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Amazing Computing Vol 04 09 1989 Sep
AmigaDOS is a capable and flexible operating system that provides features not found in other personal computers. But after you become familiar with the various commands and learn some of the power they provide, you'll eventually come up against the system's weaknesses. Even with all the help given by the numerous public domain programs written to fill the gaps, you'll soon find that you may need to write a program to do seemingly simple tasks. For most Amiga owners, this means using AmigaBASIC, but because of the overhead AmigaBASIC requires, this is rarely an acceptable alternative. Having spent much of my time writing and using command scripts in the V AXNMS and ill\'IX environments, I naturally wanted the same power and flexibility on the Amiga. AmigaDOS comes so close it's frustrating. Seemingly simple tasks are impossible to do. I've been hoping that someone would come up with a suitable improvement without sacrificing some of the excellent features available in AmigaDOS.
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SPELLING CHECKER Platinum Scribble! Shines in this area with a 104,000+ word dictionary' with scientific and technical supplements. The Spell-As-You-Type option checks spelling on the fly.
Phonetic spelling, transposed letters, and contractions are no problem for Platinum Scribble! Enter Kasil and castle is suggested. Me finds the and shalln't finds shan't.
Modify the user dictionary by adding, editing and deleting words with the user dictionary maintenance program.
THESAURUS Platinum Scribble! Has a 470,000+ word thesaurus, with definitions. As a matter of fact, the word right displays 21 groups of synonyms.
MULTIPLE WINDOWS Open up to 4 windows at once. Display your documents in 2, 4, or 8 color windows.
Change the colors to suit your needs. Platinum Scribble! Supports both interlace and non-interlace screens with horizontal and vertical overscan, CUT AND PASTE Copy, cut and paste text within a single document or from one document to another.
MAIL MERGE Print form letters and mailing labels. Enter information at print time or automatically insert information from any mail merge text file.
IFF GRAPHIC SUPPORT Print IFF graphics with any compatible printer supported by the Commodore Amiga printer drivers.
CLIPBOARD COMPATIBLE Platinum Scribble! Is clipboard compatible with Micro-Systems Software products.
* On-screen bold, italic, and underline, with highlighting for
super and sub-script. • Support for laser printer font
cartridges • Needs only 512k of memoty • Not-copy protected •
Easy hard drive installation • Free Technical Support for
Registered Users.
Dealers and Distributors Call 1-800-327-8724 See your local dealer for a demonstration.
Scribble! Platinum Edition is a trademark of Micro-Systems Software, [nc. Amiga is a registered trademark of Commodore Business Machines.
Circle 101 on Reactor Service card.
BREAKING THE SPEED BARRIER New 25Mhz 68030 Upgrade Kit from GVP 11 Puts Ibmorrow's Performance in Your A2000 Today 25Mhz 68030 CPU and 68882 FPU with fully implemented BURST mode 32-bit memory. An order of magnitude faster than A2500.
Up to 8MB of State-of-the-art NIBBLE MODE 32-bit DRAM memory averages zero waitstates during 68030 BURST mode.
Built-in Hard Disk Controller direct on32-bit bus keeps ALL A2000 expansion slots free even when our hard disk is installed!
Backed up by GVP's unique full one year warranty.
25 Mta 68030 Accelerator 132-bit Wide Ram Expansion IMPACT Hard Disk Drive A30Q1, 25Mhz 68030 68882 Upgrade Kit Technical Highlights:
• Asynchronous 68030 design allows high clock rates and GENLOCK
• Factory installed 25Mhz 68882 floating point processor, twice
as fast as the older 68881 chip.
Amiga is a registered trademark ol Commodore-Amiga lac.
IMPACT and GVP are trademarks of Great Valley Products, Inc
• Fully DMA-able AUTOCON-FIGured 32-bit wide memory. Up to 8MB.
• Built-in AUTOBOOTing hard disk controller supports up to two 40
or 80MB drives (11,'19ms access),
• Selectable 68000 fall-back mode for lull floppy-based game
GREAT VALLEY PRODUCTS INC. For more information, or for your nearest GVP dealer, call today. Dealer inquiries welcome FAX (215) 889-9416 * (215) 889-9411 * BBS (215) 889-4994 Circle 158 on Reader Service card 225 Plank Ave., Paoli, PA 1930T Your Original AMIGA Monthly Resource " - | AMAZING COLUMNS GRAPHICS & ANIMATION!
New Products...and Other Neat Stuff by Elizabeth G. Fedorryn Muxic-X, Jack Nicklaus Golf, Scannery, and more!
HardCopy by M. J. Bernier Answers to AC 4.8 HardCopy.
Roomers by the Bandito The Bandito shares the untold tale of Amiga LIVE Snapshot by Brad Andrews Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Rampage, BattleTech and more!
Bug Bytes by John Steiner Bugs in Superbase, upgrades for Arexx, and more!
Video Schmideo by Barry Solomon The Layman's guide to Amiga video!
C Notes from the C Group by Stephen Kemp "Keep it Simple" utility programming.
Secrets of Visual Synthesis by David Doberman Ray Tracing on the Amiga with Sculpt* Animate 4D and Turbo Silver 3-0.
PageReader 3D Review by Michael Fahrion Michael reviews Mindware's 3D rendering package.
DeluxePaint III The Inside Story by Ben & Jean Means EA's Dan Silva tells how DeluxePaint III evolved.
Scene Generator Review by R. Shamms Morder, PhD.
A quick and easy-to-use graphics program and it's free!
Fractal Presentation by David Hiestand David shares his presentation experiences.
Design-3D Review by R. Shamms Mortier, PhD.
Mr. Mortier reviews Gold Disk's Design-3D.
Your Original AMIGA Monthly Resource
• TABLE OF CONTENTS* Volume 4, Number 9 September, 1989 AMAZING
Digitizing Color Slides And Negatives on the Amiga by Ron S. Gull A basic guide to macro digitizing!
High Octane Colors by Robert D 'Asto Maximizing your colors in AmigaBASIC.
Pixels At An Exhibition: The Video by Shamms R. Mortier Amiga-generated art is showcased at a University of Vermont show.
Cell Animation In Modula-2 by Nicholas Cirasella Howr to walk all over your Amiga.
Improving Your Graphics Programming by Richard Martin Richard has the cure for the "Blind Artist's Syndrome." Gels In Multi-Forth, Part III by John Bushakra John continues his series in Gels along with a tasty dish!
T-Shell by Rich Falconburg A UNIX equivalent command line interface for communicating with your Amiga.
AmiEXPO '89 by AC's Managing Editor Highlights from the Chicago '89 AmiEXPO!
Jay Miner Interview by Steve Gillmor An interview with the "Father of the Amiga", Memory Squares by Mike Morrison Test your memory with Mike's memory game!
AMAZING DEPARTMENTS Amazing Mail Amiga User Groups Index of Advertisers Public Domain Softw are Catalog "I've written the best and fastest backup program on the market."
My name is Walt Soden. I've been a programmer for thirty years, and I know how important it is to back up your hard disk. But when I looked for a good backup program for my Amiga, I found they took too much of my time managing the backup disks. I knew there had to be a better way-- so I spent a year writing and perfecting what I sincerely believe to be the best backup software available.
EZ-Backup Does what Quarterback can't.
EZ-Backup does ALL the work. EZ-Backup knows which flies to back up, how many versions to save, which to erase and where they are in the backup set. So you only have to keep one set of backup disks, period.
Your files will always be there, safe and sound--in the standard AmigaDOS format.
A special offer.
Is It the lowest price and the best value in backup software? You be the judge. EZ- Backup comes with free phone support. If you have any questions, just pick up the phone and you can talk to me personally. I'll send you a working demonstration copy of EZ-Backup (limited only in the number of files it can back up) for only S5.00. If you like it, then take advantage of the special discount offer explained on the demonstration disk or you can buy the full version from your local Amiga dealer. If you don't think it's the best, most convenient backup software you've ever tried, send back the disk
and i'll refund vour five bucks.
EZ-Soft, 10668 Ellen Street, El Monte, CA 91731, (818) 448-0779, Quarterback is a trademark of Central Coast Software.
V_ For The Commodore AMIGA™ ADMINISTRATION Joyce Hicks Publisher: Assistant Publisher: Circulation Manager: Asst. Circulation: Asst. Circulation: Corporate Trainer: Traffic Manager: Robert J. Hicks Doris Gamble Traci Desmarais Donna Viveiros Virginia Terry Hicks Robert Gamble international Coordinator: Marie A. Raymond Marketing Manager: Ernest P. Viveiros Sr, Administrative Support: Aurore R. Trepanier EDITORIAL Managing Editor: Associate Editor: Hardware Editor: Technical Editor: Music & Sound Editor: Video Editor: Don Hicks Elizabeth Fedorzyn Ernest P. Viveiros Sr.
J. Michael Morrisc.n Richard Rae Barry S. Solomon Aimee B. Abren
Derek J. Perry Matt Rita William Fries Paul Michael Brian Fox
Donna M. Garant Copy Editor: Copy Editor: Copy Editor: Art
Director: Photographer: Illustrator: Production Manager:
ADVERTISING SALES Advertising: Jannine Irizarry Special
Assignment: Barry Solomon Marketing Assistant: Melissa J.
Bernier 1-508-678-4200 FAX 1-508-875-8002 SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Buddy Terrell & Byrd Press Bob at Riverside Art, Ltd.
Swansea One Hour Photo Pride Offset, Warwick, Rl Mach 1 Photo Amazing Computing™ (ISSN 0886-9480) is published monthly by PiM Publications, Inc., Currant Road, P.O. Box 859. Fall Rvsr, MA 02722-0859.
Subscriptions in the U.S.. 12 issues for S24.00; in Canada & Mexico surface, 836.00; foreign surface lor S44.00 Second-Class Postage paid at Fail River, MA 02722 and additional mailing ofiices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PiM Publications inc.,
P. O. Box 869, Fall River, MA 02722-0869. Printed in the U.S.A.
Copyright©Nov. 1988 by PiM Publications, Inc. All rights
First Class or Air Mail rates available upon request. PiM Publications, Inc, maintains the right to refuse any advertising.
Pirn Publications Inc. is not obligated to return unsolicited materials.
All requested returns must be received with a Self Addressed Stamped Mailer.
Send article submissions in both manuscript and disk forrrat with your name, address, telephone, and Social Security Number on each to the Assoc ate Editor. Requests for Author's Guides should be directed to the address listed above.
AMIGA™ is a registered trademark of Commodore-Amiga, Inc. Circle 119 on Reader Service card, 4 Amazing Computing V4.9 ©1989 Amazing Dealers The following are Amazing Dealers, dedicated to supporting the Commodore-Amiga™. They carry Amazing Computing™, your resource for information on the Amiga™. If you are not an Amazing Dealer, but would like to become one, call PiM Publications, Inc.: 1-508-678-4200 hdltA That ComvowPtoa Msngt Sc ttnn Ktvdorn EiaHidbrt GrMrgiandReedhgt Tewsor.
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SwerSprpg Sfifi ware 1 Such Scosu SchwawLS-irj WsptfiFab Amazing Computing™ is also available in most B. Dalton Booksellers, B. Daiton Software Stores, Crown Books, Software Etc., selected WaldenBooks Stores, and Walden's Software Store locations.
Amazing Mail Dear AC: The articles in Vol. 4 No.4 concerning Amiga hard drives was excellent material and helped to make this your best issue yet. Please publish more of these types of articles in die future.
The information presented by Boulle, Twardy, and Morgan will undoubtedly whet the storage appetites of Amiga users everywhere. A great number of Amiga users badly want a hard drive for their favorite machine but cannot spring for the high price of a store bought unit. Others of us refuse to settle for an affordable but paltry 20 megabyte drive and want need a higher capacity drive that is financially attainable.
Information such as you have presented in your last issue will be of great help to Amiga users who'd like to "roll their own" hard drive system but need some help to do it. As good as these articles were, there is a gigantic fly in the ointment! Yes. Several suppliers of HD system parts and prices are mentioned, but there aren't any addresses or phone numbers that tell us WHERE to locate these vital parts!
So far, I have combed Computer Shopper for an OMTT 3527 RLL-SCSI adapter controller with no luck at all...plenty of slow Adaptec 4070's for sale but no OMTI's Also, a price of S149 was quoted for the Supra host adapter, The lowest price that I have seen on this is SI85. Please let me know' where I can save a few' bucks and get it for S149. I did manage to find Wetex in die CS, so I can get the case PS but who and where are DigiKey and L.S.I. Marketing?
Thanks in advance for any additional info that you can send my way. I'm sure that lots of AC readers wmuld appreciate such additional information as well.
Sincerely, Edward E. Brown Vancouver, WA
- We contacted Jon Boulle. And be said he buys OMTI's from
C-Ltdfor about S185.
He suggests that you may ivant to purchase an imbedded SCSI device now that the prices are down. ED Dear AC: I am writing in regard to an article in the March 1989 issue entitled ' Fractal Fundamentals", by7 Paul Castonguay. I found die article easy to understand and I had fun with the program and generating my own fractal designs. I have found similar articles on computer- generated fractal patterns in the Scientific American "Computer Recreations" column frustrating because of their refusal to explain how to generate the fractal patterns.
The article in AC let me program my computer to perform die surprisingly simple operations. The article really bridged a gap between the difficult to apply discussions and die interested but easy hacker who wants to see die patterns on his own monitor.
The article in the March issue was billed as "Part I," but I have yet to see Part II. I hope to see the next installment soon.
Sincerely, Daniel Tormey Cambridge, MA
- Fractals Part II was printed in AC V4.7 on page 95, and
Fractals Part HI will appear soon in a future issue. Paul is
doing a great job, and we currently plan to print up to
Fractals Part VI, unless you want us to print more. Let us
know. ED Dear AC: I dioroughly enjoyed the article by James
Bayless in V4.2, "A Common User Interface for die Amiga". His
plea for a polished, consistent presentation of programs must
be heeded if the Amiga is to enjoy continued success in a broad
For every' hacker and hardware-head who bought this machine because of its technical excellence (like myself) there are a thousand other people who w ant a computer that will simply allow them to get dieir w'ork done quickly and smoothly. These folks don't care about advanced hardware inside their machine, the amazing algorithm you developed for text-searching, or how you cleverly circumvented the operating system to speed up file access. What they do care about is whether or not a program is easy to master, easy to use, and gets the job done.
If they are confronted with cluttered, garnish screens, a bewildering array' of gadgets whose functions aren't immediately obvious, or opaque terminology, they will come away confused, frustrated, and angry7. Who can blame them? For the vast majority of people, a computer is ( and should be) a tool, not an end in itself. No one needs to know anything about chemistry, optics, or electronics to use a camera.
They shouldn't have to know7 anything about blitters, bit-maps, or Bressenham algorithms to write a letter or draw a picture using their computer.
The user interface should be developed first, before any other code is written. It should not be left until last, and used to glue together all of the routines drat comprise the program. Fit your routines to tire interface so that your program has coherence and consistency7. Go ahead and make your programs powerful, but make access to that power simple. Above all, strive to make your programs beautiful and a joy to use, rather than a chore. Spend a hundred hours getting your presentation "just so". Then spend another hundred hours polishing it.
Sincerely, Paul M, Carlisle Royal Oak, MI
- Commodore agrees with this philosophy and is including a
programmers library in the VIA release. TheASL.library will
include items commonly needed by programmers, such as a file
This will make the user feel comfortable moving from one application to another.
ED Dear AC: I enjoy'ed your recent construction article for an Amiga Stereo Sound Digitizer. This was an excellent article, especially since a PC board layout was included.
However, may I make a suggestion?
Next time, please make the PC layout Got The Picture...Get The Works!
PLATINUM EDITION™ Micro Systems Sot f wre 12798 Forest Hill Blvd.r Suite 202 West Palm Beach, Florida 33414 407-7900770 Fax 407-790-1341 Dealers and Distributors Call 1-800-327-8724 See your local dealer for a demonstration.
Wc use KAO Disks.
The Works! Platinum Edition is a trademark of Micro-Systems Software, Inc. All brand and product names are trademarks of registered trademarks of their respective companies.
EWork: PLATINUM EDITION d Programs In One Amiga* Computer itartcr Kit Five Integral Circle 126 on Reader Service card.
.¦•tuirTT actual size, and print the layout right-side up (foil side toward the reader). There was no easy way for your technically inclined readers to easily make a PC board from the illustration you provided.
It would have involved making a PMT of the page (after properly scaling the layout) and flipping it over to make a board. Also, when you print construction articles, please try to get PC layouts for the projects. They make construction much easier.
Your magazine is a great informational source for the Amiga.
Thanks to you, I have an audio filter switch installed in my A1000, and will be able to manipulate my dog's bark beyond recognition. Keep up the good work!
Sincerely, Paul Combs Dayton, OH
- Thank you for these tips. We received other letters
recommending the same ideas. We are one of the few Amiga
magazines that still does hardware projects and we plan to
continue. We will use these suggestions in future hardware
articles. ED Dear AC: I have had a CMI Processor Accelerator
with a 68881 running at 20 Mhz for about 6 months now and it's
great. I just read the review on it and would like to make a
few comments. It is true that the 10-30% speed increase is
somewhat minimal, but this is exactly as advertised.
Secondly, Rich Grace seemed a little unsure of how the coprocessor interface works with the 68881 hardware boating point chip. The 68000 CPU does not have a coprocessor interface (as does the 68020, 30 and 40) so the 68000 must use the 68881 as a peripheral which is much slower than using it as a coprocessor, but still much faster than doing your floating point math without the 68881.
Programs do not have to be especially tailored to the CMI Processor Accelerator. New programs only have to be compiled in a way as to use the floating point library that comes on the Workbench disk on 1.3. l"his new library will take advantage of a 68881 if there is one. All newr programs should (hopefully) be compiled this way so that users can see a significant speed increase in any program using floating point, lattice 5.0 has an option to compile a program in this way, and I've heard that Aztec C also has this option in its newest release.
Using this method to compile is not specifically for the CMI board, but will speed up floating point programs regardless of what brand of board you have that has a 68881 on it. I have seen some of my benchmarks show as much as 70 times increase in speed, but a more realistic speed increase is three to six times faster for a regular' program which does a lot of floating point.
Overall I liked the review and I certainly like the CMI Processor Accelerator. For anyone interested in a program which will show the floating point speed increase, I have written a program called galaxy collision simulator.
It is on the lattice BBS and CompuServe (under the AMIGATECH section).
Steve E. Riley Shingle Springs, CA
- Moreprograms are being written to lake advantage of both math
coprocessor chips and accelerator cards. Sculpt 4D by Byte by
Byte is a good example. ED Dear AC: After reading Barney
Schwartz's review of "PageStream," I came away with mixed
emotions. On one hand, a review by the person who wrote the
manual for tire program is sure to be informative. Pie
describes all the wonderful features very well. On the other
hand, a person with such close ties to the manufacturer can be
very easily biased in Iris opinions, as is the case when he
implies that the limited number of proprietary fonts supplied
with the program are sufficient for professional use.
He and SoftLogic have made a big mistake. In tills case, ignoring the thousands of Postscript fonts available from respected type foundries such as Typeface Corporation, Monotype, Compugraphic, Letraset, Adobe, Bitstream, etc. These are all typographic quality fonts designed by some of the world's best artists, refined and tested over many years of actual use by professional graphic designers and typographers. To ignore this mass of quality fonts that are available yesterday and to substitute a measly ten fonts of dubious quality is pointless. The "promise" of more fonts "real soon now" is not
very comforting.
In the graphics arts business the quality of the final output is all that matters. When you spend thousands of dollars for printing that is vital to your business, you want the best type possible. As a professional graphic artist I cannot expect my clients to settle for second class typography just because my page layout doesn't allow' the use of a wide variety of quality fonts.
Until Amiga software developers and Commodore themselves take full advantage of Postscript fonts, Amiga desktop publishing programs will be just second rate.
Sincerely, Andre Page Sepulveda, CA
- Here is a response from Soft Logik: In response to the let ter
from Andre Page we would like to clear up a simple
misunderstanding concerning our product. PageStream is FULLY
PostScript compatible. We do not ignore or h ide from
PostScript or its fonts. We in fact strongly recommend its use
in professional settings as Andre cited.
It seems that the misunderstanding stems from a paragraph in Barney Schwartz's article. In the article he states that "...you are limited to PageStream fonts within your document. " This is true in that PageStream must have a screen font for every font that it prints out, as is true with any DTP package, on any machine. But that does not mean you are limited to Soft-Logik's outline fonts when printing to PostScript printers.
Currently we offer screen fonts for the 35 "standard"fonts that come in most PostScript printers. Additionally we offer many more downloadable PostScript fonts. But even with this wide selection we do not have screen fonts for the several thousand typefaces available to PostScript imaging devices. In fact, other than for PC's and Mac's, there exist no standard screen fonts at all. And that is the core of the problem.
