short: McCloud: simple and quick command to *hide* a floppy disk! Uploader: robiz@mbox.vol.it (Roberto Bizzarri) Author: Roberto Bizzarri, robiz@mbox.vol.it Type: disk/misc Requires: OS 2.0 (v37) Version: 1.2 Replaces: disk/misc/McCloud1_1.lha *************************** * M c C l o u d v 1 . 2 * *************************** Written by Roberto Bizzarri © 1995-1997 English doc by Phalanx (Freeware) I N T R O D U C T I O N ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ McCloud will forbid any floppy disk access on the specified disk. It will likely be useful in case you don't want unskilled people to jam with your disks. McCloud won't provide you any data encryption, it just modifies the specified disk's bootblock to render it invisible to your computer. The reason why I decided only to modify the bootblock is principally the security: should the disk present any read/write error, you'll get your datas back with a common program like DiskSalv, QBTools and so on, while a full encryption might be more unhandy. Anyway McCloud's aim is just to protect a bit your disks, not to grant full security. If you insert in any drive a disk protected by McCloud, no icon will appear, and, if asked via CLI/Shell, the Amiga will confirm the absence of any disk in your drive! Magical, isn't it? :) /***/ Changes from v1.1 : * new arguments template * added password support * fixed bug whith bootable floppy disks @endnode @node NEWS6 "AmigaZone Web Access" @toc NEWS Greetings - The AmigaZone SIG (formerly on Portal and Plink, and now hosted by CalWeb Internet) now has a World Wide Web interface! Yes, don't rub your eyes or ::gasp:: it's true! You can now access the AmigaZone's message bases and files via your web browser! However, you must be an AmigaZone member. Our new webbalized interface is at http://amigazone.com (with no "www"). After loading graphics on that page an authorization requester appears. Enter your AmigaZone account and password and you're in! You can then use your browser to read and post to our message bases and newsgroups, see who's online, set your personal prefs (turn frames on and off depending on if you want them or you prefer table displays), and search and download in our vast file libraries. This new Zone interface augments, and does not replace our WildCat BBS style inteface at "telnet amigazone.com". And our private FTP site at "ftp amigazone.com" is still there too of course. Your same AmigaZone user ID and password get you into all three. We have two kinds of AmigaZone accounts available:: a) a free two-week trial account. Limited to 120 minutes per day, no internet email, and no multiple simultaneous logins. If you wish to apply for a two week free trial, visit our other web site at http://www.amigazone.com (the original Zone page which is still there and will not go away) and read how. b) a full registered paid account. $19.95 per month. Gets you full 24 hour a day unlimited AmigaZone access to our files, messages, live chats, your own amigazone.com email address, and you also get a full unlimited access CalWeb UNIX shell account with 10 meg free storage and web page hosting! To sign up and become a paid member, see my .sig below. Be sure to say "AmigaZone Sent me" when you join, and signup is free. MC/Visa or have and invoice sent to you monthly. CalWeb's phone support has *NO* voice mail and is open 24 hours a day! Many people have been clamoring for a web interface to the Zone. Okay, stop clamoring. You got it. (Please note - the "chat" function on our new web site will not work with anything but the Wildcat Navigator which is availble at www.mustang.com for Windows 3.1/95/NT only. I'm working on getting it ported to the Amiga and hopefully have success.. otherwise all the other web page functions will work. And AWeb-II seems to have problems with it, but IBrowse 1.02 works fine as do emulated NetScape and Internet Exploder). Again, without an AmigaZone account you can visit this new site and admire it but you can't log in. For tons of info on what the AmigaZone is, visit our original web site at: http://www.amigazone.com If you have a Zone account and wish to use it via the Web, visit our new site at: http://amigazone.com Regards, Harv Laser, AmigaZone Sysop *Portal AmigaZone has moved to CalWeb - signup is FREE! *Call 1-800-509-9322 (24 hrs.), say "Amiga Zone sent me." *Visit http://www.amigazone.com for more info. @endnode @node NEWS7 "The Graffiti Card" @toc NEWS To the Amiga community in general Everyone knows that the situation of the Amiga is now critical. Due to the lack of commercial strategies and (very often) because of bad= luck ( example : the lasting of negotions between Viscorp and the liquidator of Escom ) the Amiga is now really late, if compared with other competitive machines. Yet, solutions exists. It is still possible to prove that the Amiga can do serious applications, stunning multimedia softwares and especially amazing games. In this particular domain, we saw that the Amiga has several problems. One of this problem is the speed of the Motorola 68000 processors on Amiga computers which never went over 50 Mhz, ( compared to the speed of Pentium for example ) and another problem is the lack of chunky modes in the AGA chipset. These chunky modes allow on other platforms high end quality games, such as Doom, Duke Nukem, and Quake for the most popular, and we must recognize that these games increased drastically Pc sales. Well, why not doing these games for the Amiga ? We all know the problem of Planar pixel, poor AGA bandwidth etc... etc... Several tries were done. With the first Alien Breed 3D, it was attempted to create real chunky pixels using the copper of AGA, but we realised that the resolution of the screen was sacrified. So, converting the whole screen from chunky to planar in real time appears to be the only solution. If it allows great resolutions ( just look at Breathless or TKG to be convinced ) , it unfortunatly requires a high speed CPU to do the conversion properly and quickly. Well : here are data for the problem - No Chunky mode to do great games - Most of the Amiga users having at least a 68030/50 Mhz CPU with AGA - Some (not lots of but they exist ) game designers willing to support the Amiga There's an existing solution, but it costs a lot. It is to buy Amiga graphic cards and to develop great games for these cards. But graphics cards are not cheap, and for all A1200 users it involves buying a Tower and Zorro slots, what is also more expensive. Then, no solution ? This great problem CAN BE SOLVED ! And we want to insist on this fact : a solution exists and MUST be used to save the Amiga. This solution is the GRAFFITI CARD. This card , by only plugging in the RGB port of ANY Amiga, allows a fast, real and NECESSARY chunky mode to OCS/ECS or AGA. There are many evidence of its efficiency : - some users use graffiti modes in their emulation of APPLE Mac ( such as Shapeshifter or Emplant Lite ). Starting with a 68030/50 Mhz CPU, DOOM, MARATHON, WARCRAFT OR THIS KIND OF GREAT GAMES WORK PERFECTLY WITH AGA ! Thus we can imagine, what could be special optimized games in native Amiga code for the Graffiti modes ! - some Amiga games and demos using the Graffiti card already exists : you can find NEMAC IV ( which is furnished with the Graffiti ) and Trapped, two Doom like games, and it's only a beginning. They are working perfectly in full screen, 1 x 1, with a 68030 CPU ! - The graffiti only costs 59 , 100 $ , 140 DM or 550 FF This survey was made for 2 reasons : - if you're working in a game development company : supporting the Amiga or not please consider using this card to create or to port Pc games, as it is done for Mac. Consider also that with the Graffiti you can cover a large market : not only AGA Amiga, but ALL the Amiga, from the A500 to the A4000. - if you're a Amiga user : if you're not convinced by what we say, please get information on the Graffiti, speak about it with friends, ask on IRC channels ( such as #amiga ) etc... If you're convinced, then you must have already the card plugged in your computer !! Please, transfer this survey to ANYone you think who can be interested in this card. ( Having a chunky mode should be the most interest of any Amiga users ! ) Thank you for your cooperation. Survey made by the Amiga Community of Montpellier (south of France). Please read and visit the magasine Amiga Forever site WEB http://www.mygale.org/08/AFE e-mail afe@www.mygale.org To order the Graffiti card : contact Blittersoft, 6 Drake Mews, CrownHill Industry, Milton Keynes MK8 0ER UK Tel : +44 (0) 1908 561297 Fax : +44 (0) 1908 261488 @endnode @node NEWS8 "Amiga Raffle" @toc NEWS So Santa Claus didn't bring you that Shiny NEW Amiga this year under the Christmas TREE! Or your spouse brought you a LUMP of Coal in your stocking. Well Northwest Amiga Group wants to fulfill your Holiday Wishes... We have decided to raffle few items for just a few dollars, the feature item is an Amiga 4060T that LOADED! If you really don't need one of those (I don't know anyone who doesn't and if you don't but have one send it my way!) a second item is a SCSI Zip Drive. Drop in at: http://www.rdrop.com/users/bern/raffle check it out and best of all if goes to a VERY good cause our Amiga Users group. And while your at it check out our home page at http://www.aracnet.com/~bern/NAG. GOOD LUCK, Seasons greetings & Happy New Year! Those of you without WEB access should contact the raffle administrator at: ini@aracnet.com. @endnode @node NEWS9 "Gateway Computer Show-Amiga 97" @toc NEWS Hello, Just a short note to let everyone know that the Gateway Computer Show-Amiga 97 is progressing nicely. We would like to welcome our three newest exhibitors and attendees: Amiga Report Magazine Compuquick Media Center NewTek, Inc. Yup, that's right, NewTek. We're mighty glad to have them and the other vendors/exhibitors that have signed up. You folks are what keeps the Amiga alive. Without your support, we'd have a mighty hard time. Take a look at our updated show page at: http://www.icon-stl.net/~jwwilson/GAC/show.html If you haven't gotten any of our yellow smiley faced flyers to distribute, and you'd like to help out a little, send me an email that you want to send some to your customers, and how many you need. I'll get them right off. So far we have distributed over 2400 to clubs and companies nation wide. If you didn't hear from the last update, we also signed an agreement for 20 radio spots in St. Louis the week leading up to the show. If you want to see more done, send in your payments for your exhibitor space. We can always use your money to boost attendance and interest, and that is what you want. If you are exhibiting, don't forget to list us on your home page. List us in your flyers, and newsletters as well. Tell everyone that your coming to the show on March 15 & 16. We have a logo available which you can use as well. Just email a message that you would like one for inclusion in you ads, newsletters, flyers, home page or whatever. Thanks & happy New Year. Bob -- Bob Scharp, Chairman Gateway Computer Show - AMIGA 97 The Amiga Event, March 15 & 16, 1997 Show page: http://www.icon-stl.net/~jwwilson/GAC/show.html email to: bscharp@icon-stl.net @endnode @node NEWS10 "Upcoming UK Amiga Show" @toc NEWS To All: I have just had a press release from the organisers of the last World of Amiga Show asking me for a quote on the news they organising a new show, set down for May 17th & 18th It is being held in London at the Novatel (where it ws held last time). For where I sit, this is just the boost the UK Amiga needs and with some new projects due to be released around that time, it should be a very interesting time of the year. Hopefully, all those in the UK in Amiga misc would like to express how they feel about this impending show. I expect most of the Amiga press will have news items on this in their next issues. Larry Hickmott LH Publishing, publisher's of DrawStudio, the premier illustration package on the Amiga - get the demo, buy the package! Snail Mail to, 13 Gairloch Ave, Bletchley MK2 3DH, UK email me at larry@em.powernet.co.uk @endnode @node NEWS11 "DynosaursROM" @toc NEWS Db-Line Italy presents: DynosaursROM: 10 High quality dinosaurs objects for Imagine, LightWave 3D & 3DStudioMax. 10 objects complete of "Bones", control for the inverse kinematics and "brushes" of bump, color and specular.For Imagine, LightWave 3D 5.0 and 3DStudioMax Scenes foreprepared with walk or run. Animation rendered in "AVI" and "FLC" Available in versions for computer with a low memory... objects and brushes in "LowQuality" have more or less half poligons. Objects in DXF (without Brushes) - Objects in VRML without Brushes Doc and readme in English, French and Italian. DinosaursROM will be distributed by Db-Line and will be available during January 97 at 149USD for more information: http://www.dbline.it/mhtm/DinosaursRom-e.htm http://www.dbline.it/shtm/cd-573.htm Db-Line srl V.le Rimembranze, 26/C - 21024 Biandronno VA - ITALY Phone: +39-332-768000 ISDN - Fax: +39-332-768066 Bbs:+39-332-767383 - http://www.dbline.it @endnode @node NEWS12 "IAM Pricing" @toc NEWS Press Release 8-JAN-97 IAM Announces New Low Prices It's holiday sale prices were such a great success that IAM will continue to offer new low prices indefinitely. Of particular note, the bundle of DiskSalv4 and MRBackup (called SYA or Save Your Behind) is now reduced further to only $49, a savings of more than 50% off the original retail pricing of these two products purchased separately. Also note that the Deathbed videos and T-Shirts are no longer available. While supplies last, all direct orders for Amiga products from IAM will include free metallic Boing logos described by the Amiga Web Directory as "the quintessential Amiga collector items." NEW RETAIL PRICE LIST Connect Your Amiga! A Guide to the Internet, LANs, BBSs, and Online Services (book, 1996) $19 DiskSalv4 $30 MRBackup 2.5 $45 SYA (Save Your Behind), bundle of DS4 and MRB $49 MegaBall4 (with free XL t-shirt) $29 Amiga Envoy 2.0b $39 DICE 3.2 $100 for students/owners of other packages $75 Torn Shapes of Desire: Internet Erotica (book, 1996) $14.95 IAM products can be ordered direct from IAM via the web, mail, fax or phone. We don't accept COD orders, but do accept checks in US dollars, as well as Visa and MC (no Amex or Discover). Our shipping and handling charges are flat-rate: you can order up to one of each of our products for the same charge. We ship via USPS or UPS at our option. In the US: $6 for ground, or $9 for air. Elsewhere: $9 for surface and $15 for air. Our Amiga products are also available through Amiga dealers world wide. Intangible Assets Manufacturing 828 Ormond Avenue Drexel Hill, PA 19026-2604 USA http://www.iam.com info@iam.com -- bot mails you current info on our products sales@iam.com -- to ask questions or to place an order. voice: +1 610 853 4406 (orders only, 9-5 M-F US Eastern time) fax: +1 610 853 3733 @endnode @node NEWS13 "IAM Discovery" @toc NEWS Press Release 8-JAN-97 More Boing Logos Discovered -- And DevCon Posters Intangible Assets Manufacturing's Boing Ball logo promotion was so successful that el Presidente Dale L. Larson went out in search of any remaining stashes of these valuable collector's items. His quest is complete. IAM is again offering an assortment of these valuable collectors items free with any paid order direct from IAM, while supplies last. Customers will receive, as long as they are available, a metallic square boing logo, and metallic rectangular logos. One of the rectangular logo designs has the boing ball with the word "Amiga," the other has a rainbow checkmark with the word "Amiga." Both are supplied in two sizes. They all have an adhesive backing. These logos were originally produced for the A1000, but Commodore changed the logo design just before the first A1000s were manufactured, leaving these as surplus. They have been prized by Amiga insiders throughout Amiga history. They have been described by the Amiga Web Directory as "the quintessential Amiga collector's items." Also while supplies last, IAM customers placing a direct order for merchandise totaling more than $100 can get one of the few remaining historic 2nd Annual Amiga Developers Conference posters. These full-size art posters from 1987(?) feature a print from "RoboCity". Being nearly 10 years old, the posters are not in perfect condition, but should still look great in a frame. IAM has more than a dozen to give away. These offers apply only to new orders. IAM will not sell these items separately or ship them except with a new order. Offer subject to withdrawal at any time, our lawyers are bigger than your lawyers, etc. To hunt down more logos, Larson asked several dozen former Commodore engineers and sales people, and he unearthed two new sources for these logos. As far as he knows, these are the only remaining available quantities of these logos on the planet. IAM estimates that we have a few months supply, and we will update our web site immediately when the supply runs out. Thanks to Randell Jesup (Senior Software Engineer at Commodore, now at Scala), and Jeff Porter (Director of Advanced Systems at Commodore, now VP of Engineering for Scala) for giving up their supplies so that IAM could make them available to you. (And thanks to Bryce Nesbitt and Dave Haynie, who made their supplies available earlier.) John Orr (formerly of CATS) provided the supply of posters. Intangible Assets Manufacturing 828 Ormond Avenue Drexel Hill, PA 19026-2604 USA http://www.iam.com info@iam.com -- bot mails you current info on our products sales@iam.com -- to ask questions or to place an order. voice: +1 610 853 4406 (orders only, M-F 9-5 US Eastern time) fax: +1 610 853 3733 @endnode @node NEWS14 "A3000 SCSI Chip Update" @toc NEWS Amiga 3000 SCSI Chip Update Two weeks ago a friend brought me a used Seagate SCSI 1 gig hd (ST-11200N) for my A3000. It seemed to work well, until I realized that long IFF files were mangled in the transfers. I thought about Bob Krusinski's article, 'SCSI Chip Upgrade', in the Amiga Report 4.11 and that I might have one of those defective chips. My friend, Ermanno Di Mario of DMgraphics, who brought me the hard disk had the same idea and he brought over his Oktagon SCSI board to test. After a few days of smooth running it became evident that the problem was in the old WD SCSI chip. Ermanno contacted those few Amiga assistance labs that still exist in Italy without finding a new chip. Then he contacted an electronic distributer: RS Components spa via Cadorna 66 Vimodrone (Milano) tel 039.2.274251 and found they had another WD SCSI chip in stock: WD33C93B-PL-00. We went to RS and they gave us a 15-page printout of chip specs in which it indicated that it was backward compatible to the 'A' chip in most cases and that it had SCSI-II capacity. I took a chance and bought it. The hard disk has been running perfectly on my A3000 for over a week now, so I can say that Western Digital's WD33C93B-PL-00 is a good substitute. For those outside of the U.S. who would have difficulty taking advantage of Bob Krusinki's generous offer, the possiblity of finding the 'B' chip shouldn't pose any great difficulty. http://www.galactica.it/on_the_way/indice-i.html stom@galactica.it ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stanley Tomshinsky..via Fiori Chiari 20..Milan 20121 Italy..+39.2.866992 @endnode @node NEWS15 "UltraAccounts 3.4" @toc NEWS TITLE UltraAccounts 3.4 AUTHOR Richard Smedley PO Box 59 Sutton-In-Ashfield Nottinghamshire NG17 3HP England rsmedley@cix.compulink.co.uk DESCRIPTION An intuitive & easy-to-use accounts program, specially designed to be suitable for non-computer-users as well as experts. Features include: - Multiple accounts & transaction tags. - Compatible with UltraPayAdvice, for taking care of all your payslips. (Aminet: biz/misc/ultrapay.lha) - Debit & credit standing orders, and timed transfers. The transactions entered by these timed events can be edited or erased *without* duplicate entries being created. - Budgeting facilities. - Common transactions & transfers: These let you predefine the details of commonly-used transactions and transfers (eg. doing the weekly shopping) to save you from having to keep typing in exactly the same details each time you enter that transaction. - Reminders: Make sure that you don't miss any important events like birthdays/anniversaries, or bills that need paying. - Pie, bar and line graphs, with optional future projections. - Encrypted files, optionally password protected. - Multiple data export configurations. NEW FEATURES - Major improvements to the GUI. - Now supports up to 50 seperate accounts, 50 tags, etc. - Bar & line graphs are again account-based instead of tag-based. - You can now select the start & end dates of the transactions to be displayed on the screen. - When erasing timed events, you are now asked whether or not you also want to erase the transactions created by those events. - When selecting start & end dates, you're no longer restricted to dates with transactions on them! - Numerous bug fixes and enhancements. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS - Requires: AmigaOS 2.0, 2 meg ram, reqtools.library (supplied) - Recommended: AmigaOS 3.0, hard drive, additional memory AVAILABILITY Available via FTP from Aminet sites. ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/biz/misc/ultraacc.lha (149785 bytes) PRICE The unregistered version is fully functional, but will display shareware reminders from time to time. Standard registration fee is 10 Pounds Sterling (or equivalent) DISTRIBUTABILITY Shareware, unregistered copies are freely distributable. UltraAccounts is (C) Richard Smedley 1997 @endnode @node NEWS16 "AWN Popular Banners" @toc NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 18 1997 The Amiga Web Network has just announced the most popular Amiga banners for the year ending 1996. The banners were judged by thousands of Amiga users worldwide over the past 4 months. Along with the 3 Most Popular banners, other categories include Best Overall Banner and Unique Design and Theme. Winners include: 1. MOST POPULAR BANNER Shape's Domain (IBrowse Plugins), with a score of 12.20% ProWb (Workbench Enhancement), with a score of 12.02% WorkbenchNG (Workbench Enhancement), with a score of 10.87% 2. BEST OVERALL BANNER Safe Harbor Online (Mailorder and Retail) 3. UNIQUE DESIGN AND THEME Netrunners (Web Host) You can view these winning banners and their home pages by visiting: http://www.amicrawler.com/search2/amicrawler/banners/awards.html @endnode @node NEWS17 "Cyclone Compiler" @toc NEWS Cyclone is a new Modula-2 compiler for the Amiga. Although it can be used for compiling standard Modula-2 programs, there is far more to Cyclone than that. Cyclone has added many features to Modula-2, including many you will recognise from Modula-3, Oberon, ADA, E and C++. What is more, it does this without losing any consistency and Cyclone still feels like a Modula-2 compiler should. The extensions to the standard Modula-2 language include objects with polymorphism, exceptions, lists (like in E) and many more. Cyclone also has a very good compiler. It manages to achieve a compilation speed faster than any C compiler, making program development faster and easier than with a C compiler. Even very large projects can compile in a matter of seconds. What is more, Cyclone does not sacrifice any code quality in order to achieve these compilation speeds. All the optimisations you would expect from a professional compiler are there, including function inlining, case table generation and peephole optimisations and if all these optimisations aren't enough it also offers one of the best inline assembler systems ever seen in an Amiga compiler. The resultant executables are also among the smallest produced by any compiler, due to a smart linking system that doesn't waste any space and the excellent optimiser, and can be made reentrent very easily. Support for Cyclone is also impressive. As well as Cyclone equivalents for all the standard C includes, special modules are provided for things like thread handling (courtesy of Robert Ennals), thread streams and Object orientated features. If the provided modules are not enough, Cyclone can output standard blink compatible objects allowing you to link with programs written in other languages. A library linker is also provided to allow easy creation of Amiga Libraries and it gives very high quality results. However possibly the most incredible thing about Cyclone is that despite it's incredible features and high quality code output, it is Giftware, so even the poorest programmer has no excuse to not switch to Cyclone. You can find Cyclone on Aminet (dev/m2). Marcel Timmermans EMail: mtimmerm@worldaccess.nl http://www.worldaccess.nl/~mtimmerm @endnode @node NEWS18 "Danish Amiga Magazine" @toc NEWS New Danish Amiga Magazine Amiga Advis has been launched in Denmark and is looking for subscribers, targeting Danish and Norwegian Amiga users. Founded in mid-1996 by Jan Kronhøj Larsen, the magazine costs 80kr for a 3-month subscription and 30kr for a trial issue. Amiga Advis is a monthly 36-page black and white publication, covering topics of interest to Amiga users including word processing and publishing, gaming, and the Internet. Amiga Advis Jernbanegade 47 4450 Jyderup amigaadvis@vestnet.dk @endnode @node NEWS19 "PC-Task 4" @toc NEWS TITLE PC-Task 4 VERSION 4.0 AUTHOR Chris Hames PUBLISHER Published exclusively by: Quasar Distribution P.O. Box 101 Vermont Victoria 3133 Australia Phone +61 3 9887 2411 Fax +61 3 9887 2511 BBS +61 3 9587 5004 E-Mail pctask@ozemail.com.au Internet: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~pctask DESCRIPTION PC-Task 4 is the fastest software 80486 emulator for the Amiga range of computers. The following features are included in this release: - 80486 compatibility - The fastest software PC emulator for the Amiga - Uses Dynamic Compilation for speed. - Support for up to 16MB RAM (15MB extended) under MS-DOS - Up to 2 floppy drives and 2 hard drives supported - Supports multiple hard disk files and hard disk partitions - High density floppies and CD-ROM support - Select from MDA, CGA, EGA, VGA and SVGA (512K-2MB) video modes - Support for up to 256 colours on AGA machines - Compatible with graphic boards (eg. Cybergraphics, EGS Spectrum, Picasso) - Parallel, Serial and PC speaker emulation - Mouse support, including Serial Mouse emulation - Run multiple PC-Task processes on the same machine - Run MS-DOS applications in a window on a public screen (eg. Workbench) - Transfer files between your Amiga and MS-DOS - Support for David Salamon's GoldenGate bridge cards - Compatible with MS Windows 3.0 - 3.11 * * Windows 3.1 requires 1.5 MB contiguous RAM and sufficient hard disk space NOTE: MS-DOS is NOT included. AVAILABILITY PC-Task 4 is available now. PC-Task 4 DEU (German version) scheduled for mid January 1997 AUTHORISED DISTRIBUTORS (Current as of January 1st 1997) Australia & New Zealand (and anywhere else not listed) Quasar Distribution P.O. Box 101 Vermont Victoria 3133 Australia Phone +613 9887 2411 Fax +613 9887 2511 BBS +613 9587 5004 U.K. Wizard Developments PO Box 490, Dartford, Kent England DA1 2UH Phone +44 (0)1322 527800 Fax +44 (0)1322 527810 Germany Casablanca Multimedia Wiemelhauser Straße 247a 44799 Bochum 1 Germany Phone +49 (0)234 7 20 35 Fax +49 (0)234 7 20 60 France France-Festival-Distribution 3 Rue Anatole France FR 13220 Chateauneufl-Les-Martigues France Phone +33.4.42.76.18.70 Fax +33.4.42.76.18.70 All distribution enquiries should be directed to Quasar Distribution. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS An Amiga computer with AmigaOS 2.0 or greater, a 68020 or greater and a minimum of 2Mb RAM. PRICE Please contact your local distributor for pricing and availability. UPGRADES Registered users of Version 3.0/3.1 of PC-Task are currently being mailed update offers via the mail. The cost of an upgrade from Version 3.0/3.1 is AUD$60 (including delivery). Feel free to order PC-Task before you receive your update offer by calling/faxing/emailing us at the details listing above. Please remember to supply your registration number. Users of the Quasar Distribution package who have not returned their product registration card, should contact Quasar Distribution, or their local authorised distributor for upgrade pricing and availability. Registered users of version 2.0 or before are also being mailed out an offer. The cost to register these version is AUD$84.00 including delivery. DEMO VERSION A demo version of PC-Task 4.0 is availble from our web page at http://www.ozemail.com.au/~pctask You will also find this on most Amiga BBSs and Amiga Internet archives, such as Aminet (will be in misc/emu/PC-TaskDemo40.lha). @endnode @node NEWS20 "GTI Charts - Dec 96 @toc NEWS GTI Charts for December 1996: Grenville Trading, International (GTI) is one of Europe's largest Amiga software distributors, with partners all across Europe. These charts are compiled by GTI and reflect product sales from GTI to their dealers. For more information on GTI, visit their homepage at http://www.grentrade.com GTI Top 30 CD Chart This Last Title Month's Month Rank 1 NEW Aminet 16 2 ( 2) Meeting Pearls 4 3 ( 1) Aminet 15 4 ( 3) Aminet Set 3 5 NEW Amiga Format CD 9 - Jan 97 6 (37) Amiga Format CD;8 - Xmas 96 7 NEW Amiga Format CD 7 - Dec 96 8 ( 6) Tele-Info Vol. 1 (GERMAN) 9 (14) Maxon Atlas (GERMAN) 10 (17) Geek Gadgets (Amiga Developer Environment) 11 ( 7) Amiga Developer CD;v.1.1 12 ( 5) Aminet 14 13 (15) Aminet Set 1 (4 CD) 14 (23) Directory Opus v5.5 (GERMAN) 15 (18) Mods Anthology (4 CD) 16 NEW Retro Gold 17 (12) Aminet Set 2 (4 CD) 18 ( 9) Amiga Magzin CD 11-12/96 19 (50) System Booster 20 (20) Fun Clips 2 21 (30) C64 Sensations 2 22 (40) Magic Workbench Enhancer 23 (38) Personal Paint 7.0 24 (19) Aminet 13 25 (46) Personal Suite 26 (35) Print Studio PPro 27 NEW X-Ray CD 1 28 (25) Light Rom 4 29 (24) Workbench Designer 30 ( -) RHS DTP Collection GTI Top 10 CD Games Chart Rank Title 1 Wendetta 2175 2 Nemac IV 3 Akira 4 Gulp 5 Gamers Delight 2 6 Cedric 7 Gloom 8 Oldtimer 9 Fighting Spirit 10 Legends GTI Top 15 Disk Games Chart This Last Title Month Month 1 ( 3) Hugo 2 NEW Sensible World of Soccer 96/97 3 ( 1) Capital Punishment 4 ( -) Slamtilt AGA 5 ( 2) Worms 6 ( 4) Trapped 7 ( 5) Killing Grounds AGA 8 ( -) Valhalla 3 9 NEW Jet Pilot 10 NEW Sensible World of Soccer 96/97 Upgrade 11 NEW Bograts 12 NEW Mega-Typhoon 13 ( 6) Fighting Spirit ECS 14 ( 8) Formula 1;Masters 15 (10) Glooom Deluxe GTI Top 10 Productivity Chart This Last Title Month Month 1 ( 1) Turbo Print Prof 5.0 GERMAN 2 ( 5) Asim CDFS 3.7x 3 ( 2) I-Browse GERMAN 4 (10) Personal Write 5 ( -) Siegfried Antivirus 6 ( 3) Personal Paint 6.4 GERMAN 7 ( 8) Picture Manager 4 GERMAN 8 ( -) Siegfried Copy 2.0 GERMAN 9 ( 4) Blitz Basic v2.1 ENGLISH 10 ( -) Directory Opus 5.5 ENGLISH @endnode @node FEATURE1 "Back To Personal Computing" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== Back To Personal Computing Carl Sassenrath future@sassenrath.com =========================================================================== [Before reading Carl's message, it's worth pointing out that Carl is not promising a new Amiga computer, a new AmigaOS, or even anything at all related to what we consider the Amiga today. But he has a vision to share, so here you go...taken from Carl's website, http://www.sassenrath.com -Jason] Back to Personal Computing A Message from Carl Sassenrath 20-Jan-1997 For more than 16 years Carl Sassenrath has been a leading innovator in the field of operating system technology for companies like Hewlett Packard, Apple, Amiga, and Commodore. Mr. Sassenrath is best known as the architect of the Amiga multitasking OS kernel, a fast, efficient system which pioneered the concepts of dynamically loadable libraries and devices. Are You Satisfied? We live in the age of tremendous personal computing power. Our desktop systems run hundreds of times faster than the large, expensive mainframe computers of years past. Yet, what has been the end result of this unbelievable power? Are you now satisfied with the operation of your system? Does it operate and respond as you expect? Over the past decade the benefits of increased hardware performance have been offset by an excessive growth in the size and complexity of the system software. Or perhaps it is the opposite -- the driving force behind improving hardware performance was to overcome an ever-growing ineptitude in software technology. After all, how useable would Windows95 be on a 8 MHz computer? The Complexity Problem The developers of modern software don't understand the consequences of their bloated systems on their users. Operating personal computers now requires us to devote as much time to set-up menus, installation programs, configuration "wizards" and help databases as we do running productive applications. Companies like Microsoft mistakenly think that we either have plenty of time to burn or perhaps actually enjoy endlessly fooling around with their system. This mindless attitude seems to manifest itself in every aspect of modern software, from the development systems needed to create it, to the application libraries (APIs) required to interface it, to the operating systems necessary to run it. This plague has swept through all aspects of computer software -- as is evident when you download a 10MB C++ shareware program, install an 80MB OS update, or receive a 10 CD-ROM developer's kit. Many developers defend their software by arguing: "What is the harm with a 10MB program? Don't you know that memory is cheap?" What they are really saying is: "So what if it takes some time to download. Who cares that it consumes disk space and half the RAM. Perhaps configuring it is a little too complicated. Alright, it does have many useless features. But, after all, it has less than a dozen obvious bugs, and it will run at least an hour before crashing." These developers fail to recognize the core problem: software complexity. In recent years it has become universally acceptable for software technology to be absurdly complex. Systems have grown both out of control and out of proportion to their benefits, becoming wasteful, brittle, clumsy and slow. Like our federal government, these complex software systems are now perpetuated by thriving bureaucracies of non-thought, propelled by their own markets of desperate, inexperienced consumers who see no alternatives. Back to the Future I have reached my limit when it comes to "modern" software practices. Over the past few years I've been dreaming not of the future, but the past. Perhaps you remember those days... when a word processor was distributed on a single floppy and what seemed like a huge OS took two. Remember being wonderfully productive on a 7MHz system with a 10MB hard drive? If something went wrong, you felt that there was a good chance you could fix it yourself. To me this is all about Personal Computing, not Personal Enslaving. It is about being the masters of our own computers, not the reverse. A decade ago this was true, but we are not the masters any more. Is it possible to reclaim that position? Or, has it been lost to history like the Tucker Automobile? Everyone tells me that the world of personal computing is now totally dominated by a single system -- one which I believe lacks not only a consistent, efficient, reliable architecture, but an intelligent vision of the future. Perhaps we are at a pivotal point in personal computing, and this is where we must take our stand. It is my sincere hope that there are enough scattered outposts of rebels who believe as I do and refuse to bow to the "empire" (or have done so under duress and seek an opportunity to flee.) With a critical mass we can build our own future and return to what Personal Computing was meant to be. My Part For years after creating the Amiga's multitasking OS architecture I assumed operating systems would continue to improve. I figured that with five million people using the Amiga and valuing its design, I had made my contribution. I set aside my new OS visions, naively thinking that others would carry the torch onward toward the best possible future. I know now that I made a mistake, and I have come to regret it. I am now prepared to develop the system that I have been contemplating for the last decade. I'm not talking here about making a clone of any existing system (including the Amiga). What I want is a personal computer that I would like to use: a system that is genuinely easy-to-operate, consistent, flexible, powerful, small, and fast. My plan involves two phases. The first phase is the completion of a new scripting and control language. I have worked on the design of this language part-time for many years. Within the last few months my efforts have been full-time, and the language is nearly ready for its prototype (alpha) release. Versions will be available for each of the major platforms over the next month. Why a language? Because I believe that the core of computing is not based on operating system or processor technologies but on language capability. Language is both a tool of thought and a means of communication. Just as our minds are shaped by human language, so are operating systems shaped by programming languages. We implement what we can express. If it cannot be expressed, it will not be implemented. Once the language is complete and in distribution, the second phase is to develop a small and flexible operating system which is integrated in a unique way with the language. Attribute settings, control scripts, configuration, installation, interprocess communications, and distributed processing will be facilitated through the language. Applications can still be written in C and various other languages, but some aspects of their system interface will be done through the OS language. This system is slated for prototype release later in the year and will be targeted at a few different hardware platforms. Your Part The language and system described above are huge projects and will require my best efforts for some time to come. This is my sole mission, and I have no other jobs or contracts to help pay the way. Yet, I have absolutely no intention of selling out to a big corporation or being driven by Wall Street greed. To do so would be to risk losing control (again) to those who lack the insight and understanding to make the best decisions in the years ahead. Instead, my approach is to determine if there are enough of you out there who feel as I do -- who want a choice, who want a system that makes you the master, and who would be willing to help support it through financial contributions. I've been considering this for many months, but I've never done a user-funded project like this before, and I don't know what to expect. Right now I am hopeful, but also a little nervous. It's a big risk. If you like what I am proposing, please take to it to heart and consider what I have said, because I cannot do it without you. It's time to do something different. It's time to do something for ourselves. I hope you will join with me, rebel against software complexity, and return us again to being the masters of our own Personal Computing. Yours as always, Carl Sassenrath future@sassenrath.com PO Box 1510 Ukiah, CA 95482 Copyright © Carl Sassenrath 1997 Permission is granted to copy, distribute, and repost so long as the copyright is preserved. Translators: there are numerous English idioms in this document, if you need help with a clarification, please contact me. @endnode @node FEATURE2 "Definitive CDTV Retrospective" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== The Definitive CDTV Retrospective Peter Olafson peteroo@aol.com =========================================================================== [Originally written for the short-lived Amiga Game Zone magazine, which never published it, Peter Olafson of Amiga World game review fame shares his all-encompassing review of one of the Amiga's least-understood machines and the games it spawned. To be continued next month with some "not-quite-released" game information. -Jason] A weather balloon. An asteroid. Picnic plates and Frisbees photographed in soft focus. West Chester swamp gas. When the history of computer games is written, the CDTV will be probably be regarded, at best, as an interesting blip on radar and, at worst, as a first wrong step from the glittering pinnacle of 1990 down the dusty road to April 1994. Its games may not be mentioned at all. And, really, who would notice if they were not? It's with some reason that I've allied CDTV with UFOs here. You could have blinked and missed it. Or, seeing it, look back later, and wonder if it was really there at all. Unveiled in the summer of 1990 and introduced in fall of 1991 by a CBM flushed with the success of its A500, the CDTV - an A500 enshrined in a gleaming black console with a CD drive, a meg of chip RAM and version 1.3 of the Amiga's operating system - never captured the imagination of the public or the Amiga development community. Post-mortems have variously attributed its demise to marketing -- failure to link the new machine with the Amiga -- and confusion over the CDTV's mission. If not a computer, and not a game machine, then what was it? It looked like a CD player, and, in Europe, was often sold -- or gathered dust, as the case may be -- alongside them in electronics shops. Perhaps it was simply ahead of its time. Or, perhaps not quite far enough ahead. Whatever the reasons, they translated into poor sales. Companies typically don't notice a new platform until it has moved at least 100,000 units. A month before the CD32's European launch in August 1993, a CBM official estimated combined sales of the CDTV and CDTV-compatible A570 CD-ROM drive for the A500 at about 75,000, with about 30,000 of those being CDTVs. The unit was not quite two years old by then, and already it had effectively been an orphan for some months. Sporadic publisher "support" for CDTV would continue into 1994 - with one CDTV-specific and two CDTV-compatible games releases - but that was more a function of the quasi-compatible CD32's introduction than ongoing developer interest in the CDTV. It was dead -- the CDTV II never went beyond prototype -- and in retrospect, it had been dead almost from the beginning. The three defining factors that stand out when looking back over CDTV's history are cancellation, mediocrity, and obscurity. Cancellation: One hundred titles were planned for CDTV's anticipated launch in the fall of 1990. A year later, when the machine actually arrived, I'd be surprised if the volume of releases was even a quarter of that. Many of the games that Commodore projected in its two CDTV catalogues, or whose development was reported by the Amiga press, never turned up at all - nearly 70 all told, including, embarrassingly, five of those promoted on the Welcome Disk that shipped with the unit. (A number would later see release in CD32-specific versions.) Mediocrity: Those games that did appear were often undistinguished or, at least, enjoyed no distinction unique to CD. The machine suffered, as did the CD32 for the first nine months, from an abundance of straight ports, marginal CD upgrades, and cobbled-together CDTV-specific curiosities. It has been widely said that the CDTV never had a really good game, and while not true - in fact, it has a few excellent ones - it's easy to see how that impression developed. Obscurity: Giving the platform the benefit of the doubt, about 50 CDTV games have been released. That's not an atrocious showing (though the ratio of released to unreleased stinks), and if you saw them assembled in one stack, it would look like a lot. But during CDTV's brief active life, it tended to be treated like a crazy younger brother in an unenlightened society: locked in the basement instead of getting into a home. No one seemed to know what to do with it. Magazines heralded its arrival, then roundly ignored it. Retailers tended to shunt it to one side. Publishers made plans, and the plans gathered dust. These days, apart from few enterprising mail-order firms, CDTV games are a forgotten commodity. Nevertheless, the last three years has seen a mild revival of interest in CDTV as gamers introduced to Amiga CD via the CD32 have returned to its roots in search of new diversions. This may help in the search. In the following CDTV discography, we'll chart the machine's course in software in a full, commented catalog of published games. Each game is rated for quality, for any changes over a pre-existing disk-based version ("NA" where no disk version existed), for rarity and for CD32 compatibility. It's a long and, I'm sorry to say, a largely unhappy story. Also a hard-to-tell one in places, as Commodore (the largest CDTV publisher) is no longer around to explain itself. But it's nevertheless an opportunity to peer into one of the most fascinating and neglected cubbyholes in the Amiga's history. Here's the radar profile of Commodore's most celebrated UFO. Air Warrior (On-Line): Regardless of platform, this Kesmai multi- player flight sim reveals itself as a genuine piece of work when you're hooked up with up to 39 other pilots in a "party with machine guns" atmosphere online. However, the CDTV version offers nothing out the ordinary. This may have been a contemporary of the commercial SVGA version for the IBM and compatibles, but the CD is just a delivery medium. If you're modem-less, you can still fly only by yourself. And as a solo flight sim, the graphics will seem Gunship-primitive. (Online, when you have to worry about simply staying alive, the graphics are almost irrelevant.) Besides, you can do better. The Amiga version has been significantly upgraded since this issue (circa 1992-93). Check AmiNet for the current version and spruced-up graphics files. Bottom line: C. Changes from floppy version: None. Rarity: Not much. CD32 compatibility: Yes, provided you have a keyboard attached. Battle Chess (Interplay): Given the advances in chess algorithms, this animated chess game is not exactly going to seem like Bobby Fischer these days. (Then again, Bobby Fischer doesn't seem like Bobby Fischer these days.) But Battle Chess was always more fun to watch (love the death anims) than it was to actually play, and artificial intelligence was always a secondary consideration. I mean, what other chess queen swings her tush when she walks? What other rook looks as though he could join the Fantastic Four with no questions asked? What other pawns so deserved the name? Battle Chess is slightly slow, and the AI doesn't have much personality, but the game has it to spare. Bottom line: B-. Changes: Digitized speech in the tutorial; better music. Rarity: Not much. CD32: Game proper works, but choosing the tutorial locks up the machine. Available in a CD32-specific version, however. Battlestorm (Titus): A mediocre multi-directional shoot-em-up whose basic simplicity of approach was ill-matched to the platform's potential -- but that nevertheless helped establish a genre later fleshed out by flashier, disk-based Amiga games like Amnios and Blastar. Bottom line: C-. Changes: None of note. Rarity: Fairly easy to find. CD32: Works fine. The Case of the Cautious Condor (Tiger Media): Time has been unexpectedly kind to this first CDTV game - essentially a "talkie" graphic-novel version of EA's 8-bit Murder on the Zinderneuf, set in 1937 aboard a Spruce Goose-like clipper on a cruise over the Atlantic. The plane's owner has summoned a dozen guests aboard -- including your character -- in an effort to solve the murder of a customs agent (his illegitimate son). The host's apparent heart attack cuts the flight short, and you have a half hour to oblige your old friend, search the ship, eavesdrop on the guests, and identify the worst of the bad guys and gals aboard. All of which is easier said than done, as you'll need to consistently be in the right place at the right time, interpret what you learn, and avoid some unpleasant dead ends. This conversion - Condor was first released in Japan as a CD-ROM game in late 1989 - is expansive and lively (if prone to stereotypes in characterization). The quality of the speech is quite good, and the interface is dead simple. It wasn't especially well-received when it first appeared in 1991, but it's easily worth the pittance it's likely to cost you now. Bottom line: B-. Changes: NA. Rarity: None. CD32: Yes. Casino Games (Saen Software Development): Don't bet heavily on this Dutch hodge-podge of video poker, slot machine and roulette from 1992. It displays no feel for any of these games of chance and offers nothing CD-specific and nothing that hasn't already been achieved by disk-based games in shareware. (Actually, the best thing about Casino Games is the "Jukebox" function,which allows you to browse through