& LIGHT-YEARS! - TRS-80 Color Computer Archive
& LIGHT-YEARS! - TRS-80 Color Computer Archive
& LIGHT-YEARS! - TRS-80 Color Computer Archive
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COft TE!<br />
The Leading Magazine of Home, Educational, and Recreational Oonrrfl L ijfcU fh<br />
LABS, LASERS,<br />
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► 17 Top Science<br />
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► Award-Winning Writer<br />
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55 Historical Games<br />
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JUNE<br />
1989<br />
VOLUME 11<br />
NUMBER 6<br />
ISSUE 109<br />
The Leading Magazine<br />
of Home, Educational, and<br />
Recreational Computing<br />
Science!<br />
FEATURES<br />
Watch your computer mutate into a scientific wonder with<br />
the right software. Seventeen topnotch packages make<br />
science fascinating and fun./David Stanton 18<br />
Light-Years and Lasers<br />
Science Fiction Inside Your <strong>Computer</strong><br />
Alien worlds, alien races, alien adventures. An awardwinning<br />
SF writer turns 11 science-fiction games inside<br />
out.<br />
Orson Scott Card 28<br />
Power Home Computing<br />
Pack power into your PC for hotshot play or high-tech<br />
home working. Dozens of products that upgrade your PC,<br />
Mac, or Amiga for less than $1,000.<br />
Heidi Aycock, Steven Anzovin, Gregg Keizer, and Peter<br />
Scisco 36<br />
Buyer's Guide<br />
Historical Games<br />
Relive history, then change it, with one of these 51 histori<br />
cal games./'Mickey McLean 41<br />
REVIEWS<br />
Fast Looks<br />
Kings of the Beach<br />
Apple II Video Overlay Card<br />
Project Firestart<br />
Menu Works .<br />
PC Tools Deluxe, Version 5.0<br />
J. Blake Lambert<br />
Who Framed Roger Rabbit<br />
Carol S. Holzberg<br />
62<br />
63<br />
65<br />
Leisure Suit Larry II: Looking for<br />
Love (In Several Wrong Places)<br />
Bob Guerra 66<br />
College Explorer<br />
Kristen Sternberg _<br />
Abrams Battle Tank<br />
Peter Scisco<br />
TV Sports Football<br />
Steven Anzovin<br />
Geometry<br />
Carol S. Holzberg<br />
67<br />
68<br />
69<br />
70<br />
Twilight Zone: Crossroads of<br />
Imagination<br />
David Stanton<br />
Cartooners<br />
Nancy Rentschler _<br />
Flodd, the Bad Guy<br />
Carol S. Holzberg _<br />
Publish It! Lite!<br />
Daniel Will-Harris<br />
WriteNow 2.0<br />
Heidi E. H. Aycock<br />
Hometown, U.S.A.<br />
Nancy Rentschler<br />
71<br />
71<br />
72<br />
74<br />
76<br />
77
COLUMNS<br />
Editorial License<br />
Science fact, science fiction—love 'em<br />
both, leave 'em both. It just depends<br />
on whether there's a computer<br />
around.fGregg Keizer<br />
News & Notes<br />
Sports on the wire, college on a disk,<br />
Apple on Beatles' bad list, and more<br />
news on our home computer<br />
beat./Editors<br />
Gameplay<br />
If you think of computer games as art,<br />
then game designers are artists.<br />
Orson Scott Card 12<br />
Impact<br />
Understand the miracles and wonders<br />
of science with your personal<br />
computer.jDavid D. Thornburg . 88<br />
Discoveries<br />
Cover photo © 7989 by Mark Wagoner.<br />
Computing isn't tough—not any more.<br />
So what's your excuse?<br />
David Stanton 16<br />
COMPUTE! SPECIFIC<br />
MS-DOS<br />
Clifton Karnes<br />
64 & 128<br />
Neil Randall _<br />
Apple II<br />
Gregg Keizer<br />
Amiga<br />
Steven Anzovin<br />
Macintosh<br />
Heidi E. H. Aycock<br />
Atari ST<br />
David Plot kin<br />
Letters<br />
Piracy and the ST: The Falcon<br />
6ebac\e./Editors<br />
New Products!<br />
Laptop with weight, finance update,<br />
chopper that's great, and more new<br />
products of \a\Q./Mickey McLean<br />
COMPUTE! The Leading Magazine of Home, Educational, and Recreational Computing (USPS: 537250) is published monthly by COMPUTE1 Publications, Inc.. ABC Consumer Magazines,<br />
Inc., Chillon Company, one of the ABC Publishing Companies, a pan of Capital Cities/ABC. Inc. Editorial Offices are located at 324 West Wendover Avenue. Greensboro. NC 27408. Domestic<br />
Subscriptions 12 issues, S20. POSTMASTER: Send Form 3S79 to: COMPUTE!. P.O. Box 3245, Harlan. IA 51537. Second-class postage paid at New York. NY and additional mailing offices<br />
Entire contents copyright & 1989 by COMPUTE! Publications, Inc. All rights reserved, ISSN 0194-357X.<br />
52<br />
53<br />
54<br />
56<br />
58<br />
60<br />
14<br />
79
Science Fact,<br />
Science<br />
Fiction. I Love<br />
Both, I Hate<br />
Both. It Just<br />
Depends on<br />
Whether<br />
There's a<br />
<strong>Computer</strong> in<br />
the Room.<br />
COMPUTE!<br />
• GREGG KEIZER<br />
Science fact, science fiction. That's what<br />
this issue is about. One I love deeply,<br />
the other I could do without.<br />
I was the kid in science class who<br />
turned on the Bunsen burner and pointed<br />
the flame across the lab table. Charred note<br />
book pages and some singed hair were the<br />
usual results. I refused to take biology in<br />
high school—not because of some open-<br />
mouthed respect for the rights of frogs, but<br />
because I thought lectures about the lym<br />
phatic system would be boring. Instead, I<br />
took chemistry my last year; a handful of<br />
seniors lorded it over a class composed of<br />
juniors who were science geeks from the get-<br />
go. Sometime in there we stuck an unfortu<br />
nate junior under the emergency fire-<br />
dousing shower and pulled the chain: 30<br />
gallons of water spilled over him and the<br />
classroom floor.<br />
In college I made the mistake of taking<br />
an Honors class in something called Practi<br />
cal Biology. I should have read the course<br />
description a bit more carefully. I ended up<br />
in a class full of pre-med majors, people who<br />
were born with knives in their hands. And<br />
the class! We operated on dogs at an animalresearch<br />
facility—simple operations at first.<br />
then more involved procedures. Everyone<br />
had to take turns playing head surgeon, or<br />
assistant surgeon, or nurse. There I was with<br />
a scalpel poised above a slowly breathing<br />
mongrel when I should have been in front of<br />
a typewriter in the journalism department. I<br />
was cured of science for good.<br />
Science fiction, on the other hand, was<br />
something I took to like dark to the night. I<br />
went through every SF novel in my home<br />
town library, then convinced my mother to<br />
let me use her card so that I could check out<br />
books from the adult section upstairs. Andre<br />
Norton, Robert Heinlein. Robert Silverberg,<br />
Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and hun<br />
dreds of other writers filled my head with<br />
tales of strange worlds, strange ships, and<br />
even stranger beings. It was everything sci<br />
ence wasn't—fresh, inviting, imaginative,<br />
creative, and most of all, lots and lots of fun.<br />
So when I decided I wanted to write fic<br />
tion, I knew it had to be science fiction. I<br />
wrote bad stuff, not-so-bad stuff, and, final<br />
ly, good stuff that someone wanted to pub<br />
lish. Now I write strange stories about<br />
people who can't die. prisoners in an alien<br />
war, Hitler coming back from the dead.<br />
Stuff my mother takes a rain check on. (You<br />
must be doing something right when your<br />
mom can't fathom your stories.)<br />
But there's no science in mv science fic<br />
tion. A dash here, a splash there—just<br />
enough to get me by. Not the nuts-and-bolts<br />
kind of science fiction that writers like Greg<br />
ory Benford or Larry Niven put out.<br />
Yet when I look at the computer soft<br />
ware for science and science fiction, I get the<br />
strangest feeling. I may have made a mis<br />
take somewhere. Science on a computer is<br />
cool. Cooler by far than science fiction.<br />
As David Stanton points out in this is<br />
sue's "Science!," science software lets you<br />
manipulate the universe. Pretend to experi<br />
ment with chemicals too dangerous for any<br />
teenager to handle. Track a grizzly bear<br />
through the wilds. Peer into the body of a<br />
human or a frog. All these windows on the<br />
world are only possible because of the per<br />
sonal computer. The future of scienceoriented<br />
simulations alone is staggering.<br />
Imagine splitting the atom, splicing genes.<br />
delving into the guts of a tornado—all from<br />
the safe side of a computer screen. Science<br />
software makes science come alive in ways I<br />
never dreamed of when I was mixing strange<br />
concoctions in an empty drawer during<br />
Chem class. If there had been personal com<br />
puters and science software when I was<br />
growing up, I might be sitting in a lab now<br />
instead of pounding keys like this.<br />
Science-fiction computer games, on the<br />
other hand, can't match the real thing. Orson<br />
Scott Card, in "Light-Years and Lasers,"<br />
takes a look at 11 topnotch games and draws<br />
the same conclusion: SF games are often not<br />
good science fiction. There's no contest be<br />
tween a well-written, contemporary SF nov<br />
el (Great Sky River, for instance, by Greg<br />
Benford) and a science-fiction computer<br />
game when it comes to plot, characteriza<br />
tion, even originality. Rather, SF computer<br />
games work because, as Card says, they "do<br />
an excellent job of what only computer<br />
games can do." That means letting you par<br />
ticipate in the science fiction, letting you in<br />
on the adventure to new worlds, new times.<br />
Yet for all its charm, science-fiction com<br />
puter entertainment dulls me; the anticipa<br />
tion of the game is almost always better than<br />
the game itself. It's like the feeling I get<br />
watching reruns of "Mister Ed"—the show<br />
isn't nearly as funny as I remembered it<br />
from my eight-years-old days. If there had<br />
been personal computers and science-fiction<br />
software when I was a kid, I might be writ<br />
ing stories that my mother, heaven forbid,<br />
would actually read.<br />
Science fiction. Science fact. I love<br />
both, I hate both. It just depends on whether<br />
there's a computer in the room. B
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You'll find it in new games from Acti-<br />
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And in more titles, from more pub<br />
lishers, all the time.<br />
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So don't just sit there looking at<br />
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Visual Composer/MIDI Supplement —<br />
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Instrument Maker — $49.95 Create thou<br />
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Music Championship #1, Basic Concepts<br />
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jnd Space Quest III tram<br />
Sierra (bottoml.<br />
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Pop-Tunes<br />
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Programmer's<br />
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Ad Lib Personal <strong>Computer</strong> Music System<br />
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System Requirements: IBM" PC, XT, AT or<br />
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Hello, Sports Fans!<br />
Play ball! will be the call of<br />
Monday-morning quarter<br />
backs and armchair baseball<br />
managers when they hook<br />
their personal computers into<br />
an electronic sports network<br />
sponsored by Washington-<br />
based Gannett, the publisher<br />
of USA Today, and Line Net<br />
works of Greensboro, North<br />
Carolina.<br />
Susan Bokern, director of<br />
sales and marketing at Gannett<br />
News Media, said the USA<br />
Today Sports Center service<br />
grew out of the sports depart<br />
ment at USA Today, which<br />
wanted its own database both<br />
for research and for supplying<br />
Gannett's 88 other newspapers<br />
with sports information. "We<br />
saw that this was something<br />
we could offer to the public,"<br />
she said.<br />
Besides scores, stats, sched<br />
ules, and spreads, sports fans<br />
can field Fantasy/Rotisserie-<br />
league teams for baseball, bas<br />
ketball, football, and hockey. A<br />
chat line and electronic mail<br />
keep players in touch with one<br />
another, and a special service<br />
that crunches your fantasy<br />
6 COMPUTE<br />
nem¬es<br />
team's stats is also available<br />
($40.00 per season per mem<br />
ber, $60.00 per season per<br />
nonmember).<br />
Although the Sports Cen<br />
ter started up in mid-February.<br />
Gannett and Line anticipated<br />
that the Fantasy/Rotisserie<br />
leagues wouldn't be running<br />
until April 1. Other services,<br />
like shopping, have been<br />
scheduled for a iate May roll<br />
out. Bokern said agreements<br />
with vendors had been com<br />
pleted, but that the first prior<br />
ity was signing up new<br />
customers.<br />
If team games aren't your<br />
style, you can also play chess,<br />
backgammon, checkers, even<br />
blackjack. High scores for the<br />
week are posted, and you can<br />
play online against another op<br />
ponent. For baseball-card afi<br />
cionados, live online auctions<br />
and a trading post for collect<br />
ibles have been planned to de<br />
but in late May. Public forums<br />
and communications with the<br />
USA Today sports department<br />
add to the network's offerings.<br />
Cost for an individual<br />
membership is $ 14.95, which<br />
<strong>Computer</strong>ized<br />
College Come-On<br />
College recruiting may never<br />
be the same. The Illinois Insti<br />
tute of Technology, a high-tech<br />
university in Chicago, really<br />
wants the attention of high-<br />
school seniors. To get it, IIT<br />
has taken note of its own cur<br />
riculum and put together a<br />
computerized come-on aimed<br />
at kids with PCs.<br />
Instead of a flashy four-<br />
color brochure, IIT has been<br />
sending prospective students a<br />
single 5'/i-inch disk. When<br />
they pop the disk into an MS-<br />
DOS machine, high-schoolers<br />
are treated to an animated pre<br />
brings with it $ 15.00 worth of<br />
online time. There are no an<br />
nual or monthly dues. Other<br />
people within one household<br />
can join for an additional<br />
S4.95 each (no free<br />
time); club and<br />
team rates are<br />
also available.<br />
Optional SportsWare<br />
software, which presents a<br />
graphics face to the service,<br />
costs $24.95 and is available<br />
for the IBM PC and compati<br />
bles, Commodore 64/128,<br />
Apple II, and Macintosh com<br />
puter lines. Phone and net<br />
work charges vary depending<br />
on how you access the service;<br />
costs range from $ 17.95 per<br />
hour (for dialing direct<br />
through an <strong>80</strong>0 number be<br />
tween 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. week<br />
days) to $2.95 per hour (if<br />
you're lucky enough to live in<br />
the calling area for Greens<br />
boro, North Carolina). Cus<br />
tomers can also access the<br />
Sports Center through Tym<br />
net, Telenet, Telenet 2400, and<br />
ConnNet<br />
— Peter Scisco<br />
sentation that hypes the school,<br />
its strengths in high technol<br />
ogy, and its location. A menu<br />
system navigated with single-<br />
character keypresses lets the<br />
college-bound explore such<br />
areas as financial aid, student/<br />
faculty ratios, key majors, on-<br />
campus sports, and job<br />
placement.<br />
Running on any PC with<br />
CGA graphics or better, the<br />
Why Should You Consider IIT<br />
disk was created by The Learn<br />
ing Curve, a Chicago-based<br />
company that specializes in<br />
adding animation and graphics<br />
to training packages. The<br />
graphics, though lacking the<br />
polish (and in CGA, the color)<br />
of much commercial software,<br />
are enough to keep people<br />
pressing keys.<br />
Has the unique recruit<br />
ment tool been a success? Ac<br />
cording to Bill Black. IIT's<br />
director of admissions, "A<br />
high percentage of the inqui<br />
ries are from top students—<br />
just the sort of prospect that is<br />
suited to our programs."<br />
For more information<br />
about IIT and its disk, contact<br />
the Institute's public relations<br />
office at (312) 567-3104.<br />
— Gregg Keizer
Mean Mister Mustard<br />
vs. Macintosh<br />
The next time you buy an Ap<br />
ple product, it may be a Peach.<br />
In February, Apple Corps filed<br />
suit in Great Britain's High<br />
Court against Apple Com<br />
puter. Apple Corps is owned<br />
by the three surviving mem<br />
bers of the Beatles and the es<br />
tate of John Lennon.<br />
Apple Corps claims thai<br />
Apple <strong>Computer</strong> broke a 1981<br />
agreement in which the com<br />
puter company promised not<br />
to use the Apple logo on any<br />
products designed to produce<br />
music. These products include<br />
the MIDI interface, the Macin<br />
tosh line of computers, the Ap<br />
ple IIgs, and the Apple He.<br />
"We believe the case has<br />
On the Road Again<br />
It's back and it's hot. The gang<br />
that brought Test Drive<br />
screeching onto your computer<br />
screen is on the road again<br />
with The Duel: Test Drive II,<br />
New cars, new road, computer<br />
competition, and enhance<br />
ment disks are sure to give<br />
white-line fever to more com<br />
puter users than ever.<br />
Taking its lead from flight<br />
simulator programs, Accolade<br />
is also offering Test Drive ad<br />
dicts scenery and car disks. So<br />
far. one scenery disk (Califor<br />
nia Challenge) and one car<br />
disk (The Supercars) are avail<br />
$500<br />
$450<br />
£400<br />
1350<br />
S3 00<br />
| $250<br />
$200<br />
$150<br />
$100<br />
$50<br />
$0<br />
■nem¬es<br />
no merit," said Carleen LeVas-<br />
seur, spokesperson for Apple<br />
<strong>Computer</strong>. "And we do not be<br />
lieve that we are in violation of<br />
any agreement with Apple<br />
Corps."<br />
The Beatles' company has<br />
asked the court to force Apple<br />
<strong>Computer</strong> to change its name,<br />
to sell the music products un<br />
der a different name, or to<br />
change the computers by re<br />
moving the sound chips. Apple<br />
Corps lawyer Paul V. LiCalsi<br />
said a remedy might also re<br />
quire Apple <strong>Computer</strong> to pay a<br />
licensing fee for the products<br />
that have already used the<br />
logo.<br />
"The whole realm of the<br />
able. Although Accolade hasn't<br />
set a release date for future en<br />
hancement disks, a company<br />
spokeswoman said there<br />
would probably be another<br />
disk available by the end of the<br />
year. She said the release of<br />
scenery and car disks was in<br />
response to letters received<br />
from Test Drive players.<br />
Additional disks will<br />
probably be designed by Dis<br />
tinctive Software, the same<br />
team that developed The Duel<br />
and the original Test Drive.<br />
Car game enthusiasts may one<br />
dav be able to race from the<br />
Consumer Software Sales Hit the Ceiling<br />
music business was preserved<br />
for the Beatles' company by<br />
this contract," LiCalsi said.<br />
"Technology being what it is,<br />
these lines get blurred, and<br />
that's what we were protecting<br />
ourselves against."<br />
In 1986, Apple <strong>Computer</strong><br />
and Apple Corps negotiated<br />
another agreement to expand<br />
the use of the Apple logo to a<br />
wider range of products. Dur<br />
Big Apple to Big Sur in the car<br />
of their dreams. So if shifting<br />
gears and burning rubber is<br />
ing those ill-fated negotiations,<br />
LiCalsi said, Apple Corps real<br />
ized that Apple <strong>Computer</strong> had<br />
already broken the 1981<br />
contract.<br />
Apple <strong>Computer</strong> will file a<br />
response with the British<br />
court. Until then, the company<br />
won't affirm or deny any of<br />
Apple Corps' claims.<br />
— Heidi E. H. Aycock<br />
your idea of fun. buckle your<br />
self in to Test Drive 11 and run<br />
with the best.<br />
MS-DOS Takes Over<br />
— Peter Scisco ><br />
1984 1985 1986 1987 1988<br />
Home Education! MS-DOS M Apple II M acini os h Commodore<br />
JUNE 1989
That Old Ball and Chain<br />
It used to be that a person<br />
could get in real trouble slip<br />
ping a file into a jail cell. But if<br />
you're a member of the Prison<br />
er's User Group (PUG) in the<br />
Washington State Reforma<br />
tory of Monroe. Washington,<br />
you're encouraged to bring<br />
files into the Big House—com<br />
puter files, that is.<br />
Sponsored by Edmonds<br />
Community College, also of<br />
Monroe, the group consists of<br />
about 20 Commodore 64/128<br />
users. The group corresponds<br />
by way of iis PUG newsletter<br />
subtitled "The Computing Be<br />
What the Future<br />
Has in Store<br />
New York City has long been<br />
the center of finance and fash<br />
ion for the United States. But<br />
software? If Software. Etc. gets<br />
its way. the Big Apple will<br />
soon be toasting another cul<br />
tural focal point—the software<br />
store of the future.<br />
Cheat Right<br />
Slogging through complicated<br />
simulations and adventure<br />
games may be fun for folks<br />
with lots of time on their<br />
hands, but for those of us with<br />
lives to lead, every minute lost<br />
looking for the Magic Scroll is<br />
another minute lost to family,<br />
friends, and other hobbies.<br />
Enter the hint book, an in<br />
valuable aid to players who<br />
want to play detailed games<br />
but just don't have the time.<br />
Epyx, a noted publisher of en<br />
tertainment software, has just<br />
released an attractively pack<br />
aged booklet that includes tips<br />
8 COMPUTEI<br />
hind Bars Publication." In ad<br />
dition to prison news and hints<br />
on computer use. the newslet<br />
ter carries such items as "From<br />
the Soapbox." a general forum<br />
for discussing a variety of<br />
problems particular to using<br />
computers in prison.<br />
In the latest issue, for in<br />
stance, the editor blasts the<br />
Midnight Gamester, the com<br />
puter user who disturbs other<br />
prisoners with the sounds of<br />
game playing deep into the<br />
night. "This is the same lack of<br />
consideration for others that<br />
landed the Midnight Gamester<br />
Opened March 13 on fam<br />
ous Fifth Avenue, the 4323-<br />
square-foot store features an<br />
electronic chair connected to a<br />
16-screen Media Wall for mul<br />
timedia demonstrations of<br />
software programs. Called the<br />
Power Desk and adapted from<br />
the bucket seat of a Premiere<br />
car. the chair is equipped with<br />
and hints on four of its popu<br />
lar games: The Legend of<br />
Blacksilver, Space Station<br />
Oblivion, L.A. Crackdown, and<br />
Sub Battle Simulator.<br />
The Master Collection<br />
Hint Book contains general<br />
suggestions as well as hints to<br />
help you move past a particu<br />
larly troublesome spot in the<br />
game. A variety of detailed<br />
maps aid in game navigation;<br />
the maps for The Legend of<br />
Blacksilver are particularly<br />
helpful. Tips for the one non-<br />
adventure game in the quartet.<br />
Sub Battle Simulator, arc more<br />
in prison in the first place."<br />
writes editor and group presi<br />
dent Ed Mead. He also criti<br />
cizes computer users who run<br />
their printers after 10:00 p.m.<br />
in defiance of prison rules.<br />
Besides playing games<br />
and producing newsletters, the<br />
users at the prison can take<br />
part in community college<br />
two personal computers and is<br />
wired for sound. From the<br />
chair, salespeople and develop<br />
ers can demonstrate software<br />
packages on the Media Wall,<br />
which dominates the back of<br />
the store. "This incredibly fu<br />
turistic New York store re<br />
flects our predictions for where<br />
software is heading and how it<br />
will be merchandised in the<br />
years to come," said Jordan<br />
Levy, vice president and direc<br />
tor of marketing.<br />
The huge outlet will sup<br />
port the major persona! com<br />
puter platforms: IBM PC and<br />
compatibles, Apple II. Macin<br />
tosh. Commodore, and Amiga.<br />
In addition to software, visi<br />
tors will find more (han 1000<br />
different books and magazines<br />
tactical in nature but still<br />
valuable.<br />
Other tip books may use<br />
clever techniques to keep you<br />
from discovering too much,<br />
but Epyx's booklet can get<br />
quite specific. Thai may dis<br />
turb some who wani just a bit<br />
of aid, but for those of us<br />
pressed for time, it's more a<br />
benefit than anything else.<br />
For a copy of The Master<br />
Collection Hint Book, contact<br />
Epyx at 600 Galveston Drive,<br />
Redwood City, California<br />
94063; (415) 366-0606; $9.95.<br />
— Gregg Keizer<br />
classes, including Introduction<br />
to DOS. math (up to calculus),<br />
compuier programming, and<br />
computer literacy.<br />
Anyone interested in<br />
communicating with the PUG<br />
can write lo Mead at P.O. Box<br />
777, Monroe, Washington<br />
98272.<br />
as well as supplies and<br />
accessories.<br />
— Peter Scisco<br />
The slorc also boasts a<br />
special desktop publishing<br />
area, complete with a Macin<br />
tosh II computer, laser print<br />
ers, and scanners. Elsewhere in<br />
the outlet arc eight personal<br />
computers, stationed on a car<br />
ousel, that can be used for<br />
demonstrations. Theatrical<br />
lighting and vaulted ceilings<br />
complete the store's look.<br />
Opening ceremonies were<br />
attended by The Amazing<br />
Kreskin (who attempted to<br />
read a computer's "mind"),<br />
film designer Syd Mead (Blade<br />
Runner), financial guru An<br />
drew Tobias, and major league<br />
baseball manager Earl Weaver.<br />
— Peter Scisco
1<br />
5 sure steps to a fast start<br />
as a high-paid<br />
computer service technician<br />
Choose training<br />
that's right tor today's<br />
good jobs<br />
Jobs for computer service technicians<br />
will almost double in the next 10 years,<br />
according to the latest Department of<br />
Labor projections. For you, that means<br />
unlimited opportunities for advance<br />
M<br />
4<br />
ment, a new career, or even a com<br />
puter service business of your own. 1989<br />
3MPU1 EH<br />
1<br />
3ERVIC E-<br />
A<br />
4*<br />
But to succeed in computer service today, you need trainingcomplete,<br />
practical training that gives you the confidence to service any<br />
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Only NRI—the leader in career-building, at-home electronics training<br />
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Only NRI starts you with the basics, then builds your knowledge step by<br />
step until you have everything you need for a fast start as a high-paid<br />
computer service technician.<br />
f<br />
f<br />
—<br />
2000<br />
2 Go beyond<br />
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to get true handson<br />
experience<br />
NRI knows you learn better by<br />
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You first read about the subject.<br />
studying diagrams, schematics, and photos that make the subject even<br />
clearer. Then you do. You build, examine, remove, lest, repair, replace.<br />
You discover for yourself the feel of the real thing, the confidence gained<br />
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3 Get inside<br />
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puter system<br />
If you really want to get ahead<br />
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why NRI includes the<br />
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the centerpiece of your<br />
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As you build this<br />
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micro<br />
from the keyboard up,<br />
performing key tests<br />
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yourself how every section of your computer works.<br />
You assemble and test your computer's "intelligent" keyboard,<br />
install the power supply and 514" floppy disk drive, then interface the<br />
high-resolution monitor. But that's not all.<br />
You go on to install a powerful 20 megabyte hard disk<br />
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By getting inside this powerful computer, you<br />
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4,'■ Make sure you've always got<br />
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Throughout your NRI<br />
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If the coupon is missing, write to: NRI<br />
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HIM is ,i n-yisliTwl iriiclvinark eif International EJiisiiess Maihini's Corp.<br />
School of<br />
Electronics<br />
McGraw-Hill Continuing Education Center<br />
4401 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008<br />
S^CHECK ONE CATALOG ONLY<br />
□ <strong>Computer</strong>s and Microprocessors<br />
□ Robotics<br />
□ TV/Video/Audio Servicing<br />
□ Data Communications<br />
I<br />
I Address<br />
j City __<br />
I<br />
Name .<br />
For career courses<br />
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] check (or details.<br />
□ Security Electronics<br />
□ Electronic Music Technology<br />
□ Digital Electronics Servicing<br />
□ Compuler Programming<br />
□ Basic Electronics<br />
State. .Zip.<br />
Accredited bv the National Home Stjdv Council 198-069 i69 |
Collected Works<br />
For years, computers have<br />
promised to make things sim<br />
ple, to keep track of the detri<br />
tus of our lifes. Organization is<br />
supposed to be their forte: tire<br />
less cataloging, their domain.<br />
But have you ever tried to<br />
create a database? One that<br />
holds just the right infor<br />
mation for your record collec<br />
tion, your photograph file,<br />
your baseball-card boxes?<br />
With a database program, the<br />
chore isn't tough. But it may<br />
be more than you bargained<br />
for (especially if you don't al<br />
ready own a database and so<br />
have to go out and buy one) or<br />
take more time than vou can<br />
CD-ROM Surge<br />
More than 2,000 people gath<br />
ered in Anaheim for Micro<br />
soft's Fourth Annual CD-<br />
ROM (Compact Disc-Read<br />
Only Memory) Conference.<br />
The March conference ad<br />
dressed both the current state<br />
of CD-ROM and its potential<br />
for continued growth.<br />
CD-ROM is thriving in<br />
both areas. Software revenues<br />
last year approached half a bil<br />
lion dollars, and 1989 prom<br />
ises to be even larger. Because<br />
CD-ROM offer enormous<br />
amounts of storage, the tech-<br />
The Gospel<br />
According to<br />
Bubeck<br />
If you've been looking for an<br />
electronic bulletin board that<br />
calcrs to an unusual interest,<br />
lay your hands on the 1989<br />
BBS Bible, released by Bubeck<br />
Publishing. First of its kind,<br />
the 19S9 BBS Bible lists nearly<br />
5000 public computer bulletin<br />
board systems in the United<br />
States.<br />
The BBS Bible was com<br />
piled by Thomas W. Bubeck. a<br />
freelance writer who has edited<br />
magazines and annual directo<br />
ries, because he found a scarci<br />
ty of useful, up-to-date infor<br />
mation about BBSs.<br />
Using your computer and<br />
10 COMPUTE!<br />
devote.<br />
Call up Steve Hudgik,<br />
owner of HomeCraft Com<br />
puter Products. Hudgik has<br />
developed a whole scries of<br />
customized databases for IBM<br />
PC and compatible comput<br />
ers—databases specifically<br />
set up to track records, books,<br />
videos, baseball cards, jazz<br />
albums, comic books, and clas<br />
sical recordings.<br />
Each Organize Your Col<br />
lection database is complete<br />
and ready to run and has a va<br />
riety of fields already set. For<br />
instance, the For Record Col<br />
lectors database has three lev<br />
els, each of which provides<br />
progressively greater detail of<br />
nology is seen by many as cru<br />
cial to the elevation of the PC<br />
from data-crunching work<br />
horse to true multimedia ap<br />
pliance. Several conference<br />
announcements showed that<br />
such an appliance may be in<br />
our future.<br />
Philips. Microsoft, and<br />
Sony jointly announced CD-<br />
ROM XA (extended Architec<br />
ture), a standard that adds<br />
compressed audio capabilities<br />
to CD-ROM discs. IBM and<br />
Intel announced advances in<br />
DVI (Digital Video Interac<br />
tive), which further extends<br />
a modem, you can connect to a<br />
BBS for fun and conversation.<br />
Some BBSs offer electronic<br />
mail or live chat sessions: oth<br />
ers offer games, special-interest<br />
groups, or computer-specific<br />
information.<br />
The 1989 BBS Bible lists<br />
BBSs by area code and by<br />
more than 130 special interests,<br />
including machine-specific cat<br />
egories. Noncomputer inter<br />
ests include genealogy,<br />
religion, science, and music.<br />
Besides the directory,<br />
Bubeck has compiled several<br />
articles helpful to people using<br />
BBSs. For example, you can<br />
read about low-cost long<br />
distance services and about<br />
beating viruses before they<br />
attack.<br />
information that can be stored<br />
for a song. The simplest level<br />
offers only six fields: Catalog<br />
Number. Song Title, Artist,<br />
Year Released. Note, and Val<br />
ue. The most advanced level<br />
includes another 15 categories,<br />
ranging from Writer to Date<br />
Last Played.<br />
Hudgik's databases arc<br />
simple to use: All you have to<br />
do is enter the information.<br />
Data can easily be edited, and,<br />
of course, searched for and<br />
printed. It's a quick task to<br />
search for all the songs in your<br />
collection that were recorded<br />
by Neil Young, for example—<br />
a printout lakes just a moment<br />
longer.<br />
CD technology by the addition<br />
of full-motion video. Other<br />
product announcements in<br />
cluded CD-based telephone di<br />
rectories. Bibles, entertain<br />
ment and education packages,<br />
authoring systems, and mas<br />
tering processes that allow<br />
CDs to run on both MS-DOS<br />
and Macintosh machines.<br />
Perhaps the heaviest traf<br />
fic in the exhibit hall flowed<br />
toward two products unavail<br />
able here—Fujitsu's<br />
fm TOWNS, a 386-based PC<br />
Bubeck plans for the BUS<br />
Bible to be an annual affair<br />
with the 1990 edition due out<br />
in the fourth quarter of 1989.<br />
The current edition costs<br />
Even more interesting for<br />
some, however, is Hudgik's of<br />
fer to create a custom database<br />
for any collection. If Home-<br />
Craft doesn't already offer a<br />
database for whatever you col<br />
lect and Hudgik believes he<br />
can sell at least 6-10 copies,<br />
he'll do the programming and<br />
come up with a specialized<br />
database just right for you. The<br />
price is the standard $59.95<br />
that Homecraft charges for all<br />
its specialty databases.<br />
For more information on<br />
Homecraft's products, contact<br />
the company at P.O. Box 974,<br />
Tualatin, Oregon 97062; (503)<br />
692-3732.<br />
—Gregg Keizer<br />
with a CD-ROM drive; and<br />
NEC's phenomenally success<br />
ful PC Engine, a dedicated<br />
game platform that's sold<br />
more than a million units in<br />
Japan. In December, the com<br />
pany introduced a CD-ROM<br />
drive for the Engine and pro<br />
ceeded to sell 100,000 drives in<br />
three months—despite limited<br />
software.<br />
Neither NEC nor Fujitsu<br />
announced plans to release<br />
their products in the West.<br />
— Keith Ferreli<br />
$24.99. For more information,<br />
contact Bubeck Publishing at<br />
P.O.Box 104, Collcgcvillc,<br />
Pennsylvania 19426; (215)<br />
287-6356.<br />
—Heidi KH.Aycock h
SUMMER, IT WON'T BE THE<br />
WEATHER THAT MAKES YOU<br />
HOT.<br />
It may reach<br />
the 100's this<br />
summer, but<br />
that's mild<br />
compared to<br />
this scorcher<br />
from SSI:<br />
Curse or<br />
the Azure<br />
Bonos.<br />
It's the sizzling<br />
sequel to Foot<br />
of Radiauce,<br />
the best-selling<br />
AD&D* role-<br />
playing game<br />
from SSI.<br />
Advanced<br />
Dungeonsgdpragons<br />
wubuc ■.i»iunun i<br />
Look for Curse or<br />
the Azure Bonds this<br />
summer at a store<br />
near you.<br />
Available for most<br />
home computers.<br />
ADVANCED DUNGLON5 t< DRAGONS. AD&D.<br />
FORGOTTEN RKALM5 ,m
Judge<br />
<strong>Computer</strong><br />
Games as Art,<br />
Respect Game<br />
Designers as<br />
12 COMPUTE!<br />
Artists<br />
mmeplay<br />
The other day I was reading a book of<br />
lilerary biographies—you know, the<br />
kind of book where some star-struck<br />
academic tells us common people how it<br />
was that genius writers got to be so wonder<br />
ful in spite of the fact that they were horri<br />
ble, selfish people who ruined the lives of<br />
everybody around them and wrote stuff that<br />
nobody would ever read if they weren't re<br />
quired to by English teachers.<br />
You know—the kind of book I want<br />
somebody to write about me someday.<br />
At one point the author of this book, re<br />
ferring to a very popular writer of the early<br />
twentieth century, wrote, "His work showed<br />
some talent, but it was hardly literature."<br />
That sort of snobbery makes my skin<br />
crawl. You hear it all the time, from the sort<br />
of people who enjoy despising others* tastes.<br />
*'I suppose it's all right if you like that sort of<br />
thing, but it's hardly art. is it?"<br />
Often that attitude is used to react<br />
against anything new. That's how theatrical<br />
people referred to the movies—as commer<br />
cial trash, not art. Now. after <strong>80</strong> years, film<br />
is definitely accepted as an art—whose prac<br />
titioners sneer at television just as theater<br />
people sneered at them.<br />
Painters did it to photographers when<br />
photography was new. Elizabethan poets did<br />
it to playwrights.<br />
<strong>Computer</strong> games are new and subject to<br />
this same snobbery. But when I review<br />
games, I start from the assumption that<br />
gamewrights should be judged, criticized,<br />
and respected as artists, and that they—and<br />
we—should take their work seriously as art.<br />
I don't mean art and artist the way we<br />
might speak oUheart of'ditch-digging or a<br />
pickup artist. I mean that a gamewrighl can<br />
be an artist the way Shakespeare, Rem<br />
brandt. Bach, Chaucer, and Capra are art<br />
ists. Maybe gamewrights aren't as good<br />
yet—but they should aspire to the same sort<br />
of ageless greatness in their work.<br />
That's my view, but am I right? After<br />
all. computer games arc games, not art.<br />
Take football. Few would call a football<br />
game art, even though it has an audience.<br />
it's performed by professionals, it's loved for<br />
its own sake, and it has traditions, styles,<br />
schools of thought, and even critics declar<br />
ing who is good or bad. There arc even aes<br />
thetic moments—a beautiful catch, a<br />
gorgeous bit of footwork, a perfect punt.<br />
Still, it's a contest, not an art. Most of<br />
the events in the game arc random. The<br />
rules and the playing field are standardized,<br />
but during the game itself, as the opposing<br />
ORSON SCOTT CARD<br />
coaches constantly try to surprise each oth<br />
er, as players test each other's strength and<br />
wit in a series of individual contests, specific<br />
outcomes are always unpredictable.<br />
A football game is also not repeatable.<br />
You can see a play or movie or painting.<br />
read a book, hear a symphony over and over<br />
again, and each time can be as powerful and<br />
important as the first. However, if you<br />
videotape a game and watch it again, the<br />
outcome is known. The contest is over. It<br />
isn't real the second time around.<br />
Most importantly, no single intelligence<br />
guides the story that unfolds on the field.<br />
The course of the game is not created; it<br />
merely happens.<br />
But videogames aren't like football<br />
games. They're more like golf. Here, the real<br />
contest is between the player and the design<br />
er of the course. The designer's work is de<br />
fensive; the player's job is to attack. The<br />
only contest between the players is to com<br />
pare their scores—just like a vanity board at<br />
the end of a videogame.<br />
In golf, a single intelligence does guide<br />
the experience of playing. Aesthetics are pro<br />
foundly involved; beauty and drama are<br />
much of the reason for playing at one course<br />
rather than another. And the course is re<br />
peatable: You can play it again and again,<br />
discovering new things about it each time.<br />
Of course, some golf courses aren't very<br />
artlike. You play on them because they're<br />
cheap and close and you want to practice.<br />
I've played videogames like that. too. But<br />
just because some are bad doesn't mean the<br />
good ones aren't art.<br />
But I'm still comparing computer<br />
games to a game, not to an art. So how<br />
about architecture? There are a lot of ugly,<br />
uninspired buildings in this world—even<br />
uglier than the average municipal golf<br />
course. But that doesn't change the fact that<br />
some architects create buildings that are un<br />
deniably great art. inside and out.<br />
Furthermore, you don't just experience<br />
the architect's art from the outside. You can<br />
go inside and walk around. You can explore.<br />
discover, even live inside that art. Just the<br />
way you don't simply look at a golf course—<br />
you play through it.<br />
<strong>Computer</strong> games are works of art—a<br />
new art, one that has yet to earn respect. But<br />
it is an art nonetheless, and we the players<br />
arc the audience, as we control our own pas<br />
sage through the world of the game. We are<br />
collaborators with the gamewrights in an<br />
open-ended art. created for our pleasure,<br />
completed by our choices. n
HOT NEW SELECTIONS!<br />
OFFICIAL I<br />
BOOK OF<br />
KING'S<br />
QUEST<br />
DAVENTRY AND BEYOND 1<br />
DONALD !i, TRlVfclTE<br />
The Official Book of King's<br />
Quest: Daventryand Beyond<br />
fay Donald B. Trivette<br />
ISBN 0-87455-155-2<br />
Retail: $10.95, pb, 144 pp<br />
This is ihe official guide to America's<br />
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adventure games—the bestselling<br />
King's Quest from Sierra On-Line. The<br />
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King's Quest games, maps to help<br />
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describes the elaborate programming,<br />
artwork, and musical composition that<br />
goes into the making of a King's Quest.<br />
Includes eight pages of color photos<br />
showing the stunning graphics that<br />
have made King's Quest the king of 3-D<br />
adventure games.<br />
Mapping the Commodore 64<br />
and 64C<br />
bySheldon Leemon<br />
ISBN 0-87455-082-3<br />
Retail: $18.95, pb, 324 pp<br />
This sourcebook has been expanded and<br />
now covers Ihe new icon-based GEOS<br />
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make it work for you. For BASIC and<br />
machine language programmers of both<br />
the Commodore 64 and 64C.<br />
MACHINE<br />
LANGUAGE<br />
ROUTINES<br />
== FOR THE ==<br />
COMMODORE<br />
Machine Language Routines<br />
for the Commodore 64 and 128<br />
fay Todd D. Heimarck and<br />
Patrick C. Parrish<br />
ISBN 0-87455-085-8<br />
Retail: $18.95, pb, 585 pp<br />
A must for every Commodore 128 and<br />
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Scores of routines that can simply be<br />
inserted into your own programs.<br />
Included is the assembly language code<br />
with easy-to-understand documentation<br />
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BDSK).<br />
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Sidplayer, the powerful and popular<br />
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strictly for the Commodore 64. The<br />
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sample music that you can enjoy<br />
immediately or change. Book/Disk Only<br />
COMPUTE!'s <strong>Computer</strong> Viruses<br />
by Ralph Roberts<br />
ISBN 0-87455-178-1<br />
Retail: $14.95, pb, 1<strong>80</strong> pp<br />
The authoritative guide to computer<br />
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Written in a light yet information style,<br />
COMPUTE/'s <strong>Computer</strong> Viruses<br />
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ORDER C O<br />
<strong>Computer</strong> Viruses (178-1) $14.95<br />
King's Quest (155-2) $10.95<br />
Machine Language Routines<br />
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Companion Disk (E0858) $12.95<br />
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Music System for the Commodore<br />
128 & 64 (074-2) $24.95<br />
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14 COMPUTE<br />
Simpler, Cheaper, Better<br />
I couldn't agree more with the February<br />
1989 "Editorial License"—computers<br />
cost way too much. The problem is that<br />
manufacturers are trying to give every<br />
one the cutting edge in technology<br />
when it really isn't necessary. Look at<br />
the successful Nintendo system. Does<br />
anyone know what microprocessor or<br />
graphics chip it uses? Does anyone care?<br />
How about a nice, solid home<br />
computer, one that's simple to operate<br />
but doesn't include such consumeruseless<br />
features as being able to finetune<br />
time slicing in a CONFIG file?<br />
Yes, outdated technology, but who<br />
cares? Forget computers that appeal to<br />
everyone from the Department of De<br />
fense to fifth graders—leave the hightech<br />
stuff to computer scientists and<br />
engineers.<br />
Stop Stealing<br />
James Hague<br />
Richardson, TX<br />
Talking to Atari users, we learned many<br />
wanted to see our best-selling air com<br />
bat simulator. Falcon, converted to the<br />
Atari ST.<br />
Many of our competitors warned<br />
us that releasing an ST product would<br />
be a money-loser. We were told that<br />
within weeks the product would be up<br />
on the bulletin boards and sales would<br />
fall to 0. We chose to disregard these<br />
comments and felt that the piracy prob<br />
lem only existed with a small handful of<br />
users.<br />
However, within 30 days of our re<br />
leasing Falcon ST, pirates had put the<br />
product up on the bulletin boards—<br />
complete with diagrams for the code-<br />
wheel protection, keyboard layout, and<br />
mission maps of the product.<br />
The real cost of such software pira<br />
cy is not the lost $49.95 sale, but rather<br />
the lost industry support for the Atari ST.<br />
Many ST owners argue that the ST<br />
has no more pirates than the IBM or<br />
Mac. Many of us at Spectrum HoloByte<br />
believe this to be true. The problem is<br />
that the number of installed STs is con<br />
siderably smaller than that of the IBM<br />
or Macintosh, thus increasing the im<br />
pact of piracy on sales. In addition, ST<br />
pirates seem better organized and pira<br />
liters<br />
cy seems more accepted (or, should I<br />
say, tolerated) by ST users.<br />
The cost of developing and pub<br />
lishing a product is quite high, especial<br />
ly on a complex machine like the ST.<br />
The Amiga version's sales volume is al<br />
ready double that of the ST, even<br />
though Amiga Falcon has been on the<br />
market for less time. When Macintosh<br />
and IBM versions were released, they<br />
sold four times the volume of product<br />
over the same period of time. Based on<br />
the current sales trend, the ST develop<br />
er will be lucky to break even.<br />
There is no clear-cut solution to<br />
the problem of piracy. All we can ask is<br />
that if you like a program, buy it. Think<br />
of it as an investment. The more invest<br />
ed, the more and better titles you'll see<br />
for the ST. It's a shame that a few users<br />
can hurt a market as badly as the ST pi<br />
rates can and deprive thousands of<br />
good ST users of the product support<br />
that other machines receive.<br />
Gilman G. Louie<br />
CEO/Chairman<br />
SPHERE, Spectrum HoloByte<br />
What's the Difference?<br />
Do you produce COMPUTED PC<br />
Magazine? If so, what is the main dif<br />
ference between it and COMPUTE!? I<br />
get COMPUTE! and don't want to go to<br />
the expense of subscribing to a parallel<br />
format.<br />
MaurineE. Phinisee<br />
Washington, DC<br />
COMPUTE! Publications publishes four<br />
magazines: COMPUTE!, COM-<br />
PUTEl's PC Magazine, COMPUTED<br />
Gazette, W COMPUTEI's Amiga Re<br />
source. COMPUTEI's PC Magazine dif<br />
fers from COMPUTE! in its focus (MS-<br />
DOS only), its content (features, reviews,<br />
and between five and eight ready-to-run<br />
programs on the accompanying disk),<br />
and price ($12,95 per issue). From our<br />
perspective, ifyou own an IBM PC or<br />
compatible computer, vou'llfind both<br />
COMPUTE! and COMPUTEI's PC<br />
Magazine invaluable resources. Thefor<br />
mer gives you a broad view about home<br />
computing in general, while the latter<br />
provides a focused perspective and useful<br />
software.
Apple vs. Amiga<br />
Recently, while looking through some<br />
old issues, I came across the item "Ap<br />
ple Loves the Plus" in the November<br />
1988 "News and Notes" section. It's a<br />
wonder to me that anybody pays that<br />
kind of money for that kind of system<br />
when computers like the Amiga are<br />
available for less.<br />
Let's do a quick comparison of the<br />
Apple lie Plus and the Amiga 500<br />
(which is what I own). The Apple He<br />
Plus comes with 128Kof RAM; the<br />
Amiga 500 comes with 512K of RAM.<br />
The Apple has a very low screen resolu<br />
tion. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I<br />
think it has 320 X 200, the same as the<br />
C64. The Amiga has a maximum reso<br />
lution of 640 X 400. The Apple lie Plus<br />
has bleeps and tones for sound. The<br />
Amiga has four-channel stereo sound.<br />
The Apple has 16 colors; the Amiga has<br />
4096 colors. The Apple runs at a maxi<br />
mum speed of 4 MHz; the Amiga runs<br />
at a speed of 7.2 MHz. The Apple has a<br />
6502 microprocessor; the Amiga has a<br />
Motorola 6<strong>80</strong>00 microprocessor. And<br />
the list goes on.<br />
The final thing I would like to<br />
point out is that an Amiga 500,<br />
equipped with an RGB analog monitor,<br />
costs around $900. The Apple He Plus,<br />
equipped with a composite monitor,<br />
costs $ 1,099. As you can see from the<br />
above list and the prices, there really is<br />
no comparison. How can Apple justify<br />
this? It should price this computer<br />
down nearer to the price of a compara<br />
ble Commodore 64 system. Why any<br />
one would pay so much money for so<br />
little computer is beyond me.<br />
XTs for Less<br />
Layne Adams<br />
Rockwall, TX<br />
I just read your column on the cost of<br />
computers ("Editorial License." Febru<br />
ary 1989). You said it was possible to<br />
buy a color TV, CD player, and so on,<br />
for under $300, but "good luck" trying<br />
to find a computer system for that<br />
amount. I agree that there probably<br />
aren't any serious computer systems<br />
around for $300. but it is possible to put<br />
together an IBM PC XT-compatible<br />
system (less printer) for about $365, in<br />
cluding monochrome monitor, disk<br />
drive, and 128 K of RAM.<br />
I don't think you will see an EGAcapable<br />
system for $400-$500 (with<br />
printer) in the near future. The lowest<br />
priced EGA monitor I could find costs<br />
$320 all by itself. A more realistic figure<br />
is $900-$ 1,000.1 do not believe the<br />
$400-$ 500 figure will result even from<br />
high volume, direct sales, or mass mer<br />
chandisers, as the figures I found are<br />
the lowest direct-sales prices I could<br />
find.<br />
I, too, would like to see lower sys<br />
tem prices, but I think we have hit near<br />
bottom on PC compatibles based on<br />
the <strong>80</strong>88 and <strong>80</strong>286 microprocessors.<br />
Phil Imber<br />
Glendale, AZ<br />
Mr. Imber included a price list for XTcompatible<br />
components that hefound in<br />
<strong>Computer</strong> Shopper—a 4.77-flO-MHz<br />
motherboardfor $69, a computer case<br />
for $24, a power supply for $30, and so<br />
on. Ifyou 're willing to tinker and search<br />
for good prices, you can probably build a<br />
cheaper system than you can buy.<br />
Diet Search<br />
I'd like to ask for your assistance in lo<br />
cating a program. Several years ago, I<br />
purchased a program called the Scarsdale<br />
Medical Diet for my Apple He. I've<br />
since sold the Apple and replaced it<br />
with an MS-DOS system. I would now<br />
like to locate the MS-DOS version of<br />
the program, having sold the Apple ver<br />
sion with that computer.<br />
Garry G. Stiegman<br />
New York, NY<br />
Bantam Books has discontinued The<br />
Complete Scarsdale Diet, but there are<br />
other options. Try, for example, Your<br />
Personal Weight Loss and Nutrition<br />
Center ($49.95) from Instructional<br />
Systems, 14 East Fourth Street, Suite<br />
602, New York, New York 10012; (212)<br />
477-8<strong>80</strong>0.<br />
Neat Niche<br />
I think COMPUTE! magazine has defi<br />
nitely created a niche for itself. Several<br />
of your columnists are unique in their<br />
personal approach; I especially like<br />
Orson Scott Card.<br />
Furthermore, few magazines<br />
would have the ambition and courage<br />
to cover both very inexpensive and<br />
very expensive software in the same ar<br />
ticle as Caroline Hanlon did with word<br />
processors in May. Her list may not<br />
have been complete, but its diversity is<br />
a credit to your multidimensional ap<br />
proach to home computing.<br />
Arleigh Hartkope<br />
East Brunswick, NJ B<br />
ADVERTISEMENT<br />
Fight<br />
notes<br />
#8A<br />
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distance and then flying toward it. Mo. you must<br />
find and follow an intricate set of clues scattered<br />
about the Hawaiian Islands that, with luck, will guide<br />
you to your goal.<br />
As with other mythical quests, only the proper<br />
approach can put you on the right track to finding<br />
the hidden jewel. Even if you can determine its<br />
location, the jewel is only visible under a<br />
strictly-defined set of conditions. Make a mistake<br />
during your final approach and you may get lost so<br />
completely that you'll never be able to find your way<br />
back!<br />
"Hawaiian Odyssey" Scenery Adventure disk can<br />
be used with any SubLOGIC flight simulation<br />
program, including Flight Simulator II, Stealth<br />
Mission and Jet The disk covers the entire island<br />
chain in such incredible detail you can almost feel<br />
the heat from the volcanic crater at Mauna Loa!<br />
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See your dealer to purchase SubLOGIC products,<br />
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Please address any feedback/correspondence regarding<br />
SubLOGIC products, operations, or (his Flight Notes'<br />
column lo ATTN: Chairman's Office.<br />
JUNE 1989 15
Computing<br />
Gets Easier<br />
Every Day<br />
16 COMPUTE<br />
. DAVID STANTON<br />
Q £ "F" 'II never understand all those but-<br />
I tons," a colleague recently admit-<br />
\- ted. speaking of her VCR. "Playing<br />
back a tape is simple enough, but when I<br />
want to record something. I just ask my son<br />
to set up the machine."<br />
My nemesis is the telephone system at<br />
work: Three outside lines coming into the<br />
building serve who knows how many phones.<br />
Only those who understand all the lights and<br />
buttons can capture a dial tone, and that's<br />
only half the battle. The town of Friendship<br />
is just ten miles away—long distance in tele<br />
phone talk. Travel 25 miles in the opposite<br />
direction and you'll reach Olean—"local<br />
calling area ... no charge ... no need to dial<br />
1." explains the operator. What about Niag<br />
ara Falls, three counties and <strong>80</strong> miles away?<br />
Same area code. Alfred? Same county as<br />
ours but different area code—more numbers<br />
to dial.<br />
All this is not to suggest any basic fail<br />
ing of Ma Bell. It simply serves to highlight<br />
some of the common complexities we all<br />
cope with as part of the cost of modern<br />
technology.<br />
Like my friend the VCR-phobc, some<br />
of us resent all this unnecessary confusion.<br />
Others revel in it. Some have even figured<br />
a way to turn it into cash. But for many of<br />
us. high-tech and confusion have become<br />
synonymous.<br />
Until recently, microcomputers only<br />
served to exacerbate the growing division<br />
between techies and technophobes. Limited<br />
memory, a lack of programming standards.<br />
and hardware incompatibilities conspired to<br />
make it so. In the early 19<strong>80</strong>s. you never<br />
knew computers; instead, you knew the TI-<br />
99/4A or the Atari 400 or the Commodore<br />
PET. You didn't know word processing; in<br />
stead, you knew PapevMate or PaperClip or<br />
77 Writer. <strong>Computer</strong> literacy came slow and<br />
hard.<br />
Now, as then, RAM, ROM. CAD, CAI.<br />
CMI, WYSIWYG, <strong>80</strong>386, 65C8I6, 6510,<br />
CPU, and similar cryptic jargon add to the<br />
popular view that computing is a complex<br />
skill best left to the few. Knowledge is pow<br />
er, and those who learned the hard way too<br />
often oppose moves to simplify computing.<br />
What else could explain the resistance<br />
so many experienced computists have to<br />
ward simpler-to-learn operating systems?<br />
Can it really be true that some hard-core<br />
types actually prefer MS-DOS's command<br />
structure to the growing number of DOS<br />
shells that make things so much easier?<br />
What rational user could seriously object to<br />
the desktop metaphor made popular by the<br />
Macintosh and now available for virtually<br />
all popular microcomputers? Do some really<br />
believe that learning to use each new com<br />
puter brand or program should require<br />
hours of tedious study?<br />
No matter. Resist though some will,<br />
things are changing, and today's truth will<br />
out: Computing in 1989 need not be compli<br />
cated! Today's best computers are not hard<br />
to understand. Today's most powerful soft<br />
ware packages need not take hours to learn.<br />
Apple <strong>Computer</strong> probably deserves a<br />
large part of the credit. When the company<br />
introduced that first I28K Macintosh, many<br />
laughed. "Real computists don't use mice!"<br />
doubters scoffed.<br />
Considered in retrospect, that view was<br />
a bit shortsighted. Since then, point-andclick<br />
devices have proliferated faster than<br />
rabbits. Today it's almost impossible to find<br />
a computer system that doesn't come with a<br />
mouse as standard equipment or, at least, as<br />
a strongly recommended option. Similarly,<br />
graphics-based operating systems and DOS<br />
shells have spread everywhere. Consider<br />
GEOS for Commodore 64s and 128s. or<br />
GS/OS for the Apple IlGS. or GEM Desk<br />
top. Even IBM is making moves in the right<br />
direction with its DOS 4.0 operating system.<br />
Although these environments differ in<br />
some respects, they look and feel similar<br />
enough to ease the pain of moving from one<br />
machine to another and from one applica<br />
tion to another. Increasingly, software is<br />
bridging the gap of hardware incompatibil<br />
ity. As this trend accelerates, hardware will<br />
become almost incidental. What docs it<br />
matter which machine you're using if it<br />
boots to a familiar desktop?<br />
This trend toward uniformity of human<br />
interfaces holds great promise for both current<br />
and potential computer users. The less time<br />
we all spend learning about computers, the<br />
more time we can spend learning with them.<br />
Increasingly, computing is becoming as<br />
easy as it should have been all along. If<br />
you've avoided buying a computer out of<br />
some vague insecurity, now is the time to re<br />
consider. If hardware and software require<br />
hours to master, place the blame where it<br />
belongs—with the manufacturer or publish<br />
er. And if you can't program your VCR or<br />
dial your telephone without help, don't wor<br />
ry. Computing really isn't tough! H<br />
David Stanton can be contacted via Compu<br />
Serve (72407,102) or by mail at P.O. Box 494,<br />
Bolivar, New York 14715.