Currently none of the major type vendors support the Amiga like they do other computers. Soft-Logik for one would be over joyed if they would. On a practical side, if Soft-Logik were to try to The flickerFixer UNLOCK THE GRAPHICS POWER OF YOUR AMIGA 2000!
FlickerFixer is an advanced graphics adaptor that eliminates your Amiga 2000's interlace flicker and visible scan lines. The result: superior quality color or monochrome graphics and text for such demanding applications as CAD CAM, Desktop Presentation, Graphic Design, Animation, 3D Modeling, Video, and Word Processing.
FlickerFixer upgrades the Amiga 2000 with a flicker free 4096 color palette, has an overscan mode that features a screen size of 704 x 470 pixels and drives most of the popular PC Multiscan and VGA monitors, including the NEC Multisync and Mitsubishi XC1429C.
Accolades include: Best ol 1988 Award, Commodore Magazine (12 88); 1 Reader's Choice Award, AMIGAWORLD (12 88); "The display is fantastic... It is the best display we have ever seen on any computer system." Amiga GURU (5 88) flickerFixer f s into the Amiga video slot, is fully compatible with all software, and does not modify the standard Amiga video signals. For more information or to order, call MicroWay Sales at (508) 746-7341 or your Amiga Dealer.
Priced at $ 595, flickerFixer is made in the USA and is FCC Class B approved.
MicroWay... Respected throughout the industry for high quality engineering, service and technical support.
World Leader in PC Numerics
P. O. Box 79. Kingston, MA 02364 USA (508) 746-7341 32 High St.,
Kingston-Upon-Thames, UK, 07-547-5466 USA FAX 617-934-2414
Australia 02-439-8400 flickerFixer and MicroWay are trademarks
of MicroWay. Inc. Amiga is a registered trademark of
Commodore. Multisync is a registered trademark of NEC.
Circle 114 on Reader Service card.
Meet a team of the friendliest financial organizers you'll ever run across.
Smart Scrolls for speed.
Money Mentor has a truly unique system called Smart Scrolls, that handles a diversity' of otherwise tedious data entry functions and clips along saving you up to 70% of your typing time. It's a smart addition to Money Mentor, that's why we call it Smart Scrolls.
Money Mentor sells for only $ 95.95!
SEDONA SOFTWARE Money Mentor Features:
• Net Worth Statement
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Checking, Cash, Savings and Credit Cards
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according to your specific guidelines
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• Color Graphic Reports illustrating actual vs. budgeted amounts
• Over 50 Reports to choose from!
Money Mentor is for everyone!
It does more than just keep your checkbook balanced. Money Mentor helps you manage your personal finances which is important to any family or individual.
With Money Mentor, you can be looking better financially.
Order Moncv Mentor today.
What they're saying about us!
"Money Mentor has to be the nicest look and feel of any money manager package for home use tlxil I hate eiter seen." Amiga Sentry Money Mentor is an excellent product" Amazing Computing SEDONA SOFTWARE 11828 RANCHO BERNARDO RD" SUITE 128-20 SAN DIEGO, CA 92128 CALL (619) 451-0151 Circle 135 on Reader Service card.
Create screen fontsfor every PostScript fontfrom just the manufacturers mentioned, we would be hopelessly swamped. It is our hope to soon make available a utility that will allow Amiga users to create surrogate screen fonts so that they can access the many fonts that are resident in typesetters and laser printers. Tlois wouldgiveAmigan's even better access to the power and beauty of font libraries from companies such as ITC, URW and Agfa CompuGraphic. But until these corporations are made aware of the power and size of the Amiga marketplace, and release their libraries in
Amiga-compatibleformat, noAmigan will truly have full access to such fonts.
Mark Wetzel, Soft-Log ik Pu blishing Corporation St. Louis, Missouri Dear AC: Thanks for an exceptionally interesting and informative May 1989 issue! I am considering starting a business that will rely heavily on the Amiga's music and video capabilities, and this issue gave me a real boost in the motivation department!
I was distressed to read John Steiner's "Bug Bytes" report about the infected fake version of VirusX (known as Vx33.arc) that has been making its rounds on the BBS's. It's bad enough when some idiot creates a fake version of ANYTHING and tries to pass it off as an upgrade of a well respected program.
But to intentionally create and distribute a program CONTAINING a virus that users are expecting to REMOVE viruses that's the lowest form of low i can think of.
Steve Tibbett's VirusX is a godsend.
I have kept up with the upgrades and have installed it in the startup-sequence of nearly every program I own. VirusX has saved me a lot of problems and Tibbetts is to be commended for a fine programming effort.
I hope that people will ignore the fake version and not shy away from the real VirusX. Don't help to destroy the future of one of the most important utilities in the Amiga community. Let's stand behind Steve Tibbetts and show him that we appreciate and support his efforts. Instead of downloading the infected fake from BBS's, lay out die $ 6 for a Fred Fish disk containing VirusX.
That way, you know you are receiving a genuine version. More importantly, you'll be showing Steve Tibbetts that his efforts have not been in vain.
Irene C. Kobelski Colchester, CT
- The latest version of VirusX is V3.2 and is available on Fred
Fish Disk *216. Steve Tibbetts is doing a great job at keeping
up with vinises as they come out. ED HardFrame 2000 The
Super-Speed, DMA, SCSI Hard Disk Interface for the Amiga'2000
• AutoBoots AmigaDOS 1.3 (Price Includes HardFrame Eprom!)
• Directly Boots the New Fast-File System!
(Doesn't Need Old FS!)
• Auto-mounts All Hard Disk Partitions (no Mount List Required!)
How fast is fast? HardFrame 2000 transfers annrjrfrinj rrn-w data at Amiga bus speeds! It's actually faster • Designed-m,Ultra Strong, Multitasking Performance than the hard disk mechanism itself! And even more important in the Amiga's multitasking environment, HardFrame 2000 has extremely efficient DMA circuitry to get on and off the bus in almost no time at all: 280ns to get on; 200ns to get off. And it's true, dedicated DMA, too! HardFrame 2000 autoboots and automounts directly into the AmigaDOS™ 1.3 Fast File System (old file system partitions are not needed!). The core of any DMA
SCSI interface is in its SCSI protocol chip and DMA chip. MicroBotics has chosen the new, high performance Adaptec AIC-6250 SCSI chip, capable of up to S megabytes per second raw transfer speed, and the Signetics 68430 DMA chip running at 12.5 megahertz. Then we added additional FIFO buffering and enabled 16-bit wide data transfers for maximum throughput. The sophisticated design of HardFrame 2000 provides for automatic SCSI arbitration, selection and reselection. The hardware supports either synchronous or asynchronous data transfer. HardFrame 2000 can function as either the SCSI bus
initiator or the target and can reside in a multiple master environment. Physically, HardFrame 2000 is optimally flexible: the compact, half-size card comes attached to a full length, plated aluminum frame. The frame has mounting holes positioned to accept standard, 3.5" SCSI hard disk units such as those manufactured by MiniScribe, Seagate, Rodime, and others (hard disk mechanisms must be supplied by the user or his dealer as a separate purchase item). Alternatively, you can cable-connect to a SCSI drive mounted in your Amiga's disk bay or in an external chassis. As many as seven hard
disks may be connected to a single HardFrame
2000. There is no size limit on each disk. HardFrame 2000
includes a 50-pin SCSI cable aird header connectors for
either 50-pin or 25-pin cable connection. Also included is
a current tap to power frame- mounted drives directly from
the slot itself. HardFrame 2000 comes complete with driver,
installation, and diagnostic software.
Available NOW! Suggested list price, S329 (hard disk not included) Frameless version: $ 299.00. See your Amiga Dealer.
The HardFrame 2000 photo shows the product with a MiniScribe twenty megabyte hard disk installed. Hard disks are no: included in the purchase price ol HardFrame. Note that if placed in the first slot.
HardFrame uses only one slot even with a disk attached.
Great Products Since the Amiga Was Bom!
811 Alpha Drive,Suite335, Richardson,Texas75081 (214)437-5330 Tell your dealer he can quick-order trcm MicroBotics directly-no minimum quantity-show him this ad!
"Amiga" is a registered trademark of Commodore-Amiga. 'HardFrame 2000*, "8-UPr. "PopSimm". Are trademarks of MicroBotics, Inc.
• High Quality Metal Frame for Stable, On-Card, Hard Disk
• Power Cabling Directly from Card to Disk
• 50-pin Cable Included
• Supports up to seven SCSI hard disks of any size New!
8-UP! (DIP) FastRAM Another great memory board from MicroBotics, 8-UP! (DIP) is the "brother" of the original 8-UP!
(which uses SIMMs and PopSIMMs to fill its memory space), 8-UP! (DIP) uses conventional 1 megabit RAM chips in standard sockets to provide your Amiga 2000 with 2, 4, 6, or 8 megabytes of autoconfiguring FastRAM! 8-UP! (DIP) is a super efficient CMOS design for lowpower consumption and high reliability. Suggested list price, $ 239 (0k installed) p - - - - - - - - - - - Join MicroBotics I ONLINE TECHNICAL SUPPORT I . CONFERENCE ON BIX .
" (The Byte Information Exchange) * | -call 1-800-227-2983 | for BIX membership information!
Circle 109 on Reader Service card.
Amazing Users Unite CAUSe Canberra Amiga Users Society John Buttle, Public Relations Officer
P. O. Box 596 Canberra City A.C.T. 2601 Australia Phone: (062)
514141 (home) Description: Our group has been operating since
October 1986 and has approximately 200 members.
Meeting: Second Thursday of every month at 8:00 p.m. Location; Seventh Day Adventist Church Mall, 3 Macleay St, Turner.
BBS: Phone (062) 551469, 24 hrs., sysop: Peter McNeil: (062) 545545 (home).
Users Unite Users Unite
O. P.A.U.G. Olympic Peninsula Amiga Users Group Eldon DeHart 717
E. 9th Street Port .Angeles, VA 98362 Phone: (20© 452-6735
Meeting: Last Friday of every month at 7:00 p.m.-?
Location: 717 E. 9th Street Port Angeles, WA 98362.
BBS: The Red Dragon, 2400 Baud, 24 hrs., phone: (206) 457-3671, sysop: Eldon DeHart.
Users Unite Users Unite Twin Ports Area Amiga Users Group Kenji Ogura 30 W. Superior St. Duluth, MN 55802 Phone: (218)722-2641 Meeting: Second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 p.m. Location: UMD, Room MWAH 176.
Club Amiga Joyce Burek, President 10002 Kirkglen Drive Houston, Texas 77089 Phone: (713) 481-4704 Club Amiga meets on the first Thursday of every month at 7:00 p.m. at MicroSearch Computers. 9896 S.W, Freeway, Houston. TX 77074.
The Clear Lake Chapter of Club Amiga meets on the third Thursday of every month at 7:00 p.m. at MicroSearch, 2402- F Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX 77058.
The Willowbrook Chapter of Club Amiga meets on the third Thursday of every month at 7:00 p.m. at Software Etc., in the Willowbrook Mall, located at FM 149 & FM I960, Texas.
BBS: 1200-2400 Baud, 24 hrs., phone:
(713) 528-7511, sysop: Scott Denham.
Users Unite Users Unite WAC Washington Area Commodore User Group John Krout, Amiga SIG Leader
P. O. Box 684 Springfield VA 22150-0684 Phone: (703)273-6074
Description: Serving Amiga users as well as C64, C128 and
MS-DOS users in the region around Washington, D.C. The public
is cordially invited to attend all of our meetings. We offer a
24-page monthly newsletter, an Amiga PD shareware Disk of the
Month, and a video library. Our club is especially eager to
receive demo disks and instructional videos from software
publishers. These items are publicized prominently in our
Meeting: Third Saturday of every month at 1:00 p.m. PACE Penobscot Amiga Computer Enthusiasts Michael Weinberg, Secretary Treasurer 27 Cedar Street Belfast, Maine 04915 Description: PACE meets once a month, maintains a PD library of more than 200 disks, and publishes the newsletter PACER every' two months.
Meeting: Contact Michael Weinberg for dates, times, and locations.
Users Unite Users Unite
A. C.E. Amiga Computer Enthusiasts John Zale, President
P. O. Box 591 Oak Forest, Illinois 60452 Phone: (312) 687-7788
Description: We currently have 75 active Amigaists. The group
has a wide variety of interests and experience. We ¦welcome
all those who have an Amiga or are curious about this
wonderful machine to visit our next meeting.
Meeting: First Thursday of every month at 7:30 p.m. Location: Percy Hopkins Auditorium at Christ Hospital, 4400 W. 95th Street, Oaklawn.
Users Unite Users Unite If you would like your users group info printed here please send us a letter.
Thanks *AC* The Amazing Computing Freely Redistributable Software Library announces the addition of... New Orleans Commodore Klub's inNOCKulation Disk Version 1.5 To help inform Amiga users of the newer A m iga viruses and provide them with the means to detect and eradicate those pesky little critters!
Files and directories on the inNOCKulation Disk include: Virus _Texts (dir) Various text files from various places (Amicus 24, PeopleLink, and elsewhere!) Describing the Virus(es) and people's experiences and their recommendations; TVSB "The Virus Strikes Back": satirical text describing future efforts to rid the universe of the dreaded (silicon) viruses! Interview with the alleged SCA virus author!
WB_VirusCheckers (dir) VirusX3.2 Runs in the background and checks disks for viruses or non-standard boot blocks whenever drey are inserted. (Recognizes several viruses and non-standard boot blocks. Removes virus in memory. Has a built-in "view boot blocks" & other features.)
Sentry Revision of VirusXl.01 in Lattice C. ViewBoot Highly active mouse-driven disk and memory' virus-checker which allows you to look at the pertinent areas (useful in case you suspect a NEW vims!)
VRTest3.2 Watches memory for viruses; will alert die user and allow' their removal if found. Can check & INSTALL disks, etc. CLIJVirusCheckers (dir) AvirusII Erom The Software Brewery (W.
Gennan). Disables a virus in memory.
Clk_Doctor3 Corrects problems with the clock (caused by malignant programs, perhaps not really a "virus") (A500 & A2000) Guardianl.l Checks for attempts at viral infection at boot! Allows you to continue with a normal boot (if desired). Includes a small utility program to permanently place the program on a copy of your Kickstart disk.
KiUVirus Removes (any?) Virus from memory.
VirusKiller A graphically appealing and user friendly program by TRISTAR.
Boot-Block _Stuff SafeBoot2.2 SafeBoot will allow' the user to save custom boot sectors of all your commercial disks and save them for such an emergency. If a virus somehow manages to trash the boot sectors of a commercial disk, just run SafeBoot and it will restore the boot sectors, therefore saving your disk!!
Vint s Alert V2.0.1 Yet another anti-virus program with a twist. Once installed on your boot disk a message is displayed just after a w'arm or cold boot notifying tire die user diat the disk and memory are virus-free, and forcing a mouse-button press before continuing.
BootBctckl Saves and restores boot-blocks. Runs from CLI only.
Antivirus akaAVBB Includes SEKA assembler source.
Xboot Converts a boot-block into an executable file, so you may use your favorite debugger (Wack, Dis, ...) to study it.
The inNOCKulation disk also includes icons and arc files.
To order the inNOCKulation disk, send: $ 00 Amazing Computing inNOCKulation disk orders
P. O. Box 869 Fall River, MA 02722 ncludes postage & handling
(S7.00 for non-subscribers) micro (nii'kro) enlarging or
amplifying, momentum (mo men'tem) strength or force that keeps
- Webster's Momentum Check A full-featured checkbook management
package that makes checkbook management easy. Class codes are
user-defineable and allow you to track any expense you wish.
Use the standard reports provided or create your own custom
reports. Reconciliation was never so easy. Momentum. Check
prompts you for all outstanding items! You can use the mouse,
keyboard, arrow keys, or a combination to move around in
Momentum Check $ 29.95 An easy-to-use mailing list management
program. Why fiddle with 300-page manuals and spend several
hundred dollars when it can be as easy and affordable as this?
Momentum Mail comes ready to use, waiting for your mailing
list! Keep mailing lists, for Birthdays, Christmas, Church,
etc. You can search by any field and use pattern matching.
User-adjustable label size.
Momentum Mail $ 29.95 A complete interactive telecommunication tutorial. Everything about telecommunications in one place! Features a simulated BBS to get the feel of using a BBS before going on-line. Practice uploading, downloading, using file compression utilities. Comes with a terminal program to get you on-line.
You can save each lesson and start where you left off later. Complete listing of BBS numbers for U.S. and Canada. Start telecommunicating today!
TeleTutor $ 29.95 (Jzzi Interface A joystick mouse interface with an auto-fire rate adjustable up to 30 rounds per second!! Switch between automatic and transparent mode. A 4 ft.
Extension cable allow easy connection for A500 owners. Adjustable fire rate allows you to fine tune the Uzzi Interface for each of your favorite games.
Blow your old game scores away! Designed on and for the Amiga.
$ 34.95 All our products are deigned, produced, and manufactured proudly in ihc U.S.A. Available at fine dealers, or order direct. Make check or money order payable to: Micro Momentum, Inc. 100 Brown Avenue Johnston, RI 02919
(401) 949 5310 f Dealer Inquiries Invited Please add 51.50 for
S&H. C.O.D.s add additional 52.50. All products 90-dav
warranty: If you've go! A product, we're interested.
Momentum Check, Momentum Mail. TeleTulor. And Uzzi
Interface are trademarks of Micro Momentum. Inc. Amiga is a
registered trademark of CBM.
Circle 125 on Reader Service card.
New Products and Other Neat Stuff by Elizabeth G. Fedorzyn Tune in Microlilusions has introduced Music-X, a music processor for use with the Amiga and MIDI instruments.
Music-X works to create and manipulate musical scores, as well as communicate with and control MIDI devices.
Music-X supports real-time recording of systems exclusive data.
Through the menu entries and gadgets on tire Sequencer Page, you can record instrument segments one by one, edit them, then play them back together on MIDI instruments.
The Bar Editor displays events graplrically as icons positioned in a two- dimensional time pitch graph. Events can be added to, removed from, and repositioned in the graph. The Event Editor lists all events in a sequence, where they can be manipulated with functions like Cut, Copy, Paste, Recall, etc. The program even lets you record while in the edit mode, allowing you to watch notes appear on your edit display as you play them.
Music-X features keyboard mapping, allowing you to control almost any function of the sequencer including starting stoppingthe sequencer, initiating sequences, or changing the keymap itself from a MIDI keyboard, footpedal, or other MIDI device.
Other features include the Librarian Page, which is used to store programs for synthesizers, and Patch Editor Pages, an expandable feature that allows you to work with different MIDI devices. Music- X comes equipped with patch editors for the Roland D-50, Yamaha TX-81Z, and Yamaha DX 1000.
The package includes 1 program disk. 1 Music-X examples disk, 1 Music-X utilities disk, and a manual.
Music-X is compatible with Microlilusions' MicroSMPTE and MIDI-X. Music-X works with the Amiga 500,1000, and 2000 and requires at least 1 meg RAM.
Microlilusions 17408 Chatsworth St. Granada Hills, CA 91344
(818) 360-3715; in CA (800) 522-2041 Music-X, S299.95 Inquiry
*269 The missing link New from Inset Systems, The Scannery
jinks your Amiga to an HP ScanJet to give you high-quality
scanned images for your documents.
Simply place your graphic image document, chart, line drawing, photograph, etc. face-down on the scanner bed. Select Preview from the options list, and you can scan and view at a low resolution an entire 8 1 2x11 image on the left side of the screen.
With the Clip option, you can isolate any area within the image for the final high resolution scan. Just place tire cursor in any comer of the area to be defined, and click and hold the select button while you drag the cursor to form a box of any size. The dipped area can now be fine-tuned by specifying die dimensions in inches or pixels.
The Scannery lets you customize your images, too. Once the dimensions of the outline are defined, move the box around the image field to precisely capture the elements as you want them to appear in the final scanned image.
You can crop a picture to fit precisely into the space allotments of your document. Scale, Resolution, and Brightness can also be manipulated for greatest flexibility in image output.
The program lets you save in up to 16 shades of gray, or select one of four dither patterns for your output. You can also invert the image in both die Preview and Final Scan functions, Images can be saved to disk for further revision in a paint program, or for indusion in a desktop publishing application.
The Scanner}7 features Arexx support. The package includes the Jack Nicklaus' Greatest IS Holes of Championship Golf from Accolade program disk, custom cable, and documentation. It supports IFF, EPS, PCL, and FAX file formats. The Scannery works with the Amiga 500 or 2000, and is compatible with the HP ScanJet or ScanJet Plus.
Inset Systems, Inc. 71 Commerce Drive Brookfield CT 06804
(203) 775-5866 The Scannery, S250.00 Inquiry 271 Qui'i Quoit,
Quandt, OiV Blue Ribbon Bakery's quest for organization has
taken a international twist. Their organizational program,
Who!, What!, When!, Where!, will soon be available in
German and French language versions.
Beginning this month, the German version of WWWW will be available in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. In December of this year, the program's French language edition will be released.