a range of bright supporting music.) Bottom line: D-. Changes: NA. Rarity: Rare out of all proportion to its value. CD32: Works. Chaos in Andromeda: Eye of the Eagle (On-Line): Well, it's ... it's ... it's big. This sci-fi RPG sucks up around 450 megabytes -- a huge slab of data by CDTV standards. (The Case of the Cautious Condor uses 320.) Unfortunately, all those megs don't add up to much. The disk-based original was mildly engaging - the graphics were tiny and ornate - but the photographic and audio additions have a cheesy, homemade quality, slow things down enormously and seem oddly out-of-touch with the game's small-is-good concept. Bottom line: D. Changes: As above. Rarity: Hard to find. CD32: Flat doesn't work. A CD32-specific version was considered, but never surfaced. Classic Board Games (Merit): A trio of board games - backgammon, checkers, and chess - with digitized instructions and commentary in six beautifully spoken languages, including Japanese. Depending on your point of view, it's either unambitious or unpretentious. The computer opponent isn't going to beat UChess, the backgammon opponent's pieces move as though his fingers are broken, and, by rights, author Scott Lamb (the fellow behind Merit's Operation Combat modem games) should probably have increased the number of games in this translation from disk to CDTV. (Only 94 megs are used on the CD.) Still, the voices are good-natured, the opponents aren't holy terrors, and I like not being overwhelmed by features. This is OK, but just OK. Bottom line: C. Changes: Multi-language speech. Rarity: Little. CD32: Works. Cover Girl Strip Poker (On-Line): How much you enjoy this will depend on what you're looking for. If it's good poker (yeah, right), forget it. The girls here bluff out every hand, however worthless their cards, and the game doesn't even follow standard poker rules. (You can bet yourself way into the hole, and pull five cards at the draw.) And while I don't want to sound crass, where there's no real competition, there's no titillation when someone loses her shirt. This should just be called Cover Girls Strip. On the other hand, if it's technical exoticism that interests you (yeah, right), Cover Girl's kind of neat. A lot of the demure strip teases practiced here are handled in black-and-white CDXL films (the CDTV's version of full-motion video), which have the quaint flavor of crank-driven card-flipping movies. Bottom line: D. Changes: NA. Rarity: None. CD32: Works. The Curse of Ra (Rainbow Arts): Right around 1990, the game development fraternity in general - and Germany's in particular - seems to have enjoyed a fierce, brief fling with things Egyptian. The children that sprung from this union in Germany include Eye of Horus, Ramses, the PD games Pamehta and Cheop, and Curse - a 200-level tile-matcher with roots in games like Shanghai. The Curse of Ra is actually quite clever, borrowing some ideas from maze games (transporters) and platformers (icy tiles) and should infuriate you in no time. The CDTV version is identical to the disk version - lacking, understandably, the copy protection and level editor. It's an odd choice for conversion to CD, though, as there's nothing particularly special about it. Bottom line: C+ Changes: None of note. Rarity: A little. CD32: No. Defender of the Crown (CDTV Publishing): Cinemaware was one of the three principal CDTV developers announced in the summer of 1990 (along with LucasArts and Virgin). That exactly two games (both Virgin's) surfaced from this trio speaks volumes for CDTV's downfall. However, blame can't really be placed at the doorstep of Cinemaware, which had problems of its own and closed up shop months before the machine actually took flight. Its legacy seems to have fallen partly to Data East (TV Sports: Baseball and TV Sports: Boxing) and partly to Commodore (Defender of the Crown, DOTC II, and TV Sports: Football 2). The CDTV take of Defender is essentially the disk-based version with speech (which sounds almost Australian in spots) replacing text, and the addition of an online manual. The graphics are still radiant, the music still lovely, and the whole package brings back the jubilant sense of discovery from the Amiga's early days. Unfortunately, it's also still Defender of the Crown ... which is to say that the play-balance flaws that dogged the original remain in place. You can beat this great looking but basic conquest game in an hour or so and never look back. Bottom line: D. Changes: As above. Rarity: Little. CD32: Works. Defender of the Crown II (CDTV Publishing): Or DOTC: The Director's Cut. Literally. Assembled under The Director by DOTC artist Jim Sachs, this revised version features a new objective (raising 20,000 pounds ransom to save the king); subtly augmented gameplay (notably a real-estate market); a much more appropriate digitized voice; some new graphics (the huge overlaid silhouette of a galloping horseman to reflect your army on the move), some just revised (Sachs was never happy with the original Robin Hood scene) and some old ones that original coder R.J. Mical couldn't fit on the original's two disks back in 1986. Consequently, there's a generally more grown-up, brawny feel to the game, and winning is much harder. However, weaknesses remain - the arcade sequences are still either too tough (jousting) or too easy (everything else) - and I wish Sachs had elected to perform a more thorough overhaul. But there's more here than meets the eye. Bottom line: B. Changes: NA. Rarity: None. CD32: Works. Emerald Mines (Almathera): They should have called this Utter Boulderdash. Almathera snarfed up every level for this celebrated arcade/puzzle game it could lay hands on - literally thousands of them totaling more than 40 megabytes, from Ace Mine 1 to Enemy Mine to Oh No More Yams 9 to Ykikakau Mine 2 . It bundled them together with graphics and sound selectors and a neat interface. It allowed you to begin play every eight levels (because you'd never see most of them otherwise). And it fixed them to work under AmigaDOS 3.1. The result is a genuine labor of love: an amazing compilation of the sort that CDTV's very nature always invited, but that never materialized (save in the PD and shareware field). Drawbacks: Almathera didn't exert quality control over the levels, which are often way too hard. And none of the EM editors are included. Bottom line: B+. Changes: As above. Rarity: None. CD32: Works. Boot in PAL and disable any fast memory. E.S.S. Mega (Coktel Vision): It stands for European Space Simulator, and it is probably the single most obscure CDTV title released. And it deserves to languish in obscurity. Believe me, you don't want it. The execution is downright trashy. Except for some 3D modeling, and around 10 CDXL sequences in the space database, the graphics in this space sim are barely above C64 level. The game begs for extravagant sound, and the cover promises 300 megabytes of hi-fi music. But I couldn't coax anything more from it than the "boop" of the controller button presses and the bright click of the countdown. There is evidently some depth to the game. You equip the space shuttle with cargo, crew, and energy - were you aware that the shuttle has lasers? - and then get to launch, pilot, and land it (on a "shuttle carrier"). You send up and maintain satellites, and you build and manage a space station. The program gives you little help along the way. E.S.S. Mega has no presence - the lack of sound kills it - and you never get the feeling that you're playing it so much as playing with it. And without ever having fun. Bottom line: D-. Changes: NA. Rarity: Very hard to find. CD32: Yes. Falcon (Spectrum Holobyte/Mirrorsoft): A great translation of the first serious Amiga flight sim, featuring the redoubtable F- 16. Set at the "Commodore Fighter Base," the CDTV edition is the ultimate Falcon package, incorporating an updated build of the basic game, both the Operation Counterstrike and Operation Firefight data disks, loads of CDXL sequences and speech (the latter both in the intro and the game) and a first-rate interface - plus all the features you came to expect from the disk-based game. Bottom line: A-. Changes: Many, but mostly cosmetic. Rarity: Very hard to find. CD32: Yes, with the occasional audio glitch. Fantastic Voyage (Centaur): That's right. The folks behind the OpalVision board published this big, polished multi-direction shoot-em-up (based on the now 30-year-old movie) on disk in 1991 and followed it up the next year with a CDTV version. And it's really not a bad game, with pleasant graphics (good use of refraction and light, and decent modeling of the miniaturized sub) and lots of little side-pockets along the route to explore in search of those little necessities of arcade-game life. However, the tuneup for CDTV was purely cosmetic. The music is now a bit beefier, and some changes have been made in the main menu - adding a music/effects option and dropping the NTSC/PAL and high-score table selectors. Trivia: Centaur did one other Amiga game: King of Karate, the beat-em-up that it bundled with its 24-bit graphics board (which, by extension, must make it the most expensive Amiga game ever released.) Bottom line: B-. Changes: Cosmetic. Rarity: Some. CD32: Works. Global Chaos (Hex): Kind of a weird mish-mosh of early "multimedia" in which a platform game - the Rainbow Islands- style Top Banana - shares the limelight with a bunch of rave demos. Top Banana (which also has released on disk) looks alarmingly homemade, but is equipped with an array of charming sounds and sprites and plays quite nicely. Bottom line: C. Changes: The rave tracks and demos are extra. Rarity: A little. CD32: Top Banana's fine, but the demos are glitchy. Guy Spy and the Crystals of Armageddon (Readysoft): One of CDTV's best-kept secrets. This CDTV Version of this first entry in Readysoft's line of second-generation Dragon's Lair-style games turned up as an unadvertised double pack with the IBM version. The animation's a good approximation of the Bluth games to which it was the intended successor, and each fight scene is its own sub-game. It's perfectly pleasant (though it exchanges one type of one- dimensionality for another), and it's certainly nice not to have to swap disks. (The follow up, the long-awaited Terror of the Deep, seems to have fallen into the drink.) Bottom line: B-. Changes: None, really. Rarity: None. CD32: Works fine. The Hound of the Baskervilles (On-Line): A Sherlock Holmes mystery based on the great British sleuth's best known case. Watson has laid out all the evidence for Holmes' perusal, and clicking on these documents and photos prompts verbal descriptions and the occasional cruddy sepia-toned animation. It's rough-edged, but kind of enjoyable. Of course, it would be a lot more enjoyable to collect this evidence yourself. This doesn't even hold a magnifying glass to Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective. Bottom line: C-. Changes: NA. Rarity: Not much. CD32: Works. The Labyrinth of Time (Electronic Arts UK): The masterpiece. Not so much an adventure as an experience, Labyrinth (as it was originally called) is easily the best playing, best looking, and best sounding game released for CDTV. The other-worldly HAM graphics, the looping cinematic score (supremely spooky when played in a dark room), the giant-sized, fully- rendered inventory, the distinctive, four-way views, the high level of interactivity (flushing toilets and whatnot) and, the mystery and after a while, the surprising depth - all combine for a first-person adventure utterlyt unlike any other that appeared on the Amiga. Curiosity: Designed by Terra Nova Development expressly for CDTV, Labyrinth fell victim to EA's rapidly cooling interest in the Amiga and wound up surfacing first on the PC and Macintosh. Bottom line: A. Changes: NA. Rarity: It's always in demand, and, hence, can occasionally be difficult to find. CD32: Works. Lemmings (Psygnosis): It's just Lemmings - you do know Lemmings, right? - and the mindless little green-haired guys don't need enhancements. (Except a survival instinct, perhaps.) But this strategy classic is a much better puzzle game when played with a mouse instead of the CDTV's "are the batteries dead or were you standing in the way?" remote. And releasing Lemmings alone on a CD is a bit like putting a hundred drops in a glass and calling it a drink. Where is Oh No! More Lemmings, and where are the special Christmas levels? Then again, it wasn't entirely alone. See Planetside in the "unreleased" section. Bottom line: B-. Changes: Contains the Planetside demo. Rarity: None. CD32: Works, and was re-released virtually unchanged for the CD32. Logical (Rainbow Arts): Another appealing puzzler from Rainbow Arts - and another rather strange choice for a CDTV conversion. More original than Curse of Ra, this puts me in mind of a more orderly version of a children's game called Avalanche. Logical defies you to distribute incoming marbles about a playing board via 99 different configurations of wheels and troughs. Instantly accessible, and even the first level is tricky. Again, a straight-arrow port from disk to CD that doesn't push the hardware. Bottom line: B. Changes: None. Rarity: Hard to find. CD32: No. Mind Run (Crealude): Often categorized as "education," it is actually a set of tricky (and progressively trickier) brain teasers dealing with memory, stress, sounds, and reflexes. It's sly stuff, even for adults - not simply variations on a theme - and execution is so original and artistic that, however poorly you do, you'll always feel more entertained than oppressed. Curiosities: Mind Run was coded using AMOS. It's also one of a very few multi-language games to distinguish American English from British English. (To no point, really.) Bottom line: B-. Changes: NA. Rarity: None. CD32: No. (You can get into the program, but can't control it once there.) Murder Makes Strange Deadfellows (Tiger Media): The second, and last, Airwave Adventure. (A third Tiger Media game, Angel of the City, was dropped midway through production.) Unfortunately, the label went out on a rather sour note. This 1991 haunted-house mystery - based around your character's search for a new will - is a rather poor cousin to Case of the Cautious Condor. Storytelling dominates, and these sequences can be interminable. Bottom line: D+. Changes: NA. Rarity: Hard to find. CD32: No. North Polar Expedition (Virgin): Another obscure game, but an interesting one. This multi-player RPG basically consists of a multiple-choice trivia game, with each player assuming a role (leader, navigator, radio man, etc.). What's unusual here is that your answers aren't necessarily right or wrong, but influential to varying degrees in terms of team morale and availability of supplies. Example: If you elect to extinguish a tent fire by smothering the flames with your sleeping bag, you'll improve team morale, but reduce your stocks. Nice, too, that you don't need to be an expert at your role, and you can play well using informed common sense. And the "morning of so-and-so" banner that heralds each day is just enough like "The Shining" to be a bit creepy. Bottom line: B+. Changes: NA. Rarity: Next to impossible to find. CD32: Works, but some graphics are scrambled. Power Pinball (KarmaSoft): Sort of an interesting story, this. I'd never seen this game listed for sale anywhere and had figured it for dead (like so many other CDTV games) ... until it turned up in 1995 in a mail-order ad. The mail order company (the late Better Concepts Inc.) indicated it bought its stock from KarmaSoft (which didn't respond to an inquiry). A guess: Power Pinball was manufactured back in the CDTV's heyday - were CDTV allowed to have such a thing as a heyday - but not distributed. Wonder if there are others like it yet to surface? Unfortunately, even that little story's better than the game itself. In a world of Pinball Illusions and Slamtilt, 1990's Power Pinball is nothing special. It looks the way EA's Pinball Construction Set for the Amiga might have looked (had EA ever gotten around to finishing it), and the play isn't very involving when the ball's the size of a large pea. On the other hand, it is what you'd expect in a CD version, incorporating the updated program and all 13 pinball tables (five from the original game and eight from the expansion disk). Bottom line: D. Changes: As above. Rarity: None. CD32: No. Prehistorik (Titus): Not quite Chuck Rock, but a fair amount of fun all the same. In this light arcader, you send a little caveman running about, collecting food, jumping over fires and chasms, and bashing angry dinos (and bears, who evidently were contemporaries of dinosaurs) on the head with an array of clubs. The action will seem a bit dated and primitive (heh) now, but it's playable. Nice rotating Titus logo, too. Bottom line: C+. Changes: More music, sound, and polish. Rarity: Some. CD32: Works like a charm. Prey: An Alien Encounter (Almathera): One of the last games aimed specifically at the CDTV. And compared to most other CDTV releases, this 3D action-adventure (from the developers of Chaos in Andromeda) doesn't seem like a bad game ... at first. You roam a large, alien- infested ship, freeing crew members, making toast of your uninvited guests and collecting the necessities of life. The graphics are OK, and movement consists of the square-to-square scrolling used in Space Hulk, Psygnosis' unreleased G2 and Angst. But the ship's not that large, and however crowded it may be with aliens and crew, you always feel alone. There's no character interaction, and this isn't so much an open game system as a scripted story. Follow the script and get neat radio and video transmissions and an early end to the game. Depart from it and get an early end to your character. Bottom line: D+. Changes: NA. Rarity: None. CD32: Nope. However, there's a CD32-specific version. Psycho Killer (On-Line): Psycho Killer, qu'est que c'est? C'est crapola. This most successful of On-Line's CDTV games opens with your discovery of an abandoned car. (In fact, if you don't jam on the brakes pronto, you're going to become one with it.) Its operator has just been abducted by - wait for it - the psycho killer. And you, being an honorable so-and-so, make off across the English countryside (represented by blurry color photographs) after them. You interact with the program by clicking on directional arrows and onscreen "hot spots." Do the right thing, and live to see another blurry photograph. And after about 10 minutes, you turn it off forever. Psycho Killer is a decidedly amateurish effort, with its corny acting, ghastly tutorial, pseudo-poetic death scene, one-track story, and wobbly, silent movie-like version of video. The best parts about it, quite seriously, are the dramatic appearance of the On-Line logo at the start and the sax that plays behind the end credits. The stuff in between is negligible. Bottom line: F. Changes: NA. Rarity: Easy to find. CD32: Works, but with a lot of sound problems. There's a CD32 version as well. Raffles (The Edge Interactive): A straight port of the disk version, this is an isometric arcade-adventure in the style of Treasure Trap (though not nearly so nice graphically). You're the burglar, Raffles, who's been trapped his mark's home and forced to collect diamonds hidden by her late husband. Naturally, they're in inconvenient spots. To reach them, Raffles can drag, jump on, and walk atop furniture in the manner of a misbehaving child. And they're protected: The house is populated, rather absurdly, by oversized mice and birds, and contact with them weakens you. Nothing to phone England about, but you may have some fun with it. Bottom Line: C-. Changes: None. Rarity: A little. CD32: Works, but requires a keyboard to play fully. (Keypad keys correspond to the number keys on the CDTV remote.) Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective (Icom Simulations; now Viacom New Media): If there is a CDTV game that still warrants translation to the CD32, it's this superb triple-threat mystery. And not because it makes extensive use of tidy CDXL film sequences or digitized speech - though those elements are delightful - but because it entertains while making you think, and doesn't do the thinking for you. Sherlock Holmes is really just an engine for telling the story and sending you cruising about Holmes' London, setting off little acted-out stage plays as you go. And it does so with consummate style, intelligence, and characterization that are present in no other CDTV product (save Labyrinth). The video and sound quality are good, the acting isn't bad, the interface is idiot-prooof and the whole thing just oozes class. But the crux of the game is your own creative thinking -- using what you've learned to bring a suspect to justice -- and that makes it memorable. Unhappily, it's only a memory. Icom went on to make two additional SH games and Dracula Unleashed in this same general style, but never returned to the Amiga. Bottom line: A. Changes: NA. Rarity: Hard to find. CD32: No. Gets as far as the beginning of the first video segment, then crashes. Sim City (Infogrames): Another of the CDTV's few real hits. A very nice conversion of the Maxis' city-building classic that also includes both sets of add-on graphics (future and ancient cities), a "zoom" function, and a large, easily accessed info window. The "zoom" is especially nice, as it gives you an opportunity to peek at all the little animations the game tosses up -- bringing out the ant farm in the sim. Devotees of the original may find the controls somewhat difficult to master, but it's worth the effort. Bottom line: A-. Changes: Many. Rarity: Some. CD32: Works OK on an NTSC CD32 booted in PAL, but you'll need to disable fast RAM. Won't save cities. Snoopy: The Case of the Missing Blanket (The Edge Interactive): An amiable Peanuts game more or less keeping with the spirit of the classic strip that seemed to shrivel in the 1970s. All the main characters are here, and one or another is bound to stroll through any given scene, uttering some Peanutsy non sequitur in a voice straight out of the TV specials. The backgrounds are just right - nothing too complicated - and so's the interface. The key players are Linus, who has lost his beloved security blanket, and Snoopy, who, in yet another flight of doggy fantasy, is playing detective. You send him through this extensive neighborhood, identifying, picking up, putting down, and using objects (each of which has a purpose) and doing a bit of platform hopping. Don't think it's just for kids. The puzzles are basic, but you'll need to be thorough to solve them, and the blanket can be found in a couple of different places. T'aint perfect, though. Slowdowns occur if there are three animations onscreen at the same time, and some disparities of size crop up. (Sally is as big as all the other kids, but Snoopy's perfect.) Bottom line: C+. Changes: Better music and more speech. Rarity: A bit hard to find on CDTV, but did surface on disk. CD32: Works, but you'll need a keyboard in order for Snoopy to walk into the screen. Seems to crash if left unattended for more than five minutes. Space Wars (Odyssey): Odyssey's second CDTV release and not too shabby. Imagine the combat bits from Star Control as a stand-alone game, and you pretty much have Space Wars. You pick ships, a scenario (empty space, asteroids, black hole, or sun), and then have at it. A particularly nice touch is that the ships look progressively more beaten-down as they take damage. It's accompanied by a long-ish "movie," mingling hand- built models and animation, that divides its time between looking really cheesy and really polished. Bottom Line: B-. Changes: As above. Rarity: A little. CD32: Yes. Spirit of Excalibur (Virgin): Perhaps you've seen Simon the Sorcerer, Dark Seed, or Beneath a Steel Sky on the CD32. Well, those "talkie" graphic adventures have an older brother on the CDTV. This translation, developed as "Excalibur," was the Amiga's first venture into this genre, and, if you are patient with its cumbersome nature, you'll find it rather good. Set in England after the death of Arthur, Spirit focuses on the efforts of Arthur's rightful successor, Constantine, to win his kingdom. The upside: There's an enormous amount to do. Spirit has lots of little side quests to complete as in the fashion of The Lord of the Rings, and it's one of the few games to successfully balance a war game