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"I
SCIENCE!<br />
David Stanton<br />
born scientists.<br />
ever exploring, constantly striving to understand our world.<br />
From the moment we search for our own infant fingers and<br />
feet, we're hooked. Each new conquest inspires another search. Each question<br />
answered evokes unlimited new inquiries.<br />
Where does the sun go at night? How many feet does a snake have?<br />
What does electricity look like?<br />
The quickly approaching summer days provide the perfect environment<br />
for scientists of all ages. Woods and wildlife, beaches and lakes, blue skies<br />
and shooting stars vie for attention and offer unlimited opportunities to<br />
expand our knowledge of the universe and ourselves.<br />
But some subjects lie beyond the reach of personal<br />
experience. The stars, the seas, history itself guard<br />
their secrets with barriers of space and time.<br />
The risk of injury limits our ability to directly<br />
explore subjects like nuclear energy and human<br />
physiology. The abstract nature of electricity,<br />
temperature, and the law of acceleration makes<br />
them difficult to understand without help.<br />
The solution? A personal computer and<br />
good software. Science simulations, lab kits, and<br />
tutorials eliminate danger and provide untold oppor<br />
tunities for experimentation and analysis. With the right<br />
software, anyone can study astronomy or rocketry or the habits \g)<br />
of grizzly bears. Connect a few probes and suddenly an ordi<br />
nary home computer becomes the perfect science lab, ready<br />
to analyze real-life data.<br />
Unravel the mysteries of the universe<br />
with the kind of science software that<br />
puts the expertise of an Einstein, a Galileo,<br />
an Audubon inside your computer.<br />
JUNE 1989 19
•m-<br />
Hundreds of science programs are currently available,<br />
and their subjects cover the full range of scientific discov<br />
ery. We've selected a few of the most popular science pack<br />
ages to illustrate your opportunities. Some are classics.<br />
Others are new. But all invite you to expand your knowl<br />
edge of the world around and within.<br />
Back to the Past<br />
Dinosaur mania has infected a large part of the population.<br />
No longer are the prehistoric creatures content to keep to<br />
museums. Now dinosaurs turn up almost anywhere: in li<br />
braries, in malls, on television, even inside computers.<br />
Whatever their promotional secrets, they have achieved top<br />
billing and have developed a strong following.<br />
Among the most popular software packages for aspir<br />
ing paleontologists is Design Ware's Designasaurus. Three<br />
separate segments of the program provide something for<br />
everyone. With Build-a-Dinosaur, budding scientists can<br />
study several species, including the tyrannosaur, the bronto-<br />
saur, and the stegosaur. By mixing and matching fossils,<br />
kids can build a realistic onscreen dinosaur or create an en<br />
tirely new species. Walk-a-Dinosaur lets children assist their<br />
pet as it struggles to survive in a hostile world. Print-a-<br />
Dinosaur, though, will probably get the most use because<br />
it's so much fun. With it, you can print a dinosaur ref<br />
erence book, complete with pictures and explanatory text.<br />
Those who prefer wall decorations can print black-and-<br />
white posters for coloring and hanging. Best of alt, children<br />
can produce their own dinosaur T-shirts by using the sheet<br />
of heat-transfer paper included with the program.<br />
Design Ware publishes Designasaurus for most popular<br />
personal computers. Each version fully exploits the unique<br />
sound-and-graphics capabilities of its host. When it's time<br />
to explore the world as it was millions of years ago,<br />
Designasaurus is one program that's sure to please.<br />
Dyno-Quest approaches the same subject in a different<br />
manner. Designed for children ages 6-14, Dyno-Quest uses<br />
an adventure-game format in which players must help<br />
Donnie and his dog, Doobie, do research on one of 18<br />
dinosaur species.<br />
Secondhand knowledge from stodgy libraries and dusty<br />
books will not suffice. Instead, Donnie and Doobie must<br />
fly their Kaboom (a spaceship) through time and space in<br />
search of their special dinosaurs. During their travels they<br />
encounter uninhabited terrain, typical hazards of the era,<br />
dinosaurs, and other creatures.<br />
When did dinosaurs live? Which species lived where?<br />
What did the earth's continents look like so long ago? What<br />
did dinosaurs eat? And what did they do in their spare<br />
time, without radios and televisions? These are a few of the<br />
20 COMPUTE!<br />
questions children answer as they complete the quest.<br />
Donnie, Doobie, and the traveling Kaboom also<br />
encourage players to think clearly and make sound de<br />
cisions. Those who waste gas or fuel may be stranded in<br />
the past. Success comes only from careful planning and<br />
solid judgment.<br />
Griz!<br />
Recently, Advanced Ideas released Audubon Wildlife<br />
Adventures: Grizzly Bears. This program is just one in a se<br />
ries being developed by the National Audubon Society. As<br />
you might expect, the program encourages a better under<br />
standing and appreciation of grizzlies by providing factual<br />
information in an entertaining manner.<br />
Seven grizzly-related activities can be selected from the<br />
main menu. A database lets users search for information<br />
about bears and other animals that populate the forests. On<br />
the Spot with Dr. Pots is a simulation in which players as<br />
sist Dr. Pots in studying the bears of Bear Country. When a<br />
bear attacks a farmer's herd in Bear Encounters, the user<br />
must play a park ranger's role and decide what to do. Must<br />
the bear be killed, or can it be relocated?<br />
From an educational standpoint, Grizzly Bears has<br />
much to offer. Each activity requires users to read and an<br />
alyze information and make judgments based upon their<br />
new knowledge. The program's design is perfect for in<br />
dependent study and exploration, and a management sys<br />
tem maintains a record of each user's success. What better<br />
way to spur interest in a summer trip to one of our beauti<br />
ful national forests!<br />
It's Alive!<br />
How could you forget the day you dissected your first frog?<br />
Ah, the smell of formaldehyde, the nervous movements<br />
with the scalpel. Some of us were openly squeamish. Others<br />
concealed uneasiness behind childish snickers. All of us<br />
sensed that we were learning something profound.<br />
Now there's an alternative that will better suit many<br />
students and virtually all frogs. It's Scholastic's classic Op<br />
eration: Frog, a science simulation that guides beginning<br />
biologists through the dissection and reconstruction of a<br />
frog. During the process, you learn to use probes, dissecting<br />
scissors, forceps, and a magnifying lens. You can remove<br />
organs, magnify portions of them for closer inspection, and<br />
even replace them. Animated sequences demonstrate how<br />
each organ functions, and appropriate diagrams illustrate<br />
the placement of each organ within its own body system.<br />
Although Operation: Frog does not show everything<br />
quite as it is in the real thing, it does display all major or<br />
gans and their physical relationship to each other. The body
cavity is organized into three layers. Removing an organ<br />
from the top layer reveals additional organs beneath. In<br />
this way, the program forces students to progress in an or<br />
derly fashion much as they might in an actual dissection.<br />
One advantage over actual dissections is that you can<br />
stop at any point and save your progress to disk. In addi<br />
tion, the software provides onscreen help at the touch of a<br />
key and maintains a running score to help you judge your<br />
progress. More importantly, the kitchen table stays much<br />
cleaner when dissections are confined to computer screens.<br />
With Body Transparent, another DesignWare package,<br />
would-be doctors can study the human skeleton and learn<br />
about the placement and function of important organs in<br />
the human body. It's the perfect solution for anyone who<br />
thinks a patella is for flipping pancakes and a clavicle is a<br />
musical instrument. The program consists of three main<br />
sections: a tutorial, a quiz-based game, and an editor.<br />
Body Assembly, the tutorial, teaches the names and<br />
locations of bones and body organs. You use the keyboard,<br />
joystick, or mouse to move each part to its proper place.<br />
The computer explains incorrect responses and rewards<br />
correct ones. In Easy mode, the bone or organ and its name<br />
are presented. In Hard mode, only the picture of the bone<br />
or organ is given.<br />
Once young physiologists have mastered tarsals. tibias,<br />
lungs, and livers, they can try Body Facts and Functions,<br />
the game part of the program. Actually, it's essentially a<br />
quiz in which you point out body parts described in a se<br />
ries of questions. Additional quiz sets include questions<br />
about common diseases, complete body systems (respi<br />
ratory and circulatory), and the functions of various organs.<br />
The faster you respond with correct answers, the higher<br />
your score.<br />
One of the program's nicest features is its fact editor.<br />
With this, parents, teachers, or students can create their<br />
own specialized fact lists for the game. Overall, Body<br />
Transparent is carefully designed, easy to use, and some<br />
what addictive. One thing is certain: A few hours spent<br />
with this program will definitely improve your sense of<br />
humerus.<br />
Chemical Reaction<br />
Many of us grew up with chemistry sets. Their experiments<br />
were as much a rite of passage as they were a way to dis<br />
cover how things worked. At the same time, those experi<br />
ments made our parents prematurely gray as they worried<br />
about the explosive results of our unbounded curiousity.<br />
Fortunately for modern moms and dads, home computers<br />
and chemistry software make potluck potions safe for<br />
everyone.<br />
I '-::<br />
-■h—16ft:<br />
\5llzFt<br />
Simon & Schuster's Chem Lab illustrates the potential<br />
of such software. The program simulates a chemistry lab<br />
complete with flasks, Bunscn burners, other paraphernalia,<br />
and hundreds of chemicals. Budding chemists dispense<br />
ingredients from three special dispensers—one for gases,<br />
another for liquids, and a third for solids. Two keyboard-<br />
controlled robot arms move and manipulate equipment.<br />
The manual contains 50 experiments of various diffi<br />
culty. Each experiment provides just enough information to<br />
get things rolling. Students must produce the correct target<br />
chemical by proper mixing of specified ingredients. A chart<br />
of chemicals and their formulas, a glossary of chemistry<br />
terms, and the periodic table give students most of the<br />
information they'll need. Do things right and everything<br />
will work out fine. Do things wrong and ... KABOOM!<br />
As students attempt to make a synthetic diamond,<br />
some laughing gas, or a silicon chip, they'll also be learning<br />
about how chemical formulas are named and how chemi<br />
cals arc combined to make new products. Best of all, no<br />
one will ever be in danger. Simulated explosions, toxic sub<br />
stances, and caustic chemicals remain safely stored within<br />
your home computer—no fuss, no mess, and no gray hairs!<br />
Another chemistry lab simulation is The Incredible<br />
Laboratory, by Sunburst. You won't find any real chemicals<br />
here, though. Instead of teaching chemistry, this program<br />
teaches young scientists how to gather and record data,<br />
form hypotheses, test those hypotheses, and develop<br />
conclusions based upon their research.<br />
In this program, you must manipulate imaginary<br />
chemicals to determine what effects they have on the mon<br />
sters they create. In Novice level, for example, there are<br />
five chemicals that affect five body parts. Which chemical<br />
causes the head to turn yellow? Which causes amphibian-<br />
like feet? Which deforms arms? By careful observation.<br />
note taking, and logical thinking, you can match each<br />
chemical with its specific effect.<br />
In Challenge mode, two players compete against each<br />
other. One mixes chemicals to create a monster. Then both<br />
players attempt to select their new monster from a group of<br />
three candidates on the screen. The learning comes from<br />
losing: "If I'm wrong and she's right," a player might ask,<br />
"then what does she know that I don't?"<br />
Players who master the Novice level can move up to<br />
Apprentice and eventually to Scientist. Apprentices must<br />
cope with a wider variety of chemicals. On the Scientist<br />
level, ihe effects of chemicals change each time the program<br />
is used: consequently, students must study the chemicals<br />
before each new competition.<br />
Admittedly, a science program involving chemically<br />
created monsters may sound a bit bizarre. It is important<br />
JUNE 1 9 8 9 21
SCIENCE!<br />
to remember, however, that The Incredible Laboratory is<br />
not intended as a chemistry tutorial. Instead it hopes to in<br />
volve children in the process of thinking logically. It is ex<br />
cellent at doing just that.<br />
Probing Questions<br />
Science simulations and tutorials help children learn about<br />
the real world while protecting them from its dangerous<br />
realities. Keyboard, joystick, or mouse input may control<br />
graphics and text, but the programs themselves run inside a<br />
world of their own, separated from real life by plastic and<br />
glass. Some of the most exciting science software crashes<br />
through that artificial barrier between microchips and re<br />
ality and lures the world inside the machine.<br />
One of the most popular packages of this type is<br />
Broderbund's Science Toolkit: Master Module. Along with<br />
software and a User's Manual and Experiment Guide, the<br />
kit includes a temperature probe, a light probe, and an<br />
interface box for connecting these and other devices to a<br />
computer's joystick port. Any scientist over age 10 can<br />
hook everything up in less than five minutes, and the<br />
experiments in the manual are simple enough for any<br />
youngster and exciting enough for almost any adult.<br />
What do radiators and elephant ears have in common?<br />
One experiment begins with exactly that question. Its an<br />
swer explores the dissipation of heat. (Don't worry—this<br />
experiment doesn't require an elephant!) Experimenters take<br />
a series of temperature readings on containers filled with<br />
warm water. Does the water cool faster when stored in a<br />
pie plate or a coffee cup? Why?<br />
Why does it get darker and darker as you move farther<br />
and farther away from a light source? What happens when<br />
plaster of Paris hardens? How does color affect the reflec<br />
Science Software of the Future<br />
The abundance of science software offers something for every<br />
one, but a vague discontent keeps us constantly searching for<br />
more. True computer buffs demand the best and will be satisfied<br />
with no less.<br />
Imagine, for example, the perfect tutorial on human physiol<br />
ogy. It boots to the expected graphic of a human physique.<br />
Maybe parts are labeled and maybe they're not. Either way, the<br />
screen image rivals the best color photography imaginable. But<br />
having impressive graphics is only the start.<br />
The real power of this perfect tutorial is its ability to deliver<br />
unlimited information on any aspect of its subject. Point and<br />
click, and a fully labeled eye appears. Click on the retina to en<br />
large and analyze its structure. Click on any label for explanatory<br />
text. Use the menu bar to select information about retinal dis<br />
eases or current research or treatment procedures. Press the<br />
Escape key to continue with a study of the lungs or the human<br />
skeletal structure or the brain. Wander as you might from topic<br />
to topic—the knowledge you seek is instantly available.<br />
Maybe you'd like to check your heart rate. Just click on the<br />
heart, install a simple test device according to onscreen instruc<br />
tions, and select Test from the menu bar. Suddenly, the<br />
onscreen heart leaps to life, pounding beat for beat at your own<br />
heart's rate. A series of charts display related data.<br />
What does a diseased heart look like? A short mouse walk<br />
and a click activate a videodisc sequence complete with doc<br />
22 COMPUTE!<br />
tion and absorption of light? Experiments outlined in the<br />
manual help children discover answers to these and many<br />
other questions.<br />
Once you've mastered these experiments, you can ex<br />
pand your scientific horizons by purchasing one of the<br />
three add-on kits Brederbund offers (all kits require the<br />
Master Module).<br />
Speed and Motion adds a second photocell and a<br />
balloon-powered car to your growing lab. Two new measur<br />
ing instruments—a speedometer and a tachometer—help<br />
kids of all ages study jet propulsion, pendulum motion,<br />
acceleration, and similar phenomena. Earthquake Lab, the<br />
weakest of the kits, includes three experiments, an onscreen<br />
seismograph, and an assemble-it-yourself seisrnoscope; the<br />
latter is primitive at best. This one is best left for the class<br />
room, where it can be used by many different students or<br />
for demonstrations from year to year. The most recent en<br />
try is Body Lab. In addition to the usual manual and disk,<br />
this kit comes with a build-it-yourself spirometer (used to<br />
measure and display lung capacity). The spirometer, an<br />
onscreen heart-rate timer, and an onscreen response timer<br />
encourage experiments about the human body. With the<br />
kit's heart-rate timer, for instance, children can study the<br />
effects of exercise and caffeine on heart rate. Although the<br />
spirometer works only with difficulty, young scientists will<br />
still learn much about themselves and their own bodies.<br />
tors, nurses, patients, and operating rooms. Watch and learn.<br />
Advance, freeze frame, backtrack at will. No matter what you<br />
want, you're always in control of this software.<br />
How about a fully functional weather station? A few realtime<br />
probes combined with the right software could be just the thing<br />
for turning a home computer into a personal weather forecaster.<br />
Or imagine the perfect software-based chemistry lab. Start with<br />
a huge database of chemicals, mix a bit of artificial intelligence<br />
with just the right algorithms, and scientists could perform seri<br />
ous chemical research without the need for test tubes, Bunsen<br />
burners, and the rest.<br />
Does all this sound farfetched? It shouldn't. Today's Mac<br />
intosh II and IBM VGA graphics look sharp and clear. Current-<br />
generation <strong>80</strong>386 and 6<strong>80</strong>30 microprocessors have improved<br />
operating speeds significantly; next-generation chip research is<br />
already in the works. By the time you read this, the NeXT com<br />
puter should be shipping, complete with its 256-megabyte optical<br />
drive as standard equipment. And at least one manufacturer is<br />
already working on an optical disk device capable of holding one<br />
gigabyte (1 billion bytes) of read/write storage space. Couple all<br />
that with the trend toward ever more RAM and higher-capacity<br />
memory chips; factor in expected advances in input/output tech<br />
nology; and the potential is mind-boggling.<br />
Any way you look at it, the next few years should be an<br />
exciting time for scientific computer watchers.
Another inexpensive package that can turn a computer<br />
into a science lab is Sunburst's Playing with Science: Tem<br />
perature. The package includes a disk, three thermistors<br />
(temperature probes) that connect to an Apple IPs joystick<br />
port, and an extensive manual complete with lesson plans<br />
and activity sheets. Connecting the hardware takes less than<br />
five minutes even if you insist on reading the directions.<br />
Each of the experiments begins with a question. Can<br />
water be hot and cold at the same time? How far from a<br />
fire can you sit and still feel warm? What makes rocks hot?<br />
What kind of cup keeps water hot the longest? Each experi<br />
ment includes detailed directions for answering its question<br />
by gathering data and analyzing it.<br />
Students use three thermistors to gather their data. As<br />
temperature readings change, the results are displayed on<br />
the computer's screen. Depending upon the parameters cho<br />
sen in the software's setup menu, data can be represented on<br />
bar graphs, line charts, thermometers, or digital readouts.<br />
You can also configure the software for maximum and<br />
minimum temperatures, maximum time of the experiment<br />
(1 minute to 23 hours, 59 minutes), and number of active<br />
thermistors. Activity sheets guide you through the process<br />
of recording appropriate notes and analyzing results.<br />
Playing with Science: Temperature is easy and fun to<br />
use. The best part, though, is that all but the youngest chil<br />
dren can use it with a minimum of supervision.<br />
The Space/Time Continuum<br />
Not all science software is designed for free-flowing experi<br />
mentation and discovery. Broderbund's Physics, for ex<br />
ample, is a hard-driving tutorial that's suitable either as a<br />
classroom supplement or as a tool for independent study.<br />
The two-disk program for the Macintosh covers a full<br />
year's material and includes plenty of physics problems.<br />
Teachers' Pets<br />
What do educators look for when evaluating software for their<br />
own courses? Which packages do they especially like, and why?<br />
We asked a few computer-using teachers.<br />
Before becoming a teacher in Bolivar, New York, Jim Good<br />
win was a well-site geologist involved in oil and gas exploration.<br />
He spent most of his time analyzing core samples and deciding<br />
where to drill. Jim likes teaching, but he loves rocks.<br />
Ask him what software he prefers for his Earth Science<br />
classes, and the answer comes back quick and sure—Geolo<br />
gists at Work, by Sunburst "It's a perfect simulation of what<br />
geologists really do," he insists. Students select a site from<br />
which to drill and extract a core sample. Then they analyze the<br />
sample to determine its composition at various depths. Based<br />
on this information, students can deduce the history of a particu<br />
lar land mass as far back as 10 million years. By taking selected<br />
core samples in an area and comparing them, students can<br />
identify evidence of such geological processes as folding, fault<br />
ing, tilting, intrusion, and erosion.<br />
The program includes simple problems for beginners and<br />
more difficult ones for experts. Aspiring scientists especially en<br />
joy the simulation in which they become field geologists in<br />
search of oil and gas. Jim strongly recommends Geologists at<br />
Work for both school and home use.<br />
At first, Physics looks a bit like a computer-based text<br />
book. Twelve chapters cover such topics as vectors, ther<br />
modynamics, and the properties of light. Each chapter<br />
consists of pages of text that can be turned at the click of a<br />
mouse. Like most printed physics texts, each chapter ends<br />
with a series of problems to test comprehension. If that<br />
were the extent of Physics, there would be little to recom<br />
mend the program.<br />
However, Physics offers much more than any printed<br />
text. When you need a new term clarified, just click on it<br />
and you'll get an in-depth explanation. Diagrams that<br />
would sit lifeless on a printed page come alive and move in<br />
this software. What better way to describe motion or acceler<br />
ation than to demonstrate it graphically on a computer<br />
screen? And when the time comes to solve a few problems,<br />
Physics provides instantly available hints—or even solu<br />
tions, if necessary. Students willing to study on their own<br />
and those who want a little extra assistance with a high<br />
school course will find this package an invaluable aid. (In<br />
cidentally, under its Sensei label, Braderbund also publishes<br />
two math tutorials—Calculus and Geometry: the latter is<br />
available for the Apple IIgs as well as for the Mac.)<br />
You Don't Need to Be a Weatherman<br />
to Know Which Way the Wind Blows<br />
What's the average temperature in Dallas in January? What<br />
percentage of daylight hours are sunny in San Diego? How<br />
Bill Bauza teaches at Amsdell Heights Junior High School<br />
(Hamburg, New York), where he also serves as chairman of the<br />
science department. He uses many different programs with his<br />
seventh-grade students, but a special favorite is Broderbund's<br />
Science Toolkit series. He finds it especially effective for class<br />
room demonstrations, but feels it would be quite suitable for<br />
home use as well.<br />
His district has the entire set: the Master Module and the<br />
three add-on kits. The complete system contains light sensors,<br />
temperature probes, a balloon-powered car, a seismograph, and<br />
a spirometer. That should be enough equipment to keep any<br />
teenager busy experimenting for a long time.<br />
Lance Eggleston, a physics teacher at Hamburg Senior<br />
High School (Hamburg, New York), combines Precision Timer,<br />
from \ternier Software, with photoelectric instruments from<br />
PASCO Scientific to demonstrate important principles of physics.<br />
He and his students enjoy designing their own experiments and<br />
using their equipment to verify the physical laws explained in<br />
their textbooks.<br />
Eggleston feels that this combination offers greater flexibility<br />
and power than some of the more popular programs. He es<br />
pecially appreciates the fact that Precision Timer is written in<br />
BASIC and can be easily modified to suit any particular purpose.<br />
JUNE 1989 23
SCIENCE!<br />
many inches of snow fall during an average December in<br />
Albany, New York? Mindscape's Forecast! can answer all<br />
these questions and many more.<br />
Forecast! helps aspiring meteorologists learn about<br />
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metric pressure, and the like. Anyone considering a move<br />
to a more habitable climate will enjoy Weather Traveler be<br />
cause it quickly provides accurate data on such things as<br />
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If someone in your family is intrigued by weather,<br />
Forecast! could be just the gift you've been looking for. It's<br />
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subzero winter temperatures as a necessary evil, very<br />
enlightening.<br />
Summer Science Software<br />
Audubon Wildlife Adventures: Grizzly Bears<br />
Ages 9 and up<br />
Apple II—$49.95<br />
Apple IIgs—$59.95<br />
IBM PCs and compatibles with CGA or<br />
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Advanced Ideas<br />
2902 San Pablo Ave.<br />
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Body Transparent<br />
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Commodore 64/128—S29.95<br />
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Designasaurus<br />
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Amiga—$49.95<br />
Apple II—$39.95<br />
Apple lies with 768K—$49.95<br />
Commodore 64/128 (requires joystick)—<br />
$29.95<br />
IBM PCs and compatibles—$39.95<br />
DestgnWare by Britannica Software<br />
345 Fourth St.<br />
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(415)546-1866<br />
Chem Lab<br />
Ages 9-14<br />
Apple II—SI 9.95<br />
Commodore 64/128—$19.95<br />
IBM PCs and compatibles~$19.95<br />
Simon & Schuster<br />
One Gulf + Western Plaza<br />
New York. NY 10023<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 624-0023<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 624-0024 (in New Jersey)<br />
Dyno-Quest<br />
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Apple II—$49.99<br />
IBM PCs and compatibles—$49.99<br />
MindPlay<br />
3130 N. Dodge Blvd.<br />
Tucson, AZ 85716<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0)221-7911<br />
24 COMPUTE!<br />
Forecast!<br />
Blinded by Science<br />
As you can see, science software covers a lot of territory.<br />
There really is something for everyone. Before you rush out<br />
and buy software that may not fit your needs, though,<br />
remember that not all educational packages work equally<br />
well at school and at home.<br />
Home users will be most satisfied with programs that<br />
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hours of enjoyable use. The wisest approach to selecting the<br />
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members of your family and then to try it out at a local<br />
software dealership.<br />
Ages 13-18<br />
Apple II—$59.95<br />
IBM PCs and compatibles (64K)—$59.95<br />
Mindscape<br />
3444 Dundee Rd.<br />
Northbrook, IL 60062<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0)221-9884<br />
Geologists at Work<br />
Ages 14 and up<br />
Apple II—$65.00<br />
The Incredible Laboratory<br />
Ages 8 and up<br />
Apple II—$65.00<br />
Commodore 64/128—$65.00<br />
IBM PCs and compatibles (CGA or better)—<br />
$65.00<br />
IBM PS/2 Model 25—$65.00<br />
<strong>TRS</strong>-<strong>80</strong> <strong>Color</strong> <strong>Computer</strong>—$65.00<br />
Playing with Science: Temperature<br />
Ages 5-13<br />
Apple II—$99.00<br />
Sunburst Communications<br />
39 Washington Ave.<br />
Pleasantville, NY 10570-2898<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0)431-1934<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 247-6756 in Canada<br />
(914) 769-5030<br />
Operation: Frog<br />
Ages 9-16<br />
Apple II—$59.95<br />
Commodore 64—$59.95<br />
Scholastic<br />
P.O. Box 7502<br />
2931 E. McCarty St.<br />
Jefferson City, MO 65102<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0)541-5513<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 392-2179 (in Missouri)<br />
Photogates (used with Precision Timer)<br />
PASCO Scientific<br />
1876 Sabre St.<br />
Hayward, CA 94545<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 772-8700<br />
All this takes time, of course, but the payoff may be<br />
worth far more than the investment. The child you inspire<br />
today just might be tomorrow's Nobel prize winner! H<br />
David Stanton, COMPUTE'.'^ "Discoveries" columnist, is the com<br />
puter coordinator (or the Bolivar school district in New York.<br />
Physics, Geometry, Calculus<br />
Ages 15-18<br />
Macintosh—$99.95 each (Home Edition);<br />
$109.95 each (School Edition)<br />
Apple IIgs (Geometry only)—$79.95 (Home<br />
Edition); $89.95 (School Edition)<br />
Science Toolkit: Master Module<br />
Ages 9-18<br />
Apple II—$79.95 (Home Edition); $99.95<br />
(School Edition)<br />
IBM PCs and compatibles (machines without a<br />
built-in joystick port require a special gamecontrol<br />
adapter card)—$79.95 (Home Edi<br />
tion); $89.95 (School Edition)<br />
Science Toolkit Module 1: Speed and<br />
Motion<br />
Ages 9-18<br />
Apple II—$39.95 (Home Edition); $49.95<br />
(School Edition)<br />
IBM PCs and compatibles—$39.95 (Home<br />
Edition); $49.95 (School Edition)<br />
Science Toolkit Module 2: Earthquake Lab<br />
Ages 13-18<br />
Apple II—S39.95 (Home Edition); $49.95<br />
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Apple II—$39.95 (Home Edition); $49.95<br />
(School Edition)<br />
Broderbund<br />
17 Paul Dr.<br />
San Rafael, CA 94903-2101<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 521-6263<br />
Precision Timer<br />
Ages 15 and up<br />
Apple II—$39.95<br />
PCs and compatibles (game card required)—<br />
$39.95<br />
vernier Software<br />
2920 SW 89th St.<br />
Portland, OR 97225<br />
(503) 297-5317
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28 COMPUTE!
<strong>LIGHT</strong> YEA<br />
ID LASE<br />
SCIENCE FICTION INSIDE YOUR COMPUTER<br />
and thrusting?<br />
hat computer game first<br />
seduced you? Was it As<br />
teroids, as you mastered<br />
the technique of flying<br />
through space, turning<br />
Was it Space Invaders?<br />
Galaxians? Star Raiders on the<br />
Atari <strong>80</strong>0? Zork? Hitchhiker's Guide<br />
to the Galaxy?<br />
What drew you into the games?<br />
Was it the strange adventures they<br />
let you have? The exotic places they<br />
let you visit?<br />
<strong>Computer</strong>s have been tied to<br />
science fiction from the start. Back<br />
when computers were house-sized<br />
behemoths—with fragile vacuum<br />
tubes providing a whopping 8K of<br />
memory and programs stored on<br />
perforated cards—science fiction<br />
Orson Scott Card<br />
cience fiction games<br />
are fun, but are they really<br />
science fiction? Avard-winning<br />
author Orson Scott Card puts 11<br />
games to the SF test.<br />
And computer people loved<br />
science fiction. Even though few<br />
science fiction writers foresaw the<br />
miniaturization that would make<br />
personal computers possible, the<br />
early programmers who first dis<br />
covered the possibilities of comput<br />
ers had science fiction in their<br />
blood.<br />
That's why when some young<br />
programmers were playing around<br />
with a prototype video display<br />
terminal—imagine, a TV screen<br />
hooked up to a computer!—one of<br />
the first things they invented was a<br />
game, and the game was a prototype<br />
of Asteroids. Science fiction was in<br />
their blood.<br />
A lot of these young program<br />
ming geniuses had cut their teeth on<br />
science fiction. Some of them may<br />
writers busily invented possibilities for the new have heard about computers for the first time in a sci-<br />
technology. ence fiction story. Science fiction set them to dreaming,<br />
There were stories about computers choosing the and when they got old enough, they set about making<br />
president, computers becoming intelligent beings, the dreams come true.<br />
computers running an intelligent house, computers go- Ever since, science fiction has been a strong theme<br />
ing crazy, computers that even turned out to be God. running through the arcades and, later, home computer<br />
Science fiction loved computers. games. ■><br />
llustration by Cary Henrie JUNE 9 8 9 29
Games Aren't Books<br />
But are these games good science fic<br />
tion? Yes and no.<br />
I remember 1977, when a friend<br />
at work told me about an incredible<br />
new movie called Star Wars. We all<br />
took a long lunch hour (nice boss!)<br />
and went to see it. It was wonderful.<br />
All the ray guns and blasters and<br />
aliens and space battles we had read<br />
about in science fiction were up there<br />
on the screen. I could finally see it<br />
with my own eyes.<br />
None of the hokey cardboard sets<br />
and sound-stage planets of "Star<br />
Trek," none of the witless writing and talentless actors that<br />
had been part of science fiction film and television almost<br />
from the start. With Star Wars, somebody had finally made<br />
a space movie that felt real as you were watching it.<br />
We loved it. We raved about it for days afterward.<br />
My friends knew I had sold a few science fiction sto<br />
ries, though none had yet been published. It was almost in<br />
evitable that one would say, "Hey, Card, don't you wish<br />
you could have written something like Star Wars?"<br />
It felt like he'd spit in my face. Write something like<br />
Star Wars? What a humiliating idea. Star Wars was a<br />
wonderful movie, but it was straight out of 1930s pulp sci<br />
ence fiction. Written science fiction had outgrown that<br />
space-opera stuff decades ago.<br />
That's the way it often is with science fiction games.<br />
We love them because they finally give us a chance to act<br />
out some of those old science fiction stories. Asteroids ac<br />
tually lets us feel how tricky it would be to pilot a ship that<br />
moves by rocketry—it can't slow down without turning<br />
around. Star Flight captures the feeling of exploring where<br />
no one has ever gone before.<br />
But compared to good science fiction, they aren't even<br />
in the same league. If I can't invent a better alien than<br />
those in Star Flight, I'm out of business as a storyteller.<br />
The point is, you don't measure games the same way<br />
you measure books. They do different things.<br />
A game isn't going to be very good at characterization.<br />
Point of View vs. Mapping<br />
Game designers use two strategies to take you through their<br />
game worlds. One is mapping: You are looking down on the ac<br />
tion, watching your player-figure (vehicle or character) move<br />
through a flat map of the world. You can see all around your<br />
player-figure, to the edges of the screen.<br />
The other strategy is point of view: You are seeing the<br />
world from ground level in a 3-D display. Far-off things are<br />
small; you can't see what's behind a wall until you go around<br />
the corner or through a door; and to see what's behind you. you<br />
have to turn around.<br />
One strength of mapping is clarity; you know where you<br />
are. Also, mapping is very frugal with memory. Maps can be<br />
graphically gorgeous (like the planet surfaces in Sentinel Worlds<br />
or the terrain in Firezone), but they do it by repeating certain im<br />
ages over and over again. One symbol always means moun<br />
tains, while another always means trees.<br />
Point of view, however, attempts to give you movielike im<br />
mediacy. You're actually seeing things, moving through the<br />
world yourself instead of maneuvering a player-figure around on<br />
a map. The trouble is that 3-D graphics are slow and they eat<br />
up memory in unbelievably large gulps. Each new angle of view<br />
30 COMPUTE!<br />
But then, it doesn't have to be, since<br />
the hero of the game is the player. The<br />
player supplies the character's motiva<br />
tion—game heroes do what they do<br />
for the players' reasons.<br />
Nor can you have an intricate,<br />
logical plot—not in a good game.<br />
That's because a game has to give the<br />
player options, give the player the<br />
power to make choices and carry them<br />
out. Games that force you to follow a<br />
plot step by step aren't all that much<br />
fun the first time, and once you've<br />
acted out the story the game designer<br />
has forced on you, there's no reason to<br />
go back and play again. So a good game has a whole bunch<br />
of incidents and adventures, but players discover them in<br />
fairly random order. Again, the player supplies the plot.<br />
World Creation<br />
There is an area, though, in which a game can be good sci<br />
ence fiction—sometimes better than anything in books or<br />
movies. Science fiction writers call it world creation.<br />
This doesn't mean simply inventing planets with neat<br />
aliens. Look at the movie Blade Runner. It takes place in<br />
Los Angeles. No aliens at all. But it isn't the L.A. we know.<br />
It's set in the near future, and things have changed. Lots of<br />
things, moving through the background of the film, give us<br />
a powerful sense of being in a strange new place, a place<br />
we've never seen before. And yet it feels absolutely real. We<br />
believe that the future might be this way, and so we believe<br />
in and care about the characters, even though their prob<br />
lems could not even exist in our own time.<br />
Science fiction is the literature of the strange. If the<br />
story doesn't differ from the known world in some im<br />
portant way, it isn't science fiction.<br />
The same thing applies to science fiction computer<br />
games. They are the opposite of sports games and flight<br />
simulators. Instead of letting us act out a real-world activity<br />
like playing basketball with Michael Jordan or landing a jet<br />
fighter, science fiction games let us do things that can only<br />
happen on the computer screen.<br />
requires a new picture, so you not only have to have a picture<br />
of each place, but you also have to have a new picture for every<br />
conceivable angle!<br />
The solution is usually to use vector graphics to draw the 3-<br />
D display. At a primitive level, this means straight lines to repre<br />
sent the bare walls of rooms, with one view for each of the four<br />
cardinal directions. When you turn, you lurch a full 90 degrees at<br />
a time.<br />
Space Station Oblivion and The Colony both attempt far<br />
more ambitious 3-D displays. Instead of having four views of a<br />
room, you scroll smoothly through dozens of different angles.<br />
The result is very satisfyingly realistic movement. Unfortunately,<br />
the cost of this is that you can never get the lush pictorials of<br />
mapping, and even on my speed-demon 386 machine, it can be<br />
a bit slow.<br />
As long as computers place limits on speed and memory,<br />
these tradeoffs are going to be unavoidable. But both strategies<br />
have been proven to work well, and some games now move<br />
easily back and forth between them—most notably Sentinel<br />
Worlds, which at one level uses mapping and point of view on<br />
top of each other.
And in this area, computer games can be even better<br />
than movies and books.<br />
In books, the author can explain to you how this strange<br />
new world works, so you understand it; you grasp how and<br />
why it's different from present reality. Filmmakers can show<br />
you strange things—make them seem real because you see<br />
and hear them, even if you don't understand. But computer<br />
games let you actually do things—take part in the strange<br />
adventures that take place on the computer screen. That's<br />
something that books and movies can never do—and that's<br />
why computer games have a valid role within the science<br />
fiction tradition. They can be good science fiction, not by<br />
imitating science fiction books or movies, but by doing an<br />
excellent job of what only computer games can do.<br />
What Makes a Game Good Science Fiction?<br />
Strangeness. The game must take us to a place we've never<br />
been to before, let us do things we cannot do anywhere<br />
else. Not only must the game differ from the real world,<br />
but it must also differ from all previous science fiction<br />
games. If a game is just a rehash of another, with nothing<br />
new to offer, it has no reason to exist.<br />
Experience. There must be lots of detail, lots of things<br />
to see and do. The game must transform the act of punch<br />
ing a keyboard or wiggling a joystick<br />
or moving a mouse while staring at a<br />
screen into a fresh, meaningful,<br />
memorable experience.<br />
Depth. The game must give play<br />
ers the sense that the game world goes<br />
on forever and that wonderful or ter<br />
rible things are going on all the time,<br />
even in places they never visit.<br />
Rationality. Both people and na<br />
ture should act in believable ways. Sci<br />
ence fiction differs from fantasy in the<br />
requirement that natural laws must<br />
prevail, that things must make sense.<br />
Bizarre things can and should happen,<br />
but there should always be some hint that things are<br />
happening for a reason.<br />
Options. There should be many possibilities—lots of<br />
different things can and will happen. It is important in all<br />
computer games to give players the feeling that they have<br />
choices—that they are in control. But it's vital to science<br />
fiction games that players never feel that they're being<br />
forced into narrow channels without meaningful choices.<br />
People love science fiction because it opens up possibilities;<br />
it never walls you in.<br />
Playability. A game can't be good science fiction unless<br />
it's also a good game, just as print and film science fiction<br />
can't be good unless they tell a good story. If it isn't<br />
exhilarating to play—or terrifying, or astonishing, or just<br />
plain fun—then why should we bother leaving the present<br />
world to get there?<br />
When all these things come together in a game, when<br />
the game designer allows you to truly be a stranger in a<br />
strange land, then the game deserves to take its place as<br />
one of the classics of science fiction, along with movies like<br />
Blade Runner and Star Wars and The Day the Earth Stood<br />
Still, along with books like The Left Hand of Darkness and<br />
Dune and A Door into Summer. And just as these books<br />
and films are so different from each other that you can<br />
hardly recognize them as being from the same genre, so<br />
also the best science fiction games will surprise us, will re<br />
invent science fiction even as they fulfill it<br />
Let's take a look at some of the most recent science fic<br />
tion games and see how they measure up. To be fair, how<br />
ever, I not only looked at these games myself, but also had<br />
my ten-year-old son, Geoffrey, play them all. He isn't<br />
loaded down with all this critical philosophy. He doesn't<br />
care whether a game measures up to some set of principles.<br />
He just wants it to be fun. That makes him sometimes a<br />
better critic than I am. So I'll tell you which are his favor<br />
ites as well as which are mine.<br />
Star Flight<br />
Your crew must discover and explore new worlds to judge<br />
their suitability for colonization while you try to solve the<br />
mystery of why stars are destabilizing and blowing up—<br />
before your home world's star is destroyed.<br />
More than a year old, Star Flight deserves its status as<br />
the Star Wars of science fiction games. Brilliantly designed<br />
and programmed, this is the first game to really give you<br />
the sense of exploring space. You have tremendous free<br />
dom: You don't have to do things in any particular order<br />
and you can develop your own style of play.<br />
The depth of creation has always been astonishing. The<br />
alien species are different and interesting. Sometimes you<br />
have to fight and sometimes you have to run, but usually<br />
you can talk your way through en<br />
counters. The planets you explore can<br />
be dangerous, and no two are alike.<br />
It's thrilling to discover the ruins of an<br />
ancient civilization, and when you fi<br />
nally find out who the surviving an<br />
cients are, I promise it will blow you<br />
away—exactly the sort of discovery<br />
that can make a science fiction novel<br />
unforgettable.<br />
Star Flight remains the standard<br />
against which all other spaceexploration<br />
games must be measured.<br />
With superb full-screen graphics and<br />
intuitive game controls, it will make<br />
you impatient with games that clutter the screen with need<br />
less distractions or force you to waste time on tedious rep<br />
etition. Still, this is not a fast-action game; you have to<br />
think, and it takes a long time. It's a mid-list game for<br />
Geoffrey—enjoyable, but sometimes discouraging.<br />
Sentinel Worlds I: Future Magic<br />
Sentinel Worlds owes a lot to Star Flight—or perhaps Karl<br />
Buiter, the game designer, solved similar problems in simi<br />
lar ways. There are fewer worlds to explore, but once you're<br />
on a planet, you get to do far more than is possible in Star<br />
Flight. As you tool around in your all-terrain vehicle<br />
(ATV), you run across buildings—so you get out of the<br />
ATV and go inside, where an astonishing combination of<br />
overhead map and 3-D display lets you explore and meet,<br />
converse with, and sometimes fight with other characters.<br />
I have seen no other game, science fiction or otherwise,<br />
that matches Sentinel Worlds for sheer depth. Buiter has<br />
found an almost perfect balance, giving you plenty of<br />
choices without bogging you down with complex command<br />
structures and tedious repetition. The graphics are colorful<br />
and clear at every level; there isn't a moment when the<br />
game isn't a pleasure to look at and a pleasure to play. The<br />
music is interesting, a genuine movie score—but even<br />
tually, anything played on the computer's internal tweeter<br />
is going to drive me crazy.<br />
Buiter's solutions to programming problems are<br />
surprising but exactly right. Game designers are often torn<br />
JUNE 1989 31
etween the desire to put a lot of<br />
information into the game—especially<br />
when you're conversing with game<br />
characters—and the problem of<br />
putting huge amounts of text into<br />
memory and onto the tiny screen.<br />
Buiter has put the text into a book of<br />
"paragraphs." When you encounter<br />
the right character in the game, you<br />
are referred to the book to find out<br />
what he says.<br />
The paragraphs are believable di<br />
alogue, very well written (a rarity in<br />
games; compare it with the embarrass<br />
ingly bad writing in the Ultima series,<br />
for instance). To keep you from cheating and reading the<br />
paragraphs ahead, there are false clues; if you're peeking,<br />
you'll end up on wild goose chases that accomplish<br />
nothing.<br />
Your sensors immediately peg strangers as hostile or<br />
friendly. You can talk to the friendlies and can only fight<br />
with or flee from the hostiles. Not too subtle (don't you<br />
wish you had a machine like that?), but it's better than just<br />
killing anything that moves.<br />
Some of the world creation is medium-dumb: a planet<br />
where there are only two seasons—at every latitude? And<br />
Buiter has a rather lackluster sense of naming; he puts lots<br />
of unpronounceable letters together to fake alienness in<br />
stead of developing the sense of a linguistic tradition.<br />
But the game world is big enough to accommodate dif<br />
ferent experiences, and it doesn't force you into set pat<br />
terns. You can explore randomly, having the adventures<br />
you want to have. I call it the best of the space adventure<br />
games, and it placed high on Geoffrey's list as well.<br />
Firezone<br />
This simple futuristic war game has beautiful graphics and<br />
simple, intuitive controls. If you've ever played a war game<br />
before, you can literally start to play Firezone the moment<br />
it comes onto the screen. This was obviously one of the<br />
game designer's goals: The directions include Quickstart<br />
Creating Characters<br />
Most games that let you assemble a group of characters to take<br />
part in your adventures follow the role-playing pattern set years<br />
ago by the paper game Dungeons & Dragons. Your characters<br />
are different from each other because they have a range of abil<br />
ities. Some have a great deal of strength but aren't too bright.<br />
Some have considerable dexterity and quickness, but they're<br />
quite frail and can't withstand much injury.<br />
Strengths in one area mean weaknesses in another—no<br />
one character has it all. Thus all the characters in your party are<br />
necessary to overcome obstacles and accomplish your goals.<br />
Most of these games follow that basic pattern, but with vari<br />
ations. Sentinel Worlds, for instance, lets you choose faces for<br />
your characters from a group of pictures. Star Flight and Star<br />
Command require you to put your characters through training<br />
before they become reliable in using their skills. Star Command<br />
amusingly takes you through the ups and downs of your charac<br />
ters' education until they finally get good enough to bring along<br />
on your adventure.<br />
Most games use the standard ability groups: strength,<br />
dexterity, intelligence, and endurance. Star Command adds<br />
Esper ability, which serves the role that magical ability serves in<br />
fantasy games. Star Flight uses categories that apply to specific<br />
jobs on your starship: Characters train in areas like medicine,<br />
32 COMPUTEI<br />
instructions for those who don't want<br />
to bother with thick rule books.<br />
Yet despite its simplicity,<br />
Firezone is fascinating, with infinite<br />
choices in both strategy and tactics. If<br />
you play alone, the computer is a<br />
tough but fair opponent. If you play<br />
head to head with someone else, you<br />
can play the same scenario again with<br />
vastly different results. And the game<br />
includes a construction set, so you can<br />
devise more scenarios—though you<br />
won't soon tire of the ones that come<br />
with the game.<br />
This could have been a World<br />
War II simulation; setting it in the future adds little, except<br />
that the designer avoids the standard villains. There's none<br />
of this us-against-the-Nazis or us-against-the-commies stuff.<br />
As science fiction, the game isn't much, but it's still a<br />
fine war game. It is Geoffrey's absolute favorite.<br />
Star Command<br />
This game wants to be Star Flight or Sentinel Worlds, but<br />
it isn't. The setup phase is tedious and too detailed, though<br />
there are touches of wit in training crew members.<br />
It isn't just the primitive graphics; the look of the game<br />
is certainly adequate, and the screen communicates well.<br />
And there's some decent invention in the scenario. The<br />
problem is that there's no sense of experiencing anything.<br />
Mostly you're told about what's going on, and after a short<br />
time it seemed to me that it was a text game which con<br />
sisted of getting assignments from mission control and<br />
mechanically going out. doing them, and coming back. I<br />
wasn't having fun. Geoffrey did find it playable, though it<br />
isn't high on his list.<br />
Wasteland<br />
This game owes a lot to the Ultima series of fantasy games.<br />
You move through a map of post-nuclcar-holocaust Amer<br />
ica, entering surface villages and underground dungeons.<br />
The world creation is interesting and fun—not just jokes<br />
languages, navigation, engineering, and science.<br />
The benefit of this is that you get the sense that you're<br />
playing with well-drawn individual characters. You begin to feel<br />
that you know them personally; you're responsible for keeping<br />
them from getting killed. The drawback is that spending too<br />
much time creating the characters and manipulating them<br />
through the game becomes extremely tedious.<br />
This is particularly true in the area o! weapons and armor.<br />
Maybe some players really enjoy dressing up their characters<br />
like dolls. Star Command has more weapons options than I ever<br />
wanted. But if you're someone who cares about the difference<br />
between an LTV Ranger Seeker Missile and an SS-29 Bulldog<br />
Missile, go for it.<br />
I prefer the approach of Firezone: The game's choices are<br />
few, but those choices differ significantly. This is no more limit<br />
ing than, say, chess, with only a few kinds of pieces that never<br />
theless allow almost infinite possibilities.<br />
And Wasteland, with its full cast of interesting characters,<br />
lets you skip character generation altogether. You can use the<br />
existing characters and get right into the game, or, if you prefer,<br />
you can start from scratch and create your own. I like having<br />
that choice.