(Never again will the French have to worry about missing a one-night-only showing of the Nutty Pwfessorl) The French version will be made available in France as well as the Canadian province of Quebec.
WWWW acts as an electronic secretary, its many features including appointment scheduler, calendar, alarm dock, and Rolodex.
Blue Ribbon Bakery 1248 Clairmont Road, Suite 3D Atlanta, Georgia 30030
(404) 377-1514 Inquiiy 272 What happened to 2?
NewTek didn't waste any time with Digi-Paint 2; they've hopped right in with Digi-Paint3, the "Ultimate Paint Program1' for the Amiga that lets you create original artwork using all the machine's 4096 colors simultaneously.
The new program features, among other things, Texture Mapping with antialiasing for smooth 3D effects, Transparency Control; Text Rendering for rainbow fonts, anti-aliased fonts, etc.; Colorized mode that lets you add color to any black-and-white image; cut and paste with any drawing tool; and realtime auto-scrolling on super bitmaps.
Digl-Paint 3's interface was implemented by renowned Amiga artist Jim Sachs. It features complete keyboard- control options and expandable palette selection tools.
Digi-Paint is compatible with Arexx and X-Specs 3D, and requires 512K memory. The package includes 1 program disk. 1 Transfer 24 image manipulation disk, and manual.
NewTek, Incorporated 115 W. Crane St. Topeka, KS 66603 Digi-Paint 3 Inquiry *216 The Golden Bear stalks the Amiga The latest golf simulation by Accolade finds golfs Golden Bear on an unfamiliar course the computer screen.
But he appears to have adapted to the electronic green rather well.
Jack Nickiaus' Greatest 18 Holes Of Major Championship Golf was jointly produced by Accolade and Jack Nickiaus Productions, Inc. The game, which was nominated for Best Sports Program of the year by the Software Publisher's Association, features graphically detailed representations of 18 of the world's most challenging holes in professional golf all chosen by Nickiaus himself.
Some of the more prominent courses include Pebble Beach, Augusta, and Roya! Lytham. Also included are Castle Pines in Colorado and the Cochise Course at Desert Mountain, Arizona two of die toughest and most scenic courses Nickiaus ever designed.
Greatest 18 Holes incorporates a wide variety of challenging features including wind direction and intensity, course hazards, rolling hills, random pin placement, and skins scoring or stroke play.
Options allow' you to play with one to four people or against a variety of computerized men and women golfers.
You can play at either the beginner or expert level, on the pro, mens' or ladies' tees. Each computerized golfer has their own unique playing style and appearance (different plaid patterns?). If you're feeling particlularly handy with die irons, you can play against against a computerized Jack Nickiaus who possesses skills patterned after the golfer's game.
According to Accolade vice president Ralph Giuffre, die pro golfer's expertise wras incorporated not only into die game's design, but is also extended to the user through both on-screen and documentation dps from Nickiaus.
This is die first computer software product release to be undertaken by Jack Nickiaus Productions. Commenting on die integrity of the release, Nickiaus said, "I'm told The Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf is the most realisdc golf simulation ever made for die computer, and I believe it. 1 think you'll find it visually attracdve and a delight to play. You definitely will find diat, like die real game, it requires strategic diinking, concentration, and plenty of practice to master."
Jack Nickiaus' Greatest 18 Holes works with the Amiga 500, 1000, and 2000 and requires 512K memory.
Accolade 550 S. Winchester Blvd., Suite 200 San Jose, CA 95128
(408) 985-1700 Jack Nickiaus' Golf, $ 49.95 Inquiry *270 Get under
your skin Optimum Comparitive Technologies has introduced
the Opticomp system, die first image-analysis system based
on die Inferred-Structure Technology (1ST).
The Opdcomp system actually allows one to see under the skin of a human being, into the outer surface of die structural component of a person, or the myofascial body, without radiation or invasive techniques. Such a process allows structural physicians to make observations concerning ailments diat lie beneadi the skin.
Unlike X-rays, CAT-scans, NMR's, and other radiation-based treatments, diat see all the way to the bone, Opticomp and 1ST lets physicians view the soft tissue and fascia, thus allowing diem to discover the cause of such structural problems.
The easy-to-use Opticomp software handles all die views neccesary, files the Curious?
Any (IBM compatible) with ourm.L.F.!
(Amiga Loads Faster) Safer with CHECKDRIVE.
Faster with FASTFILE-SYSTEM.
50% more MB with RLL-CONTROLLER.
More economic - even defective hard disks can be used.
SCSl-Bus, ST412 ST506-Bus Automount Ver. 1.6, Autoboot Ver. 2.0 Prespect Technics Inc.
P. O. Box 670, Station H Montreal, Quebec H3G 2M6 Fax:
(514)876-2869 BSC Biiroautomation GmbH Postfach 400368 8000
Munchen 40 W-Germany Phone: (89) 308-4152 Fax: (89) 307-1714
Circle 133 on Reader Service card.
View's as sessions, and processes die images for a variety of analyses. The program can be operated via die keyboard or mouse.
The Opticomp system is sold as a complete turn-key package, including an Amiga 2500, a high-resoludon color monitor, high-resolution color printer, custom digital signal processor, camera, custom lights, booth, and installation and operation manuals.
Optimum Comparitive Technologies 5306 Cromwell Court Roanoke, VA 24018 Opticomp, 59995.00 Inquiry *275
• AC* (Secrets of Visual Synthesis Ray Tracing with
Sculpt-Animate 40 and Turbo Silver 3.0 I call ray-tracing
Visual Synthesis because of the analogy between this process
and tire creation of new sounds using electronic musical
instruments, just as tire skillful programming of synthesiz
ers can produce remarkable new tonalities never before heard,
and perhaps better suited than traditional sounds for creating
music in a rapidly changing world, ray- tracing in experi
enced and insightful hands can produce seamless photograph-
quality images that can constitute a new art form.
By David Duberman We hold this truth to be self- evident: The Amiga is the most exciting graphics-oriented computer available to tire average consumer. There are literally hundreds of ways to create images on the Amiga, and new ones are becoming available almost daily. However, many will agree that the most fascinating pictures come from ray-tracing programs.
Images produced with Sculpt-Animate 4D (top) and Turbo Silver 3.0 (bottom).
Defined precisely, ray-tracing is a process whereby three-dimensional images and sequences of images or animations are generated by calculating the effects of rays of light upon a set of objects represented in the computer bv vertices, faces and surface properties.
By realistically depicting shadow and reflective effects, ray- tracing programs can generate startlingly lifelike images, with imagination being tire only limitation on content and presentation.
Currently there are two major ray-tracing programs for the Amiga Turbo Silver 3-0, from Impulse Inc., and Sculpt-Animate 4D, from Byte by Byte.
Having gone through several major revisions since their original releases, both can be regarded as reasonably mature products. Each is superb in its own way and, if there is any -way your budget can justify it, I recommend you purchase both.
But I realize that many with an interest in ray tracing derive little or no income from it, and can afford to purchase on!)' one package. I will therefore present a list of similarities and differences between the two in an attempt to clarify the situation for the potential user of either or both.
Tjjeprogram environment First we'll look at the physical program environment, starting with program size. While the Turbo Silver 3.0 program occupies approximately 250K of disk space, Sculpt-Animate weighs in at a hefty 460K or so an important factor for those with the minimum requirement (for ray-tracing) of 1 megabyte of RAM.
However, Sculpt-Animate uses an overlay system, with sections of the program being unloaded and loaded as needed so as to reserve the most possible RAM for object storage and image rendering.
One of the innovations in the 4D version of Sculpt-Animate gives you menu commands to load and unload program code (i.e., overlays). If the code is fully loaded, less access to the program disk is required, which is good for users of (loppy-disk-based systems.
But if the code is unloaded, an additional 270K of memory is available for other purposes.
Sculpt also lets you unload the Workbench to recover a valuable 30K of graphics memory, an option unavailable ¦with Silver. Since Turbo Silver loads fully when initialized and doesn't use overlays, floppy-based users can remove the program disk after loading the program and use lire disk drive for data.
Both programs come with free versions that support the combination of a 68020 microprocessor with a 68881 floating-point mathematics coprocessor an expensive but necessary add-on for the professional ray tracer. While Turbo Silver is not copy-protected in any way.
Sculpt-Animate has a form of copy protection: it often asks you for a word from the manual upon starting, which is rather annoying. Of course, price is also an important basis for comparison. While Turbo Silver's suggested list is $ 200, Sculpr-Animate's is $ 500.
Both programs use standard Intuition menus and include keyboard equivalents to many menu commands, as well as tire ability to set up your own keyboard equivalents to any menu command. Silver lets you program the "Ray-tracing in experienced and insightful hands can produce seamless photograph- quality images that can constitute a new art form. " function keys alone and in combination with the Esc key for a total of 20 user- defined keyboard alternatives, while Sculpt lets you assign commands to the 26 letter keys.
Sculpt also lets you assign menu commands to letter keys on-the-fly, but there is no way to save these definitions. Both programs also use requesters, but Silver uses convenient "Super requesters" that let you make a wide range of settings simultaneously.
Overall, however, Sculpt's interface has a smoother, more professional feel and interferes less with the creative process.
Object creation Next we'll compare each program's object-creation environment. The initial contrast is obvious. While Sculpt- Animate gives you the Tri-View (three movable and resizable windows showing views simultaneously from the top or bottom, front or back, and right or left side), Turbo Silver gives you a non- manipuiable full-screen single view of the front, top, and right sides only. Also, the edges around the Tri-View's window contain a variety of useful gadgets, which, in many cases, obviates the need to resort to menu commands.
A major problem with using ray- tracing programs on the Amiga is that everything takes too long. It is well known that rendering images can consume exorbitant amounts of time, but image creation and manipulation can also involve lengthy waiting periods because of the time required to redraw a complex wireframe view whenever a physical change is made to an object.
In Sculpt-Animate's case, this problem is potentially tripled in magnitude because three windows are always redrawn. But author Eric Graham has provided an ingenious workaround. You can simply interrupt die redraw process to issue any other command whether from menus or the keyboard and it will immediately take effect.
Turbo Silver does not let you issue new commands while the screen is being redrawn after a transformation. On the other hand, if you abort a Sculpt-Animate rendering, there is no way to save the partial image. Turbo Silver lets you save any image interrupted during rendering.
The two programs let you create objects interactively point-by-point and face-by-face, but Sculpt also lets you define objects precisely with a list of vertices and faces entered into a text file called a script file.
Both programs also provide a means of creating spun (lathed) or extruded objects. While spinning is quite similar with both programs, Silver's extrusion is more advanced, as you can predefine a precise path and optionally force the extruded outline to "bend" with the path's direction. Sculpt's extrude makes a connected copy of selected faces and puts you in Grab mode, forcing you to manually define the size and direction of each section of the extrusion. On the other hand, Sculpt- Animate 4D offers a sophisticated helix command that lets you create complex twisted objects easily.
Also, both programs let you build intricate objects by linking a series of (user-defined) cross-sections. In this case, Sculpt's implementation (Unsiice) is more sophisticated because the cross-sections need not contain the same number of points, as in Silver's Skin command.
Often, in creating three-dimensional scenes, you must rotate objects to reorient them with respect to one another. One of Sculpt-Animate's big advantages is that you can rotate objects interactively, In Silver, you must set tire new angle on a separate requester while the object remains out of sight.
Fortunately, Silver's Undo command lets you instantly cancel changes that do not work out. Sculpt's lack of an Undo command is a serious deficiency.
While both programs' Resize commands use a requester, Sculpt is more interactive, as you can see the object while resizing it.
Both programs let you move objects interactively, while offering different methods of selecting parts of objects for physical and or surface manipulation. While Sculpt gives you a box-shaped Selector tool, Silver lets you use the keyboard to select contiguous sections of objects for transformation.
To a large degree, objects' surface properties define the nature of the ray- traced image, and there are significant differences between the two programs in this respect. Sculpt gives you a relatively limited selection of surface appearances dull, shiny, luminous, mirror, metal and glass. Silver, on the other hand, gives you a sometimes dizzying array of choices. You can set an object's reflectivity and transparency independently to any of die Amiga's 4096 colors.
Other settings for the programs include specularity and hardness (both related to shininess), as well as roughness. You can apply IFF images to objects, optionally wrapping them around. Sculpt also lets you use IFF images, but only as backgrounds or foregrounds that are not really part of the scene. Another surface attribute unique to Silver is texture, a user-defined pattern (e.g., checker or brick) applied uniformly to an object. A special type of object in Silver is die stencil, a two-dimensional object defined externally in a one- bitplane (black and white) IFF file the image area
becomes the object.
As mentioned, Sculpt allows only one type of transparent object glass.
While this simulates the surface appearance of glass very ¦well, it does not bend light the way real glass does. Silver Sets you set an index of refraction for a transparent object, which causes the light to bend exactly as in reality. But even with refraction, Silver does not give you the highly glossy appearance of Sculpt's glass.
Both programs permit a practically unlimited number of light sources. While Sculpt's light is a special type of object, in Silver, any object can be a light source. Such objects, however, remain point sources of light you cannot make a fluorescent tube by setting a cylinder to be a light source. Sculpt's lights always diminish in intensity with distance, but Silver gives you an optional sun-type light that lights the same regardless of distance, which is ideal for objects moving toward or away from the viewer.
Both programs only depict shadows a time-consuming activity in full ray-trace mode. But all of Sculpt's light sources cast shadows, while Silver makes each light's shadow-casting ability optional.
As for "global" settings regarding ground and sky, an infinite plane "ground" is available in both cases.
Sculpt gives you a single optional ground pattern, a checkerboard. Silver's ground is blank by default, but you can apply textures or IFF images to it. The latter repeat automatically in a checkerboard pattern. With the sky, both programs permit a solid sky, graduated between two colors, or none. However, Silver lets you set the degree of dithering in graduated sky and offers an optional "fog" mode that obscures the distracting horizon line.
Finally, I cannot leave out Sculpt- Animate 4D's new font capability, a must for anyone creating animated three- dimensional tides. While libraries of 3D fonts are available for both programs, creating good-looking words in Silver demands a certain amount of experimentation with repositioning letters. Using fonts set up in the proper format for Sculpt requires you to enter words from the keyboard that are loaded from disk and lined up automatically as you type.
Another of 4D's innovations useful for precision work is a variable 3D grid with snap capabilities.
Rendering After creating an object, you must render it to view it as a three-dimensional solid. Both programs offer a variety of rendering modes, but Sculpt- Animate makes it easier to switch modes it's a simple menu choice that can be made at any time.
Turbo Silver, on the other hand, forces you to close die current file before setting a new resolution. Thus, to render a scene in a different graphics mode, you must:
1. Write a cell's contents to a disk file.
2. Close the file.
3. Set die new graphics mode. Available choices are
HAM Lo-res Hi-res, Interlace Non-interlace, Normal Overscan,
and 12- bit 24-bit RGB, the latter being useful only with
special display hardware.
4. Open a new file.
5. Load the cell and render it.
While Sculpt-Animate lets you make all these choices without unloading data, both programs let you choose full ray-trace or solid model scanline mode internally. Incidentally, this latter compromise mode, which offers some of the benefits of ray tracing, including smoodi surfaces with gready improved rendering times, seems to be faster in Silver. Sculpt-Animate also offers paint and sketch modes that render objects as solids very quickly in lo-res or hi-res with no smoothing or shading.
Sculpt-Animate generates images in standard IFF format, while Silver uses a custom 12-bit format called RGBN in all modes. You can, however, save a Silver image in IFF format by pressing die S key while die image is displayed with the Show command. Consequendy, converting a long sequence of Silver images to IFF format can be a lengthy and tedious process.
Of greatest importance to floppy- disk users might be the fact that Sculpt- Animate renders in memory, while Turbo Silver renders to disk. The process used by Silver is this:
1. The image is rendered until a small buffer is filled.
Depending on image complexity, this can be anywhere from one
to several scan lines.
2. The image file is opened.
3. The buffer data is written to the image file.
4. Return to Step 1 until the image is completed.
As you can see, there is apt to be quite a lot of disk activity' involved in rendering an image in Silver. With complex images rendered in Solid iModel mode, the process may be repeated several times per minute. When rendering to a hard disk or RaiM: disk, this is not a problem. But when rendering to a floppy disk, due to current limitations of AmigaDOS and the inherent slowness of tire medium, the process can be prolonged significantly.
On the other hand, if you are working in a limited memory7 siaiation
(i. e., 1 to 1 1 2 megabytes of RAM), Silver's method lets you
squeeze out every last available byte for object data.
Since Sculpt-Animate renders in memory7 (and requires more memory just to run), you must restrict object complexity more severely. Also, to retain a rendered image "The two programs let you create objects interactively point- by-point andface- by-face.. .Ifyour budget can justify it.
I recom mend you purchase both. " with Sculpt, you must be sure to save it to disk.
If you are in a big hurry to see your picture, the programs offer markedly different compromise solutions.
With Silver, you are always rendering at full size, but you can use the Set Zone command to define a rectangular area of any size for rendering the rest of tire screen remains blank.
Sculpt, on the other hand, lets you render tire full image at a range of sizes from Overscan to postage stamp. Sculpt displays the image as it is rendered, while Silver makes you wait until rendering is finished before you can see it (actually, you must load the image file first).
A new feature with Sculpt-Animate 4D, now the default condition, is that you can delay displaying the picture until it is ready to be drawn completely, which decreases total rendering time.
PERSONAL COMPUTER SHOW Come See The California Goldrush!
October 20-22,1989 Santa Clara Convention Center Santa Clara, CA Over 10,000 Attendees and 120 Amiga Companies Will Be There.
STRIKE IT RICH AT AmiEXPO-CALIFORNIA!
Admission includes the Exhibition, Seminars, Keynotes & Amiga Artists Theatre!
120 Amiga Exhibitors Featuring State of the Art Software and Hardware, at the lowest prices!
Master Classes Available in Amiga Graphics, Video, Programming, Animation, Music and Publishing!
Seating for Master Classes is limited; call for schedule and availability before registering.
PRE REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 6,1989 For Hotel Reservations Call the DoubleTree Hotel at (408) 986-0700.
Hotel reservations deadline: September 27th. 1989.
For discounted airfares, call American Airlines at (800) 433-1790 and give them this ID: S-83536.
STATE Registration is $ 5 Additional At The Door For MasterCard or VISA Payment Expiration Date r . ... --- Account Number ¦_' .
Name as it appears on card: . : Signature a a ' ¦¦ ¦ : Make Check or Money Order Payable to: AmiEXPO 211 E. 43rd St, Suite 301 New York, NY 10017 Total Amount Enclosed And as mentioned, Silver lets you save a partially rendered image, while aborting a rendering in Sculpt automatically discards the picture.
One of the most crucial criteria for comparison is that of image quality, and there are significant differences between the two in this area. The single word that best sums up Sculpts most attractive images is "glossy". Sculpt's glass and metal surfaces have just the right degree of shininess and are truly convincing qualities fairly difficult to obtain in Silver.
However, Silver is quite capable of producing stunning images and animations, and it is the only choice for those requiring a broad range of surface characteristics. Of course, you (or your clients) are the ultimate judge of image quality, so you should preview' a wide range of images produced writh both programs before making a decision.
Animation While the two programs take a basically similar approach to animation generation, there are still marked differences between the two.
To create an animation, a sequence of still images is generated. The stills are then compressed and combined into a single animation which can be shown outside tire program. Thus, if you are generating many frames, you may need a lot of disk space.
Both programs have the space- saving option of deleting frames as they go, but if the generation process is interrupted, you must restart from scratch. Each program uses its own proprietary format for animations. This format is not compatible with other graphics programs for the .Amiga. Neither program provides internal sound capability. There are, however, a number of programs available which, given a sequence of IFF still images, provide sound-adding capability.
Both Silver and Sculpt allow global or path animation in which objects are assigned to follow linear paths during the course of the animation. Silver's paths are easier to use the number of points used to define them bears no relation to the length of the animation, so you can set up a straight line animation of any length with a two-point path. Conversely, Sculpt's paths permit uneven motion, as each point on the path represents a subsequent animation frame and you can set points anywhere you like.
Both programs allow object rotation during path movement. Again, Silver's is easier to set up, but Sculpts arrangement is more flexible. Still, Silver allowrs gradual resizing during path movement in any combination of the three dimensions. Silver also has a "Follow Me" command that lets you assign any number of objects to follow each other along a path with a single command.
If your Silver animations have many frames and complex objects, you had better have plenty of disk space available because the program uses a separate disk file to hold all animated objects in each frame. So, if you have 50 frames, each containing 60K of objects, you will need 3 megabytes of disk space just for the object data. You can set objects to be external, in wrhich case they are saved only once, and can even be animated.