with adventure. It looks great. (Brad Schenk, co-creator of The Labyrinth of Time, was responsible for the CD-ROM version's artwork.) The music is an almost physical presence. And the speech takes this feeling to an even higher level. This is that rarest of commodities: the true CDTV game. The downside: Spirit of Excalibur is burdened by a sometimes awkward interface. Hey, anything involving the stupid remote can be awkward, and there's a lot of trudging around for no good reason. The combat routine seems be an offshoot from Defender of the Crown instead of Lords of the Rising Sun. Curiosities: This Synergistic Software game uses a variation of the engine originally developed for War in Middle Earth. They stuck with it for the disk-based sequel, Vengeance of Excalibur, and the excellent Conan the Cimmerian. Bottom line: B+. Changes: Digitized voices for the characters. Rarity: Moderate. CD32: No way, no how. (Believe me, I tried.) Super Games Pak (Odyssey): A trio of updated arcade classics: Byteman (PacMan), Jailbreak (Breakout), and Deathbots (Bezerk). The sounds and music (beefed up from the disk edition) are quite pleasant, but there's still not much going on here in terms of gameplay. The basic Byteman and Jailbreak don't display any really new ideas, though Byteman makes the attempt, with walls that open and close. Deathbots is the most elaborate, but also the most conspicuously flawed, as it uses a different perspective (side view) for your character and the robots than it does for the backdrop (angled-down). Weird, eh? Bottom line: D. Changes: More sounds and graphics. Rarity: A little. CD32: Works OK. Team Yankee (Empire): On disk this is a pretty neat tank game with great vehicle graphics and decent enemy artificial intelligence, but oddly short on sound. On CD, this is a pretty neat disk-based tank game with the same good graphics and AI ... and even more oddly short on sound. Bottom line: C+. Changes: None. Rarity: Some. CD32: Works fine. Tiebreak (Starbyte): A tennis game, and a good one. It starts out neat, with a long CDXL sequence shot courtside, and it stays neat right on through the gussied-up courts and into the photo album and record book. The only fault (heh) I can find is that the perspective is always centered on the server, which places an unfair burden on the other player. Also, be warned: The only manuals I've seen are in German. Bottom line: B. Changes: Tons. Rarity: Some. CD32: Runs ... sorta. You'll need to knock down any fast RAM first, and you can use a standard controller to get all the way through the setup menus. The bad news: The game proper recognizes only trackball or the CDTV remote. The Town with No Name (On-Line): An interesting oddity, this menu-driven adventure is set in a polygonal western town with the most poorly drawn inhabitants this side of the Pecos. The game does have a range of places to explore and can occasionally be "so bad it's good" funny (the John Wayne and Clint Eastwood parodies are way off the mark), but simply ends up lame. You can't move around freely, and the sub-games are insipid. Why does this game exist? Bottom line: D-. Changes: NA. Rarity: None. CD32: Works OK. Also resurrected from Boot Hill for CD32. Trivial Pursuit (Domark): A genuine production number, this masterful board game conversion is the only game the publisher completed for CDTV. The presentation is just wonderful: a great tumbling dice sequence; a jolly, but bad-tempered bird named Russell as quizmaster (a vaguely John Cleese-like character who can be told to stuff it when you start finding him finicky and repetitive); delightful guest questioners (who have a certain Rocky & Bullwinkle quality about them); and animation, speech, music, sound effects, and crisp photos all over the place. When you pick your circular piece at the outset, a gloved hand descends and places a "chosen" sign on it. When you take too long to roll the dice, Russell starts pecking at his seed (among other things). Plus the game proper, of course. The board and pieces are just right. The interface is very to-the-point. And it has 2,000 questions -- 1,000 on each of the CDs. (This is also the only 2-D CDTV game - for reasons that are not quite clear, as the data takes up a total of 447 megs.) Two potential problems: The question files aren't encrypted, so someone determined to "rehearse" could do so - much as Trivial Pursuit owners have been known to do with the board game. And certain categories, especially entertainment and sports, have an understandable European slant. But pouncing on Trivial Pursuit for that would be like blaming an Englishman for being English. This is just about perfect. Bottom line: A-. Changes: It's a total rewrite. Rarity: Some. CD32: Works OK on an NTSC CD32 booted in PAL. A one-disk CD32 version also exists. Turrican 2 (Rainbow Arts): Turrican was the seminal Amiga platform game: a sort of high-tech Super Mario World, with loads of secret areas and interesting gameplay challenges. Turrican 2 is pretty much like its older sibling, with a wider, deeper palette and equally fiendish level layouts ... and perhaps better music in the CDTV version. Bottom line: B. Changes: Maestro? Rarity: High. CD32: No. Ultimate Basketball (Context Systems): A graphically dolled-up, but pared-down, version of Sport Time's superb Omni-Play Basketball. To my thinking, that's still the great Amiga roundball game. It captures perfectly the sport's running-water flow, and the disk version is definitely worth seeking out. The water stills flows in Ultimate Basketball. Unfortunately, it's less of a game, and the additions are only around the periphery. Context didn't use this opportunity to include the add-on modules that Omni-Play Basketball quietly accumulated over the years (though it does use the sideview module that surfaced in the second edition of Magic Johnson MVP Basketball), and in fact, ditched the whole league structure as well, leaving just the playoffs. (Probably a saved-game issue.) Bottom line: C. Changes: Some additional graphics, which give the score screens a more television-like look. Rarity: Some. CD32: Works OK. The Will-Bridge Practice Collection (Will-Bridge): Another obscure one. This series of playable bridge games was to consist of as many as five volumes: Introduction to Bidding, Intermediate, Advanced, Competition, and Advanced Competition. At least the first three surfaced, and I've played two of those. If you're bridge fiend and can't find a second, third or fourth, this may do. The games are slow, rather broad graphically and spotted with odd interludes. But they're also cleanly designed, detailed, and instructive. Bottom line: C. Changes: NA. Rarity: Considerable. CD32: They run, but won't play beyond a certain point. Wrath of the Demon (Readysoft): Remember the days when publishers put game specs in the back of the manual ("28 megabytes of graphics on one disk, more animation than "The Lion King," 1,500 man years in the making") as if they really meant something? Well, Wrath of the Demon will return you to that era, and, in this case, it really does mean something. Released on disk in the age of great sideways-scrolling action games kicked off by Shadow of the Beast, this major league arcade adventure features 15 levels of parallax scrolling, 3 megabytes of 100-plus color graphics and 600 screens. IBM coders still have trouble doing this sort of game well. I won't trouble you with the story. Suffice it to say that monsters are attacking - monsters never just stay home and watch TV - and off you go to save the kingdom, with a man-ish princess in a very tight gown as an obvious (though unstated) enticement. This straight conversion surpasses Beast on many levels. It's held back only by a graphical cartooniness. (I mean, the hero waves to you after he gets thrown from his horse.) Curiosity: The disk-based followup promised (for years) from the same Quebec development team seems to have fallen into the fire. Bottom line: B-. Changes: None of note. Rarity: Little. CD32: Caveat emptor. Runs, but, to my thinking. the controls aren't reliable enough for the game to be playable. You won't even make it through the opening horseback sequence (which is hard enough as it is). Experimenting with the settings on a Competition Pro joypad, I was able to get the game working, but with keypad controls reversed and some disabled. Xenon II: Megablast (Mirrorsoft): The game that established the Bitmap Brothers. This rich and difficult vertically scrolling shoot 'em-up coupled an impression of great into-the-screen depth and a perfect difficulty curve with the same graphical sheen that marks the developer's subsequent games up to and including The Chaos Engine. And it still holds up. Much was made at the time of the bopping, professionally composed score. Feh. (How come no one just puts realistic sounds in arcade adventures?) If this sort of thing matters to you, you'll enjoy the improvements here. Even if they don't, you'll still enjoy the game. But the CDTV version is otherwise pretty much the equal of the disk-based release. Bottom line: B. Changes: Vibed-up music. Rarity: Very hard to find. CD32: Yup. @endnode @node FEATURE3 "Fourth Level Development Complaints" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== Fourth Level Development Complaints =========================================================================== [Originally posted to comp.sys.amiga.misc, after making the rounds on some mailing lists. Consumer and dealer complaints about Fourth Level Developments of the UK have been running rampant for months, and this is a transcript of a discussion between a user and a FLD rep. -Jason] From: David Gill Subject: Fourth Level Developments - Treforgate What follows is a transcript of messages sent between myself and Trefor S. who represents Fourth Level Developments, the publishers and F L Distribution Ltd., the distributors of AmiFileSafe (AFS). It starts with my request for information. Should you have been taken in by their "Valentine's offer", do please contact me as I am trying to persuade them that it is their duty to provide apologies and full refunds to those involved. Others will be free to make up their own minds whether they wish to deal with this firm. FLD now concentrate on sales to the clone market. If anyone can suggest suitable newsgroups who would benefit from this information, then please let me know. For the sake of brevity and clarity, all quoted material in correspondence has been removed and replaced with <>. The only other amendment is that I have removed some personal information contained in one of my mails. All Trefor's responses are verbatim. ............................................................................ *AFS Pro registered user -----* Dear sir, I shall be most grateful if you would kindly answer a number of questions I have concerning the continued support and development of AmiFileSafe PRO. I paid for the upgrade to version 3 and a fully working version of Disksalv in you Valentines offer. The product was promised by May 1996. 1> What is the expected date for the release of version 3? 2> Will Disksalv ever be available and if not will there be a replacement product? 3> Will ReorgAFS ever be developed and if not will there be a replacement product? 4> Why has the mailing list been discontinued? 5> Why have I been denied access to the telnet server? 6> Will interim versions be placed on the telnet server as they become available? Please provide answers to the above as it is very frustrating not having any direct communication from you. Rumours abound in newsgroups and with your permission, I would be happy to share your response. Yours faithfully, David .......................................................... <> We are unsure on this one -- the Amiga market has died recently and there just isn't much interest in it anymore. <> DiskSalv is available, it is just we no-longer stock it due to a problem with IAM. <> I suggest you ask Mark Harden about that one. <> We did have problems with the list server on the Amiga - it now has been moved and should be running ok. <> Maybe you are not registered on it.. If you could give me your name, address, email address and serial number and I will check it out for you. <> Yes. <> Sure, I can understand that one. Regards, Trefor S. .................................................................. Hi Trefor, on 07-Jan-97 09:29:06, you replied to my mail. Forgive me if I find some of your responses confusing. Please be kind enough to explain in more detail. <> Are you saying that there is not much interest for AFS or the whole Amiga software/hardware market. If as I presume, you refer to AFS, this could well be down to the perceived lack of development. The adverse publicity in many Amiga newsgroups and rumours which you have done nothing to squash cannot help sales. What about the interest shown in version 3 by the people, like me, who responded to your Valentines offer? We were promised version 3 by May '96. If at anytime you decided to delay development due to a perceived lack of interest in the Amiga market, don't you think you should have refunded the monies taken? Lack of communication makes people think the worst. I do not believe that you intended to defraud at the outset, but the statement you have made above, implies that you intend to do so now or, indeed have been for some while. By now, it is probably too late to provide an explanation of your actions and offer a refund to those not prepared for a further indefinite wait. A full refund plus additional sums for compensation would, no doubt, be required to establish your honest intentions. <> My first paragraph refers to a "fully working" version of Disksalv. I have the program, but only one of the functions is operative with AFS. The version I have supplied by you is unsupported by the author. There have been updates made available on Aminet. The patches specifically refuse to update Disksalv AFS. I have communicated with Dave Haynie and for you to say "it is a problem with IAM" does not help me. Once again, I have paid you for a fully working version of this product. The problems are between you and it's author. This is something that has been known for a long time and as with AFS3 you have not had the decency to communicate in any way, let alone offer a refund to those that have paid you. The second part of my question was "Will there be a replacement product?" which you have chosen to ignore. <> This is a strange answer as I believe your original statement was that Holger Kruse was to develop this as Reorg is his program. Just before the mailing list went down, there was some furore about your breach of a confidence in letting it be known that Mark Harden was working on a defragger for AFS. Does this mean that we shall never see such a product as there "is a problem with" Holger Kruse and Mark Harden in addition to Dave Haynie? <> Thanks. Will you be taking an active part? <> I have been registered twice. It has been under separate numbers, as on one of the earlier upgrades, you sent me "user" instead of "pro" and proceeded to regiter that. The latest number used was -----. I originally purchased AFS pro as version 2.01 and have your receipt numbered --. I also hold receipt number ------ for the Valentines offer. To ask for my name and address now would seem a little pointless. But for your indulgence.. Name Address Email AFS reg'd no. <> Thanks. What is the latest Beta version? <> Thank you, but it's a shame that you have not provided any good news. <> I look forward to receiving a full response. David ................................................................... Thanks for your email. Ive had ensure that your serial number is now on the updates server. I am sorry we can not supply you with AFS V3 at the present time. If you return to us all the items you received in valentines offer along with your reciept we will refund your money. Dave Haynie has produced a new version of DiskSalv however he will not make it available to us, so it is impossible for us to make it available to our customers. Holger Kruse has not written re-org AFS, so there isn't much we can do about that one. AFS3 development had already started when we made the valentines offer. I hope that answers your questions. Regards, Trefor S. ...................................................................... Hi Trefor, on 08-Jan-97 10:56:44, you wrote, <> Thank you, but will there be any udates? <> You want your piece of paper back! If you cannot supply what you promised, you had better produce a suitable alternative or provide a full refund to include interest to date to all those you have duped. <> There is no evidence of that on the updates server. <> The ones you have chosen to answer are incomplete. Please reread my mail and respond accordingly. <> David ......................................................................... <> The current version is 16.16, I am unsure as to when there will be any more updates. <> I already stated that you could have a refund if you return the goods and proof of purchase.. What more do you want? <> That is because there are not any versions which the end user could test at that point. <> I will look back at your previous email. Regards, Trefor S. .......................................................................... On 7 Jan 1997, David Gill wrote: <> No, I do refer to the whole market in this case. <> As in my previous email. <> We did not, nor ever will intend to defraud customers. <> As in my previous email I can offer you a refund on return of the goods and proof of purchase. <> At this present time we can not offer a replacement product. <> We will read it, but all questions to FLD should be emailed directly to FLD. <> 1616 REgards, Trefor S. ........................................................................... Hi Trefor, on 08-Jan-97 16:42:08, you wrote, <> You already have my proof of purchase. If not, then you would not have been able to send me the goods for which I have prepaid. As you have not delivered there are no goods to return! What more do I want? - All those who have prepaid to be offered a full refund to include interest to date on the goods for which they have prepaid and you are either unable or unwilling to supply. The other major omission in your correspondence is an apology for the length of time you have chosen to keep your customers/creditors in the dark, bearing in mind you promised delivery by May 1996. The offer of a refund to *all* should have been made long ago. David ........................................................................... <> You goods that you would have to return are those send to you under the valentines offer -- I take it you purchased this offer? <> I can only speak about individual cases. We are not willing to pay interest however. <> I apolagise that you have not received information eariler. Regards, Trefor S. ........................................................................... Hi Trefor, on 09-Jan-97 16:08:15, you wrote, <> If you have no record of my purchase of the offer, then you are admitting fraud. You tell me what you want returned. If you refer to the Disksalv floppy, then I suggest you look at your letter to me dated 30/1/96. BTW this letter states that ReOrg is in the process of being written - expected release 2 months. What did you do to upset Holger? <> I am asking you to speak *to* individual cases, not about them. Will you do so? You may not be willing to pay interest. A court of law may decide otherwise. It is your mess and up to you how you want to resolve it. <> Will you be writing individually to all concerned? <> cc'd to AFS List in accordance with your wishes. David .................................... Any reply to this will be forwarded. Thank you for reading this far. David Gill, Maidstone, England spot@davgill.demon.co.uk @endnode @node REVIEW1 "Review: AmiFast A3000 SIMM Expansion Board" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: AmiFast A3000 SIMM RAM Expansion Board By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== ZIP RAM. Aaargh. It's hard to mention the former without immediately proceeding to the latter. ZIPs are oddly shaped, fragile, and difficult to find. And those are the GOOD things about them. So it's a foregone conclusion that if you've got an Amiga 3000 and less than the full 16 megs of Fast RAM, you're somewhat unmotivated to rush out and get some more memory. But if ProvTech has anything to do with it, everybody's A3000s will be running with 16 megs of Fast RAM, and in nice, convenient SIMM packages, no less. The AmiFast from ProvTech is a long, narrow PCB that covers almost the entire area of ZIP sockets, mating with a number of pins. The board runs the long way from the front of your A3000 to the back, and has four SIMM slots at the back of the machine, awaiting 4 or 8 meg modules. You can fill these up to 16 megs of Fast RAM, the most the onboard A3000 RAM controller will handle. The idea is simple-For about US$90, you buy the ability to replace your existing ZIPs with more economical and MUCH more available 72-pin SIMMs, so you can take your A3000 with less than 18 megs of memory up to the limit. If you have the full 16 megs of ZIPs now, the AmiFast will be of no use--but if your A3000 is like mine, with just 8 megs of ZIPs, the cost of an AmiFast and 2 8-meg SIMMs, if you're a good shopper, isn't such a bad deal. If you're running with less than 10 megs, you should give the board some serious consideration. Installation ------------ ZIP chips are fairly fragile, and their vertical design makes them an incredible pig to remove from their homes. In order to install the AmiFast, you're going to need to gut your A3000, removing the disk drive array. This is no simple task in and of itself, but can be accomplished by mere mortals. Once that's done, you'll see the bank of ZIPs in the front, right-hand quadrant of the A3000. Yank these out. This is easier said than done. As I said, I had 8 megs of ZIPs, which meant the ZIPs were next to each other in pairs. Removing the first ZIP was an incredible chore--I wound up prying them up gently with a very small flathead screwdriver, and then working them loose with my fingers. The second was a snap--just pull straight up with a pair of pliers. In the course of doing this, I bent a LOT of little ZIP pins, and one chip lost a pin. Scratch one ZIP. Did I mention these ZIP chips are fragile? Once that's done, you'll need to install the AmiFAST. ProvTech recommends that you not install any SIMMs into the board until you are done with installation. I took their advice. Mating the AmiFAST board isn't the easiest thing in the world to do--there are pins running down the length to lock it into the bank of ZIP sockets. There's a small hole provided, allegedly for guiding the board into place, but I found it much more productive aligning the board by sight on the corners. The manual does a good job of explaning which pins need to be where in which sockets, and the board itself is well labeled, pointing to key pins and telling you where they should be. Once the board is pushed in place with some satisfying crunches, you can install your SIMMs. You can put in 4 or 8 meg SIMMs, of basically any type (but ProvTech says they should be 8 or 16 chip SIMMs, 1Mx16 DRAMs will not work), following the rule that 8 meg SIMMs preclude a SIMM in the previous slot. (i.e., out of slots 0, 1, 2, and 3, 2 8-meg SIMMs would be placed in slots 1 and 3, leaving the other two blank, or 1 8-meg SIMM would be placed in slot 1 and two 4 meg SIMMs in slots 2 and 3.) I personally used the 8/4/4 configuration, as that was the memory I had on hand. The 8-meg SIMM was a double-sided model and fit just fine. ProvTech maintains that the AmiFast is compatible, in functionality and in real estate, with an installed A3640 board, but we did not have an appropriate 3640 to test in the A3000. Using Your New RAM ------------------ Well, it's really simple. Either you have the memory, or you don't. (The first time I didn't, because I accidentally put the SIMMs in the wrong configuration.) There's no software to configure, no jumpers to set on the AmiFast--furthermore, there isn't even a single IC on the AmiFast board. What You Get ------------ Basically, you get exactly the RAM you put into the A3000, and neither you nor the A3000 are tipped off that they're SIMMs instead of ZIPs. Both AIBB and real-world testing tell