like mutant bunnies and prairie dogs, but intriguing villages<br />
and settlements where you can actually volunteer to help<br />
fellow survivors with their work.<br />
It's that real-life element that I liked best. What both<br />
ered me was the way you're constantly having to fight the<br />
same annoying creatures and pick up treasures in an ob<br />
vious rehash of generic fantasy adventures. Mutant bunnies<br />
can get boring, too, especially when the battles are reported<br />
by text instead of happening visually on the screen.<br />
In fact, the science fiction elements are the only virtues<br />
of this game: The world is visually and conceptually in<br />
teresting and I enjoyed exploring it. But the game designer<br />
brought nothing new to the actual game itself. This is still a<br />
kill-the-monsters-and-get-the-treasure game, without the<br />
overarching story that makes each Ultima installment<br />
meaningful. Geoffrey and I both enjoyed it at first; both of<br />
us got quite bored after a very short time. Devoted fantasy<br />
gamers, on the other hand, will probably love this.<br />
Space Station Oblivion<br />
The lame science fiction story here—you have to dig into a<br />
lot of places to release "natural gas" to keep a moon from<br />
blowing up—is a thinly veiled excuse for what's really a<br />
programmer's exercise in 3-D graphics. But once you stop<br />
expecting the story to make sense, this<br />
is a fun game, as you explore a strange<br />
world of geometric shapes. The move<br />
ment is smooth and believable, and<br />
the visual experience of this unnatural<br />
world is compelling. There are fas<br />
cinating puzzles to solve, dangerous<br />
enemies, and plenty of wonders to be<br />
hold, so the game succeeds in some of<br />
the goals of science fiction.<br />
It's also full of fast action, which<br />
makes it one of Geoffrey's favorites.<br />
And it still sticks in my mind as a fas<br />
cinating experience.<br />
The Colony<br />
David Smith's The Colony tries to do the same sort of<br />
thing with 3-D graphics that Space Station Oblivion at<br />
tempts, and while the line drawings betray the game's ori<br />
gin on the Macintosh, the graphics are marvelous and I<br />
salute the programming achievement.<br />
Too bad it's wasted on a very limited puzzle game that<br />
became so annoying and confining for me and Geoffrey<br />
that we both gave up in disgust. Your crippled spaceship<br />
lands on a planet after a collision with a black hole (scien<br />
tific nonsense, of course—if you collided with a black hole.<br />
you'd never come out). Your job is to figure out how to es<br />
cape from the ship and get into an underground colony.<br />
You have no options. You must solve puzzles in a cer<br />
tain order—and, to make matters worse, the game designer<br />
plays stupid tricks on you. For instance, if you pick up a<br />
cigarette from an ashtray, you're told, "Cigarettes are bad<br />
for your health." and you die immediately. The lesson? The<br />
game will randomly punish you for exploring—yet you<br />
have to explore in order to accomplish anything.<br />
There are other annoyances. Anytime you pick up the<br />
book to move it somewhere else, when you set it down you<br />
have to read the text again. You can move things around<br />
on the desk, but if you leave and come back later, every<br />
thing is back the way it was before. In other words, you<br />
don 'i make any difference in this world. You exist in order<br />
to do the designer's bidding.<br />
How did this game ever become a "game of the year"?<br />
Only because it originally appeared on the game-poor Mac.<br />
Tower Toppler<br />
In this arcade-style action game, you're a froglike alien, try<br />
ing to destroy towers by climbing them. There are doors<br />
that lead to other doors; you go from level to level using<br />
elevators, dodging various opponents. When you reach the<br />
top of a tower, it sinks down into the sea. Then you go<br />
fishing during a bonus round until you reach a new tower<br />
and start over.<br />
The science fiction element is irrelevant, but the game<br />
is fun and the graphics are terrific. The smooth animation<br />
as you move around the cylindrical tower is delightful, and<br />
there's a lot of good animation.<br />
As science fiction, it's fun but shallow. As an action<br />
game, it's just plain fun. This was Geoffrey's second<br />
favorite.<br />
Captain Blood<br />
Never mind the dumb copy protection (a key disk and a<br />
once-only hard disk installation). Never mind the incoher<br />
ent instruction book that keeps referring you from one seclion<br />
to another without ever making sense. Captain Blood<br />
should have been a triumphant game.<br />
The EGA graphics are gorgeous—<br />
though they owe a great debt to H. R.<br />
Giger by way of the movie Alien. The<br />
control panel is fascinating and orig<br />
inal. The planet's 3-D surface is craggy<br />
and beautiful. Movement is smooth.<br />
In other words, the graphics program<br />
ming is terrific.<br />
And as science fiction, it's pretty<br />
good. The story is inventive and<br />
intelligent. I especially liked the little<br />
fishlike alien that you send down to<br />
explore the world for you.<br />
Unfortunately, as a game, this one<br />
sucks pond scum. It was almost<br />
impossible even to tell what was going on, what we were<br />
supposed to do, and how we were supposed to do it. We<br />
couldn't tell what the onscreen signals meant as we tried to<br />
land on the planet's surface. We were never told why we<br />
crashed. Was it an enemy shooting us down? Did we bump<br />
into a rock? And when we did reach our goal, we had no<br />
idea what we had done right.<br />
Maybe we would have liked later phases of the game.<br />
But Geoffrey and I found it so frustrating that we didn't<br />
stick around to find out. In fact, Geoffrey blew up the<br />
planet—and I removed the game from the hard disk with<br />
out the uninstall option. We haven't regretted either<br />
decision.<br />
Star Saga: One—Beyond the Boundary<br />
This is a game that tries to transcend the limitations of the<br />
computer by having much of the action take place on a<br />
game board, with the machine serving primarily as game<br />
master, doing the housekeeping for a group of human play<br />
ers. The story of the game is wonderfully inventive, and I<br />
got far enough into the game to know that it shows great<br />
promise. Unfortunately, the game plays best when you<br />
have several people playing—and I wasn't able to assemble<br />
such a group in time for this article. But Star Saga looks<br />
like first-rate science fiction and a darn good game. (Later,<br />
when I've had a chance to play it with a group, as it's<br />
meant to be played, I'll review it at length in my column,<br />
"Game-play.") ><br />
JUNE 1989 33
Balance of Power: 1990<br />
Edition<br />
This may be the best-designed game<br />
ever. It's simple and beautiful, and it<br />
uses the Windows environment better<br />
than any application I've seen. It is<br />
also the most detailed, carefully<br />
extrapolated future world I've worked<br />
with.<br />
I should love this game. I'm the<br />
guy who, in the 1978 short story<br />
"Breaking the Game," described a<br />
Risk-like: game in which hundreds of<br />
players take part in a deep and perfect<br />
computer simulation of recent history.<br />
Game designer Chris Crawford has come closer than any<br />
one to making that sort of game a reality.<br />
But when I first played it, it infuriated me. When you<br />
push too hard in the wrong situation, nuclear war erupts,<br />
and Crawford slaps you with an insulting message about<br />
how he isn't going to show you a big mushroom cloud be<br />
cause he doesn't "reward failure." It makes you feel like<br />
you're in a college class with a professor who thinks he's<br />
God. The fact is, nobody knows what will cause a nuclear<br />
war because we've never had one, and for Crawford to<br />
taunt you because you didn't guess the same way he did is<br />
offensive.<br />
Nevertheless, one of the people I respect most picked<br />
the game as one of the 20 best games in this magazine<br />
[June 1988—Ed.]. I was baffled. So, as I reviewed science<br />
fiction games for this article, I resolved to look again.<br />
The game is still brilliant in the way it collects and<br />
uses data about the real world—you can practically use it<br />
as an almanac. Unfortunately, in simplifying geopolitics,<br />
Crawford made some choices that result in absurdities. For<br />
instance, if you're playing the part of the President of the<br />
United States, you're supposed to sit back and let the Sovi<br />
Software of the Future<br />
Balance of Power<br />
1990 Edition<br />
Amiga—$49.95<br />
Apple IIgs—S49.95<br />
Atari ST—$49.95<br />
IBM PC and compatibles—$49.95<br />
Macintosh—$49.95<br />
Captain Blood<br />
Amiga—$49.95<br />
Apple lias—$44.95<br />
Atari ST—$49.95<br />
Commodore 64/128—S34.95<br />
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Macintosh—$49.95<br />
Mindscape<br />
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34 COMPUTE<br />
Firezone<br />
Amiga—$34.95<br />
Atari ST—S34.95<br />
Commodore 64/128—$24.95<br />
IBM PC and compatibles—$24.95<br />
(available on 5V4-inch and 3'A-inch<br />
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Software Toolworks and Datasoft<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
1820 Gateway Dr.<br />
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IBM PC and compatibles—$49.95<br />
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IBM PC and compatibles—$49.95<br />
ets introduce troops into Syria without<br />
protest. The historical fact is that when<br />
the Soviets proposed to do exactly that<br />
back in 1973, President Richard<br />
Nixon put the U.S. military on alert,<br />
and the Russians backed down. In<br />
Crawford's world, Syria is vital to the<br />
Soviet Union and unimportant to the<br />
U.S. In the real world, almost the<br />
reverse is true.<br />
Likewise, in the real world, no<br />
U.S. President could stay in office if<br />
he allowed the introduction of Soviet<br />
advisers in Mexico without taking<br />
massive countermeasures—and it's<br />
hard to imagine a Mexican government insane enough to<br />
try it. But in Crawford's world, resisting such Soviet adven<br />
turism often results in nuclear war. Hasn't he heard about<br />
the Cuban missile crisis?<br />
When I first reviewed Balance of Power, I assumed<br />
these absurdities reflected Crawford's political views. Since<br />
then, I've come to realize that they probably reflect the<br />
limitations of the game program. There are only so many<br />
variables that the computer can handle.<br />
So here's my advice. Pretend that Balance of Power<br />
takes place on an alien planet that through sheer co<br />
incidence is divided into nations and continents astonish<br />
ingly similar to those of Earth, with the same names. So,<br />
you must act solely on the basis of what the game tells you<br />
about the world. If you do that, you'll find this a deep and<br />
powerful game. If you don't, the game will drive you crazy, a<br />
Orson Scott Card is an award-winning science fiction writer, with<br />
two Nebula and two Hugo awards to his credit. His novels include<br />
Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Prentice Alvin. His most<br />
recent work is a novelization of the movie Abyss. His column on<br />
computer entertainment, "Gameplay," appears monthly in COM<br />
PUTE! magazine.<br />
Wasteland: Adventure in<br />
Post-Nuclear America<br />
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Space Station Oblivion<br />
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Star Saga: One—Beyond<br />
the Boundary<br />
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U.S. Gold<br />
Distributed by Epyx<br />
600 Galveston Dr.<br />
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HO MEMBERSHIP FIBS<br />
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BUSINESS/ACCQUNTING/FINflNCE<br />
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Q Exprett Check: |3105] - A fantastic<br />
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[ J Homt InvtiHory (316(1) - Keeps track ol all<br />
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EDUCATION<br />
□ FKts (3525) - Teaches kids the states,<br />
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_l PC-Gmnl Ltdo.tr (3140) - Written by a<br />
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fj PBiss (3200| - A powerful relational DBase<br />
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\T\ New York Won) (3607, 360B) - Has<br />
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Q Gilixy (3610} - An easy-to-use menu-driven<br />
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS<br />
|Vi g-MMltin (3700-37031 - A professional<br />
modem communications package which is<br />
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_ EDUCATION<br />
[1 French I (3500) ■ French for beginners.<br />
^J French II [350l| - Continues where French I<br />
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□ Jioiota |3510] • Designed for the business<br />
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n Sirmin I (3512| ■ An introduction to German.<br />
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Q SpwUfi 113505| - Excellent instruction lor<br />
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continue where Spanish I leaves off.<br />
Q Mith Tutor (3529| - Takes a fun approach in<br />
helping kids improve their math skills.<br />
Q World |3537] - This menu-driven program<br />
makes it sasy to obtain information about<br />
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□ An You Rudy fur Olailoi? 13534] - This is<br />
an excellent ore-calculus tutor that review<br />
algebra and tngonometry<br />
TOP 40 DISK COLLECTION<br />
UTILITIES/APPLICATIONS<br />
□ Bnl UtJIHItt 13301] - Includes a spooler.<br />
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□ SimCGA & II6IBH 13305] - Allows you to run<br />
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Q Soft-Touch [3377] - Powerful keyboard macro<br />
package. A great timesaver!<br />
Name<br />
Address<br />
UTILITIES/APPLICATIONS<br />
□ MuttfKiyi (3300) - Like the popular Norton<br />
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THE BEST of the REST<br />
Q Airti Hmu (3383) - A personal menu system<br />
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DOS command from an autobootmg menu.<br />
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□ SldiWrrter |33B4] - Prints spreadsheets and<br />
text files sideways! Requires IBM Proprinter.<br />
HP Thinkjet. or Epson compatible printer,<br />
{great utility lor advanced users)<br />
^ F»t Food [3<strong>80</strong>2] - Know the nutritional value<br />
ol many of the fast food items you eat.<br />
Q ELISA (3B05) - The famous computer psychi<br />
atrist. Disk also has a great prank program.<br />
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Loss than Ten<br />
Q 8uiner Mikw (3BD1) - Make banners of<br />
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□ PimMia |3902| - Record, edit, and then<br />
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GAMES<br />
Q Strlkw (1400) - Arcade helicopter attack<br />
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I CGA |<br />
□ Biwbill (3415) - A strategy oriented<br />
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Q Q-BW |3403] - Play the famous arcade hit<br />
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Q Backgammon |3404) - Play against the<br />
computer. Centipede is also included. (CGA)<br />
Q Monopoly |3405| - Great color and sound.<br />
ICGA)<br />
n JstSei |34DT] - A great jet I light-simulator.<br />
□ Infiltniion to IBM (3417) - In this textadventure<br />
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□ RISK |3436) - For all of us who love the<br />
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□ PkMm & Morel (3421| - Several arcade nits<br />
including two PAD-MAN games. iCGA)<br />
□ WM of MIshrtiiM |3422] - A really fun<br />
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□ Muter UK Mirkst (3425) - A stock rrrarket<br />
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□ KM Ginm (3426| - A set of educational<br />
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□ Suptr Pinbalt (3429) - A collection ol five<br />
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P Global Thtmnnuclnr Wir (3430) - Inspired by<br />
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□ Video PoKcr/Ullinn 21 (3435) - The BEST<br />
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□ Stir Trtk (3438) - You are the captain as<br />
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Q Me: Witan (3 BOB I - Store and retrieve<br />
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Q Chun* DfUBitt (3B1Z| - Automates record<br />
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Q Lotto! (3823) - Complete system lor the<br />
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□ Crwwonl Cmttr (3824] - Create your own<br />
custom crossword puzzles easily.<br />
□ The DM Disk (382fi) - Provides you with<br />
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□ Attrology (3831] - Let your computer tell you<br />
what lies ahead in the stars!<br />
| :T| Tht Horn Bihandlng Guldi (3833, 3B34] -Mix<br />
most drinks like a pro. Includes 149 recipes.<br />
12 | Th) family HisUiy Syslsr [3852. 3653] -<br />
Creates files of personal information<br />
including family relationships and produces<br />
standard genealogical reports. (2 disks)<br />
Q PC-Mmletin |3900| - Develop and play-back<br />
songs on your PC.<br />
Q PC-Art 13952] - Graphics drawing package for<br />
creating color pictures and designs. ICGA)<br />
Q EDraw |3954| - Draw designs, flowcharts,<br />
schematics, printed circuits, or just about<br />
anything you can think of.<br />
GAMES<br />
□ Trattirl (3411) - Drive an 18-wheeler Irom<br />
LA to NY. Watch out fur Smokie!<br />
□ MvMlurtWirt (3420) - Five new text<br />
adventures sure to keep you intrigued.<br />
[T] Trivli Town (3423,3424) - A challenging<br />
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□ 3-D Chm (3427| - Chaienge a tough compu<br />
ter opponent in the classic game of chess.<br />
□ Soiililrr |3«8| - The computer deals the<br />
cardi and makes sure you don't cheat!<br />
□ Donlnott |343T| - Play a nice game of dom<br />
inoes against the computer, anytime. (CGA)
Heidi Aycock, Steven Anzovin, Gregg Keizer, and Peter Scisco<br />
What's it take to be a power<br />
user these days? How much<br />
can you really pack into your<br />
home computer system<br />
before the power lines melt?<br />
Just when is too much still<br />
not enough? Here's how to<br />
turn your wimpy home<br />
machine into the Bulgarian<br />
weightfifter of computers.<br />
■^t ower.<br />
It's the most seductive<br />
word in the computing lexi<br />
con. Hardware and software<br />
makers know this and use the word to<br />
tantalize- Apple puts the tag The<br />
power to be your best at the bottom of<br />
each ad; Paperback Software reminds<br />
everyone that Knowledge is Power.<br />
Home computer users aren't im<br />
mune to the power plague, either, Just<br />
as much as anyone in a corporate<br />
tower, we thirst for a machine that<br />
sings through spreadsheets, that whips<br />
through word processing. We hunger<br />
for the most complete, the bestequipped<br />
computer system we can<br />
afford.<br />
Ah. there's the rub, isn't it?<br />
Money. Because we don't have a<br />
capital-outlay budget—because it's our<br />
36 COMPUTEI<br />
money, not someone else's—we have<br />
to be careful about how our computer<br />
currency is spent. Hard choices are in<br />
store for anyone who wants to make a<br />
home computer more powerful.<br />
That's what this article is about—<br />
hard choices. Deciding that you want<br />
a more powerful machine is easy; the<br />
tough part is choosing how to make<br />
that machine a power beast.<br />
We've eliminated some of the<br />
guesswork by taking $1,000 and<br />
putting power into three typical home<br />
computer systems—an <strong>80</strong>88-based<br />
MS-DOS computer, a Macintosh Plus<br />
(or SE), and a Commodore Amiga<br />
500. And because not everyone uses a<br />
home computer for the same tasks,<br />
we've shown you more than one route<br />
to power computing. More interested<br />
in writing than in graphics? Planning<br />
on creating the ultimate game system<br />
instead of the ultimate database?<br />
Read on. And may the power be<br />
with you.<br />
MS-DOS<br />
Five years ago, when you bought your<br />
IBM PC or compatible, a power user<br />
was a gas-station grease monkey with<br />
an air wrench. Today, you're still<br />
clicking along with 512K. of RAM. a<br />
monochrome monitor, and two floppy<br />
disk drives. But something's wrong.<br />
Every computer magazine you open<br />
bristles with the hottest hardware this<br />
side of a crooked pawn shop. Face it:<br />
You're an <strong>80</strong>88 chip in a 386 world,<br />
and it's time for a makeover.<br />
Game Master<br />
If you're a gamester looking to bring<br />
your PC compatible up to the level of<br />
today's competition, you'll want EGA<br />
color, the minimum standard for top<br />
flight gameplay. You'll also want to in<br />
crease your computer's RAM to 640K.<br />
and add a game card and a joystick.<br />
The Boca Research EGA by Boca<br />
board will give you the colors you<br />
need for $249. The board supports not<br />
only EGA. but MDA, CGA, and<br />
Hercules standards as well. A scan of<br />
mail-order houses reveals no-name<br />
EGA cards priced as low as $145.<br />
Of course your new board is use<br />
less without a color monitor. The<br />
choices are mind-boggling. Mail-order<br />
prices for EGA monitors can be as low<br />
as $325. Mitsubishi's XC1410C mon<br />
itor lists for S659. but can be had<br />
through the mail for $375. Samsung's<br />
CM4531 display retails for $349.<br />
That's about $550 so far. The<br />
next step is to boost your PC's mem<br />
ory. For about $55, you can add two<br />
banks of 64K RAM chips {a total of<br />
18) to your computer's motherboard.
minimum for today's entertaining<br />
memory-munchers. Be sure to buy<br />
chips that match the speed of the<br />
chips already in your PC. Check the<br />
number on your installed chips and<br />
use the digits to the right of the dash<br />
to determine speed (for example,<br />
4164-15 signifies a 150-nanosecond<br />
chip; 41256-08 means it's an <strong>80</strong>nanosecond<br />
chip).<br />
To round out your game system,<br />
you'll want to pick up a game card<br />
with two ports and a decent pair of<br />
joysticks (for head-to-head competi<br />
tion). All told, these will set you back<br />
about 70 bucks: $20 for the card and<br />
$50 for the joysticks. With the $225<br />
you have left, you can buy several of<br />
the new games you've been lusting<br />
after; or, better yet, you can look for a<br />
deal on the Ad Lib Music Synthesizer<br />
Card (list price, $195) to replace the<br />
wretched warble of your PC.<br />
Your revamped PC will make you<br />
the envy of every gamester on your<br />
block. Play on.<br />
Pumped-Up Productivity<br />
Time is money, and to make your PC<br />
work faster, you need to boost it to<br />
AT status with a 286 accelerator<br />
board. Either AST's Hot Shot/286 (list<br />
price, $545; street price, $355) or Or<br />
chid's TinyTurbo (discount price,<br />
$279) will replace your computer's<br />
<strong>80</strong>88 processor with an <strong>80</strong>286. Both<br />
accelerator boards are fairly simple to<br />
install—much, much easier than<br />
replacing your PC's motherboard.<br />
To create an even more impres<br />
sive productivity machine, expand<br />
your computer's memory to 640K and<br />
then start looking at storage options.<br />
You'll want at least a 20-megabyte<br />
hard disk (a Seagate drive and control<br />
ler will set you back about $270 if you<br />
buy mail order), but for only a little<br />
more money you can have 50-percent<br />
more storage (street prices of 30-<br />
megabyte drives are around $290).<br />
If you have an older PC, it may<br />
not have the power to handle the extra<br />
storage capacity. Replacing your power<br />
supply isn't too difficult, and 150-watt<br />
units are available for about $ 150 from<br />
mail-order dealers. You may also have<br />
to upgrade your computer's BIOS<br />
PC Purchases<br />
Ad Lib<br />
50 Staniford St.<br />
Boston. MA 02114<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 463-2686<br />
Amdek<br />
1901 Zanker Rd.<br />
San Jose. CA 95112<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 722-6335<br />
AST Research<br />
2121 Alton Ave.<br />
Irvine, CA 92714-4992<br />
(714)863-1333<br />
Boca Research<br />
6401 Congress Ave.<br />
Boca Raton, FL 33487<br />
(407) 997-6227<br />
Electronics America<br />
991 Knox St.<br />
Torrance, CA 90502<br />
(213)515-3993<br />
Key Electronics Enterprises<br />
9112 Hwy. <strong>80</strong> W<br />
Suite 221-K<br />
Forth Worth, "D
upgrade options, depending on your<br />
artistic bent. Your first step: Boost<br />
your system's memory to 640K.<br />
If it's music you're after, you'll<br />
want to add a sound board like the Ad<br />
Lib or, even better, the Roland MT-32<br />
Multi-Timbre Sound Module, from Si<br />
erra. The Roland will set you back<br />
$550 if you buy it at full retail price.<br />
That leaves you about $400 for a<br />
MIDI interface like Midiator, from<br />
Key Electronics (interface, sequencer,<br />
and software for about $130), or<br />
PC/Musicpak, from Voyetra (retail<br />
price, $249). The rest of the money<br />
you can sock away for a sampling<br />
keyboard.<br />
If computer art is your passion,<br />
then you'll need the cream of displayadapter<br />
technology: VGA. The Video<br />
Seven Vega ($499, retail; $259, mail<br />
order) or another VGA card will get<br />
you started. Back your choice with the<br />
Amdek Monitor/632 ($595, retail) or<br />
the NEC MultiSynch II ($949, retail;<br />
$570, mail order). Keep in mind when<br />
matching cards with monitors that the<br />
display quality is tied to the highest<br />
resolution common to both products.<br />
Macintosh<br />
You probably thought your Macintosh<br />
was powerful enough to last a lifetime.<br />
Although it's a highly sophisticated<br />
computer—one that includes a stateof-the-art<br />
interface and sports more<br />
RAM than most MS-DOS machinesit's<br />
not, as the saying goes, everything<br />
it wants to be. You'll have to make<br />
some tradeoffs as you plan your sys<br />
tem expansion (don't expect to turn<br />
your Mac Plus into a Mac IIx), but<br />
with around $1,000, you can dramati<br />
cally transform your machine.<br />
Writer's Wonder<br />
Your Macintosh may be a premier<br />
writer's tool and a robust word proces-<br />
38 COMPUTE!<br />
For example, a board that supports a<br />
color resolution of 640 X 350 pixels<br />
won't drive an <strong>80</strong>0 X 600 pixel mon<br />
itor to its full potential. You can save<br />
money by matching a lower-resolution<br />
board to a comparable monitor. Use<br />
your last $100 for a Microsoft Mouse<br />
($99 from some mail-order houses,<br />
including a copy of PC Paintbrush).<br />
To make your PC a publishing<br />
system worthy of any potential Alfred<br />
Knopf, you'll want to add a 20megabyte<br />
hard disk to hold a desktop<br />
publishing program and a collection of<br />
fonts and art. A mouse will help you<br />
design the next Pulitzer winner. You<br />
won't be able to afford a full-page dis<br />
play with the $575 you have left, but<br />
you can upgrade your monitor to<br />
VGA status if you stick with a crisp,<br />
paper-white phosphor display like<br />
Samsung's ML4571 (14-inch screen;<br />
$249, retail). After you've paid for a<br />
VGA card, you'll still have enough<br />
cash left over for a multifunction card<br />
that will equip your PC with a serial<br />
port (just in case you can spring for a<br />
laser printer next year).<br />
— Peter Scisco<br />
sor, but it can be even more help to<br />
anyone who puts words on the screen<br />
if you punch up its power.<br />
Speed, print quality, and more<br />
storage are three of the most im<br />
portant things writers demand from a<br />
computer. Speed, because time is<br />
really money. Print quality, because<br />
editors have a nasty habit of not read<br />
ing illegible print. And more storage,<br />
because a good writer is a prolific<br />
writer.<br />
The easiest way to boost the<br />
speed of your word processor is to put<br />
as much of your document as possible<br />
into RAM, where it's instantly acces<br />
sible. Your first step to power writing,<br />
then, is to add memory to your Mac.<br />
Bumping up your Mac to 2.5 mega<br />
bytes (the most efficient path) will run<br />
$899 from your local Apple dealer, but<br />
you can do better by going to a thirdparty<br />
source. Levco's One-Plus-One,<br />
which turns a Mac Plus into a 2-megabyte<br />
machine, costs just under $400.<br />
Taking an SE to 2.5 megabytes costs<br />
around $470 when you use third-party<br />
RAM; one source among many is the<br />
Hardware House, of Philadelphia.<br />
You can also use some of the<br />
added RAM to run print spoolers and<br />
ram caches. Print spoolers let you<br />
keep working with your computer<br />
while you print by writing the file to<br />
disk or to memory. As you work, the<br />
printer retrieves the file, bit by bit,<br />
during the tiny increments of time<br />
when your computer isn't busy. Some<br />
recommended spoolers are Mainstay's<br />
MacSpool ($79.95) and SuperMac's<br />
SuperSpool ($99.95). Both work with<br />
the ImageWriter, but SuperSpool also<br />
works with LaserWriter printers. Disk<br />
caches store frequently used parts of a<br />
program in RAM, which the computer<br />
can access more quickly than it can<br />
access a disk drive. A disk cache is<br />
available via your Mac's Control<br />
Panel; if you have more memory, you<br />
can simply set aside more RAM for<br />
the cache.<br />
Once your Macintosh's memory<br />
needs are satiated, you can head for<br />
higher-quality printing. You won't find<br />
a laser printer for your $1,000, and the<br />
difference between your ImageWriter<br />
and a 24-pin printer is probably not<br />
enough to justify the expense. But you<br />
have other options. One printer to<br />
consider is the Hewlett-Packard<br />
DeskJet, an ink-jet printer that retails<br />
for $999 ($6<strong>80</strong>, mail order). Add a<br />
Grappler LQ interface ($149, retail;<br />
$98, mail order), from Orange Micro,<br />
and the DeskJet prints pages that rival<br />
a LaserWriter in quality if not in<br />
speed. Another ink-jet printer is the<br />
made-for-the-Mac WriteMove printer,<br />
from GCC Technologies. A small-<br />
sized printer, WriteMove retails for<br />
$699 but requires special paper—<br />
something the DeskJet can do without.<br />
If topnotch printing isn't a prior<br />
ity, you'll want to spend the rest of<br />
your $1,000 for a hard disk drive. Not<br />
only does a hard disk drive hold more<br />
than an <strong>80</strong>0K floppy disk can, but it<br />
also can load and save files far, far<br />
faster. Just as important is the fact<br />
that today's high-octane word proces<br />
sors take up three or more floppy<br />
disks, leaving you with some disk<br />
swapping to do unless you have a hard<br />
disk. Moving up to a hard disk is one<br />
of the smartest things you can do to<br />
power up your system.<br />
Hard disks come in different<br />
capacities; the 20-megabyte size is the<br />
most common. A 20-megabyte hard<br />
disk holds the equivalent of about 25
floppies and costs around $550.<br />
Companies like Crate and Jasmine sell<br />
hard drives at competitive prices.<br />
Spend $1,000 on RAM and a<br />
printer or on memory and a hard disk<br />
and you'll ensure your place in the<br />
halls of powerful writers.<br />
Superior Spreadsheets,<br />
Dynamic Databases<br />
Spreadsheets and databases run best<br />
from a hard disk, so that should be<br />
the first system enhancement to con<br />
sider if you're into numbers and lists<br />
for your home business. Spreadsheets<br />
and databases eat up even more stor<br />
age space than do text documents,<br />
though, so you should consider a<br />
larger-capacity drive. A 42-megabyte<br />
LaCie Cirrus hard drive, for instance,<br />
will cost you $650 direct from the<br />
company.<br />
If you want to see more of your<br />
spreadsheet or database form at one<br />
time, you'll find that a large-sized<br />
screen can be of immeasurable help.<br />
It's tough to find a name-brand largescreen<br />
monitor for your $1,000, but<br />
it's not impossible. The best advice is<br />
to scout the mail-order ads and hope<br />
for the best. One source is Icon Re<br />
view, which recently advertised a<br />
Cornerstone SinglePage Display for<br />
$899.<br />
A recently announced alternative<br />
to a Macintosh-specific full-sized<br />
screen is the Mobius card ($479), from<br />
Mobius Technologies. Installed in<br />
your Mac SE, the Mobius card lets<br />
you connect hi-res IBM-compatible<br />
monochrome monitors to your com<br />
puter. The benefit, of course, is the<br />
drastically reduced cost of such mon<br />
itors. A 14-inch NEC Multisync GS<br />
monitor, for instance, runs only $279<br />
at full retail; $ 190, mail order. For less<br />
than $700, then, a Mobius card/<br />
Multisync GS combination can display<br />
about 75 percent more than the stand<br />
ard Macintosh can. That means 75<br />
percent more of your speadsheet or<br />
database is on the screen.<br />
If you're a serious number<br />
cruncher and you already have a hard<br />
disk, you may be the perfect candidate<br />
for an accelerator board with a math<br />
coprocessor. Such boards either have a<br />
6<strong>80</strong>00 microprocessor running at a<br />
faster speed than the original, or a<br />
next-generation 6<strong>80</strong>20 microprocessor,<br />
an even faster chip. A 68881 math<br />
coprocessor chip speeds up numerical<br />
manipulations, making things like<br />
spreadsheet recalculations really swift.<br />
As with the large-screen monitor up<br />
grade, though, you can afford only this<br />
one improvement on your $1,000 bud<br />
get. Even then, you'll have to look<br />
hard. One possible buy is the SiClone<br />
Turbo SE accelerator, a board based<br />
on a 16-MHz 6<strong>80</strong>00 microprocessor.<br />
The accelerator itself costs $398, while<br />
the 68881 math coprocessor chip runs<br />
$298.<br />
Cheaper tactics, such as ramdisks<br />
and disk caches, can help. Follow the<br />
guidelines in the previous section if<br />
you want to up your Mac's RAM.<br />
Even trashing the Finder and switch<br />
ing interfaces can be a boon. Take a<br />
look at CE Software's DiskTop ($50,<br />
retail; $27, mail order) or Fifth<br />
Generation's Power Station ($60, re<br />
tail; $32, mail order); they can free up<br />
memory for your applications.<br />
Picture Perfect<br />
Macintosh artists need as much com<br />
puter speed as anyone does, but they<br />
also need high-quality printing, topnotch<br />
displays, and a lot of storage<br />
space. Trying to decide between<br />
increasing the quality of your printing<br />
or bumping up your storage capacity is<br />
tough. If you work with digitized pic<br />
tures, you're saddled with enormous<br />
files. And most high-powered graphics<br />
packages, such as PageMaker and<br />
Macintosh Merchandise<br />
Apple <strong>Computer</strong><br />
20525 Mariani Ave.<br />
Cupertino, CA 95014<br />
(408) 252-2775<br />
CE Software<br />
1854 Fuller Rd.<br />
P.O. Box 655<strong>80</strong><br />
West Des Moines, IA 50265<br />
(515)224-1995<br />
Crate Technology<br />
6850 Vineland Ave.<br />
Building M<br />
North Hollywood, CA 91605<br />
{818)766-4001<br />
Fifth Generation Systems<br />
11200 Industriplex Blvd.<br />
Baton Rouge, LA 70<strong>80</strong>9<br />
(504) 291-7221<br />
GCC Technologies<br />
5<strong>80</strong> Winter St.<br />
Waltham, MA 02154<br />
(617)890-08<strong>80</strong><br />
Hardware House<br />
3440 Market St.<br />
Philadelphia, FA 19104<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 356-2892<br />
(215) 386-2208<br />
Hewlett-Packard<br />
18110 SE 34th St<br />
Camas, WA 98607<br />
(206)254-8110<br />
Icon Review<br />
101 Reighard Ave.<br />
Williamsport, m 17701<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0)228-8910<br />
Jasmine<br />
1740 Army St.<br />
San Francisco, CA 94124<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 347-3228<br />
(415)282-1111<br />
Freehand, require a hard drive. Con<br />
sider a 40-megabyte (or larger) hard<br />
disk if you're active in desktop<br />
publishing or computer graphics.<br />
But if you must produce cameraready<br />
artwork, you'll have to find a<br />
way to get clear, sharp printouts.<br />
Again, $1,000 is not enough to put a<br />
laser printer next to your Mac. Some<br />
photocopy shops and typesetting firms<br />
can print your Macintosh files on a<br />
LaserWriter or even on a Linotronic<br />
typesetter for top-quality output. If<br />
you have access to such a service,<br />
your best option is to buy a hard drive<br />
and more memory. Spending the en<br />
tire $1,000 will be easy ($650-$700 for<br />
a 40-megabyte hard disk and $400 or<br />
so for additional RAM), but you'll<br />
have a more powerful graphics station<br />
at your beck and call.<br />
For clear, sharp printing without<br />
going to an outside printer, you can<br />
turn to the GrappIer/DeskJet combi<br />
nation or even the WriteMove option.<br />
The output rivals that of laser print<br />
ing, and the cost is much lower.<br />
— Gregg K£izer and<br />
Heidi E. H. Aycock ><br />
LaCle<br />
16285 SW 85th<br />
No. 306<br />
Tigard. OR 97224<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 999-0143<br />
(503) 684-0143<br />
Levco<br />
6181 Cornerstone Court E<br />
Suite 101<br />
San Diego, CA 92121<br />
(619)457-2011<br />
Mainstay<br />
5311-B Derry Ave.<br />
Agoura Hills, CA 91301<br />
(818)991-6540<br />
Mobius Technologies<br />
6020 Adeline St.<br />
Oakland, CA 94608<br />
(415)654-0556<br />
NEC Home Electronics<br />
1255 Michael Dr.<br />
Wood Dale, IL 60191<br />
(312) 860-9500<br />
Orange Micro<br />
1400 N. Lakeview Ave.<br />
Anaheim, CA 92<strong>80</strong>7<br />
(714) 779-2772<br />
SiClone<br />
1169 Borregas Ave.<br />
Sunnyvale, CA 94089<br />
(408)734-9151<br />
SuperMac Technologies<br />
485 Potrero Ave.<br />
Sunnyvale, CA 94086<br />
(408) 245-2202<br />
JUNE 1989 39
Amiga<br />
The recent explosive growth in the<br />
Amiga hardware market has made tak<br />
ing a basic Amiga 500 system—512K<br />
computer, single 3'/2-inch disk drive,<br />
and Amiga RGB monitor—to the<br />
hardware max a lot easier. For a mere<br />
$ 1,000, you can build a graphics com<br />
puter Max Headroom would be proud<br />
of. Or put together a home-productivity<br />
machine that will give you far-reaching<br />
number-crunching and databasesorting<br />
capabilities. Of course, there<br />
are other possible $1,000 Amiga addi<br />
tions to cover such uses as music cre<br />
ation, computer-aided design, and<br />
even gaming.<br />
Animated Workstation<br />
There are almost loo many exciting<br />
hardware tools for Amiga graphics: De<br />
ciding on the add-ons best suited for<br />
you can be daunting. Just keep in mind<br />
the capabilities you need for your art,<br />
though, and assembling a system<br />
should be simplified.<br />
Before you add any exotic graphics<br />
hardware, you'll want to turbocharge<br />
your Amiga 500 with additional memo<br />
ry by buying the A501 512K RAM ex<br />
pansion, from Commodore ($ 199).<br />
Amiga Add-Ons<br />
Commodore Business Machines<br />
1200 Wilson Dr.<br />
West Chester, PA 193<strong>80</strong><br />
(215)431-9100<br />
Creative Microsystems<br />
10110 SW Nimbus<br />
Suite B1<br />
Portland, OR 97223<br />
(503) 620-3821<br />
Great Valley Products<br />
Plank Ave.<br />
Paoli, m 19301<br />
(215)889-9411<br />
40 COMPUTE<br />
You'll also want to add more disk stor<br />
age with an external floppy disk drive; a<br />
good example is the Master 3A disk<br />
drive, from Oceanic America, widely<br />
available for $ 160. The extra memory<br />
and storage space will make it possible<br />
to create super-sized graphics and com<br />
pile animations without a lot of irritat<br />
ing disk swapping.<br />
Two simple devices can really ex<br />
pand your Amiga's usefulness as a<br />
graphics workstation. The Digj-View<br />
Gold video digitizer, from NewTek<br />
($200), complete with the Panasonic<br />
WV-1410 monochrome CCTV camera<br />
($2<strong>80</strong>; also available from NewTek),<br />
lets you capture any external image for<br />
later manipulation with a paint or an<br />
animation program. Digi-View pro<br />
duces accurate, full-color reproductions<br />
of anything you can focus a video cam<br />
era on. The system is simple and easy<br />
to use, and gives far better results than<br />
you'd get from any other digitizer on<br />
the market. For desktop video applica<br />
tions, nothing beats a genlock, a device<br />
for mixing live video and Amiga graph<br />
ics for taping on a VCR. The basic<br />
Amiga genlock of choice is the Amigen,<br />
from Mimetics ($179). This small unit<br />
is the only low-cost genlock on the mar<br />
ket that works with any Amiga. With it.<br />
Mimetics<br />
P.O. Box 1560<br />
Cupertino, CA 95015<br />
(408)741-0117<br />
NewTek<br />
115 W. Crane St.<br />
Topeka, KS 66603<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 843-8934<br />
Oceanic America<br />
P.O. Box 70587<br />
Eugene, OR<br />
(503) 741-1222<br />
you can easily put titles and animations<br />
on your videos for professional-looking<br />
effects.<br />
The total cost of your newfound<br />
graphics power is $1,018. Watch out,<br />
Walt Disney!<br />
Amortized Amiga<br />
You may not think of the Amiga 500<br />
as a business dynamo, but it can pack<br />
the same productivity wallop you'd get<br />
from an AT clone or a Macintosh SE.<br />
What the basic Amiga 500 lacks,<br />
though, are the hard drives and faster<br />
processor speeds that give those ma<br />
chines the clout to eat through big<br />
spreadsheets and massive databases.<br />
At the moment, the most efficient<br />
way to add mass storage to your<br />
Amiga 500 is with the Impact 20HD/<br />
RAM hard drive, from Great Valley<br />
Products ($795). This external SCSI<br />
drive allows up to six more SCSI<br />
peripherals to be connected to the<br />
computer. With the optional Autoboot<br />
EPROM (an additional $100; also<br />
from Great Valley), you can start your<br />
Amiga 500 directly from the hard disk<br />
under version 1.3 of the Amiga operat<br />
ing system. The Impact drive also has<br />
room to accept two megabytes of<br />
RAM, which you can purchase when<br />
and if the price of memory chips de<br />
scends from its current stratospheric<br />
level. (Commodore has promised, and<br />
even shown, a combination 20-<br />
megabyte hard disk/RAM-expansion<br />
unit. Called the A590, it may appear<br />
sometime in 1989; its price is<br />
undetermined.)<br />
If the 7.16-MHz 6<strong>80</strong>00 micro<br />
processor in your Amiga 500 seems a<br />
little pokey when you compare it to<br />
the 10- and 12-MHz <strong>80</strong>286 chips in<br />
current ATs, or even to the notexactly-maxed-out<br />
8-MHz 6<strong>80</strong>00 in a<br />
Macintosh SE, how about giving your<br />
Amiga a caffeine jolt with a faster<br />
processor? Creative Microsystems of<br />
fers a 6<strong>80</strong>00 microprocessor (S200)<br />
that runs at 14.32 MHz, double the<br />
standard speed. Simply pop out your<br />
current 6<strong>80</strong>00 and pop in the faster<br />
version for speed increases of up to a<br />
theoretical 200 percent. (Opening the<br />
Amiga 500 case voids your warranty.<br />
but the speed increase is worth it.)<br />
Pumping up your 500 to give it<br />
productivity prowess doesn't come<br />
cheap, but it shouldn't exceed<br />
$1.100—well worth the numbers when<br />
you're crunching numbers.<br />
— Steven Anzovin 3<br />
Heidi E. H. Aycock and Peter Scisco are the<br />
assistant editors, and Gregg Keizer is the<br />
editor, of COMPUTE!. Steven Anzovin writes<br />
the Amiga column for the "COMPUTE! Spe<br />
cific" department. All of them want more<br />
than $1,000 to spend on their computers.
Historical Games<br />
Mickey McLean<br />
The Ancient Art of War<br />
Broderbund<br />
IBM PC and compatibles. Macintosh<br />
<strong>Color</strong> graphics card required for IBM<br />
S44.95<br />
buyer's<br />
Wish you could be a legendary leader? Want to change the course of<br />
history? Can you think ofa better way to run the world or win the war?<br />
Players challenge eight of the greatest mili<br />
tary leaders in history—Genghis Khan, Alex<br />
ander the Great, Sun Tzu, and others.<br />
Players choose armies, weapons, battle for<br />
mations, and strategies. The game features<br />
11 historical and fictitious battfes, and new<br />
battles can be created. Joystick is optional.<br />
The Ancient Art of War at Sea<br />
Broderbund<br />
Apple II, IBM PC and compatibles. Macintosh<br />
Graphics adapter card required for IBM<br />
S44.95<br />
In this war-strategy game, enemies include<br />
Blackbeard, John Paul Jones, and Admiral<br />
Lord Nelson. Players can choose from 11<br />
sea battles or create their own. Battles are<br />
fought in realtime. Three levels of zoom bring<br />
players right down to the ship decks, and an<br />
illustrated guide explains the enemy's strate<br />
gies and tactics.<br />
Whether it's hobnobbing with Genghis Khan, rubbing shoulders with<br />
Napoleon, or shooting the breeze with MacArthur, there's a historical<br />
game in this buyer's guide that's as good as any time machine.<br />
In the race against nuclear war, players<br />
use diplomatic savvy and military finesse<br />
to preserve the safest Balance of Power.<br />
Ancient Battles<br />
Scorpion Software<br />
IBM PC and compatibles<br />
CGA required<br />
S44.95<br />
Ancient Battles is a strategy war game, with<br />
several battle scenarios, to be played by two<br />
players or one player against the computer.<br />
There is also a construction set for creating<br />
new scenarios.<br />
The Annals of Rome<br />
Datasoft<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC and<br />
compatibles<br />
S24.95 (Commodore)<br />
$34.95 (Amiga. Atari ST. IBM)<br />
As leader of the Senate's ruling party in<br />
Rome in 273 B.C., the player controls Roman<br />
armies at home and on foreign soil. The play<br />
er must reckon with 13 foreign powers and<br />
command 21 Roman officers who vary in<br />
their abilities and degree of loyalty.<br />
Balance of Power<br />
Mindscape<br />
Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, IBM PC and compatibles,<br />
Macintosh<br />
$39.95 (Amiga. Atari ST, Macintosh)<br />
S44.95 (Apple)<br />
$49.95 (IBM)<br />
As U.S. President or General Secretary of the<br />
Soviet Union, the player has eight years to<br />
manage overt and covert actions, insurrec<br />
tions, political deceptions, divisions of troops,<br />
and diplomatic relations. During the game,<br />
each nation's prestige will rise or fall.<br />
Balance of Power:<br />
The 1990 Edition<br />
Mindscape<br />
Amiga. Apple Ngs, Atari ST, IBM PC and compati<br />
bles, Macintosh<br />
640K required for IBM<br />
$49.95<br />
This updated version of Balance oi Power in<br />
cludes more countries, a multipolar orienta<br />
tion, and an updated database. As U.S.<br />
President or Soviet General Secretary, the<br />
player tries to complete eight years in office.<br />
The goal is to avoid nuclear war and to earn<br />
prestige. i><br />
JUNE 1989 41
Battlefront<br />
Strategic Studies Group<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II. Commodore 54<br />
$39.95<br />
Scenarios for Saipan, Bastogne, Crete, and<br />
Stalingrad recreate major land battles of<br />
World War II in this game. The player can<br />
command either the Allied or the Axis forces.<br />
Each side has as many as 60 battalions divid<br />
ed into three divisions. Units include infantry,<br />
armor, and antitank units. New games can be<br />
created with the game-design kit.<br />
Battlegroup<br />
Strategic Simulations<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64<br />
$59.95<br />
In this World War II game, the U.S. and Brit<br />
ish forces meet Hitler's army on the Western<br />
Front. The game features most of the weap<br />
ons from 1943 to 1945, including mortars,<br />
tanks, troop carriers, antitank guns, flame<br />
throwers, and bazookas. The computer cal<br />
culates the hit probabilities for each soldier<br />
and weapon.<br />
Battle of Antietam<br />
Strategic Simulations<br />
Apple II, Atari, Commodore 64, IBM PC and<br />
compatibles<br />
<strong>Color</strong> graphics card required for IBM<br />
$49.95<br />
Robert E. Lee's army meets General George<br />
McClellans forces at Antietam Creek in this<br />
Civil War simulation. The basic game has<br />
simple ruies and options, and it moves quick<br />
ly. The advanced and intermediate versions<br />
require more strategy and use factors such<br />
as hidden units and chain o( command. Each<br />
turn represents 30 minutes of actual battle<br />
time.<br />
Battles in Normandy<br />
Strategic Studies Group<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64<br />
$39.95<br />
This sequel to Battlefront features eight sce<br />
narios from the World War II Allied invasion<br />
of Normandy and the two months afterward.<br />
A map of the Normandy Peninsula and a his<br />
torical article for each scenario—Omaha,<br />
Utah, Sword, Cherbourg, Carentan, Villers<br />
Bocage, Goodwood, Epsom—are included.<br />
Each scenario may be edited, and new<br />
games can be created.<br />
Battles of Napoleon<br />
Strategic Simulations<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64<br />
S49.95<br />
Players can simulate almost any Napoleonic<br />
engagement on a detailed tactical level. The<br />
construction set recreates battles, and play<br />
er-generated maps and armies can also be<br />
used. Scenarios include Waterloo, Quatre<br />
Bras, Auerstaedt, and Borodino.<br />
42 COMPUTE!<br />
buyer's<br />
gum<br />
Black Monday<br />
Keypunch Software<br />
IBM PC and compatibles<br />
<strong>Color</strong> graphics card required<br />
$9.99<br />
Players can relive the stock market crash of<br />
Monday, October 19,1987. As many as six<br />
people can borrow and invest up to $5 million<br />
in 20 different stocks. Investors can compile<br />
personal daily reports, speculate on market<br />
trends, and identify market patterns.<br />
Blitzkrieg at the Ardennes,<br />
1MB version<br />
Command Simulations<br />
Amiga<br />
1 megabyte required<br />
$59.95<br />
This enhanced version of Blitzkrieg at the Ar<br />
dennes depicts the World War II Battle of the<br />
Bulge. New features include hidden unit<br />
movement, a more flexible attack rule, and<br />
aerial reconnaissance. New sound and<br />
graphics have been added. An upgrade from<br />
the 512K version is available for $10.00. The<br />
512K version sells for S52.95.<br />
Blue Powder Grey Smoke<br />
Garde<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC and compatibles,<br />
Macintosh<br />
$49.95<br />
Players fight in the Civil War battles of Gettys<br />
burg, Antietam, and Chickamauga. Players<br />
must reckon with 11 types of terrain and sea<br />
sonal changes. Players can choose to view<br />
any part of the battlefield in either a close-up<br />
or a broad overview.<br />
Carriers at War 1941-1945<br />
Strategic Studies Group<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64<br />
$49.95<br />
As task commander, the player locates and<br />
sinks enemy vessels in this simulation of<br />
World War II Pacific Ocean warfare. There<br />
are 31 carriers, 215 other ships in 63 classes,<br />
and more than 4000 aircraft in 126 squad<br />
rons. Six scenarios are included—Pearl Har<br />
bor, Coral Sea, Midway, Eastern Solomons,<br />
Santa Cruz, and Philippine Sea. Using a<br />
game-design kit, the player can create new<br />
battles.<br />
Conflict in Vietnam<br />
MicroProse<br />
Apple II. Commodore 64, IBM PC and compatibles<br />
CGA or EGA card required for IBM<br />
$19.95<br />
Full-color graphics recreate five battle sce<br />
narios of the Vietnam War. The player con<br />
trols the troop movements, counterattacks,<br />
and artillery bombardments. The battles can<br />
be replayed as they really happened, or dif<br />
ferent strategies can be used to try to alter<br />
the outcome.<br />
Crusade in Europe<br />
MicroProse<br />
Apple II. Commodore 64, IBM PC and compatibles<br />
CGA or EGA card required for IBM<br />
$19.95<br />
This war game recreates some of the major<br />
land battles of World War II, beginning with<br />
the Normandy invasion on D-Day. Players<br />
monitor troop movements across maps of<br />
France and Germany and wage battles<br />
against opposing generals. Battles can be<br />
played as they actually occurred, or new<br />
strategies can be attempted.<br />
Decision on the Desert<br />
MicroProse<br />
Apple II. Commodore 64, IBM PC and compatibles<br />
CGA or EGA card required for IBM<br />
$19.95<br />
The player can command either the Allied or<br />
the Axis forces in the desert warfare of World<br />
War II. As commander, the player controls air<br />
strikes, armored battalions, and infantry<br />
movement in North Africa from 1940 to 1942.<br />
The game features accelerated realtime,<br />
graphics, and variable skill levels.<br />
Decisive Battles of the Ameri<br />
can Civil War, Volumes I, II,<br />
and III<br />
Strategic Studies Group<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64<br />
S39.95 each<br />
Volume I, Bull Run to Chanceliorsville, cov<br />
ers six major battles of the American Civil<br />
War—First Bull Run, Shiloh, Second Bull<br />
Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancel<br />
iorsville. Volume 2 of this historical-war-game<br />
series covers five Civil War battles—Gaines<br />
Mill, Stones River, Gettysburg, Chickamauga,<br />
and Chattanooga. The third game in the<br />
American Civil War trilogy features Spotsylvania,<br />
The Wilderness, Franklin, Nashville,<br />
Atlanta, and Cold Harbor. A graphics editor<br />
and war-game construction kit are included in<br />
all three packages.<br />
Desert Rats<br />
Scorpion Software<br />
IBM PC and compatibles<br />
CGA required<br />
$39.95<br />
Desert Rats, a collection of six battle simula<br />
tions, is set in the North African campaign<br />
from 1941 to 1942. The fight begins with<br />
Rommel's invasion of Tripoli and ends with<br />
the Battle of El Alamein. Maps and historical<br />
notes are included with this one- or twoplayer<br />
game. >
Magnavox<br />
BM7652 $89.95<br />
BM7622 $89.95<br />
7BM-623 $79.95<br />
CM87D2 $184.95<br />
CM8762 $239.95<br />
BCM-515 $259.95<br />
9CM-053 $345.95<br />
9CM-Q82 $419.95<br />
Si 1981<br />
C f PRINTERS<br />
.IL<br />
Seikosha<br />
SP Series Ribbon ....$7.95<br />
SP160DAI $179.95<br />
SP1200AS<br />
RS232 $189.95<br />
SLBOAi $309.95<br />
SK3000Ai $359.95<br />
SK30O5Ai $445.95<br />
SL130AJ $569.95<br />
MP5420FA $999.95<br />
SPB10 $2995-95<br />
Brother<br />
HR20 $339.95<br />
M1709 $439.95<br />
M1724L $569.95<br />
HR40 $599.95<br />
HR60 $699.95<br />
Twin writer 6 Dot &<br />
Daisy $899.95<br />
Lyco <strong>Computer</strong><br />
7 Marketing & Consultants<br />
Air Orders Processed Within 24 Hours<br />
MONITORS<br />
GoldStar<br />
2105 G Composite $79.95<br />
2105 A Composite $79.95<br />
1410CGA14- $219.95<br />
1420 EGA 14' $319.95<br />
1430 VGA 14- $379.95<br />
1440 Supetscan $459.95<br />
NX-2400<br />
Star Micronics<br />
NX-1000 $164.95*<br />
NX-1000C(64C) .$169.95*<br />
NX-1000 <strong>Color</strong> ....$217.95<br />
NX-1000C <strong>Color</strong><br />
Superior 24 pin performance<br />
is ngw a luxury you can<br />
afford. With 170 cps draft<br />
and 57 cps letter quality<br />
mode, your document needs<br />
are quickly taken care of.<br />
Add Star's paper parking<br />
feature, variety of print styles<br />
and you have unprecedented<br />
24 pin performance at a price<br />
(64C) $225.95-<br />
NX-15 $299.95<br />
NX-2400 $299.95<br />
NR-10 $319.95<br />
NR-15 $419.95<br />
NB24-1024 Pin ...$419.95<br />
N824-I5 24 Pin ...$545.95<br />
NB-1524Pin $669.95<br />
Lasers $1699.95<br />
' limited quantities<br />
Atari. C-64.& IBM<br />
Interfaces Available<br />
you can afford.<br />
$299 95<br />
NEC<br />
Multisync GS $189.95<br />
Multisync II $589.95<br />
Multisync* $899.95<br />
Multisync XL $2099.95<br />
Citizen<br />
120 D $137.95"<br />
1<strong>80</strong>D $159.95<br />
MSP-40 $279.95<br />
MSP-50 $299.95<br />
MSP-15E $315.95<br />
Tribute 124 $369.95<br />
MSP-45 $379.95<br />
MSP-55 $439.95<br />
Premiere 35 $489.95<br />
Tribute 224 $549.95<br />
- with interface cable<br />
Epson<br />
LX<strong>80</strong>0 $164.95<br />
LQ500 $294.95<br />
FX850 $329.95<br />
EX<strong>80</strong>0 $349.95<br />
FX1050 $429.95<br />
LQ850 $515.95<br />
LQ950 $569.95<br />
LQ1050 $719.95<br />
LO2550 $699.95<br />
Panasonic<br />
KX-P11<strong>80</strong><br />
The 11<strong>80</strong> by Panasonic<br />
offers you more than what<br />
you might expect in a low cost printer.<br />
With multiple paper paths, versatile paper handling, and<br />
front panel programmability through the EZ Set Operator<br />
panel, the 11<strong>80</strong> is an excellent value. The 11<strong>80</strong> also<br />
features 2 excellent print qualities: Near Letter Quality and<br />
Draft, with speeds up to 192 cps in Draft and 38 cps in<br />
Near Letter Quality plus crisp, clear graphics.<br />
$175 95<br />
1-<strong>80</strong>0-233-8760<br />
Avatex<br />
i200iPCCard $69.95<br />
i200e $65.95<br />
1200p $89.95<br />
1200hc $89.95<br />
2400i II PC Card $129,95<br />
2400 $129.95<br />
Panasonic<br />
11<strong>80</strong> $175.95<br />
1191 $245.95<br />
3131 $2B9.95<br />
1092i $2B9.95<br />
1124 $319.95<br />
1592 $359.95<br />
1595 $429.95<br />
1524 24 Pin $545.95<br />
Fax Partner $579.95<br />
Optical Scanner ..$859.95<br />
KXP 4450 User $1369.95<br />
Cables & Connections<br />
For All Applications<br />
Printer Ribbons Available<br />
MODEMS<br />
Hayes<br />
Smartmodem300....<br />
Srrartmodem 1200B<br />
Sn-artmodem 1200..<br />
Srrartmodem 2400B<br />
Smartmodem2400..<br />
PRINTERS<br />
Okidata<br />
Okimate 20 $129.95<br />
Okimate 20 w/cart $189.95<br />
182 $209.95<br />
1<strong>80</strong> $219.95<br />
182+ $228.95<br />
183 $249.95<br />
320 $337.95<br />
321 $475.95<br />
390 $469.95<br />
391 $639.95<br />
393 $989.95<br />
Laser6 SCALL<br />
Toshiba<br />
321 SL $449.95<br />
341 SL $599.95<br />
35! SX 400 cps ...$899.95<br />
m citizen<br />
Citizen 120 D<br />
if you are seeking world renowned<br />
printer performance for your home,<br />
look no further than the 120 D.<br />
Your data processing needs are<br />
handled quickly at a prim speed of<br />
120 cps (draft) or 25 cps (NLQ).<br />
The 120 D features 9 pin dot<br />
matrix print quality, standard<br />
parallel Centronics interface<br />
and a 4K text buffer.<br />
$13795<br />
PAGE Turn page for<br />
1 OF 4 more specials.<br />
$139.95<br />
$279.95<br />
$279.95<br />
$399.95<br />
$399.95
MAGNAVOX<br />
CM8762<br />
• 17% Larger Screen Ttian<br />
Standard 12" Monitors<br />
• RGB TTL (CGA)<br />
■ Composite Video Inputs<br />
• 640X 240 Resolution<br />
■ Green Text Display Switch<br />
• Audio Input<br />
• Built-in Till Stand<br />
• One-Year Limited Warranty<br />
JWLASER128<br />
•Built-in 12BKRAM<br />
• Built-in 5* Drive<br />
■ Built-in Parallel Port<br />
■ Built-in Mouse/Joystick Port<br />
■ High Res. Graphics<br />
Lyco <strong>Computer</strong><br />
Marketing & Consultants<br />
$235 95<br />
GoldStar<br />
THr Bnihitii Vi: in Flnunuu<br />
2405 A<br />
Attention<br />
Educational<br />
Institutions:<br />
II you are not currently<br />
using our educational service<br />
program, please call our<br />
re presences for details.<br />
$589 95<br />
Quantities Limited<br />
Cables Optional<br />
12" Composite Monochrome Monitor<br />
Compatible with IBM, Commodore, Apple computers<br />
Apple L/O m pat I Die • SO Character (8x8 Matrix) per line with 25 lines 640 x 200 pixel<br />
COMMODORE<br />
128 D<br />
• 128K Std.<br />
• 3 Mode Operation<br />
1-64: Runs 64 software.<br />
2-C128: Faster, more<br />
memory for increased<br />
productivity 3-CPM:<br />
Uses standard cpm<br />
titles<br />
$41895<br />
Seagate<br />
ST138R30Meg<br />
Internally Mounted Card<br />
• Premounted on its own Controller Card<br />
• EZ Slot Installation {app. 10 min.)<br />
$329 95<br />
20-30-49 meg drives available1<br />
Panasonic, ^ ,~-~QC<br />
Office Automation^"",/-V( ^"4 *Jfr?flH5<br />
KXP4450<br />
Laser Partner Special Purchase<br />
Move your business into the<br />
laser age with Panasonic. 512K<br />
memory comes standard. 11<br />
pages per minute print speed<br />
makes it the fastest in its class.<br />
Panasonic's laser technology and<br />
2-year warranty — committed to<br />
your printing needs.<br />
MLASER128<br />
Take a look at the Laser 128<br />
Apple-compatible computer,<br />
and beginning with its built-in<br />
disk drive and 12BK RAM of<br />
memory, you start to leel that<br />
this machine was designed<br />
with you in mind.<br />
$379 95<br />
2400 Modem<br />
When co mm uncial ion becomes an<br />
integral pan of your computing, stay<br />
wilh the Avatex 2400 baud modem.<br />
The Avatex features 300/1200/2400<br />
switch able baud rates, auto-da i I and<br />
auto-answer plus internal speaker.<br />
Stay Hayes compatible with (he<br />
Avatex 2400.<br />
$129 95<br />
^CITIZEN<br />
1<strong>80</strong> D<br />
■ 150 cps Draft<br />
■ 29 cps NLQ<br />
■ Graphics Capability<br />
■ Built-in Pull Tractor<br />
Apple llc-lle<br />
Compatible<br />
$10 off any Item Purchased<br />
With Laser 128!<br />
TOSHIBA<br />
3.5 Floppy Drive<br />
■ IBM PC XT/AT Compatible<br />
■720K<br />
■ 3.5" DSDD<br />
' Universal Installation Kit Included<br />
■ Full Manufacturers Warranty $84<br />
95<br />
See complete listings under Toshiba Drives.<br />
.IL<br />
NX-1000<br />
1-<strong>80</strong>0-233-8760<br />
$16495 ■<br />
Star's answer to 9 pin dot<br />
matrix printers. A sort touch<br />
control panel and Star's pa<br />
per park feature solves your<br />
murti-oocumerit needs. 144<br />
cps draft and 36 cps NLQ<br />
give you high resolution 9<br />
pin performance in an af<br />
fordable package from Star.<br />
Avatex<br />
PC's & Accessories<br />
Laser Compact XTE 640K $539.95<br />
Laser Turbo XT Model II $629 95<br />
BCC CG <strong>Color</strong>Card S94.95<br />
ATI VIP $299.95<br />
Mitsubishi MP 28GL Laptop .. $2495.95<br />
Metra 286-12 PC/AT $999.95<br />
^Seagate HARD DRIVES<br />
5.25" Half Heights<br />
ST223 20 meg 65msec MFM ... $209.95<br />
ST225N 20 meg SCSI S289 95<br />
ST238R 30 meg FILL $219.95<br />
ST251 40 meg 40 msec MFM ,. $339.95<br />
ST251-1 40 meg 28 msec MFM $399.95<br />
ST277R 65 meg 40 msec RLL $389.95<br />
3.5"<br />
ST125 20meg40msecMFM ..$235.95<br />
ST125N20megSCSI $329 95<br />
ST138R 30 meg RLL $249.95<br />
ST138N30megSCSI $334.95<br />
ST157R 49 meg RLL $399.95<br />
ST157N48megSCSI $445.95<br />
Seagate Internal Cards<br />
ST125 20 meg Internal Card .... $299.95<br />
ST157R 49 mBg Internal Card ,. $485.95<br />
TOSHIBA<br />
DRIVES<br />
5"" 360 KB PC/XT Compatible<br />
ND-04D $69.95<br />
3"" 720 KB PC/XT Compatible<br />
ND-354A $84.95<br />
3';H 1.44 MB PC/AT Compatible<br />
ND-356T $99.95<br />
5" 1.22 MB PC/AT Compatible<br />
ND-08DEG $89.95<br />
COMMODORE<br />
HARDWARE<br />
64C <strong>Computer</strong> $149.95<br />
C128O <strong>Computer</strong>/Drive 5418.95<br />
1541 II Disk Drive $179.95<br />
15S1 Disk Drive $187.95<br />
Excel FSD-2* C64 Drive $149.95"<br />
1<strong>80</strong>2C Monitor $189.95<br />
1084 Monitor $279.95<br />
C1351 Mouse $38.95<br />
1764 RAM C64 $117.95<br />
Coll PC $669 95<br />
Call for system pricing.<br />
' Limited Quantities<br />
LASER 128<br />
Compatible with Apple Software.<br />
Laser 128 EX $419.95<br />
Laser External 5' Drive J 119.95<br />
Laser External 3 ■ <strong>80</strong>0K Drive .$19995<br />
Two Slot Expansion Box $44 95<br />
Laser 128 EX Mouse S55.95<br />
We carry a full line ol laser accessories.