Script's big animation extra is tweening, which is very important for animators trying to recreate natural motions, such as walking. With tweening, you set the beginning and ending frames of a motion, such as the stride of a walking person, and the program creates all the steps in-between. The term tweening comes from the early days of film animation, w'here animators would draw frames representing only the peaks of the action, and assistants would draw' all the in-between steps, or "tweens". Sculpt lets you combine path and tweening animation in die same scene, but not with the same
Silver offers relatively sophisticated animation script capabilities compared to Sculpt's limited ability to change only the timing of each frame, loop forward, or "Ping-Pong'' mode. With Silver's movie script file capability (actually a primitive programming language), you can set up complex sequences from existing "exposed" frames, complete with "subroutines".
Other Movie commands let you pause die animation for a set number of seconds, change the frame rate, insert black frames for transitions, and wait for a keypress. Since one of Silver's great advantages is that it's much faster at compressing a sequence of exposed stills into an animation, it is easy to experiment with the Movie commands.
Summary While I have gone to great lengths to point out the weaknesses of both Sculpt-Animate and Turbo Silver, I must again emphasize diat 1 am an avid user of both programs and recommend them highly to all Amiga users interested in three-dimensional graphics. By all means, try to get a demonstration of either or both at your local Amiga retailer. If they prove cooperative, show 5rour support by purchasing die program there, even if it does cost you a few more bucks than mail order.
• AC* Product Information Impulse Inc, 6870 Shingle Creek Parkway
112 Minneapolis, MN 55430
(612) 566-0221 Turbo Silver 3.0, $ 200.00 Inquiry 273 Byte by
Byte Arboretum Plaza II 9442 Capital of Texas Highway North
Suite 150 Austin, IX 78759
(512) 343-4357 Sculpt-Animate 4D, $ 500.00 Inquiry 274 Tell Them
You Saw Them.
When you contact a vendor, tell them you saw them in the magazine that delivers more.
Teil them you saw them in: Amiga Amazing Reviews RageRender 3 V review by Michael Fahrioti supports the X-specs from Haitex Resources. The tools directory includes a module to trigger the X-specs when running a 3D Anim file writh ShowAnim.
The 220-page spiral bound manual abounds with information and useful graphic examples, it could double as a guide to solid geometry. In the chapter Examples, many of the sample scripts contained on tire extras disk are documented and explained. Included in tire appendixes is a description of useful AmigaDOS commands, a comprehensive summary of ED and its commands for use as a script editor.
I am a professional graphic artist with twenty-five years experience. The Amiga was my first and only computer, and DeluxePaint my first software package. 1 chose the Amiga for its affordable graphics capabilities, and DeluxePaint because it was the only game in town. Three years and several paint programs later, I had still not gotten into 3D rendering. I had looked at other 3D programs, but their apparent complexity and lengthy rendering time scared me away.
Then Mindware International released PageRender 3D (Page3D), and it was a joy to use. It is quick and has a well thought out user interface diat made it easy for me to comprehend. Page3D is an object oriented program which builds complex scenes or shapes from smaller objects, much like constructing a large building out of bricks and beams. Each object is built up of facets. The smallest objects, such as a square or triangle, contain only one facet. A cube is made up of six facets (each side is one square facet) and so on.
Page3D comes on two disks, a main disk and an extras disk. The main disk is self booting and contains the program and a large library of over eighty predefined objects. Page3D is not copy protected and can be easily installed on a hard drive. The extras disk holds a 68020 68881 version of the program for those of you lucky enough to be driving a turbo charged Amiga.
The rest of the space is stuffed with sample scripts that show off the numerous features of Page3D. These scripts are a great help in getting started with the program and much preferable to plodding through yet another tutorial in a manual. For those who want to get deeper into the third dimension, a pair of red blue 3D glasses is included.
Yes, Page3D will work in a true 3D model And if the old red blue method is not deep enough for you, Page3D Getting Started Clicking on the program's icon causes the Workbench screen to slowly scroll down olf tire monitor before Page3D appears, When the program loads, you are presented with two screens, the work area, where objects are displayed, and a small foreground screen that runs across the bottom. The bottom screen contains die tool gadgets and a small CLI input window. The default setdngs start you out looking down at the midpoint of an X, Y and 2 axis, die center of Page3D's world.
Clicking the gadgets enters commands for manipulat- I Below: Writing utensils with rhythm Dancing Pencils" produced with PageRender 3D ing objects or your viewpoint within this 3D environment A slider to seiect the amount of movement extends under the gadgets, When you seiect a gadget, a visual marker on the work area shows you where and how far the object will move.
The CL1 window on the right echoes your mouse selections, both from the gadgets and the pull down menus, in Page3D's script language. I found this feature an immense help in learning how to use scripts.
Visualizing what a command does and seeing the script version simultaneously is an excellent teaching aide. The CLI window's curser is always active, so you can immediately enter commands from tire keyboard. I soon found myself combining mouse and keyboard input, forgoing the slider for inputting the amount of movement. Fage3D allows tire user to define four macro keys for their own use.
As I learned my way around Page3D, sometimes I would get disoriented, hut the different view commands (object, front, side or top) made it possible to find my way back. Page 3D can be mouse or keyboard driven; or you can use a combination of both. You can also write or generate script that the program will read and create while you watch.
Pulling up the foreground screen reveals a full window listing the commands you have been entering. You can select two other gadgets, SETUP and FACET. The SETUP gadget displays a detailed description of the current settings for screen resolution, page size, light source, observation point, type of movement, etc. You can configure Page3D to your liking and save the setup for future use. FACET displays a list of current objects in memory, the number of facets in each object and the object's position in relation to the X, Y and Z axis. The lower screen can be quickly moved up, down or flipped
out of sight with a macro key.
Objects Page3D comes with a library of over 80 objects, ranging from simple squares to many faceted spheres. It also includes the alphabet and a set of numbers. Most of these can be easily accessed from a pull down menu. You can load objects by selecting them from a requestor that scrolls up from the bottom, and you can import objects by entering "load filename" (with a full path to the file) from the keyboard.
For ease of movement, you can merge complex shapes created with smaller objects into one large object.
Newly loaded objects from the Page3D library' always appear with their center at the intersection of the three axes. When saved, new objects will retain their location in relation to the center of Page3D's world. They will reappear in that position when loaded. Objects have their own axis, so they can be rotated independently, as well as, around the program's X, Y and Z axes.
Adding to Page3D's versatility is die Create Object feature, which lets you create your own 3D objects in two formats, flat and cylindrical. Flat objects are rendered by drawing the outline as a series of connected, straight lines with the mouse and then selecting a depth for the third dimension.
Cylindrical objects are drawn as a cross section. You outline the shape on one side of a vertical center line while the program mirrors the opposite side.
When the cross section is finished, entering the number of sides gives the program the data needed to render the new object. Objects can be saved for future use. Using the cylindrical method, my son quickly produced a flying saucer that he was able to send spinning and turning through space. The best method I found to create new objects was to design my object as a silhouette in a paint program, import it into Page3D, where the picture can be easily traced over for quick rendering.
Colors and Resolutions The default color of Page3D's objects is blue, but objects can be painted any color in the Amiga's spectrum. Not only can you have objects of different colors, but individual facets of an object may have distinct colors. It would have been helpful to match colors if you could "pick" the color of an existing object using the mouse. Currently, you must write down the color numbers used. If you don't keep track, you can end up with a lot of nearmatching colors and a color spread that is too limited for effective shading.
While Page3D supports HAM, it does not support Extra Halfbrite. If you need to conserve memory or storage space, you can reduce the number of bitplanes. Although this decreases the amount of colors, the excellent dithering techniques provide the illusion that many more colors are being displayed than tire palette can hold. Objects are scaled in centimeters and not by pixels, therefore changing resolutions does not effect tire size of tire objects on the screen.
Moving On Objects can be moved in any direction (you are in 3D). They can be stretched, pulled and pushed into other shapes with the object editor. You can move freely around and through them.
Movement of objects, view point and light source are determined in relation to the X, Y and Z axes. The commands View Front, View Side and View Top move you to a position looking straight down the X, Y or Z axes respectively.
The tool gadgets give you a choice of moving an object up, down, left, right, away from you, towards you or parallel to any of the three axes. Rotate lets you move die object around one of the three axes or spin on its own axis. An object's rotation is related to its center point and the axis it is spinning around.
The object's center point can be moved anywhere. By placing the center point outside an object, you can change its rotation into a swinging motion. Other tools let you move your observation point in any of the above ways or around the center point to the left, right, up or down. You can select Look to drange your direction of observation.
Additional object manipulation tools are clone, cyclic, size and mirror. Resizing can be done in any one direction,or overall.
Page3D can utilize any Cor all) of four different systems of movement: Cartesian, Spherical, Cylindrical and Tetrahedral. Cartesian is the program's default and easiest to understand. It moves an object along or in relation to tire three axes. Spherical moves objects around the surface of a sphere. Cylindrical utilizes a cylindrical shape that is straight up and down on the Z axis as a base. Tetrahedral follows tire shape of a regular tetrahedron (a three-sided PageRender 3D Author: Multifaceted Individual One might wonder what kind of person could construct a multifaceted program like
PageRender3D. A multifaceted person, of course. That person is Michael Abrams. Michael's background finds him entrenched in both art and physics. In high school, he had an infinity for art so much so that he was going to pursue it as a career. But then... He changed his mind and earned his degrees in physics. He designed industrial machines for twelve years while dreaming of creating the ultimate 3D graphics program for the computer. Not having a computer, he began by figuring our his calculations on a hand-held calculator, then advanced to a programmable calculator. By the time Michael
selected the Amiga as the machine to program on, he had good a portion of his work figured out. Of course, there was the hurdle of teaching himself C before he could create his program. The final version of PageRender 3D was the result of over 703 pages of programming.
The bulk of his program was done on his Amiga 1000 configured with only 512 on board and no hard drive. I first saw Michael's early version of PageRender 3D at one of our monthly Amiga Group meetings. For five dollars (the price of the disk and cost of the manual printout) he allowed members of tire Cleveland Area Amiga Users Group to try out his program.
Being a pioneer at heart, I thought "Why not?", and plunged into the program. It wasn't very user friendly in those days, but luckily I am an artist who had a high school infinity for physics. Michael really listened to those of us hearty individuals who took learning the program on as a challenge. That was a year and a half ago, and it is amazing how many new features Michael has added since then.
Michael is one of those "what if" people who never stops thinking of the possibilities. Those of us hungry for good software that expands our machines' capabilities are happy about that.
Pyramid). When you change to a different system of movement, the tool gadgets change correspondingly.
Animation and Scripts Scripts offer the best method to create Anim files. All the movements of an animation sequence can be plotted and written into a script. "Save Script" will save to tire destination file all the commands you enter with the mouse or from die keyboard. The commands can be edited later in any text editor. The "Save Anim" command can be included at the proper intervals. When your ready to create your animation, just select "Read Script" and go get a snack while die program renders the Anim file.
Backgrounds can be created in a paint program and loaded into Page3D.
Setting the Autodear to off causes the 3D object to be drawn over the imported background. But if you move an object with Autodear off, die old image will remain. You must reload the background to dear the screen of the previous image.
This is no problem, as the Load command can be placed in die script. I copied my background picture to RAM and loaded it from diere to speed things up and save on disk access. The palette used by Pageltender 3D is set by the object files. You must first create your objecc(s) and save the screen as an IFF file, dien load this image into die paint program before rendering the back- ground to set the palette. Another approach is to import the Anim file created with Page3D into Dpaint III.
There you can create a background on the spare screen and merge it in back of the Anim scenes, and detailing can be added if you so desire.
Page3D can do simplified ray tracing, Surface textures cannot be defined nor are cast shadows plotted, but the increased delineating of light and surfaces can give spectacular results to die final picture. The effect is most noticeable in complex pictures with numerous small objects. The ray trace command can be embedded in a script file to produce amazing animations. Even this simplified ray tracing gready increases the dme it takes rendering a picture, especially in Hi-Res mode. When creating animation files, each frame will be ray traced before being added to the file, increasing the
execution time signifi candy.
After several months of using PageReader 3D, in beta versions and the finished product, I've still not tried all the numerous features available. Some of them, such as die Tetrahedral movements, I have not yet begun to understand. There is much more then I've been able to cover in dris review. It is much faster and simpler than most odier 3D programs. However, you do sacrifice some of the detail diat can be accomplished with other programs. For my purposes, I prefer Page3D's speed and ease of use. Page3D is a excellent program for those interested in getting into 3D rendering, either
stills or animation.
• AO Mindware International 110 Dunlop Street, West ¦ Box 22158
Barrie, Ontario, Canada L4M 5R3 1-705-737-5998 o:.;
PageRender3D, $ 159.00 §:::' Inquiry 266 : ¦ ¦ Amazing on Disk
Source Listings and Executables from the pages of Amazing
Only $ 6.00 per disk ($ 7.00 for Non-Subscribers) Please use the order form on page CIII or the tear out form.
AC 1 V3.8 & V3.9 Gels In MultiForth Fart I & II: Using Gels in MultiFourth.
FFP & IEEE: Math routines in Modula-2.
CAI: Computer Aided Instruction in AmigaBASIC.
Tumblin Tots: Save the falling babies a game. Written in assembler.
Extra Goodies: Three freely redistributable programs, Vgad, MenuEd & Bspread.
AC 2 V4.4 Fractals Pan I: An introduction to the basics of fractals with examples in Amiga BASIC, True BASIC, and C. Shared Libraries: Using shared libraries in C. MultiSort: Sorting and intertask communication in Modula-2.
Double Playfield: Using dual playfields in AmigaBASIC.
'881 Math Fart I: Programming the 68881 math coprocessor chip.
Args: Passing arguments to AmigaBASIC, AC 3 VoL5 & Vol.6 Digitized Sound: Playing digitized sounds using Modula-2.
* 881 Math Part II: Part II of programming the 68881 math
coprocessor chip using a fractal sample.
At Your Request: Using the system supplied requestors from AmigaBASIC.
Insta Sound: Tapping the Amiga's sound from AmigaBASIC.
MIDI Out: A MIDI program that you can add to. Written in C. Diskless Compiler: Setting up a compiler enviroment that doesn't need floppies.
AC 4 VoL7 & Vol. 8 Fractals Part II: Part II on fractals and graphics on the Amiga in AmigaBASIC and True BASIC.
Analog Joysticks: Using analog joysticks on the Amiga in C. C Notes: A small program to search a file for a specific string in C. Better String Gadgets: How to tap the power of string gadgets in C. On Your Alert: Using the system's alerts from AmigaBASIC.
Batch Files: Executing batch files from AmigaBASIC.
C Notes: The beginning of a utility program in C. (aside, the, Malt'ty ofi DeluxePaint III An ftit&m&w with Pan Si a by Ben and Jean Means Every computer has one program diat exemplifies its capabilities Lotus 1- 2-3 on the IBM, PageMaker on the Mac, and DeluxePaint on the Amiga.
What kind of people have helped create such an elegant user interface to delight the computer artist in us all? We wondered. So we put on our trench coats, strolled to the telephone and called our undercover informant at EA Deep Ear.
"Ya want Silva and the beta testers?" Ear yelped. "No way, Jose, yer askin ' too dam much! Call me back when yer sober. "1 knew we had only moments before we d bear his telephone handset crashing into its cradle. So 1 decided to call in a few old debts.
"Ear, bold on a second. Wasn't 1 the one who told you about the backdoor inArkanoid?" "Yeah, but..." "Wasn'tI the one who told you how to get the Babelfish in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?" He hesitated, "Sure, but..." I honed in for the kill. "Ear, you wouldn't want me to let it slip to the Bandito about your black market source for Obese Agnus chips, would you?" "You wouldn't!" He snarled. "Try m e, " I chuckled. There was a long pause.
"I'll call Silva and see if he can spare you some time," Ear snapped. We were in!
Getting our man After graduating from Stanford with a masters in Mechanical Engineering, Silva worked for NASA Ames, Lucasfilms, and Xerox, where he entered the world of computer graphics with a black-and- white paint program called Doodle.
When Silva and several others left Xerox in 1983 to form EA, Doodle ported its way onto the IBM PC, sprouted some new features and became Prism. When the Amiga arrived in 1985, Silva rewrote Prism to take advantage of tire Amiga's chip set, and DeluxePaint was bom just one month after the Amiga's release.
A year later, after many nights of program-'til-you-drop intensity', DeluxePaint H arrived and created even more of a stir than the original. The "best of' awards poured in again, and Silva took a well deserved vacation. But the true glory of DP was yet to come and might not have come at all except for one fateful night of casual hacking.
Here's how it happened.
AC: How did DeluxePaint Hi get its start?
DAN: I'm naive, but I always end up getting myrself into these things. Basically in one night of hacking, I created this page-flipping stuff, said, 'oh that was fun,' and ended up paying the price for over a year since then, trying to make it into an actual program.
It's the first step in putting together an idea I've had for a long time, which is simply that paint and animation can be viewed as two sides of the same tiling. The same tools yoi! Use for paint can be used for animation, and vice versa. Paint is just animation where you don't erase, where you just paint on the same frame. I'd like to do more in that direction. This was just a first step in a quick experiment, which turned out to be a little more than I bargained for.
But f was feeling I had to champion the Amiga a Hide bit. We went through diis incredible Amiga period at EA where it was just all we were doing, and dien, frankly, we felt Commodore didn't carry' die ball as well as we would have liked. The company shifted over toward the IBM and overreacted somewhat. I felt like, 'Hey! The Amiga is still a liable machine', and I wanted to keep supporting it. Since then we've shifted back towards die Amiga.
AC: Do you have a fine arts or graphics background?
DAN: No, but my Mechanical Engineering background from Stanford ivas definitely valuable training. The courses in M-E design gave me a way of thinking about programs as products that a lot of programmers don't have. When you think about a computer program as a complete product, it's different than just thinking of what features you can program, Every' programmer should study product design if they plan to sell dieir programs, I also have a pretty strong background in math. Many Left.¦ Fireworks anim title series created by Dpaint III beta tester and graphics artist Kara Blohm programmers
don't understand tire underlying mathematics, and that's too bad, especially in graphics programming where it's very important.
What got me started in computer graphics is that 1 really like painting pictures on the computer, and what I'm trying to do is make that process happen for myself. I was influenced by things I had seen on lrigher end graphic systems, but overall I just sat up nights to paint and implemented features so I could finish that painting. If something was too hard to do by hand, I would put in a feature to make it possible.
AC: Did you borrow any user interface tips from other programs?
DAN: Oh yeah, I'm always stealing any ideas 1 can. One of my rules is never be too proud to leam from someone else.
Even a program that is basically crummy usually has some good ideas in it.
DeluxePaint III also had some real active beta testers, especially Jeff Bmette and Kara Blohm, whom gave me a lot of feedback about what they needed in order to do actual video production work. The beta testers were very important on this program because tire animations take so much time to work with that I just didn't have time to be an artist testing it out and the programmer too.
AC: Did any features come from incessant whining from beta testers desperate to have a particular feature?
DAN: Yes, a lot of those came from Jeff Bnrette (Laughs). He could probably tell you some of those. The font requester was from incessant whining, not just from Jeff, but from everyone. However, he was one of the main ones, because he has lots of fonts on his hard disk and wanted a better way of using them. And Kara made sure I got color fonts to work right, which I think is really good because it's a very powerful addition.
People love to make titles to things, and Kara's color fonts just look great.
FIREWORKS AC: How did the idea of the anim brushes come about?
DAN: That was motivated by the feeling diat animation is hard and die average person isn't an animator, so it would be nice to provide an animation library of clip animation art for people to use. So the next question was okay, how do you create stadc clip art? With brushes, so tire next step is to have an animated brush.
Hopefully, that's going to enable a lot more people to create animations who don't feel like they can hand draw animations, but they can assemble elements together and move them around in 3 dimensions to create interesting Urings.
AC: For those 3D moves, you created the Move Requester. Who gave you feedback?
DAN: That was working with Jeff and Kara. 1 think you could do a lot fancier moves, but this was an attempt at making the program simple to use.
Animation can be pretty confusing to get into, but what saves it is the preview function. At least it saves me because I can always preview something in wireframe to see if I've got it backwards before rendering.
AC: How did the move requester evolve?
DAN: As soon as I got page flipping going, one of the first dungs J tried to do was to move an object through perspective by hand. The perspective controls that already existed in DP lent themselves fairly naturally to doing that. I d slide something along die ground and animate it, and it looked pretty neat, but it was a definite candidate for automation right away because it was pretty painstaking Lo do it one frame at a time. So drat is how Move evolved, AC: The direct overscan painting is a very useful new feature for video work.
Was that a high priority on this version?
DAN: Oh yes, i put in overscan not long after DP2 shipped. I'd been wanting to do it, but it was a matter of figuring out how to trick Intuition into letting me have a full overscan screen. I finally got the inside story on how to do that. It's not that hard to do, but it's hard to find out how to do. You just type in a few lines of code, but you can never figure it out by yourself. By talking with the people at Commodore, I've been able to do it in a way which was cheating, but wouldn't become a bug later with later releases of the Workbench. That was the tricky part!