me that the computer functions precisely the same--the AIBB benchmarks were all within .01 of the pre-SIMM A3000, suggesting that the machine is exactly the same for the journey. Is It Worth It? --------------- At current pricing, a pair of 8 meg SIMMs is US$80 or less, if you're a good shopper. Or, if you're like me, you might have some 80ns 4 meg SIMMs that aren't particularly useful in some newer accelerator boards, but they're perfect for the AmiFAST. Tack on the $90 AmiFAST board and you're looking at about $170, tops, to get a 16 meg A3000. Current ZIP pricing is a difficult thing to analyze--after all, the irony of the AmiFAST is that as people buy it, they'll be selling their ZIP chips, which will create a new supply of ZIPs. Since it's generally easier to come up with reasons NOT to buy something than TO buy something, let's get those out of the way. An AmiFAST isn't for you if you-- Already have 16 megs of ZIPs installed Already have a high-class 040 or 060 accelerator installed--since it will support its own, faster-access SIMMs already. However, an AmiFAST is probably a good idea if you-- Are planning to do some serious work on your A3000 and/or add a graphics card, and you're running with 10 or less megs of memory Are planning to install an A3640 040/25 card and have 10 or less megs of memory (while you're inside the A3000, may as well kill two birds with one stone) Are looking to add some memory, but loathe the thought of using ZIPs, or having to find them, or buy them used. Also, it's worth noting that while the AmiFAST is available for about US$90, it can be ordered directly from ProvTech as either an unassembled kit or simply as a PCB, for project hacker types. This cuts the cost by roughly 50 and 75%, respectively. ProvTech includes full assembly instructions. -- ProvTech RR 4 Box 72 Washington, IN 47501 812-254-1781 evenings 812-257-0902 BBS 75507.3170@compuserve.com @endnode @node REVIEW2 "Emulation Rambler" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Emulation Rambler By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== I got tired of constantly lamenting how little time I've spent playing with emulators over the past many months and decided to do something about it. After all, emulators were one of the first things I discovered that I really liked about the Amiga, and the selection and quality have only gotten better over time. So I've got quite a few topics to cover this time around. Long-Awaited Emplant-type Modules Coming Soon? ---------------------------------------------- Back in the day of Emplant, we were promised all sorts of emulators that never surfaced. However, the liner notes for PCx promise an upcoming Apple II and Atari 400/800 emulation coming soon. In a conversation with Jim Drew of Microcode Solutions, he informed me that they would be shipping soon at a package price of US$29.95 for both emulators. We'll keep you posted. Amstrad CPC: Another Machine Discovered! ACPC and emucpc Reviewed ------------------------------------------------------------------ One of my favorite things about emulators is that they allow you to experience computers you might never have a chance to own, or even physically see. Computers like the Sinclair Spectrum and MSX were virtually unknown to me until I discovered their emulators. The Amstrad CPC is in the exact same category. Imagine my delight at finding not one but two emulators waiting for me on Aminet! ACPC 1.11 is the Shareware product of Kevin Thacker of the UK. Kevin's emulation supports the 48k, 64k, and 128k incarnations of the original CPC line, and the registered version supports the enhancements of the "Plus" line. As well, a number of support utilities for interfacing with real CPC hardware are included, but unfortunately I cannot test these, having never laid eyes on a real CPC. The emulator runs on virtually any hardware configuration--the author himself is using a 1 meg A500. Compiled versions for the 68000, 010, and 020 are included. The emulator supports the popular CPC disk snapshot format, and the documentation includes some basic hints on navigating the CPC's OS--enough to get a complete newbie like myself competent enough to load and run games, at least. To appreciate what I'm supposed to be getting, I read Kevin's background information on the CPC. It's a Z80 machine, like many of the "mainly found in Europe" computers such as the Spectrum and MSX. It can do a 640x200 two-color mode, but primarily has graphics modes reminiscent of the C-64. Based on the software I've found, its heyday was the 80s, as it was for other 8-bit machines of the time, and often you can find superior versions of software out of the UK which found their way onto the 64. ACPC opens up a custom Amiga screen for its operation, and from there you get a CPC boot screen, and have access to a regular Amiga title bar for menu options. From here, you have some rather basic options--reset the CPC, enable or disable sound, quit, and load a disk image or snapshot file. (The title bar options also flash, which I find a bit annoying.) You're welcome to grab some software images--a recommended site is ftp.nvg.unit.no, in pub/cpc, where you'll find a ton. Generally, results were good, not great. On an 040/25Mhz (stock A4000T 3640), I "felt" that programs were running at less than 100%--sound is usually a good giveaway of those sorts of things. It was pretty close, however. Joystick emulation is not implemented in the demo, but is said to work in the registered version. Emucpc 0.7 is an offering from Stephane Tavenard of France. It requires OS 3.x and an 020--Thacker's ACPC does not, but frankly I can't imagine how painful CPC emulation without a fast processor must be. This emulator is freeware. Tavenard does things a bit differently. Like ACPC, the emulator opens up a custom Amiga screen, but there is no toolbar menu, just function key presses (one of which brings up a help menu.) This is somewhat clumsier than Thacker's implementation, but there are also more user-configurable options, such as changing frame update rate. None of these options is really documented. While documentation is provided in both English and French, it is spartan compared to Thacker's, and offers no real insight for those unfamiliar with the CPC. Without Thacker's walkthrough of how to use DOS under the CPC, I would have been lost faced by EmuCPC 0.7. Where Tavenard makes up for it is speed--it is somewhat, although not incredibly, faster than ACPC. It also seemed to be slightly more compatible, at least with the scientifically insignificant amount of images I tested. Tavenard says the CPC emulator is binary compatible with the 68060 and runs at 5.5X a CPC's speed on that processor. I remain a bit dubious since he does not say how he benchmarked it, and if it's anything like the ACPC benchmarking method (a BASIC program, not the most informative of benchmarks), it's a suspect number. EmuCPC supports some image formats, but does not directly support the primary format of ACPC. Instead, you have to use an included utility to convert the images. ACPC can use the newly converted images itself, but it seems a strange extra step. The two emulators are in fact very similar in concept and operation, although for those unfamiliar with the CPC I'd suggest you get familiar on ACPC first. Both packages have utilities to interface with real CPC disk drives and disks. And, maddeningly, both emulators refuse to mode promote properly to CyberGraphX. The screen will not update while it is visible. In all, the emulators are jobs well done and I'm looking forward to exploring more CPC titles on them. Both are available on Aminet, in misc/emu. Getting the Most Out of Apple2000 --------------------------------- Some of you may remember Apple2000's release a couple of years back. It offers an Apple II+ emulation (48k) with a 16k language card emulation, dual floppy capabilities, multitasking, sound emulation (rather uncanny if you have a 4000T and internal speaker), and disk image support. It was Kevin's first completed project on the Amiga, and sadly, his last. But he left us with a very solid and fast (full speed on an 030/25) Apple II+ emulation, quite compatible with the Apple software library. The major missing piece of the emulation itself is unimplemented opcode support (which effectively the Apple IIc computer lacks as well, since the 6502C basically ignores the unimplemented "features"), and the emulation does not support mode promotion. (It does, however, work in ECS and AGA.) Back when I did the review in 1994 I was relying on the Apple software collection Kralian sent me with the package, select pieces of which found their way into the emulation distribution as PD sample programs. But since then, a rather impressive software library has sprung up online. ftp.apple.asimov.net is the place to be, in pub/apple_II/images. Here you'll find a boatload of games, utilities, and curiosities for the Apple, much of which runs effortlessly on Apple2000. If you're resourceful, you can even find the Apple II+ ROMs themselves, which Kralian did not include in the distribution. New Spectrum Emulation: Speccylator 1.0 --------------------------------------- Just when you thought you had the Spectrum emulator of your choice, Speccylator comes in and makes you rethink things. Following in the established footsteps of the Spectrum 1.7 emulator from Peter McGavin, and ZXAM-Spectrum, Speccylator emulates a 48k Sinclair Spectrum. It doesn't ask much--OS 2.x and about half a meg of available RAM--but of course when it comes to emulation, more speed is always nicer. The built-in hardware features of a Spectrum are all emulated, including sound. Display is on yet another non-promotable custom Amiga screen. The emulator comes in flavors like McGavin's emulator, with versions for the 68020+ processors, a standard 68000 version, and a special "hacked-up" 68000 emulator that will run things faster--when it doesn't crash, which will be often. Snapshot files of the "mirage" type (the sort McGavin's supports, and is common, also supported along with other formats by ZXAM) can be loaded in and played with a joystick or keyboard. The joystick emulates a Kempston interface, also found on McGavin's and ZXAM. Unscientific observation leads me to believe that Speccylator is in fact slightly faster than either McGavin or ZXAM. However, it is not without its faults. It cannot be played on a CyberGraphX public screen like ZXAM, and has what I consider to be an unreliable joystick interface, which often misses input and doesn't notice when you've stopped pressing in directions at times. If that were to get cleaned up, it would likely supplant McGavin's emulator. ZXAM, however, is much more of a full-featured emulator from a user's standpoint, with more options for customizing your interface and your display. It also has a gateway to enter "pokes" for cheating at games. Speccylator offers some tools for Spectrum hackers and the ability to halt the Z80 processor, so it has its own appeal. From a game playing point of view, however, the unreliable joystick interface is a putoff. Speccylator is V1.0, so I don't expect it to be perfect. In time, it may take its place among the classics. You can judge for yourself from Aminet's misc/emu directory. Gameboy? No way! Yes way! (VGB and WzonkaLad) ----------------------------------------------- Marat Fayzullin is a legend of emulation development. This individual is responsible for no fewer than five separate computer/console emulations. Count them: MSX, ColecoVision, original NES, Sega Master System/Game Gear, and Gameboy. All of them are portable Unix source code, so thankfully some of his work has made it to the Amiga. (note: ColEm, iNES, and MasterGear do not have current Amiga ports. It would be terrific if someone picked up the gauntlet.) Since Marat gave up coding on the Amiga in favor of Unix some time ago, it is through the work of others porting and improving upon his code that we are able to use it on the Amiga. One such port is AmigaVGB 0.7 from Lars Malmborg. Building on the Unix code and the earlier work of a porting team that did VGB 0.2 and 0.3 on the Amiga, Malmborg has created a largely up to date Gameboy emulation, which opens in a standard Window on any Amiga screen. Emulating Gameboy hardware is actually pretty hard work, or so it seems, since the emulation is rather slow unless you're using an 040 and/or a graphics card. This version of VGB allows you to use most cartridge images out there (if you own the games yourself, you can build a ROM reader. There are also file images around, although these are certainly of questionable legality if you don't own the cartridges), supports GameGenie cheat codes, and includes all relevant source code in case you're interested in tweaking the application or learning more about how it works. Ville Helin of Finland was dissatisfied with VGB's speed and its rather bland Unix-origin appearance. So he created an Amiga-only application known as WzonkaLad (which of course translates to "Gameboy"). Opening on a 5-bitplane Amiga video screen (promotion is not encouraged at this point), many of the features are similar to VGB, although the author of Wzonkalad admits that VGB is superior in terms of compatibility. Where Helin's version excels is in speed. While AmigaVGB was pretty usable on my 040/25 system and RetinaZ3 CyberGraphX, WzonkaLad using the 040/25 and standard display hardware ran at nearly 100%--enough to still have a good time, at any rate. Neither emulator implements sound as of yet. Both provide basic cartridge information, both are multitasking friendly. I like two particular features of WzonkaLad--the ability to use a CD32-style gamepad for all Gameboy input, and the ability to XPK compress ROM images. (I wish more image-based emulators would support the XPK standard.) On the other hand, Helin has fiendishly faithfully stuck to the old Gameboy "icky green LCD" look, which is clever but would be best if it were avoided. AmigaVGB lets you define the colors, and defaults to a nice, crisp display. I also think that AmigaVGB's implementation, as a small window on Workbench or a public screen, is how a Gameboy emulator should be implemented--as something you do while you're whiling away time, much like a Gameboy itself. Both emulators can be found on Aminet in misc/emu. That's all the emulation I have time to talk about this time around. Next issue, I'll hopefully be providing more news of the promised 8-bit emulators from Microcode Solutions, as well as reviews of fMSX 1.1, ColEm, ABeeb (BBC emulator), PCx, and more! @endnode @node REVIEW3 "Review: MindEYE" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: MindEYE from Geodesic Designs By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== The MindEYE is something we've been waiting for quite some time to review here at Amiga Report. We first heard of it, and its predecessor, the MindLight, last year at the Amiga Atlanta 10th Anniversary banquet. There was an A1200 with a wacky visual show sitting on a table. We were introduced to the MindLight then, a piece of Amiga hardware from the 80s that turned the noise and sound in a room into visual display. Its successor, the MindEYE, (which arguably should be named "The DJ's Dream") is out now. Unlike the Mindlight, which came in a clear plastic case (if you've seen the GVP DSS8+, you get the idea), the MindEYE is a small, trapezoidal prism-shaped box wrapped in holographic sticker. All you see is a 9-pin connector and microphone-type audio input on the back, and two knobs, a pair of LEDs, and a small microphone on the front. The developers at Geodesic Designs are well versed in the art of geodesic mathematics, which is what makes the MindLight and MindEye work. You don't have to be interested in geodesic math to enjoy the MindEye, however. The MindEYE's job, simply put, is to turn sound and music into a visual display. The guidelines for that visual display are set by the operator (you) and the Amiga, but the form it takes on the display is in the hands of the mathematical principles at work. The unit comes with a 61 page manual and a disk containing the MindEYE software. Optional requirements include a good source of sound. The MindEYE connects to the joystick port of your Amiga through an included 9-pin cable. As soon as the Amiga is on, the MindEYE is functional and the LEDs will pulse with the pickup of noise around it, but you'll see no results until you run the MindEYE software. There is a straightforward tutorial included which will instruct you how to install the hardware and software, set the knobs for sound threshold and gaiisk containing the MindEYE software. Optional requirements include a good source of sound. The MindEYE connects to the joystick port of your Amiga through an included 9-pin cable. As soon as the Amiga is on, the MindEYE is functional and the LEDs will pulse with the pickup of noise around it, but you'll see no results until you run the MindEYE software. There is a straightforward tutorial included which will instruct you how to install the hardware and software, set the knobs for sound threshold and gain, and get your first effects up on the screen. The MindEYE software is really intended for NTSC or PAL video output, and as such you'll get your best results using these. AGA video modes and color resolutions are supported in the newest software release. The MindEYE hardware and software do some absolutely amazing audio effects. By simply sitting around for an hour with a few friends, an A1200, and a Siouxie and the Banshees CD, we got some brilliant color fades, polygon patterns, and indescribable effects through a combination of blind hacking with the software and following the included tutorials for advanced effects in the manual. In addition to its own line, polygon, and other graphical effects, the MindEYE can take advantage of your own pictures and clipart and incorporate them into its display. The software implements dozens of different effects, many of which have user-configurable parameters that quite literally mean that the MindEYE can be in millions, if not billions, of different states for interpreting sound. There's really no question about it. If you give the MindEYE's manual a good reading and spend a half an hour with the MindEYE and a favorite CD, you're going to be getting stunning visuals. Whether you just let it suck in noise from the room or take advantage of the direct input, you're in for a treat. Now, the question is--what do you do with that? If you're a DJ with access to a video wall, I can't see you NOT using the MindEYE. With the included LIVE! board support (which we were unable to test in time for this review, but hope to see soon), you can integrate the dance floor into the visuals. If you simply entertain at your house and have a decent sized TV, an A600 or A1200 would make the perfect MindEYE setup, since they can directly output to television and can be placed out of reach but still put out a great show. Getting what you specifically want out of the MindEYE can be a bit of a task, however. There are a lot of complex things going on inside the Amiga, and the GUI interface of the MindEYE betrays its origins in the early days of the Amiga. While the software is functional on all modern Amigas, the GUI has not received the sort of OS 2.x overhaul we often expect. This is not an insurmountable problem. Because the software is certainly designed with the concerns of a DJ or entertainment professional in mind, virtually every option is keyboard controllable. This is a double-edged sword: it does mean that you can change effects on the fly with little or no evidence on the screen, which is very important if you've got a crowd out there and don't want to interrupt their visual orgasm with a big old menu of buttons and a title bar. The problem there is that you'll want to keep the manual VERY close by until you're quite familiar with the software, since virtually every key and key modifier has a purpose, the numeric keypad numbers are not the same as the keyboard numbers, etc. The MindEYE is, in a lot of ways, the best of both worlds. It offers instant visual gratification, but in the hands of a skilled operator can turn out incredible images (see the MindEYE home page for an idea). And it's a continuing credit to the Amiga's architecture that such a device can simply be plugged in and all of a sudden you have a dance club entertainment box in your hands. Whether or not that's worth the suggested US$295 retail price is a question you'll have to answer. But if you need to have the latest Amiga toys, or think you could entertain with visual effects, I strongly recommend investigating the MindEYE. Geodesic Designs, Inc. PO Box 956068 Duluth, GA 30136-9502 USA 770-822-0566 voice 770-338-8874 fax geodesic@geod.com e-mail http://www.mindeye.com @endnode @node REVIEW4 "Review: JetPilot" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: JetPilot from Vulcan Software By: @{" Ken Anderson " link KEN} =========================================================================== The closest most of us get to plane is once a year in the summer, with suitcases and suntan lotion and the worry if you remembered to switch everything off. Now Vulcan Software give you the chance to sit behind the steering wheel of a virtual plane, and worry about air temperature and fog instead. And more. You can worry about air pressure, the weight of your aircraft, what time of day it is and all sorts of things you never worried about before, because it's all here. The tagline "The Pinnacle of Realistic Flight Simulation" is wholly appropriate, because JetPilot is a really is a simulation, and not a game. Using the mouse or an analogue joystick, you are bundled into the cockpit of the aircraft of your choice, and are free to fly around the simulated airspace of 27 different airfields in Europe. From what I tell having "flown" from Leuchars, not far from me on the east coast of Scotland, the map is realistic enough to win even the most pedantic of surveyor's approval. The real challenge, however, is to qualify for combat missions by passing your training. To do this - and I must admit, I didn't - you'll have to master the umpteen different keypresses, and display a fair understanding of how a real airplane works before you'll come even close. If you're ever on a plane and the stewardess shouts those awful words "can anybody fly this thing?", you'll at least be able to respond "I'll have a go, I played JetPilot a couple of times". You can radio down to base and ask for weather conditions, you can take command of 255 aircraft at once, you can view yourself upside down from your wingman's plane; you could probably persuade JetPilot to play the "Blue Danube" with the engines if you pushed the correct combination of keys. Of course, all this realism comes at a price, and it's in the hardware. To enjoy JetPilot at it's very best, you'll need at LEAST a fast 030, and that's with quite a lot of the detail switched off. The game is reasonably configurable in terms of how much is drawn on screen, but by the time you've advanced far enough to have more than a couple of co-pilots flying beside you, the frame rate plummages and the technical realism looses the edge. JetPilot is the most ambitious flight simulator ever attempted on the Amiga, and apart from the speed issues, it does the job well. However, how much entertainment you'll get out of it depends on how much effort - and hardware - you put into it, and how often you've lusted about driving your own killing machine around the skies. Pros: Complete and comprehensive simulation. Plenty to do and learn; plane buffs will have a field day. Cons: A true simulation, so no instant entertainment. Requires a meaty Amiga to get even average frame rates. Also has one of the most painful HD installers on record--not a carelessly implemented installer, but a very odd one nonetheless. JetPilot is priced at 16.99UKP (+ 2UKP for P&P outside the UK), and can be ordered from: Vulcan Software Limited Vulcan House 72 Queens Road Buckland Portsmouth Hants PO2 7NA UK http://www.vulcan.co.uk @endnode @node REVIEW5 "Review: Uropa²" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Uropa² By: @{" Ken Anderson " link KEN} =========================================================================== Austex Software - To be published soon by Vulcan Software of the UK. 1.5Mb RAM and hard drive required