Turbo XT Model II<br />
Outperform the conventional PC/XT competition<br />
with Laser's Turbo XT-II. The Laser provides<br />
everything you ex peel from an XT plus such<br />
standard leaiures as 4.77/10 MHz speed. 102<br />
key enhanced keyboard, security lock and a<br />
clock/calendar with battery backup. Laser's compatability<br />
is guaranteed through a 150W power<br />
supply, four accessible drive slots, (t 360K5.25<br />
standard) 8 I/O expansion slots, parallel Centron<br />
ics and RS 232 interfaces, 640K RAM standard,<br />
(expandable to 1.6 MB) along with a CGA video<br />
card already installed. Introduce yourself lo the<br />
new generation XT through Laser's Turbo XT-II.<br />
MITSUBISHI<br />
MP 286L Laptop<br />
■ <strong>80</strong>286 Processor Running at 12 MHz or 8 MHz<br />
■ 640 KB RAM<br />
■11- Diagonal BSW Display<br />
1 <strong>Color</strong> Graphics Adapter<br />
■ 1.44 MB Capacity 3.5'<br />
Disk Drive<br />
■ Centronics Parallel Port<br />
■ 2 RS-232C Serial Ports<br />
' 4 Expansion Card Slots<br />
MS-DOS 3.30<br />
■ GW BASIC 3 20<br />
Internal Speaker<br />
1 -Year Manufacturer's<br />
Limited Warranty<br />
$249595<br />
95<br />
$629<br />
Monitor Oplional<br />
FCC Class B Approved<br />
COMMODORE { fl [ J $66995<br />
Monitor Optional<br />
FCC Class B Approved<br />
^CITIZEN<br />
World class competition<br />
in an <strong>80</strong>286 PC/AT Irom<br />
Citizen. One MB RAM is<br />
standard, along with 2<br />
serial and 1 parallel port,<br />
EGA video card and<br />
keyboard switchable<br />
6.25/12.5 MHz lor full<br />
PC/AT compatability.<br />
Citizen also includes<br />
added features such as,<br />
swilchable 150 watt<br />
power supply, 1.2 MB<br />
5.25- floppy drive. MS-<br />
Mate/12 AT<br />
PAGE<br />
3 OF 4<br />
DOS-GW Basic software to<br />
provide for your immediate<br />
computing needs. Leave the<br />
competition behind with the<br />
Citizen Mate 12 Plus.<br />
$1349<br />
ftft.<br />
fif/LASER XTE<br />
11 you are about to pick a<br />
personal computer tot your<br />
home or office and you need<br />
to be one step ahead ol the<br />
competition, choose the<br />
Laser Compact XTE. The<br />
Compact XTE features tha<br />
same standard equipment<br />
as the Compact XT,<br />
however, 64OK RAM and a<br />
m o n och ro me/CG A/ EGA<br />
video card is supplied. You<br />
won't beat its performance or<br />
extraordinary !ow price.<br />
Laptop PPC 640-2<br />
Step into a new era o( convenience and control with Amstrad's<br />
exerting new PPC 640 portable computer. The PPC 640 features<br />
640K RAM, full sized AT 101 keyboard, Hayes com pal ible modem,<br />
an <strong>80</strong>86 processor (6MHz) and your choice ol either one or two<br />
3.5" 720KB disk drives.<br />
$749 95<br />
The Commodore Colt is a<br />
computer with all the built-in<br />
features you need. The Colt<br />
includes 640K RAM, CGA video<br />
support, two 5.25 360K disk<br />
npy YT drives, serial and parallel ports<br />
• **/A I with ihrBa clock speeds (4.77/<br />
Monitor Optional<br />
FCC Class B Approved I<br />
7.16/9.14MHz). Plus.lookat<br />
these Commodore extras: full<br />
size keyboard, clock/calendar<br />
with battery back-up, MS-DOS<br />
3.2 and GW Basic 3.2 and<br />
Wordstar word processor. Try<br />
the Commodore Colt in your<br />
home or office and experience<br />
what a difference it will make.<br />
VENDEX (HI<br />
$729<br />
Monitor Optional<br />
VENDEX"<br />
VTI-55-AT<br />
• IBM AT Compatible with<br />
Award Bios<br />
• Small Footprint<br />
■ <strong>80</strong>286-12 Turbo Processor<br />
with 8 MHz Of 12 MHz<br />
Software Switchable<br />
• 640K, Expandable to 1MB<br />
• One 1.2 MB Floppy Disk<br />
Drive<br />
• Parallel Printer Port<br />
• RS232 Serial Pon<br />
• Clock Calendar with Battery<br />
Backup on Board<br />
• 101 Key Keyboard<br />
■ EGA Graphics Adaptor<br />
■ 5 total Empty Slots<br />
• 200 Wat! Power Supply<br />
$599 ,95<br />
FCC Class B Approved<br />
TOSHIBA<br />
T-1000 Laptop<br />
Pick up on Ihe T-1000 and >oull go far. Give<br />
yourself desktop PC power wherever you need it.<br />
Toshiba's T-1000 includes 512K RAM, one built-in<br />
720KB 3.5" disk drive supertwist LCD display with<br />
CGA capability.<br />
VT1-33-XT<br />
• IBM XT Compatible with Award<br />
Bios<br />
■ Small Footprint<br />
■ <strong>80</strong>38-1 Tubo Processor with<br />
4.77 or 9.54 MHz Software<br />
Switch able<br />
■640K<br />
■ 2-360K Floppy Disk Drives<br />
■ Parallel P-mter Port<br />
■ RS232 Serial Pod<br />
■ Clock Calendar with Battery<br />
Backup on Board<br />
■ AT Style 84 Key Keyboard<br />
■ CGA;MGA and Hercules<br />
Graphics Adaptor<br />
■ MS-DOS Version 3.3<br />
■ GW-Basic<br />
$1,19995<br />
Monitor Optional<br />
■ MS-DOS Version 3.3<br />
■ GW-8asic<br />
■ Easy Working Writer (Word<br />
Processor by Spinnaker)<br />
Turn page for more specials.
Lyco <strong>Computer</strong><br />
Marketing & Consultants<br />
• Price Guarantee •<br />
Since 1981,<br />
we have led the industry by continuing to offer<br />
the lowest national prices while providing<br />
quality service. Many companies have<br />
come and gone trying to imitate our quality<br />
and service. If by some oversight we do not<br />
have the lowest prices advertised on the products<br />
you desire, then we would appreciate the<br />
opportunity to rectify this oversight.<br />
Sales: 1-<strong>80</strong>0-233-8760 or 717-494-1030<br />
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.<br />
Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.<br />
Customer Service: 717-494-1670<br />
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.<br />
Fax: 717-494-1441<br />
Activiaion:<br />
Might& Magic $27.95<br />
Broderbund.<br />
Print Shop $34.95<br />
Jel Fighter $28.95<br />
Epy*:<br />
California Games $22.95<br />
Print Magic $32.95<br />
4x4 Off Road Racing... .511.95<br />
Sporting News<br />
Baseball $22.95<br />
Firebird:<br />
Universal Military<br />
Simulator $28.95<br />
Microlaaguc:<br />
Microleag. Baseball S22.95<br />
GMDisk $16.95<br />
StatDisk $13.95<br />
88TeamDisk $11.95<br />
Micro pros*:<br />
Gunship $28.95<br />
5-1/4<br />
Disk Notcher $5.95<br />
Mutll:<br />
SSDD $7.95<br />
DSDD $8.95<br />
Bonus:<br />
SSDD $5.95<br />
DSDD $6.95<br />
DSDD $6.95<br />
DSHD $13.95<br />
Balance of Power il $27.95<br />
Ultima IV $34.95<br />
UltimaV $34.95<br />
Heroes of the Lance $25.95<br />
Jet Simulator $30.95<br />
Western Europe<br />
Scenery Disk $14.95<br />
WordwriterPC $27.95<br />
PC Quintet $49.95<br />
Partner PC $22.95<br />
Publish It $99.95<br />
Xldw:<br />
DSDD $4.95<br />
3.5<br />
Maxell:<br />
SSDD $11.50<br />
DSDO $17.95<br />
Bonus:<br />
SSDD $10.95<br />
DSDD $13.95<br />
Why shop at Lyco <strong>Computer</strong>?<br />
Lyco <strong>Computer</strong> Is one ot, it not the largest, and mosi established lifms to provide only quality name brand computer<br />
products a! prices 30% to 50% below retail. We've set many industry standards, and we are setting the pace for<br />
many more in the future. Our standards include: a separate departmenl for customer service; a price guarantee;<br />
guaranteed factory fresh merchandise; diverse payment and shipping policies, including a C.O.D. policy which al<br />
lows customers to have products in their hands before paying anything. Selection places Lyco at Ihe lorefront o! the<br />
industry. Due to our in-stock volume, we cannot advertise all of our products. If you do not see the product you<br />
want advertised, call Lyco Marketing toil free.<br />
How do I know I will gel Ihe product I need?<br />
Our marketing staff is well-educated in the computer industry. They receive continuous formal training by our<br />
manufacturers whtch enables them to develop and maintain a high degree of expertise on the products they<br />
represent. Though our strict guarantee on providing only new merchandise prohibits free trial periods and a<br />
guarantee on compatibility, a wealth of knowledge is available lo our customers to help with the purchasing decision.<br />
As thousands of people every week capitalize on our savings and services, we hope you too. will make Lyco<br />
<strong>Computer</strong> your first choice.<br />
Whal about warranty or service?<br />
We decided several years ago thai a Customer Service Department was needed in the industry. Unfortunately, few<br />
of our competitors offer this service. Our Customer Service Department is available at (717) 484-1670 lo provide<br />
assistance in all warranty matters. Our product line enjoys "name brand recognition," and we back all of our<br />
manufacturer's stated warranty terms. Many manufacturers will allow defective products to be exchanged. Before<br />
returning any Item that appears to be defective, we ask that you call our Customer Service Department lo assist you<br />
in determining il the product is defective. If the product is determined detective, they will give you a special<br />
authorization number and speed processing of your order.<br />
Will you rush an Item to me?<br />
Since 1981, we have set the standard in the industry by processing orders within 24 hours- not 4 to 6 weeks. We<br />
Offer next day air, two day air, standard UPS, and postal international shipping services. Our records show we fill<br />
95% of our orders daily. Temporary shortages are normally litled within 10 days. If an order cannoi be filled within<br />
60 days, we refund your money in lull, unless you choose to wail lor the order and benefit from the price savings.<br />
Any time prior to shipment, you may cancel or change the out of stock product by contacting our Customer Service<br />
representatives.<br />
How do I order?<br />
Send your order to Lyco <strong>Computer</strong>, P.O. Box 5088, Jersey Shore, PA 17740. Or. call 1-<strong>80</strong>0-233-8760 or (717) 494-<br />
1030. We provide four payment methods. We have always accepted C.O.D. orders through UPS. Prepaid orders<br />
over $50 are shipped freight-lree in continental U.S. For orders under $50, please add $3 for freighl. Orders<br />
prepaid by a certified check or money order are shipped immediately. Personal and company checks require a 4<br />
week waiting period pnor to shipping. Visa and MastBr Card orders are accepted for your convenience, but we<br />
cannot pass along the 4% discount offered for cash. Prices advertised are cash prices. Purchase orders are<br />
accepted from Educational Institutions. We only charge sales tax on items delivered in Pennsylvania. For APO,<br />
FPO, and International orders, please add $5 plus 3% for priority mail. Advertised prices and availabilrty are subject<br />
to changu. Not responsible for typographical errors.<br />
AATARI<br />
Access:<br />
Triple Pack $11.95<br />
Leader Bd. Double Pk. ...$9.95<br />
B rode round:<br />
PrinlShop $26.95<br />
Graphic Lib. I. II. Ill ea ..$14.95<br />
Lode Runner $9.95<br />
Mlcroprose:<br />
Silent Service $19.95<br />
F-15 Strike Eagle $19.95<br />
Mlndscape:<br />
Gauntlet $20.95<br />
Infiltrator $17.95<br />
Origin:<br />
Autoduel $24.95<br />
Ultima IV $34.94<br />
CALL FOR<br />
ATARI ST. LISTINGS<br />
Call for Apple Listings<br />
COMMODORE<br />
Mach128 $28.95<br />
Wld. Cl. Leader Brd $22.95<br />
LastNinja $19.95<br />
Mights Magic $22.95<br />
Maniac Mansion $19.95<br />
Ofttwrfes iasiuf-er<br />
Paperdiplll $31.95<br />
Geofile64 $29.95<br />
Geos64 $35.95<br />
Geos128 $39.95<br />
Geowrite 128 $39.95<br />
Berkeley TriPak $29.95<br />
Print Shop $26.95<br />
Graphic Lib. I. II, III ea .$14.95<br />
Jordan vs. Bird $19.95<br />
Epyx:<br />
COMMODORE<br />
FasHoad $22.95<br />
California Games $22.95<br />
4x4 Off Road Racing ....$11.95<br />
Mindroli $22.95<br />
Mlcroprose:<br />
Airborne Ranger $22.95<br />
F-15 Strike Eagle $19.95<br />
Pirates $22.95<br />
Stealth Fighter $22.95<br />
Red Storm Rising $23.95<br />
Qrgfrv.<br />
Ultima V $34.95<br />
Springboard:<br />
Newsroom $19.95<br />
Certificate Maker $14.95<br />
Strategic Simulations:<br />
Pool of Radiance $25.95<br />
Timsworks:<br />
Diskettes Joysticks<br />
Verbatim:<br />
SSDD $12.95<br />
DSDD $18.95<br />
DSDD $12.95<br />
SSDD $9.95<br />
DSDD $13.99<br />
1-<strong>80</strong>0-233-8760<br />
Tac3 $9.95<br />
Tac2 $10.95<br />
Tac5 $12.95<br />
Tad +IBM/AP $26.95<br />
Slik Stick $6.95<br />
Black Max $10.95<br />
Boss $11.99<br />
3-Way $19.99<br />
Buthandle $16.75<br />
SwrftcalCi28 $27.95<br />
Wordwriter3 $22.95<br />
Winner 909 $24.95<br />
Wico I8M/AP $29.95<br />
Llpstic Plus $14.95<br />
Kraft KC 111 AP/PC $16.95<br />
Kraft PC Joystick<br />
Card $24.95<br />
Kraft Maze Master $8.95<br />
i Controller $13.95<br />
Epyx 500 XJ (Atari,84C) $13.95<br />
Epyx 500 XJ (PC) $23.95
Europe Ablaze<br />
Strategic Studies Group<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64<br />
$49.95<br />
The player can be either a British command<br />
er during the Battle of Britain or a member of<br />
the U.S. Eighth Air Force during the bombing<br />
of Germany, planning bombing missions and<br />
air defense. A weather system provides vari<br />
ables such as wind strength and cloud cover.<br />
There are 37 types of aircraft and 255 squad<br />
rons operating from 127 airbases. Three sce<br />
narios are included.<br />
Genghis Khan<br />
Koei<br />
IBM PC and compatibles<br />
EGA or VGA required<br />
S59.95<br />
One to four players build empires in this mili<br />
tary, economic, and diplomatic simulation.<br />
Features include characters with distinct per<br />
sonalities and two scenarios with five leveis<br />
of difficulty. Players assume the role of Gen<br />
ghis Khan, Richard the Lion-Hearted, Emper<br />
or Alexius III, or Shogun Minamoto of Japan.<br />
Once the empire has been built, players must<br />
keep the population happy, the treasury full,<br />
subordinates loyal, and the enemies down.<br />
Gettysburg: The Turning Point<br />
Strategic Simulations<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Amiga, Apple II, Atari, Commodore 64. IBM PC and<br />
compatibles<br />
$59.95<br />
This war game reenacts the three days of<br />
fighting at Gettysburg in 1863. The game fea<br />
tures a command-control system to show the<br />
effects of the commanders, ammunition<br />
points, fatigue rules, and variable reinforce<br />
ment. Three versions—basic to advanced—<br />
are available. The computer can play either<br />
side. One or two people can play.<br />
Gold Rush!<br />
Sierra On-Une<br />
IBM PC and compatibles<br />
$39.95<br />
Players encounter problems as they travel<br />
from New York to California, searching for a<br />
fortune in gold. Players can choose to sail<br />
around the tip of South America, cut through<br />
Central American jungles, or ride across the<br />
North American landscape. A book detailing<br />
the story of the California Gold Rush is in<br />
cluded with the package.<br />
Guardians of Infinity<br />
Paragon Software<br />
Distributed by Medalist International<br />
IBM PC and compatibles<br />
512K; EGA or CGA required<br />
S44.95<br />
In this role-playing text game, scientist Adam<br />
Cooper travels back in time to November<br />
1963 and interviews 125 historical characters<br />
to prevent President Kennedy's assassina<br />
tion. The game is compatible with Aicom's<br />
Accent speech board.<br />
Buyer's.,<br />
guide<br />
Halls of Montezuma<br />
Strategic Studies Group<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC and compatibles<br />
S39.95 (Apple, Commodore)<br />
S44.95(IBM)<br />
Letting players join the Marines, this game<br />
simulates such battles as Belleau Wood, Iwo<br />
Jima, Okinawa, and Inchon. The program<br />
features night-capable units, brittle units, re<br />
ports, Al routines, historical articles, players'<br />
notes, and two programs for designing origi<br />
nal games.<br />
In Gold Rush, treacherous landscape and<br />
rough waters mark all routes west in the<br />
feverish search for precious gold.<br />
Kampfgruppe<br />
Strategic Simulations<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Amiga, Apple fl, Commodore 64, IBM PC and<br />
compatibles<br />
<strong>Color</strong> graphics card required for IBM<br />
S59.95<br />
In this World War II, Eastern Front simulation,<br />
players command German or Russian forces<br />
and their respective arsenals of tanks, tank<br />
destroyers, self-propelled artillery, assault<br />
guns, mortars, and flamethrowers. There are<br />
four historical scenarios, and new scenarios<br />
can be created. One or two people can play.<br />
Lords of the Rising Sun<br />
Cinemaware<br />
Apple IIgs, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC and<br />
compatibles<br />
EGA required for IBM<br />
$34.95 (Commodore)<br />
$49.95 (Apple !Igs, Atari ST, IBM)<br />
A civil war has begun in twelfth-century Ja<br />
pan. The Taira clan has killed your charac<br />
ter's father and subverted the emperor.<br />
Players command armies of samurai war<br />
riors, defend against ninja assassins, negoti<br />
ate alliances with other clans, and confront<br />
enemies in personal combat. The ultimate<br />
object of the game is to become shogun.<br />
Mac Arthur's War<br />
Strategic Studies Group<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II, Commodore 54<br />
$39.95<br />
Set during the Korean War, MacArthur's War<br />
recreates the top battles of the conflict. Play<br />
ers command United Nations or Communist<br />
forces against human or computer oppo<br />
nents. Program features include historical ar<br />
ticles covering the entire campaign, with<br />
battle notes for each scenario; a war-game<br />
construction kit; and an icon editor for game<br />
customization.<br />
Nam<br />
Thunder Mountain<br />
Distributed by Mindscape<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64<br />
Joystick required<br />
314.95<br />
In this tactical war game of U.S. and Allied<br />
forces in Vietnam, introductory- and interme<br />
diate-level players test their command abili<br />
ties in six historical scenarios, including the<br />
Tet Offensive. Units are rated for strength<br />
and effectiveness and are armed with rifles,<br />
machine guns, mortars, and rocket launch<br />
ers. Play lasts from one to four hours for one<br />
player.<br />
Napoleon in Russia—<br />
Borodino 1812<br />
Datasoft<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Atari, Commodore 64, IBM PC and compatibles<br />
S24.95 (Atari, Commodore)<br />
S34.95 (IBM)<br />
Napoleon in Russia recreates the battle of<br />
1812 that changed the course of Napoleon's<br />
advance across Russia and eventually led to<br />
his overthrow. Players can let the Russians<br />
escape, as Napoleon did, or defeat the Rus<br />
sians and see how the war might have<br />
changed. Action takes place on scrolling<br />
maps recreated from Russian military<br />
cartography.<br />
Nobunaga's Ambition<br />
Koei<br />
IBM PC and compatibles<br />
EGA or CGA required<br />
S59.95<br />
Set in sixteenth-century Japan, Nobunaga's<br />
Ambition combines aspects of a war game<br />
with a role-playing adventure. Players as<br />
sume the role of Nobunaga Oda, who tried<br />
but failed to take over the nation. Nobunaga<br />
must successfully rule during war and peace.<br />
From one to eight players may play either of<br />
two scenarios at five different levels of<br />
difficulty. i><br />
JUNE 1989 47
The Oregon Trail<br />
MECC<br />
Apple II, IBM PC and compatibles<br />
CGA required for IBM<br />
S39.95<br />
The Oregon Trail reenacts the journey of set<br />
tlers traveling from Independence, Missouri,<br />
to Oregon in the nineteenth century. Players<br />
cross rivers, fend off grizzly bears, ration<br />
supplies, and repair covered wagons. The<br />
program is designed to help players practice<br />
and sharpen problem-solving skills.<br />
Overlord<br />
Scorpion Software<br />
Atari ST<br />
<strong>Color</strong> monitor required<br />
£39.95<br />
Overlord is based on the Max Hastings book<br />
of the same name. Players can control six<br />
different countries in this recreation of the in<br />
vasion of Normandy on June 6,1944.<br />
In Pirates!, players learn the essentials of<br />
a successful seafaring life—fencing, sail<br />
ing, cannon firing, and courtship.<br />
Patton vs. Rommel<br />
Electronic Arts<br />
Commodore 64. IBM PC and compatibles,<br />
Macintosh<br />
$14.95 (Commodore. IBM)<br />
$19.95 (Macintosh)<br />
Players assume the role of either General<br />
George Patton or Field Marshal Erwin Rom<br />
mel as these two World War II military lead<br />
ers meet in battle on D-Day in Normandy.<br />
There are 20 kinds of tactical orders, and<br />
each division can handle up to 32 different or<br />
ders at a time. After orders have been issued,<br />
players watch the battle progress. The gen<br />
erals may even appear on the screen to eval<br />
uate the players' strategies.<br />
48 C O M P U<br />
buyer's.,<br />
guide<br />
Pirates!<br />
MicroProse<br />
Apple II, Apple IIgs. Commodore 64, IBM PC and<br />
compatibles. Macintosh<br />
$44.95 (Apple. Apple IIgs, Commodore, IBM)<br />
$59.95 (Macintosh)<br />
In the role of captain of a seventeenth-century<br />
pirate ship, players search the Caribbean for<br />
treasures, Spanish ships, and cities to plun<br />
der. They develop skills in sailing, sword<br />
fighting, battle tactics, trading, and naviga<br />
tion. More than 70 graphics scenes and pic<br />
tures include a map of the Caribbean.<br />
Difficulty levels vary.<br />
President Elect—1988 Edition<br />
Strategic Simulations<br />
Apple II, Atari ST. Commodore 64, IBM PC and<br />
compatibles<br />
<strong>Color</strong> graphics card required for IBM<br />
$14.95<br />
Three players simulate any presidential elec<br />
tion from 1960 to 1988, using a roster of 71<br />
candidates and statistics. Candidates are rat<br />
ed on social, economic, and foreign policy as<br />
well as public image. Players alter the elec<br />
tion's outcome by varying economic and po<br />
litical factors. Fictional candidates may also<br />
be created. For grade 5 through college level.<br />
Ram<br />
Avalon Hill<br />
IBM PC and compatibles<br />
<strong>Color</strong> graphics board<br />
S30.00<br />
One player can recreate the naval battles in<br />
the Mediterranean Sea during the Pelopon-<br />
nesian War. The player commands the an<br />
cient Athenian navy against the Corinthians<br />
and Spartans. Five scenarios can be played<br />
in realtime.<br />
Rebel Charge at Chickamauga<br />
Strategic Simulations<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC and<br />
compatibles<br />
<strong>Color</strong> graphics card required for IBM<br />
S49.95 (Apple, Commodore, IBM)<br />
S59.95 (Amiga)<br />
Players can test their strategies by recreating<br />
the battle at Chickamauga Creek. The battle<br />
takes place on a 64 X 54 square-grid map,<br />
and players can switch between strategic<br />
and tactical displays. The conflict is played in<br />
13 turns, with each turn representing two<br />
hours of realtime. Introductory, intermediate,<br />
and advanced game levels are included.<br />
Road to Moscow<br />
Game Designers' Workshop<br />
Commodore 64<br />
$40.00<br />
Players relive World War II in Russia through<br />
five strategy games, including the invasion of<br />
and fight for Poland. The object is to take and<br />
hold key Russian cities before the computer<br />
or an opponent can accumulate reinforce<br />
ments. Ten levels of difficulty and random<br />
events ensure that no two games play alike.<br />
Romance of the Three<br />
Kingdoms<br />
Koei<br />
IBM PC and compatibles<br />
CGA or EGA required<br />
$69.95<br />
Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a military,<br />
economic, and diplomatic simulation set in<br />
second-century China. The program merges<br />
a war game with a role-playing adventure.<br />
This game for one to eight players features<br />
255 distinct characters and five scenarios de<br />
tailing the struggle for control of China.<br />
As many as eight players can join in the<br />
struggle for control of second-century-<br />
China in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.<br />
Rommel Battles for North<br />
Africa<br />
Strategic Studies Group<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II. Commodore 64<br />
$39.95<br />
This war and strategy game allows players to<br />
recreate eight of the major World War II bat<br />
tles between General Erwin Rommel and the<br />
Allied forces in North Africa, including Syria,<br />
Cauldron, and Tebourga Gap. A construction<br />
kit can be used to create new scenarios. This<br />
game is the fourth sequel in the Batttefront<br />
series.<br />
Russia: The Great War in the<br />
East, 1941-1945<br />
Strategic Studies Group<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64<br />
$39.95<br />
Players command the Russian Red Army or<br />
the German Wehrmacht in this simulation of<br />
the World War II conflicts on the Eastern<br />
Front. Each army has up to seven divisions<br />
and three theaters. An economic system pro<br />
vides replacements, reinforcements, rail re<br />
pair, and Western Front forces. Three shorter<br />
scenarios—Leningrad, Stalingrad, and<br />
Kursk—are also included.
The Seven Cities of Gold<br />
Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II, Atari, Commodore 64, IBM PC and com<br />
patibles, Macintosh<br />
S14.95 {Apple, Atari, Commodore, IBM)<br />
$19.95 (Macintosh)<br />
Players assume the role of a Spanish explor<br />
er from 1492 through 1540, seeking out the<br />
Aztec and Inca cities. Over 2<strong>80</strong>0 screens rep<br />
resent the different worlds to explore. Play<br />
ers can generate computer-drawn maps as<br />
they explore sixteenth-century North, South,<br />
and Central America.<br />
; ' ■.:;■■ .. ■■-': ■ ■■■ ■<br />
Players can fight in five historic battles<br />
and design new 3-D battle grids when<br />
they play The Universal Military Simulator.<br />
Shiloh: Grant's Trial in<br />
the West<br />
Strategic Simulations<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC and compatibles<br />
$39.95<br />
In 15 turns, this game recreates the Confed<br />
erate Army's surprise attack on General<br />
Grant's Union forces. The terrain of Shiloh is<br />
displayed on a 30 X 30 square-grid battle<br />
field, and all the brigades and artillery are<br />
included. Play can be switched between stra<br />
tegic and tactical display. The program has<br />
three levels of play.<br />
Sons of Liberty<br />
Strategic Simulations<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC and compatibles<br />
<strong>Color</strong> monitor required<br />
$34.95 (Commodore)<br />
$39.95 (Apple, IBM)<br />
Three major battles of the Revolutionary War<br />
are recreated in this simulation: the Battle of<br />
Bunker Hill (the easiest of the three), the Bat<br />
tle of Saratoga (a turning point in the war),<br />
and the Battle of Monmouth (the battle that<br />
proved George Washington's abilities). In<br />
Solitaire mode, the computer can direct one<br />
side or both sides. Each game has three lev<br />
els of difficulty.<br />
buyer's<br />
guide<br />
Tsushima<br />
Avalon Hill<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64<br />
S30.00<br />
Set in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, Tsu<br />
shima recreates ship battles on both strate<br />
gic and tactical levels. The strategy game<br />
involves sightings and battles, with ship-toship<br />
maneuvers and combat. In the tactical<br />
game, each side selects a fleet drawn from<br />
the 29 ships available. One or two people can<br />
play-<br />
Under Fire<br />
Avalon Hili<br />
Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC and compatibles<br />
Hercules or color graphics card required for IBM<br />
$59.95 (Apple II)<br />
$34.95 (Commodore. IBM)<br />
This World War II simulation contains three<br />
maps of Europe, nine scenarios, and a mapmaker<br />
disk. The computer can control the<br />
U.S., German, or Russian armies, and it al<br />
lows simultaneous movement. The armies<br />
are divided into ten-person squads, which<br />
are rated by weapons and quality of training.<br />
The Universal Military<br />
Simulator<br />
Rainbird<br />
Amiga. Apple lies. Atari ST, IBM PC and compati<br />
bles, Macintosh<br />
$49.95<br />
This game reenacts five historical battles-<br />
Gettysburg, Arbela, Hastings, Marston Moor,<br />
and Waterloo. Players can use the built-in<br />
editor to design new maps, the order of bat<br />
tles, objectives, and what-if scenarios. Batties<br />
take place on a 3-D grid system so the<br />
player can view the field from any angle or<br />
zoom in on an area. Digitized sound accom<br />
panies the play. Two additional scenario<br />
disks, The American Civil War: Scenario Disk<br />
One and Vietnam: Scenario Disk Two, are<br />
also available for $19.95 each.<br />
Vulcan<br />
Scorpion Software<br />
IBM PC and compatibles<br />
CGA required<br />
$39.95<br />
Vulcan is a simulation of the Tunisian cam<br />
paign from 1942 through 1943. Features in<br />
clude five different scenarios and a special<br />
hidden-movement option. Players control five<br />
different armies—three Allied and two Axis.<br />
Wooden Ships & Iron Men<br />
Avalon Hill<br />
Commodore 64<br />
$35.00<br />
Wooden Ships & Iron Men recreates the tacti<br />
cal actions of the era of the Napoleonic Wars<br />
and the American Revolution. The battles in<br />
clude the Bonhomme Richard versus the Serapis<br />
and The Constitution versus the<br />
Guerriere. Players can also recreate 20-ship<br />
skirmishes such as the Nile, Chesapeake,<br />
and Trafalgar battles. One or two people can<br />
play.<br />
Publishers of Historical Games<br />
For more information about the historical games listed in this buyer's guide, con<br />
tact the publishers listed below.<br />
Avalon Hill<br />
4517 Harford Rd.<br />
Baltimore, M0 21214<br />
Brederbund<br />
17 Paul Or.<br />
San Rafael. CA 94903<br />
Cinemaware<br />
4165 Thousand Oaks Blvd.<br />
Westlake Village, CA 91362<br />
Command Simulations<br />
297 N St.<br />
Bldg. #3<br />
Hyannis. MA 02601<br />
Datasoft<br />
Distributed by Electronic Arts<br />
1820 Gateway Dr.<br />
San Maleo. CA 94404<br />
Electronic Arts<br />
1820 Gateway Of.<br />
San Mateo. CA 94404<br />
Game Designers' Wtorkshop<br />
P.O. Box 1646<br />
Bloomington. !L 61702-1646<br />
Garde<br />
8 Bishop Ln.<br />
Madison, CT 06443<br />
Keypunch Software<br />
1221 Pioneer Bldg.<br />
St Paul, MN 55101<br />
Koei<br />
20000 Mariner fve.<br />
Suite 100<br />
Torrance, CA 90503<br />
MECC<br />
3490 Lexington Ave. N<br />
a Paul. MfJ 55126-9097<br />
MicroProse<br />
1<strong>80</strong> LakefrontDr.<br />
Hunt Valley. MD 21030<br />
MinrJscape<br />
3444 Dundee fid.<br />
Northbrook. IL 60062<br />
Paragon Software<br />
Distributed by Medalist International<br />
A division of MicroProse<br />
1<strong>80</strong> Lakefront Dr.<br />
Hunt Valley, MD 25030<br />
Rainbird<br />
3885 Boharmon Dr.<br />
Menlo Park, CA 94025<br />
Scorpion Software<br />
19 Harbor Dr.<br />
Lake Hopatcong, NJ 07849<br />
Sierra On-Line<br />
P.O. Box 485<br />
Coarsegold. CA 93614<br />
Strategic Simulations<br />
1046 N- Rengslorff fve.<br />
Mountain Vi2w,CA 94043<br />
Strategic Studies Group<br />
Distributed liy Electronic Arts<br />
1820 Gateway Dr.<br />
San Mateo. CA 94404<br />
Thunder Mountain<br />
Distributed by Mindscape<br />
3444 Dundf« Rd.<br />
Northbrook IL 60062<br />
JUNE 1989 49
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PC's Newest<br />
Norton; Latest<br />
128 Delights;<br />
Junior League<br />
Apple-zines;<br />
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COMPUTE!<br />
COMPUTE! v<br />
specific<br />
Choosing a PC mouse used lo<br />
be simple: You bought Micro<br />
soft's mouse or Logitech's. But<br />
the increasing popularity ofthe<br />
mouse with PC users has creat<br />
ed a hotbed of competition.<br />
After Microsoft introduced its<br />
new, streamlined mouse last<br />
year, everyone seemed lo be<br />
releasing new mice, many em<br />
ulating Microsoft's Dove bar<br />
look.<br />
Logitech, which made the<br />
three-button mouse popular,<br />
hasjuslintroduced a threebutton,<br />
high-resolution mouse<br />
with a sleek new look (Logi<br />
tech, 6505 Kaiser Drive, Fre<br />
mont. California 94555; <strong>80</strong>0-<br />
231-7717; $139). Besides its<br />
new took, the Logitech mouse<br />
shares two important features<br />
with Microsoft's newest offer<br />
ing: It has a short button travel<br />
and its trackball has been<br />
moved from under the palm lo<br />
near the front.<br />
The curvaceous shape of<br />
the new Logitech mouse may<br />
take some getting used to, es<br />
pecially if you're familiar with<br />
the traditional, wedge-shaped<br />
Logitech mouse. The new<br />
mouse doesn't support your<br />
hand with ridges on the but<br />
tons and grooves on the side<br />
the way Logitech's previous<br />
C7 did. And the new Logitech<br />
isn't happy with just any<br />
mouse pad—in feet, the only<br />
pad it works well with is a<br />
hard-surfaced pad such as the<br />
MouseTrakL/F(930Dow<br />
Dell Lane. Saint Helena. Cali<br />
fornia 94574; 707-963-8179;<br />
$11.95). But on the right sur<br />
face, ihis mouse is fast and<br />
surefooted.<br />
Perhaps the biggest threat<br />
to the dominance of Microsoft<br />
and Logitech in the mouse<br />
market is Key Tronic. Famous<br />
for its high-quality keyboards.<br />
Key Tronic recently intro<br />
duced a new 200-dpi, high-<br />
quality two-button mouse<br />
(P.O. Box 14687. Spokane,<br />
Washington 99214; 509-928-<br />
<strong>80</strong>00: $119). The Key Tronic<br />
mouse is shaped something<br />
like Microsoft's, but it's larger<br />
and will probably fit a large<br />
hand better. Key Tronic shows<br />
a conservative bent when it<br />
comes to trackball location: It<br />
places the trackball directly<br />
under the palm. Another inter<br />
esting feature is the raised<br />
nubs on the left mouse button.<br />
The left button gets the most<br />
use. and these nubs make a<br />
good nonslip surface for your<br />
index finger.<br />
The Key Tronic mouse<br />
has a solid feel, with just the<br />
right weight and resistance.<br />
And it glides effortlessly across<br />
almost any surface. The button<br />
travel is a liltle longer than<br />
Logitech's (which many people<br />
may prefer), and it has jusl the<br />
right amount of resistance.<br />
If you're interested in<br />
buying a mouse, it's best to try<br />
a variety ofthe devices and<br />
decide which is best for you.<br />
But if you don't have an op<br />
portunity to go comparisonshopping<br />
and you want a twobutton<br />
mouse, you can't go far<br />
wrong with Key Tronic.<br />
SideTalk<br />
Background telecommunica<br />
tions can certainly take the<br />
sting out of uploading and<br />
downloading. While your<br />
computer burns up the phone<br />
lines transferring files in the<br />
background, you can work un<br />
disturbed in another applica<br />
tion in the foreground.<br />
Invisible Link (see this<br />
column in the February 1989<br />
issue) is a good, basic package<br />
that uses less than 30K, but it<br />
does have some limitations. It<br />
has no script language, it sup<br />
ports only XMODEM Check<br />
sum and CRC error-checking<br />
protocols, and it doesn't gel<br />
along very well with other<br />
memory-resident programs.<br />
At the other end ofthe<br />
spectrum from Invisible Link<br />
are high-powered, industrialstrength<br />
programs such as Re<br />
lay Gold. Mirror 111, and<br />
BackComm, Unfortunately,<br />
the power of these heavy<br />
weights comes at a price: Each<br />
uses about 200K of RAM<br />
when operating in its memoryresident,<br />
background mode.<br />
Between Invisible Link<br />
and the big guns is SideTalk<br />
(Lattice. P.O. Box 3072, Glen<br />
Ellyn, Illinois 60138; <strong>80</strong>0-533-<br />
3577; S119.95). In its default<br />
configuration. SideTalk uses<br />
about 75K. supports an array<br />
of communications parame<br />
ters, offers speeds ranging<br />
from 300 to 9600 bps, and<br />
sports a powerful BASIC-likc<br />
script language that can handle<br />
complex communications.<br />
SideTalk supports not only<br />
XMODEM Checksum and<br />
XMODEM CRC protocols,<br />
but also the staples ofthe<br />
BBS world, YMODEM and<br />
YMODEM BATCH. And the<br />
program has ANSI emulation<br />
(though unfortunately, it<br />
doesn't support ANSI color).<br />
In ils background mode<br />
(the program can also be used<br />
as a one-time command), Side<br />
Talk performs flawlessly: II<br />
doesn't crash your system, it<br />
works well with other memoryresident<br />
programs, and it com<br />
pletes transfers without muss<br />
or fuss. I tested SideTalk with<br />
a variety of foreground and<br />
memory-resident programs,<br />
including Borland's SidcKick,<br />
and experienced no problems.<br />
In fact. I even loaded and un<br />
loaded SideKick from memory<br />
while SideTalk was download<br />
ing in the background—Side-
Talk didn't miss a byte.<br />
Background communica<br />
tions is only half the SideTalk<br />
story. SideTalk's powerful<br />
script language Is an excellent<br />
partner for the program's back<br />
ground ability. The language is<br />
so complete that you can even<br />
write games in it. More to the<br />
point is the fact that you can<br />
write your own simple, singleuser<br />
BBS in less than 20 lines<br />
of code. An example that's<br />
easy to customize is included<br />
with the package.<br />
There's very little to com<br />
plain about with SideTalk.<br />
The manual contains a lot of<br />
useful information, but it also<br />
contains some errors, and.<br />
though the number for the Lat<br />
tice BBS (which offers techni<br />
cal support and files for<br />
downloading) is included in<br />
the autodial directory, the<br />
number is incorrect. These mi<br />
nor reservations aside, Side-<br />
Talk is a winner. If you're<br />
interested in communicating<br />
in the background, don't over<br />
look it. It may be as close as<br />
we're going lo get to an ideal<br />
background telecommunica<br />
tions program.<br />
Still the King<br />
Peter Norton built his reputa<br />
tion on The Norton Utilities,<br />
but he has never been content<br />
to rest on his laurels. Each new<br />
release of The Norton Utilities<br />
has introduced new programs<br />
and new features. If you trace<br />
the changes in the Utilities,<br />
you can see the evolution of<br />
the average PC user.<br />
When The Norton Utili<br />
ties was introduced, the rankand-file<br />
PC user was techni<br />
cally oriented and probably<br />
had some programming skill.<br />
The first edition of The Norton<br />
Utilities was intended for a<br />
techie group. As the PC market<br />
matured, more and more non<br />
technical people started using<br />
the machines. There was a<br />
need for software that would<br />
perform critical disk chores<br />
but be easy to use. Each new<br />
version of The Norton Utilities<br />
has addressed more of these<br />
users.<br />
The Norton Utilities, ver<br />
sion 4.5 (Peter Norton Com<br />
puting. 100 Wilshire Boule<br />
COMPUTE!. _<br />
specific<br />
vard. 9th Floor, Santa Monica.<br />
California 90401-1104; 213-<br />
319-2000; Standard Edition—<br />
S100, upgrade—S25; Ad<br />
vanced Edition—$150, up<br />
grade—$39), is the easiest of<br />
the Utilities to use yet. Almost<br />
every program in the package<br />
has had at least a minor face<br />
lift, and several new programs<br />
have been added.<br />
The Norton Utilities Ad<br />
vanced Edition's new offerings<br />
include File Date and Time.<br />
Norton Control Center, Safe<br />
Format. Norton Disk Doctor,<br />
and a book, Norton Trouble<br />
Shooter. And all the utilities<br />
now work with DOS 4.0 and<br />
DOS 3.3's extended partitions.<br />
In the flurry of new fea<br />
tures, it's easy to miss 4.5's big<br />
news, which is NDD—the<br />
Norton Disk Doctor. This is<br />
an automated disk-tcst-andrepair<br />
program that performs<br />
more than 100 tests on your<br />
disk's logical and physical<br />
structure.<br />
Norton Disk Doctor can<br />
be operated in two modes:<br />
quick and complete. In quick<br />
mode, NDD is like a superversion<br />
of CHK.DSK. It ana<br />
lyzes your disk's logical<br />
structures: the boot record, the<br />
FAT (File Allocation Table),<br />
and the directories. This series<br />
of tests is quick enough to run<br />
every day.<br />
If you specify the com<br />
plete switch, in addition to<br />
performing the logical tests,<br />
NDD tests every sector on<br />
your disk for data integrity. If<br />
bad sectors are found, the pro<br />
gram moves the data to a safe<br />
location and marks the sectors<br />
as bad. This test is similar to<br />
but more thorough than Disk<br />
Test (familiar from previous<br />
editions of The Norton Utili<br />
ties). NDD takes quite a while<br />
lo run a complete lest.<br />
You can run NDD either<br />
interactively or as a command<br />
line option. Peter Norton's<br />
technical support suggests that<br />
you run NDD with the quick<br />
switch every day to catch logi<br />
cal problems before they be<br />
come critical and that you run<br />
either NDD with the complete<br />
switch or Disk Test even1 week<br />
to insure the physical integrity<br />
of your disk. If you're thinking<br />
of upgrading to The Norton<br />
Utilities 4.5, NDD alone is<br />
worth the price.<br />
— Clifton Kames<br />
A few columns ago I took<br />
SSG's Ian Trout to task for an<br />
announcement he made in<br />
Run 5 (SSG's house maga<br />
zine). He said that the 64 was<br />
in a state of demise and that<br />
SSG would probably stop sup<br />
porting it.<br />
Well. Trout leads off the<br />
latest Run 5 editorial with an<br />
apology for what he wrote, re<br />
assuring his readers that all of<br />
SSG's new games, including<br />
the Napoleonic system and the<br />
new World War II commandlevel<br />
system, will indeed be re<br />
leased for the 64. This is<br />
excellent news, because SSG's<br />
games grow stronger all the<br />
time. If you haven't tried an<br />
SSG war game, start off with<br />
one of the Decisive Battles of<br />
the American Civil War vol<br />
umes ($39.95), with the superb<br />
Reach for the Stars, third edi<br />
tion ($39.95). or with Halls of<br />
Moniezuma ($39.95).<br />
Contact SSG at 1820<br />
Gateway Drive, San Mateo,<br />
California 94404; (415) 571-<br />
7171.<br />
Fun Fare<br />
New games have been released<br />
on several fronts.<br />
From Mindscape (3444<br />
Dundee Road, Northbrook. Il<br />
linois 60062; 312-4<strong>80</strong>-7667)<br />
comes Willow ($29.95), the<br />
game based on the unsuccess<br />
ful movie. Excellent graphics<br />
and good gameplay (as well as<br />
support for fast-load car<br />
tridges) can't hide the fact that<br />
the movie was flawed, but as a<br />
game it's pretty good. Mindscape<br />
has also released the<br />
long-awaited Uninvited<br />
($34.95). This program uses<br />
the same game mechanics<br />
found in Deja Vu, and its plot<br />
is every bit as absorbing. With<br />
Deja Vu 2 around the corner,<br />
you'll probably want to get<br />
through Uninvited as quickly<br />
as possible. But take your<br />
time; it's worth it.<br />
Sega (of videogame fame)<br />
is now releasing games in Com<br />
modore 64/128 format. Alien<br />
Syndrome ($29.95), available<br />
now, is an arcade shoot-'em-up<br />
with well-executed graphics<br />
and good game speed. Sega<br />
games for home computers are<br />
distributed by Mindscape.<br />
Mastertronic a division of<br />
Virgin Mastertronic Interna<br />
tional (711 West 17th Street,<br />
Unit G9, Costa Mesa, Califor<br />
nia 92627; 714-631-1001) has<br />
released a computer rendition<br />
of Shogun ($9.99), the epic<br />
novel by James Clavell. Your<br />
goal is to become the military<br />
ruler of Japan. Although Mas<br />
tertronic calls the package an<br />
interactive novel, it's mostly<br />
just good, fast arcade action.<br />
Trilogy(${4.9% another<br />
Mastertronic release, offers a<br />
trio of graphics-and-text ad<br />
ventures—Venom, Kobayashi<br />
Naru, and Shard of Inovar. In<br />
an interesting twist, the games<br />
come on flippy disks—one<br />
side for the 64 and the other<br />
for MS-DOS.<br />
Melbourne House a divi<br />
sion of Virgin Mastertronic In<br />
ternational (71! West 17th<br />
Street, Unit G9. Costa Mesa,<br />
California 92627; 714-631-<br />
1001) has converted Barbarian<br />
($29.99) to the 64/128 format.<br />
A graphics masterpiece in the<br />
Amiga and Atari ST formats,<br />
this Psvgnosis release takes full<br />
advantage of the 64*8 capabili<br />
ties. As a barbarian warrior<br />
seeking to destroy the evil Necron.<br />
you move through the<br />
underground world of Durgan.<br />
You'll find this game addic<br />
tive. The monsters are inter<br />
esting and the interface works<br />
well.<br />
In contrast to the worlds<br />
of fantasy and the worlds of<br />
the past, consider the world of<br />
hockey. Electronic Arts (1820<br />
Gateway Drive, San Mateo,<br />
California 94404; 415-571-<br />
7171) has released Powerplay<br />
Hockey ($24.95). which pits<br />
the United States against the<br />
Soviet Union. A fast-moving<br />
JUNE 9 8 9 53
arcade game, Powerplay com<br />
bines solid graphics with rea<br />
sonably accurate gameplay to<br />
produce a contest that's espe<br />
cially fun between two players.<br />
The problem is that hockey is<br />
one of the most difficult team<br />
sports to simulate properly,<br />
but EA has managed to cap<br />
ture a good part of the feeling<br />
of a game always on the verge<br />
of chaos.<br />
128 Only<br />
Here's some good news for<br />
Commodore 128 owners. If<br />
you bought your 128 under the<br />
impression that 128-specific<br />
software would be plentiful<br />
and quick to arrive, you've<br />
probably been quite disap<br />
pointed. One of the 128's ma<br />
jor selling points is its total<br />
compatibility with the 64, a<br />
point that's worked more<br />
against the 128 than for it: Be<br />
cause the 128 is also a 64, there<br />
is very little reason for publish<br />
ers to develop software tai<br />
lored specifically for the 128.<br />
Berkeley So'ftworks (2150<br />
Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley,<br />
California 94704; 415-644-<br />
0883) is one of the publishers<br />
that has made its packages<br />
available for the 128.<br />
GEOS128. geoCalc!28. geo-<br />
Fiiel28—all have been re<br />
leased for the machine, with<br />
considerable appreciation by<br />
128 users. Each program costs<br />
$69.95. Timeworks (444 Lake<br />
Cook Road. Decrficld. Illinois<br />
60015; 312-948-9200) is anoth<br />
er publisher with a strong line<br />
of 128-specific products, offer<br />
ing Word Writer 128 ($49.95).<br />
Sylvia Porter's 128 Personal<br />
Financial Planner ($49.95),<br />
and several other packages<br />
available in different versions<br />
for the 64 and 128. For many<br />
companies, though, the 128 is<br />
given only lip—or, in ihis case,<br />
boot—service. A few games<br />
autoboot on the 128, but other<br />
wise they are no different from<br />
the 64 versions.<br />
Some new packages add<br />
to the 128-specific category,<br />
though. Free Spirit Software<br />
(58 Noble Street, Kutztown,<br />
Pennsylvania 19530:215-683-<br />
5699) has recently released<br />
three titles, all exclusively de<br />
signed for the 128. in fact.<br />
54 C O M P U T E I<br />
COMPUTE!. „<br />
specific<br />
these packages go so far as to<br />
require not just a Commodore<br />
128. but a 128 with a mouse,<br />
the 64K video RAM chips,<br />
and an RGB monitor. In other<br />
words, you need a top-of-thcline<br />
128 or, better still, a USD.<br />
The 128D already has the vid<br />
eo chips in place, and many of<br />
these computers are sold with<br />
the 1084 monitor. All three<br />
programs support the 1750<br />
RAM expansion unit and the<br />
1581 3'/:-inch disk drive.<br />
Spectrum 128 ($39.95) is a<br />
paint program complete with<br />
an interlace option for those<br />
who own multisync monitors<br />
or high-persistence monitors.<br />
The package lets you draw and<br />
color several classes of<br />
shapes—boxes, circles, poly<br />
gons of various kinds, spheres,<br />
donuts. cylinders, and spools.<br />
You can adjust shading and<br />
lighting, and you can work<br />
with individual pixels. You<br />
can access 16 colors in high<br />