AC: Did supporting extra-halfbrite cause any special problems?
DAN: There -were] no real problems. I had to go through a lot of the code and touch it up so it would work with the 64 colors. But it was pretty simple, which was why I put it in. I think it's a pretty useful feature and it wasn't that hard, unlike HAM, which a lot of people asked for, but (which) would be really hard to put it in the way my model works. Not that HAM isn't useful; it's just too hard!
So I stuck urith halfbrite.
AC: You've got two more cycle registers now, for a total of 6. What tire heck does anyone need 6 color cycles for?
DAN: The reason is not so much for cycling colors, but for creating color shade ranges. I found that with halfbrite; I often wanted more. As a matter of fact, the default palette that you get when you boot up the halfbrite 64 color mode is set up so there's a whole lot of cycles. If you put together a range of three of the regular colors in halfbrite, you get a 6- color range. So it was mainly for shading that I put them in, not for color cycling.
AC: With that many color cycles going, you could probably crash the machine pretty easily.
DAN: In this version, I coded die color cycling code that runs on the verticle blank interrupt in assembly language, and It's much faster. So I think you can run all the cycles full speed and it still leaves enough machine going for the mouse to move around. (Note: We tried it. It does!)
AC: You've gone to 2 1 2 dimension right now. Did you consider going to a full 3-dimensional object-oriented approach?
DAN: Yes, I've thought of putting in at Right: Hollywood's New Blood, anim title series created by Kara Blohm least a limited set of 3D objects where, instead of seeing just a flat brush, you could see a cube with sides painted to the brush. That's one of die tilings on my list cubes, cylinders and things like that.
I think that would be fun. Because essentially, I do have a real 3D model; I could move the brush around in 3D and easily extend that to include other objects.
AC: It would be great to have dodecahedrons, tetrahedrons and icosohedrons flipping around die screens with little pictures on each facet. I'd go nuts with it anyway! So what is your favorite DP3 feature?
DAN: I'm happy about the way the paint tools that were already there just happened to work out lo be fun to use with animation. It's more the interaction that excites me die combinations of features that interact in different ways too numerous to understand immediately. It leaves diis sort of open-endedness to it. For instance, using wrap fill with animation you can get the effect of balls with paintings on the surface rotating in space. We were just playing with that the other day, and that was something I hadn't realized before. I really don't think in terms of it as a single feature.
It's more the interaction of the features that I'm pleased with.
AC: Was it scary removing die copy protection?
DAN: Yes! Some pirated versions of DP3 got out early on bulletin boards. They weren't really DP3, diey were some version diat was probably 2.8. Something that the pirates had renumbered as 3-0.
However, sales seem to be real strong, and it could be that that actually helped us because it served as advertising.
DeluxePaint III sales are mostly upgrades, but it's been way beyond predictions. It's basically flying out die door.
AC: If they talk you into doing DP4, what kind of features would you like to see ir. It?
Quality Clips for Your Quality Art!
Heraldic Picstm Suggested Retail $ 34.95 These image-packed screens are in 16- and 32- color IFF format for use with paint packages such as Deluxe Paint II on an Amiga 500, 1000 or 2000.
Bird Picstm Suggested Retail $ 29.95 All packages require AmigaDos V1.2 or V1.3, a minimum of 512K of memory and a paint package.
To order, see your dealer or contact : Tangent 270 PO Box 38587-A!
Denver, CO 80238
(303) 322-1262 Deluxe Paint II is a trademark of Electronic Arts;
Amiga and AmigaDos are trademarks of Commodore Amiga.
Circle 154 on Reader Service card, 30 Amazing Computing V4.9 ©1989 DAN: I've got this file full of features. A lot of them are kind of boring, like the ability to convert anims between different formats. I'd like to have multipoint interpolations, so that you could get curved trajectories. It would be nice to support all the brush transformations for anim brushes instead of just die ones that don't change the size of the anim brush. There's a lot of work here, but it's mostly just fleshing out the current model and filling in the gaps. The main limitation on De- luxePaint has been the lack of
memory; suddenly, a 2-meg machine seems small. With more memory on die machine, I can go crazy, so in a way I'm waiting to see how the Amiga evolves.
AC: What's next?
DAN: I don't know. I'm going to let DP on the Amiga sit for a while. One of my fantasies ts to integrate animation and music in a program that will sync actions and points in the music in a very easy way. That may be too ambitious, but it's one possibility.
Usually programmers are kept isolated from the beta testers, but Dan Silva wanted to try something different with DeluxePaint III. Instead of existing in a vacuum tied only to the real world by the occasional bug reports, Dan Silva wanted to create "a broad bandwidth of minds," working together on the program design.
Everyone wanted to be a beta tester, but very few were chosen to work in this close relationship with the legendary Dan Silva. Their influence on the design of DeluxePaint III was profound. Here is their story: The Houses Dpaint 3 Built Jeff Brnette stuck his foot firmly in Hollywood's door with his own startup Amiga graphics house in 1987. Since then, Prism Computer Graphics has launched Amiga graphics on the national TV shorn Max Headroom, Secrets and Mysteries; in feature movies like Bulletproof and Disorderlies; and for prestigious industrial clients like CocaCola, Campbell's Soup and
Hills Brother's Coffee. Brnette brought Silva his typical day-to-day problems, which include delivering graphics yesterday, competing head-to-head against vicious competitors and producing the ultimate impossible effect.
An independent graphics bouse faces stiff odds in LA, and Jeff Brnette has relied on DeluxePaint III for almost every one of his projects since last February. Lie says, "If it hadn't been for DP3,1 don't know where my business would be right now. DP3 has made that big a difference!"
AC: Which features in particular have bailed you out?
JEFF: Move in conjunction with the animation was invaluable. My competition had to use Video FX 3D to simulate what I was doing, which would cut them down to 16 colors.
Or they could hand move the animation in DeluxePaint II, which wasn't as smooth. Or they could) do Videoscape animation which is very time-consuming. My clients would come in and ask for a graphic of their logo flying in from infinity.
Other Amiga graphics houses take three or four days to enter the logo and hand-draw in all the frames. Instead, I could scan their logo in with a Sharp scanner, pick it up as an anim brush, and use the move requester to fly it off into the distance.
The whole process took 10 minutes, so I could play it back for the clienL right then and there, It was a real selling feature, particularly when a lot of my clients were Amiga users. Simply because I had the beta version, they had to use me. There was no where else to go.
The other feature that has made the big difference for me is halfbrite. 1 actually don't use it much for painting. Its real value for me is converting pictures. I'll scan something in with my Sharp scanner with its 24 bitpianes, which then gets converted to HAM mode. When you convert HAM images down to 32 colors with no halfbrite, they're just tom apart, so I use the Digi-View software to convert die scanner's HAM image to halfbrite. Now the image has 32 colors plus the 32 halfbrites and the dithering capabilities of Digi-View. It gives me a real beautiful picture! If you put the HAM picture
side by side to the halfbrite 320 x 400 picture, you almost can't tell the difference.
AC: You've achieved some very professional results. What can the average home user do with a tool like Dpaint m?
JEFF: We're putting together a DP3 how-to video with Electronic Arts. It will cover all the new features like animation, extra halfbrite, wrap brush and tint fill modes, die fill freehand, the outline shapes, and the new font requester.
Our aim is to show people how to combine these features to create actual graphics, because a lot of these things are interesting standing on their own, but combining them gives inspiration to new ideas. WeTe covering how to do special effects like starfields, streaming stars, flying titles with shadows, and scrolling text for end credits on a video. With those combinations of effects, the average user can easily create a very hi-tech look like Star Trek in miniature.
Pen and pencil were Kara Blobm !s tools of the trade for 15 years) and she ivielded them artfully for top LA graphics houses like Saul Bass and for the 23rd Olympiad, but the power of the Amiga mouse launched Kara into her own computer graphics bouse. Kara now earns her living creating Amiga graphics for Hollywood video production houses and selling Karafonts, two of which are included with DeluxePaint HI.
Hollywood has a stringent eye for quality, so Kara works mainly in ht-res and her input encouraged Dan Silva to make DP3 capable of effects to please the most demanding clients.
AC: What do the Hollywood post-production houses think of your DeluxePaint III graphics?
KARA: I surprised one of the editors who was helping me transfer my graphics to Betacam in a video bay. She wanted to know what graphics computer I used, and when I told her it was an Amiga, she exclaimed, "That looks as good as our Quantel Paintbox!'' The Amiga is wonderful that way, DPAINT III (PLUS MOVIESETTER USERS) ANIMATED FONTS Bring your screens to life with 3D FONT-A full rotation 3D font For effects that will knock their socks off II DISSOLVE FONT-Yes it does I Dissolve on or off screen * Rotate, Shrink, etc, POUR FONT-Pour in place WOW Animated paint can pours the font on screen !
COMIC FONT-See to believe I Animated characters that bring your title to life OVER 270 ANIMATED BRUSHES Thousands of screens that bring out your best ONLY $ 39.95 Delivered to your door I Check or M.O. Lo t S OH Two Disk P.O. Box 801 SET PROSSER, WA 99350 WA RES ADD $ 3.12 TX COMING SOON-PREHISTORIC AND SCI - FI products named are trademarks of there respective co.
Circle 150 on Reader Service card.
You can really simulate the high-end systems.
A lot of the DeluxePaint tools, like stencils and gradient fills, are similar to the Paintbox. On tire Amiga, I don't get the same resolution or the millions of colors, but son of a gun, with DP3 I sure have a lot of the same tools!
AC: Has DP3 affected your graphic design style?
KARA: You could do animations before with a page-flipping program, but that's such a slow process. Now you can see how it's going to work right off the bat. DP3 makes life so much easier, i did an effect for a low-budget horror film called "Hollywood's New Blood" that had blood dripping down the screen to form the letters. I couldn't have done it without DP3.
It would have taken too long.
My aim is to simulate broadcast TV effects on the Amiga, effects like little trails and glints going across logos. At first Dan just had the expanded page-llipping mode which didn't let me do fast enough glints across the letters In hi-res, but sure enough he got the compressed animation mode running, and it opened whole new worlds of what we can do with DP3 for higher level industrial graphics, Now I can do star glints and little highlights across letters which simulate broadcast TV a lot AC: Since you work in hi-res. What do you tliink about the new fatter Agnus CHIP with 1 meg of CHIP RAM?
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Over TOO routines and macros.
Extensive doc and large example directory. Reduces program code size significantly. AmigaWortd't C programing library of choice (Sept Oct 198 , p28 -
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(CJCopyright 1"89 ACDA Corp. 'Yeah, I know it would be wonderful.' I felt like we were manipulating Dan because Jeff and I would both give him the same input (Laughs). But we just wanted to impress him with how important this was. Jeff would tell Dan about it, and I'd call Dan and say "Oh Dan, wouldn't it be nice to have an airbrush that works with all these tools?" He didn't think it would be possible, but sure enough he figured out how to do it.
He was just amazing that way. He would say, "'I don't know; it might take a lot of rewriting, but I'll put it on my list."
And my heart would drop, and I'd say, 'Ahh...okay.' Then he'd turn around and do it! It was wonderful. He's fabulous; lie's a joy to work with. He's such a nice guy.
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KARA: The fatter Agnus will give me the power to work with 16 colors in hi-res overscan and to grab big brushes like a whole logo. Right now. I can only have 8 colors in hi-res overscan, and I often don't have enough CHIP RAM left to grab a whole logo as a brush. When I get a fatter Agnus, it will really open up some doors. And wouldn't you know it, Jeff Bruette was one of the first people to get one. He taunts me with it. Everything you can think of he's got on his machine: 9 megs, fatter Agnus, Sharp scanner, everything. (Sigh) AC: How often did you talk to Dan while you were be- tatesting?
KARA: Probably 4 or 5 times a week, I ran up three or four hundred dollars in telephone bills while testing DP3- I didn't mind though. It was such a joy to have it in my hands and be able to do a lot more of the effects I wanted to do.
AC: Did you have a lot of interaction with the other beta testers?
KARA; Yes, Jeff and I would call each other a lot. "Did you get it3 Did you see this new thing? Oh yeah! Wow!" We had a good interaction that was very valuable. When Dan came down here to meet with all the LA beta testers. We put on this IBM program and showed Dan the airbrush, so he revised the airbrush to be center weighted, just like a real airbrush.
Inter Jeff and I were talking, and he said, "Wouldn't it be nice if the airbrush worked with all of the tools?" And I said, Attention |f Readers!
A® vsmm Y'liirog Since we at Amazing Computing™ cannot determine the dependability of our advertisers from their ads alone, we want your feedback. If you hcve had a problem with an advertiser in AC™, let us know! Send a complete description of your exchange(s) with the advertiser along with the names of the individuals involved and we'll do our best to get to the bottom of things.
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P. O. Box 869 Fall River, MA 02722 Amazing Reviews Scene
Generator Freely Redistributable Graphics Enhancement revieiv
by R. Shamnis Mortier, PhD.
I know, it's out of the ordinary to review a freely redistributable disk. After all, if it were truly a commercially viable product, wouldn't the author take the steps necessary to market it and make a bundle of money? Well, Scene Generator, a soon- to-be-released freely redistributable program, will leave you breathless. But first, a word about freely redistributable products.
Freely redistributable usually means free to the user. The user can also copy (distribute) due original for others. The author of Scene Generator, Brett Casebolt, actually makes a I Top: Bottom: "Dragon" " Worldzend" plea that this be done with Scene Generator. Freely redistributable is not shareware, where the author asks for a minute contribution, it is freeware. But I'm going to bet my booty chat Version 1.1 will be marketed for sale.
After using this wonderful graphics tool for about seven hours, I called Brett and chastised him for not marketing die product right away. His response humbled me. He said he was so thankful for the volumes of shareware lie has had the good fortune to use, he simply wanted to pay back the community.
How's that for cold, hard, American business sense?
As it now stands, the disk could easily fetch S30.00 in the competitive Amiga graphics marketplace, and it really has no competitors. Right now, it addresses only lo-res without overscan. However, plans are already in the works to upgrade Scene Generator to other resolutions, and to include overscan as well as other features I'll mention later. Before I get into the nitty-gritty, though, allow me to give you a brief bio of Mr. Casebolt.
It's always nice to know a little about die history of these backyard geniuses. I guess we almost crave it, keeping in mind the sacred garages of the "two Steves" (Wozniak and Jobs, the Apple Wonderkinds). Brett is a thirty-one year-old systems programmer who works for Systems Integrators in California. A Sierra backpacker in his spare time, his job for the last four and a half years has focused on writing and maintaining assembly code for the M68000 (also the Amiga's central processor chip).
He has had his Amiga since 1983. His favorite Amiga work involves taking CPU-intensive algorithms and translating them to assembly code. It is this "hobby" that shows up so beautifully in his Scene Generator, with rendering time being reduced to a bare minimum. He originally sent the program to Fred Fish in January of 1988, and later had it published in JumpDisk (a well respected Amiga disk magazine). When he does take Scene Generator to market, he will join the honored ranks of other developers who have followed this same path from freely distributable to marketable product.
As an Amiga artist, I find this program essential for some of my recent work (exemplified by the electronic paintings that accompany this article). With Scene Generator, Brett has set yet another new directional path that others will surety expand and comment upon. Brett originally got tire idea from another freely redistributable program which generates wire frames of fractal landscapes. These types of programs have received considerable press over the last few' years, largely as a result of the related work being done by such notables as Lucas Films.
By following the mathematical input of the artist, these programs are able to generate very believeable and natural scenes. Impulse Inc. in Minneapolis makes a 3D scene generator for their Turbo Silver package called Terrain, but the feel and use of it is very different from Mr. Casebolt's gem. For one thing, Brett's Scene Generator is very randomized, so you cannot really tell what you are going to get until you actually see it. It works so fast, though, you will actually enjoy the mystery. The Impulse program is meant for an entirely different purpose (3D animation), and it can take hours to
render a design. The Terrain program, to be honest, also offers many other parameters (texture mapping, refiectance refractance, etc.), so the two are not really comparable.
As it now stands, Scene Generator has a full Intuition interface, and you can multitask with Workbench or anything else you have the memory' to run. Also, because this program will not remain in the "free'' category for long, working with it now gives the user artist community a chance to provide Mr. Casebolt with some feedback before a righteous version hits the streets.
There are five easy-to-understand pull-down menus, including the Height Menu and the Project Menu. The Height Menu has six options: 800, 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000 and Other, which allows you to set the height of your mountains from 100 to 9999. (It is best, in my experience, to stay between about 500 and 8000, but let your experimentation guide you.) You can light your scenes from over your right or left shoulder, from the front with no shadows, from directly overhead, or via backlighting. You can view die finished work from low, normal, or high vantage points. Also, you can add a dark blue
pool of water at low, medium, and high levels.
The scene generation is turned on in The Project Menu.
The Title can be hidden, die scene redrawn with new options, and the process can be stopped midstream (in case your favorite lines are being randomized out). The finished work can lie saved on your chosen path. I have saved about sixty scenes so far, with twenty to a disk.
Brett hopes to add overscan and other resolutions in the near future (I'm sure your rapid response would encourage dlls), He has also been researching SIGGRAPH publications to add textured water surfaces, clouds, and trees. Plans are also underway to add a batch mode of operation, making it possible to enter parameters from the CLI, so you can generate multiple scenes and save them to disk for 2D-animation purposes.
Wish list Naturally, I have my own fantasies. For one, I'd like to see an option that would utilize accelerator boards (68020 68881).
Amigans are all speed junkies. Even in non-overscan lo-res, an entire scene takes about two plus minutes to render.
A future version might also compute the snow lines of certain altitudes. There should be a setting, perhaps a slider, that allows for various rough (the Rockies) and smooth (the Appalachians) renderings, perhaps by nothing more chan a dithered effect. For those of us requiring fuchsia backdrops for some interplanetary' scene, a color palette choice would be nice.
Lastly, I've got an idea for his next product. It's called Caves. It would allow users to render multifaceted stalactited, stalagmited interiors. The artist never stops wanting more!
And speaking of art, the main reason I wanted to share this discovery with you was to show you some of the results I've been able to obtain. The paintings shown here were rendered with Scene Generator as a background tool, and combined in a PhotonPaint (Microlllusions) environment. In PhotonPaint, I worked in the Video-Res mode in full overscan, meaning all the Scene Generations had to be manipulated in some fashion to fill out die space. Usually I just enlarged them as a brush, but sometimes I employed other choices. I am currently at work on a whole series of paintings of this type, and
would be willing to discuss my odier techniques with anyone interested. Meanwhile, get a bold of Casebolt's Scene Generator, and happy creativity-!
• ACES reft Casebolt 4603 Slate Court Rocklin, CA 95677 (FISH
155; JumpDisk March 1989) Scene Generator, Version 1.0,
Absolutely Free Fractal Presentation by David Hiestand The
comforting silence was shattered by the sudden query' of my
wife, Jo.
"Are you ever going to do anything useful with that thing?"
My hands froze in the standard home position for Amiga users (one hand clutching the keyboard, the other clenching the mouse) while I mulled over the word "useful." I rolled it around my tongue, savoring it. "Useful." I muttered, 'iirnimn ... yessss." I turned toward Jo, who was trying unsuccessfully to suppress a smile, and brightly remarked, "What a novel idea!" Relative terms "Useful" is a relative term. Apparently, Jo and I had different perceptions about the usefulness of the "tiling." I, had never questioned it. The Amiga is the principal instrument in my quest for a knowledge of
fractals, which have been my obsession for the last eighteen months or maybe more (ask my wife).
But her question triggered memories of when I was chairman of the Boeing Commodore SIG (Special Interest Group), attempting to cajole, coerce, or blackmail (whichever worked) members One of many fractal images presented into demonstrating to the group the many uses for their computers.
These memories, coupled with my wife's query, induced me to volunteer (a word seldom heard by SIG leaders) to speak at one of die SIG meetings and present a slide-show-like demonstration using die club's Amiga 500. By presenting dramatic pictures of fractal generations, I would be able to inform the members about fractals and their uses.
Naturally, Jo would be able to sit in on the meeting and judge for herself the "usefulness" of my speech.
I totally underestimated the impact of the talk. What began as a SIG "show and tell" evolved via numerous speaking engagements around Seattle into a full-blown presentation, resulting in an invitation to address the Annual Northwest Math Teachers' Conference at die Seattle Center in September. I do not doubt that the relatively hot subject of fractals had something to do with this.
However, much of myr presentation's success must be credited to die Amiga and its software.
Canying on the theme of "usefulness," die rest of diis article will review the development of my presentation.
You may be surprised at what can be accomplished with a modest array of software and hardware.
Having made the decision to do the original talk for die SIG, I checked my resources.
(Arguably, the order of these two activities could have been reversed.) In a word, they were unimpressive.