Don't you just love it? There you go, giving all your colonists protection from the baddies in the form of a crack squad of humans and clever robots. Then the droids start to use their intellegence by taking over one of the colonies, cutting off contact with Mother Earth and generally being pretty damn unfriendly. Time for you, as one of the few good robots left, to get in there and sort them out. The bulk of the action takes place in a forced perspective isometric display. As one of the droids, you must patrol the base, carry out certain key tasks, rescue as many colonists as possible and quite probably beat up a few rivals at the same time. Obviously, it's not as easy as this - there are many puzzles to be completed along the way, and the bad guys are not afraid of fighting back. In every room of the bases, there are objects to be searched - lockers, beds, scientific labs and so on. Many of these contain important objects, from weapon upgrades to access cards. These can then be used in other parts of the base to bring yourself closer to meeting your objective - to complete the tasks set in that certain base and travel on to the next of the 12 bases. Some of the puzzles are just simple "find the key to open the door" rote tasks. However, the later levels hold more involving tasks, and some of the problems encounter require a good deal of thought. It does give a sense of achievement to solve the problems, especially when you are rewarded with a sizeable weapon upgrade or further insight into the plotline. The travelling between bases is set in a seperate game environment, a rather pleasing 3D lightsourced vector hovercraft simulation. Anyone who remembers Pete Cooke's classic 8-bit hits "Tau Ceti" and "Academy" will feel instantly at home with this section, and you roam around the planet surface, dodging enemy craft and navigating your way to the next port of call. Fans of this section have the opportunity to try a null-modem link with another Amiga for a bit of 2-player combat. The isometric sections do tend to suffer from clutter - trying to flee from an approaching killing droid only to have your exit blocked by two dithering colonists is frustrating. It's even worse when you can't seem to navigate yourself past an inanimate object such as a table or bed. Turning your joystick through 45 degrees helps you find the diagnals required a bit easier. On the whole, Uropa² is a stunning work of gameplaying art, and will keep you busy for many weeks, if not months. Too often, modern games sacrifice atmosphere for technical excellence; Uropa² displays both without compromise. Some may be frustrated by the "fetch and carry" elements of the isometric section, and it will not directly appear to the more rabid of shoot'em'up fans. However, if you like your arcade action spiked with a little thought, I would urge you to download the shareware version from your local Aminet mirror as soon as you can. Pros: Involving gameplay, with a strong atmosphere and sense of purpose. Technically sound, and multitasks too. Two game genres in one increase the appeal. Cons: Controls aren't as responsive as they could be. Some tasks become repititious, and the puzzles aren't for the hard of thinking. While recently shareware, Vulcan Software (http://www.vulcan.co.uk) has picked up the game for commercial publication, due out soon. @endnode @node REVIEW6 "Review: Aminet 16 CD-ROM" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Aminet 16 CD-ROM By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== Another Christmas season, another festive Aminet CD. #16 in the series brings a whole mess of MODs (largely incorporated from the recent MODS Anthology four CD set released recently by Schatztruhe), as well as the latest and greatest from Aminet to your doorstep. Nothing particularly earth-shattering is on the disc this time around, as this is the second Aminet in a row without a headline commercial title (although a couple of the older commercial games from Gamers Delight 2 are on the disc) and there haven't been any notable changes made to the interface or the format. As usual, games and demos are broken down into a "best/compatible/rest" format, allowing you to run some titles directly from CD with relative impunity as to compatibility issues (Urban does the testing on a 4000/040, which means those of us with 060s and/or graphic cards are relatively, but not entirely, safe). I am continually pleased to note that AR is generally in the CD's "recommendations" listing, although he'll hopefully make the change reflecting that I am no longer a VIScorp employee soon. Aminet itself, and the Aminet CD series, shows no signs of slowing down. The CDs are coming more and more rapidly, with 7 CDs and one 4-disc Aminet Set in 1996, beating the advertised pace of a bimonthly (6 CD per year) release. If there's been any institution that is a prime example of not only survival but incredible growth in the face of uncertainty in the Amiga market, Aminet is it. So kick back, hit the "shuffle" button in the Rock MODs directory, and browse through the latest installment of Aminet, the compendium of the collective wisdom of the Amiga community. Aminet 16 is published by: Schatztruhe Veronikastr. 33 D-45131 Essen Germany +49 201 788778 voice +49 201 798447 fax stefano@tchest.e.eunet.de e-mail http://www.schatztruhe.de @endnode @node REVIEW7 "Review: OctaMED SoundStudio v1" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== OctaMED SoundStudio v1 a preview by: @{" Bohus Blahut " link BOHUS} =========================================================================== A CD rom with the complete OctaMED Studio program for creating music modules. The CD has many example MODS, and directories of sounds to use in MODs of your own. If you'll remember the last few articles that I wrote for Amiga Report, you'll recall that I was waxing nostalgic about the purchase of my first Amiga in 1989. Back when I got the machine, my thoughts were of using the Amiga for music. Walking out of the dealer's shop, I had in my hands a MIDI interface, and a Future Sound 8-bit sound digitizer. The musical experimentation had begun. My intention had been to create music with MIDI. The Amiga's 8-bit soun d was fine for video games and other playing around, but I didn't think it wo uld cut it in professional music applications. I did a lot of experimenting with 8 -bit sound, and eventually the I could get the Amiga to yield good sounding audio, but then there was the insurmountable challenge of having only 4 tracks of audio. T he obvious solution seemed to be to use the Amiga as a MIDI controller, and th en access MIDI's 16 possible tracks of data. It wasn't long before I started to hear about MODs. It was after I played the Psygnosis games, Shadow of the Beast 1 and 2, that I heard Amiga audio at its finest. I learned about the various Tracker softwares that maximized Amiga audio capabilities. These "tracker modules" are fairly small, and are composed of a number of tiny raw sound samples along with a little burp of data at the end. Then, as now, there were entirely too many MOD formats, and more come and go with the years (many are also PC compatible). Attempts were made at a format that would break the Amiga's 4 channel audio limitation. While MODs were fun experiments, they didn't really constitute music to me. In fact, I didn't pay much attention to MODs in general. For the most part, they sounded like video game music, and all sounded way too similar. They were fun cover versions of pop songs, and techno. Lots of techno. I hate techno. I understand why. This type of music is ideally suited to MODs since it mostly repetitious loops, and is made of lots of ripped samples from old James Brown albums... all very unoriginal, all very stolen (in a copyright sense) I pretty much dismissed MODs as a novelty. Evey once in awhile my interest was piqued when I'd hear about some MOD group who put on Rave parties with only their Amigas in tow. While that's great, that particular music isn't my cup of tea, and I've mentioned my problems with the audio quality and the four channel barrier. There have been a few advances over the last few years in audio technology for the Amiga. There's the SunRize card, the Toccata, and others. These were primarily digital recorders, not samplers. They aren't set up to create sampled digital instruments. That's the promise being made by many other manufacturers now, all to upgrade the Amiga's default audio. All of this background is so that you'll understand just how unbelievable OctaMED SoundStudio is. OSS has shattered the Amiga's 4 channel barrier, samples at 14bit for higher quality, and allows for really long samples including vocal tracks! The system requirements aren't all that uncommon. While you can use the program on 68000 machines, a good machine would be an '020. A default a3000/25 can play approximately 10 channels of 48khz (CD quality) sound through the MacroSystem Tocatta card. It's also set up to take advantage of '060 machines (but that doesn't assure DraCo compatibility. Remember, the DraCo doesn't have the Amiga's custom chips) Obviously, the faster the system, the better the performance. The CD contains the program (in several languages), example MODs, and lots of audio samples to use in your own projects, but that's not the best part. One of the best things about this CD is that the program actually runs off of the disc! Why don't more Amiga programs do this? Certain applications obviously benefit from HD installation for speed, but if it's at all possible, then why not have the prog run from disc? OSS makes a few temporary assigns, which you can un-assign just by clicking an icon. The execution of the program is well thought out, and quite simple. There is full on-line documentation, but if you choose to, you can mail order a printed manual. The software does have a shareware flavor to it, but all of my experimenting so far has revealed it to be quite stable. It also supports several 16 bit audio cards for its sound engine. We will be testing OSS with the Tocatta card which should be unusual since I've never used the Tocatta for anything other than digital recording. I'm so impressed with this new program, I'm going to fiddle with it some before turning in a full review. It's important that we know where we're coming from to know where we're going. I'm hoping that my level of excitement will stay high through the rest of this review, and I'll let you know the outcome soon. RBF Software 169 Dale Valley Road Hollybrook, Southampton SO16 6QX England @endnode @node REVIEW8 "Review: Capital Punishment" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Capital Punishment from PXL Computers/ClickBOOM By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== 1996 saw a lot of unlikely things for the Amiga. It seemed unlikely that Escom would go bankrupt after what seemed to be a good start to 1995, it seemed unlikely that VIScorp would suddenly show up and want to buy the Amiga (and unlikely that they would succeed, but that's another story), it seemed unlikely that we'd see so many new initiatives to bring the Amiga into the next century. It was also pretty unlikely that one of the most talked-about Amiga games of the year would come from Canada, but there you have it. Capital Punishment was the toast of the European magazines, who couldn't talk enough about it. And despite some delays, CP was indeed released at the end of the year, with basically everything it promised. For those of you who have somehow missed it, Capital Punishment is a beat-em-up of the two-player, 2D variety. What it lacks in player variety (only four "human" warriors at your disposal) it makes up for in quality, compatibility, and gameplay. Capital Punishment ships on 7 disks and requires an AGA machine with a hard drive--and 2+ megs of Fast RAM are highly recommended. It will function properly on all processors, including 060s. Getting Ready for Punishment ---------------------------- Installing the game is a bit more of a chore than I expected--for reasons not quite explained, you need to either have a registered copy of LHA, or copy the included LHA keyfile into your L: hard drive directory. This is frustrating since unless you see the little yellow sticker on the box telling you to do so, you might not do it, which will get you a hung installation process. The game is fairly simple to set up beyond that, with an option for Parental Lock which disables some of the more objectionable points of the game. You should take the game up on its offer to create a bootdisk, since the game demands so much Chip ram that you can more or less forget about trying to start it from Workbench. Such is life. However, be careful what name the disk uses when you install to the hard drive--be sure it's not an assigned alias but a true partition name. I had to manually rename the reference to "work:", since the partiiton in question is actually "hd1:" in my setup. This was a careless oversight on their part, but not a major obstacle. Getting Punished ---------------- Go ahead. Try to play the computer right away after setting up the game. I bet you're dead within 30 seconds. Capital Punishment is damn hard in one-player mode, no matter how you slice it. It's full of options to make your demise more interesting, however. Each combat screen comes with its own set of traps--spiked walls, electric shocks, and big meathooks, to name just a few. You're welcome to disable these, as they can often lead to an earlier death than usual--but sometimes they're your only hope of beating the computer. CP is the first game I've seen with as many play options for measuring damage. Not only is there the concept of body and head stamina, but you can play in traditional Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat energy mode (a set amount of energy is given to each player, which is reduced by absorbing blows), tug-of-war mode (energy is relative to the beating you've taken and dished out, and a blend of the two. There are a variety of ways to tackle the game--as an epic, where you are on a quest to defeat an evil wizard, as a tournament or league, or as a straight one-on-one test of skills. Depending on the mode you pick, up to four humans can be in on the action, taking the joypads when their number comes up. Recommendation: Get good at the game playing against a friend. The computer is merciless, and you'll be quite frustrated at first. It doesn't help that the instructions don't explicitly tell you the moves available to each player. I also recommend playing the computer in a non-epic game, so that it will use a human combatant as opposed to the alien menaces you meet in Epic mode. Capital Punishment has features I haven't seen in Amiga beat-em-ups to date--exceptional artwork, realtime lightsourcing, fast-paced but not disorienting action, and a wealth of play options. It also plays exceptionally quickly from the HD, and the music, speech, and sound effects are outstanding for creating atmosphere. And the AI is among the most effective and brutal I've ever seen--there will be no Mortal Kombat-style "Keep doing flying kicks" victories here. CP makes full and good use of CD32 gamepads, and I strongly recommend that you pick a couple of them up if you're going to play any serious CP. Single-button joysticks and the keyboard may also be used. A word about the game's copy protection--it looks as though it was something of a last-minute addition, as it comes as a small slip of paper with a number of colored designs with codes below them. You match the screen prompt to the tiny (easy to lose) piece of paper. It's not horribly obstructive, but I lost my Worms codebook for a few months, and that was a significantly larger document than this. My advice is to keep your CP box (it's good looking anyway) and keep the slip inside it at all times. Titillating? ------------ Demona, the female warrior, has been a source of controversy since the first CP demos of late 1995 and early 1996. She's your typical female RPG figure, wearing exceptionally comfortable "basically topless" leather. She remembered to pack a whip when she went to the sewers, but forgot a bra. Alexander Petrovic, the game's producer, and I had a number of discussions about the game over the past year, and he was pretty dead-set against removing her (or at least, her more visible features) from the game, and I agreed that there was nothing to get upset about, basically, but that was before I actually saw her implemented in the game as anything other than a non-functional character selection option. In the game, she's got a few crass poses that take the character from being a mildly amusing tip of the hat to silly depictions of women in fantasy settings to an embarrassment, and the spelling here is intentional. I'm not advocating you use the parental lock, but in the end Demona is a juvenile low point in an otherwise excellent game. The Verdict ----------- It's impressive enough that CP works effortlessly, beyond the necessary boot disk, on just about any AGA Amiga configuration out there. The game is in PAL despite its North American origins, but by now we're all used to PAL flicker over here. CP is a masterpiece of a 2D fighting game, with unsurpassed gameplay and graphics better than my previous nomination for "most attractive beat-em-up", Elfmania. Its level of difficulty ensures you won't be done with it in a matter of days. I'm toasting Capital Punishment's success, and looking forward to more from ClickBOOM. PXL Computer/ClickBOOM 1270 Finch Ave. West Unit 13 M3J 2G4 Toronto CANADA http://home.ican.net/~clkboom clkboom@ican.net @endnode @node REVIEW9 "Review: Meeting Pearls 4" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== Review: Meeting Pearls 4 CD-ROM By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== Call them "The Non-Aminet FD Squad." Call them "Citizens for Low-Priced CDs." They prefer to be called the "Meeting Pearls Team", but whatever you want to call them, you have to call them "back." The fourth Meeting Pearls conference has been held, and this CD is the result. Founded a few years ago by Angela Schmidt, who was sick of expensive freely distributable software CDs, the Meeting Pearls series consists of CD-ROMs put together by a group of German Amiga users and software authors who come together to fill up a huge hard drive with the latest and best in freely distributable software, and then get it published for minimum cost (these days, 15DM or about US$10-$11). The catch is that if you like the CD, you're supposed to make a contribution to the group's efforts, made simple through the inclusion of a bank deposit slip. MP IV has come a long way from the first edition, which had an insistence on using a then somewhat obscure thing called "MUI" and wasn't the easiest thing in the world to get set up. And while it still likes MUI and Metatool in great proportions, the interface and CD access is far easier than it used to be. All you need to do to get running is to go through a short assign-installation procedure, and then you're free to browse through an AmigaGuide interface (or the CD itself, of course, through more conventional means) to get what you're after. Or use the included FindPearls search utility. Or, better yet, you can search the documentation of just about all of the programs on the CD, which is a neat trick, and quite useful. In general, the CD is bilingual (English/German) although if you use the Novice setting for the setup installation, you're not asked and it defaults to German. I find it's usually best never to use Novice mode for any reason, but be forewarned in this particular case. Sometimes links from an English document will lead to German versions of other documents, while a link elsewhere will garner you the English version you wanted. If you were comfortable with earlier MP editions, or are a user of the Aminet Amigaguide interface, you'll have no problems with this one. The Meeting Pearls CDs are a great idea and have a certain potential edge over Aminet CDs, which is that instead of just getting the newest titles of a given couple of months, you're getting the personal picks of the past several months of real people who come together with this specific goal in mind. It doesn't diminish the Aminet CDs, it's simply a different genre. You could conceivably accuse the MP assemblers of having a "utilities and tools" slant, as the Gaming directory is not huge, but the games that are on there are of the better quality available--once again, the personal choice outweighs the nature of "recent quantity." One of the highlights is a pre-configured version of Ghostscript, which is actually somewhat operable by a human being. Ghostscript is a GNU-freely available PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format document reader, as well as a Postscript interpreter. The output quality I tested with the Infocom Masterpieces CD PDF manuals was not the greatest, but at least it didn't crash as all of my independent Ghostscript installation attempts have done. The configuration, however, is rather dependent on having the Meeting Pearls CD in the drive. At the price, if you're looking for a good way to catch up on FD software, you can't beat Meeting Pearls IV. Schatztruhe Veronikastr. 