resolution and 128 colors in<br />
low resolution.<br />
Sketchpad 128 ($29.95) is<br />
a drawing program that uses<br />
the 128's video capabilities to<br />
let you draw smoothly curved<br />
objects. Rays, boxes, circles,<br />
arcs, and lines are available,<br />
and you can load Print Shop<br />
graphics directly. The Lock<br />
command is a strong feature<br />
lhat saves your picture to<br />
memory while you experiment<br />
with it and then lets you bring<br />
it back intact if you wish.<br />
News Maker 128 ($29.95)<br />
is an easy-to-use desktop pub<br />
lishing package designed for<br />
newsletters, signs, posters, and<br />
the like. The package includes<br />
almost 50 fonts and five preset<br />
page formats with different<br />
column layouts. Using pictures<br />
from Basic 8.0 or The Print<br />
Shop, along with text created<br />
on a notepad, you can pour<br />
words into columns and wrap<br />
ihem around graphics.<br />
Because the company sup<br />
ports the 128's superior capabil<br />
ities and because its programs<br />
aren't copy-protected. Free Spir<br />
it deserves commendation.<br />
But Berkeley Softworks<br />
isn't left out of this 128-specif<br />
ic discussion. Following close<br />
on the heels of version 2.0 of<br />
GEOS for the 64 comes ver<br />
sion 2.0 of GEOS 128. The<br />
same improvements found in<br />
the Commodore 64 upgrade<br />
have made their way to the<br />
128 version, geoWrite 2.1 and<br />
geoPaint are more powerful<br />
packages, with more impres<br />
sive features. GEOS now in<br />
cludes geoSpell for accuracy,<br />
geoMerge for mail-merging,<br />
gcoLaser for printing on an<br />
Apple LaserWriter, and Paint<br />
Drivers for converting nongraphics<br />
files into geoPaint<br />
format.<br />
In other words. Berkeley<br />
has answered the criticisms<br />
made by the host of GEOS<br />
users. Given the 128's <strong>80</strong>column<br />
mode and its larger<br />
memory, GEOS becomes a su<br />
perior product. The program's<br />
added support of the 1750<br />
RAM expansion unit and the<br />
1581 disk drive make GEOS<br />
128 a serious productivity pro<br />
gram. Even the problem of sys<br />
tem lockup, which some users<br />
have complained about with<br />
the original GEOS, seems to<br />
have largely disappeared.<br />
— Nell Randall<br />
School kids know this crimi<br />
nal. She's been followed by<br />
more children than the Pied<br />
Piper. Carmen Sandiego, infa<br />
mous star of Where in the<br />
World Is Carmen Sandiego?<br />
(as well as two sequels, Where<br />
in the U.S.A.... and Where in<br />
Europe... ), has been eluding<br />
students for years, all the while<br />
teaching them about geogra<br />
phy, history, and cultures. But<br />
now Broderbund's popular<br />
educational scries puts on a<br />
finer set of clothes for the Ap<br />
ple IIgs. A IlGS-specific Where<br />
in the World Is Carmen San<br />
diego? works like the original<br />
but looks so much better that<br />
it's a crime if you have to play<br />
the old version.<br />
The plot remains the<br />
same: Track down one of Car<br />
men's minions (or Carmen<br />
herself) by using clues scat<br />
tered around the globe. You<br />
search for evidence, decide<br />
where to investigate next, and<br />
jet from city to city in your<br />
pursuit of these pilferers of na<br />
tional treasures.<br />
Carmen's success has al<br />
ways depended on tricking<br />
children into thinking that<br />
they're having fun when actu<br />
ally they're learning about ge<br />
ography, culture, flags, and<br />
more as they practice using a<br />
reference book (Where in the<br />
World... puts the 1989 World<br />
Almanac in the box). The IIgs<br />
version of Where in the World<br />
Is Carmen Sandiego? retains<br />
this trait and adds terrific<br />
graphics, mouse support, and<br />
pull-down menus to make<br />
learning even more fun.<br />
Although the graphics are<br />
a peripheral part of gameplay<br />
(they simply illustrate your<br />
present location), their quality<br />
ups the ante in Apple educa<br />
tional software. More impor<br />
tant to the pursuit of Carmen<br />
and her gang, however, are the<br />
dossiers on disk and the pro<br />
gram's mouse support. The<br />
mouse makes menu selection<br />
simpler, and with the gang's<br />
files on disk, kids hardly need<br />
to crack open the documenta<br />
tion to pinpoint the guilty<br />
party.<br />
Where in the World Is<br />
Carmen Sandiego? retails for<br />
$44.95. For more information,<br />
contact Bredcrbund at 17 Paul<br />
Drive, San Rafael, California<br />
94903; (415) 492-3200.<br />
Dinosaurs in Town<br />
Kids and dinosaurs are nearly<br />
inseparable. Take a quick peek<br />
into most kids' rooms and<br />
you'll find at least one dino<br />
saur. Classrooms aren't im<br />
mune, either, posters and<br />
stickers of the terrible lizards<br />
are everywhere. <strong>Computer</strong><br />
software publishers haven't let<br />
this fascination of the little for<br />
the large go untapped. From<br />
Designasaurus to Dinosaurs<br />
Are Forever, educational soft<br />
ware packages have made
$2.99 Public Domain Software and Shareware* for IBM~and Compatibles, DOS'<br />
Programs and Utilities to meet all your computing needs.<br />
BUSINESS<br />
3 IICKIEX V4.2 (552) - Tick let/ calendar/<br />
office scheduler Hotd drive required..<br />
0 EZ-FOBMS R«v. D15 (66}. Menu-driven<br />
forms oenerator. misc. skeleton lorms 512 K<br />
□ FAST BUCKS V4.07 (S64 ft 865] - Menudriven<br />
home finance package. 2 drives<br />
D EXPRESSSRAPH VI.04 [457] - Business<br />
graphing program. CGA required<br />
D IN CONTROL V2.702 (17d&175)- (2 disk<br />
tel] The ultimate prospecl / client customer<br />
& activity trockina system Hard dri^e req.<br />
□ CATALIST V3.21 [163 & 164) - (2 disk setj<br />
The ultimate mailing list manager. Also<br />
handles Canadian. U.K., ft European addresses.N#n'.<br />
Hard drive required<br />
n BUSINESS IETTEBS (303 & 304] - (2 disk<br />
set) 660 business lettets to (if all vour needs.<br />
Edit with anv word processor.<br />
0 EASYPB0JECTV3.1 (440] -A Complete<br />
project management system. 1000 tasks.<br />
100 sub-tasks. S much more. 3<strong>80</strong>K.N#tv.<br />
0 ftENIALS V2.04 (585) - Menu-driven.<br />
does credits, debits, reports, handles up<br />
to 9604 rental units. 2 drives req<br />
3 PCLOAN4 V4.07 (799] - Does loan cal<br />
culations ft amortization schedules; olmost<br />
any type of loan. Superl<br />
D MANAGING PEOPLE (643] . Manage<br />
ment course for supervisors.<br />
3 PAINLESS ACCOUNTING VC2.50 (774-<br />
776]- (3 disk set) An integrated G/L. A/R.<br />
A/P menu-driven accounting package.<br />
512K. hard drive required.<br />
D O/UWB.A/P. P/R (76) -Stand alone mod<br />
ules from Jerry Medlin. Excellent!<br />
□ PFBOI V2.4c |B7) - Complete portfolio<br />
manager.<br />
O BIUPOWER PLUS V4.1 (794 ft 795] ■ (2 disk<br />
set] State ol the or! time/billing/ bookkeep<br />
ing program. 340K. hard drive required.<br />
COMMUNITIONS<br />
O OMODEM V3.1A [293 S 294) - |2 disk set)<br />
Full featured modem program. Nmw,<br />
DRBBS BULLETIN BOARD V17.1A [613-616]<br />
- (d disk set) Turn your computer into a RBBS.<br />
Industry standard Hard drive req.<br />
3 PROCOMM V2.42 [53 ft 54) - [2 disk set]<br />
Menu-driven modem program; still one of<br />
the best.<br />
DATABASE<br />
3 INSTANT RECAIL V1.64F (515)- Memory<br />
resident free-form database<br />
3 FILE EXPRESS V4.28 (33 4 34) - (2 disk set)<br />
Menu-driven database; report generator,<br />
many features. One of the best database<br />
programs on the market! 2 drives Nmw.<br />
O WAMPUM V3.3S" (37) - Menu-driven<br />
dBase III clone. Knowledge of dBase sug<br />
ared. Hard drive required. Nmw.<br />
EDUCATION<br />
3 PC-FASTYPE V3.01 (120)- Improve your<br />
touch typing skills. CGA required.<br />
I<br />
3 PIANOMAN V4.00 (4 & 5| - (2 disk set)<br />
Turn your PC into a piano, create & edit<br />
music. {PC-DOS.)<br />
3 THE WORLD V2.9 * WEADATA V2.0 (127) -<br />
Displav maps of the world. CGA, EGA.<br />
a DOS TUTORIAL V4.4 (256)- Menu-driven<br />
tutorial that teaches DOS commands, etc<br />
O FUNNELS & BUCKETS V2.0 (130) - Learn<br />
ing game; add, subtract, etc. Ages 6-10.<br />
3 PLAY -H LEARN V2.01 (624) ■ Contains 7<br />
games designed for kids up to 6 years old.<br />
CGA required.<br />
D SPANISH TEACHER V1.2 (121] -Menu driv<br />
en language tutorial. Basic required.<br />
3 ALGEBRA TUTOR (577) - Teaches various<br />
operations ol algebra. CGA , DOS Ver 3 xx<br />
3 BALLOON SPELLER (<strong>80</strong>9) - 3 different<br />
types ol spelling gomes<br />
3 DIGITAL BASEBALL VI.1 (344| - Pick your<br />
team and players. Nice graphics .CGA req.<br />
3 BLACKJACK GAMES Vl.l (95) - 3 ad<br />
vanced blackjack games, multiple players/<br />
setup.<br />
3 GAMES OF SKILL (100] ■ Contains pool,<br />
bowling. & backgammon. CGA required<br />
3 MONOPOLY V6.7 (106) -Just like the<br />
board game. 21o 4 players. CGA req.<br />
3 SAILING IN THE BERMUDA TRIANOLE (757]<br />
- Try and rescue the survivors and moke it to<br />
port. CGA required.<br />
3 SUPER PINBALL (212] - 5 different<br />
games. CGA required.<br />
3 SLUETH (89] - A who ■ dun ■ it - mystery<br />
gome similar to 'Clue'.<br />
Please print disk numbers<br />
□ 3-0 CHESS V1.0I [215] ■ Excellent chess<br />
game. Switch between 2-D ft 3-D.<br />
3 EQA-1REK V1.0 (677] - Star-Trek with super<br />
graphics EGA required.<br />
3 CAPTAIN COMIC V3.0 (755] - Arcade<br />
style odventure gome with super graphics.<br />
EGA required.<br />
3 PC-PRO-GOLF V4.0 [667} - 16 hole golf<br />
course with nice graphics. CGA required.<br />
GRAPHICS<br />
3 VGA PAINT Vl.l (S06) - A graphics<br />
drawing program, 246 colors at once! VGA<br />
& mouse required.<br />
3 PC DRAFT II V3.20 [629)-A pointing/<br />
drafting program uselul lor producing clipart<br />
for desktop publishing. CGA required.<br />
3 PRINTMASTER GRAPHICS (319. 549 &<br />
550) • (3 disk set) Over 440 misc. graphics<br />
for Print master/Plus. Requires Printmaster or<br />
Plus. For Prlntihop Graphics- Ord*r disks #<br />
320. 589, 590 respectively.<br />
3 PC-KEY-DRAW V3.53 (748-751] - [4 disk<br />
set) Combines features ol a CAD & paint<br />
program lor power/flexibility. Includes a lull<br />
graphic database HYPERDRAW. CGA . hard<br />
drive required. Nmw<br />
3 IMAGE 3-D V2.6 (676)-3-D wire frame<br />
modeling CAD. 512K, CGA, 2drives req.<br />
3 CHARTS UNLIMITED (812) - Integrates<br />
graphics & text into one system; flowcharts,<br />
organizational charts, floorplans. electrical<br />
diagrams. Gaont charts, etc. 256k. CGA.<br />
3 MEAL MASTER Y5.22S(120)- Manage your<br />
recipes.<br />
3 HUMOROUS DOS TRICKS [236) - Various<br />
tricks 1o play on your friends. A must for any<br />
joker.. CGA required<br />
3 CROSSWORD CREATOR V3.30 (422) - De<br />
sign, solve & print professional looking<br />
puzzles. 256k required.<br />
3 PC LOTTO V2.2 [651) - Playalmost any lot<br />
to in the world.<br />
3 THE DIET DISK (566)- How to lose thoto<br />
unwanted lbs.<br />
3 FAMILY TIES V1.17(154]- Complete gen-<br />
eology system.<br />
3 HOME INSURANCE V3.01 (626) - Home in<br />
ventory ft record keeping system.<br />
3 THE ONLINE BIBLE (B47 ■ 855] - (9 disk set]<br />
-The complete King James Bible with sea<br />
rch 8t look-up capability Hard drive req.<br />
3 FOR FILMS & VIDEO TAPES VI. 10 (621)-<br />
Catalog all your films ft video tapes. 256K. 2<br />
drives required.<br />
3 THE NUTRITIONIST V3.0 (670) Food evalua<br />
tion for nutritional content.<br />
PRINTER UTILITIES<br />
3 ON-SIDE V1.01 (560)- A sideways print<br />
ing program with multiple fonts, up to 175.<br />
3 LQ V2.32 [509] ■ Produces hign quality text<br />
on dot matrix printers. Multiple fonts, print<br />
spooler<br />
3 LASERJET FONTS/1 [765 & 766)- [2 disk set)<br />
Fonts include: Century Schoolbook. Gara-<br />
mond. Optima & [?oman*Times. HP LJ+ot II.<br />
3 LASERJET UTILS/3 (759) - Various utilities<br />
including one that allows true Epson emula<br />
tion on your Laserjetl HP LJ+ or II.<br />
3 LOTUS LEARNING SYSTEM V2.4 (769 ft 770)<br />
- (2 disk set) Explanations, illustrations. &<br />
practice sessions. Tutor Does NOT require<br />
Lotus. 512K. 2 drives required.<br />
3 QUBECALC V3.02(591] -A 3-D spread<br />
sheet program, import Lotus files,.<br />
3 AS EASY AS V3.01F (302) - Lotus clone. 52<br />
column sheet, graphing, supports functions<br />
of 123.<br />
UTILITIES<br />
3 ALT VI.16* (581 & 582 ] ■ (2 disk sef) Com<br />
bines (unctions ol Sidekick. Superkey, Nor<br />
ton, ft Software Carousel.<br />
3 GAME UTILITIES [220] - Great for most programs<br />
that need color |CGA) to fun.<br />
3 DOS HELP (255)- Help screens lor DOS<br />
commands.<br />
2.1 or higher. ONLY $2*99<br />
per Disk!<br />
3 PC-DESKTEAM V2.01 (276) - Sidekick like<br />
utility plus more feature*.<br />
3 AUTOMENU V4.W [260)- Excellent menu<br />
progrom lor your hard drive. Password pro<br />
tection 8. more<br />
a FLU-SHOT PLUS V1.4 [541)- Various pro<br />
grams to prolecl against "trojan horses' 8;<br />
the "virus-. A MUST FOR ALL III<br />
3 LIST V6.2A (274) - Best utility for viewing<br />
documentation, A MUST for all.<br />
3 WINDOW BOSS V8.15.8i (782 & 763)- (2<br />
disk set) Powerful programming techniques<br />
Hard drive required.<br />
■ of 5.25" disks 5 S2.99 Each. H of 3.5" media 3 $3.99 Each. = Calif. Res. Sales Tax 16.5%)=. Shipping & Handling =<br />
3 CATDISK V3.71 |237) - Inventory system<br />
for floppy disks.<br />
WORD PROCESSING<br />
3 GALAXY V2.42 |11) - Eosyto use word<br />
processor; menus & quick commands.<br />
3 PC-WRITE V3.02 [784-786] - (3 disk set]<br />
Full feotured word processor; all the fea<br />
tures of the expensive ones. Nmw.<br />
3 IDEA TREE |947; - Personal information<br />
manager/though! processor; see thoughts<br />
& Ideas in a free structure. 256K. 2 drive*.<br />
3 NEW YORK EDIT V2.10 (&60) - A powerful<br />
programmer s text editor.<br />
3 WORDPERFECT MACROS FOR V5.0 (189]<br />
Contains over 60 macros,<br />
NEW PROGRAMS<br />
3 WORDPERFECT LEARNING SYSTEM (&66 ft<br />
667) - [2 disk set) A lulorlal for learning how<br />
to use WordPerfect Ver. 5.0 Ord»r diik<br />
#868 4 869 for Wo-dport.c! VoM 2 513K.<br />
3 MR- MILWAUKEE V2.04 [932)- Over <strong>80</strong>0<br />
drink recipes, adjust serving sizes, etc. Hard<br />
drive required.<br />
3 PC-DRAFT-CAD VI.01 (938) - Complete<br />
CAD program with 'ots of features. 384K. 2<br />
drives required.<br />
3 PC-JIGSAW VI.00 (939| - Displays a pic<br />
ture, scrambles it like a jigsaw puzzle, you<br />
put it back together. 3 levels of play. Nice.<br />
3 BASS TOUR VI.0 (952) - A graphic bats<br />
fishing tournament game. Select your rod.<br />
reel, lure, etc. 6 different lakes. 3 levels of<br />
play. Superl 512K. EGA required.<br />
3 MAXI-READ V2.B [878) - Improve your<br />
speaking 8 writing Skills.<br />
3 IASK MASTER V2.0 I960) - All purpose pro<br />
ject tracking system<br />
3 GRAB PLUS V5.2 (951) - A memory -<br />
resident program tnat will grab names/<br />
addresses from your word processor & send<br />
them to your printer; lor envelope printing.<br />
3 BUSINESS CONTACTS MANAGER VI.10<br />
(960 8; 961] - (2 disk set] Business contacts<br />
manager that tracks everything. Hard drive .<br />
□ SCHOOL MOM VI.2 [137] ■ Educational<br />
lool for ages 4-14. Molh. Art, Music ft<br />
Spelling. 4 levels of difficulty for each por<br />
tion. Superl Joystick for portions CGA req.<br />
ORDER TOLL FREE!<br />
1 (<strong>80</strong>0) 359-2189<br />
I Canada Add S2.00 mare for S/H. International Orders Add S7.00 more for S/H. Call for Disclaimer Information. Prices subject to change. This ad supercedes all prior<br />
We Accept M C Visa |Please circle creditcard used.! Card # Exp. Date Signature<br />
I Payment ip U.S. fund* ONLY II<br />
Mail order form with check or money order to:<br />
I CALIFORNIA FREEWARE<br />
1466 Springllne Dr. Dept. X<br />
Palmdale. CA 93550<br />
COMPUTE" 6/89<br />
• Shareware programs require seperale<br />
payments to authors if found useful<br />
Order Desk: 7 am ■ 7 pm PST<br />
Customer Service: 11 am • 4 pm PST<br />
Monday - Friday<br />
(<strong>80</strong>3) 273 ■ 0300<br />
Call (or FREE caialog !<br />
Over 900 disks of quality software.<br />
Address<br />
City<br />
Phone( )<br />
St Zip_<br />
"I<br />
I
stegosaurs, brontosaurs, and<br />
tyrannosaur rexes major moni<br />
tor stars.<br />
A new entry in the elec<br />
tronic dinosaur category is an<br />
entertaining and educational<br />
program called Return ofthe<br />
Dinosaurs (American Educa<br />
tional <strong>Computer</strong>. 7506 North<br />
Broadway Extension, Suite<br />
505. Oklahoma City, Oklaho<br />
ma 73116; <strong>80</strong>0-222-2811:<br />
$39.95).<br />
Your friend, Professor T.<br />
Rex, has invented a time<br />
transporter, but the machine<br />
has malfunctioned. To save<br />
your hometown, you must<br />
identify and collect the dino<br />
saur that's slipped through a<br />
crack in time. In a process<br />
that's reminiscent of the Car<br />
men Sandiego series, you track<br />
down clues by going from<br />
place to place and by talking<br />
with the townspeople who<br />
have seen the beast. You move<br />
through four separate screens,<br />
combing Main Street, the Mu<br />
seum Park, the Museum itself,<br />
and the nearby countryside as<br />
you hunt for your next infor<br />
mant. With $60 in your pock<br />
et, you head out to converse<br />
with Sergeant Prime Evil in<br />
the police station: talk to Di<br />
nah, the rural mail carrier; and<br />
even gab with Auntie Sedcnt.<br />
The clock is licking, though,<br />
and you've got to find the di<br />
nosaur and zip it back in time<br />
by the end of the week. You<br />
can walk from place to place<br />
or. to save time, spend money<br />
and take a taxi or bus.<br />
Press Control-N to call<br />
up your notebook; then enter<br />
the clues you've uncovered.<br />
How large is the dinosaur?<br />
What does it eat? Does it walk<br />
on four legs or two? When<br />
you've gathered a few clues,<br />
you can use the Dinofile, a<br />
database of 70 dinosaurs, to<br />
determine the dinosaur's exact<br />
name, the period in which it<br />
belongs (so you can return it),<br />
and where it lived. The Dino<br />
file is the heart of the package,<br />
for it's there that children learn<br />
how to access a computerized<br />
database and extract infor<br />
mation from it.<br />
Return ofthe Dinosaurs<br />
offers passable graphics and<br />
meager sound so that it can<br />
run on the lowest-cornmondenominator<br />
Apple II sys<br />
tem—a 128K lie or He (and an<br />
Apple IlGS in He mode).<br />
Sound and graphics are good<br />
56 COMPUTE<br />
COMPUTE!..<br />
specific<br />
enough to hold a kid's interest,<br />
though. One plus is that the<br />
package contains both 5Vi-inch<br />
and 3'/2-inch disks.<br />
Using dinosaurs as its<br />
bait. Return ofthe Dinosaurs<br />
makes kids think through a<br />
problem; by showing children<br />
how to use a database, the pro<br />
gram helps them find the facts<br />
to solve that problem. Return<br />
ofthe Dinosaurs doesn't have a<br />
computer publishing jugger<br />
naut's advertising budget be<br />
hind it, but it deserves a look<br />
by teachers and parents.<br />
Up and Down<br />
Although Apple II sales during<br />
the 1988 Christmas season—<br />
typically the time of year when<br />
Apple pushes computers hard<br />
est at consumers—were off<br />
nearly 50 percent from 1987.<br />
software sales last winter were<br />
up significantly.<br />
Figures released by the<br />
Software Publishers Associa<br />
tion, a collection of 440 lead<br />
ing software publishers, show<br />
that Apple II software sales<br />
were up nearly 20 percent dur<br />
ing the last three months of<br />
1988 when compared to the<br />
same period in 1987. Leading<br />
the increase were sales in the<br />
desktop publishing category,<br />
up almost 130 percent. Print<br />
It!, from Timeworks: Spring<br />
board Publisher, from Spring<br />
board Publishing; and geo-<br />
Publish, from Berkeley Softworks,<br />
are the front runners in<br />
the category.<br />
Not far behind was the in<br />
tegrated software category,<br />
which increased by 102 per<br />
cent. The release of Claris's<br />
AppleWorks GSduring the<br />
quarter undoubtedly played a<br />
major role in the sales jump,<br />
since the category only grew by<br />
5 percent for all of 1988.<br />
AppleWorks GS's release may<br />
also have affected word pro<br />
cessor sales, which dropped by<br />
9 percent—AppleWorks GS's<br />
word processing module is ar<br />
guably its strongest feature.<br />
Educational software<br />
went up 17 percent, while<br />
game programs crept up only 4<br />
percent. The big losers were<br />
graphics packages; that catego<br />
ry dove 25 percent.<br />
For all of 1988. however.<br />
Apple II software sales were<br />
flat, crawling up only 4 percent<br />
(in fact, when inflation is taken<br />
into account, Apple II software<br />
sales probably declined slight<br />
ly). Yet Apple II owners can<br />
lake comfort in the fact that<br />
ihings are worse for someone<br />
else: Commodore 64 software<br />
sales grew by only 0.8 percent<br />
during the year.<br />
Micro Fun<br />
Home computer users are al<br />
ways on the lookout for good<br />
software at bargain prices.<br />
When you're spending your<br />
own money on Apple II soft<br />
ware, you want the most for<br />
your dollar.<br />
One source of inexpensive<br />
but still worthwhile education<br />
al software is Scholastic Soft<br />
ware, the publisher of a unique<br />
series of disks called Microzine<br />
and Microzine Jr. Long a sta<br />
ple in many classrooms,<br />
Microzine and Microzine Jr.<br />
make the transition to the<br />
home with ease. If you have<br />
kids and an Apple II computer<br />
in your house, check these out.<br />
Microzine is aimed at kids<br />
ages 9 and up. while the newer<br />
Microzine Jr. 's audience is<br />
children ages 6 to 9. Each issue<br />
of Microzine and Microzine Jr.<br />
includes four programs, either<br />
on two 5'/i-inch disks or on<br />
one 3'/;-inch disk. A booklet<br />
offers instructions and tips as<br />
well as program-related activi<br />
ties teachers and parents can<br />
do with their kids.<br />
One recent issue of Micro<br />
zine. for instance, included a<br />
certificate creator, a delightful<br />
(and fast-paced) math game<br />
based on percentages, a visualdiscrimination<br />
program much<br />
like those what's-wrong-withthis-picture<br />
pages in children's<br />
magazines, and a graphics ad<br />
venture story in the Twistaplot<br />
scries. A sample Microzine Jr.<br />
issue offered a mask maker, a<br />
Twistaplot adventure where<br />
kids take on the identity of<br />
various African animals, a ro<br />
bot simulation that mimics<br />
the game twenty questions,<br />
and a graphics screen where<br />
children locate inappropriate<br />
objects.<br />
Both Microzine and<br />
Microzine Jr. use a menu sys<br />
tem to select programs and the<br />
issue's other features, which<br />
range from Letters to the Edi<br />
tor to disk-formatting selec<br />
tions. The menu, while help<br />
ful, isn't the slickest around.<br />
For instance, you have to use<br />
the arrow keys to move the<br />
pointer, even if you have a<br />
mouse.<br />
The proof is in the pro<br />
grams, though, and, on that<br />
count. Microzine and Micro<br />
zine Jr. are definitely a par<br />
ent's good buy.<br />
Home versions of Micro<br />
zine and Microzine Jr. run<br />
$32.95 an issue (five issues are<br />
produced in a school year). To<br />
find out the current price of a<br />
year's subscription, contact<br />
Scholastic at 2931 East<br />
McCarty, P.O. Box 7502. Jef<br />
ferson City, Missouri 65102;<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0)541-5513.<br />
— Gregg Keizer<br />
Who would have thought that<br />
Commodore Business Ma<br />
chines would ever become the<br />
darling of Wall Street? Well,<br />
that's what's happening, as an<br />
alysis scramble to explain the<br />
company's recent financial<br />
success. Earnings for 1988<br />
were up 74 percent over 1987.<br />
sending the price of Commo<br />
dore stock to a four-year high<br />
that even beat Apple's current<br />
stock price. Sales of Amigas<br />
and Amiga peripherals ac<br />
counted for about 40 percent<br />
of the profits, and Commo<br />
dore's PC-compatible line<br />
brought in about 20 percent of<br />
the bacon. The rest was mainly<br />
from the Commodore 64 and<br />
128. which, despite their aging<br />
technology, show no sign of<br />
imminent demise because of
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their immense software base.<br />
The company has broadened<br />
its dealer base to 1500, about<br />
twice as many dealers as last<br />
year. And a new president,<br />
Mchdi Ali, has taken Ihe reins,<br />
although Irving Gould re<br />
mains chairman and undoubt<br />
edly still wields the real power.<br />
While a number of market<br />
analysts have been recommend<br />
ing Commodore stock as underpriced,<br />
many others arc still<br />
struggling to catch up with the<br />
new Commodore image.<br />
Three years ago Commodore<br />
was nearly in receivership,<br />
with its creditors operating the<br />
company by proxy. Some illinformed<br />
Wall Strceters appar<br />
ently have Commodore<br />
pegged as a toy manufacturer,<br />
probably confusing it with<br />
Coleco. As a reader of this col<br />
umn, you have a definite ad<br />
vantage over these market<br />
pros, since you know Commo<br />
dore for what it really is. If you<br />
like to play the stock market,<br />
now might be a good time to<br />
give Commodore a hard look.<br />
So what is Commodore<br />
going to do with its newfound<br />
wealth? Among the things I'd<br />
like to see is a complete over<br />
haul of AmigaDOS, Intuition,<br />
and the Workbench look and<br />
feel. It's not enough to have<br />
the only multitasking operat<br />
ing system—the Amiga operat<br />
ing system should be internally<br />
consislent, carefully detailed,<br />
easy to access and program, at<br />
tractive to look at, and above<br />
all. bulletproof. Operatingsystem<br />
redesign, more than<br />
new hardware or new market<br />
ing efforts, will convince cor<br />
porate buyers that the Amiga<br />
is a serious computer. Better<br />
quality control on Commo<br />
dore products and a respon<br />
sive customer-service operalion<br />
would go far in that<br />
direction also.<br />
Register your own opin<br />
ion by contacting Commodore<br />
Business Machines, 1200 Wil<br />
son Drive, West Chester,<br />
Pennsylvania 193<strong>80</strong>; (215)<br />
431-9100.<br />
Dateline: AmiEXPO<br />
The New York AmiEXPO<br />
show (March 3-5) looked like<br />
the biggest Amiga-only show<br />
58 COMPUTE!<br />
COMPUTE!,<br />
specific<br />
ever held in the United States.<br />
Attendance was larger than ex<br />
pected, the hubbub was deaf<br />
ening, and the place was so<br />
crowded that it was hard to<br />
squeeze from one aisle to the<br />
next.<br />
And this was without any<br />
visible suppon from Commo<br />
dore or many of the other ma<br />
jor players in the Amiga<br />
market—Commodore didn't<br />
even have a booth. Gale Wel<br />
lington, Commodore's Gener<br />
al Manager for Worldwide<br />
Software and Product Support.<br />
said in her keynote address<br />
thai this was because there<br />
were too many conflicting<br />
shows before and after<br />
AmiEXPO. But the rumor is<br />
that Commodore has an un<br />
specified grudge against the<br />
AmiEXPO organizers.<br />
Video professionals were<br />
hobnobbing with artificial-<br />
intelligence mavens, per<br />
formance artists with regional<br />
sales reps, while roving gangs<br />
of teens—hapless dads in<br />
tow—were blitzing every game<br />
on display, especially Space<br />
Harrier. Excitement over the<br />
Amiga's creative capabilities<br />
was palpable everywhere.<br />
Crowds gathered around the<br />
latest killer demos, such as<br />
Chris Williamson's Walker<br />
Demo II, NcwTek's sciencefiction<br />
demo reel, and Glen<br />
Graham's glistening Sculpt-<br />
Animate 4D dragon.<br />
Amiga hard drives,<br />
scarcely to be seen at last year's<br />
New York AmiEXPO. were in<br />
evidence all over the floor.<br />
Great Valley Products (225<br />
Plank Road, Paoli, Pennsylva<br />
nia 19301; 215-889-9411)<br />
showed a complete line of ex<br />
ternal and internal drives, in<br />
cluding a 44-megabytc SCSI<br />
removable media drive ($1,299<br />
for drive, and $139 for the<br />
storage media), a first for the<br />
Amiga. Interactive Video Sys<br />
tems (15201 Santa Gertrude<br />
Avenue, Y102, La Mirada,<br />
California 90638;714-994-<br />
4443) also displayed a range of<br />
fasl, autobooting controllers<br />
and hardcards for the A2000/<br />
A25OO. The IVS cards looked<br />
especially sturdy and cleanly<br />
designed.<br />
New genlocks were popu<br />
lar, loo. The trend is toward<br />
pro-quality genlocks that inte<br />
grate into supcrformal sys<br />
tems. Communications Spec<br />
ialties (89A Cabot Court,<br />
Hauppauge, New York 11788;<br />
516-273-0404) showed its<br />
Gen/One ($895), a profession<br />
al genlock/keyer/encoder<br />
that's both NTSC and Super-<br />
VHS compatible. The Scanlock<br />
Model VSL-I (VidTcch<br />
International, 2822 NW 79lh<br />
Avenue, Miami, Florida 33122;<br />
305-477-2228; $995) is similar<br />
ly capable, with the addition of<br />
front sliders for fade control. It<br />
also comes in a PAL version<br />
($1,095), compatible with Eu<br />
ropean video standards.<br />
There was plenty of new<br />
software to be seen and tested.<br />
Haitex Resources (208 Carrollton<br />
Park. Suite 1207, Carrollton,<br />
Texas 75006; 214-241-<br />
<strong>80</strong>30) showed Adnim ($79.95),<br />
a nice drum machine capable<br />
of loading up to 26 sound sam<br />
ples. Another music program.<br />
M (Intelligent Music, 116<br />
North Lake Avenue, Albany,<br />
New York 12206; 518-434-<br />
4110; $200), is a full-featured,<br />
realtime MIDI sequencer with<br />
an unusually powerful pattern<br />
editor. M looks to be one of<br />
the holiest Amiga music pro<br />
grams of 1989.<br />
Ifyou looked around,you<br />
could also find new business<br />
software. Projeci Master, from<br />
Brown-Wagh (16795 Lark Av<br />
enue. Suite 210. Los Gatos,<br />
California 95030; 408-395-<br />
3838; $ 195), is a well-thoughtout<br />
and easy-to-use graphical<br />
project-planning tool. You de<br />
fine the various tasks and goals<br />
of your project, name your re<br />
sources, and eslimate how<br />
much money and time each<br />
lask will take. Then Project<br />
Master graphs the best way to<br />
organize the project and pro<br />
vides complete time, resource.<br />
and cost breakdowns at each<br />
stage. A program like this can<br />
be usefully applied to any<br />
complicated job, like writing a<br />
large software program, pro<br />
ducing a film, or managing a<br />
production run on the shop<br />
floor.<br />
A Lot of Elan<br />
The besl new graphics pro<br />
gram at AmiEXPO was Elan<br />
Performer, from Elan Design<br />
(P.O. Box 31725, San Francis<br />
co, California 94131; 415-621-<br />
8673; $59). Elan Performer is a<br />
utility program that displays<br />
all kinds of Amiga graphics, in<br />
cluding IFF, HAM, RGB, AN-<br />
IMs, and RIFF animation<br />
files. A program like this really<br />
comes in handy when you<br />
have many different kinds of<br />
images to show, but you don't<br />
want to carry around the appli<br />
cation programs used to create<br />
the graphics. Assign picture or<br />
animation files to keys on the<br />
keyboard by clicking a simple<br />
keyboard diagram; to play the<br />
slide show, press the chosen<br />
keys. The show also can be<br />
automated. ANIMs can be<br />
played forward and backward<br />
at various speeds by moving<br />
the mouse. Elan Performer al<br />
ways keeps your memory as<br />
full of graphics as possible, so<br />
disk access during a show is<br />
held to a minimum.<br />
Elan Performer offers<br />
basic animation capabilities as<br />
well. You can sequence images<br />
and use the program to com<br />
pile them into an ANIM or<br />
RIFF animation. Elan Per<br />
former even tells you which<br />
animation file format pro<br />
duces the smallest file, and<br />
then it lets you choose the best<br />
format. Use the control screen<br />
to synchronize your show with<br />
music or other events. The<br />
screen gives you precise con<br />
trol over liming, duration, and<br />
looping of each image. Elan<br />
Performer is one program that<br />
every Amiga artist should own.<br />
— Steven Anzovin<br />
Next time you're in the grocery<br />
store, check the produce sec<br />
tion—you may find Macin<br />
tosh and Apple II computers
nestled among the fruits and<br />
vegetables. Apple has joined<br />
with grocery chains around the<br />
country to offer computers in<br />
exchange for cash-register<br />
receipts.<br />
By January, the program<br />
had attracted 504 grocery<br />
stores and about 7000 schools.<br />
Students collect as many re<br />
ceipts as possible in a 26-week<br />
period and trade them for Ap<br />
ple components. To get an<br />
ImageWriter. for instance,<br />
schools need $65,000 worth of<br />
receipts. To get a Macintosh<br />
Pius, they need $! 85,000 worth.<br />
Participating supermarket<br />
chains are located all over the<br />
country, from Michigan to Flor<br />
ida, from Nevada to Virginia.<br />
The giveaway is John<br />
Connelly's idea. His company,<br />
J. Edward Connelly Asso<br />
ciates, develops incentive mar<br />
keting campaigns. Connelly<br />
buys the computers from Ap<br />
ple at a discount and then sells<br />
them to the supermarkets. The<br />
supermarkets expect boosted<br />
business as a result of their<br />
participation. Some have re<br />
ported sales increases of as<br />
much as 10 percent.<br />
If you're interested in<br />
starting an Apples-for-the-<br />
Student movement in your<br />
community, join forces with a<br />
supermarket chain that serves<br />
your area and contact Peter<br />
Jarvis or George Pittei at Ser<br />
vice Marketing Group. 300<br />
Garden City Plaza, Garden<br />
City, New York II530; (516)<br />
747-7111.<br />
Magic Lessons<br />
Programming may not be the<br />
most popular activity among<br />
Macintosh owners, but its<br />
magic is strangely compelling<br />
to thousands. Creating just the<br />
right spells and incantations<br />
can be difficult, though, so Sy<br />
mantec has released a package<br />
for the programmer's appren<br />
tice in all of us.<br />
Just Enough Pascal ($75)<br />
is a Pascal programming tuto<br />
rial that works with THINK's<br />
Lightspeed Pascal, from Sy<br />
mantec. By showing you how<br />
to build a program step by<br />
step, JEP teaches you about<br />
programming logic. Pascal<br />
commands, Macintosh-specific<br />
COMPUTE!<br />
specific<br />
routines, and Lightspeedspecific<br />
debugging. You may<br />
open JEP as a novice, but<br />
you'll close it knowing enough<br />
to write your own applications.<br />
The tutorials are stored in<br />
a desk accessory. Choose JEP<br />
Instructions from the Apple<br />
menu and you'll find a hyper<br />
media system with buttons for<br />
program assembly instruc<br />
tions. Other buttons take you<br />
to explanations of concepts<br />
and tinkering sessions for ex<br />
perimenting with the code.<br />
Just Enough Pascal is a<br />
terrific teacher. If you have a<br />
little programming back<br />
ground, you'll be surprised at<br />
how well the lessons explain<br />
tough concepts. Each variable<br />
type, each function, each pro<br />
gram unit is explained carefully<br />
with detailed, practical exam<br />
ples. If you have no program<br />
ming experience, you'll never<br />
know how hard it can be to<br />
grasp some of the necessary<br />
information, because Syman<br />
tec's program makes it fairly<br />
easy.<br />
Although Just Enough<br />
Pascal is specific to THINK's<br />
Lightspccd Pascal, that's not a<br />
real drawback. Lightspeed is a<br />
particularly good Pascal com<br />
piler with excellent debugging<br />
tools.<br />
Nothing makes program<br />
ming a snap except a perfectly<br />
logical mind. For most of us,<br />
only practice and experiments<br />
will improve our skills. So<br />
don't be surprised if the infor<br />
mation in Just Enough Pascal<br />
isn't instantly transparent—<br />
that's simply not the nature of<br />
programming. If you want to<br />
learn the magic of the Mac,<br />
though, you can get a good<br />
start with Symantec's package.<br />
Contact Symantec at 135<br />
South Road. Bedford. Massa<br />
chusetts 01730; (617) 274-4<strong>80</strong>0.<br />
Holy Writ<br />
If you don't have The Macin<br />
tosh Bible, get it. The book<br />
gathers together a wealth of<br />
information about the Mac:<br />
tips, ideas, hints, and minireviews<br />
that help you choose<br />
new products and make better<br />
use of old ones.<br />
Not a book to be read<br />
straight through, The Macin<br />
tosh Bible, Second Edition is<br />
best used as a reference when<br />
you think there must be a bet<br />
ter way to do something. It's<br />
organized by topic—Fonts,<br />
Page Layout, Utility Programs,<br />
and so on. If you're wondering<br />
whether there's a way to close<br />
all open windows at once, for<br />
example, look in the "Tips<br />
about Windows" section in the<br />
"Basic System Software" chap<br />
ter. Sure enough, it's there:<br />
Jusl hold down the Option key<br />
as you click in the close box of<br />
an active window tc close all<br />
other windows, too.<br />
Ifyou'reanold hand at<br />
the Macintosh, you may find<br />
the book too elementary at<br />
first glance. It is, however, one<br />
of the few places you can find<br />
all this information under one<br />
cover. You'd have to search<br />
bulletin boards, join user<br />
groups, peruse CompuServe,<br />
and subscribe to most of the<br />
Macintosh magazines to repro<br />
duce the work that Arthur Naiman<br />
and his crew have done in<br />
The Macintosh Bible.<br />
The Macintosh Bible<br />
($28) is published by Gold<br />
stein and Blair, Box 7635,<br />
Berkeley, California 94707;<br />
(415) 524-4000. The price in<br />
cludes two free upgrades to<br />
keep you up-lo-date with im<br />
portant changes in the Mac<br />
world.<br />
Or Not to Upgrade<br />
When is an upgrade not an up<br />
grade? When you don't need it.<br />
Apple has described the<br />
latest upgrade to HyperCard<br />
(version 1.2.2) as a mainte<br />
nance release, and many of its<br />
new features won't apply to<br />
home users. Version 1.2.2 of<br />
fers improved display and<br />
printing of Japanese, Arabic,<br />
and other characters, for in<br />
stance, and provides CD-ROM<br />
drive support for international<br />
users and A/UX compatibility.<br />
Doesn't sound too inter<br />
esting, but surely some home<br />
users could use these new<br />
offerings.<br />
HyperCard 1.2.2 docs fix<br />
some minor bugs from earlier<br />
versions, and the new version<br />
also has improved sound capa<br />
bilities. Of particular interest<br />
to you may be its improved<br />
operation in low-memory situ<br />
ations. If you have a onemegabyte<br />
Mac, HyperCard<br />
1.2.2 is a good upgrade for<br />
you.<br />
Apple calls this version an<br />
optional update, and U.S. cus<br />
tomers aren't required to up<br />
grade. If you're interested, the<br />
update is available from all<br />
registered Apple dealers.<br />
Under the Apple<br />
When they're stored as desk<br />
accessories, applications take<br />
on a new character. Word pro<br />
cessors under the Apple menu<br />
become handy scratch pads<br />
with text-manipulation capa<br />
bilities. Databases under the<br />
Apple become easy-access<br />
fountains of information. Gen<br />
erally, desk accessories aren't<br />
as feature-packed a;; stand<br />
alone programs in the same<br />
genre, but they offer enough<br />
for people who have only an<br />
occasional need for the<br />
application.<br />
Preferred Publishers has<br />
released two such packages:<br />
DAtabase and Vantage. DAtabase<br />
h as good an informa<br />
tion manager as most of us<br />
need. Vantage, on the other<br />
hand, really can't replace your<br />
word processor. (But then,<br />
your word processor prob<br />
ably can't replace Vantage,<br />
either.)<br />
Although its reporting fea<br />
tures are limited, DAtabase of<br />
fers many useful functions..<br />
Using a HyperCard-hkc inter<br />
face called DAtabase Builder,<br />
that's part of the package, you<br />
create forms that look like<br />
cards. Besides graphics tools,<br />
DAtabase Builder offers basic<br />
text fields, calculated fields,<br />
check-box fields, and pop-up<br />
menu fields.<br />
Once you've designed the<br />
look of your database form,<br />
you quil DAtabase Builder<br />
and start up DAtabase from<br />
the Apple menu. From there,<br />
you can enter, browse, sort,<br />
and search for your infor<br />
mation. DAtabase stores text<br />
and graphics, so you can cata<br />
log clip art and other pictures<br />
as well as phone numbers and<br />
addresses.<br />
Too bad DAtabase Build<br />
er isn't more closely linked<br />
JUNE 1989 59
with its parent, DAtabase;<br />
you'll probably want to adjust<br />
the form once you start enter<br />
ing data.<br />
Vantage is a good desk ac<br />
cessory for people who share<br />
text files with other computer<br />
formats. As a mini-word pro<br />
cessor, it can't compete with<br />
something like QuickLetter,<br />
but as a utility for stripping<br />
control characters, sorting text<br />
lists, adding line numbers, and<br />
editing text, it's a good package.<br />
Even if you perform these tasks<br />
only a few times each year, you<br />
still may want a program to do<br />
the dirty work. Vantage will<br />
clean up cheerfully.<br />
DAtabase retails for<br />
$129.95; Vantage, for $99.00.<br />
For more information, contact<br />
Preferred Publishers at 5100<br />
Poplar Avenue, Suite 706,<br />
Memphis, Tennessee 38137;<br />
(901)683-3383.<br />
— Heidi E. H. Aycock<br />
Wouldn't it be nice if you<br />
could switch between two pro<br />
grams at a moment's notice?<br />
One way to do this is to use<br />
Juggler 2, from MichTron<br />
(576 South Telegraph, Pontiac,<br />
Michigan 4<strong>80</strong>53; 313-334-<br />
5700; $49.95).<br />
The package actually in<br />
cludes two programs. The first<br />
is the original program, called<br />
The Juggler. It displays several<br />
programs in separate windows<br />
at the same time. To switch be<br />
tween the programs, you just<br />
click on the window contain<br />
ing the program you want.<br />
While The Juggler is handy, it<br />
doesn't work with programs<br />
that don't follow the rules for<br />
60 COMPUTE!<br />
COMPUTE!. _<br />
specific<br />
programming under GEM.<br />
Juggler 2, the other pro<br />
gram in the package, works<br />
with many more programs.<br />
Depending on memory, as<br />
many as eight partitions can be<br />
set aside, each independent of<br />
the others. To switch between<br />
the partitions, simply press<br />
Shift and Alternate simulta<br />
neously. The partitions can<br />
contain either GEM or TOS<br />
programs, and these programs<br />
can even be in different resolu<br />
tions on a color monitor.<br />
The first time you switch<br />
to a partition, that partition is<br />
booted to the desktop with any<br />
programs or accessories that<br />
you have in your AUTO folder.<br />
By naming boot disk folders<br />
AUTOI,AUTO2,AUTO3,<br />
and so on, you can customize<br />
the partitions and what auto<br />
matically appears in each. The<br />
desktop layout of each parti<br />
tion can also be customized by<br />
placing a DESKTOP.INF file'<br />
in the AUTOX folder.<br />
You may find two small<br />
glitches in Juggler 2. The<br />
JUGGLER2.PRG file must be<br />
the last to run from an AUTO<br />
folder; however, even then,<br />
JUGGLER2.PRG doesn't run<br />
all the programs ahead of it<br />
when booting a partition after<br />
it's been added to an existing<br />
AUTO folder. The problem is<br />
easily solved: Simply delete<br />
the AUTO folder and rebuild<br />
it by dragging files to it in the<br />
exact order that they should<br />
run in.<br />
The desk accessory Univer<br />
sal Item Selector II (mentioned<br />
in this column in the February<br />
1989 issue) caused Juggler 2 to<br />
crash repeatedly. Oddly,<br />
though, UISII didn't cause this<br />
crash when used inside Multi-<br />
Desk, perhaps because the ac<br />
cessory is loaded after Juggler<br />
2 in this configuration.<br />
Another switching solu<br />
tion is Revolver (Intersect Soft<br />
ware. 2828 Clark Road, Suite<br />
10, Sarasota, Florida 34231;<br />
<strong>80</strong>0-826-0130; $49.95). Revolv<br />
er aWows you to separate your<br />
ST's memory into partitions of<br />
256K. or more. The partitions<br />
can be different sizes and offer<br />
different resolutions on a color<br />
monitor.<br />
Cycling through the differ<br />
ent partitions takes just a key<br />
stroke. A partition can be<br />
rolled out—saved to disk in a<br />
compressed format—or rolled<br />
in—retrieved from disk. The<br />
first time you access a parti<br />
tion, it's booted from disk.<br />
Pressing Reset reboots only the<br />
current partition, leaving the<br />
others alone. You can even<br />
view one partition while in an<br />
other partition.<br />
The package includes a<br />
reset-proof ramdisk, a print<br />
spooler, and a disk I/O buffer,<br />
all of which will survive a<br />
warm boot.<br />
A control-panel button<br />
gives you access to a screenful<br />
of file functions, such as copy,<br />
rename, move, and delete. The<br />
control panel also lets you ad<br />
just such items as key-click<br />
control, key repeat on/off, bell<br />
on/off, mouse speed, and time<br />
and date settings. A built-in<br />
VT52 emulator is also includ<br />
ed, along with a timed auto<br />
matic reminder to roll out a<br />
partition. You'll also find a fix<br />
for the famous 40-folder bug<br />
(this bug crashes the ST after<br />
you've accessed 40 folders).<br />
The one problem with Re<br />
volver is that you can't perform<br />
certain operations on the partilion<br />
you're in. so you must<br />
first switch to another parti<br />
tion. The control panel, how<br />
ever, doesn't tell you which<br />
partition you're in and will let<br />
you choose the active partition<br />
or even a nonexistent partition.<br />
Bloody Games<br />
There's nothing delicate about<br />
Technocop, from Epyx (600<br />
Galveston Drive, Redwood<br />
City. California 94063; 415-<br />
366-0606; $39.95). In this<br />
graphically violent game, you<br />
play a police officer of the fu<br />
ture. In the first segment you<br />
drive your car down a winding<br />
road. If you're feeling nice, you<br />
can avoid enemy cars and<br />
motorcycles, but if you're feel<br />
ing belligerent, you can run<br />
them off the road or blast them<br />
with your guns. The game<br />
ends when your vehicle be<br />
comes damaged (by running<br />
off the road, ramming a tree,<br />
and so on).<br />
In the second segment,<br />
you arrive at a crime scene.<br />
You enter a building and. un<br />
der a time limit, try to appre<br />
hend the criminal. You can<br />
duck, jump, use elevators, and<br />
defend yourself in the quest for<br />
the miscreant, whose presence<br />
is monitored on a wristmounted<br />
radar.<br />
As you move through the<br />
building, various toughs as<br />
sault you with axes, whips,<br />
knives, and other instruments<br />
of mayhem. Blasting them<br />
with your .88 Magnum re<br />
duces them to a quivering pile<br />
of bloody bones. You must<br />
also avoid blasting innocent<br />
bystanders. This game is load<br />
ed with gratuitous violence<br />
and is not recommended for<br />
the squeamish.<br />
Accessorize<br />
The six-desk accessory' limit of<br />
the ST has become a problem<br />
as larger memory configura<br />
tions become more common.<br />
A variety of all-in-one desk ac<br />
cessories have been marketed<br />
to address this problem, but<br />
they share one drawback: You<br />
may not need everything that<br />
such packages offer, but you<br />