My hardware consisted of a 512K Amiga 1000 with a color monitor and an external floppy drive. I had Dpaint II, some public domain and shareware software that generated fractal graphics, several of my own compiled BASIC programs that created intricate geometric fractals, and stacks of magazine articles and books explaining fractals and displaying their intriguing patterns. A copy of AEGIS VideoTitier (borrowed from a friendly SIG member) rounded out my inventory.
Perhaps my greatest deficiency was a total lack of personal experience in creating a video presentation. I did have some experience making viewchart presentations to managers, but these consisted mainly of three or four viewcharts of text, which could usually be reduced to: "We are over budget and behind schedule." These would be followed by three or four more charts saying something about why the problem existed (e.g., "The idiots on the proposal team didn't allow for enough money or time."). The last two to three charts recommended the problem's "solution," which was usually a glossed- over
version of "Give us more money and time." Picture acquisition Early in the project I realized that there was no way to create new programs for all the fractals I wanted to show. So, without compunction, I made liberal use of public domain and shareware programs such as MandFXP V3.0 and FRACTGEN on Fred Fish 188.
These programs not only Itad "save" features for user-generated fractals, but an IFF treasure chest of gems already generated. My compiled BASIC programs had no such "save" features, so I relied on tire screen-dump program provided on the Workbench to move screens to disk.
I made another important realization during this period of "picture acquisition." I was connected to a previously overlooked, but very powerful, resource: the Amiga community, whose presence was felt in the form of pertinent public domain and shareware programs anc helpful SIG members. For the fractals for which no programs existed, I petitioned one SIG member who generously donated his time and equipment to help with digitized pictures from magazines and books.
Limited R.-LM concerns A half meg of RAM isn't much for processing images. In order to conserve memory for both Dpaint and AEGIS, I closed all windows (saving 6 to 12 Kbytes) before loading the program. If tire scon of the program is dragged out of the window, the window can be eliminated by clicking on the dose gadget. The icon remains and can be double-clicked to load the program. Also, I scratched my digital clock (another 10K) and my virus checker (about 7K). In general, I deleted any extraneous background tasks to squeeze out all the extra bytes of RAM I could.
AEGIS VideoTitler The pictures I collected represented a variety of different kinds of fractals. As a result, I needed titles to explain and separate them. AEGIS VideoTitler, which is made up of AEGIS VideoTitler and AEGIS VideoSEG, performed this function admirably. Both component programs are excellent examples of useful, user-friendly video tools.
AEGIS VideoTitler is replete with delightful features to aid in the creation of titles. A parade of fonts (diamond, ruby, topaz, garnet, sapphire, opal, brick, and others) in various pitches can be combined with a number of styles (italic, bold, underline, camouflage, emboss. 3D block, neon, outline, and others) to yield an almost endless selection of graphics lettering. When these selections are coupled with a separate color palette for background, pen, cap, and shadow, almost any conceivable lettering effect can be achieved.
As if this were not enough, AEGIS provides a separate set of four fonts called "polyfonts," which constitute a whole new approach to graphics lettering. Of course, you can import any IFF file of your choice for example, one from Dpaint and apply any of the polyfonts to title it. Or you can stay completely within the video as I often did and generate colorful 3D titles with subdued backgrounds that seem suspended in space.
With limited RAM (512K) some features of VideoTitler, like "undo" and "background", are lost. AEGIS seems to have designed die program so that, as RAM increases, features are added. But even with 512K, a core of the most useful functions remain. It was a bit disconcerting when I first loaded VideoTitler. Immediately, a requester appeared with the warning, "ATTENTION!!! NOT ENOUGH ROOM FOR undo buffer. Undo buffer will be deleted." Two buttons were provided to choose from. The left button said "OK" and die right button said "OK." "Let's see," I mused, "if I click the left one, I lose. On die
other hand, a right-button click will..." All I could picture was an AEGIS programmer sitting in a dimly lit room, the glow from the monitor reflecting off his face as he chortled demonically while programming this requester. I threw caution to the wind and clicked on the left "OK".
Next, I pulled down die text menu and selected Polyfonts. I then loaded the "Swan" polyfont and selected Entry. A small rectangle appeared near the top of die screen. I typed the word "FRACTALS." As I entered the letters, the rectangle stretched to accommodate them. Working the cursor to the center of the rectangle, I pressed the left mouse button and dragged the rectangle letters and all to the middle of the screen. So far, so good.
Next I moved the cursor to the midpoint of the top line of the rectangle, clicked the left mouse button, and dragged the line toward the top of the screen. Surprise! The bottom line of the rectangle remained fixed while the rectangle's sides stretched to follow the top line. Even more interesting was the fact that the letters, affixed to the top and bottom lines, stretched to follow this action. Dragging the bottom line toward the bottom of the screen produced a very elongated "FRACTALS."
Continuing this manner, I moved the cursor to the midpoint of the right and left sides of the rectangle, pulling "FRACTALS" to tire respective edges of the screen. Voild! I had created a tide whose letters occupied almost the entire screen.
As an experiment I moved the cursor to the upper right-hand corner of the rectangle and dragged toward the right side of due screen. The rectangle skewed to a kite-shaped figure (parallelogram), the letters dutifully mimicking this behavior, I now had italic-like letters.
While experimenting on a different title, I learned that if you click and drag the top line of die rectangle downward, passing through die bottom line and continuing, the letters formed will appear with a reflection effect. The same is true if you pull either the right or left side of die rectangle through its opposite side.
Clicking the right mouse button fixes the word on the screen, makes the rectangle vanish, and allows die selection of a new font, It's interesting to note drat each block (word, phrase, or sentence) created this way is treated as a separate object, meaning that one block can be laid aver another. If desired, die two blocks can later be separated easily by clicking anywhere widrin one block and dragging it away from the odier like shifting and shuffling graphic overlay transparencies.
I really enjoyed working with polyfonts. Depending on how busy my grapliics were, I was able to load three to four fonts before VideoTitler started screaming, "Memory dangerously low!" AEGIS VideoSEG At this point, I had pictures, titles, and explanation "slides." (In general, tiding was done in AEGIS VideoTitler, but my explanations usually involved figure drawings as well. These were done with Dpaint, which had the tools for this purpose.) Somehow, all my individual slides had to be put together into a coherent whole. Here is where AEGIS VideoSEG shines. VideoSEG allows you to build a script
file that defines not only the order in which the slides are to be shown, but also how each is to be "wiped" from the screen to make way for die next.
The process of building a script is relatively straightforward: die program is totally menu-driven. Click on the EDIT selection and then point to a filename listed in the displayed director)'. Point again to any of die variety of wipes available (dissolve, fade, flip, dribble, random, burst, checkerboard, zigzag, spiral, etc.). This information is transferred to a numbered record (called a "frame") appearing in a list in the script editor. Continuing in this manner a script file is created, each frame containing die filename and the wipe. A time delay in seconds can also be entered into the
frame. This would be used if you chose autoloop while laying the script.
Fractals Defined Fractals are patterns that repeat themselves on ever-diminishing scales. The multiple reflections of an object placed between two mirrors is an example; each "frame" is an exact replica except in size of the preceding one.
There are several varieties of fractals: geometric, random, and chaotic.
Geometric fractals, like the mirror reflections, are exactly the same on each scale, except for size. Random fractals are slightly different on each scale, like the branches of a tree or riven the y-shapedpattern is repeated on different scales, from trunk, to branch, to twig, or from creek, to brook. To tributary, to river. Nature is replete with random fractals. Take a close look at a fem frond: it repeats the frond shape in all the branches, which are themselves repeated in their branches.
A netv theory of dynamic systems called CHAOS uses fractals to explain the surprisingly complex behavior that has been discovered in systems previously thought to be quite simple. CHAOS also offers the hope of discovering that complex systems long thought to be random like weather patterns or the stock market have an underlying order that can be explained and exploited.
The editor also provides for the deletion or insertion of a record into the script list. When the script is finished it can be played using a menu selection for eidier manual or autoloop. I used the manual setting, since it allows die mouse buttons to control the direction in which die script is placed- left for forward and right for reverse.
The giant "FRACTALS" tide I built with polyfonts is the lead-in tide for my talk. It is preceded by a blank (black) screen so that the "dissolve" wipe is more effective. With a striking sparkle effect, "FRACTALS" forms slowly from a black background. As they emerge, the letters scintillate randomly like sunlight shimmering on waves before eventually setding into a neon-blue color. The effect is enhanced if the room lights are off and die letters are projected onto a large movie screen. On several occasions I have heard "oohs" and "aahs" coming from my audiences.
Squeezing disk bytes AEGIS VideoSEG will handle lores, video-res, medium-res, hi-res, interlace, and halfbrite (as well as cycling). Much to my dismay, when I played a script containing any hi-res or medium-res files, I received a GURU visit. My limited RAM forced me to reformat all my fractals to !o-res, As it turned out, this wasn't a bad thing.
Several places where I made my presentation had only RGB video projectors, the bandwidth of which is insufficient to project anything but eight- color lo-res. Lo-res works infinitely better with diese projectors; most hi-res pictures become a smear of shapeless color. Lo-res has the added advantage of taking up much less disk space, allowing me to put my whole presentation onto one disk.
Another way to conserve disk space is to chop bitplanes. Most of my titles use only 4 colors. Wiry, then, carry a palette of 32 colors (5 bitplanes)? I used Dpaint to reformat my lo-res titles into 2 bitplanes (4 colors) with no loss except for che excess bytes. I tried to keep the number of colors I used for the titles and explanation slides to a minimum. At times, however, more than 4 colors were necessary. But that's O.K., because I never carried more than the necessary number of bitplanes. The saved space let me add slides as the presentation evolved. If I stumbled over a concept or
forgot to mention an important idea, I added the appropriate slide(s). The slides became my notes of sorts, jogging my memory and giving the talk a smooth pace.
Pseudo-motion Although AEGIS can handle animation, I did not attempt it, fearing that with my limited RAM I would be asking for trouble. Also, animation is notoriously wasteful of disk space, and I was smugly satisfied that I had shoe- homed my entire presentation (55 IFF files) onto one disk, I had no desire to expand to more disks, even if 1 was able to run animations. The thought of fumbling around changing disks in the dark in the middle of my talk was not appealing.
Pseudo-motion, however, was within my reach. Much can be accomplished through tire cycling of colors. I never discovered how to set the cycling in AEGIS VideoTitler, but Dpaint can be applied to tire same task. AEGIS VideoSEG has a CYCLE mode drat "plays" Dpaints cycling.
One slide that I created with Dpaint, used cycling to simulate a swinging pendulum (five positions forward and five backward). Just below the pendulum was an x-y plot of the pendulum's displacement and velocity.
At each successive pendulum position a correspondkig point on the plot would light, indicating dre pendulum's displacement and velocity. The points on the perimeter of a circle that was drawn on the screen appeared to move clockwise as dre pendulum swung back and forth (very effective).
On another slide this one of a fractal pattern DPaint was used to select a range of color cycling. The result was somewhat psychedelic, appearing like a rainbow of different colored waves crashing onto the shores of an island.
I accidentally discovered another technique when I showed two slides of dre same fractal pattern which had slightly different color palettes. The slides were displayed one after the other using a "dribble" wipe. The resulting undulat- MIDl-Mice Software allows you to control virtually ANY VIDEO, MUSIC, or PAINT program from your MIDI instrument
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Ing effect looked like the rippling of a wheat field in a soft breeze. Of course, the effect lasted only as long as the duration of the wipe, but it was interesting.
Showing two slides of slightly different patterns one immediately after the other has the effect of accentuating their differences. One of my fractal pictures shows multi-colored ivy-like leaves twining around the screen's diagonals. Outlining the edges of the leaves are reduced replicas of the same twining, leaf-like pattern. On the edges of these smaller replica leaves are even tinier leaves, and so on as deep as I care to go.
I programmed a magnified (about 30x) view of one leaf to show this recursion. Then I decided that a piece of the magnified view, overlaid on die original (using Dpaini), would make a more dramatic picture. An added drop shadow made the piece appear to float above the orijpnal, while arrows showed where it came from. This created a picture with an "exploded-view" effect.
I then connected the images using die two-picture technique: The original, unaltered picture was followed with a "flip" wipe, and then by the exploded- view picture. (The flip is an instantaneous switch from one screen to another.)
The magnified piece seemed to leap out from the original. This effect, while not quite as startling as a yo-yo springing from a 3D movie screen, was at least emphatic.
Some pointers on pointers 1 am convinced that all speakers should use a pointer to direct their audiences' attention to interesting aspects of the current slide. Pointing is no problem when the speaker is standing beside the monitor (fingers work very well), but it becomes more problematic when die slide is projected on a movie screen four feet above the speaker's head.
The cursor, of course, can make an excellent pointer in either scenario.
Unfortunately, once the VideoSEG script file begins to play, die cursor no longer needed for any menu selections vanishes. Now, somewhere buried deep Multi-Forth The Language of Innovation If you haven't tried Multi-Forth™ you may not have yet unleashed the full power of your Amiga. This comprehensive development environment includes:
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Widiin the AEGIS VideoTitler manual, there is probably a reference that describes a keystroke that can be used to force the cursor to reappear during a script play. I never found that reference, but I did discover (somewhat unintentionally) that AEGIS Video Titler does not handle HAM IFF files (which several of my digitized fractals were). This ied me to discover a way of forcing the cursor to reappear during a script play.
When a HAM IFF file begins to load during a script play, a requester immediately appears stating: "ATTENTION!!! IFF Width Height Depth truncation." Because you have to select either die left "OK" or the right "OK" (visions of a sinister AEGIS programmer again come to mind), die cursor appears. Interestingly enough, after a selection is made and the script begins loading the next IFF file, die cursor does not disappear.
If nothing else can be said of me, I learn from my mistakes. To take advantage of my discovery, I created a perfectly black HAM picture, which is now the veiy first slide in my script. Each time it loads at the beginning of my presentation 1 receive an error message and more importantly a cursor. So much for the pointer problem. It isn't often that mistakes work in a programmer's favor, but diis one does.
Spreading the word My presentation has been well- received. If my audience is not an Amiga SIG, I try to stress dial die whole presentadon was made on an Amiga with .Amiga commercial, public domain, and shareware software. Typically, there is a bit of good-natured fun poked at my "game" machine, especially from the IBM-done and Mac types. But after the presentations, I usually hear thoughtful questions like, "How can I do that on my computer?'1 to whidi I respond, "You can't. Buy an Amiga." Before one presentation to an MS-DOS group, a member was asking whether fractals were some new Amiga
adventure game.
About a week later, I found out that the same member was telling everyone that I had used an IBM-AT for my presentation.
How soon Lliey forget...
• AC* by id. Shamms Mortier, PhD.
Amazing Reviews Design-3D There are basically three categories into which Amiga 3D rendering animation programs fall:
1. Top of the line serious stuff (e.g., Sculpt, TurboSilver,
Caligari, PageRender3D).
2. O.K. stuff without the full function alities of Class 1. These
packages are sometimes marketed by companies to "flesh 0111"
their Amiga product lines, or to address other companion
3. Bad stuff, not worth die time or money.
Class 2 releases come in a wide range of qualitative levels, from software that's just shy of meriting Class 1 status, to middling good releases that don't offer much new, to packages that are hanging on by their fingernails to keep from falling into Class 3. (Thank goodness this last category is rare in Amigaland!) Mosi of die Class 2 releases fall into the middle category, offering a new slant on work that other packages already accomplish, but providing little else to motivate the buyer to rush out and grab the package at till costs. Design~3D falls securely into this cubbyhole.
Design-3D is a pretty package, and the accompanying manual, written in part by Nick Poliw'ko of PixelLight fame, is short but adequately clear in presenting what you need to get going. There are three short tutorials that allow' you a modicum of discovery in Design-3D's realm of action, and the tools are defined with friendly language. The index, however, is incomplete, in that it fails to include certain key words and phrases like "ANIM" (related to the Design-3D animation format), "resolution," and ''coordinates'' (relevant to the finer details of object placement).
The software is not copy-protected, but you must enter a codeword from the manual to access the work screen. The opening screen comes up divided into the normative three sections, representing the X, Y and Z planes of sight. In addition, there is a fourth division that gives you a perspective view. Each of these separate views can be expanded to full screen. Only two Amiga resolutions, med-res and hi-res, are addressed (in 2, 4, 8 and 16 colors) and neither HAM nor overscan are available.
The workspace is surrounded by gadgets and menu bars which border the drawing space on all sides. On the left you find the palette requester, several "dear" tools, an UNDO gadget, and two other tools, "New Object" and "Nodes," which should be transferred to die right side with their logical neighbors. The latter, which manipulate various rendering parameters, are the actual operators: Rotate, Solid Model, Fill, Rectangle.
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Point Select, Polygon Select, and Object Select. Some of the icons representing diese attributes are not designed intuitively, so you may need to refer to die manual until they become familiar to you.
Crearicns can be saved out as Objects, Parts, VideoScape Objects, Screens, WireFrame drawings, and Solid drawings. A very nice feature is die ability' to dump your work to a Hewlett- Packard plotter; Design-3D has a translator rhat addresses the HPGL language. Workbench printers are also supported. The palette requester is far from die standard diat Amiga users have come to expect. It has no controls for copying colors to other color pots, no undo function, and no color cycling.
The "Pmameters" requester under die Preferences secuon allows you die most control over various Design-3D placement functions. From here you can alter die XYZ rotation angles, die line width of the rendering grid, and die placement arid brightness of four light sources. There is little instruction given in the manual on how die lights actually function, and their placement and arbitrary brightness are left up to you.
This requester also allows you to set die points per circle, and the number of sectors used in die spin operation. Hie scale system (mm, cm, m, km, inches, and feet) can be selected, and the scale of the drawing can be set.
One 3D font comes with die package, but no information abouL accessing other 3D font disks is provided. A nice addition offered is the inclusion of a font editor screen, which allows you to redesign each character in die alphabet in an easy-to-understand fashion. You can also set the depth of extrusion, sculpting your 3D alphanu- merics in ways that best suit your applications. For example, you can clear die letters out of the spaces altogether and replace diem widi your own extruded object and icon pieces.
A few miscellaneous notes: Your cursor can be either an axis or a crosshair (for finer work). "Section" directs that the first polygon entered after selecting diis item will become die section of an object (only in the Solid View mode), "Copy 3D" allows the perspective window to be copied to any XYZ view.
Solid model menu Renderings may be aborted by pressing the escape key at any time. The quality of the renderings is poor in this version of die software. By far the best is in the hi-res mode, but even then the objects take on none of the magic diat so many other Amiga 3D packages promote and allow. There is a "fast" option that renders quickly, but does so somewhat sloppily. Who needs this? Under "Wireframe" you can decide whether or not you want to see die edges in a solid model or not by selecting either "Solid" or "Highlight." Under "Polygons" there are four choices: Wire (renders in
wireframe mode in die palette color you choose); Solid (wadi no shading; die images resemble a solid color matte of the object); Solid 1 (shading using the palette colors); and Solid 2 (shading using dot patterns). Each of these choices can be used with visible or invisible wireframes.
None of these rendering options give professional or even visually suitable results, although selecting hi-res in combinauon with die two solid modes can allow- for some interesdng shading variations. The rendering module needs extensive revision to bring it up to die standards that Amiga visual artists expect and deserve. Hopefully, diese inadequacies will be corrected in a future upgrade.
Animation i have no idea what ANIM standard this package addresses, and the manual provides no hint. What I do know- is that it w-orks by a simplified scripting system diat can be rvritten with any text editor.
The scripts allow for rotation around XYZ axis, zooming on the Z axis, and movement on the XY plane. If you do not select "full screen" from the options menu, the tool icons will be saved with your animations. Now-, why would this even be an option? Who needs to save tool icons in an animation' Your animations can be rendered and shown in real time for preview or saved out to disk for replay, and can be rendered in wireframe or solid form.
We are no longer living in a time when Amiga users greet die release of a package like Design-3D with cries of, "Thank God! An Amiga 3D software package!" Happily, that era is behind us.
There now exists a wealdi of innovative, professional packages to choose from, with more visual "miracles" on the way.
When I see a company like Gold Disk producing a 3D rendering animation package, I am inclined to purchase it, largely because their Amiga track record is excellent and established. And, although I would rather have poured accolades on die efforts of Gold Disk and an obviously talented developer, this package, in its present state, is not going to help sell any Amigas. It needs to undergo serious reworking to bring it up to par. I hope the revision process is already underway. *AC* Design-3D by Arnaud Ribadeau Dumas . Distributed by:.
Gold Disk PO Box 789, Streetsville, Mississauga, Ontario Canada L5M 2C2 Suggested Retail Price: 599-95 Inquiry *261 The Command Line Tdeff A UNIX-like substitute command line interface review by Rich Falconburg AmigaDOS is a capable and flexible operating system that provides features not found in other personal computers. But after you become familiar with the various commands and leam some of the power diey provide, you'll eventually come up against the system's weaknesses. Even with ail the help given by the numerous public domain programs written to fill the gaps, you'll soon find that you
may need to write a program to do seemingly simple tasks. For most Amiga owners, this means using AmigaBASIC, but because of the overhead AmigaBASIC requires, this is rarely an acceptable alternative.