33 D-45131 Essen Germany +49 201 788778 voice +49 201 798447 fax stefano@tchest.e.eunet.de e-mail http://www.schatztruhe.de @endnode @node CHARTS1 "Aminet Charts: 12-Jan-97" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 12-Jan-97 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- akJFIF43x.lha util/dtype 218K 0+AkJFIF-dt V43.20 (JPEG, 68000-060) akPNG43x.lha util/dtype 193K 0+AkPNG-dt V43.10 (PNG, 68000-060) PC-TaskDemo40.lha biz/demo 218K 0+PC-Task 4.0 80486 PC Emulator using akSVG43x.lha util/dtype 72K 0+AkSVG-dt V43.10 (SVG, 68000-060) VirusZ_II136.lha util/virus 187K 0+VirusZ v1.36 by Georg Hoermann STFax.lha comm/misc 109K 0+New powerful and user-friendly fax p AVId.lha gfx/show 16K 1+VERY FAST AVI player for AGA/020+ animdtc014.lha util/dtype 17K 1+IFF ANIM DataType V1.4 term_47b_pch.lha comm/term 721K 1+Updates `term' v4.7 to v4.7b pplib020.lha util/libs 5K 0+Powerpacker.library 68020+ version newmenu.lha util/wb 40K 0+Intape's colour palette SayMore.lha util/wb 15K 0+Say replacement with more options v0 memdiff.lha util/wb 6K 1+Shows memory usage of programs (MUI) | The highest rated programs during the week until 12-Jan-97 | 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 |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- ManiacBall.lha game/misc 427K 9+A multiplayer Breakout game V1.3 Graal2a.lha game/role 341K 12+Graphic Adventure Authoring Language Play16_1.7.lha mus/play 105K 5+Multi format sound player, supports RabbitIcons1.lha pix/mwb 1.6M 52+MagicRabbits ICON/Pattern collection FlashFind1.2.lha util/cli 12K 51+Faaast text search tool (2.5MB in 10 akPNG43x.lha util/dtype 193K 0+AkPNG-dt V43.10 (PNG, 68000-060) ReqToolsUsr.lha util/libs 157K 4+ReqTools 2.7 - the requester toolkit HL2Voyager.lha comm/www 2K 34+Arexx script for converting hotlist PPaint7_Demo.lha biz/cloan 540K 3+Cloanto Personal Paint 7 Demo Softwa EO220.lha biz/misc 313K 5+Everyday Organiser 2.20 (MUI) YAM13_4.lha comm/mail 512K 3+MUI Internet mailer V1.3.4 amis_html.lha comm/www 17K 1+WYSIWYG HTML editor for AMIS. BlobzHD.lha game/demo 657K 9+`Blobz` Playable demo (AGA+Hard disk PacMan96.lha game/misc 571K 3+Superb PacMan-Clone, systemfriendly lionhd.lha game/patch 4K 5+HD Installer for Lion King AGA CyberAVI17.lha gfx/show 55K 6+AVI animation player for CyberGraphX RabbitIcons10.lha pix/mwb 48K 49+MagicRabbits ICON collection 10 RabbitIcons11.lha pix/mwb 38K 41+MagicRabbits ICON collection 11 RabbitIcons12.lha pix/mwb 88K 34+MagicRabbits ICON collection 12 RabbitIcons13.lha pix/mwb 63K 33+MagicRabbits ICON collection 13 RabbitIcons14.lha pix/mwb 68K 30+MagicRabbits ICON collection 14 RabbitIcons15.lha pix/mwb 138K 2+MagicRabbits ICON collection 15 (For RabbitIcons16.lha pix/mwb 187K 21+MagicRabbits ICON collection 16 RabbitIcons17.lha pix/mwb 281K 12+MagicRabbits ICON collection 17 RabbitIcons18.lha pix/mwb 253K 2+MagicRabbits ICON collection 18 RabbitIcons2.lha pix/mwb 1.2M 51+MagicRabbits ICON/Pattern collection RabbitIcons3.lha pix/mwb 1.1M 52+MagicRabbits ICON/Pattern collection RabbitIcons4.lha pix/mwb 273K 52+MagicRabbits ICON/Pattern collection RabbitIcons5.lha pix/mwb 711K 52+MagicRabbits ICON/Pattern collection @endnode @node CHARTS2 "Aminet Charts: 19-Jan-97" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 19-Jan-97 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- ReqToolsUsr.lha util/libs 167K 0+ReqTools 2.8 - the requester toolkit akJFIF43x.lha util/dtype 220K 0+AkJFIF-dt V43.21 (JPEG, 68000-060) akPNG43x.lha util/dtype 195K 0+AkPNG-dt V43.11 (PNG, 68000-060) ExtensionsMana.lha util/wb 37K 0+Macintosh style Extensions Manager V akSVG43x.lha util/dtype 74K 0+AkSVG-dt V43.11 (SVG, 68000-060) mcx260.lha util/cdity 77K 0+Multi Function Commodity newsBrowse.txt comm/news 1K 0+Read and post to newsgroups from any RealIcons.lha util/wb 6K 0+(V0.18) A system patch for better ic AmIRCFetch.lha comm/tcp 2K 0+ARexx file retrieval ARexx script fo WebPlugv121.lha comm/www 159K 0+V1.21 of an HTML editor virusz_i.lha util/virus 187K 0+VirusZ v1.36 by Georg Hoermann dtc-alta.lha comm/www 33K 0+Cool Amiga logo Transfer Animation f ReqChange.lha util/boot 256K 0+Patch the OS to use ReqTools. V3.11 FrontalAssault.lha game/2play 3.5M 0+The *ULTIMATE* Scorched Tanks clone XOpa1_92.lha util/moni 104K 1+System Monitor with a beautiful inte MBlank.lha util/blank 33K 0+Small/basic modular blanker, v1.10 animdtc015.lha util/dtype 20K 0+IFF ANIM DataType V1.5, now with sou ixemul-020f.lha dev/gcc 101K 0+IXemul 45.1 - 68020+fpu library VersionWB.lha util/sys 24K 0+V2.2 AmigaDos Version replacement. | The highest rated programs during the week until 19-Jan-97 | 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 |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- VersionWB.lha util/sys 24K 0+V2.2 AmigaDos Version replacement. YAM13_4.lha comm/mail 512K 4+MUI Internet mailer V1.3.4 ManiacBall.lha game/misc 427K 10+A multiplayer Breakout game V1.3 Graal2a.lha game/role 341K 13+Graphic Adventure Authoring Language SoundBox.lha mods/funk 124K 15+Jazz mod by Accord+Deelite **** RabbitIcons1.lha pix/mwb 1.6M 53+MagicRabbits ICON/Pattern collection FlashFind1.2.lha util/cli 12K 52+Faaast text search tool (2.5MB in 10 akSVG43x.lha util/dtype 74K 0+AkSVG-dt V43.11 (SVG, 68000-060) ReqToolsUsr.lha util/libs 167K 0+ReqTools 2.8 - the requester toolkit HL2Voyager.lha comm/www 2K 35+Arexx script for converting hotlist PPaint7_Demo.lha biz/cloan 540K 4+Cloanto Personal Paint 7 Demo Softwa amis_html.lha comm/www 17K 2+WYSIWYG HTML editor for AMIS. BlobzHD.lha game/demo 657K 10+`Blobz` Playable demo (AGA+Hard disk PacMan96.lha game/misc 571K 4+Superb PacMan-Clone, systemfriendly aplay221.lha mus/play 659K 2+APlayer - An allround Amiga music pl RabbitIcons10.lha pix/mwb 48K 50+MagicRabbits ICON collection 10 RabbitIcons11.lha pix/mwb 38K 42+MagicRabbits ICON collection 11 RabbitIcons12.lha pix/mwb 88K 35+MagicRabbits ICON collection 12 RabbitIcons13.lha pix/mwb 63K 34+MagicRabbits ICON collection 13 RabbitIcons14.lha pix/mwb 68K 31+MagicRabbits ICON collection 14 RabbitIcons15.lha pix/mwb 138K 3+MagicRabbits ICON collection 15 (For RabbitIcons16.lha pix/mwb 187K 22+MagicRabbits ICON collection 16 RabbitIcons17.lha pix/mwb 281K 13+MagicRabbits ICON collection 17 RabbitIcons18.lha pix/mwb 253K 3+MagicRabbits ICON collection 18 RabbitIcons2.lha pix/mwb 1.2M 52+MagicRabbits ICON/Pattern collection RabbitIcons3.lha pix/mwb 1.1M 53+MagicRabbits ICON/Pattern collection RabbitIcons4.lha pix/mwb 273K 53+MagicRabbits ICON/Pattern collection RabbitIcons5.lha pix/mwb 711K 53+MagicRabbits ICON/Pattern collection RabbitIcons6.lha pix/mwb 248K 52+MagicRabbits ICON/Pattern collection RabbitIcons7.lha pix/mwb 1.1M 52+MagicRabbits ICON collection 7 @endnode @node CHARTS3 "Aminet Charts: 05-Jan-97" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 5-Jan-97 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- ar415.lha docs/mags 86K 0+Amiga Report 4.15, December 31, 1996 akJFIF43x.lha util/dtype 209K 0+AkJFIF-dt V43.19 (JPEG, 68000-060) AVId.lha gfx/show 16K 0+VERY FAST AVI player for AGA/020+ akPNG43x.lha util/dtype 184K 0+AkPNG-dt V43.9 (PNG, 68000-060) STFax.lha comm/misc 104K 0+New powerful and user-friendly fax p term_47b_pch.lha comm/term 721K 0+Updates `term' v4.7 to v4.7b akSVG43x.lha util/dtype 62K 0+AkSVG-dt V43.9 (SVG, 68000-060) amis_html.lha comm/www 17K 0+WYSIWYG HTML editor for AMIS. ar415.lha docs/mags 86K 0+Amiga Report 4.15, December 31, 1996 amirc11_efnet.lha comm/tcp 10K 0+Patch AmIRC 1.1 for broken Efnet ser SSpeed21.lha util/moni 349K 0+SysSpeed V 2.1 - THE Speedtester ! MysticView0.68.lha gfx/show 39K 0+MysticView a new viewer using Render BloodBath10.lha game/shoot 1.8M 0+A take'em-out-game with digitized gr memdiff.lha util/wb 6K 0+Shows memory usage of programs (MUI) FractalDynamis.lha gfx/misc 19K 204+Yet another fractals generation prog mw10.lha util/wb 7K 0+Show memory in a window on WB Identify.lha util/libs 68K 0+Expansions, Hardware, Alerts, Functi pcxdemo21.lha misc/emu 527K 1+PCx Demo V2.1 Software x86 PC Emula hippoupdate.lha mus/play 50K 0+HippoPlayer v2.37 update 68000 fix BlizzMagic.lha util/boot 12K 0+V3.3 Softkicker+ for Blizzard 1230/4 | The highest rated programs during the week until 5-Jan-97 | 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 |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- ManiacBall.lha game/misc 427K 8+A multiplayer Breakout game V1.3 HL2Voyager.lha comm/www 2K 33+Arexx script for converting hotlist Play16_1.7.lha mus/play 105K 4+Multi format sound player, supports akJFIF43x.lha util/dtype 209K 0+AkJFIF-dt V43.19 (JPEG, 68000-060) PPaint7_Demo.lha biz/cloan 540K 2+Cloanto Personal Paint 7 Demo Softwa EO220.lha biz/misc 313K 4+Everyday Organiser 2.20 (MUI) YAM13_4.lha comm/mail 512K 2+MUI Internet mailer V1.3.4 BlobzHD.lha game/demo 657K 8+`Blobz` Playable demo (AGA+Hard disk PacMan96.lha game/misc 571K 2+Superb PacMan-Clone, systemfriendly lionhd.lha game/patch 4K 4+HD Installer for Lion King AGA Graal2a.lha game/role 341K 11+Graphic Adventure Authoring Language CyberAVI17.lha gfx/show 55K 5+AVI animation player for CyberGraphX akGIF43x.lha util/dtype 39K 2+AkGIF-dt V43.8 ("GIF", 68000-060) ReqToolsUsr.lha util/libs 157K 3+ReqTools 2.7 - the requester toolkit SerialPrefs24.lha util/sys 51K 5+V2.4 - Extended Serial Preferences f akPNG43x.lha util/dtype 184K 0+AkPNG-dt V43.9 (PNG, 68000-060) ampu101.lha game/2play 793K 6+VERY GOOD Worms 'clone' ,AGA,Freewar BOR_part1.lha game/misc 627K 2+The best BREAKOUT-game for AMIGA par Angband_1.x.lha game/role 254K 23+Angband 297v6s executable for Amiga AlienFF.lha game/shoot 178K 6+Platform Shoot'Em Up with lots of bl VWorlds21.lha misc/sci 1.2M 33+Images of sky from any planet or com mwm210.lha comm/www 161K 2+Magic Web Maker v2.10. (3.x OS only) SP-ProjectMan.lha dev/misc 119K 0+Multi-projects sources files manager Vermone2.lha game/actio 393K 1+A very configurable Worm game knock_out.lha game/actio 365K 9+The ultimate Break Out-type game. ApexGolf.lha game/demo 200K 4+Great new golfing game from Apex. playpac.lha game/misc 281K 8+Pacman game with random levels lupe.lha util/wb 55K 6+V1.7, The magnifying glass program PowerTetris114.lha game/misc 448K 4+Cool & Smooth Tetris Game (ECS, Shar DC-StefanGfx.lha game/data 96K 0+New game-gfx for Diamond Caves @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@ninemoons.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.luth.se, ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk @endnode @node WWW "World Wide Web" @toc WHERE World Wide Web ============== AR is also available on the WWW! Some of the mirror sites include a mail form, allowing you to mail to Amiga Report from the web site and some also include a search engine allowing you to search recent issues for specific topics and keywords (if your browser has forms capability). Simply tell your browser to open one of the following URLs (pick a location nearest you for the best performance): Australia http://ArtWorks.apana.org.au/AmigaReport.html http://www.deepwoods.saccii.net.au/ar/menu.html http://www.livewire.com.au/amiga/cucug/ar/ar.html (w/search and mail) http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~pec/amiga.html Germany http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/amiga/ar/ Greece http://www.acropolis.net/clubs/amiga/amigareport/ Hungary http://mm.iit.uni-miskolc.hu/Data/AR Italy http://www.vol.it/mirror/amiga/ar/ar.html Poland http://www.pwr.wroc.pl/AMIGA/AR/ Sweden http://www.lysator.liu.se/amiga/ar/ United Kingdom http://ppewww.ph.gla.ac.uk/~gowdy/Amiga/AmigaReport/ http://www.iprom.com/amigaweb/amiga.html/ar/ar.html (w/search and mail) http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/kcci1 USA http://www.cucug.org/ar/ar.html (w/search and mail) http://www.omnipresence.com/Amiga/News/AR/ Additional Amiga information can also be accessed at this URL: http://www.cucug.org/amiga.html Mosaic for the Amiga can be found on Aminet in directory comm/net, or (using anonymous ftp) on max.physics.sunysb.edu @endnode @node COPYRIGHT "Copyright Information" @toc ABOUT =========================================================================== Amiga Report International Online Magazine January 23, 1997 Issue No. 5.01 Copyright 1997 FS Publications All Rights Reserved =========================================================================== Views, Opinions and Articles presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors and staff of Amiga Report International Online Magazine or of FS Publications. Permission to reprint articles is hereby denied, unless otherwise noted. All reprint requests should be directed to the editor. Amiga Report and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written permission. However, translation into a language other than English is acceptible, provided the editor is notified beforehand and the original meaning is not altered. Amiga Report may be distributed on privately owned not-for-profit bulletin board systems (fees to cover cost of operation are acceptable), and major online services such as (but not limited to) Delphi and Amiga Zone. Distribution on public domain disks is acceptable provided proceeds are only to cover the cost of the disk (e.g. no more than $5 US). CD-ROM compilers should contact the editor. Distribution on for-profit magazine cover disks requires written permission from the editor. Amiga Report is a not-for-profit publication. Amiga Report, at the time of publication, is believed reasonably accurate. Amiga Report, its staff and contributors are not and cannot be held responsible for the use or misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained there from. Amiga Report is not affiliated with Escom AG or VIScorp. All items quoted in whole or in part are done so under the Fair Use Provision of the Copyright Laws of the United States Penal Code. Any Electronic Mail sent to the editors may be reprinted, in whole or in part, without any previous permission of the author, unless said electronic mail is specifically requested not to be reprinted. =========================================================================== @endnode @node GUIDELINE "Amiga Report Writing Guidelines" @toc ABOUT =========================================================================== Amiga Report Writing Guidelines =========================================================================== The three most important requirements for submissions to Amiga Report are: 1. Please use English. 2. Please use paragraphs. It's hard on the eyes to have solid screens of text. If you don't know where to make a paragraph break, guess. 3. Please put a blank line in between paragraphs. It makes formatting the magazine much much easier. 4. Please send us your article in ASCII format. Note: If you want to check ahead of time to make sure we'll print your article, please write to the @{"Editor" link JASON}. Please stipulate as well if you wish to retain copyright or hand it over to the editor. @endnode @node ZONE "CalWeb" @toc COMMERCIAL =========================================================================== CalWeb: The Home of the Amiga Zone! =========================================================================== AMIGA ZONE MOVES TO CALWEB! THE AMIGA ZONE MOVES FROM PORTAL TO CALWEB INTERNET SERVICES For over ten years the Amiga Zone has been an online resource, home, community, oasis, for Amiga owners. For over ten years I've made my living running the Zone and supporting Amiga users all over the USA, Canada, and the world. Five years ago when American People/Link pulled their own plug, we had to find the Zone a new home and we found a good one on the Portal Online System. Well, it's happened again.. Portal has informed all of its customers that its ten year history as an online service and Internet provider is coming to an end on Sept. 30, 1996. This is very sad, it's short-notice, and the decision is completely out of my control, but it's also irreversible. Portal is changing its entire business plan from being an ISP to selling an accounting system to other online services. So be it. It's sad, but like I said, the Zone went through this before and now we'll go through it again, and come out the other side better and wiser. THE AMIGA ZONE IS MOVING TO CALWEB INTERNET SERVICES. CalWeb (http://www.calweb.com) is a two year old Internet provider located in Sacramento, CA. It has a good sized customer base, and very knowledgeable support staff. It's also run by a long time Amiga owner who has been a friend of mine for many years. The world of modeming has changed much in the last ten years. In 1985 you had very few choices and you had 1200 baud. These days, everyone and his dog has an ISP running and a web page But the vast majority of those providers don't know an Amiga from a hole in the ground, and could care less about Amiga owners. Say "AWeb" or "IBrowse" to them and they'll say "Omega? Amoeba? What? Huh? They still make those things?" CalWeb is different because it's the new home of the Amiga Zone. In October 1996, a new custom front-end menued system will be added to CalWeb to host the Zone. It'll have features for Zone users that neither Plink nor Portal ever had nor were they willing to add. The tradition of a friendly online Amiga community, run by long time Amiga owners, users and lovers will continue. Message bases, huge file libraries (we plan to move over the 20,000+ files we have on the Zone on Portal to CalWeb, MANY of which you'll never see on Aminet or anywhere else), live nightly chats, vendor support and our famous prize contests will continue. We've given away tens of thousands of dollars worth of Amiga prizes in the last ten years. No one else even comes close. I urge any and all of you who were on Plink, or who are now on Portal or who may have left Portal.. or even if you were never on either but used or still use another online service to join CalWeb for the Amiga Zone. I personally promise you the best online Amiga community we can possibly build. You will not be disappointed. CalWeb has arranged a special signup offer for you! Call: 1-800-509-9322 or 1-916-641-9320 or telnet to calweb.com, login as "guest", and follow the prompts. You can join CalWeb for US$19.95 flat, a month. CalWeb takes major credit cards or you can establish a monthly invoiced account if you don't have plastic. The signup is FREE. To get this deal you must say "THE AMIGA ZONE SENT ME" when you call or signup online. I hope to see lots of you join CalWeb. You can telnet into it from anywhere for no hourly charges at all. Your $19.95/mo fee covers everything and also gets you ten meg of storage which includes hosting your own personal web page. Naturally, when the Zone opens there, you'll have unlimited use of all of its features and areas. Never a "money meter" clock to worry about. Your personal or business CalWeb Web pages are maintained by you via FTP. It's pretty slick. You can make a net connection to the server with any Amiga FTP client, put your files onto it, the permissions are automatically set (no "chmod-ing" required!) and flip to your running browser and see the changes instantly. The Amiga Zone's new home is already up at: http://www.amigazone.com running on CalWeb's server. Ckeck it out! Please feel free to write to me at harv@amigazone.com or harv@cup.portal.com if you want more information. Remember to say "THE AMIGA ZONE SENT ME!" when you join. A splendid time is guaranteed for all. Please plan to join us in the Amiga Zone on CalWeb! @endnode @node BBS_ASIA "Distribution BBSes - Asia" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - Asia =========================================================================== -= IRAN =- * MAVARA BBS * 0098 21 8740815 -=JAPAN=- * GIGA SONIC FACTOR * Email: kfr01002@niftyserve.or.jp +81-(0)564-55-4864 @endnode @node BBS_AUSTRALASIA "Distribution BBSes - Australasia" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - Australasia =========================================================================== -=NEW ZEALAND=- * BITSTREAM BBS * FidoNET 3:771/850.0 AmigaNET 41:644/850.0 +64-(0)3-548-5321 -=VICTORIA=- * NORTH WEST AMIGA BBS * mozza@nwamiga.apana.org.au Fido: 3:633/265.0 BBS Phone/Fax: +61 3 9331 2831 @endnode @node BBS_EUROPE "Distribution BBSes - Europe" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - Europe =========================================================================== -= BELGUIM =- * VIRTUAL VORTEX BBS * vzpirit@hotmail.com +32-2-3873391 -=DENMARK=- * NEMESIS AMY BBS * boersting@hoa.ping.dk Fido: 2:238/43 +45 75-353726 -=FINLAND=- * HANG UP BBS * (telnettable) helpdesk@hangup.dystopia.fi +358 - 09 - 278 8054 * LAHO BBS * +358-64-414 1516 +358-64-414 0400 +358-64-414 6800 +358-64-423 1300 * KINDERGARTEN * matthias.bartosik@hut.fi +358-0-881 32 36 -=FRANCE=- * DYNAMIX BBS * erlsoft@mcom.mcom.fr +33.1.48.89.96.66 Minitel to Modem * RAMSES THE AMIGA FLYING * Fidonet: 2/320/104-105-106 +33-1-45845623 +33-1-53791200 -=GERMANY=- * DOOM OF DARKNESS * marc_doerre@doom.ping.de +49 (0)4223 8355 19200 AR-Infoservice, kai@doom.gun.de * IMAGINE BBS * Sysop@imagine.commo.mcnet.de +49-69-4304948 Login: GAST (Download area: "Amiga-Report") * LEGUANS BYTE CHANNEL * andreas@lbcmbx.in-berlin.de 49-30-8110060 49-30-8122442 Login as User: "amiga", Passwd: "report" * REDEYE BBS * sysop@coolsurf.de Modem/ISDN: +49-89.54662690 Modem only:+49.89.54662680 * STINGRAY DATABASE * sysop@sting-db.zer.sub.org.dbp.de +49 208 496807 * VISION THING BBS * ++49(0)345 663914 System Password: Amiga -=GREECE=- * HELLAS ON LINE * cocos@prometheus.hol.gr Telnet: hellas.hol.gr ++301/ 620-6001, 620-6604, 620-9500 * LOGIC SYSTEMS BBS * Paddy@hol.gr (301) 983-4645 * ODYSSEY BBS * odyssey@acropolis.net Amiganet: 39:250/1.0 ++301-4123502 23.00-09.00 Local Time WWW: www.acropolis.net/~konem/odygb.html -=IRELAND=- * FWIBBLE! * E-Mail: 9517693@ul.ie Fidonet: 2:263/900.0 Phone: +353-902-36124 Midnight to 8am (GMT) Freq "Readme.txt" for details -=ITALY=- * AMIGA PROFESSIONAL BBS * +(39)-49-604488 * AMIPRO BBS* +39-49604488 * DB-LINE SRL * amiga@dbline.it WWW: www.dbline.it +39-332-767383 * FRANZ BBS * mc3510@mclink.it +39/6/6627667 * IDCMP * Fidonet 2:322/405 +39-542-25983 * SPEED OF LIFE * FidoNet 2:335/533 AmigaNet 39:102/12 +39-931-833773 -=NETHERLANDS=- * AMIGA ONLINE BS HEEMSTEDE * Email: sysop@aobh.xs4all.nl Fidonet: 2:280/464.0, 2:280/412.0 +31-23-5471111 +31-23-5470739 * THE HELL BBS * Email : root@hell.xs4all.nl FidoNet: 2:281/418.0 +31-(0)70-3468783 * MACRON BBS HEILOO * Email: macron@cybercomm.nl FidoNet: 2:280/134.0 +31-(0)72-5340903 * TRACE BBS GRONINGEN * Martin@trace.idn.nl FidoNET 2:282/529.0 +31-(0)-50-410143 * WILD PALMS * radavi@xs4all.nl WWW: www.xs4all.nl/~radavi/wildpalms/wildpalm.html +31-(0)30-6037959 * X-TREME BBS * u055231@vm.uci.kun.nl +31-167064414 -=POLAND=- * SILVER DREAM!'S BBS * +48 91 540431 -=PORTUGAL=- * CIUA BBS * denise.ci.ua.pt FidoNet 2:361/9 +351-34-382080/382081 -=RUSSIA=- * NEW ORDER BBS * norder@norder.spb.su FidoNet: 2:5030/221.0 +7-812-2909561 -=SPAIN=- * GURU MEDITATION * +34-1-383-1317 * LA MITAD OSCURA * jovergon@offcampus.es Fido: 2:341/35.19 +34-1-3524613 * MAZAGON - BBS - SYSTEMS * jgomez@maze.mazanet.es FTP: ftp-mail@ftp.mazanet.es +34 59 536267 Login: a-report -=SWEDEN=- * CICERON * a1009@itv.se +46 612 22011 -=SWITZERLAND=- * USE COMMUNICATIONS POP ZUG * wenk@use.ch +41 41 763 17 41 -=TURKIYE=- * NEEDFUL THINGS * Erdinc.Corbaci@beygir.bbs.tr 90-216-3629417 -=UKRAINE=- * AMIGA HOME BBZ * Oleg.Khimich@bbs.te.net.ua FidoNet: 2:467/88.0 +380-482-325043 -=UNITED KINGDOM=- * AMIGA JUNCTION 9 * sysadmin@junct9.demon.co.uk FidoNet: 2:440/20 +44 (0)372 271000 * CREATIONS BBS * mat@darkside.demon.co.uk 2:254/524@Fidonet +44-0181-665-9887 * DRAUGHTFLOW BBS * Ian_Cooper@draught.demon.co.uk +44 (01707) 328484 * METNET CCS * metnet@demon.co.uk FidoNet: 2:2502/129.0 2:2502/130.0 +44-1482-442251 +44-1482-444910 * OCTAMED USER BBS * rbfsoft@cix.compulink.co.uk +44 (01703) 703446 * SCRATCH BBS * kcci1@solx1.susx.ac.uk +44-1273-389267 -=YUGOSLAVIA=- * UNIVERSE BBS * sule@universe.bc.co.ui +381-(0)21-741084 @endnode @node BBS_NAMERICA "Distribution BBSes - North America" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - North America =========================================================================== -=ARIZONA=- * MESSENGER OF THE GODS BBS * mercury@primenet.com 602-326-1095 -=BRITISH COLUMBIA=- * COMM-LINK BBS * steve_hooper@comm.tfbbs.wimsey.com Fido: 1:153/210.0 604-945-6192 -=CALIFORNIA=- * TIERRA-MIGA BBS * torment.cts.com FidoNet: 1:202/638.0 619.292.0754 * VIRTUAL PALACE BBS * tibor@ecst.csuchico.edu 916-343-7420 * AMIGA AND IBM ONLY BBS * vonmolk@crash.cts.com AmigaNET: 40:406/7.0 (619)428-4887 -=FLORIDA=- * LAST! AMIGA BBS * (305) 456-0126 -=ILLINOIS=- * PHANTOM'S LAIR * FidoNet: 1:115/469.0 Phantom Net Coordinator: 11:1115/0.0-11:1115/1.0 708-469-9510 708-469-9520 * THE SAGE'S TOWER * johnh@ezl.com FidoNet: 1:2250/7 618-259-1844 * STARSHIP CUCUG * khisel@prairienet.org (217)356-8056 * THE STYGIAN ABYSS BBS * FIDONet-1:115/384.0 312-384-0616 312-384-6250 (FREQ line) -=LOUISIANA=- * The Catacomb * Geoff148@delphi.com 504-882-6576 -=MAINE=- * THE KOBAYASHI ALTERNATIVE BBS * FidoNet: 1:326/404.0 FTP: ftp.tka.com (207)/784-2130 (207)/946-5665 -=MEXICO=- * AMIGA BBS * FidoNet 4:975/7 (5) 887-3080 * AMIGA SERVER BBS * 5158736 * TERCER PLANETA BBS * FX Network 800:525/1 [525]-606-2162 -=MISSISSIPPI=- * THE GATEWAY BBS * stace@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil FidoNet: 1:3604/60.0 601-374-2697 -=MICHIGAN=- * DC PRODUCTIONS * dcpro!chetw@heifetz.msen.com 616-373-0287 -=NEVADA=- * PUP-TEK BBS * darkwolf@accessnv.com 702-553-2403 -=NEW JERSEY=- * T.B.P. VIDEO SLATE * 201-586-3623 * DLTACOM AMIGA BBS * dltacom.camphq.fidonet.org Fidonet: 1:2606/216.0 (201) 398-8559 -=NEW YORK=- * THE BELFRY(!) * stiggy@belfry.org WWW: www.belfry.org 718.793.4796 718.793.4905 -=ONTARIO=- * COMMAND LINE BBS * 416-533-8321 * CYBERSPACE * joehick@ophielia.waterloo.net (519) 579-0072 (519) 579-0173 * EDGE OF REALITY BBS * murray.smith@er.gryn.org Fido: 1:244/320.0 (905)578-5048 -=QUEBEC=- * CLUB AMIGA DE QUEBEC * Internet: snaclaq@megatoon.com Voice: (418) 666-5969 (418) 666-4146 (418) 666-6960 Nom d'usager: AMREPORT Mot de passe: AMIGA * GfxBase BBS* E-mail: ai257@freenet.hsc.colorado.edu Fidonet: 1:167/192 514-769-0565 -=TENNESSEE=- * AMIGA CENTRAL! * root@amicent.raider.net 615-383-9679 * NOVA BBS * FidoNet 1:362/508.0 615-472-9748 -=VIRGINIA=- * NETWORK XXIII DATA SYSTEM * gottfrie@acca.nmsu.edu 804-266-1763 Login: anon Password: nopass -=WASHINGTON=- * FREELAND MAINFRAME * freemf.wa.com (360)412-0228 * PIONEERS BBS * FidoNet: 1:343/54.0 206-775-7983 Login: Long Distance Password: longdistance Or FREQ: AR.lha @endnode @node BBS_SAMERICA "Distribution BBSes - South America" @toc BBS =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes - South America =========================================================================== -=BRAZIL=- * 68000 BBS * vaclav@centroin.com.br AmigaNET-BR: 120:5521/1 +55-21-393-4390 [16-06h (-3GMT)] * LITHIUM SYSTEMS BBS * pa100137@datacontrol.com.br 051-632-2805 (00:00 - 08:30) * STUFF OVERLOAD BBS * dan_cab@lepus.celepar.br AmigaNET-BR: 120:120/0 +55-41-252-9389 @endnode @node DEAL_ASIA "Dealers - Asia" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== Dealers - Asia =========================================================================== -=JAPAN=- Grey Matter Ltd. 1-22-3,Minami Magome HillTop House 2F suite 201 Ota-ku,Tokyo 143 Tel:+81 (0)3 5709-5549 Fax:+81 (0)3 5709-1907 BBS: +81 (0)3 5709-1907 nighty@gmatter.japan-online.or.jp -= MAYLAYSIA =- Innovations Lights & Magic (M) Sdn Bhd, A1106, University Towers, 28, Jalan Universiti, 46200, Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan Tel: +6 03 7544544 Fax: +6 03 7544588 skchiew@pc.jaring.my @endnode @node DEAL_AUSTRALASIA "Dealers - Australasia" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== Dealers - Australasia =========================================================================== -=AUSTRALIA=- Amadeus Computers 1/534 Old Northern Rd Round Corner, NSW 2158 Voice: 02 9651 1711 Fax: 02 9651 1710 WWW: www.ca.com.au/amadeus amadeus@ca.com/au Amiga Genius 826 Hunter St. Newcastle West, NSW 2302 Ph: +61 49 623-222 Fax: +61 49 623-583 cdgtb@hunterlink.net.au Amiga 'n PC Centre Pty Ltd 644 South Road Glandore Adelaide, SA 5037 Phone: (08) 8293 8752 Fax: (08) 8293 8814 melbice@cobweb.com.au Amiga Technologies (Not ESCOM related) 17 Thompson Circuit Mill Park, VIC 3082 Phone: (03) 9436 5555 Fax: (03) 9436 9935 WWW: http://lion.