still have to sacrifice the mem<br />
ory required for the whole<br />
package even if you only need<br />
one or two of the tools offered.<br />
Yet another ST desk ac<br />
cessory limitation is that the<br />
accessories are set when you<br />
boot up and can't be changed<br />
unless you reboot.<br />
Codehead Software (P.O.<br />
Box 4336. North Hollywood,<br />
California 91607; 213-386-<br />
5735) intends to change ail<br />
that. Its Multi-Desk ($29.95) is<br />
a remarkable utility that cir<br />
cumvents the ST's desk acces<br />
sory problems.<br />
Multi-Desk lets you access<br />
as many as 32 desk accessories<br />
from a single slot in the Desk<br />
menu. (And because Multi-<br />
Desk can occupy more than<br />
one of these slots, the number<br />
of desk accessories is virtually<br />
unlimited.) Further, Multi-<br />
Desk lets you load and unload<br />
accessories at any lime. Con<br />
figuration options allow you to<br />
store accessories in a folder.<br />
load a slate of desk accessories<br />
at boot-up, and reserve memo<br />
ry. You can even run Multi-<br />
Desk as a regular program—<br />
just change the extension—so<br />
you can run desk accessories<br />
from the Desktop the same<br />
way you run regular programs.<br />
— David Plotkin 0
aslowas IT<br />
Thousands of IBM/Compatible Public Domain and Shareware Programs<br />
Are Available from the Micro Star Library and at Incredibly Low Prices!<br />
We feature the best and most up-to-date shareware available.<br />
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And We Offer FREE Technical Support For Our Customers<br />
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ARCADE GAMES (106) Has<br />
Kong. 3-D Pacmon. Bricks.<br />
Pango. (Requires color.)<br />
BASIC GAMES (107) Pacman,<br />
Lunar Lander. Startrek.<br />
Meteor. Breakout, and others<br />
CARD GAMES (109) Canasta,<br />
hearts, draw poker & bridge<br />
STRIKER (HO) Defender-like<br />
game. "Top Gun" in space.<br />
F<strong>LIGHT</strong>MARE (112) Futuristic<br />
fighter pilot game, (Requires<br />
color graphics adapter.)<br />
SLEUTH (117) Who done \Y><br />
DND (119) Like Dungeons<br />
and Dragons.<br />
ROUND 42 (120) Better than<br />
Space Invaders. 42 levels.<br />
GAMES IN BASIC (124) Land<br />
er, biorhythms, desert. Phoe<br />
nix. Star Wars, others.<br />
QUEST (152) Role playing<br />
adventure fantasy game<br />
(Requires CGA.)<br />
SPACE WAR (158) Dogfight in<br />
outer space, using phasers,<br />
photon torpedoes, etc.<br />
BRIDGE PAL (171) Complete<br />
game of contract bridge,<br />
with tutorial.<br />
FENIX (193) Just like the<br />
lamous arcade game.<br />
PINBALL GAMES (197) Pinball,<br />
Rain. Twilight Zone.<br />
Wizard, etc.<br />
KID-GAMES (GAM8) Animals<br />
math, clock game, alpha<br />
bet, etc.<br />
CHESS (GAM9) Incredible.<br />
2D and 3D. Many levels. Ray<br />
back moves, store games.<br />
EGA RISK (GAM11) World<br />
domination in great color.<br />
Includes EGA Asteroids.<br />
PC PRO-GOLF (GAM27-28)<br />
Great graphics. Complete<br />
18 hole. 72 par course. (CGA)<br />
PEARL HARBOR (GAM32)<br />
Shoot down Jap Zeros before<br />
they destroy US Fleet. (CGA)<br />
ULTIMA 21 DELUXE (GAM34)<br />
Best Blackjack game around,<br />
includes Video Poker.<br />
FORD SIMULATOR (GAM37)<br />
Great driving simulation.<br />
(Requires CGA).<br />
PIANOMAN 4.0 (301) Turn<br />
your keyboard into a piano<br />
PC-MUSICIAN (302) Com<br />
pose, save, and play music.<br />
PC-Write 3.0 (434, 435, 436)<br />
(3 disks) Newest version!<br />
Very popular and complete<br />
Includes spelling checker.<br />
PC-TYPE+ (421-423) (3 disks)<br />
Excellent. Includes mail<br />
merge. 100,000 word spell<br />
ing checker. Interfaces with<br />
PC-File+, PC-Style.<br />
MAXI-MAX (432) 59 macros<br />
to use with Word Perfect 42<br />
or later. 11 templates for<br />
forms, border designs, etc.<br />
RtruRAW CAD SYSTEM (1001,<br />
1002, 1065, 1066) (4 disks)<br />
Popular. Also uses mouse.<br />
(Requires color graphics).<br />
CURSOR IWCE SCI PC89<br />
SIDEWAYS (1007) Prints text<br />
sideways. Useful for Lotus.<br />
SIMCGA/HGCIBM (1027,<br />
1062) (2 disks) Use with Her<br />
cules graphics card/com<br />
patible to run programs<br />
requiring CGA on your mono<br />
chrome PC.<br />
IMAGE 3-D (1048) Create<br />
and edit 3-D objects. Move,<br />
scale, rotate and tip image.<br />
FINGERPAINT (1050) Use key<br />
board or mouse to draw.<br />
Like MacPaint. (Requires<br />
CGA or EGA).<br />
DANCAD 3-D (1051, 1052) (2<br />
disks) Create 3-D graphics.<br />
Rotate, magnify, etc. Runs<br />
on CGA EGA, or Hercules.<br />
FANTASY (1057) Create flow<br />
ing graphic images with<br />
mouse or keyboard. (CGA).<br />
FLOWCHARTING (1078-1079)<br />
Complete system for How<br />
charts, organizational, elec<br />
trical, etc.. with symbols.<br />
AS-EASY-AS (505) Great. In<br />
cludes screen help menus.<br />
Utilizes function keys. A Lotus<br />
clone that reads Lotus files.<br />
PC-CALC+ (512-514) (3 disks)<br />
Jim Button's famous Lotuscbne.<br />
PC-PROFESSOR (1401) BASIC<br />
tutorial. Good.<br />
BASIC PROGRAM GENERA<br />
TOR (1402) The menu driven<br />
way to write programs.<br />
B-WINDOW (1407) Give win<br />
dowing capabilities to your<br />
Basic program.<br />
HOMEBASE (2608, 2612, 2613)<br />
(3 disks) Complete desktop<br />
organizer. Great.<br />
PROFESSIONAL MASTERKEY<br />
(2S05) Like Norton's. Retrieve<br />
deleted files. A lifesaver.<br />
BAKER'S DOZEN (2621) 13<br />
utilities from Buttonware.<br />
AUTOMENU (3003) Make PC<br />
menu driven. Incl passwords<br />
SCREEN (3006) Save your<br />
monitor from screen burn-in<br />
DOT MATRIX FONTS (3061-<br />
3062) (2 disks) Print your test<br />
in different fonts.<br />
MARKET CGA (BUS17) Per<br />
forms sophisticated analysis<br />
on stocks, funds, etc. (EGA<br />
version is BUS16).<br />
BILLPOWER+ (BUS 40, 41) (2<br />
disks) Bill clients for time and<br />
materials, advances, retain<br />
ers, etc. Computes, taxes,<br />
past due interest, etc. Has<br />
full G/L<br />
CPA LEDGER (706-708) (3<br />
disks) Complete general<br />
ledger for corporations, part<br />
nerships or sole proprietors.<br />
PERSONAL FINANCE MAN<br />
AGER (715) Household bud<br />
get manager, Track check<br />
ing, savings, investments.<br />
PAYROLL USA (725-726) Up to<br />
2.000 employees in any state.<br />
dBaselll and Lotus compati<br />
ble. Complete P/R system.<br />
EXPRESS CHECK (786) Check<br />
account with running bal<br />
ance, monthly reports, etc.<br />
Prints checks.<br />
FINANCE MANAGER II (774-<br />
775) (2 disks) For personal or<br />
small business financial<br />
management.<br />
DOS TUTORIAL (1301) Teaches<br />
you to use DOS,<br />
STILL RIVER SHELL (1304) Run<br />
DOS commands from a<br />
menu. Makes DOS easy.<br />
BATCH FILE TUTORIAL (1305)<br />
Utilize batch file processing.<br />
MORE DOS TIPS (1318, 1323)<br />
(2 disks) More about DOS.<br />
HELP DOS (1326) On line<br />
DOS help with menus. In<br />
cludes DOS dictionary of<br />
terms and a hints menu.<br />
THE BIBLE (3301-3306) (6<br />
disks) Old Testament. King<br />
James version.<br />
THE BIBLE (3307-3308) (2<br />
disks) New Testament. King<br />
James version.<br />
WORD WORKER (3309-3310)<br />
(2 disks) Bible search pro<br />
gram. New Testament, King<br />
James version,<br />
BIBLEMEN (3330) Excellent<br />
Bible quiz program.<br />
AMY'S FIRST PRIMER (248)<br />
Child's learning game<br />
teaches letters, numbers,<br />
keyboard.<br />
ni Bb Cc<br />
• 4~<br />
ffi"B c<br />
X « ic<br />
»U3<br />
OK 50MG<br />
K0RY FUN LETTERS<br />
BUhKV LITTERS<br />
BEAK FUN COUNTING<br />
HELF THE FBOCCI<br />
LOAD THE TRUCK<br />
UKV'S FIRST PB1MR<br />
FUNNELS AND BUCKETS (201)<br />
A fun way to learn math,<br />
MATHPAK (202) Tutorial with<br />
lessons in higher math.<br />
PC-TOUCH (204) Learn typing.<br />
BASIC TUTORIAL (208) Learn<br />
programming with BASIC.<br />
BEGINNING SPANISH (211)<br />
Tutorial.<br />
SPANISH II (232) Sequel.<br />
BIBLEQ (214) Learn the Bible<br />
with this Q-A tutorial.<br />
FACTS 50 (239) Geography<br />
lessons for U.S Nice graphics.<br />
LOTUS MACROS (601) Save<br />
hours of work. (Req. Lotus)<br />
LOTUS SPREADSHEET TEM<br />
PLATES (602) Ready-made.<br />
(Requires Lotus 1-2-3)<br />
GOAL-SEEKER V3.5 (624)<br />
Achieve objectives by chang<br />
ing spreadsheet and seeing<br />
result, (Requires Lotus).<br />
LOTUS TUTORIAL (630) Learn<br />
Lotus (requires Lotus).<br />
FORM LETTERS (1907) Com<br />
monly used form letters and<br />
business applications.<br />
E-Z FORMS (1908) Make forms<br />
to meet different needs.<br />
INCREDIBLY<br />
lowprices<br />
1-9 Disks $2" ea.<br />
10-19 Disks 526'ea.<br />
20 or more 5249ea.<br />
MANAGER'S PLANNER (1920)<br />
Daily planner. Prints out.<br />
HOME INVENTORY (1966)<br />
Track all your possessions.<br />
BIORHYTHM (1990) Display<br />
the 3 biological cycles; phys<br />
ical, emotional, intellectual.<br />
FAMILY HISTORY (2203-2204)<br />
(2 disks) Create files and<br />
genealogical reports.<br />
LOTTO PROPHET (2364) Best<br />
Lotto program we've seen.<br />
CITY DESK (2513) Simple<br />
desktop publisher.<br />
Q-MODEM 3.1 (1101, 1102,<br />
1144) (3 disks) Powerful but<br />
easy to use. Fast.<br />
RBBS V16.1A (1107-1109,<br />
1150) (4 disks) Multi-user bul<br />
letin board system.<br />
PROCOM 2.43 (1156) Out<br />
standing modem software.<br />
SECURITY/HACKING<br />
COPY PROTECTION I (1219)<br />
Instrucfions for unprotecting<br />
commercial software.<br />
COPY PROTECTION II (1220)<br />
More software unprotect.<br />
COPY PROTECTION III (1221)<br />
More software to unprotect.<br />
FLUSHOT (1225) Checks soft<br />
ware for viruses.<br />
PC-FILE (ill (853, 854, 855) (3<br />
disks) Newest version! Rated<br />
better than dBase III+.<br />
FILE EXPRESS 4.0 (<strong>80</strong>3-<strong>80</strong>4)<br />
Powerful system. Allows 32.000<br />
records. Sorts to 10 fields.<br />
DBASE III+ ROUTINES (851-<br />
852) (2 disks) Latest utilities<br />
to help you utilize dBase llh<br />
Mic TAR<br />
ORDER FORM<br />
PLEASE PRINT DISK NUMBERS<br />
NAME<br />
ADDRESS<br />
CITY STATE .ZIP<br />
PHONE(<br />
NUMBER OF DISKS X (PRICE)<br />
($2.99 PER DISK FOR 1-9; S2.69 FOR 10-19;<br />
$2.49 FOR 20 OR MORE; NOTE: 2 DISK SETS ARE 2 X (PRICE),<br />
SOFTWARE ON 3.5" DISKS ADD S1-00 EACH.)<br />
CALIF. RESIDENTS ADD 7% TAX =<br />
SHIPPING AND HANDLING = S3.50<br />
(FOREIGN ORDERS ADD S5/CANADA $2) =<br />
MAIL CHECK Ofl tAQNEY ORDER TO.<br />
NUMBER:<br />
MlCROSTAB. 1105 SECOND ST<br />
TOTAL = S<br />
ENCINITASCA 92024<br />
F PAVING BY VISA OR MASTERCARD. PLEASE GIVE<br />
EXP DATE. SIGNATURE<br />
We also accept COD orders (add S4.00) Call or write (or free catalog.<br />
Phone orde's snipped same or next day.<br />
CALL TODAY FOR FREE CATALOG<br />
<strong>80</strong>0-444-1343<br />
From 7 AM to 5 PM PST Monday - Saturday<br />
FOREIGN: (619) 436-0130
m reviews<br />
Tool DOS, Tackle<br />
Toons, Lounge<br />
with Larry, Explore<br />
College, Tread<br />
Softly, Hit and<br />
Stick, Play the<br />
Angles, Zone Out,<br />
Create Cartoons,<br />
Share a Story,<br />
Write It Up, Build a<br />
Town, and More<br />
62 COMPUTE!<br />
Each month, "Fast Looks" offers up<br />
snapshots of some of the most interest<br />
ing, unusual, or important software and<br />
hardware for the IBM PC and MS-<br />
DOS, Commodore 64/128, Apple II,<br />
Amiga. Macintosh, and Atari ST lines<br />
of personal computers. Get the last<br />
word on what's new—here, fast, first.<br />
Kings of the Beach<br />
Kings of the Beach is volleyball the way<br />
volleyball was meant to be, save that<br />
you play it on your computer—spikes,<br />
sun, and sand from California and Ha<br />
waii to the beaches of Australia.<br />
Using some complicated joystick<br />
controls, you have a choice of three<br />
serves, three offensive plays, and a de<br />
fensive block. You can also use a<br />
mouse or the keyboard to control the<br />
game, but the joystick is best. Seldom<br />
can you return a ball on the first hit, so<br />
you really get a feel for the pass/set/<br />
spike strategy used by competitive<br />
teams.<br />
The court appears 3-D and is hard<br />
to get used to at first. But if you learn to<br />
follow the ball's shadow you'll gain an<br />
edge. Spiking the ball onscreen is al<br />
most as hard to master as it is on the<br />
court. It's a matter of timing: Jump at<br />
the wrong time and you'll hit the ball<br />
out of bounds or miss it entirely.<br />
Luckily, you don't have to face<br />
your opponents cold. A visit to the<br />
practice courts will hone your skills—<br />
and you'll need the drill. This tough<br />
game demands that you start out easy.<br />
You can always increase the difficulty<br />
later.<br />
If you're itching to put your fingers<br />
on leather and your feet in the sand,<br />
this game's for you. Don't forget the<br />
sunscreen.<br />
— HA<br />
IBM PC and compatibles—$39.95<br />
{$44.95 for a package with both a 5'/4-incti version<br />
and a 3'/!-inch version)<br />
Electronic Arts<br />
1820 Gateway Dr.<br />
San Mateo, CA 94404<br />
{415)571-7171<br />
Apple II Video Overlay<br />
Card<br />
Desktop video may be the newest buzz<br />
word in the computer business, but the<br />
phrase is just phosphor on the screen<br />
unless you have the right equipment.<br />
Until recently, that left the Apple He<br />
and IlGS out of the picture. Not any<br />
more.<br />
Acting essentially as a genlock<br />
card, the new Apple II Video Overlay<br />
Card fits inside an Apple lie or IIgs and<br />
accepts video input from a VCR, video<br />
disc, video camera, or television. It<br />
then synchronizes these video signals<br />
with the Apple II so that you can super<br />
impose Apple II graphics on the video<br />
pictures. Immediate uses for such a<br />
card might include titling the video you<br />
shoot at home or in the classroom or<br />
combining computer animation you<br />
create with a program like Cartooners<br />
with a video of the new baby gamboling<br />
about the living room.<br />
The Overlay Card dramatically im<br />
proves the video signal that leaves the<br />
Apple II, ensuring that what goes out is<br />
just as crisp as what goes in. Special<br />
VideoMix software makes it a snap to<br />
control the mixing of video and com<br />
puter graphics. And a variety of al<br />
ready-available software is compatible<br />
with the Overlay Card, including such<br />
first-rate Apple He and IlGS packages as<br />
Deluxe Paint II, Fantavision, and Art &<br />
Film Director.<br />
If you're trying to marry these two<br />
technologies—computers and video—a
genlock board is a must. And for the<br />
moment, Apple's Video Overlay Card<br />
is the only card game in town.<br />
Apple lie and lies—$549<br />
Apple <strong>Computer</strong><br />
20525 Marian! Ave.<br />
Cupertino, CA 95104<br />
(415)996-1010<br />
Project Firestart<br />
— GK<br />
Since it's been called "a horror movie<br />
in space," you can probably guess<br />
which film Project Firestart took as in<br />
spiration. Inexorable, insatiable crea<br />
tures are loose on a space station. You<br />
have to stop them.<br />
You arrive at the station, aware<br />
only that something is very wrong. Im<br />
mediately, you encounter carnage of the<br />
most gruesome sort: severed limbs,<br />
blood-splashed walls, rooms carpeted<br />
with corpses. This is not a game for the<br />
squeamish or the very young.<br />
The rest of us can have grim fun<br />
exploring the large, multilevel station.<br />
unlocking its secrets, walking its long<br />
corridors, looking for lurking monsters.<br />
Pay attention—your life depends on it.<br />
While you're armed with lasers<br />
and can find other weapons, your most<br />
important tool is your wits. By access<br />
ing computer records, for example, you<br />
can uncover the creatures' tolerances<br />
and vulnerabilities. If you're quick, you<br />
can manipulate station systems to pro<br />
duce deadly traps.<br />
Cutaway scenes enhance the<br />
game's cinematic feel. Graphics and<br />
animation are well realized, and the<br />
soundtrack is excellent. Documentation<br />
is slight, but a few minutes with the<br />
game should familiarize you with most<br />
of its conventions.<br />
This is an entertaining, if unspec<br />
tacular, program that succeeds at what<br />
it sets out to do—put you in a horror<br />
movie in space.<br />
— KF<br />
Commodore 54/128—$29.95<br />
Electronic Arts<br />
1820 Gateway Dr.<br />
San Mateo, CA 94404<br />
(415)571-7171<br />
MenuWorks<br />
This program won't plan nutritious<br />
meals or draw up a grocery list. But it<br />
will customize your IBM PC or com<br />
patible computer so that you can run<br />
your favorite programs at the touch of a<br />
key—without ever facing the DOS<br />
command line.<br />
Upon installation, MenuWorks<br />
will search your hard disk for execut<br />
able files (.EXE) and build menus for<br />
those applications. For instance, if it<br />
finds WordPerfect in your computer<br />
(WP.EXE), it will construct a menu<br />
called Word Processing and make<br />
WordPerfect an item on that menu.<br />
MenuWorks'artificial intelligence rou<br />
tines recognize more than 1000 popular<br />
software programs, from business ap<br />
plications to games.<br />
If you'd rather design the menus<br />
yourself, Menu Works gives you that<br />
option as well. The program works with<br />
color and monochrome systems, offers<br />
mouse support, allows for password<br />
protection, and supports an almost un<br />
limited number of menus with as many<br />
as 81 choices in each. It also features<br />
several useful DOS commands that are<br />
tied to function keys—everything from<br />
setting the date to copying files.<br />
If you want to move away from the<br />
DOS prompt but the thought of creat<br />
ing batch files and arranging the syntax<br />
in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file gives<br />
you heartburn, this nifty little program<br />
sets a fine table.<br />
IBM PC. PS/2, and compatibles—S24.95<br />
PC Dynamics<br />
31332 Via Colinas<br />
Suite 102<br />
Westlake Village, CA 91362<br />
(818)889-1741<br />
Contributing to "Fast Looks" this month<br />
were Heidi E. H. Aycock, Keith Ferrell,<br />
Gregg Keizer, and Peter Scisco.<br />
PC Tools<br />
— PS<br />
Deluxe, Version<br />
5.0<br />
PC Tools Deluxe is more than a diverse<br />
collection of utilities—it's truly a pro<br />
gram for everyone. Beginners seeking a<br />
single program to help them get started,<br />
intermediate users looking to improve<br />
their productivity, and power users<br />
wanting to wring out the last bit of per<br />
formance from their PCs will find what<br />
they need in this renaissance package.<br />
Beginners will benefit from PC<br />
Tools Deluxe's PC Shell, which gives<br />
MS-DOS a friendlier face, making it<br />
easier and faster to use. Managing files<br />
with PC Shell's V-2-J-style menus<br />
works well, although some of the key<br />
assignments could benefit from a better<br />
arrangement.<br />
In the shell, a drive directory tree<br />
appears on the left of the screen, a list of<br />
files in the currently highlighted direc<br />
tory on the right. Choose from Copy,<br />
Move, Compare, Change, and other<br />
commands when working with files; for<br />
disk management, you can also select<br />
Search, Format, Park Disk, and Get<br />
Disk Info. Users can maintain directo-<br />
Move quickly from task to task with the<br />
latest version of PC Tools Deluxe.<br />
ries, print files, use a simple text editor,<br />
run programs, and perform other tasks<br />
from the shell.<br />
If desired, you can customize the<br />
PC Shell screen colors, size of windows,<br />
and other attributes. More importantly,<br />
you can also add your favorite pro<br />
grams to the Applications menu and,<br />
from there, launch WordPerfect, 1-2-3,<br />
or other applications with only three<br />
keystrokes.<br />
The Applications menu comes<br />
packed with utilities: Compress Disk, to<br />
improve disk performance; PCBACKUP,<br />
with optional fast-backup and sizecompression<br />
features; MIRROR, which<br />
offers great insurance against acci<br />
dentally formatting a disk; PC Format,<br />
which replaces the standard DOS com<br />
mand; and PC Secure, for password<br />
protection and file encryption.<br />
If the shell provides comfortable<br />
shelter for beginning PC users, then PC<br />
Tools Deluxe's Desktop furnishes pow<br />
er with an expansive versatility. Open<br />
as many as 15 windows at a time.<br />
Switch between tasks at will. Besides a<br />
notepad, a database (a nonrelational file<br />
manager), a calculator, and a calendar,<br />
the Desktop includes an outline editor,<br />
a telecommunications program, a mac<br />
ro editor, a clipboard, and miscella<br />
neous utilities.<br />
The notepad won't replace a fullfeatured<br />
word processor, but it's great<br />
for popping up over another applica<br />
tion to create or edit a file quickly. The<br />
notepad's autosave and spell-checking<br />
features are also a boon to busy com<br />
puter users, as are the macros that let<br />
you produce special printing effects—if<br />
you're prepared to spend time and ef<br />
fort learning how. Until you gain that<br />
experience, you can port important<br />
JUNE 1989 63
documents over to a full-featured word<br />
processor for editing and printing.<br />
The Desktop's outliner, while no<br />
MaxThink, is a solid worker. You can<br />
expand the current outline level, ex<br />
pand all levels, show the current level<br />
only, collapse the current level, show<br />
the main level only, or promote and de<br />
mote the current item and its subsets.<br />
The database manager is a great<br />
way to create, view, and edit dBasecompatible<br />
database files. Printing data<br />
is easy, though you've got to use the<br />
notepad to do so. But as easy as print<br />
ing data is, I would have liked more<br />
flexibility in defining the records 1 want<br />
to select.<br />
The program's appointment sched<br />
uler outperforms many stand-alone re<br />
minder programs. It offers the essential<br />
features, like a monthly calendar dis<br />
play, as well as options for defining re<br />
peating appointments. The built-in To-<br />
Do List works well enough, sorting<br />
itself by priority and allowing for future<br />
to-do items. You can also assign items a<br />
starting and an ending date.<br />
The three desktop calculators are<br />
each designed for a different kind of<br />
Kids are key to America's future. And so are computers.<br />
By the year 2010. virtually every job in our nation<br />
will require some computing skills. That means preparing<br />
all of our youth today to take on technology tomorrow.<br />
Our students' math and science scores are far below those<br />
in other countries. To excel in our high tech times, our<br />
kids need to catch on to computers. They're tools that can<br />
inspire them to think more independently. More creatively.<br />
math. The Algebraic calculator offers a<br />
visual scrolling tape, the Financial cal<br />
culator emulates the Hewlett-Packard<br />
12C calculator, and the Programmer's<br />
calculator operates in and converts be<br />
tween hexadecimal, octal, binary, and<br />
decimal number systems.<br />
PC Tools Deluxe'* telecommunica<br />
tions module includes background com<br />
munications capabilities, XMODEMprotocol<br />
support, and a script language.<br />
The program's macro editor lets you re<br />
define keys on the keyboard and assign<br />
commands and keystrokes to those<br />
keys (subject to some limitations). If<br />
you use the macro editor with the ap<br />
pointment scheduler, you can run pro<br />
grams or enter DOS commands auto<br />
matically at preset times.<br />
With all it has to offer. PC Tools<br />
Deluxe is a terrific one-shot power<br />
boost to any PC or compatible. But<br />
there's room for improvement. Help<br />
screens could be better, with beginner<br />
and expert help files that you can read<br />
from the disk. It would also be helpful if<br />
the notepad supported more file for<br />
mats and offered more cursor-control<br />
options. Lastly, the program would<br />
benefit from a pop-up 7-2-i-compatibIe<br />
spreadsheet program for editing work<br />
sheets.<br />
Those criticisms notwithstanding,<br />
the breadth and depth of PC Tools De<br />
luxe assure it a place in the world of<br />
power computing. Fortunately, its ease<br />
of use extends its reach even further,<br />
bringing full functionality to both ex<br />
pert and novice at an extremely attrac<br />
tive price. Instead of spending your<br />
money on several packages, this one<br />
program can do it all. Few programs<br />
cover so much ground so well for so<br />
little.<br />
— J. Blake Lambert<br />
PC Tools Deluxe, version 5.0<br />
For...<br />
IBM PC and compatibles—$79<br />
From...<br />
Central Point Software<br />
15220 NW Greenbrier Pkwy. #200<br />
Beaverton, OR 97006<br />
(503)690-<strong>80</strong>90<br />
And...<br />
Owners of version 4.0 can update for $15.<br />
The <strong>Computer</strong> Learning Foundation is a non-profit<br />
organization that's taking the lead in computer literacy<br />
efforts nationwide. We're bringing together companies,<br />
state departments of education, national non-profits and<br />
local groups.<br />
Our <strong>Computer</strong> Learning Month in October is a focus for<br />
thousands of community and classroom programs. We've<br />
involved millions in discovering the benefits of computing.<br />
7Tif <strong>Computer</strong> Learning Foundation is sponsored by: Academic Computing-. Broderbund Software, Inc.. Classroom <strong>Computer</strong> Learning, Compile! <strong>Computer</strong> Gamfnfl World<br />
Electronic Learning, IBM Corporation, mCider Magazine. Logo <strong>Computer</strong> Systems. Inc.. MECC. Mindscupe. Inc.. Prodigy Services Company. Scholastic Software'". Inc.
Who Framed<br />
Roger Rabbit<br />
□ REVIEWS<br />
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is an actionpacked,<br />
gag-filled software salute to<br />
Hollywood's full-length feature of the<br />
same name. Loosely based on scenes<br />
from the film, players join Roger Rab<br />
bit in three madcap, arcadelike adven<br />
tures as he tries to save Toontown from<br />
the evil Judge Doom. The dastardly vil<br />
lain wants to destroy Toontown by dis<br />
solving its Toon inhabitants, who are<br />
made of ink and paint, with buckets<br />
of Dip.<br />
But first, the story: The year is<br />
1947. Marvin, owner of Toontown and<br />
the Gag King genius behind the Gag<br />
Factory, supplies novelties and props to<br />
the cartoon industry. One night Marvin<br />
turns up dead, his will missing. Since he<br />
had promised to give Toontown to the<br />
Toons, they have only one hope for sur<br />
vival—find the missing will. They call<br />
upon Roger, our hare-brained hero, to<br />
recover the document and rescue the<br />
seductive but lovable Jessica from the<br />
menacing manacles of the malevolent<br />
Judge Doom.<br />
Join us. We're here to help you discover the ease and fun<br />
of computing.<br />
Contact the Foundation now for more information about<br />
our contests, books, free materials, programs and events.<br />
We're dedicated to sharing computer learning ideas. Write<br />
us today: <strong>Computer</strong> Learning Foundation, Dept. CP6<br />
P.O. Box 60007, Palo Alto, CA 94306-0007.<br />
Toontown remains on the brink of<br />
portentous peril and Jessica languishes<br />
at the Gag Factory while you, in the<br />
role of Roger, outmaneuver the Judge<br />
and his wily weasel henchmen. Your<br />
mission is fraught with danger. With<br />
every mishap, another bucket of Dip is<br />
added to your tally. If you accumulate<br />
five buckets, you vanish from computer<br />
memory as fast as a Toon dissolves in<br />
Dip.<br />
You begin your quest behind the<br />
wheel of Benny the Cab, steering your<br />
way through the bustling streets of Los<br />
Angeles. You must beat Judge Doom to<br />
the Ink and Paint Club while avoiding<br />
numerous obstacles. Stay away from<br />
the weasels in their Toon Patrol wag<br />
ons, avoid collisions with the Red Cars,<br />
and parry the puddles of despicable<br />
Dip. But be quick: The sooner you ar<br />
rive at your destination, the more time<br />
you'll have to rescue Jessica.<br />
Benny the Cab's accordionlike sus<br />
pension lets him rise to the occasion.<br />
He leaps out of trouble by hopping onto<br />
buildings. You can also maneuver him<br />
to help you grab useful items along the<br />
Curriculum Product News, Davidson & Associates, Inc., DLM Teaching Resource;,. Early Childhood News, Education Systems Corporation,<br />
Soft-Kai/Baker & Taylor, Teaching and <strong>Computer</strong>s, T.H.E. Journal. Today's Catholic Teacher<br />
way. Grab a tire for a burst of super-<br />
speed, rubber gloves to protect you<br />
from the Dip puddles, and diamonds to<br />
reduce your Dip tally by one bucket.<br />
Once at the Ink and Paint Club,<br />
you must answer a question from the<br />
1947 summer edition of the Gag Fac<br />
tory Catalog, which is included with the<br />
game. This method of copy protection<br />
gives you three chances—answer incor<br />
rectly and the game ends abruptly; an<br />
swer right and you're inside the club.<br />
Inside, it's a mad rush to find the<br />
missing will. You circle the club's seven<br />
tables, each set with drinks and papers.<br />
One of the papers contains the will, but<br />
since Marvin used invisible ink when<br />
he penned his final testament and you<br />
don't know which of the papers is the<br />
real thing, you have to grab them all.<br />
It's not easy. If you accidently grab<br />
a drink, you lose time. As you near your<br />
goal, penguin waiters pop up to restock<br />
the tables with more drinks and papers.<br />
Watch out for Bongo, the gorilla bounc<br />
er—a chance encounter with him, and<br />
he'll boot you from the club. You're<br />
also working against a clock, trying to<br />
make your rounds and collect the pa-<br />
COMPUTER<br />
LEARNING<br />
FOIIKOHION
REVIEWS<br />
pers before the music stops. If time runs<br />
out, it's good-bye Ink Club, hello Ben<br />
ny, as you find yourself back on the<br />
streets of Los Angeles, racing Judge<br />
Doom to the Gag Factory.<br />
At the Factory, weasels galore stop<br />
at nothing to pound Roger to a pulp.<br />
Your only hope is to grab the gags that<br />
lie strewn about and use them to dis<br />
able your opponents. The more gags<br />
you try, the more the weasels laugh.<br />
Eventually, they giggle themselves into<br />
oblivion.<br />
Who Framed Roger Rabbit sets you off on<br />
three madcap adventures.<br />
But watch your step: Some of those<br />
stray gags will backfire and there's al<br />
ways a perilous puddle of Dip to avoid.<br />
Survive the weasel onslaught and you<br />
confront the evil judge himself—just as<br />
he's about to send Jessica to that big<br />
Toontown in the sky. Defeat Judge<br />
Doom, rescue Jessica, and you become<br />
Toontown's greatest superhare-o.<br />
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is as<br />
entertaining as it is exciting. It's packed<br />
with amusing animated high jinks.<br />
<strong>Color</strong>ful graphics, while not as threedimensional<br />
as the Toons in the film,<br />
add a flamboyant touch. Add music<br />
and sound effects, and you have a rich,<br />
if simple, program.<br />
This merry chase through Toontown<br />
offers several hours of pleasurable<br />
playing—easy to start but hard to fin<br />
ish. It's loads of fun—but when you<br />
mix Disney with Spielberg, and then<br />
add Buena Vista, it's hard to imagine<br />
anything else.<br />
— Carol S. Hoizberg<br />
Who Framed Roger Rabbit<br />
For...<br />
Amiga—$44.95<br />
Apple I!—S39.95<br />
Commodore 64/128—S29.95<br />
IBM PC and compatibles—$39.95<br />
From...<br />
Buena Vista Software<br />
500 S. Buena Vista<br />
Burbank.CA 91521<br />
{818)972-3300<br />
COMPUTE<br />
Leisure Suit<br />
Larry II: Looking<br />
for Love (In<br />
Several Wrong<br />
Places)<br />
You know the type—terribly obnoxious<br />
but somehow endearing. The kind of<br />
guy you'd never hang out with, but you<br />
would get a kick out of watching from<br />
across the room as he hits on, and is<br />
promptly rejected by, every woman he<br />
approaches. You know the type—a guy<br />
like Larry Laffer.<br />
Larry's special brand of charisma<br />
surfaced in Leisure Suit Larry in the<br />
Land of the Lounge Lizards and returns<br />
in the sequel, Lookingfor Love (In Sev<br />
eral Wrong Places). Sierra's latest in<br />
stallment not only lives up to the<br />
original, but surpasses it: The graphics<br />
and animation are better and the story<br />
line is more intricate and sophisticated.<br />
One thing that remains unchanged,<br />
however, is the humor. Lookingfor<br />
Love doesn't focus quite as much on the<br />
adult aspects of Larry Laffer's adven<br />
tures as did Lounge Lizards, but it's<br />
every bit as funny.<br />
Lookingfor Love opens with our<br />
favorite nerd down and out near Bever<br />
ly Hills. After he's told in no uncertain<br />
terms to hit the road by Eve, the wom<br />
an he had planned to spend the rest of<br />
his life with. Larry sets out in search of<br />
romance. Before leaving, however, he<br />
finds a dollar in Eve's garage—all he<br />
needs to turn his life around. He buys a<br />
lottery ticket at the local convenience<br />
store, then weasels his way into a near<br />
by television station and onto the set of<br />
the Lucky Life lottery show. A spin of<br />
the big wheel turns Larry's buck into a<br />
million dollars a year for life. What's<br />
more, while waiting in the green room<br />
at the TV studio. Larry is mistaken for<br />
Bachelor Number 2 and ends up as the<br />
big winner on the Dating Connection<br />
show. His prize: a cruise to the South<br />
Pacific aboard the U.S.S. Love Tub.<br />
Before setting sail. Larry gets to<br />
spend some major bucks. First stop:<br />
Rodeo Drive. (Where else can you<br />
break a million-dollar bill?) After he's<br />
bought a $ 100,000 swimsuit for his<br />
cruise and dropped a cool $ 100 for a<br />
haircut, Larry heads back to the<br />
convenience store for a 32-gallon Gro<br />
tesque Gulp—a soft drink the size of a<br />
small trash can that somehow fits into<br />
Larry's jacket pocket (along with every<br />
thing else he collects during his<br />
adventure).<br />
Unfortunately for Larry, his luck<br />
soon begins to run out. A case of mis<br />
taken identity puts him right in the<br />
middle of a bizarre plot of international<br />
intrigue involving an evil doctor's plan<br />
to take over the world. The cruise ends<br />
in disaster, with Larry escaping to a<br />
small island in the Pacific, where he is<br />
pursued by KGB agents. To survive,<br />
Larry must resist the temptation to fall<br />
for every pretty face he sees.<br />
Looking for Love is thoroughly en<br />
tertaining from beginning to end. The<br />
story is as interesting as anything you're<br />
likely to find on network television, and<br />
less predictable to boot. In addition, the<br />
way Larry moves around in his 3-D<br />
world (you use the keyboard, a mouse,<br />
or a joystick) and interacts with other<br />
people and objects creates a realistic en<br />
vironment that makes you forget you're<br />
sitting in front of a computer.<br />
Join Larry Laffer in his search for everlast<br />
ing love in Leisure Suit Larry II: Looking for<br />
Love (In Several Wrong Places).<br />
Also impressive is the way the<br />
game's designers have included effects,<br />
such as animated traffic flowing in the<br />
distance, and employed adventure<br />
"extras": characters who have nothing<br />
whatsoever to do with the story but<br />
who go about their business oblivious<br />
to your, or even Larry's, presence.<br />
These features create the illusion that<br />
you're peeking into a world that contin<br />
ues to function even when you put the<br />
disks away.<br />
A variety of game options let you<br />
adjust the overall speed of the anima<br />
tion, control the volume, or toggle the<br />
sound on and off. You can adjust a set<br />
ting in the game to minimize or maxi<br />
mize the adult aspects, and you can<br />
insert your own favorite cliche to re<br />
place the Have a nice day line.<br />
Because of the adult nature of<br />
Looking for Love, it isn't suited for<br />
young players—not because it's overtly<br />
offensive, but because a certain amount<br />
of sophistication and experience is re<br />
quired to appreciate the puns, double<br />
entendres, and innuendos that compose<br />
the game's humor. If such risque ri
□ reviews<br />
poste appeals to you, this is a terrific se<br />
quel to one of the best adventure games<br />
ever written.<br />
— Bob Guerra<br />
Looking for Love (In Several<br />
Wrong Places)<br />
For...<br />
Atari ST—$49.95<br />
IBM PC and compatibles—$49.95<br />
From...<br />
Sierra<br />
P.O. Box 485<br />
Coarsegold, CA 93614<br />
(209) 6&W468<br />
And...<br />
Hard disk recommended; the IBM version<br />
supports Roland MT-32, Ad Lib, and IBM<br />
music cards and includes 3Va- and 5V4inch<br />
disks.<br />
j College<br />
Explorer<br />
Choosing a college isn't easy. You're<br />
faced with stacks of catalogs, piles of<br />
brochures, and mounds of applications.<br />
Out of all that, how do you cull the<br />
school that best fits your goals, your<br />
abilities, and your financial situation?<br />
It's a laborious process, but one made<br />
much easier by College Explorer, a soft<br />
ware package in a class by itself. Second<br />
ary schools, libraries, college-placement<br />
services, parents, and students will find<br />
this program a nearly indispensable<br />
tool during the search process.<br />
Hunting for the right school is made a littfe<br />
easier with College Explorer.<br />
College Explorer's two databases<br />
include pertinent information on more<br />
than 2<strong>80</strong>0 colleges. The program works<br />
as a kind of filter, guiding you first<br />
through broad criteria like type of de<br />
gree offered (associate's or bachelor's)<br />
and, in the end, allowing you to narrow<br />
your choices by means of some 400 fea<br />
tures and preferences. The program fo<br />
cuses on Fields that can help this<br />
narrowing-down process: Location,<br />
size, campus life, fees, competitive<br />
sports, and majors offered are among<br />
the fields you can explore. And after<br />
you've made your choices, College Ex<br />
plorer can sort your list by a number of<br />
criteria, including location, tuition, and<br />
enrollment size.<br />
Because of the breadth of infor<br />
mation, plan on spending at least 30<br />
minutes with the program each time<br />
you start it. Surprisingly, one of College<br />
Explorer's strengths leads to one of its<br />
weaknesses: Although specification in<br />
each field is encouraged, the program<br />
gives no warning as to how many ex<br />
plicit choices you can make before you<br />
run the risk of eliminating every college.<br />
The guidelines for stating necessities<br />
and preferences should be clearer. I fre<br />
quently put down so many preferences<br />
that the computer couldn't find a match.<br />
But don't worry if that happens to you,<br />
because you can easily reenter the pro<br />
gram to make more general selections<br />
and to continue your explorations.<br />
Immediate entry into the database,<br />
an easy-to-use manual, and helpful<br />
menus make College Explorer a plea<br />
sure to use. Its impeccable technical<br />
performance—complete and simple<br />
menu access to features, effortless load<br />
ing and operation, quality recordkeeping,<br />
and easy saving and printing of<br />
your selections—is without flaw. The<br />
user's guide is concise, explicit, and in<br />
formative. No special skills are needed.<br />
Even if you haven't had much previous<br />
computer experience, you should be<br />
able to use the program easily and ex<br />
tract its valuable information smoothly.<br />
College Explorer will help you in<br />
your search for a college, but that's just<br />
the beginning of the search process.<br />
You still must write to each college for<br />
catalogs and detailed information. The<br />
database descriptions of colleges are ex<br />
tremely dry. In future updates I'd like<br />
to see a sampling of courses offered at<br />
the colleges, listed according to prefer<br />
ences I indicate; also, a listing of faculty<br />
and their respective distinctions would<br />
be informative. Any attempt to person<br />
alize the directory of colleges would be<br />
welcomed.<br />
The listing of degrees offered for<br />
each selected college is somewhat con<br />
fusing, if complete. The list itself is<br />
much like that found in standard col<br />
lege guides; the only difference is that a<br />
Y or an N appears before each degree to<br />
indicate whether it is offered. It would<br />
be much clearer if those not offered<br />
were struck from the list. This criticism<br />
also applies to other fields, like sports<br />
and extracurricular activities.<br />
Given the amount of time and<br />
money many of our college-bound stu-<br />
FREE<br />
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JUNE 1989 67
H REVIEWS<br />
dents spend requesting catalogs, prepar<br />
ing essays, visiting colleges, and thinking<br />
about the many choices before them, an<br />
investment in College Explorer is mini<br />
mal and can pay handsome dividends.<br />
Deciding which college to attend is up<br />
to you. College Explorer doesn't rob<br />
you of that responsibility, but it does<br />
assist you in the more tedious opera<br />
tions. And that will make your hunt for<br />
the right school a pleasure.<br />
— Kristen Stemberg<br />
College Explorer<br />
For...<br />
Apple II (128K RAM and extended <strong>80</strong>column<br />
card needed for lie)—$49.95<br />
IBM PC, PS/2, and compatibles in either<br />
5V4- or 3«nnch disks—$49.95<br />
From...<br />
The College Board<br />
College Board Publications<br />
Box 886. Dept. PO8<br />
New York. NY 10101 -0886<br />
(212)713-8165<br />
Abrams Battle<br />
Tank<br />
There's a firestorm every minute in the<br />
land of rolling thunder, Western Eu<br />
rope, where the Warsaw Pact has bro<br />
ken through NATO defenses to begin<br />
World War III. You're in command of<br />
an M1A1 Abrams tank, history's most<br />
sophisticated armored fighting vehicle.<br />
If Patton had ridden in this tank, Berlin<br />
would have made him mayor.<br />
Abrams Battle Tank gives you a<br />
taste of what it's like inside one of these<br />
60-ton iron maidens. Whether guiding<br />
your crew through a single mission or<br />
holding your own in a World War III<br />
invasion scenario, be prepared for firing<br />
action from every angle—east, west,<br />
north, south, and even from above.<br />
From the main menu, you select<br />
from four options: Scenario, Campaign,<br />
Mi-Info, and Exit. Mi-Info gives you a<br />
rundown of your weapon systems, using<br />
illustrations and appropriate military<br />
jargon. Select Scenario to choose a sin<br />
gle battle from among eight missions;<br />
choose Campaign to move through all<br />
eight missions in an order randomly se<br />
lected by the computer.<br />
Before you head to war with the<br />
Russkies, you'll report to the fuel depot.<br />
That's where you choose your arma<br />
ment mix, balancing Sabot (very effec<br />
tive against tanks and other armored<br />
vehicles), HEAT (very effective against<br />
infantry and constructions like enemy<br />
68 COMPUTE!<br />
headquarters), and AX (an experimen<br />
tal wire-guided weapon that can vapor<br />
ize enemy helicopters) rounds. It's<br />
enough to make weapons procurement<br />
part of your everyday vocabulary.<br />
Out on the battlefield, you play<br />
three roles: commander, gunner, and<br />
driver. Each position offers a unique<br />
view of the outside world and is ac<br />
cessed by a specific function key (Fl to<br />
move to the gunner's position, for<br />
instance).<br />
In the heat of battle, moving from<br />
one station to the other can cost you<br />
time—and your life. Therefore, you'll<br />
almost always stick with the command<br />
er and gunner stations. The driver's sta<br />
tion is more an afterthought than a<br />
necessity: You can get speedometer<br />
readings from the commander's station<br />
and receive warnings if you're working<br />
the motor too hard. I would gladly<br />
trade the driver's perspective for a good<br />
pair of binoculars: Spotting the enemy<br />
at a distance is imperative to survival.<br />
Guiding the tank is your first chal<br />
lenge. You'll have to learn to distin<br />
guish between heading (the direction in<br />
which the body of the tank is pointing)<br />
and bearing (the direction the turret—<br />
and therefore the main gun—is facing).<br />
To turn the tank or the turret, press the<br />
left- or right-arrow key or move your<br />
joystick to the right or left. The A key<br />
aligns the turret and the tank; the C key<br />
switches control between the tank and<br />
the turret.<br />
For example, suppose you're in the<br />
commander's station and your heading<br />
is 270 degrees (there are no compass di<br />
rections in this game—just degrees).<br />
You take a hit bearing 2 degrees. You<br />
can swing the entire tank toward the<br />
right (0 degrees is due north), or you<br />
can switch control to the turret and<br />
change your bearing to point your can<br />
non at the enemy. Getting a moving,<br />
southbound enemy into your sights<br />
when you're rolling west at 40 kilome<br />
ters an hour is a skill that takes hours to<br />
develop.<br />
Your main defenses are speed, nat<br />
ural cover, and smoke canisters that<br />
blind the enemy for about 20 seconds.<br />
To see through the smoke or to see at<br />
night, you can switch on your thermal<br />
imaging system (press the T key). If<br />
your tank is too heavily damaged to<br />
continue the fight, you can return to<br />
base for repairs.<br />
When you contact enemy forces,<br />
use your target acquisition and designa<br />
tion system (press the Enter key while<br />
in the gunner's station) to identify the<br />
target—don't shoot friendly forces, or<br />
headquarters will have your head. Press<br />
the L key to lock onto the target and hit<br />
the space bar to fire. If your hit takes<br />
out the enemy, your commander ap<br />
pears onscreen to acknowledge the kill.<br />
My few objections to Abrams Bat<br />
tle Tank center on its operation. The<br />
game ran well on an AT clone, but the<br />
tank was slow to respond on my Tandy<br />
1000 EX. To compensate, I had to an<br />
ticipate my movements—another level<br />
of confusion to an already-complex<br />
game. Also, the skill levels—Novice,<br />
Moderate, and Expert—function only<br />
in the Scenario mode; if you choose<br />
Campaign, you must play on the Expert<br />
level. Fighting on that level, while<br />
much more realistic than fighting on<br />
the other two (no tank can survive hit<br />
after hit without serving up its crew like<br />
so much fondue), is frustrating for be<br />
ginners eager to fight an entire cam<br />
paign. My tours usually ended with a<br />
snap, crackle, and pop—and I'm not<br />
talking Rice Krispies.<br />
Hit your enemies on the run if you want to<br />
survive in Abrams Battle Tank.<br />
Abrams Battle Tank provides<br />
hours of rapid-fire warfare simulation<br />
without much emphasis on real NATO<br />
defensive strategies. (No one expects a<br />
single tank to rescue a stranded con<br />
voy—that's a job for a helicopter gun-<br />
ship—or to take on single-handedly<br />
several enemy battalions.) But if you<br />
put those questions aside and accept the<br />
game as a graphically excellent, tactical<br />
ly complex simulation, you'll get a lot<br />
of bang for your buck.<br />
Abrams Battle Tank<br />
For...<br />
IBM PC and compatibles—S39.95<br />
From...<br />
Electronic Arts<br />
1820 Gateway Dr.<br />
San Mateo. CA 94404<br />
(415)571-7171<br />
— Peter Scisco<br />
And...<br />
A combination pack for the IBM that in<br />
cludes 514- and 3Y2-inch disks sells for<br />
$44.95; an Amiga version is planned for an<br />
August release, but no price has been set.