Having spent much of my time writing and using command scripts in the VAX VMS and UNIX environments, I naturally wanted the same power and flexibility on the Amiga, AmigaDOS comes so close it's frustrating. Seemingly simple tasks are impossible to do. I've been hoping that someone would come up with a suitable improvement without sacrificing some of the excellent features available in AmigaDOS. In the next few issues I'll examine a new program that gives Amiga users an alternative command environment.
Metran Technology of Tampa. Florida sells a program tided Tshell. This gem provides a substitute command line interface similar to the various shells available for UNIX. As you have learned, the CU on the Amiga lets us use a variety of commands to communicate with die system's low-level functions.
This is a limited "shell" that protects you from the grim realities of trying to communicate directly with the Amiga's hardware.
The level of sophistication and methods of doing things vary from one shell to another, but each gives us access to the heart of the system.
A shell is an environment allowing the user to manipulate the machine's various resources. Those of you who are familiar with die UNIX command set will find Tshell a comfortable environment. The primary UNIX shell commands are available along with a few that are specific to die Amiga. There are some subde differences here and there, but overall you'll find equal and in some ways greater power available to you. Those who have wanted better decision branching, file access, and access to the Amiga's graphics or Intuition interface widiout having to purchase a C compiler will be delighted to
leam that Tshell "can do." Although the programming syntax used by this shell has been designed to follow closely diat of the C language, I think anyone widi even a little programming experience will be comfortable with it.
Tshell is an enhancement of, not a replacement for, the Amiga's environment. It allows full access to the normal AmigaDOS command set and resources, as well as its own environment, so you don't give up anything by using it. In fact, the distribution disk includes the ARP commands for you to use.
Tshell redefines the normal device volume structure to that of die UNIX equivalent. This means that ROOT is now a "real" root directory, in that each of the devices are seen as subdirectories of the single ROOT CO, rather than as individuals.
There's more to this than meets the eye. You can now move files with a single command, even between devices. Here is a list of the commands that are included: Tshell commands assign break cat cd chmod clear continue cp dat df dimmer echo envs exit file fnole help kill Id load Is mem mkdir mv path pri print printf ps pwd read receive return mn send shift sleep stack strcat strcspn strlen strsub tail tasks test time tsh vars wc Let's examine these one at a time. I'll list the equivalents to AmigaDOS commands where they apply, If you have never been exposed to UNIX, you are about to learn why
many people call it a "programmer's operating system" or "user- unfriendly." Granted, some of the command names are a bit unusual, but you do get used to them in time, and perhaps even grow to prefer them especially if you hate typing.
As with UNIX shells, Tshell commands are case sensitive (more on this later). Most of the commands listed above are built into the Tshell environment. That is, they are "in memory" and are only called in from the disk drive once before execution. From dren on the command will remain resident in memory. Nov,' before you start mumbling about that being "just fine" for someone with lots of memory, you should know drat this shell was designed with the user in mind. The ability to configure the environment to our preferences is somediing we Amigans have come to expect. With Tshell, diis ability
to customize reaches a new level of sophistication. If you don't use a command it isn't loaded into memory. If you don't want commands that have been used to stay in memory, you just have to set a value in one or both system variables, TLBIN and TLSYS. On the odier hand, if you have memory to spare, you can bring die endre command set into memory once with the load command. I'll cover this in more detail later. Now to the commands.
The assign command is identical to the WB 1.2 ASSIGN command. Because die shell keeps track of diings separately from the operating system, the Tshell command must be used instead of the AmigaDOS command.
The break command is not the same as the one in AmigaDOS. Instead of killing a CLI, it is used to exit a block of statements in a shell script.
The cat command is the same as the TYPE command with some nifty features added. Tshell has a built-in paging capability (similar to the PD "more" command) that most Tshell commands use when displaying text. The cat command takes this a step further with the following keys that are active while the file is being read: cat key commands d Down: similar to pressing RETURN, which causes the next page to be displayed. Pressing d will clear the disp ay first, making the update faster.
H Half: continue down for a half page.
F FonA'ard: skip a page and continue.
F Forward: skip two pages and continue.
B Backup: go back a page.
B Backup: go back two pages.
T Tag: remember this location.
9 Goto Tag: jump directly to the "tagged" location.
R Rewind: return to the beginning of the file.
C Continue: no more paging in this file.
Q Quit exit this file (same as pressing ESC). If mare than one file was specified, display the next one in the list.
If no filename is given, cat will take input from the keyboard.
Full redirection is supported.
The cd command is similar to its AmigaDOS counterpart but closer to that found in the UNIX shells. As with UNIX, an enviroiiment variable called HOME may be set. This informs die cd command where to go if no path name is given. For example: ) HOME = WP:Documents Mail (The is the default Tshell prompt.)
Entering ) cd will now set the current directory to WP:Documents Mail, This may be verified with the pwd (print working directory) command.
) pwd WP:Documerts Mail As mentioned earlier, the ROOT directory is the "daddy" of every directoiy in the system. In UNIX, this directory has the unique name of 7". If you enter ) cd The current directory will be the ROOT directory containing subdirectories of dfO, dfl, dhO, dhl, etc... For AmigaDOS users this will be frustrating until you get used to it. UNIX users will feel right at home. Yes, the period (.)
For the current directoiy and the double period (..) for the parent directory are supported. To move "up" one level in the directory tree you must enter ) cd .. To move more than one level, you must provide the delimiting slash. For example, if your current directory is dfO:devs clipboards, to return to the root level of the volume in dfO: you would enter ) cd The colon (:) is still considered the volume root level so you could use it instead.
The Tshell cd command adds some switches to make moving around flexible. The "-t" and "-b" switches let you save your current location and then recall it easily. For example let's say our current directory, GRAPHICS;PAINT, PICTURES LORES HAM, is several levels deep. For some reason we must change to a subdirectory in a different path, but we need to come right back to our present location. Nonnally this would mean a lot of typing, but using the following syntax we take some shortcuts: ) cd -t GRAPHiCS:PAINT2 BRUSHES LORES HAM This will save our current location and change the directory to
that shown above. The cd command will place each path in a "last in, first out" buffer, also known as a stack. The pwd command will display this stack showing the first entry on the top and the last entry on the bottom.
) pwd GRAPHICS:PAINT PICTURES LORES HAM GRAPHICS:PAINT2 BRUSHES LORES HAM Only die paths given with die "-t" switch will be placed on die directoiy stack, sort of a marker saying "remember this directory'." To return to the last directory saved this way, enter ) cd -b One other switch is provided for die cd command, but i was never able to get it to w'ork. This is the "-p" or "previous directory" switch. In dieory, it is supposed to remember the last directory' visited and return you to it.
And last, but not least, die system variable DEFCD determines w-'hether or not the "implied" cd function is operative. With this option enabled, simply typing the path name will cause the current directory' to be changed to that entered.
The chmod command emulates the PROTECT command.
The real advantage here is diat die cp (copy) and inv (move) commands will use all of die appropriate protection bits. The chmod command also supports wild-carding.
The clear command is used to unset various variables and procedure definitions. It may also be used to clear the contents of the window.
The continue command is used in scripts to step through loops.
The cp command is a powerful COPY command. One major difference here is that no status information is printed unless you request it with the u-v" switch. If the "-P switch is not given, all protection bits are respected. The "-u" switch may be used to update files. Using it will cause cp to overwrite only those files that are newer than an existing destination file, and i you prefer a menu type of copy utility, you could specify the "-i* switch. This will cause a request to be displayed showing the file name and an arrow showing where it will be copied to.
At this point you would enter one of the following: y Yes: copy the file TtjE T7TR0T MASTER Bring tbe ancient art of tbe T&IJ0T to your Amiga c Continue: copy this one and all the rest n No: skip this tile q Quit: don't copy any more The cp command will attempt to copy the entire source directory structure to the destination directory, unless it is overridden with the "-t" switch. This can be troublesome, and I would prefer if tire default ignored tire pathing and just copied to the absolute destination.
The dat command is an alternate form of the date command. Its output looks like: ) dat Tue 17 Jan 1989 19:24:02 pm The tlf command is functionally identical to the INFO command. If no device or path is specified, the statistics of tire current default disk (the one die current directory is on) will be displayed. Wildcards may be used.
The echo command provides a few switches that will be welcomed by many programmers out there. In addition to the "-n" switch, which suppresses the "newline" character, there is also the "-B" switch. With it you can cause numbers to be displayed as:
- Bb = Binary
- Bo = Octal
- Bd = Decimal
- Bh = Hexadecimal The envs command will list all currently
defined environment variables.
The exit command is used to quit out of a script immediately. If it is entered at die shell prompt, the shell and window closes as though you had entered ENDCLI. Unfortunately, there seems to be no way to exit a shell script and close the window at the same time. A numerical value may be included; it will be used as the return code of the program.
The file command is one of the nicest ones included.
True to its UNIX counterpart, this command will read the first 100 bytes of a file and try to guess what kind of file it is. It prints a short description such like: Workbench icon position file Workbench version 1 tool icon Workbench version 1 project icon Workbench version 1 drawer icon Workbench version 1 disk Icon text file Amiga load file (executable?)
Directory ...and more.
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Inc. Clfdc 151 on Reader Service card If the "-r" switch is
used. The file command accepts a single file as an argument
and will return a numerical code that identifies tire type of
file. The documentation contains a complete list including
codes that identify the Manx version of the object module and
indicate whether it is a Manx or lattice library file.
The fnote command is equivalent to the FILENOTE command. It's used to attach a note to the files directory entry and may be listed using the Is command.
The help command is an extremely useful and welcome addition to tire Amiga command repertory'. The Tshell distribution disk contains directories of text files used in conjunction with tlris command. There are two ways to use tire help command. The easiest is to simply press the HELP key, which produces a formatted listing of the commatrds with Help available. The first time you press HELP, there will be a noticeable delay while the entries are read into memory. This occurs in each shell window. You then type in the listed name of the command or subject that help is needed on, and press the
HELP key once more to print an abbreviated list of the command's syntax and usage. If more explanation is needed, press HELP again. The other way is to type: ) help "command" where "command" is the command you are interested in. You can add your own help files to the directories and use tire help command to recall tire information.
The Id command is used 10 list tire contents of a directory.
The design of the companion command Is makes this command almost necessary. The only functional difference this user could find was with wild-card usage. It would be much more convenient (and common to other UNIX style shells) to be able to enter: ) Is dfO: dfO: With the TsheL. Implementation, this simply prints as shown above. The same tiring occurs with any device or directory' that is specified. To see the contents, substitute the Id command or use a wildcard as in: ) Is dfO:' There is one function of the Id command using tire special wild card which is similar to entering DIR opt a (or
DIR ALL in
1. 3). I'll discuss die wild cards, redirection, and odier
special operations in our next issue. The switches that may be
used with Is and Id are:
- I Long listing similar to the output from LIST
- c No directory highlighting
- p Include the complete poth in the listing
- e (Is only) Used to print an error message (useful in scripts)
The mem command will display the amount of memory available and
allocated. Information for CHIP and FAST memory are shown.
The mJtdir is used to create new directories and is similar to the AmigaDOS MAKEDIR command. As with most of die commands shown, multiple names may be entered following the command. If any of the specified directories already exist, or die name given is illegal (as defined by AmigaDOS), mkdir will complain, The rav command performs most of the functions of the RENAME command but gives us more flexibility' in moving and renaming files and directories. As you may have guessed, mv is short for "move," and it does this operation very' well. You may even move a lile or group of files between
devices. Several optional switches influence die operations being performed.
These include mv parameters -f Force write: using this switch will cause mvto ignore the protection bits.
- V Verbose: tells what is going on. Without this switch no
output about the operation is displayed.
- i Interactive: waits for you to acknowledge the operation by
entering one of the following: y Yes n No c Continue (no more
prompts) q Quit -u Move the file only if the source file is
newer than the destination file (if it exists).. When a file is
moved from one device to another, mv will first copy it to the
destination and then delete the source file.
This is an important distinction of die "move" command which is easy to forget.
Answers for August, 1989 V.4 8 It seems I've run out of space diis issue. Next time I'll cover the rest of the commands, and we'll look at some of the unique features that Tshell provides to the command line environment, Tshell may be purchased from: Metran Technology
P. O. Box 890 WestOneonta, NY 13861
(607) 432-4836 Inquiry 268
• AO by Ron S. Gull Digitizers are a handy way to squeeze real
world pictures into the Amiga to be handled by the powerful
image-manipulation programs. However, as anyone who has spent
any time at all behind the color wheels can tell you, it's not
always just a point-and-click operation. And sometimes, it's
a case of WYSANWYG (What You See Ain't Necessarily What You
One possible area of difficulty involves lighting and camera placement.
Even wdth the currently available copys- tand lightstand setups providing "optimum" placement, and hours of careful setting up, the dreaded "halo effect" can still rear its less-than-lovely head, especially when digitizing to 32-colors. Also, consumer color video cameras do not provide the best available resolution and, let's face it, most of us who already own a color camera are usually less than eager to shell out at least two more C- notes to cover the cost of a dedicated black-and-white camera.
Macro digitizing Enter macro digitizing. Most consumer cameras provide a "macro" setting on the lens which allows the camera to take a picture of something that is almost touching the lens. Most people do not make much use of this setting simply because it's very difficult to get light on a subject without seriously backlighting it. But backlighting is the very key to good digitizing with slides and negatives.
There are several benefits to macro digitizing. First, you'll increase the perceived resolution. (In my case at least, there is definitely less haloing in my macro files than in my conventionally produced ones.) Second, when you digitize from negatives instead of finished photos, you save a generation of image degradation. Finally, you'll likely receive a lower electric bill at the end of the month because you'll no longer be running two bright, hot lamps.
We are, of course, assuming you have a digitizer. I use SunRize Industries' Perfect Vision system. The principles explained here will wrork tvith Digi-View by NewTek as well. I simply bought Perfect Vision because of its ability to pull pictures from moving video, but (possibly) sacrificing some sharpness Digi-View would have provided.
When digitizing from negatives, one additional software requirement is needed to convert the negative images to positives. A program called PlXmate, from Progressive Peripherals, does tire job for me (another program. Electronic Arts' DeluxePhotoLab, will also do the trick with its "Colors" program).
Setting up The first step in successful macro digitizing is to get complete and even backlighting. All dais requires is a light table. Normally used by photographers to view transparencies and negatives, light tables are available at any photography supply store.
If you favor "rolling your own" (like I do), you can easily build your own light table using a sheet of translucent white Plexiglas, a fl orescent lamp (these can be bought for as little as S10), some type of frame (1 built mine into an old-but-sturdy table), and a pane of glass. One lamp should suffice for 35mm slides and negatives; however, more than one may be necessary if you intend to digitize from larger formats.
The glass is useful for two reasons.
First, it holds the negative flat (more on that shortly). It also provides a smooth surface for the Red-Green-Blue filters to move between the target and the lens.
You'll need this, because there will be just enough room to get the filters in.
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Lens is set to ''macro", the depth-of-field (the thickness of the in-focus portion of die camera's view) is very shallow. Even a slightly curled negative can mean that as much as half tire frame will be badly out of focus. This curling can also present a problem when attempting to digitize color slides, particularly older heat-mounted slides.
Focusing the relative placement of the camera to the light table is also important. They should be as perpendicular to one another as possible. I go to die extreme of using a small torpedo- style level to assure everything is in Line.
I'm also assisted by the fact that my camera (an RCA CKC 020) has a flat back parallel to the focal plane. Most other cameras have some kind of contoured case. Just keep trying until you gel it straight. A little time spent on this will definitely pay off.
One more factor in the basic setup is to get evesything as mechanically stable as you can. By this I mean making sure the table holding your light table doesn't wobble. Also, be sure your tripod is either locked down light or at least positioned so tire filters can be slid between the lens and subject without touching the camera itself once it's focused. You should also consider the type of foundation your working area is built upon. If your house or apartment has wooden floors, or if you live in a mobile home, place your camera setup as close to a corner of tire room as possible, so as to
minimize the vibration of, say, someone walking across the floor. When you're working this tight, even- little move is magnified, and can spoil a good shot.
Well, now that we have our light table set up, our tripod locked down tight, our negative under glass, and the Amiga is humming away happily, it's time to shoot, right?
Not quite. Patience.
That negative needs to be masked with dark pieces of paper, leaving uncovered only the frame we wish to snap. The reason for this is simple.
Consumer video cameras usually have an ''auto-iris", which is an electronically-set aperture setting. An auto-iris can be fooled into thinking the negative is just a heavily backlit person. Thus, it will "dose down" to prevent overexposure.
You can get a shot this way, however it will always appear washed-out in the final product. It's better to take another 30 seconds and mask the frame, if you are digitizing a mounted slide, the slide carrier is usually masking enough.
One final step before shooting is to briefly swap your composite video cables to your monitor to show- what your camera is sending into the computer.
Don't use Y-adapters to split the signal for the luxury of not having to swap cables. Splitting this way will degrade the video signal noticeably. My wallet dictates I use a Commodore 1702 monitor (a hangover from my C64 days a Mimetics AmiGen genlock provides composite video output)- 1 keep the monitor's tint, color, brightness, and contrast controls set at their detents, and set the camera's white balance so the output most closely matches the actual color of tire target. So far I've been very lucky. I've put my digitized IFF tiles on a friend's Amiga with a Commodore 1084 monitor, and
things are usually very close.
OK, we're finally going to shoot.
Dial in your camera's "macro" setting and focus on the target through your Green filter. Due to the fact that the lenses of consumer cameras are not usually color- corrected, there will usually be a noticeable difference in the focus when swapping between the filters. Focusing through Green is the compromise that seems to work best.
Go through your filters, hit the Draw button, and voila! a digitized negative (hopefully a reasonable facsimile of the one you've got on your light table). Congratulations.
"OK", you ask, "now what do I do with the negative?"
Once a file is saved, go to Pkmate.
In die Image Processor, you'll find a logic operation entitled "EOR"(the "Negative" operation in PhotoLab's "Colors" progam does the same thing).
This turns the negative into a positive, just like the photo processor you send your film to.
If you are digitizing a black-and- white negative, Complement, under PlXmate's Color menu, does tire same thing in real time. Naturally, I tried it out on my first color image. I was rewarded widi a very psychedelic,'"solarized"- looking phoro! very handy for special effects!) PlXmate's Contrast Control, on the "Color Bias" panel under the "Color Menu", can also help tweak the images for better highlights. Experiment!
Well, there you have it a basic guide to macro digitizing. I've found it to be a very useful addition to my graphic Bag o' Tricks.
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Your Colors in AmigaBASIC One of the first things
AmigaBASIC programmers iearn is how to add colors to their
programs through the use of screen depth. If more colors
are desired, one simply increases the number specifying the
bitpiane parameter in the SCREEN statement. One to five
bitplanes gives us two to thirty-two flavors to choose
from, and that's all there is to that, right?
Oh, I almost forgot for tire more adventurous souls, there's extra-half-brite and HAM modes which can produce 64 or 4,096 colors respectively. Now that's absolutely all the color programming variations possible on the Amiga, right?
Not necessarily. Just as a painter can mix two or more pigments together to produce a new and different hue, so can the programmer "mix" pixels on the Amiga to substantially expand his palette choices. This is done with a technique called dithering.
Dithering is the process of combining pixels of different colors on the screen to create anodier apparent hue. It's a sort of optical illusion. As any color photographer knows, if one were to mix red light with blue light, the result would be magenta a combination of these two colors. Likewise, mixing red and green produces yellow, a green-blue combination gives us cyan, and so on. We cannot actually combine colors on a computer screen, as every pixel must be of a single color at any one time. We can, however, "mix" pixels of different colors in close proximity on the screen to create the same
For example, a tight grouping of pixels which are alternately set to the colors red and blue will appear 10 be a single patch of magenta pixels. The effect is quite convincing, especially with higher resolution inodes where the individual pixels are smaller and more densely "packed." Let's review a few fundamentals and see how this can be worked out from a programming standpoint. Imagine a repeating pattern of pixels which are alternately red and "no color" (the background color), like this: 1010101010101010 0101010101010101 1010101010101010 0101010101010101 ...etc Each digit represents
a single pixel. The digit 1 represents the red pixel. The digit 0 represents the pLxel pertaining to the background color, which is blue in the default palette. Notice that the lines are "staggered" so each 1 has a 0 on each side, as well as above and below it. When viewed, a pLxel arrangement like this would appear magenta a combination of red and the blue background. This sort of setup is easy to program widi the PATTERN statement and will produce a dithering effect all by itself. I wall review the use of this keyword in a moment.
But first type in Listing One at the end of this article and run it. You will see three white rectangles, one filled with red, the other with blue, and the third with a shade of magenta, ail with a black background. If you count all the colors now visible on tire screen you should have five black, white, red, blue and magenta. That's five different colors on a 2- birplane screen, which is supposedly only capable of 4 colors.