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~laburacj/amitech.html laburacj@lion.cs.latrobe.edu.au Amilight Pty Ltd 47A Tate Street South Perth, Western Australia, 6151 Phone: (09) 367 4422 Fax: (09) 3674482 WWW: www.vianet.net.au/~dwark dwark@vianet.net.au Amitar Home Computer Systems Unit 1, 25 Gillim Drive Kelmscott, WA 6111 Phone: (09) 495 4905 Fax: (09) 495 4905 WWW: http://crystal.com.au/~amitar/ amitar@crystal.com.au Byte One 24 Silverton Drive Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156 Phone: (03) 9752 3991 gordon@ozramp.net.au Computa Magic Pty Ltd 44 Pascoe Vale Road Moonee Ponds, VIC 3039 Phone: (03) 9326 0133 Fax: (03) 9370 8352 Computer Affair 337 Penshurst Street Willoughby, NSW 2068 Phone: (02) 9417 5155 Fax: (02) 9417 5542 WWW: www.computeraffair.com.au sales@computeraffair.com.au Computer Man 611 Beaufort Street Mt. Lawley, WA 6050 Phone: (09) 328 9062 Fax: (09) 275 1010 WWW: www.iinet.net.au/~cman cman@iinet.net.au Desktop Utilities PO BOX 3053 Manuka, ACT 2603 Phone: (06) 239 6658 Fax: (06) 239 6619 WWW: ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/~dtu 100026.1706@compuserve.com Don Quixote Software PO BOX 786 Toowoomba, QLD 4350 Phone: (076) 391 578 Fax: (076) 320 145 donq@tmba.design.net.au Exclusive Computer Systems Street: 34 Weston Street Weston, N.S.W. 2326 Postal: P.O. Box 68, Weston, N.S.W. 2326 Phone: (049) 361213 Fax: (049) 36 1213 Email: peter.archer@fastlink.com.au Fonhoff Computer Supplies Baulkham Hills, NSW 2153 Phone: (02) 9639 7718 Fax: (02) 9639 5995 WWW: http://godzilla.zeta.org.au/~jfonhof jfonhof@zeta.org.au GSoft Shop 4, 2 Anderson Walk Smithfield, SA 5114 Phone: (08) 8284 1266 Fax: (08) 8284 0922 gsoft@cobweb.com.au Image Domain 92 Bridge St Fortitude Valley, Brisbane Queensland Voice: 617-3216-1240 Fax: 617-3852-2720 imagedomain@msn.com Motherboard Computers Suite 19, 9-11 Abel Street Penrith, NSW 2750 Phone: (047) 222 803 Fax: (047) 215 277 WWW: www.pnc.com.au/~mother mother@pnc.com.au MVB 506-508 Dorset Road Croydon, VIC 3136 Phone: (03) 9725 6255 Fax: (03) 9725 6766 Sigmacom Suite 16, 20-24 Gibbs Street Miranda, NSW 2228 Phone: (02) 9524 9846 Fax: (02) 9549 4554 WWW: www.sigma.com.au Software Buyers Service PO BOX 734 Belmont, VIC 3216 Phone/Fax: (052) 431 445 arne@euphoria.bay.net.au Software Circus 27 Darling Street Kensington, NSW 2033 Phone: (02) 9313 8484 Synapse Computers 190 Riding Road Hawthorne, Brisbane Queensland 4171 Voice/Fax: +61 7-3899-0980 WWW: www.powerup.com.au/~synapse/ synapse@powerup.com.au Unitech Electronics Pty. Ltd. / Maverick Amiga 8B Tummul Place St. Andrews, Sydney 2566 Voice: +61 2 9820 3555 Fax: +61 2 9603 8685 Valhalla: Games and Hobbies 493 Wellington Street Perth, 6000 Phone: (09) 321 2909 Westcomp 96 Bentinck Street Bathurst, NSW 2795 Phone: (063) 322 611 Fax: (063) 322 623 -=NEW ZEALAND=- CompKarori LG/F Karori Shopping Mall Karori, Wellington Tel/Fax: +64 4 476-0212 sales@compkarori.co.nz @endnode @node DEAL_EUROPE "Dealers - Europe" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== Dealers - Europe =========================================================================== -=AUSTRIA=- A.R.T. Computeranimation Ges.m.b.H. Feldstrasse 13 3300 Amstetten Tel: +43 7472/63566-0 Fax: +43 7472/63566-6 Solaris Computec Ges.m.b.H. Mariahilfpark 1 A-6020 Innsbruck Tel: ++43-512/272724 Fax: ++43-512/272724-2 solaris@computec.co.at -=BELGIUM=- AVM Technology Rue de Rotheux, 279 B-4100 Seraing Voice: +32 (0)41 38.16.06 Fax: +32 (0)41 38.15.69 defraj@mail.interpac.be CLICK! N.V. Boomsesteenweg 468 B-2610 Wilrijk - Antwerpen Voice: +32 (0)3 828.18.15 Fax: +32 (0)3 828.67.36 vanhoutv@nbre.nfe.be -=BULGARIA=- KlubVerband ITA Gmbh 1309 Sofia P.F.13, KukushStr. 1-2 Contact: Dr. ING B. Pavlov Tel: +359-2-221471 Fax: +359-2-230062 KVITA@VIRBUS.BG -=DENMARK=- Data Service Att. Soren Petersen Kaerhaven2a 2th 6400 Sonderborg Phone/Fax: +45 74 43 17 36 sorpe-95@sdbg.ih.dk -=FINLAND=- Gentle Eye ky PL 8 33841 Tampere Phone: 358-3-363-0048 Fax: 358-3-363-0058 WWW: www.ge.vip.fi ge@vip.fi Lincware Computers Ltd Lovkullankuja 3 10300 KARJAA Voice: +358-50-5573696 Fax: +358-11-231511 linctech@freenet.hut.fi -=FRANCE=- ASCII Informatique 10 Rue de Lepante 06000 NICE Tel: (33) 93 13 08 66 Fax: (33) 93 13 90 95 Quartz Infomatique 2 bis, avenue de Brogny F-74000 ANNECY Tel./Fax: +33 50.52.83.31 tcp@imaginet.fr -=GERMANY=- AMItech Systems GmbH Ludwigstrasse 4 D-95028 Hof/Saale Voice: +49 9281 142812 Fax: +49 9281 142712 WWW: www.hof.baynet.de/~mediatech mediatech@hof.baynet.de dcp, desing+commercial partner GmbH Alfredstr. 1 D-22087 Hamburg Tel.: + 49 40 251176 Fax: +49 40 2518567 WWW: www.dcp.de info@dcp.de Hartmann & Riedel GdbR Hertzstr. 33 D-76287 Rheinstetten Voice: +49 (7242) 2021 Fax: +49 (7242) 2167 rick@p22.aop.schiele-ct.de Please call before visiting Hirsch & Wolf OHG Mittelstra_e 33 D-56564 Neuwied Voice: +49 (2631) 8399-0 Fax: +49 (2631) 8399-31 Pro Video Elektronik Roßmarkt 38 D-63739 Aschaffenburg Tel: (49) 6021 15713 Fax: (49) 6021 15713 -=ITALY=- C.A.T.M.U. snc Casella Postale 63 10023 Chieri (TO) Tel/Fax: +39 11 9415237 fer@inrete.it (Ferruccio Zamuner) Cloanto Italia srl Via G. B. Bison 24 33100 Udine Tel: +39 432 545902 Fax: +39 432 609051 WWW: www.cloanto.com info@cloanto.com -=NETHERLANDS=- Chaos Systems Watermolen 18 NL-1622 LG Hoorn (NH) Voice: +31-(0)229-233922 Fax/Data: +31-(0)229-TBA WWW: gene.fwi.uva.nl/~marioh/ marioh@fwi.uva.nl -=NORWAY=- Applause Data AS Storgaten 31 Postboks 143 2830 Raufoss Voice: +47 61 19 03 80 Fax: +47 61 19 05 80 WWW: www.applause.no post@applause.no -=SPAIN=- Amiga Center Argullós, 127 08016 Barcelona Tel: (93) 276 38 06 Fax: (93) 276 30 80 Amiga Center Alicante Segura, 27 03004 Alicante Tel: (96) 514 37 34 Audio Vision San Jose, 53 Gijon (Asturias) Tel: (98) 535 24 79 Centro Informático Boadilla Convento, 6 28660 Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) Tel: (91) 632 27 65 Fax: (91) 632 10 99 Centro Mail Tel: (91) 380 28 92 C.R.E. San Francisco, 85 48003 Bilbao (Vizcaya) Tel: (94) 444 98 84 Fax: (94) 444 98 84 Donosti Frame Avda. de Madrid, 15 20011 San Sebastián (Guipuzcoa) Tel: (943) 42 07 45 Fax: (943) 42 45 88 Eurobit Informatica C/. Gral. Garcia de la Herran, 4 11100 - San Fernando Cadiz Tel/Fax: (956) 896375 GaliFrame Galerías Príncipe, 22 Vigo (Pontevedra) Tel: (986) 22 89 94 Fax: (986) 22 89 94 Invision San Isidro, 12-18 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid) Tel: (91) 676 20 56/59 Fax: (91) 656 10 04 Invision Salamanca, 53 46005 Valencia Tel: (96) 395 02 43/44 Fax: (96) 395 02 44 Norsoft Bedoya, 4-6 32003 Orense Tel: (988) 24 90 46 Fax: (988) 23 42 07 PiXeLSOFT Felipe II, 3bis 34004 Palencia Tel: (979) 71 27 00 Fax: (979) 71 28 28 Tu Amiga Ordinadors C/ Progreso, 6 08120 La LLagosta (Barcelona) Tel: +34-3-5603604 Fax: +34-3-5603607 vb soft Provenza, 436 08025 Barcelona Tel: (93) 456 15 45 Fax: (93) 456 15 45 -=NORWAY=- DataKompaniet ANS Trondheim Innovation Centre Prof. Brochs gt. 6 N-7030 Trondheim Tel: +47 7354 0375 Fax: +47 7394 3861 WWW: www.datakompaniet.no post@datakompaniet.no Sezam Software Ulsmågveien 11a N-5o5o Nesttun Tel/Fax: +47 55100070 (9-20) ABBS: +47 55101730 (24t) Email: oleksy@telepost.no -=SWEDEN=- DataVision Box 1305 753 11 Uppsala Street Address: Sysslomansgatan 9 Orders: +46 (0)18-123400 Shop: +46 (0)18-124009 Fax: +46 (0)18-100650 Orebro Videoreklam Slottsgatan 12 703 61 OREBRO Tel/Fax: +46 (0)19-123807 WWW: www.flevel.co.uk/videoking videoking@mbox200.swipnet.se -=SWITZERLAND=- RELEC Software & Hardware AMIGA Village du Levant 2B CH 1530 PAYERNE Tel: +26 660 02 82 Fax: +26 660 0283 Relec@com.mcnet.ch Studio 4D Deinikonerstrasse 14 6340 Baar Voice: +41 41 763 17 47 Fax: +41 41 763 17 48 studio4d@zug.use.ch -=UNITED KINGDOM=- 5DLicenceware 1 Lower Mill Close Goldthorpe Rotherham South Yorkshire S63 9BY Tel/Fax: 01709 888127 WWW: www.ware5d.demon.co.uk phil@ware5d.demon.co.uk Almathera Systems Ltd Southerton House Boundary Business Court 92-94 Church Road Mitcham, Surrey CR4 3TD Voice: 081 687 0040 Fax: 081 687 0490 Sales: almathera@cix.compulink.co.uk Tech: jralph@cix.compulink.co.uk Brian Fowler Computers Ltd 90 South Street Exeter, Devon EX1 1EN Voice: (01392) 499 755 Fax: (01392) 493 393 brian_fowler@cix.compulink.co.uk Computer Magic Unit 8 Freemans Yard Doncaster Road, Barnsley S71 1QH Tel: 01226 218255 / 0378 425281 Visage Computers 27 Watnall Road Hucknall, Nottingham Tel: +44 (0)115 9642828 Tel/Fax: +44 (0)115 9642898 visage@innotts.co.uk @endnode @node DEAL_NAMERICA "Dealers - North America" @toc DEALER =========================================================================== Dealers - North America =========================================================================== -=CANADA=- Animax Multimedia, Inc. Willow Tree Tower 6009 Quinpool Road, Suite 802 Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 5J7 Ph: (902) 429-1921 Fax: (902) 429-1923 WWW: www.animax.com/ info@animax.com APC Computer Services 402-5 Tangreen Crt Willowdale, Ont. M2M 3Z1 Voice/Fax: (416) 733-1434 WWW: www.interlog.com/~shadow/apccomp.html shadow@interlog.com Atlantis Kobetek Inc. 1496 Lower Water St. Halifax, NS / B3J 1R9 Phone: (902)-422-6556 Fax: (902)-423-9339 atkobetek@ra.isisnet.com Atlas Computers & Consulting - Derek Davlut 400 Telstar Avenue Suite 701 Sudbury, ON / P3E 5V7 Phone: (705) 522-1923 Fax: (705) 522-1923 s2200147@nickel.laurentian.ca CineReal Pro-Video 272 Avondale Avenue Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 7G8 Phone/Fax: (613) 798-8150 (Call first to fax) cinereal@proton.com Computer Shop of Calgary, Ltd. 3515 - 18th Street S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2T 4T9 Ph. 1-403-243-4358 Fx: 1-403-243-2684 WWW: www.canuck.com/cshop austin@canuck.com Computerology Direct Powell River, BC V8A-4Z3 Orders/inquiries: 604/483-3679 (24h) Ask for HEAD SALES REP for quicker response! Comspec Communications Inc 74 Wingold Ave Toronto, Ontario M6B 1P5 Computer Centre: (416) 785-8348 Sales: (416) 785-3553 Fax: 416-785-3668 bryanf@comcorp.comspec.com, bryanf@accesspt.north.net ElectroMike Inc. 1375 Boul. Charest Ouest Quebec, Quebec G1N2E7 Tel: (418) 681-4138, (800) 463-1501 Fax: (418) 681-5880 Forest Diskasaurus 35 Albert St., P.O.Box 84 Forest, Ontario N0N 1J0 Tel/Fax: 519-786-2454 saurus@xcelco.on.ca FranTek 5-353 McArthur Avenue Vanier, Ontario K1L 6N5 Phone: (613) 746-7854 ext 3 Fax/Modem: (613) 746-7854 WWW: www.travel-net.com/~frantek frantek@travel-net.com GfxBase Electronique, Inc 1727 Shevchenko Montreal, Quebec Voice: 514-367-2575 Fax: 514-367-5265 BBS: 514-769-0565 Le Groupe PowerLand 630 Champagne Rosemere, Quebec J7A 4K9 Voice: 514-893-6296 Fax/BBS: 514-965-7295 mchabot@nationalnet.com National Amiga Oakville, Ontario Fax: 905-845-3295 WWW: www.interlog.com/~gscott/NationalAmiga.html gscott@interlog.com Oby's Amigo Computing Shop 765 Barrydowne Rd Sudbury, Ontario P3A 3T6 Voice/Fax: (705)524-5826 WWW: icewall.vianet.on.ca/pages/obys obys@vianet.on.ca Oshawa Amiga Oshawa, ON L1J 5J8 Phone: (905) 728-7048 mjacula@idirect.com Randomize Computers R.R. #2 Tottenham, Ont. L0G 1W0 vox: 905-939-8371 fax: 905-939-8745 WWW: www.interlog.com/~randomize/ randomize@interlog.com Software Supermart 11010 - 101 Street Edmonton, Alberta T5H-2T1 Voice: (403) 425-0691 Fax: (403) 426-1701 ssmart@planet.eon.net SpectrumTech Electronics Contact: Derek Clarke 412-1205 Fennell Avenue East Hamilton, ON L8T 1T1 Voice: (905) 388-9575 BBS: (905) 388-2542 ste@spectrum.gryn.org Valley Soft P.O. Box 864 Pembroke, Ontario K8A 7M5 Phone: (613) 732-7700 Fax: (613) 732-8477 WWW: www.renc.igs.net/~valsoft Wonder Computers Ottawa Retail Store 1315 Richmond Road Ottawa, Ontario K2B 8J7 Voice: (613) 721-1800 Fax: 613-721-6992 WWW: www.wonder.ca Wonder Computers Vancouver Sales Office 2229 Edinburgh St. New Westminster, BC W3M 2Y2 Voice: (604) 524-2151 young monkey studios 797 Mitchell Street Fredericton, NB E3B 3S8 Phone: (506) 459-7088 Fax: (506) 459-7099 sales@youngmonkey.ca -=UNITED STATES=- A&D Computer 211 South St. Milford, NH 03055-3743 Voice/Fax: 603-672-4700 BBS: 603-673-2788 amiga@mv.mv.com Alex Electronics 597 Circlewood Dr. Paradise, CA 95969 Voice/Fax: 916-872-3722 BBS: 915-872-3711 WWW: www.wordbench.com/ alex@wordbench.com Amigability Computers P.O. Box 572 Plantsville, CT 06479 Voice: 203-276-8175 caldi@pcnet.com Amiga-Crossing PO Box 12A Cumberland Center, ME 04021 Voice: (800) 498-3959 (Maine only Voice: (207) 829-3959 Fax: (207) 829-3522 amiga-x@tka.com Amiga Library Services 610 Alma School Rd, #18 Chandler, Az 85224-3687 Voice: (800) 804-0833 Fax: (602) 491-0048 orders@ninemoons.com Amiga Video Solutions 1568 Randolph Avenue St. Paul, MN 55105 Voice: 612-698-1175 Fax: 612-224-3823 BBS: 612-698-1918 wohno001@maroon.tc.umn.edu Applied Multimedia Inc. 89 Northill St. Stamford, CT 06907 Voice: (203) 348-0108 Apogee Technologies 1851 University Parkway Sarasota, FL 34243 Voice: 813-355-6121 Apogee@cup.portal.com Armadillo Brothers 753 East 3300 South Salt Lake City, Utah Voice: 801-484-2791 B.GRAY@genie.geis.com Computer Advantage 7370 Hickman Road Des Moines, IA 50322 Voice/Fax: 515-252-6167 Number1@netins.net Computer Concepts 18001 Bothell-Everett Hwy, Suite "0" Bothell, WA 98012 Voice: (206) 481-3666 Computer Link 6573 middlebelt Garden City MI 48135 Voice: 313-522-6005 Fax: 313-522-3119 clink@m-net.arbornet.org The Computer Source 515 Kings Highway East Fairfield, CT 06432 Voice: (203) 336-3100 Fax: (203) 335-3259 Computers International, Inc. 5415 Hixson Pike Chattanooga, TN 37343 Voice: 615-843-0630 Computerwise Computers 3006 North Main Logan, UT 84322 Concord Computer Solutions 2745 Concord Blvd. Suite 5 Concord, CA 94519 Orders: 1-888-80-AMIGA Info/Tech: 510-680-0143 BBS/Fax: 510-680-4987 WWW: www.ccompsol.com/ moxley@value.net CPU Inc. 5168 East 65th St. Indianapolis, IN 46220 Voice: 317-577-3677 Fax: 317-577-1500 cpuken@indy.net CyberTech Labs PO Box 56941 North Pole, Alaska 99705 Vox: (907) 451-3285 BBS1: (907) 488-2547 BBS2 & Fax: (907) 488-2647 71516.600@CompuServe.com DC Productions 218 Stockbridge Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49001 Phone: (616)373-1985 (800)9DC-PROD dcpro!chetw@heifetz.msen.com Digital Arts 1321 North Walnut P.O. Box 5206 Bloomington, IN 47807-5206 Voice: (812)330-0124 Fax: (812)330-0126 BIX: msears Digital Castle 4046 Hubbell Ave. Suite 155 Des Moines, IA 50317-4434 Voice: (515) 266-5098 Sheep@netins.net Digital F/X, Inc. 1930 Maple, Suite 7 North Bend, OR 97459 Voice: (800) 202-3285 / (541) 756-6693 WWW: www.digital-fx.com DFX@Mail.coos.or.us Discount Computer Sales 1100 Sunset Strip #5 Sunrise, FL 33313 Voice: 954-797-9402 Fax: 954-797-2999 DCS@aii.net, DCS@interpoint.net Electronic Connection 635 Penn Ave West Reading, PA 19611 Phone: 610-372-1010 Fax: 610-378-0996 Hawkeye Communication 1324 Fifth Street Coralville, Iowa 52241 Voice: 319-354-3354 Hawkcom@inav.net HHH Enterprises Contact: Tom Harmon PO Box 10 Hartwood, VA 22471 Voice: (540) 752-2100 ko4ox@erols.com HT Electronics 211 Lathrop Way, Ste. A. Sacramento, CA 95815 V: (916) 925-0900 F: (916) 925-2829 BIX: msears HT Electronics 422 S. Hillview Dr. Milipitas, CA 95035 V: (408) 934-7700 F: (408) 934-7717 BIX: msears Industrial Video, Inc. Contact: John Gray 1601 North Ridge Rd. Lorain, OH 44055 Voice: 800-362-6150, 216-233-4000 af741@cleveland.freenet.edu Kipp Visual Systems 360-C Christopher Ave. Gaithersburg Md, 20878 Voice: 301-670-7906 kipp@rasputin.umd.edu Krulewich Enterprises 554 Vega Dr Corpus Christi, TX 78418 Voice: (512) 937-4624 1040.3444@compuserve.com The Lively Computer - Tom Lively 8314 Parkway Dr. La Mesa, CA 91942 Voice: 619-589-9455 Fax: 619-589-5230 tlively@connectnet.com Magic Page Contact: Patrick Smith 3043 Luther Street Winston-Salem, NC 27127 Voice/Fax: 910-785-3695 spiff@ix.netcom.com MicroSearch 9000 US 59 South, Suite 330 Houston, Texas Voice: 713-988-2818 Fax: 713-995-4994 MicroTech Solutions, Inc. 17W745 Butterfield Road, Suite F Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 Phone: 630-495-4069 Fax: 630-495-4245 WWW: www.mt-inc.com info@mt-inc.com Mr. Hardware Computers P.O. Box 148 / 59 Storey Ave. Central Islip, NY 11722 Voice: 516-234-8110 Fax: 516-234-8110 A.M.U.G. BBS: 516-234-6046 Paxtron Corporation 28 Grove Street Spring Valley, NY 10977 Voice: 914-576-6522 Orders: 800-815-3241 Fax: 914-624-3239 PSI Animations 17924 SW Pilkington Road Lake Oswego, OR 97035 Voice: 503-624-8185 PSIANIM@agora.rain.com Raymond Commodore Amiga 795 Raymond Avenue St. Paul, MN 55114-1521 Voice: 612-642-9890 Fax: 612-642-9891 BBS: 612-874-8342 WWW: www.visi.com/~raycomp raycomp@visi.com Safe Harbor Computers W226 N900 Eastmound Dr Waukesha, WI 53186 Orders: 800-544-6599 Fax: 414-548-8130 WWW: www.sharbor.com Slipped Disk 170 E 12 Mile Rd Madison Heights, Michigan 48071 Voice: (810) 546-DISK BBS: (810) 399-1292 Software Plus Chicago 2945 W Peterson Suite 209 Chicago, Illinois Voice: 312-878-7800 System Eyes Computer Store 730M Milford Rd Ste 345 Merrimack, NH 03054-4642 Voice: (603) 4244-1188 Fax: (603) 424-3939 j_sauter@systemeye.ultranet.com TJ's Unlimited P.O. Box #354 North Greece, NY 14515-0354 Voice: 716-225-5810 BBS: 716-225-8631 neil@rochgte.fidonet.org Zipperware 76 South Main St. Seattle, WA 98104 Voice: 206-223-1107 Fax: 206-223-9395 WWW: www.speakeasy.org/zipperware zipware@nwlink.com @endnode @node OPINION "Editorial and Opinion" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Editorial and Opinion =========================================================================== @{" compt.sys.editor.desk " link EDITORIAL} Five years of Amiga Report! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node NEWS "News & Press Releases" @toc MENU =========================================================================== News & Press Releases =========================================================================== @{" Amiga 4000T Raffle " link NEWS8} NAG sponsors a 4060T raffle @{"P-OS at Computer Graphics 97" link NEWS2} The would-be AmigaOS successor @{" Gateway Computer Show " link NEWS9} St. Louis' Amiga extravaganza update @{" Upcoming UK Amiga Show " link NEWS10} Another WOA UK is coming... @{" IAM Pricing " link NEWS12} They're keeping the low prices @{" IAM Discovery " link NEWS13} More Boing logos and a new treat @{" AmigaZone Web Access " link NEWS6} AmigaZone gets a WWW interface @{" Easter 1997 Invite " link NEWS1} Mekka and Symposium '97 parties @{" McAgenda " link NEWS3} Straightforward phone book program @{" McFiler " link NEWS4} Catalogue/archive functions for Amiga @{" McCloud " link NEWS5} Lock out floppy access @{" The Graffiti Card " link NEWS7} A survey about the chunky adapter @{" Dynosaurus ROM " link NEWS11} CD-ROM of prehistoric 3D objects @{" A3000 SCSI Chip Update " link NEWS14} More news for A3000 users @{" UltraAccounts 3.4 " link NEWS15} A personal accounting program @{" AWN Popular Banners " link NEWS16} Statistics from the Amiga Web Network @{" Cyclone Compiler " link NEWS17} New Modula-2 Compiler on Aminet @{" Danish Amiga Magazine " link NEWS18} AmigaAdvis is looking for readers @{" PC-Task 4 " link NEWS19} Chris Hames releases the latest @{" GTI Charts - Dec 96 " link NEWS20} Amiga distributor sales charts --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node FEATURE "Featured Articles" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Featured Articles =========================================================================== @{" CDTV Retrospective " link FEATURE2} The definitive overview @{" Back To Personal Computing " link FEATURE1} Message from Carl Sassenrath @{" FLD Complaints " link FEATURE3} Fourth Level Development problems --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node REVIEW "Reviews" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Reviews =========================================================================== @{" Capital Punishment " link REVIEW8} Beat 'em up excellence. @{" AmiFast A3000 RAM Board " link REVIEW1} No more ZIPs! SIMMs! @{" MindEYE " link REVIEW3} Look at all the pretty colors... @{" Emulation Rambler " link REVIEW2} It's been a while... @{" JetPilot " link REVIEW4} No screaming babies on this flight. @{" Uropa² " link REVIEW5} Isometric action, going commercial @{" Aminet 16 CD-ROM " link REVIEW6} More Aminet! @{" OctaMED SoundStudio v1 " link REVIEW7} An introduction to the sound/MOD package @{" Meeting Pearls 4 " link REVIEW9} Another from the Pearls party --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node FTP "Aminet Charts" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Aminet Charts =========================================================================== @{" 05-Jan-97 " link CHARTS3} @{" 12-Jan-97 " link CHARTS1} @{" 19-Jan-97 " link CHARTS2} --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node ABOUT "About AMIGA REPORT" @toc MENU =========================================================================== About AMIGA REPORT =========================================================================== @{" AR Staff " link STAFF} The Editors and writers @{" Writing Guidelines " link GUIDELINE} What you need to do to write for us @{" Copyright Information " link COPYRIGHT} The legal stuff --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node STAFF "The Staff" @toc ABOUT =========================================================================== The Staff =========================================================================== Editor: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} Assistant Editor: @{" Katherine Nelson " link KATIE} Games Editor: @{" Ken Anderson " link KEN} Contributing Editor: @{" William Near " link WILLIAM} Contributing Editor: @{" Bohus Blahut " link BOHUS} --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node WHERE "Where to Get AR" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Where to Get AR =========================================================================== @{" The AR Mailing List " link MAILLIST} @{" Aminet " link AMINET} @{" World Wide Web " link WWW} @{" Distribution Sites " link BBS} @{" Commercial Services " link ZONE} --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node BBS "Distribution Sites" @toc WHERE =========================================================================== Distribution BBSes =========================================================================== Arranged by Continent: @{" Asia " link BBS_ASIA} @{" Australasia " link BBS_AUSTRALASIA} @{" Europe " link BBS_EUROPE} @{" North America " link BBS_NAMERICA} @{" South America " link BBS_SAMERICA} Sysops: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the BBS name, its location (Country, province/state) your name, any internet/fidonet addresses, and the phone number of your BBS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adv @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode @node DEALER "Dealer Directory" @toc MENU =========================================================================== Dealer Directory =========================================================================== Arranged by Continent: @{" Asia " link DEAL_ASIA} @{" Australasia " link DEAL_AUSTRALASIA} @{" Europe " link DEAL_EUROPE} @{" North America " link DEAL_NAMERICA} Dealers: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the BBS name, its location (Country, province/state) your name, any internet/fidonet addresses, and the phone number of your dealership --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL} @endnode

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08/1997