n reviews<br />
TV Sports Football<br />
Red dog 23! Hut! Hut! Hut! Thud! Ooof! Crash! XJunhl<br />
Arrgh!<br />
Once you've heard Cinemaware's TV Sports Football,<br />
you'll know this program is, as the package says, "so<br />
real... il sweats!" Its bone-crushing, in-the-trenches ac<br />
tion propels this gridiron simulation to the top of the<br />
computer-football heap.<br />
As in real football, there are strategic and tactical lev<br />
els to the game. You can play with either the 28-franchise<br />
Cinemaware Football League (CWFL), modeled on the<br />
NFL, or use the program's editing features to build your<br />
own players, teams, and leagues. The computer can run<br />
any or all of the franchises, or you and up to 55 (!) of your<br />
friends (one each as offensive and defensive captains of<br />
each franchise) can play against each other. This game en<br />
courages team play, an aspect lost in many other sports<br />
games. You have to play an entire season, but if you can't<br />
devote that much time to the turf, the computer can play<br />
most of the games for you.<br />
The CWFL franchises have offensive and defensive<br />
strengths and weaknesses modeled after the actual records<br />
of NFL teams; you can even play a franchise against itself,<br />
which can settle those nagging postseason disputes about<br />
the relative merits of one team's offensive and defensive<br />
squads. The program saves league stats on a separate disk,<br />
which must remain in a second drive while you play.<br />
You perfect your tactics by watching exhibition<br />
games and then trying practice plays. Learn how to hand<br />
off, pitch out, rush, kick, and pass with the joystick. It<br />
takes practice to learn how to drop into a pocket, spot a re<br />
ceiver, avoid the rush, fire the ball, and then make a div<br />
ing catch. Don't rush into a season before you're prepared.<br />
You select your plays from the Playcalling screen,<br />
which also shows play diagrams, the score, the down,<br />
yards to go for a first down, and the game clock. Choose a<br />
play by selecting the appropriate icon in the lower part of<br />
the Playcalling screen, or let the computer call the play for<br />
you. Over time, TV Sports Football learns the kind of<br />
plays you are likely to call in any situation and will call<br />
those plays if you're temporarily away from the game raid<br />
ing the fridge.<br />
Once you have selected a play, you switch to the play<br />
ing-field screen to run it. With the joystick you can control<br />
key players, such as the quarterback, receivers, and defen<br />
sive backs; or, you can let the computer handle them. If<br />
you want to veg out in front of the screen as you do during<br />
a real TV game, the computer will run the entire game.<br />
Calling and running plays is exciting, but TV Sports<br />
Football also scores in the visceral-impact department.<br />
The look and feel of the game are amazingly authentic.<br />
The design, pacing, and graphics accurately mimic a tele<br />
vised game, with commentators, pregame and postgame<br />
shows, commercials, and a halftime extravaganza. The<br />
colorful screens, detailed players, and smooth animation<br />
are what you'd expect from a Cinemaware game, especial<br />
ly on the Amiga; you won't be disappointed.<br />
Added to the stunning visual effects is the game's<br />
realistic sound. With the digitized samples you'll hear the<br />
explosive grunts of colliding linebackers, the roar of the<br />
crowd, and the calls of the refs. The ball does make a<br />
funny arcade-type noise as it flies through the air, but that<br />
helps you read its flight and position your receiver. Even<br />
the program's musical score sounds like the kind of<br />
UNITED COMPUTER EXPRESS<br />
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CALL FOR NEW LOW PRICES!!<br />
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m reviews<br />
hyped-up fanfare that opens and closes<br />
every NFL game. I do have one quib<br />
ble: The announcers are silent. Instead<br />
of reading text, I would have liked to<br />
hear John Madden's ravings. Maybe<br />
Cinemaware couldn't fit him on the<br />
disk.<br />
Another gripe I have, at least with<br />
the Amiga version, is that you can't run<br />
it from one disk drive, install it on a<br />
hard disk, or multitask it with other<br />
programs. Cinemaware has bypassed<br />
the Amiga operating system entirely in<br />
its new games, resulting in software that<br />
loads faster from disk but behaves bad<br />
ly by Amiga standards. That won't<br />
bother the typical fan, however.<br />
The onscreen action rivals the real thing in<br />
TV Sports Football.<br />
By making a game that mirrors the<br />
good and bad points of televised sports,<br />
Cinemaware has achieved something<br />
new, something more than the standard<br />
run-of-the mill computer football<br />
game.<br />
If you're turned off by the video<br />
hoopla and blather of professional foot<br />
ball, you'll want to pass up TV Sports<br />
Football. But no gridiron addict should<br />
be without it; it's simply the most real<br />
istic football simulation ever created.<br />
The only problem fans face is whether<br />
to watch the game on TV or play it<br />
themselves.<br />
— Steven Amovin<br />
70<br />
TV Sports Football<br />
For...<br />
Amiga with external disk drive and joy<br />
stick—$49.95<br />
From...<br />
Cinemaware<br />
4165 Thousand Oaks Blvd.<br />
Westlake Village. CA 91362<br />
(<strong>80</strong>5)495-6515<br />
And...<br />
Release of a version for the IBM PC and<br />
compatibles is imminent. AppSe lies, Atari<br />
ST. and Commodore 64/128 versions are<br />
under development.<br />
COMPUTE<br />
Geometry<br />
Almost all students will, from time to<br />
time, need some extra coaching when<br />
confronting their studies. Unfortunate<br />
ly, teachers and parents are sometimes<br />
unavailable or unprepared to offer help.<br />
Enter the electronic tutor.<br />
Geometry, newly released for the<br />
Apple IIgs and long available for the<br />
Macintosh, follows a standard highschool<br />
textbook approach. It offers ten<br />
chapters on a variety of topics: points,<br />
lines, planes, angles, triangles, congru<br />
ence, parallel lines, parallelograms, and<br />
more. Each chapter contains about a<br />
dozen subtopics for further exploration.<br />
For example, some of the subjects<br />
covered in Points, Lines, and Planes in<br />
clude geometric figures, the distance<br />
postulate, the angle-measure postulate,<br />
and theorems about complementary,<br />
supplementary, and vertical angles. A<br />
student interested in similarity can ex<br />
amine ratios, proportions, the proper<br />
ties of proportion, and more.<br />
Geometry retains its book meta<br />
phor throughout; students can "turn"<br />
pages with a mouse or brush up on a<br />
particular concept by looking it up in<br />
the program's online index—an alpha<br />
betized list of terms arranged on tabbed<br />
indexlike cards.<br />
To use the index (located under the<br />
Subject menu), students click on the tab<br />
where the term is likely to be listed. For<br />
example, to find out more about hypot<br />
enuse, the student would select the tab<br />
labeled F-l. Then, he or she could se<br />
lect hypotenuse directly with a double<br />
click. The student can use the scroll bar<br />
to examine all the index listings on a<br />
particular card in searching for a specif<br />
ic subject.<br />
Throughout the program, students<br />
advance at their own pace. They can<br />
work on more than 350 problems, or<br />
they can stick to the tutorials, reviewing<br />
each chapter's concepts. The graphics<br />
capabilities of the IIGS and Macin<br />
tosh—and both computers' intuitive in<br />
terface (icons, dialog boxes, point-andclick<br />
mouse control, and pull-down<br />
menus)—enhance the program's opera<br />
tion. Keyboard commands also assist<br />
with cursor control.<br />
One advantage to selecting subjects<br />
on a chapter-by-chapter basis is the ani<br />
mated graphics that appear at the start<br />
of each lesson, illustrating the concepts<br />
under discussion. For example, the<br />
chapter on congruence opens with two<br />
animated triangles. As the triangles ro<br />
tate, they change shape. At some points<br />
in their movement, the triangles are<br />
congruent, while at others they are not.<br />
providing a clear sense of what congru<br />
ence means.<br />
Among Geometry's several<br />
convenient features is the Save Place<br />
command, which lets you place a<br />
"bookmark" in the program and auto<br />
matically return to that point the next<br />
time you run Geometry. To find your<br />
place, click on the BookMark icon from<br />
the Finder or the Restore Place com<br />
mand in the File menu. If you're run<br />
ning Geometry from a hard disk, the<br />
Save Place and Restore Place com<br />
mands are fully functional, but you<br />
won't be able to take advantage of the<br />
BookMark file directly from the Finder.<br />
Other useful features include the<br />
Help menu options, which provide<br />
background information on the current<br />
page or problem, clues to solve the cur<br />
rent problem, and even the solution to<br />
problems.<br />
The program does suffer from an<br />
initial lack of grace. Because Geometry<br />
comes on three <strong>80</strong>0K floppy disks, it<br />
demands multiple disk swaps to<br />
launch, even if you have two 3V;-inch<br />
disk drives.<br />
Use Geometry to get the right angle on<br />
your math studies.<br />
A hard disk will reduce the time it<br />
takes to boot and reboot, but not all<br />
users are prepared to make that pur<br />
chase. Likewise, not all users are pre<br />
pared to increase their computer's<br />
memory. While Geometry runs on a<br />
IIgs with 512K. you'll encounter prob<br />
lems if you print pages that include ani<br />
mation, because such printing cats a lot<br />
of memory. Printing such pages with<br />
the Print Page command means reboot<br />
ing when printing is done. Apple IIgs<br />
programs arc notorious for their long<br />
launch time, so the last thing you want<br />
to do is reboot on a regular basis. Ge<br />
ometry doesn't take advantage of<br />
GS/OS. which could have sped up pro<br />
gram loading. And the program sup<br />
ports AppleTalk only if your system is<br />
equipped with at least 768K.<br />
Geometry's user's guide provides a<br />
thorough explanation of program oper<br />
ation, but it's an inadequate reference
n reviews<br />
tool. Concept definitions and references<br />
are available only on disk. Students<br />
should bring their geometry text home<br />
from school or use the program index,<br />
from which they can print the infor<br />
mation they need.<br />
Despite the demands it places on<br />
your hardware, Geometry successfully<br />
underscores the computer's role as an<br />
instructional aid. Its interactive learn<br />
ing abilities and animated geometric<br />
figures that rotate through several<br />
planes bring abstract theorems and clas<br />
sical postulates to life. This may be the<br />
angle teachers and parents need to get<br />
kids to enjoy their geometry lessons.<br />
— Carol S. Holzberg<br />
Geometry<br />
For...<br />
Apple lies—$79.95<br />
Macintosh—$99.95<br />
From...<br />
Broderbund Software<br />
17 Paul Dr.<br />
San Rafael. CA 94903-2101<br />
(415)492-3200<br />
And...<br />
A school edition, with supplemental teach<br />
ing aids, retails for $109.95 (Macintosh)<br />
and $89.95 (Apple IIgs); a lab pack, with<br />
five copies of the program and supple<br />
mental teaching aids, retails for $219.95<br />
(Macintosh) and $199.95 (Apple lies).<br />
Twilight Zone:<br />
Crossroads of<br />
Imagination<br />
Consider for your approval: You're an<br />
average person in a routine situation<br />
going through the everyday motions we<br />
all find so comforting. But take a wrong<br />
turn at a strange intersection or a walk<br />
down an unfamiliar road, and suddenly<br />
you find that you've crossed over into a<br />
new dimension—a world of imagina<br />
tion, a strange place to which others re<br />
main oblivious.<br />
You have just returned to the Twi<br />
light Zone, but not to the late-fifties-toearly-sixties<br />
television series. Instead,<br />
the popular science-fiction show lives<br />
on in The Twilight Zone: Crossroads of<br />
Imagination, the first in a series of roleplaying<br />
adventures from First Row<br />
Software Publishing based on Rod<br />
Scrling's classic show.<br />
Twilight Zone begins with a nor<br />
mal setting. It's a typical 19<strong>80</strong>'s un<br />
kempt bachelor's bedroom, complete<br />
with blaring television set. Bleary-eyed<br />
and unshaven, the hero awakens and<br />
glances around his room. He has no<br />
idea of the problems that lie ahead—<br />
perhaps a meeting with the Grim Reap<br />
er himself. Suddenly, a very ordinary<br />
day takes a very nasty turn.<br />
Once you enter the sixth dimen<br />
sion, there's no going back. You must<br />
conquer all obstacles or face a horrible<br />
fate. Before it's all over, you'll save a<br />
young girl from a fiery death, perform<br />
valiantly in an important race, and<br />
serve honorably a grateful king. You'll<br />
wander city streets, bury the wounded<br />
in distant jungles, and solve baffling<br />
riddles. And when it's all over, then ...<br />
well, only then will you discover how it<br />
all ends.<br />
Of course, you understand that I'm<br />
sworn to secrecy. But—what the heck—<br />
a few brief hints won't give anything<br />
away. Just don't tell anyone where you<br />
heard them. If A. J. Foyt calls, remem<br />
ber to request a few pointers; a consul<br />
tation with a member of the local<br />
volunteer fire department wouldn't<br />
hurt; and if your memory isn't as sharp<br />
as it once was, you might consider re<br />
reading the legend of Excalibur. Take<br />
these suggestions for what they may (or<br />
may not) be worth. From here on my<br />
lips are sealed.<br />
This game is a classic text adven<br />
ture. You interact by reading text and<br />
then reacting to it with typed com<br />
mands. The program responds predict<br />
ably to the usual direction commands<br />
(North, South, and so on), as well as In<br />
ventor}', Load, Save, and Quit. In addi<br />
tion, it recognizes an unusually large<br />
vocabulary of verbs and objects.<br />
One of Crossroads ofImagina<br />
tion's most noteworthy attributes is an<br />
especially good parser. The manual<br />
credits artificial-intelligence routines<br />
for taking the game far beyond the com<br />
mon verb-object syntax of many text<br />
adventures. The command Take book<br />
and read it, for example, works fine. In<br />
some instances, the program even re<br />
quires qualified commands like Tie<br />
hunter with rope.<br />
The game's numerous graphics<br />
aren't necessary to the adventure, serv<br />
ing only to help players imagine the de<br />
scribed settings. That doesn't mean the<br />
artwork looks bad. But players who run<br />
the text-only version will suffer no dis<br />
advantage and, in fact, will gain speed<br />
by deactivating the pictures.<br />
Similarly, sound also plays an un<br />
important role. On occasion, your com<br />
puter speaker will emit a few notes<br />
from the television show's theme song,<br />
but mostly you're left alone to think<br />
and type. Although some players might<br />
prefer interactive graphics and more<br />
sound, an engaging plot with carefully<br />
constructed responses ensures the<br />
game's success.<br />
Cross the threshold into danger in Twilight<br />
Zone: The Crossroads of Imagination.<br />
Unfortunately, the well-planned<br />
responses are marred by many mis<br />
spellings and grammatical errors. It's<br />
not unreasonable to expect professional<br />
software to deliver a higher measure of<br />
technical excellence.<br />
Twilight Zone rates high marks for<br />
plot construction and player involve<br />
ment. It's easy enough for beginners yet<br />
challenging enough for more advanced<br />
players. With a bit more polishing, it<br />
could be outstanding, sparking renewed<br />
interest in that world of space and time,<br />
the world of imagination.<br />
Too tee too doo too tee too doo....<br />
— DavidStanton<br />
Twilight Zone:<br />
The Crossroads of<br />
Imagination<br />
For...<br />
Amiga—$39.95<br />
Apple Jl—S39.95<br />
Commodore 64/128—S29.S5<br />
IBM PC and compatibles—539.95<br />
From...<br />
First Row Software Publishing<br />
900 E. 8th Awe.<br />
Suite <strong>80</strong>0<br />
King of Prussia. PA 19406-9773<br />
(215)337-1500<br />
Cartooners<br />
You wake up Saturday morning. You<br />
hear nothing. The TV is silent. Where<br />
are the kids? Surely not sleeping—no<br />
kid sleeps late on Saturday. After all, it's<br />
the day of the marathon cartoon.<br />
The answer is in the computer<br />
room. Your kids are creating their own<br />
cartoons. They squeal with laughter as<br />
they program a rabbit to jump high in<br />
the air, turn around, and land next to a<br />
JUNE 9 8 9 71
P REVIEWS<br />
weasel. They giggle uncontrollably as a<br />
pig does the moonwalk in a cornfield. If<br />
it's unusual for your kids to use brain<br />
power on Saturday morning, wait until<br />
you boot up a copy of Electronic Arts'<br />
Cartooners. The Flintstones were never<br />
like this.<br />
Cartooners uses the excellent<br />
graphics and sound capabilities of the<br />
IlGS to full advantage, Background<br />
scenes take on a 3-D effect. Clouds, for<br />
example, look multilayered in the sky<br />
behind the windmill. And the only way<br />
to improve the lively and complex mu<br />
sic would be to hook your Apple IIgs<br />
into vour stereo.<br />
ffdd Scene<br />
Blank Scene<br />
Cemetery<br />
Cornfield<br />
•Country.Rood<br />
Write your own gags and be a comic<br />
genius with Cartooners.<br />
These fantastic features extract<br />
their price. You'll need at least one<br />
megabyte of memory and, though the<br />
program will run on one drive, you<br />
should have a second disk drive. Cartooners<br />
comes with a program disk and<br />
an art disk; another drive makes the<br />
program easier for young children to<br />
use. If you've been waiting to add<br />
memory to your computer, this pro<br />
gram gives you a pretty good excuse for<br />
opening your wallet.<br />
Making animation with Car<br />
tooners is a blast. The instructions are<br />
easy to follow, and the menu-driven<br />
program is easy to use. The menu bar<br />
across the top of the screen allows for<br />
every scene, actor, action, and text<br />
needed for creating a cartoon. While the<br />
program disk carries some of the infor<br />
mation, the art disk has most of the<br />
selections.<br />
The program includes plenty of<br />
background scenes, ranging from a<br />
cornfield to a park to a graveyard on a<br />
dark night. Choose one and you're on<br />
the way to producing your first cartoon.<br />
The next step is to select the actors,<br />
which can be animal characters or ob<br />
jects such as clouds, shrubs, weasels,<br />
and butterflies. Each actor can be pro<br />
grammed to move independently of the<br />
other actors in the scene. The rabbit can<br />
walk. hop. turn around, or freeze. The<br />
72 COMPUTEI<br />
butterfly can fly forward, backward, up,<br />
or down. You can also program the<br />
timing and speed of the action, but<br />
you'll need practice to get everything<br />
coordinated. You can have one actor<br />
walk in front of or behind another. Five<br />
copies of an actor can be placed on the<br />
scene at once: for example, you could<br />
have a group of squirrels dancing<br />
around a campfire and a raccoon doing<br />
the shimmy nearby.<br />
The cartoon's action is controlled<br />
by the number of frames it takes to<br />
complete a move. The menu bar at the<br />
bottom of the screen provides the op<br />
tions for movement. To set the frames,<br />
click on the forward button and ad<br />
vance it as far as needed. To go back.<br />
click on the rewind button. When the<br />
play button is clicked, the cartoon starts<br />
from the beginning. The frame counter<br />
indicates which frame the cartoon is<br />
showing and changes according to the<br />
action on the screen.<br />
Actors speak through the use of<br />
speech balloons, which you can fill with<br />
as much or as little text as needed. An<br />
invisible balloon programmed to move<br />
upward and off the screen can give the<br />
effect of a scrolling caption. Speech bal<br />
loons are controlled the same way the<br />
actors are; a pause feature lets you hold<br />
a frame, giving you time to read the<br />
text.<br />
After you've created and saved<br />
your cartoon, you can string it with<br />
others to run as a show. You can also<br />
record your cartoons on videotape,<br />
freeing you from the computer when<br />
you want to put on a show.<br />
Cartooners does import graphics<br />
from Deluxe Paint II; however, the<br />
color palette may be a little different, so<br />
be watchful. Music can be composed<br />
and imported as well, using Instant<br />
Music.<br />
If you get up really early next Sat<br />
urday morning, maybe you'll beat the<br />
kids to the computer and get to try Cartooners<br />
for yourself. Bui since most kids<br />
think they can operate a computer bet<br />
ter than any adult can. don't be sur<br />
prised if they find you funnier than the<br />
cartoon you create.<br />
— Nancv Rentschler<br />
Cartooners<br />
For...<br />
Apple IIgs—S59.95<br />
From...<br />
Electronic Arts<br />
1820 Gateway Dr.<br />
San Mateo, CA 94404<br />
(415)571-7171<br />
Flodd, the Bad<br />
Guy<br />
In a kingdom far. faraway, kindly<br />
young King Alex rules, and everyone<br />
lives happily and without a care in the<br />
world. Alex and his canine cohort, 01lic.<br />
have great times together. Life is so<br />
terrific, in fact, the young monarch has<br />
never had to use his magic lamp with<br />
its genie and three wishes.<br />
This peaceful scene is the setting<br />
for Flodd, the Bad Guy. an electronic<br />
lapware adventure from the Reading<br />
Magic Library of Tom Snyder Produc<br />
tions. The program builds reading,<br />
problem-solving, and decision-making<br />
skills in youngsters ages 2 through 6<br />
while giving kids and adults the oppor<br />
tunity to share a computer. It's known<br />
as lapware because kids can sit in a<br />
grownup's lap while reading the story<br />
and playing at the computer.<br />
In the story. Flodd, the bad guy,<br />
sneaks into town one summer night. He<br />
pulls the plug from the water tower,<br />
leaving Alex's subjects high and dry.<br />
Alex summons the genie and uses wish<br />
number 1—rain to fill up the tower.<br />
When Flodd threatens to pull the plug<br />
again. Alex rubs the lamp once more<br />
for wish number 2—the water tower<br />
plug to stick forever.<br />
he .genie cane oul <<br />
ttle. "What<br />
sited<br />
Share a tale of genies, magic, princes,<br />
and villains in Flodd, the Bad Guy.<br />
In a fit, Flodd kidnaps Ollie, Alex's<br />
trusty companion. In desperation, Alex<br />
summons the genie for wish number 3,<br />
his last. Much to everyone's surprise,<br />
however, Alex doesn't plead for Ollie's<br />
return. Instead, he asks the genie to<br />
make Flodd happy. The story ends on a<br />
heartwarming note when Flodd returns.<br />
carrying Ollie in his arms, and the boy<br />
king and his dog are reunited.<br />
The story of Flodd, the Bad Guy is<br />
simple. The accompanying graphics are<br />
colorful, but not exceptional. The ani<br />
mation is dynamic, yet uncomplicated.<br />
Nevertheless, the program is a success.<br />
Prereaders will find its highly interac<br />
tive quality very appealing. >
Advertisers Index<br />
Reader Service Number/Advertiser Page<br />
102 Ad Lib 5<br />
103 California Freeware 55<br />
104 <strong>Computer</strong> Direct 50-51<br />
105 <strong>Computer</strong> Learning<br />
Foundation 64-65<br />
Crutchfield Personal Office 67<br />
106 Indus-Tool 77<br />
107 Lyco <strong>Computer</strong> 43-46<br />
108 Mad Scientist Software . . 75<br />
109 Melbourne House IFC<br />
110 MIBROCo., Inc 84<br />
111 Micro Star 61<br />
112 Montgomery Grant 57<br />
NRI Schools 9<br />
113 Paragon PC Software ... 85<br />
114 Parsons Technology 1<br />
115 Parsons Technology .. 26-27<br />
116 Precision Data Products . 75<br />
117 Radio Shack IBC<br />
118 Renco <strong>Computer</strong> Printer<br />
Supplies 77<br />
119 Sierra On Line BC<br />
120 Smart Luck <strong>Computer</strong><br />
Systems 75<br />
121 Soft-Byte 73<br />
122 Software Discounters of<br />
America 87<br />
123 Software Excitement .... 35<br />
Strategic Simulations Inc. 11<br />
124SubUOGICCorp 15<br />
125 United <strong>Computer</strong> Express 69<br />
COMPUTE! Books Hot New<br />
Selections 13<br />
COMPUTER'S Amiga Resource<br />
Subscription 25<br />
COMPUTEPs PC Disk<br />
Subscription 17<br />
COMPUTE! Publications, Inc. is seek<br />
ing a fulltimo Assistant Editor to join<br />
its inhouse staff in Greensboro, NC.<br />
The position requires extensive<br />
experience using MS-DOS computers<br />
and a knowledge of the computer<br />
industry. Excellent writing and editing<br />
abilities required. Undergraduate degree<br />
in journalism, English, or technical<br />
writing required.<br />
Excellent company benefits.<br />
Send resume in complete confidence to:<br />
Personnel Department<br />
COMPUTE! Publications, Inc.<br />
P.O. Box 5406<br />
Greensboro, NC 27403<br />
A Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. company<br />
JUNE 73<br />
COMPUTE!<br />
Publications<br />
Back Issues/<br />
Disk Orders<br />
Individual back copies of maga<br />
zines and disks are available by<br />
mail only while quantities last.<br />
Please clip or photocopy, and<br />
mail completed coupon and<br />
check to:<br />
Name:<br />
Street:<br />
City: _<br />
COMPUTE! Publications<br />
Single-Copy Sales<br />
P.O. Box 5188<br />
Greensboro, NC 27403<br />
State: Zip:<br />
Type o( computer.<br />
Quantity<br />
Issue<br />
(Month 'Year)<br />
Magazine<br />
or Disk Name<br />
SUBTOTAL:<br />
NY residents—Add ffl&% Tax:<br />
NC residents—Add 5% Tax:<br />
TOTAL<br />
Price*<br />
Back issues of COMPUTE1, and COMPUTE! s Ga<br />
zette aie S6.00 each No issues dated poor to Janu<br />
ary, 1986. are available. In addition, the following<br />
issues are NOT available Gazelle; 1/86, 3/86.<br />
Single disks for COMPUTERS Gazelle are S15.00.<br />
Disk/magazine combinations are S16.00 NOTE No<br />
disks dated prior to June 1986 are available. The<br />
October. 1987 Gazefle disk is no longer available.<br />
Back issues of COMPUTE! s PC Magazine are<br />
S16 00 each. This publication is available only as a<br />
magazine/disk combinations. The lollowing issues<br />
are NOT available- PC Magazine: 9/87, 11/87<br />
Back issues ol COMPUTE'S Amiga Resouce maga<br />
zine are available beginnng with Spring, 1989 for<br />
S6.00 each Back issues of COMPUTES Amiga Re<br />
source Disk are available beginning with Summer.<br />
19B9 for S10.00 each. Disk/magazine combinations<br />
are $12.00.<br />
Shipping ana handling included.<br />
NO CREDIT-CARD ORDERS ACCEPTED.<br />
Payment must be in U.S dollars by check drawn on<br />
U.S. bank.<br />
95<br />
The original lotto data analyzer.<br />
ANALYZES 6 & 7 number lotto's AND<br />
THREE & FOUR NUMBER DAILY GAMES<br />
(freq., tracking, pairs, odds/even, etc). It's<br />
the sensible way to INCREASE your odds.<br />
Entirely MENU driven, it's the easiest to use<br />
software of its kind. Contains a built-in TU<br />
TORIAL to get you started fast. Sold by<br />
leading software dealers or call us for FAST<br />
service!<br />
Commodore 64, AMIGA, APPLE .... $29.95<br />
MS/DOS (IBM) version 539.95<br />
SOFT-BYTE<br />
513-278-1110 —<br />
P.O. Box556-ForestPark<br />
Dayton, Ohio 45405 cp<br />
MAIL TO:<br />
COMPUTE!<br />
SUBSCRIBER SERVICE<br />
P.O. Box 3245, Harlan. IA 51537<br />
Change of Address: Please advise as early as<br />
possible. Attach label with your old address and<br />
write in new address below.<br />
New Subscriber: Fill in your name and address<br />
below. Use separate sheet for gift orders.<br />
Renewal: Attach label.<br />
PLACE LABEL HERE<br />
One year S24.00 Two years $45.00<br />
(Foreign subscribers please add S6.00 per year for<br />
postage)<br />
CITY | STATE/2 IP<br />
Please bill me Payment enclosed<br />
For other subscription questions or problems,<br />
please write a note and send entire form to the<br />
above address.
n reviews<br />
As a parent or other adult reads the<br />
story aloud, the child gets to "turn" the<br />
pages by pressing any key on the key<br />
board. Children may turn pages for<br />
ward or use the left-arrow key to go<br />
back to previous pages. Once a page is<br />
turned, the built-in timer waits fora full<br />
second before the child can advance the<br />
story any further. This keeps the child<br />
from skipping ahead before the pages<br />
can be read.<br />
At numerous points in the narra<br />
tive, youngsters must make decisions<br />
about what happens next. Should Alex<br />
ask people where Flodd lives, or should<br />
he follow Ollie's nose? Should he and<br />
Ollie enter the dark passage or the lit<br />
one? Is it better to follow Flodd to the<br />
aquarium or take the shortcut?<br />
Children decide how to proceed by<br />
pressing the first letter of the choice<br />
word. To ASK, for example, a child<br />
would press A; to take a SHORTCUT,<br />
the child would press S. Each choice<br />
word appears onscreen in colorful capi<br />
tal letters, with its first letter standing<br />
out from all the rest. Every choice word<br />
is accompanied by an expressive graph<br />
ic clue—kids use it to figure out the cor<br />
responding letter. Next, they locate the<br />
letter on the keyboard and press the<br />
key. The story continues when the cor<br />
rect letter is pressed. There's no nega<br />
tive feedback if the youngster presses an<br />
incorrect key. however, once a decision<br />
is made, it can't be reversed.<br />
The story's numerous turning<br />
points are highlighted by flashing ani<br />
mated graphics with positive-sounding<br />
audio reinforcement. Some kids will<br />
want to hear the story again and again<br />
in order to try out all the possible plot<br />
variations. Others will feel more com<br />
fortable making the same choices every<br />
time. Either way, this tale provides a<br />
wonderful opportunity for prereaders to<br />
polish their early reading skills in a<br />
nonthreatening electronic setting.<br />
Besides promoting reading skills,<br />
Flodd, the Bad Guy introduces young<br />
children to the computer keyboard and<br />
promotes shared computer time be<br />
tween adults and kids. This successfully<br />
interactive storybook strengthens letter<br />
and word recognition as it gives chil<br />
dren a sense of power over their com<br />
puting environment. The package<br />
comes with a copy-protected program<br />
disk, an instruction booklet, and a color<br />
poster. You may purchase a backup for<br />
$ 10 or swap the 5 '/t-i nch floppy for a<br />
3'/2-inch version (or vice versa) for $2<br />
plus the original disk.<br />
The next time you turn on your<br />
computer, think about Flodd, the Bad<br />
Guy (or any of the other stories in the<br />
Reading Magic Library) and share your<br />
74 COMPUTE!<br />
lap and some time with a small person.<br />
If you sit still and don't misbehave,<br />
your child may even let you make some<br />
of the program's important decisions.<br />
— Carol S. Holzberg<br />
Flodd, the Bad Guy<br />
For...<br />
Apple II—$34.95<br />
IBM PC and compatibles with CGA—<br />
$34.95<br />
From...<br />
Tom Snyder Productions<br />
90 Sherman St.<br />
Cambridge. MA 02140<br />
(<strong>80</strong>0) 342-0236 or (617) 876-4433<br />
And...<br />
Also in the Reading Magic Library lire.<br />
Jack and the Beanstalk for Apple II and<br />
PC—$34.95; EGA and Tandy 16-color ver<br />
sions scheduled (or February release.<br />
Publish-lt! Lite!<br />
Just because you're on a budget doesn't<br />
mean you want your documents to look<br />
like Brand X. Publish-lt! Lite! can help.<br />
Despite its silly name (I guess they<br />
couldn't call it Publish-lt! Less), it's the<br />
best of the very-low-end IBM PC and<br />
compatible desktop publishing packages.<br />
This program differs significantly<br />
from competitors iike First Publisher,<br />
The Newsroom, and Pages. Using<br />
Lite—Ihe baby sibling of Timeworks'<br />
Publish-lt!, a medium-price desktop<br />
publishing program that has earned<br />
rave reviews for its ease of use and<br />
power—is like driving the base model<br />
of a luxury car. Not all the features are<br />
there, but the quality still is. Like its<br />
older sibling, Lite is fast and easy to use<br />
and has well-designed fonts and good<br />
print quality.<br />
On the screen. Lite looks similar to<br />
Ventura Publisher. It uses the familiar<br />
GEM interface with drop-down menus,<br />
scroll bars, and a sidebar that contains<br />
the mode selector and a list of files or<br />
attributes. You can view a page as actu<br />
al size or double size, and in full-page<br />
mode.<br />
With Lite, you create up to six col<br />
umn guides to help you design pages.<br />
These guides don't print, but appear on<br />
the screen as dotted lines. The guides<br />
also have a snap-to feature that aligns<br />
your frames within the column guides.<br />
Use your frame to place text or<br />
graphics on the page. You create a<br />
frame by clicking on the frame icon and<br />
then clicking and dragging the mouse. If<br />
you don't already have a frame select<br />
ed, Lite presumes you want to create<br />
one. You can then create four styles of<br />
lines around the frame box: thin, thick,<br />
thicker, and double.<br />
To load text, click on the frame<br />
and then on Import Text, which dis<br />
plays a list of file formats. Publish-lt!<br />
Lite! reads files from WordWriter and<br />
Quintet but doesn't directly read files<br />
from WordPerfect. WordStar, or Micro<br />
soft Word. To import text from those<br />
programs and others, you'll have to<br />
save your work in ASCII. This limita<br />
tion means Lite can't import bold, un<br />
derline, or italic attributes from your<br />
word processor. However, it does con<br />
vert normal typewriter quotation marks<br />
into real typographic quotation<br />
marks—a small victory.<br />
If all your text won't fit in one<br />
frame, you can create another. Lite<br />
automatically redirects text so that it<br />
wraps around a new frame placed on<br />
top of a frame already filled with text.<br />
This feature helps you create more at<br />
tractive and professional-looking pages<br />
because text will continue to wrap<br />
around the frame no matter how often<br />
you move it, making it easier for you to<br />
experiment with design. Besides im<br />
porting text from a word processor, you<br />
can also type directly onto the page.<br />
Lite automatically scrolls the screen<br />
and offers a handy scareh-and-replace<br />
function—even Ventura Publisher lacks<br />
these features.<br />
Publish-lt! Lite! offers low-cost entry into<br />
the world of desktop publishing.<br />
You place graphics on the page as<br />
you place text—by creating a frame and<br />
importing the graphic. Lite will read<br />
only PC Paintbrush and GEM Paint<br />
files; while this is somewhat limiting,<br />
these are the two most popular bit-
The ACLS<br />
Teaching Series<br />
featuring<br />
Cardiac Arrest!<br />
An Incredible Simulation<br />
IBM, Apple II, Apple Mac, Amiga, Atari XE, Atari ST<br />
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EKC, lab data, and vital signs, then give treatment orders in plain English.<br />
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Cardiac Aires t! is almost as fun to use as it is educational. There *re varying<br />
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non-medical people use the simulator to "play doctor."<br />
Our other medical teaching software is excellent, and priced within reach of<br />
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ACLS Teaching Series1 SIM<br />
Cardiac Arrest! $69<br />
ACLS Protocol* $29<br />
EKG Teaching S29<br />
CardioQuiz 519<br />
Blood Cases $24<br />
•The four-disk ACLS Teaching Series includes Cardiac Arrest!, ACLS Protocols,<br />
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Mad Scientist Software<br />
2063 North 820 West, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062<br />
Visa/MC orders call <strong>80</strong>1-785-3028<br />
Before you<br />
do crack,<br />
do this.<br />
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Take a minute. Rll it out. Sign it. Carry it with you. It's the least you can do.<br />
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n reviews<br />
mapped formats. You can use the pro<br />
gram's graphics editor to edit bit<br />
mapped graphics and object-oriented<br />
graphics (for drawing lines, boxes, and<br />
circles). And unlike Pages, which takes<br />
forever to display pictures, Publish-h!<br />
Lite'quickly handles that task. That<br />
means you can use the program effi<br />
ciently on a PC or XT—no need to up<br />
grade to an AT-class computer.<br />
Publish-W. Lite!'really shines when<br />
it prints. While the font quality of some<br />
low-end publishing programs is suited<br />
only for children's play, Lite's printing<br />
is a cut above. That quality, however, is<br />
limited to Epson-compatible 9- or 24pin<br />
dot-matrix printers.<br />
Lite comes with three typefaces:<br />
Dutch (Times Roman), Swiss (Helve<br />
tica), and Bullets. You can print any of<br />
these fonts in sizes ranging from 7 to 36<br />
points.<br />
The program's excellent manual<br />
is easy to follow and includes a com<br />
plete tutorial. The onscreen help is lim<br />
ited—enough to jog your memory, but<br />
not complete enough to replace the<br />
documentation.<br />
As good as it is, however, Publish-<br />
It! Lite! has some significant limitations.<br />
More experienced users will find the<br />
program lacking in advanced features.<br />
It can't, for example, create documents<br />
longer than four pages, and it hogs<br />
memory when producing graphics.<br />
Also, there are no automatic head<br />
ers, footers, or page numbers. Hyphen<br />
ation is completely manual, a blow to<br />
justified text. You can't move frames<br />
from page to page, and you can't turn<br />
off the nonprinting page and frame<br />
guides, so your screen display, while ac<br />
curate, isn't what-you-see-is-what-you-<br />
get quality. Most inconvenient, you<br />
can't set a default type style for import<br />
ed text: You must manually select the<br />
text and then select a type style.<br />
Publish-WLite.'is also missing<br />
manual control for leading (the space<br />
between lines). This limitation can be a<br />
benefit to the beginner, who is ensured<br />
that text is always set with enough lead<br />
ing (no complicated settings to master).<br />
More limiting, however, is Lite's inabil<br />
ity to print landscape (sideways) pages.<br />
Despite these limitations, Publish-<br />
W. Lite! operates on a more professional<br />
level than its low-priced competitors.<br />
Its greatest edge is its upgrade path, n.i<br />
inexpensive Laser Accessory Pack lets<br />
you print to a laser printer. And, if you<br />
outgrow Publish-W. Lite!'(and you will<br />
if you're a frequent desktop publisher),<br />
you can graduate to the standard Pub<br />
lish-W., a full-featured program with all<br />
the bells and whistles Publish-W. Lite!<br />
lacks.<br />
76<br />
COMPUTE<br />
Publish-W Lite! offers a stable, af<br />
fordable entry into desktop publishing.<br />
Though limited, it offers beginners an<br />
easy-to-use framework within which<br />
they can hone their page-design skills.<br />
Ifs a good place to start.<br />
— Daniel Will-Harris<br />
Publish-lt! Lite!<br />
For...<br />
IBM PC. PS/2, and compatibles with two<br />
disk drives or a hard disk; 512K RAM<br />
(640K is required for Hercuies or EGA dis<br />
plays): and CGA, EGA. MCGA. or Hercules<br />
graphics—$59.95<br />
From...<br />
Timeworks<br />
444 Lake Cook Rd.<br />
Deerfieid.IL 60015<br />
(312)948-9202<br />
And...<br />
A Laser Accessory Pack sells for $19.95;<br />
users may upgrade to Publish It! for<br />
$99.00.<br />
WriteNow 2.0<br />
There's nothing wrong with a word pro<br />
cessor that doesn't jump through hoops<br />
blindfolded, as long as it's designed to<br />
handle pure text processing with grace<br />
and common sense. In this regard.<br />
$400 word processor that eats up more<br />
than a megabyte of RAM. But if you<br />
want a shallow learning curve, the en<br />
durance of a marathon runner, and just<br />
the right features to produce basic docu<br />
ments, buy WriteNow. You only have<br />
to feed it 512K of RAM.<br />
As with most Macintosh word pro<br />
cessors, you format paragraphs in<br />
WriteNow 2.0 by changing settings on a<br />
ruler at the top of the screen. Icons con<br />
trol various tabs, margins, first-line in<br />
dents, line spacing, and text alignment.<br />
If you've been using a more powerful<br />
word processor, you may miss features<br />
that automate paragraph formatting,<br />
like the style sheets in Microsoft Word.<br />
WriteNow has similar features, but<br />
they're not as elegant. To transfer for<br />
mats, you must copy and paste rulers<br />
throughout your document. You can<br />
change all paragraphs controlled by<br />
identical ruler settings, though, by se<br />
lecting them and holding the Shift key<br />
when you change ruler settings for one<br />
of the paragraphs: the others will<br />
change accordingly. A similar control<br />
works on fonts, type styles, and type<br />
sizes. For example, select several lines<br />
of text, starting with a boldface entry;<br />
then hold the Command key as you se<br />
lect Underline from the Styles menu.<br />
and all selected, boldface entries will<br />
change to underline.<br />
The program's spelling checker is<br />
speedier than some because it skips text<br />
Write Now 2.0 is a high-performance word processor in an entry-level package.<br />
T/Maker's WriteNow 2.0 holds its own.<br />
WriteNow is a good example of<br />
what an entry-level word processor<br />
should offer: ease of use. sufficient<br />
speed, and economy. If you want a<br />
complicated program that runs like an<br />
Olympic sprinter and offers a long list<br />
of obscure features, go out and buy a<br />
previously checked until those sections<br />
are revised. Several buttons control the<br />
spell-checking procedure. One suggests<br />
intelligent alternatives to misspelled<br />
words—it's even smart enough to sug<br />
gest transposed spellings. Another but<br />
ton ignores spellings that are unique to<br />
a particular file. Other buttons add and
n reviews<br />
subtract words. The 100.000-word dic<br />
tionary is so well stocked that it recog<br />
nizes contractions and some possessives.<br />
WriteNow 2.0 includes several lit<br />
tle details that affect case of use and the<br />
general appearance of your document.<br />
You can, for example, set typographicstyle<br />
quotation marks and apostrophes<br />
by choosing Smart Quotes in the Page<br />
Setup dialog box when you start a docu<br />
ment. (It won't change any punctuation<br />
you've already typed, though.) The<br />
Window menu is another nice feature;<br />
it lets you move from one open file to<br />
another. Center, right, and decimal tabs<br />
increase your options for designing ta<br />
bles and charts; flexible line spacing<br />
makes room for graphics that are too<br />
big for the line of type they inhabit.<br />
Headers, footers, and automatically<br />
numbered footnotes give your docu<br />
ment a professional or scholarly ap<br />
pearance. Tab leaders add a little zip to<br />
your tables of contents. All in all. these<br />
little features are as welcome as the<br />
more significant ones. They don't slow<br />
down the program, and they improve<br />
the look of your pages.<br />
Features like mail merge were once<br />
the territory of more expensive word<br />
processors. WriteNow's mail merge lets<br />
you use conditional statements and<br />
merge more than one document into<br />
your template. A stationery feature<br />
stores default formats as well as text<br />
and graphics that will appear on each<br />
new document you open. You can sup<br />
press this feature by holding down Op<br />
tion when you launch WriteNow,<br />
Many people who have been using<br />
Microsoft Word would be pleased with<br />
WriteNow, so T/Maker has included a<br />
system of filters for converting Word<br />
files into WriteNow format. The pro<br />
cess, however, is relatively clumsy, for<br />
you must first save the Word file in<br />
RTF format. There's also a filter for<br />
converting MacWrite files directly into<br />
WriteNow's format. Filters for other<br />
word processors will be available soon.<br />
Text-only files, of course, are easily im<br />
ported to WriteNow.<br />
WriteNow 2.0 answers your de<br />
mands and more. Some of its features<br />
work very well; however, others can't<br />
compete with similar features in fullfeatured<br />
packages like Microsoft Word<br />
or WordPerfect. The multicolumn op<br />
tion is impressive, but the format you<br />
choose controls the whole document.<br />
You can't even run a headline across<br />
several columns without a pair of scis<br />
sors and a bottle of glue. Background<br />
printing is another impressive offering,<br />
but it's sluggish and slows down any<br />
other computer work you do while you<br />
wait for your printing to finish.<br />
Compared with the entry-level<br />
word processors that used to dominate<br />
the Macintosh market, WriteNow 2.0 is<br />
a slick, sophisticated writing tool. But<br />
it has limits. Use it to produce plain<br />
documents—letters, reports, great<br />
novels—and you'll be pleased with its<br />
performance.<br />
— Heidi E. H. Aycock<br />
WriteNow 2.0<br />
For...<br />
Macintosh—S195<br />
From...<br />
T/Maker<br />
1390 Villa St.<br />
Mountain View, CA 94041<br />
(415)962-0195<br />
Hometown,<br />
U.S.A.<br />
If you've ever wanted to design the<br />
exterior of a house or build a small vil<br />
lage, then you'll want to visit Home<br />
town, U.S.A. Publishing International's<br />
program is just the thing for budding<br />
architects and closet city planners.<br />
Designed for adults and children.<br />
Hometown, U.S.A. includes templates<br />
of 13 large structures and several small<br />
er ones. Also included are patterns for<br />
doors, windows, signs, and other items<br />
you can use to "dress up" the buildings<br />
you design.<br />
The program's Ideas Book con<br />
tains hints for getting the most out of<br />
the program and suggestions for cutting<br />
and assembling the buildings. A second<br />
manual contains loading instructions,<br />
shots of the parts of each structure, and<br />
miscellaneous items. Also included are<br />
predesigned buildings that will give you<br />
an idea of how your buildings could be<br />
placed and decorated.<br />
The first step to designing a build<br />
ing is picking the basic structure. Since<br />
there are so many choices, you'll have<br />
no problem locating a pattern you like.<br />
It gets trickier when you must decide<br />
which doors, windows, balconies, fenc<br />
ing, and other additions to use. If you're<br />
building a store, for example, you'll<br />
have to pick a sign, which you can alter<br />
further with the program's paint/gra<br />
phics capabilities.<br />
The paint/graphics feature is also<br />
handy for adding shingles and bricks to<br />
your building—just select Patterns<br />
from the menu bar. Flood Fill lets you<br />
instantly create a roof. (You'll have to<br />
add color by hand. Crayons will do, but<br />
COLOR RIBBONS & PAPER<br />
COLOR<br />
RIBBONS<br />
Ribbons Price Each<br />
Apole Imagewriter l/ll<br />
Citizen 120 0<br />
Commodore MPS B01<br />
Commodore MPS <strong>80</strong>2<br />
Commodore MPS <strong>80</strong>3<br />
Commodore MPS 1000<br />
Commodore MPS 1200<br />
Commodo/e 1525<br />
Okidata 82/92/93<br />
Okidata 182/192<br />
Panasonic KX-P 1090<br />
Seikosha SP <strong>80</strong>0/1000<br />
Star SG 10<br />
Star NX10;NL10<br />
RED, BLUE, GREEN,<br />
BROWN, PURPLE, YELLOW,<br />
Bleck<br />
3.75<br />
5.00<br />
4.15<br />
6.00<br />
4-95<br />
3.95<br />
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1.75<br />
6.50<br />
6.75<br />
5.25<br />
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4.50<br />
6.00<br />
4.75<br />
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5.95<br />
4.95<br />
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6.50<br />
7.95<br />
5.75<br />
7.00<br />
6.75<br />
7.95<br />
4.50<br />
7.95<br />
4.50<br />
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COLOR PAPER<br />
BRIGHT PACK-200 Sheeis/50 each color: Red,<br />
Blue, Green. Yellow. 9 1/2x11 - S10.90/pk.<br />
PASTEL PACK-200 Sheets/50 each color: Pink,<br />
Yellow, Blue. Ivory. 9 1/2 x 11 - $10.90/pk.<br />
T-SHIRT RIBBONS IHeat Transfer) - Call For Price.<br />
COLOR DISKETTES<br />
5 1/4" DS/DD Rainbow Pack. 10/pack - 512.50<br />
For ribbons & paper not listed above, call for price &<br />
avail. Price & spec, subject to change w/o notice. Min.<br />
order S25.OO. Mm. S & H S3.5O. Add S2.25 C.O.D.<br />
add'l. IL res. add 6.25% tax. MC & Visa accepted.<br />
RENCO COMPUTER PRINTER SUPPLIES<br />
P.O. Box 475, Manteno, IL 60950 U.S.A.<br />
1-<strong>80</strong>0-522-6922 • (IL) 1-<strong>80</strong>0-356-9981<br />
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Save on BROWNOUT protection!<br />
LINE CONDITIONER<br />
keeps power constant during<br />
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Prevents damage and downtime on computers,<br />
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voltage support when AC input power varies up or<br />
down. Maintains constant output of 120V. Line<br />
Stabilizer is a stepped transformer system that has<br />
higher efficiency than CVT's (constant voltage trans<br />
formers) and gives lower waveform distortion at FAR<br />
LOWER COST. Built-in spike and noise suppression.<br />
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n reviews<br />
Right Side (3) Rear (2)<br />
Left Side (4) Froni ( 1 )<br />
Build the house of your dreams with Hometown, U.S.A.<br />
markers or watercolors give a more fin<br />
ished look.)<br />
After you've finished designing<br />
your building, you can print it out on a<br />
dot-matrix or laser printer {Macintosh<br />
version only). For best results, you'll<br />
want to use heavy bond or textured pa<br />
per. Several pieces of the structure ap<br />
pear on each page, and it may take two<br />
or three pages to prinl all the parts your<br />
building requires.<br />
The next step is to put your cre<br />
ation together. The program's manual<br />
offers excellent suggestions about how<br />
to cut. paste, and assemble your build<br />
ing. There are step-by-step directions<br />
for putting together each structure.<br />
Numbers printed on the tabs of the<br />
parts identify the section and indicate<br />
to which part it is to be glued. To make<br />
your structures even sturdier, glue the<br />
parts to cardboard or cardstock before<br />
you start. Use sharp scissors or an X-<br />
ACTO knife to get more finely cut<br />
edges.<br />
The buildings differ in size, but arc<br />
close to the HO scale familiar to modeltrain<br />
users. {To give you an idea of the<br />
basic size, a cassette tape fits nicely in<br />
side the hotel.) If you want to make<br />
your buildings larger or smaller, you<br />
78 C O M P U T E I<br />
can enlarge or reduce the printed tem<br />
plates with a photocopier before<br />
cutting.<br />
There's no wanting for ideas on<br />
using your model buildings around the<br />
house. The tiny homes could be turned<br />
into containers for cookies or candies<br />
given as holiday gifts. Reduce the size<br />
of the buildings and they make clever<br />
Christmas tree ornaments or. placed on<br />
a table, form a Christmas village. Con<br />
struct a town for your child's (or your<br />
own) electric train. Stuff some potpour<br />
ri in a schoolhouse for a great gift for<br />
your child's teacher. You'll find lots of<br />
clever ways to use your buildings.<br />
Hometown, U.S.A. also has many<br />
classroom applications. For example, a<br />
social studies project might have chil<br />
dren design the neighborhood where<br />
they live. The stcp-by-stcp design pro<br />
cess, followed by the construction of the<br />
buildings, bolsters logical thinking<br />
skills. Vocabulary and cooperativelearning<br />
skills are practiced as groups of<br />
children work together to create their<br />
own community.<br />
Parents eager to share in their<br />
child's learning experience will benefit<br />
from the teamwork that a program like<br />
Hometown, U.S.A. fosters. Adults and<br />
children work as partners, creating a<br />
place they can call home.<br />
— Nancy Rentschler<br />
Hometown, U.S.A.<br />
For...<br />
Apple II—S39.95<br />
Apple Has—$39.95<br />
Commodore 64/128—S39.95<br />
IBM PC and compatibles—$39.95<br />
Macintosh—S39.95<br />
From...<br />
Publishing International<br />
333 W. El Camino Real<br />
Suite 222<br />
Sunnyvale. CA 94087<br />
(408) 738^1311<br />
And...<br />
Print drivers for laser printers are being de<br />
veloped for the IBM version. Q<br />
To receive additional<br />
information from the<br />
advertisers in this issue,<br />
use the handy reader service<br />
card in the back of<br />
the magazine.
HFS-III Upgraded<br />
Jay Gold Software has updated its<br />
Home Finance System-Ill for the IBM<br />
PC and compatibles to version 3.2. The<br />
financial management program tracks<br />
income and expenses, balances check<br />
books, writes reports, and prints checks.<br />
With this version, users can view a<br />
report onscreen, send the report to disk,<br />
or send it right to the printer. A Find<br />
feature allows access to selected trans<br />
actions for viewing or editing, while<br />
Smart menus follow keystrokes to the<br />
desired menu entries. A Quick Ques<br />
tions card refers to the Main Menu and<br />
answers other common user questions.<br />
The program supports laser printers for<br />
checks, and an onscreen check-design<br />
option lets you purchase business-size<br />
checks from any vendor. The suggested<br />
retail price for HFS-U1 is $49.95.<br />
Jav Gold Software, P.O. Box 2024,<br />
DesMoinesJA 50310<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 200.<br />
Powerful Lightweight<br />
Weighing in at 11.6 pounds, the T1600<br />
<strong>80</strong>C286 laptop is the lightest and most<br />
powerful of Toshiba's battery-powered<br />
portable PC line. The system boasts a<br />
12-MHz clock speed and comes equipped<br />
with 1 megabyte of RAM (expandable<br />
to 5 megabytes), a 20-megabyte hard<br />
disk with 27-millisecond access time,<br />
and a high-capacity 1.44-megabyte 3'Ainch<br />
IBM PS/2-compatibIe disk drive.<br />
A detachable backlit supertwist<br />
EGA liquid-crystal display is standard;<br />
an external monitor can be connected<br />
through the system's EGA port. Other<br />
system ports include a parallel, two seri<br />
al, one for an external 5!/i-inch external<br />
disk drive, and one for a numeric key<br />
pad. The dedicated modem slot accom<br />
modates Toshiba's optional 2400 bitsper-second<br />
Hayes-compatible modem.<br />
A general-purpose expansion slot is also<br />
available.<br />
The computer comes with one 15-<br />
ounce battery pack but can support<br />
two. A Sleep Mode for the microproces<br />
sor and power-down features for the<br />
hard disk drive and backlit display con<br />
serve battery power. An AutoResume<br />
feature allows for instant reentry into<br />
an application without rebooting or re<br />
loading application software.<br />
The T1600 comes with MS-DOS<br />
3.3, PC-Kwik Power Pak disk-cache<br />
utility software, a hypertext diskresident<br />
DOS, and user documentation.<br />
The suggested retail price is $4,999.<br />
Toshiba America, Information Sys<br />
tems Division, 9740 Irvine Blvd., Irvine,<br />
CA 92718<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 201.<br />
The Toshiba T1600 portable PC weighs<br />
11.6 pounds.<br />
Copter Rescue and Attack<br />
ThunderChopper, SubLOGIOs heli<br />
copter flight simulator, requires players<br />
to execute rescue and combat missions.<br />
But before facing the enemy, players<br />
must complete a set of training missions.<br />
In the first combat mission. Armed<br />
Escort, players must guide ground<br />
troops to safety through enemy territo<br />
ry', protecting them from guerrilla fight<br />
ers. Rescue at Sea asks players to locate<br />
and rescue the survivors of a major na<br />
val engagement. Players must search<br />
the floating wreckage while staying on<br />
Mickey McLean<br />
wductsl<br />
alert for enemy ships.<br />
An on-board flight computer pro<br />
vides mission instructions and perfor<br />
mance feedback. Flight instrumentation<br />
includes Forward-Looking Infrared,<br />
CO2 laser radar, and zoom television.<br />
The helicopter's armament includes<br />
TOW and Stinger missiles. Zuni rock<br />
ets, and a Hughes Chain Gun.<br />
ThunderChopper requires an IBM<br />
PC or compatible with a CGA, EGA, or<br />
VGA graphics card and a color or<br />
monochrome graphics monitor. The<br />
suggested retail price is $39.95.<br />
SubWGIC, 501 Kenyon Rd,<br />
Champaign, 1L 61820<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 202.<br />
Goofy Golfing ST Style<br />
Electronic Arts' Zany Golf has come to<br />
the Atari ST. On this unusual miniature<br />
golf course, as many as four players<br />
compete for best score over nine holes,<br />
each of which provides a different chal<br />
lenge and experience.<br />
For example, players must maneu<br />
ver a golf ball through flashing lights<br />
while on the Pinball hole; putts must<br />
clear a bouncing burger on the Ham<br />
burger hole; and the Energy hole fea<br />
tures dart laser beams, particle rays,<br />
and transporter pads. Other holes have<br />
moving walls, magic carpets, a castle.<br />
and, of course, the classic windmill.<br />
One hole seems to have a mind of its<br />
own, while another remains a secret.<br />
The suggested retail price for the<br />
Atari ST version of Zany Golf is $39.95.<br />
The game was previously released for<br />
the Apple IlGS and the IBM PC and<br />
compatibles at the same price.<br />
Electronic Arts, 1820 Gateway Dr.,<br />
San Mateo, CA 94404<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 203.<br />
That's Some Display<br />
Boca Research's Dual Graphics Adapt<br />
er enables IBM PC and compatibles<br />
users to enhance monochrome-monitor<br />
resolution and upgrade to a CGA moni<br />
tor with one adapter. The board com<br />
bines the functions of CGA, MDA, and<br />
JUNE 1989 79
the Hercules graphics card.<br />
Display enhancements on TTL<br />
monochrome monitors include stand<br />
ard <strong>80</strong> X 25 line text and 720 X 348<br />
Hercules graphics. On CGA, EGA, or<br />
other RGB monitors, the adapter deliv<br />
ers <strong>80</strong> X 25 sixteen-color text, 320 X<br />
200 four-color graphics, or 640 X 200<br />
two-color graphics.<br />
Other features include automatic<br />
mode switching and a 25-pin parallel<br />
port. The installation procedure con<br />
sists of the board's insertion into any 8-<br />
or 16-bit PC-style bus and setting its<br />
jumper; no software is required.<br />
The Dual Graphics Adapter carries<br />
a suggested retail price of $99.<br />
Boca Research, 6401 Congress<br />
Ave., Boca Raton. FL 33487<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 204.<br />
Boca Research's Dual Graphics Adapter<br />
enhances both monochrome and CGA<br />
monitors.<br />
New and Improved GEOS 128<br />
A new and enhanced GEOS 128 has<br />
been released by Berkeley Softworks.<br />
The new version includes geo Write 2.1,<br />
a full-featured word processor; geoSpell<br />
128, an <strong>80</strong>-column spelling checker;<br />
and geoPaint, a high-resolution graph<br />
ics workshop.<br />
Also included with the package is<br />
an enhanced deskTop program that<br />
supports two disk drives and a RAM<br />
expansion unit, offers multiple file se<br />
lection, and displays the date and time.<br />
Other features include geoMerge, which<br />
creates customized form letters and la<br />
bels; Text Grabber, which imports text<br />
from any Commodore word processor;<br />
and the Desk Accessories, which in<br />
clude a calculator, a notepad, an alarm<br />
clock, a screen preference manager, and<br />
both photo and text managers and<br />
albums.<br />
<strong>80</strong><br />
GEOS 128 {version 2.0) supports<br />
COMPUTE!<br />
nemftwductsi I<br />
numeric keypad, keyboard, and other<br />
input device options, as well as more<br />
than 70 printers. The system is compat<br />
ible with the entire family of GEOS ap<br />
plication products. The suggested retail<br />
price is $69.95. Upgrades are available<br />
for $35.00 plus shipping and handling.<br />
Berkeley' Softworks, 2150 Shattuck<br />
Are., Berkeley?, C4 94704<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 205.<br />
Circle Gets the Square<br />
For those tired of waiting for an invita<br />
tion to a game show, GameTek offers<br />
home computer versions of "Holly<br />
wood Squares," "Super Password," and<br />
"Double Dare!."<br />
Hollywood Squares asks players to<br />
second-guess computer celebrities in<br />
the popular game of tic-tac-toe. The<br />
game comes complete with the show's<br />
theme music and wisecrack comments<br />
and answers. Two computer contes<br />
tants can compete head to head or one<br />
can play Gametek's expert player.<br />
Micro kid.<br />
In Super Password, one or two<br />
players are paired with computer celeb<br />
rities to give and receive word clues.<br />
Players go through the same rounds<br />
that their television counterparts do, in<br />
cluding the S10,000 speed round, in<br />
which the champion must correctly<br />
guess ten words in 90 seconds.<br />
Double Dare, based on the syndi<br />
cated game show produced by MTV,<br />
combines questions with physical chal<br />
lenges, including launching contestants<br />
off a teetertotter and onto a trampoline.<br />
Players control their onscreen charac<br />
ter's ability to jump over, throw, or toss<br />
objects.<br />
The three games are available for<br />
the IBM PC and compatibles, the Com<br />
modore 64/128. and the Apple II for<br />
$14.95 each.<br />
GameTek/Navarre, 6750 W.<br />
Broadway, Brooklyn Park, MN 55428<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 206.<br />
Crime Solver<br />
Avalon Hill has released a detective<br />
mystery game that challenges your<br />
crime-solving abilities. Police Blotter<br />
places you in the role of a rookie detec<br />
tive of the 13th Precinct of the Queensport<br />
Police Department. You must<br />
interview witnesses, decipher police re<br />
ports, and gather clues.<br />
The game features seven mysteries<br />
involving blackmail, kidnapping, theft,<br />
and murder. Each of the seven cases is<br />
programmed for three levels of com<br />
plexity. False clues, red herrings, and<br />
dead ends tend to make finding a solu<br />
tion difficult. An onscreen case clock<br />
tracks the time it takes you to appre<br />
hend a suspect.<br />
The game is currently available for<br />
the Apple II and has a suggested retail<br />
price of $29.95. Versions for the Macin<br />
tosh and the IBM PC and compatibles<br />
are planned.<br />
The Ai-alon Mill Game Company,<br />
Microcomputer Games Division, 4517<br />
HarfordRd., Baltimore. MD 21214<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 207.<br />
One to four players can attempt to solve<br />
mysteries in Police Blotter.<br />
Roll With It<br />
Test your joystick skills as you maneu<br />
ver a ball through a multidimensional<br />
puzzle on ten different planes in Mind-<br />
Roll, from Epyx. Each successive plane<br />
increases in difficulty, but players can<br />
rearrange the planes in any order for<br />
play or practice.<br />
Players must walk a plank, hunt<br />
for hidden amulets, fill the screen with<br />
tiled squares, and roll over puzzle<br />
squares in a predetermined sequence.<br />
All onscreen activities must be com<br />
pleted before time expires. Plane 7 fea<br />
tures time boosters that give you extra<br />
seconds to negotiate obstacle courses,<br />
roll down a racetrack, or complete a<br />
maze.<br />
After each plane, any remaining<br />
time units are converted into points. t>
Crossroads II: Pandemonium<br />
Action-packed shooc-'em-up that<br />
you'll play for hours—includes maze<br />
editor for customizing.<br />
Basketball Sam & Ed Delightfully<br />
clever one- or two-player arcade<br />
game with outstanding graphics and<br />
animation.<br />
Delta War Fast and furious two-<br />
player game loaded with options.<br />
YES! Send me<br />
For Arcade and Strategy Game Lovers<br />
Gazette has published more than 200 games in the past six years. Which are the<br />
best? The most exciting? The most challenging? The editors have looked at them all<br />
and picked the best dozen arcade and strategy games for the 64. Now they're all on<br />
one disk—with documentation—ready to load and play.<br />
12 Top Ready-to-Run Games for the 64!<br />
Heat Seeker Arcade action at its<br />
best—for the nimble-fingered and<br />
nimble-minded.<br />
Omicron Frantically paced, multi<br />
level arcade action.<br />
I've enclosed $9.95 for each copy.<br />
Name<br />
Address<br />
City Suit1<br />
Powerball Futuristic version of<br />
Breakout, packed with challenges.<br />
Q-Bird Graphically stunning<br />
action/strategy game.<br />
Trap 3-D universe that demands<br />
your best strategy skills for survival.<br />
Arcade Volleyball Fast-paced, two-<br />
player arcade version of America's<br />
favorite beach sport.<br />
Mosaic Classic battle of wits for one<br />
or two players.<br />
Power Poker One of the most<br />
addictive strategy games you'll ever<br />
play—guaranteed.<br />
Scorpion II Superb game of mental<br />
challenge with great graphics.<br />
copies of the Best Gazette Games disk.<br />
Amount.<br />
Sales Tax*.<br />
Total.<br />
Mail personal check or money order for S9-95* to Best Gazette Games Disk<br />
P.O. Box 5188<br />
Greensboro, NC 27403<br />
"Residents of New York, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina add appropriate sales tax for your state. All orders must be paid in U.S. funds by a check drawn on a<br />
U.S. bank. Sorry, no credit card orders accepted. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.<br />
-
Players also have the opportunity to<br />
improve their score with bonus rounds<br />
following each completed plane.<br />
Mind-Roll is available for the<br />
Commodore 64/128, the Amiga, and<br />
the IBM PC and compatibles. The sug<br />
gested retail price is $29.95.<br />
Epyx, 600 Galveston Dr., P.O. Box<br />
<strong>80</strong>20, Redwood City, CA 94063<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 208.<br />
Keyball or Trackboard?<br />
Octave Systems has combined a key<br />
board and a trackball in KeyTrak,<br />
which was designed to save desk space<br />
and increase the efficiency of computer<br />
users.<br />
The trackball is compatible with<br />
both Microsoft and Mouse Systems se<br />
rial mouse drivers. It has a serial port<br />
and a X-shaped cable that plugs into the<br />
keyboard port; plus, it can switch be<br />
tween XT- and AT-class computers.<br />
Three mouse buttons are located above<br />
the trackball, and the primary button is<br />
duplicated on the left-hand side of the<br />
keyboard.<br />
KeyTrak has a suggested retail<br />
price of$ 189.<br />
Octave Systems, 1715 Dell Ave.,<br />
Campbell, CA 95008<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 209.<br />
KeyTrak combines a trackball with a<br />
keyboard.<br />
Start Off Right<br />
Curtis Manufacturing has introduced<br />
The <strong>Computer</strong> Starter Kit, five com<br />
puter accessories designed to protect<br />
computers, save valuable desktop<br />
space, and provide greater user com<br />
fort. The kit contains a disk file, a Cur<br />
tis Clip copy holder, universal printer<br />
legs, a computer-cleaning kit, and a<br />
surge protector.<br />
The kit can contain either a 3lh- or<br />
a 5%-inch cleaning kit that rids disk<br />
drives of dust and debris and a disk file<br />
that holds up to fifty 5'A- or forty 3Viinch<br />
disks. The Curtis Clip attaches di<br />
rectly to the monitor and swings out of<br />
B2 COMPUTE<br />
wemfiroductsi ■I<br />
the way when not in use. Any desktop<br />
printer can be elevated with the kit's<br />
printer legs, and the Safe-Bloc Surge<br />
Protector, with hot-to-neutral protec<br />
tion, features six multipurpose outlets<br />
and mounts directly into any duplex<br />
wall outlet.<br />
The <strong>Computer</strong> Starter Kit carries a<br />
suggested retail price of $59.95.<br />
Curtis Manufacturing, 30 Fitzger<br />
ald Dr., Jajfrey, NH 03452<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 210.<br />
The <strong>Computer</strong> Starter Kit combines five<br />
computer accessories into one package.<br />
In Stereo<br />
Give your Commodore 64 or 128 sixvoice<br />
stereo music capabilities with the<br />
SID Symphony Stereo Cartridge from<br />
Dr. Evil Laboratories. The cartridge lets<br />
you play Sidplayer songs, both standard<br />
and enhanced, including ones available<br />
in the public domain, such as Mark A.<br />
Dickenson's Stereo Player version 10.0.<br />
You can also create your own stereo<br />
Sidplayer songs with COMPUTED<br />
Music System for the Commodore 128<br />
and 64: The Enhanced Sidplayer, writ<br />
ten by Craig Chamberlain and available<br />
from COMPUTE! Books.<br />
The SID Symphony Stereo Car<br />
tridge requires no assembly; however,<br />
you will need two RCA male-to-male<br />
cables to connect the outputs of the<br />
computer and cartridge to a stereo sys<br />
tem. The cartridge is powered by a re<br />
placeable 9-volt alkaline battery.<br />
The suggested retail price for the<br />
SID Symphony Cartridge is $34.95.<br />
Dr. Evil Laboratories, P. O. Box<br />
190, St. Paul, IN 47272<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 211.<br />
Portable Fax and Data<br />
Touchbase Systems has released the<br />
WorldPort 2496 Portable Fax/Data<br />
Modem. The small battery-powered<br />
modem combines a 9600-bits-persecond<br />
(bps) Group III facsimile mo<br />
dem with a full-featured 2400-bps data<br />
modem. Designed for use with IBM<br />
PC-compatible portable and laptop<br />
computers, the external unit can also be<br />
used with desktop computers.<br />
Features include two standard<br />
RJ11 telephone jacks and an interface<br />
for acoustic-coupler operation, which<br />
allows the unit to be used in phone<br />
booths, hotel rooms, and with non-<br />
U.S. phone jacks.<br />
The unit can automatically detect<br />
and route an incoming fax or data call.<br />
Proprietary PC software allows unat<br />
tended background operation for send<br />
ing or receiving fax transmissions and<br />
sending group broadcasts; it integrates<br />
full data-communications features for<br />
the data-modem section.<br />
Data-modem features include AT<br />
command-set compatibility, autodial/<br />
auto-answer/auto-rate select. Bell and<br />
CCITT compatibility, a speaker, and<br />
LED indicators.<br />
The WorldPort 2496 has a suggest<br />
ed retail price of $699.<br />
Touchbase Systems, 160 Laurel<br />
Ave., Northport, NY 11768<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 212.<br />
The WorldPort 2496 Portable Fax/Data<br />
Modem combines fax and data.<br />
Label It<br />
A program for creating and customizing<br />
mailing labels for the IBM PC and com<br />
patibles is now available from POP<br />
<strong>Computer</strong> Products. Labels! can store<br />
as many as 4000 names and addresses<br />
and features a Lookup Engine that al<br />
lows for quick recall if the user remem<br />
bers only a few characters such as part<br />
of a name or street address.<br />
Users can type labels in any for<br />
mat, with or without fields. Up to ten<br />
different address and label formats can<br />
be kept in memory. The program can<br />
also import and export ASCII text files.<br />
The Grabber feature lets you enter<br />
an address once and then have the data<br />
available later for printing an envelope.<br />
The address is stored until it's time to<br />
print, but the feature isn't a traditional<br />
memory-resident program: The Grab-
er is only memory-resident while the<br />
user writes a document.<br />
Labels! supports most printers. It<br />
carries a suggested retail price of<br />
$29.95.<br />
POP <strong>Computer</strong> Products, P.O. Box<br />
1833, Evergreen, CO <strong>80</strong>439<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 213.<br />
Users can create and customize labels<br />
with Labels!.<br />
C-128 Wall Decorator<br />
Free Spirit Software has released Poster<br />
Maker 128 for the Commodore 128<br />
running in 128 mode. The program al<br />
lows users to create posters as large as<br />
five feet by five feet.<br />
You can print the posters or save<br />
them to disk as picture files. A graphics<br />
utility lets you import Basic 8, Sketch<br />
pad 128, or Spectrum 128 graphics files.<br />
These files can also be enlarged on both<br />
the x- and the _v-axes. A utility that re<br />
duces the size of graphics screens to cre<br />
ate clip an is also included.<br />
Poster Maker 128, which operates<br />
in 128 mode with an <strong>80</strong>-column dis<br />
play, runs on the Commodore 128D or<br />
the Commodore 128 with 64K video-<br />
RAM upgrade. Resolution is 640 X<br />
200 pixels. A 1351 or compatible<br />
mouse and a 1571 disk drive are re<br />
quired. Optional support is provided<br />
fora 1571 or 1581 diskdrive as a sec<br />
ond drive. The suggested retail price is<br />
$29.95.<br />
Free Spirit Software. P. O. Box 128,<br />
58 Noble St., Kutztown, PA 19530<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 214.<br />
From Across a Crowded Room<br />
Salespeople, educators, and others re<br />
sponsible for presentations and demon<br />
strations will find Forte Communica<br />
tions' remote-control device handy for<br />
working with an IBM PC or compatible<br />
computer from a distance. With Re<br />
mote Keyboard, users can run and ma<br />
nipulate programs from as far as 50 feet<br />
away.<br />
Remote Keyboard transmits infra<br />
red signals to a receiver that plugs into<br />
the computer's serial port. Users point<br />
the device at the computer's display<br />
and then press a button to control the<br />
PC. Built into the product's disk-based<br />
software is a pointer that can be used to<br />
call attention to specific displays during<br />
presentations.<br />
The hand-held device weighs less<br />
than ten ounces, including batteries.<br />
The suggested retail price is $395.<br />
Forte Communications, 6<strong>80</strong> W.<br />
MaudeAve., Sunnyvale, CA 94068<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 215.<br />
Users can control their PC from as far as<br />
50 feet away with Remote Keyboard.<br />
Convoy Escort Service<br />
Command a Destroyer Escort ship in<br />
the North Atlantic during World War II<br />
in Destroyer Escort, from Medalist In<br />
ternational's MicroPlay Software line.<br />
The safety of a World War II sup<br />
ply convoy is your responsibility. There<br />
are six convoy routes to choose from,<br />
each with three difficulty levels. Players<br />
can pick a route that provides the type<br />
of challenge they seek, such as one that<br />
is prone to submarine attacks.<br />
The escort ship's weapons include<br />
torpedoes, a five-inch gun, depth<br />
charges, and an antiaircraft gun you can<br />
use against submarines, aircraft, and<br />
surface ships. Seven different battle<br />
screens provide control over your ship.<br />
Destroyer Escort, a one-player<br />
game, is initially available for the Com<br />
modore 64/128 and has a suggested re<br />
tail price of $39.95. Medalist Inter<br />
national is a division of MicroProse<br />
Software.<br />
Medalist International, 1<strong>80</strong> Lakefront<br />
Dr., Hunt Valley, MD 21030<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 216.<br />
Escort a convoy of World War II supply<br />
ships in Dsstroyer Escort.<br />
Attack Copter<br />
The Sega arcade hit Thunder Blade has<br />
been released by Mindscape for the<br />
Commodore 64/128, the IBM PC and<br />
compatibles, the Amiga, and the Atari<br />
ST.<br />
As a helicopter pilot, you must de<br />
feat the enemy while flying over sky<br />
scrapers, mountains, deserts, and<br />
ocean.<br />
The game offers two different vis<br />
ual perspectives: top-down and from<br />
behind the helicopter. The top-down<br />
view lets you see the surrounding area<br />
in 3-D, while the rear view lets you see<br />
forward through the approaching<br />
landscape.<br />
The Commodore 64/128 version<br />
of Thunder Blade has a suggested retail<br />
price of $34.95. The IBM PC and com<br />
patibles version sells for $39.95; the<br />
Amiga and Atari ST editions retail for<br />
$49.95.<br />
Mindscape, 3444 Dundee Rd.,<br />
Northbrook, IL 60062<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 217.<br />
Young Storytellers<br />
Compu-Teach has released a sequel to<br />
Once Upon a Time.... Like the origi<br />
nal, the program allows children ages<br />
6-12 to write, design, and publish their<br />
own illustrated books.<br />
The new version. Once Upon a<br />
Time... II, features subjects associated<br />
with the forest, dinosaurs, and under<br />
water. Hundreds of graphic images are<br />
JUNE 1969 83
wempvductsi I<br />
available to encourage children to use their imagination lo<br />
create stories and illustrations. Vocabulary, reading, and<br />
spelling skills are combined with concepts that teach story<br />
creation and illustration techniques, including those asso<br />
ciated with perspective and other spatial relationships.<br />
Available for the IBM PC and compatibles and the<br />
Apple II, the program retails for $39.95. A classroom pack<br />
with five sets of disks and instruction booklets sells for<br />
$79.95 in SV^inch format and $99.95 in 3'/:-inch format.<br />
Compu-Teach, 78 Olive St., New Haven, CT065J1<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 218.<br />
Free Game Offer<br />
Consumers who purchase any two Cinemaware products<br />
can receive a third product free, while supplies last.<br />
Buyers can select from such packages as Lord ofthe<br />
Rising Sun, TV Sports Football, Rocket Ranger, and The<br />
Three Stooges, as well as Spotlight titles like Deathbringer,<br />
Federation, Dark Side, and Speedbaii. Other titles will be<br />
come available through June 1989.<br />
To receive their free software, consumers must send<br />
in the original dated sales receipts and completed registra<br />
tion cards from two qualifying packages, a coupon found<br />
in specially marked packages or available at many soft<br />
ware retailers, and $3 for shipping and handling. Consum<br />
ers can choose their free program from among Defender of<br />
the Crown, S.D.I.. Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon, or<br />
The King of Chicago.<br />
Cinemaware, 4165 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Westlake<br />
Village, CA 91362<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 219.<br />
Amiga Gunship<br />
MicroProse's helicopter simulation, Gunship. will soon be<br />
available for the Amiga. The game puts you behind the<br />
controls of a U.S. Army AH-64A Apache attack helicopter<br />
armed with Hellfire and Sidewinder missiles, folding-fin<br />
aerial rockets, and a 30mm cannon capable of firing 625<br />
rounds per minute.<br />
A variety of skill and reality levels, mission types, and<br />
specific mission objectives are available for players who<br />
can earn commendations, medals, and promotions during<br />
gameplay.<br />
Gunship pilots must fly missions in Southeast Asia,<br />
Central America, the Middle East, and Western Europe. A<br />
training scenario conducted in the U.S. gets players used<br />
to the helicopter in a less hostile environment.<br />
The Amiga version runs on the Amiga 500, may be<br />
installed on a hard disk, uses the key-disk copy-protection<br />
routine, and can be controlled by joystick. The suggested<br />
retail price is $54.95. Gunship is already available for the<br />
Commodore 64/128, the IBM PC and compatibles, and<br />
the Atari ST.<br />
MicroProse, 1<strong>80</strong> Lakefront Dr., Hunt Valley, MD<br />
21030<br />
Circle Reader Service Number 220.<br />
SEE US AT _<br />
world of _<br />
commodore<br />
LOS ANGELES CONVENTION CENTER<br />
MAY 19-21.1989<br />
84 COMPUTE!<br />
MIBRO<br />
CO.. IXC.<br />
OUR ONLY STORE<br />
ESTABLISHED 1950<br />
64 WEST 36th ST<br />
NEW YORK CITY<br />
NEW YORK IOOI8<br />
CALL TOLL FREE 1-<strong>80</strong>0-451-97<strong>80</strong><br />
NEW YORK STATE RESIDENTS CALL (112) 691-711]<br />
CUSTOMER SERVICE CALL {112) 967-2151 FAX NO. (Ill) 69S-O9B2<br />
MOM. SAT. IO:OOAM-7:10PH • SUN. IO:30AM-6:00PM<br />
EQUITY I +<br />
PACKAGE<br />
IBM XT<br />
COMPATIBLE<br />
PACKAGE INCLUDES. Equity 1 + CPU & KeyboW<br />
•360K Floppy Dfrw »13" <strong>Computer</strong> Monitor "10 Diskettes<br />
•Disc Drive Head Cleaner 'Owners Manual 'Word Pio<br />
cesso' 'Spread Sheet 'Oala Base S Jty€ O<br />
SANE PACKAGE AVAILABLE WITH:<br />
10 HE'ABYTE HARD DRIVE SB9S<br />
10 MEGABYTE HARD DRIVE SV4I<br />
40 MEGABYTE HARD DRIVE S99S<br />
EPSON<br />
EQUITY 11-4—<br />
25 PIECE<br />
PACKAGE<br />
IBM AT<br />
-.-.- ■* H<br />
11<br />
COMPATIBLE<br />
PACKAGE INCLUDES Equity II * CPU & Keyonard *1.2<br />
MB Floppy Drive *!2 ' <strong>Computer</strong> Monitor *10 Diskettes<br />
•Disc Onre Heat) Cleaner -Owners Manual -Word Pro<br />
cessor 'Spread Sheet *Data . ■$ IAQQ<br />
SAME PACKAGE AVAILABLE WITH:<br />
10 MEGABYTE HARD DRIVE SII4I<br />
JO MECABTTE HARD DRIVE SII9I<br />
40 MEGABYTE HARD DRIVE SI44S<br />
LEADING EDGE<br />
MODEL D<br />
25 PIECE<br />
PACKAGE<br />
IBM XT<br />
COMPATIBLE'<br />
PACKAGE INCLUDES: Model 0 CPU & Keyboard 898<br />
30 MEGABYTE HARD DRIVE $948<br />
40 MEGABYTE HARD DRIVE . ... $99B<br />
VENDEX HEAD START II<br />
FEATURES INCLUDE: 640K Ram »5 1 4" Dnre «3 1 T<br />
Dine -B08B Processor 4.7710 Megahertz<br />
VENDEX HEAD START III<br />
FEATUHES INCLUDE 640K Ram «286 Processor *i IB-<br />
Drive »3 1j2" Drive «S 12 Megaton; *VGA Svsiem<br />
CALL FOR NEW LOW PRICES!!<br />
MODEL D2<br />
25 PIECE<br />
PACKAGE<br />
IBM AT<br />
COMPATIBLE<br />
PACKAGE INCLUDES- Model 02 CPJ 5 Keyboard 12<br />
MB Floppy Drive »12" CQ!,<br />
40 MEGABYTE HARD DRIVE S1O48<br />
IBM<br />
ORIGINAL<br />
IBM<br />
IBM AT<br />
25 PIECE<br />
PACKAGE<br />
PACKAGE INCUDES. IBM Al CPU S Keybnaid -1.2 MB<br />
Floppy Orrve «12" Comouler Motulor "10 DisVelles »Word<br />
Processor 'Spread Sheet<br />
•Data Base $1498<br />
SAME PACKAGE AVAILABLE WITH:<br />
30 MEGABYTE HARD DRIVE $1698<br />
30 MEGABYTE HARD DRIVE $1748<br />
40 MEGABYTE HARD DRIVE $1798<br />
ALL IBM COMPATIBLE COMPUTERS<br />
AVAILABLE WITH 20/30/40/60/<strong>80</strong> HARD DRIVES<br />
ALL SYSTEMS SUPPORT MGA/CGA/VGA/MULTISCAN<br />
PACKAGE DEALS AVAILABLE ON ALL SYSTEMSII<br />
ORDER NOW!! PHONE ORDERS ONLY<br />
CALL TOLL FREE 1-<strong>80</strong>0-4JI-»7<strong>80</strong> NY RESIDENTS/INFO CALL (112) 491-7 111<br />
Use !.' C. Visa. AMEX Or Send Money Oidei. Cemtied Checks. All Meichandist Brand New FtCW) Fresh Shipping<br />
Charges Non Refundable. Far Mail Orders Please Call Before Sending In Money Order AH Prices Sublet To Manulac<br />
turers Increase Decrease. Refunds Within 7 Days Only With Original Packaging & UnMied Guarantee Card No<br />
Refunds Accepted Without Prior Verbal Authorization Customer Service Belvreen 12 pm 6 pm Pictures Are For<br />
Illusl Purposes Only Nat Responsible For Typographical Errors Consumer Affairs Lcenie No. <strong>80</strong>0 753 Puces<br />
Good for Mail Orders Only.
Classified<br />
Quality IBM SOFTWARE from $2 per disk.<br />
Cames/WProc/DBases/F-duc/Sprsht/Util/More.<br />
PD/Shareware-Latest Versions! Free Catalog.<br />
SOFSOURCE, Box 828, East Lansing, MI 48826<br />
(517) 349-3560 CALL OR WRITE TODAY!<br />
OUTSTANDING IBM SOFTWARE<br />
The Best of P.D. & Shareware programs<br />
$2.50/disk for 5.25" or $3.50 for 3.5'<br />
Fret- list or 75i stamp for disk catalog.<br />
ACL., 1621 Fulton =35-C6 Sac. CA 95825<br />
ATARI <strong>80</strong>0/XL/XE SOFTWARE—New Releases,<br />
Hits, Classics—ALL INTERESTS! FREE INFOR<br />
MATION. Write or call: 25th Century, Box<br />
HO42, Hicksville, NY 11<strong>80</strong>2 (516)932-5330<br />
FREE SOFTWARE FOR C64. Send one stamp<br />
for catalog or S2.00 for 30 sample programs and<br />
catalog (refundable). RVH Publications, 4291<br />
Holland Rd, =562-A. Virginia Beach, VA 23452<br />
TOUR IBM & COMMTIBLE SHAREWARE DISTRIBU<br />
TOR. Over 500 in library-51/*" & 3Vi" avail.<br />
Send #10 SASE for wint. catlg. T & Z Software<br />
PO Box 7<strong>80</strong>217-C, Sebastian, FL 32978-0217<br />
TECHNICAL SOFTWARE for technicians,<br />
engineers, and hobbyists. IBM Compatible.<br />
Free info. Innovative Software Solutions,<br />
Box 17554, Greenville, SC 29606<br />
IBM SOFTWARE SALE - 6 DISKS ONLY $10<br />
Enjoy our most popular programs including<br />
Word Processor, Database, Checkbook, DOS<br />
Tutor, Spreadsheet, and 12 exciting games<br />
with color. Send S10 lo Pacific Exchange,<br />
333 Cobalt Way #107, Sunnyvale, CA 94086.<br />
•FREE' IBM SOFTWARE "FREE"<br />
5'/4" AND 3W FORMATS<br />
FREE CATALOG: AP-JP, INC.,<br />
BOX 1155, W. BABYLON, NY 11704<br />
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: C64, 128, AMIGA.<br />
Games utilities, educn'l, classics, new re<br />
leases. 100's of titles. Free brochure. Specify<br />
computer. RENT-A-DISC, Frederick Bldg.'<br />
=221, Hunfn, WV 25701 (304) 529-3232<br />
WIN LOTTO MILLIONS!<br />
LOTTO PECKER PLUS V2.1<br />
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( + 5.55 s/h). 64/128, IBM, 64K Apple II. NY res. add tax.<br />
NOT Copy-protected,<br />
ORDER TODAY! 1-<strong>80</strong>0-634-5463 ext 293 (M-F 8-5)<br />
GE RIOGE SERVICES, INC., 170 Broadway<br />
Suite 201-CG, New York. NY 10038 "'■-'■l'n=<<br />
Info/Dealers 718-317-1961 <br />
FREE CATALOG OF DISCOUNT SOFTWARE.<br />
Apple, Atari, Commodore and IBM.<br />
WMJ Data Systems-C, 4 Butterfly Drive,<br />
Hauppauge.'NY 11788. <strong>80</strong>0-962-1988 ext. 122<br />
FREE PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE—Request<br />
free catalog or send $2 for sample disk &<br />
catalog (refundable), APPLE, C64-128 (specify)<br />
CALOKE IND., Box J8477, K.C, MO 64133<br />
FREE G\TALOC-OVER 1000 PUBLIC DOMAIN<br />
Programs of IBM PC and Compatibles.<br />
Buy or Rent. Low as Sl.OO/disk. Write to<br />
Softshoppe, POB 709, Ann Arbor, MI 48106<br />
Large library of the best public domain<br />
software for the IBM, C64. and the 8 bit<br />
Atari. Free catalog, (specify computer)<br />
C&T, Box 393-E, Clinton, OK 73601<br />
BULK PRICED SOFTWARE FOR THE IBM & COMP.<br />
Public Domain & Shareware on 5.25 Disk's<br />
GAMES »1 produces 11 million bytes or 31<br />
disk's full for $29.95, Business =1 over<br />
15meg, Utility »1 over 15meg, Programming<br />
12meg. S29.95e. V/M-COD-Check 312-657-1160<br />
SAVEWARE, P.O. 274F, Glenview, IL 60025<br />
COMPUTER BOOK5 AND SOFTWARE CATALOG!<br />
Send $2.00 (refundable with first order)<br />
for catalog, disk 5-1/4" or 3-1/2" formats.<br />
DOYLE SYSTEMS, 12178 Greenspoint Drive<br />
No. 318, Houston, TX 77067<br />
COMPUTE! Classified is a low-cost way to tell over 250,000<br />
microcomputer owners about your product or service.<br />
Rates: $25 per line, minimum of four lines. Any or all of the first line set in capi<br />
tal letters at no charge. Add S15 per line for boldface words, or $50 for the entire<br />
ad set in boldface (any number of lines.) Inquire about display rates.<br />
Terms: Prepayment is required. Check, money order, American Express, Visa, or<br />
MasterCard is accepted, Make checks payable to COMPUTE! Publications.<br />
Form; Ads are subject to publisher's approval and must be either typed or legibly<br />
printed. One line equals 40 letters and spaces between words. Please underline<br />
words to be set in boldface.<br />
General Information: Advertisers using post office box numbers in their ads must<br />
supply permanent address and telephone numbers. Ad will appear in next avail<br />
able issue after receipt.<br />
Closing: 10th of the third month preceding cover date (e.g., June issue closes<br />
March 10th). Send order and remittance to: Kathleen Ingram, Classified Manager,<br />
COMPUTE!, P.O. Box 5406, Greensboro, NC 27403. To place an ad by phone,<br />
call Kathleen Ingram at (919) 275-9<strong>80</strong>9.<br />
Notice: COMPUTE! Publications cannot be responsible for offers or claims of<br />
advertisers, but will attempt to screen out misleading or questionable copy.<br />
SHAREVVARE/PD Programs for IBM PC and<br />
compaiibles-5.25". Cames/Util + more.<br />
For list send SASE to; Desert Diskware<br />
PO Box 9399, Scottsdale, AZ 85252<br />
ONLY S2/DISK. IBM PD SW. FREE CATALOG WITH<br />
Descriptions. Huge selection. No minimum.<br />
Free delivery (USA). Visa/MC, CSS, POB 1323,<br />
Depl. B, Pasadena TX 75501 (713) 472-2458<br />
IBM-AT COMPATIBLE COMPUTER S1STEM w/Network<br />
File Server, 725 MgByte H.D. with NEC Laser<br />
Printer and Complete Software. Commercial<br />
Recovery Inc, 313-632-6528, Fax 313-632-7799<br />
Preformatted 5'/i" DD/DS, 25 for $14.00;<br />
50 for S24.00; 101) for $44.00. Postage<br />
Paid. Send check/money order to American<br />
Software, TO Box 750233, Houston, TX 77275<br />
COMPUTERS SERVICES<br />
CONVERT 720Kb diskettes to 1.44Mb easily<br />
& reliably! Save 60% Complete details,<br />
$19.95 ck/mo. NASH Engineering Ent.<br />
Box 514, Mary Esther. FL 32569<br />
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES<br />
WORK AT HOME. 1000-r companies hiring.<br />
<strong>Computer</strong> & other skills. Specific job<br />
leads. Deatils: TWN, Box 820a, Rancho<br />
Cordova, CA 95741. Include long SASE.<br />
GET PAID for mailing letters!<br />
$200.00 daily. Write: PAASE - NS4.<br />
161 Lincolnway, North Aurora,<br />
Illinois 60542<br />
PERSONAL COMPUTER OWNERS CAN EARN $1000<br />
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part time. Free list of 100 best services.<br />
A.I.M.C.C., Box 60369, San Diego, CA 92106<br />
STOP! LOOK! $4,000/month with computers.<br />
Homebased. Proven. No experience/capital.<br />
Guaranteed. Free details. MacKenzie,<br />
Box 91181-PSC, Pasadena, CA 91109<br />
Shareware at it's Best!!!<br />
The PARAGON Difference<br />
• 100'S Of Programs Our catalog<br />
features 100's of programs all hand picked<br />
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• Full Disks Unlike other shareware<br />
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• Technical Support Our free<br />
technical support means help is only a<br />
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For your free catalog with over 30<br />
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LOWPRICES!<br />
JUNE 1989 85
Cocaine can<br />
make you blind.<br />
Cocaine fools your brain.<br />
When you first use it, you<br />
may feel more alert, more<br />
confident, more sociable, more<br />
in control of your life.<br />
In reality of course, nothing<br />
has changed. But to your<br />
brain, the feeling seems real.<br />
From euphoria...<br />
You want to experience it again.<br />
So you do some more coke.<br />
Once more, you like the .<br />
effects. It's a very clean high.<br />
It doesn't really feel like you're<br />
drugged. Only this time, you<br />
notice you don't feel so good<br />
when you come down. You're<br />
confused, edgy anxious, even<br />
depressed.<br />
Fortunately that's easy to fix.<br />
At least for the next 20 min<br />
utes or so. All it takes is another<br />
few lines, or a few more hits<br />
on the pipe.<br />
You're discovering one of<br />
the things that makes cocaine<br />
so dangerous.<br />
It compels you to keep on<br />
using it (Given unlimited<br />
access, laboratory monkeys<br />
take cocaine until they have<br />
seizures and die.)<br />
If you keep experimenting<br />
with cocaine, quite soon you<br />
may feel you need it just to<br />
e 19H7. DPI) Nttdham Worldwide Inc.<br />
function well. To perform<br />
better at work, to cope with<br />
stress, to escape depression,<br />
just to have a good time at<br />
a party or a concert<br />
Like speed, cocaine makes<br />
you talk a lot and sleep a little.<br />
You can't sit still. You have<br />
difficulty concentrating and<br />
remembering. You feel aggres<br />
sive and suspicious towards<br />
people. You don't want to eat<br />
very much. You become unin<br />
terested in sex.<br />
To paranoia...<br />
Compulsion is now definitely<br />
addiction. And there's worse<br />
to come.<br />
You stop caring how you<br />
look or how you feel. You<br />
become paranoid. You may feel<br />
people are persecuting you,<br />
and you may have an intense<br />
fear that the police are waiting<br />
to arrest you. (Not surprising,<br />
since cocaine is illegal.)<br />
You may have hallucinations.<br />
Because coke heightens your<br />
senses, they may seem<br />
terrifyingly real.<br />
As one woman overdosed,<br />
she heard laughter nearby and<br />
a voice that said/Tve got you<br />
now" So many people have<br />
been totally convinced that<br />
bugs were crawling on or<br />
out of their skin, that the hal<br />
lucination has a nickname:<br />
the coke bugs.<br />
Especially if you've been<br />
smoking cocaine, you may<br />
become violent, or feel suicidal.<br />
When coke gets you really<br />
strung out, you may turn to<br />
other drugs to slow down. Par<br />
ticularly downers like alcohol,<br />
tranquilizers, marijuana and<br />
heroin. (A speedball-heroin<br />
and cocaine—is what killed<br />
John Belushi.)<br />
If you saw your doctor<br />
now and he didn't know you<br />
were using coke, he'd probably<br />
diagnose you as a manicdepressive.<br />
To psychosis...<br />
Literally you're crazy<br />
But you know what's truly<br />
frightening? Despite everything<br />
that's happening to you, even<br />
now, you may still feel totally<br />
in control.<br />
That's the drug talking.<br />
Cocaine really does make you<br />
blind to reality And with what's<br />
known about it today you<br />
probably have to be something<br />
else to start using coke in the<br />
first place.<br />
Dumb.<br />
Partnership for a Drug-Free America
Software Discounters<br />
of America , l<br />
USA/Canada Orders—1-<strong>80</strong>0-225-7638<br />
PA Orders—1-<strong>80</strong>0-223-7784<br />
Customer Service 412-361-5291<br />
• Free shipping on orders<br />
over $100 in continental USA<br />
• No Surcharge for VISA/MasterCard<br />
S.D. of! A.<br />
• Your Card is not charged until we ship<br />
ORDER LINE HOURS: Mon.-Thurs. 9:00 AM-9:00 PM Fri. 9:00 AM-7:00 PM Sat. 10:00 AM-4:00 PM Eastern Time<br />
TIVISiON<br />
" ■■■■,-.v;\: ~.<br />
Can one Hack writer,<br />
two Yale co-eds & a<br />
stale loaf of french<br />
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from a galactic<br />
conspiracy?<br />
Zak McKracken<br />
List $44.95<br />
Our Discount Price $29<br />
ACCOLADE<br />
Aie of Acts $9.88<br />
Apollo 18 524<br />
Bubble Ghost S23<br />
Fast Break S24<br />
4lh & Inches Football .$24<br />
Grand Prix Circuil . ..$24<br />
Hardball S9.88<br />
lack Nicklau* Coif . . .$32<br />
Mini-Pult $24<br />
Rack 'Em S24<br />
Serve & Volley 524<br />
Tesl Drive S24<br />
Test Drive 2: The Duel $29<br />
T. Drive 2 Calif. SceneryS14<br />
T. Drive 2 Super Cars.S14<br />
The Train S23<br />
T.K.O $25<br />
ACTIVISION<br />
Bailie Chess S32<br />
Batllehawks 1942 532<br />
Black Jock Academy . .524<br />
Lasi Ninja S26<br />
Maniac Mansion $29<br />
Might and Magic 1 or 2S32 Ea.<br />
Music Studio 3.0 S65<br />
Prophecy 1: Trinadon ,S25<br />
Rampage 524<br />
Slarglidor 2 Call<br />
Zak McKracken $29<br />
ARTWORX<br />
Bridge 6.0 Call<br />
Centerfold Squares . . .519<br />
Creative Cuisine 519<br />
Daily Double Horse RacingCall<br />
Data Disk =1 Female .514<br />
Data Disk =2 Male .. .514<br />
Data Disk =3 Female .514<br />
Linkword languages . .Call<br />
Strip Poker 2. S25<br />
\rw-u \ru-<br />
THE DUEL is on. Head to|<br />
head racing between a<br />
Ferrari F40 & a Porschel<br />
959! Also available for<br />
use with Test Drive 2<br />
are Calif. Challenge<br />
BOX OFFICE<br />
Alf's First Adventure $9.88<br />
California Raisons... .$16<br />
High Rollers $9.88<br />
5100,000 Pyramid . .59.88<br />
Psycho S16<br />
BRODEKBUND<br />
Ancient Art of<br />
War at Sea 'S29<br />
Carmen San Diego<br />
Europe S29<br />
USA $29<br />
World $25<br />
Downhill Challenge ..519<br />
Jet Fighter: Adventure 532<br />
Karateka $6.88<br />
Lode runner S6.88<br />
Print Shop S36<br />
P.S. Companion $32<br />
P.S. Graphics<br />
Library Kl or "2 521 Ea.<br />
Science Tool Kit 549<br />
Space Racer $29<br />
Star Wars 525<br />
BUENA VISTA<br />
Roger Rabbil $25<br />
CENTRAL POINT<br />
Copy 2 523<br />
PC Tools Deluie 547<br />
CINEMAWARE<br />
Defender of the Crown$32<br />
Three Stooges S3!<br />
DATA EAST<br />
Bad Dudes S25<br />
Guerilla War 525<br />
Heavy Barrel Call<br />
Ikarl Warriors S25<br />
Karnov 525<br />
Lock On S25<br />
Platoon S25<br />
Scenery & Super Cars Disk at $14 Ea.<br />
Test Drive 2: The Duel<br />
List $44.95<br />
Our Discount Price $29<br />
Over 50 New Titles Added This<br />
Month For Your IBM Or Compatible!<br />
Super Hang-on Call<br />
Victory Road $25<br />
DATASOFT<br />
Fire Zone 519<br />
Hum for Red October ,S32<br />
Time & Magik 526<br />
DAVIDSON<br />
Algeblaster $32<br />
Math Blaster Plus $32<br />
Reading & Me 524<br />
Word Attack Plus 532<br />
DF-SIGNWARE<br />
Designasaurus $25<br />
Jigsaw $25<br />
ELECTRONIC ARTS<br />
Software Classic Series:<br />
Arctic Fox $9.8a<br />
Lords of Conquest.. .$9.88<br />
Marble Madness . .. .59.88<br />
Pallon vs. Rommel . .$9.88<br />
World Tour Golf $9.88<br />
ELECTRONIC ARTS<br />
Bard's Tale 1 or 2 .S32 Ea.<br />
Chessmaster 2100 $32<br />
Chuik Veager's AFT. . .$26<br />
Deluxe Paint 2 S65<br />
Demon Stalkers $26<br />
Double Dragon 526<br />
Earl Weaver Baseball . .S26<br />
Empire $32<br />
[ordan vs. Bird 526<br />
Kings Beach Volleyball $26<br />
Modem Wars $26<br />
Scavengers $32<br />
Sentinel Worlds:<br />
Future Magic 532<br />
5kale or Die S23<br />
Starflight 532<br />
Strike Fleet S26<br />
Wasteland S32<br />
Zany Golf . $26<br />
EPYX<br />
California Game* $24<br />
Death Sivord $19<br />
Destroyer $14<br />
Dive Bomber 514<br />
Final Assault $14<br />
4x4 Off Road Racing. .514<br />
Home Video Producer. S32<br />
Impossible Mission 2 . .514<br />
Omnicron Conspiracy .Call<br />
Print Magic S39<br />
Sporting News Baseball524<br />
Street Sports Baseball .514<br />
Street Sports Basketbal!514<br />
Street Sports Soccer . .$14<br />
Sub Battle Simulator. .$14<br />
Summer Games 2 . . , . S14<br />
The Games:<br />
Summer Edition . . . .532<br />
Winter Edition 532<br />
Winter Games $14<br />
World Games $14<br />
GAMESTAR<br />
Champ. Baseball ...59.88<br />
Champ. Basketball . .$9.88<br />
GFL Ch. Football . . .$9.88<br />
Pelc Rose's Pennant Kver$29<br />
RM250 MolOCTOB , . .Call<br />
GAMETEK<br />
Candy Land $9.88<br />
Chutes & Ladders . .$9.88<br />
Double Dare $9.88<br />
Go To Head of ClassS9.8B<br />
Hollywood Squares .$9.88<br />
Super Password . . . .$9.88<br />
HI-TECH<br />
Desk Power 59.88<br />
Fun House Call<br />
Muppet Print Kit Call<br />
Print Power $9.88<br />
Remote Control Call<br />
Ses. St. Print Kit $9.88<br />
5es. St. Writing Kit .59.88<br />
Swim Wear $6.88<br />
Win, Lose or Draw . $B.88<br />
INFOCOM<br />
Battlelech $32<br />
Beyond Zork $9.88<br />
Hitchhikers Guide . .59.88<br />
Journey .Call<br />
Leather Goddesses. .$9.88<br />
Shogun Call<br />
Zork 1 $9.88<br />
Zork Trilogy $32<br />
Zork Zero Call<br />
LEARNING COMPANV<br />
Math Rabbil $25<br />
Reader Rabbit $25<br />
Think Quick! $32<br />
Writer Rabbil 532<br />
MECA<br />
Andrew Tobias: Managing<br />
Your Money S139<br />
MELBOURNE HOUSE<br />
lohn Elway's QB $19<br />
War In Middle Earth. 532<br />
MICHTROS<br />
Time Bandil $25<br />
MICROPROSE<br />
Airborne Ranger $25<br />
F-15 Strike Eagle 523<br />
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Turn On Your<br />
<strong>Computer</strong> and<br />
Throw Open a<br />
Window onto<br />
the Wonders<br />
of Science<br />
88 COMPUTE!<br />
impact<br />
JL nA\/m n thoi<br />
DAVID D.THORNBURG<br />
The popular cartoon image of science<br />
depicts bespectacled men in white lab<br />
coats standing around a blackboard<br />
filled with equations and carries a caption<br />
like Here's the problem: It's x before y except<br />
after z. The reality of science is quite differ<br />
ent. During my ten years as a scientist,<br />
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of us didn't wear glasses, and we rarely<br />
stood in front of blackboards—we sat in<br />
front of computers.<br />
It's hard to imagine what scientific re<br />
search would be like if the computer had<br />
never been invented. <strong>Computer</strong>s are used in<br />
all aspects of scientific research, from the<br />
acquisition of data to the development of<br />
abstract theories.<br />
Any experimental scientist will tell you<br />
that the most tedious part of the job is col<br />
lecting data. Typically, one measures a vari<br />
ety of parameters (resistance or blood<br />
pressure, for example) under varying condi<br />
tions (different voltage or sound levels, for<br />
instance) and then generates tables or graphs<br />
that depict the relationship (if any) between<br />
the stimulus and the response. It's not un<br />
common for a single experiment to generate<br />
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When data is taken by hand, the oppor<br />
tunity for writing numbers incorrectly is al<br />
ways present. And even if the numbers are<br />
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into a computer program for analysis: more<br />
chances for error. Only by using a computer<br />
to capture data over long periods of time<br />
can errors be decreased.<br />
Inexpensive products for the personal<br />
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ing Science, allow home computer users to<br />
conduct scientific experiments using auto<br />
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Today's high school students, armed<br />
with personal computers, are exploring sci<br />
entific ideas that were beyond the reach of<br />
the best nineteenth-century scientists. Much<br />
of the excitement in scientific circles today<br />
revolves around exotic subjects like chaos—<br />
a branch of science with simple principles,<br />
but whose results remained obscure prior to<br />
the spread of computers. But now many of<br />
these fascinating theories can be explored<br />
outside the laboratory—by individuals<br />
using their personal computers.<br />
Historically, physicists and other scien<br />
tists developed theories laden with simpli<br />
fying assumptions in order to make the<br />
resulting equations simpler to compute by<br />
hand. The result was a collection of theories<br />
filled with various "fudge" factors designed<br />
to compensate for these simplifying assump<br />
tions. Scientists could often adjust these fac<br />
tors to allow a theory to fit any set of data<br />
that was handy—hardly the basis for a rigor<br />
ous proof. Now that computers allow scien<br />
tists to deal with the complexity and nonlinearity<br />
of the real world, theories of greater<br />
accuracy can be proposed and tested.<br />
Besides theoretical explorations, anoth<br />
er application for computers in the sciences,<br />
and one with a tremendous future, is simu<br />
lation. <strong>Computer</strong>s allow us to construct<br />
microworlds based on certain assumptions.<br />
By monitoring the behavior of these<br />
microworlds over time, we can see what the<br />
long-term consequences of these assump<br />
tions might be. For example, simulations<br />
that show collisions of two galaxies over<br />
millions of years can be presented, in ani<br />
mated form, on a display screen in a few<br />
minutes. The popularity of simulation pro<br />
grams (often offered as games) reflects some<br />
of the power that can come from these<br />
microworlds. In any software store, one can<br />
find simulations of nuclear reactors, war,<br />
and aircraft flight—and recently even a sim<br />
ulation of an entire city.<br />
The growth of the home video market<br />
has opened even more doors for simulation<br />
and scientific exploration. Genlock cards<br />
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ample, to show how various bones move in<br />
relation to each other. Or. a teacher might<br />
use a videodisc to illustrate cell division to a<br />
class. During the presentation, the teacher<br />
can freeze the image and then label its parts<br />
with a drawing program.<br />
The impact of computers on science is<br />
tremendous, but another aspect of scientific<br />
computing is even greater. Personal comput<br />
ers have made science accessible to people<br />
who had felt intimidated by the field's ap<br />
parent abstractions. By allowing people to<br />
"mess around" with ideas and to play with<br />
those ideas until they make sense, the per<br />
sonal computer has greatly increased people's<br />
awareness of scientific issues.<br />
The personal computer helps to make<br />
abstract theoretical ideas tangible and con<br />
crete. It demystifies science without taking<br />
away any of its wonder, informing all of us<br />
with the miracle of our world. At a time<br />
when science and technology are playing an<br />
increasing role in private life, the need for<br />
an informed public has never been greater.
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Tandy® <strong>Computer</strong>s: The broadest One of PCs in America.<br />
1000 HX<br />
The Tandy 1000 HX is one of the<br />
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Such Adventure Such Danger Such Wonderfully Silly Fun<br />
YOU'RE IN DEEP PLASMA<br />
THIS TIME, ROGER WILCO!<br />
THERE MUST BE<br />
AN EASIER WAY TO<br />
MAKE A LIVING<br />
There's never a moment's rest for<br />
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This time it's those Two Guys from<br />
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Quest and Space Quest II. who have gone and<br />
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If Roger can't rescue the two guys from the<br />
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So it's simple, right? Just set course for<br />
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Pilot your ship through the farthest reaches of space, using<br />
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S*SIERRA<br />
Sierra Os line, inc • coafisegOld ca )wi* ■ raw WMHS<br />
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NOT SO FAST, SPACEWIPE!<br />
But the Two Guys don't write games for<br />
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LIFE'S NOT EASY FOR HEROES<br />
Real heroes thrive on danger, and space-<br />
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Space Quest 111 features the besl and most realistic<br />
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.ound effect!, must be heard to be believed.<br />
TRASH HEAPS OF PRAISE<br />
FOR OUR TWO GUYS<br />
Game reviewers throughout the<br />
galaxy love Space Quest games:<br />
"...humorous and challenging...",<br />
■'laugh-out-loud funny...",<br />
"genuinely entertaining...". "...A three<br />
dimensional graphic wonder..."<br />
■ Quest bust its<br />
Battle for your life in the arena with the ,\ukt 'em-Duke 'em<br />
robots. He's domi! He's up! This crowd is out for blood, and<br />
it might as veil be yours,<br />
HAVE YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES?<br />
NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO FIND OUT<br />
But don't take their word for it - blast off<br />
for adventure, challenge, and laughs with<br />
Roger Wilco and the Two Guys from<br />
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Pestulon.<br />
^