The fifth color, magenta, is a mixture of the red with the blue background, and is known as an ''apparent" color.
As you can see, it is a convincing effect, especially since we are using the default hi-res (640 x 200) screen. The smaller the pixels, the better tire colors seem to blend together. Try this same code on a lo-res (320 x 200) and an interlaced (640 x 400) screen to see how pixel size affects the illusion.
The bit pattern is created using the PATTERN keyword.
For those unfamiliar with the use of this statement, I will give a quick description. The PATTERN keyword is used to create a "bitmask" for all graphics rendering including lines, text, and area fills. A bitmask is like a stencil. If you cut some holes in a piece of paper and lay the paper down on a surface, you can then apply paint to the paper and produce a pattern on the surface which matches tire holes. A bitmask works the same way, but with pixel colors instead of paint.
There are two applications for the PATTERN statement: line patterns or area patterns. To create a line pattern, the syntax is PATTERN linepattem% where linepattern% is a short integer value defining a 16-bit bitnrask, which will act as a stencil for all lines drawn. You will have to think in terms of binary numbers to determine this value. A solid line would have a bitmask which looks like this: 1111111111111111 This is a 16-bit binary number with all bits set to 1. Which is equal to a large decimal number. The AmigaBASIC interpreter will not read binary numbers directly, so we have to convert
the value into a numbering system it can read. We could convert it to decimal, but that's a time-consuming and error-prone method. The hexadecimal system is much easier. This system counts from 0 to 15 like this: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8I9,A,B1C,DIE,F To convert from binary to hex, first break the binary' number up into groups of 4 bits. Each of these 4-bit groups will have a value from 0 to 15, so each group can be converted to a single hex digit, like this: 1111 1111 1111 1111 F F F F Now put an "&H" in front of the hex number (&HFFFF) so the interpreter will know what we are talking about. To
create a dashed line, the process would look like this: 1111 0000 1111 0000 F 0 F 0 The PATTERN statement would dien be used like so: PATTERN &HFQF0 and all lines drawn will now' be dashed. To return to the default solid lines, we would use the PATTERN statement again, like this: PATTERN &HFFFF and we're back where we started from, drawing solid lines.
Listings One and Two both use area fill patterns rather than line patterns to create dithering effects. Creating area fill patterns with die PATTERN statement is done a little differently.
The syntax would be: PATTERN ,PatternArray% in this case we must provide the name of a short integer array as die argument, and there must be a comma after the PATTERN keyword, as shown.
The array, of course, must be defined first. It can be as large as necessary, as long as the number of elements it contains is a power of 2 (2, 4, 8, 16, etc.). Array elements begin their count at 0, so the actual DIM statements would use values such as 1, 3, 7, 15, etc. The values assigned to the array elements are determined in the same way as the line patterns above. Each element corresponds to a single horizontal line of die pattern 16-pixels long. We could then imagine a simple checkerboard pattern like this: 1111000011110000 1111000011110000 0000111100001111 0000111100001111 Bringing
this to the screen would be done like so: DIM P%(3) P%(O)=&HFOF0 P%C1)-&H0F0F P%(2)=&HF0F0 P%(3)=&H0F0F PATTERN ,P% Each 16-pixel line of the pattern w'as converted from a binary' number to a hex value and assigned to each element of the array. All area-filling operations, such as PAINT, wrould now be rendered in the above checkerboard pattern. To return to lire solid fill pattern, dimension an array to 2 elements and assign both the value of ''&HFFFF". Then call PATTERN again, using tlris new array as the parameter.
Now, if all we could do with dithering w'as mix existing palette colors with the background, it wouldn't be all that exciting. We would just end up with an additional shade for each color on the existing palette. Fortunately, there is more to be had from dithering.
Dithering really comes into its own when we can actually mix 2 or more of any of the palette colors to produce a completely new color. For example, if we could mix any 2 colors on a 2-bitplane (4-color) screen, we would have an apparent palette of 10 colors to choose from: 0, 1, 2, 3, 0+1, 0+2, 0+3, 1+2, 1+3, and 2+3. A screen with a depth of 3 would give us 36 colors, a depth of 4 would produce 136, and a 5-bitplane screen could provide us with a total of 528 colors. Cairying this even further, in Extra-Halfbrite mode (normally 64 colors) we could derive 2,080 choices, and a HAM Mode screen
could theoretically produce 8,390,656 variations of color!
Omnitek Computers AMIGA FULLY AUTHORIZED SALES AND SERVICE FOR ALL COMMODORE PRODUCTS Besides the increase in the number of displayable colors, dithering also offers a savings of memory resources which might be put to better use for other purposes. Bitplanes do consume RAM from 8 to 32K or more each, depending on the resolution mode used. Also, this RAM must be CHIP RAM the lower 512K, regardless of the amount of expansion memory provided.
This same area of RAM must also be used for all image data otherwise required by your program, like graphic arrays. As good as AmigaBASIC is, it is not the most memory-efficient language, and graphics-intensive applications can eat up that CHIP RAM quickly. Dithering allows the programmer to add those few extra colors to a display without the added memory requirements of an extra bitplane.
How is dithering done? There are probably many ways, but Listing Two gives a relatively easy method. This demo listing produces 136 apparent colors on a 4-bitplane, hi-res screen which is theoretically capable of only 16 different colors.
Hie rest are dithered combinations of colors 0 to 15. There are no LIBRARY calls involved, no arcane l'EEKs and POKEs or fancy footwork- just straight AmigaBASIC.
Enter the listing and have a look at the results. This is not the fastest running program ever witnessed. Certainly it could be better optimized for quicker execution but, as its real value is as an instructional demonstration, I did not invest much time in greasing the rails. If you own the AC BASIC Compiler from Absoft, it will compile directly as written and speed things up.
Some of the shades displayed are quite similar. All the apparent colors are formed by combining pairs of the true colors. In order to produce the maximum of shade variation when the colors were dithered, I tried to create a basic palette consisting of colors that were as dissimilar as possible. I do not doubt that someone with a better eye for color could come up with a more suitable starting palette for tills purpose. In actual practice, though, 1 do not diink color displays are enhanced by incorporating a lot of dissimilar colors. Subde variations of existing hues provide a more pleasing and
artistically "coherent" effect in my opinion, but feel free to experiment. Changing only one PALETTE statement will affect a number of the resulting apparent colors. Try it.
Once you've gotten the hang of using the PATTERN statement, dithering any two palette colors is very easy. All that's required is an alternating bit pattern, as shown in the first example, and the COLOR statement to control die current foreground and background colors. The foreground color will occupy the "1" bits, while the "0" bits will be of the current background color. Any two colors can then be combined to produce a new apparent color.
The actual dithering in Listing Two is done by two subprograms called ColorCycle and DitherFill. The former cycles through all tire foreground background color combinations possible with 16 colors. DitherFill does the actual area filling with the PAINT statement.
I chose a 640 x 200 screen with a depth of 4 for this demo. It seemed to be a good compromise in terms of the dithering effect produced and the complexity of tire source code. Going to a 5-bitplane screen would require changing the resolution to a lo-res (320 x 200) display, thus increasing the pixel size. Larger pixels degrade tire "illusion" of dithering, causing tire colors to take on a polka-dot appearance. A lo-res interlace (320 x 400) screen would solve this but would also introduce flicker. Stepping up to Extra-Halfbrite or FLAM modes Circle 128 on Reader Service card.
Requires more complex coding. 1 wanted to keep it as simple as possible.
Even so, having a choice of 136 colors on a screen you thought could only squeeze out 16 is a definite improvement.
You would probably be hard pressed to find a place for them all in most applications, except perhaps a paint program. I showed this demo to a friend who is a devout C programmer, without telling him how I did it. I told him only that it was a 4- bitplane screen. Talk about a double take! He was convinced I had somehow tricked him with an EHB or HAM mode display.
As stated earlier, the method outlined here is only one possible technique for creating dithering effects on the Amiga.
Use of the PATTERN statement works well for simple area fills, but not all graphics are drawn this way. You might want to experiment with routines that render one pixel at a time with tire PSET statement in a loop, which also switches the foreground color between each PSET execution. A sort of airbrush effect can be created this way.
Of course, dithering is not limited to the mixing of just two colors. Pixels of several different hues can be combined with very good effect if grouped closely together on a hi-res screen. And don't forget text applications. Unlike most other machines, the Amiga treats text displays as graphic objects, so they can be dithered too.
When combining different colors, how do you know what color you will end up with? The an of combining two or more colors to produce a different hue is a rather complex subject in itself. More information can be obtained from most any basic text on color photography. Some art texts also have information on this subject. But be aware that combining different colors of pigment produces an entirely different result than combining colors of light, as is done on a monitor. Make sure the reference covers the latter.
To get started, all you need to know is that red + green = yellow, red + blue = magenta, and blue + green = cyan. Also, any color can be darkened by adding dark gray or black, and lightened by adding light gray or white. See if you can come up with a dithering routine of your own. It's an area of Amiga graphics which has seen only a smattering (pun intended) of software application. Be the first kid on your block to come up with an 8-million-color HAM doodle, and the world will beat a path to your door.
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(508) 851-4580 (603)893-9791 Amiga Art Pixels At An Exhibition:
The Video Amiga-generated art is showcased at a University
of Vermont art show by R. Shamms Mortier, PhD.
Pixels at an exhibition.
May I offer my rendition Of a digitized suspicion That tee share a common mission To unearth our superstitions Via ocular submission?
Pixels at an exhibition.
The short poem above was printed on handouts that accompanied the exhibition of my Amiga videographics and electronic paintings at a November, 1988 show at die Coburn Gallery' on die University of Vermont's Burlington campus. To my knowledge, the event represents the first time that microcomputer work much less Amiga-generated work was shown in a traditional gallery setting in that p art of the Northeast.
I see the acceptance of this medium into what has often been an aii too exclusive setting as a groundbreaking step. I'm confident that ten years from now shows containing computer graphics work and videographics will be available to the public ail over the country. Computer paindngs and vide- ography will take their respective places alongside all other media, to be judged soleiy on the basis of dieir aesthetic merits.
For the moment, however, diere still seems to be resistance to accepting computer-generated imagery' as "serious art." It's taken me a long time to get even this Far.
Eight years ago, as the manager of the graphics service at the University of Vermont, I could feel the revolutionary changes in graphics design coming. To prepare for diese changes, I began to study' the new technology' by taking several computer programming courses.
One of these, in which students were asked to design software for children with learning disabilities, gave me my' first exposure to microcomputer graphics. I was hooked immediately.
The first systems tiiat I tvorked on gave me no hint as to the pace at which changes in graphic design would really take place. In class we worked on Apples, whose jagged, eight-color electronic graphics "drawn1' on the attached graphics tablet were magic to my eyes.
Not long after diat, I bought a Commodore 64, and began my honeymoon with Commodore graphics.
Meanwhile, attracted to the name and reputation of "Big Blue," die University consented to purchase an IBM for my use. Several thousand dollars later. I had a system that could produce sixteen- color charts and graphs (whoopee!).
Unfortunately, it was ofiitde use in bringing to fruition the more extensive instructional graphic designs and projects tiiat 1 had in mind.
Then hi 1985, after a serious eye operation forced me to argue my point from a darkened bedroom, I was finally able to persuade the .skeptical media director who was of the opinion that Commodore made only game machines to authorize an investment in an Amiga 1000. (Unfortunately, Commodore's lack of advertising has never made it easy for those of us in education to convince those who hold die purse strings to buy Commodore products.)
Not long after purchasing the Amiga for the office, I took funds from a personal business venture and bought an Amiga 1000 for my home studio.
Since that time, the .Amiga has held its own, enjoying a number of placements on the campus. It has even invaded the sacrosanct halls of UVM's art department, where with die help and support of a number of individuals I was able to secure a Fall '88 showing for my personal Amiga work.
My show consisted of two parts: a videotape (which is die subject of diis article) and a collection of seventy-five prints (which I will discuss more completely in a later article). I wanted the video to run continuously during the show, demonstrating to the audience the wide range of graphics possibilities on the Amiga.
Here is a description of the techniques 1 used to make the videotape, along with a list of die processes and software necessary for each... The Bit Bucket COMPUTER STORE We Want Your Business!!
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Locations to Serve You Titles and Credits I used Caligari (the professional pre-release version) to create interesting backgrounds for all ol the titles and credits. Caligari has a fascinating object- design interface that gives you a state-of- the-art view of the 3D universe. I turned on my VCR and just played around with it on the screen, grabbing 3D structures widi the mouse and saving everything for later editing.
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flicker is a bit bothersome.
However, considering that this was going to be genlocked into the background, I found die results satisfactory for my purposes. The spinning and rotating 3D primitives gave a certain high-tech look to the piece, and made an interesting background for tiding text animations.
Circle 1A2 on Reader Service card.
I first drew the tides and credits in Dpaint II mosdy with the Kara Color Fonts. This technique gave diem an almost classical look. By choosing die proper colors, I was able to make the flicker almost unnoticeable, even in Hi Res.
I then incorporated die drawings, one by one, into Video EFX 3D (from Innovision). This is one of my favorite tiding EFX programs, because its results are very' smooth and professional. With this software, it's easy for you to spin graphics up from infinity, or even give them 3D depth as they fly along. Video EFX 3D does have one drawback, however: If you use it, be prepared to wait as long as several hours for your final renderings.
Each of my interspersed tides and final credits reached its resting place on the screen differendy. Some spun around die Y-axis like swiveling doors; some flew up from the infinite background, spinning and flopping wildly; and some drew so close to the screen that the pixels became tremendously exaggerated. In one particularly long editing session, I genlocked each of them against segments of the Caligari backdrop. The result was a collection of very interesting titling segments.
The Paintings After the opening lilies, the nexl segment on die tape was a "slide show" of some of my electronic paintings.
Some were duplicates of prints hanging on the wall; others were shown only on the videotape. Lasting about twelve minutes, this segment drew much attention. Swirls, wipes, slides, fades... One by one the stadc images transformed themselves from one form into the next.
What I hoped to do with diis segment was to alert people to the fact that the works hanging in the gallery were indeed produced using a digital medium. It was aiso interesdng to contrast die physical prints with their original videographic parents.
I also wanted to take advantage of the excellent slide-showing tools available in Lights Camera Action (by Aegis), die most versatile and user- friendly slide-showing program I have been able to find. The interface is carefully designed, with options that only an experienced media artist could conceive of. Yet, at die same time, it's friendly enough diat sporadic users don't have to reference the manual constandy.
The program also allows you to segue 1294 Washington Street
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Sleepy Hollow ] was fortunate enough to have been asked by Richard Ramelia, the editor and founder of JumpDisk magazine, to illustrate a series of Amiga paintings for Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," These ten paintings, along with Irving's text, were marketed by JumpDisk in October of
To fit the images, the text, and a viewing program onto my disk, I had to render diem in Lo-Res non-overscan, making them quite different in both concept and design from the other works in my exhibition. Usually, my works are multi-thematic and rendered widi PhotonPaint in HAM interlace. The contrast between my paintings and the relatively linear story of ichabod Crane was so radical that I decided to incorporate Irving's masterpiece and my thoughLs on it Into the video.
Again, I used Lights Camera Action as the slide-show utility. Naturally, I made sure that the music for this segment was different from that used in the others. This segment was about two minutes long.
Taking a Trip The title of this segment, "Taking a Trip," is somewhat of a double-entendre.
(My peers from the sixties should readily grasp the mors figurative of the two meanings.) If die tide itself didn't make tiiis fact clear :o some at die show, then die visuals invariably did.
It took me several weeks to put this segment together. First, with a borrowed video camera sticking out the window of a '76 pickup, I filmed the thirty-five mile joumey from Burlington, Vermont (where I work) to my home in Bristol. I held the camera as steady as I could, and just let it run. The result was quite interesting, and made me realize that i hadn't rsally looked at everything that I pass on my way to and from work each day.
Next, with the VCR running, I hooked up "video out" to a video utility amplifier (a CVA2B-4 from the Comprehensive Video Supply Corporation in Northvale, N.J.). This unit allowed me to split a video signal to two targets. I took one "out" line and connected it to the Amiga Live unit (from A-Squared), while the other I connected to the "video in" on my SuperGen genlock. By using the sliders on the genlock, 1 was able to fade in and out of various digital EFX produced by Live.
Unfortunately, Live has never really made good on their pledges to provide software support. They promised to make available at a price of fifty dollars four upgrades in one year's time. So far, they have delivered only a Beta test of the first upgrade (and it's between almost two years since they first made the offer!).
Luckily for Live, a company called Elan Design has twice saved their skins first with InVision, and more recently with Elan Performer. InVision is one of the niftiest packages available for EFX work. It's designed to work with the Live digitizer, and it interfaces in ways that music-video producers really enjoy. If you have enough memory, the touch of a macro-key can give you any of the eighty EFX: digital mirroring, pix- elating, colorizing, framing, and poster- izing. In short, InVision really brings Live to life, making it well worth the investment.
With Live connected and InVision loaded up, I started to manipulate the video that I shot from the pickup truck.
The results were something between state-of-the-art video EFX and from what I'm told a strange substance-abuse experience. For example, in the middle of a shot of passing trees and houses, the sky suddenly turned green and tire whole scene mirrored itself on a horizontal axis. Then reality intervened again.
The main problem that I encountered in this segment was that Live reacted poorly to some of the InVision interventions. Once in a while the vertical hold would let go. However, it did work well as a background piece for the wandering audience. 1 further enhanced it using an Amiga musical composition from the soundtrack.
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I probably could have been arrested for overusing EFX, but I wanted to do more than just hold a storyline together: I wanted to demonstrate to my audience the breadth of tire possibilities that these tools offer. Admittedly, this segment may have been somewhat overrun, coming in at around thirteen minutes.
Mandates The mandala is a traditional visual device used in many cultures to help the mind concentrate during meditation.
Using the Amiga, I was able to design and animate mandalas to my heart's content. The fruits of these labors made up tire next segment of the video.
I chose DeluxePaint 11 as my painting tool, using it in a way that 1 like to think is original although hundreds of other Amigans have probably used it in the same way. With the menu bars and tire cursor hidden, I turned on color- cycling (with the TAB key) and the Symmetry Tool (from the Toolbox). Then, using various brushes, I alternately painted and erased areas on the screen.
The results have to be seen to be believed. With the proper sitar sounds added to the soundtrack, a truly meditative experience was produced.
Some experimentation is warranted before this process is recorded, but I believe any Amiga artist can produce wonderful results here. For this reason alone, you should save your DP II even if you upgrade to DP III. As far as I can tell, DP III doesn't allow you to hide the cursor, which you must do to produce animated mandalas.
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Tl)e Family The fifth segment of the video was called "The Family." It's basically a fiip- book animation sequence using frames taken from a videotape of my family interacting at the breakfast table on a Sunday morning. To film the original video, I just turned on the camera and sat down in front of it with my wife and my children (who wandered in and out of the room periodically). After a little while, everyone forgot that tire camera was on, and some nice vignettes ensued.
After viewing tire tape, I edited out sections and digitized what was left using DigiView, In total, 1 kept about sixty frames, which I dumped into DigiPaint for further editing. I left the human figures black and white, but colorized the background and foreground, giving the frames an almost surreal look.
When my editing was complete, I used Pageflipper+FX (from MindWare International) to piece the segments together. I use PF+FX constantly as an animation editor and consider it one of the most valuable professional videographic tools in my Amiga library'. With it, I was able to splice together my single frames freely, as well as store to and play back from RAM at very high speeds.
The end result of my two weeks of labor was a two-minute sequence that had the look of a futuristic penny-arcade movie. .Although somewhat abstract, tire images definitely told a story about breakfast at the Mothers.
3D No Amiga video demonstration is complete without something in 3D. As the time of the show drew near, 1 knew I had to produce at least one short 3D piece.
I decided to use Forms-In-Flight which has some of the best shading routines I've ever seen to render my images. With it, 1 sculpted and spun a smooth, spaceship-like form. Adding a light source produced finished images that were both "touchable" and believable. The results are most pleasing if rendered in Hi-Res, but it takes a while to get comfortable with the program itself. With FIF, I rendered and saved about twelve views of my sculpture.
Then, with pieces of this same form, 1 used Dpaint II to fashion a floating space station on an asteroid.
While turning on color-cycling, I noticed that the drawing cycled the smooth colors in a very unique fashion. Pleased with the effect, I decided to incorporate it into the segment.
I taped tire background alone, toggling color-cycling on and off at intervals. I played this back as a genlocked background, running the spaceship around the foreground with the help of PageFlipper+FX. By fooling with tire sliders on my SuperGen while all tiris was going on, I was able to create an interesting 3D piece that lasted about two minutes.
Tfj- Tb- That's All Folks!
Well, that's all there was to it.
When I finished, I had a forty-four- minute video to run at tire gallery. The soundtrack on tire tape was made up of a host of compositions, each created and recorded with Amiga sound-generating software. I recorded the tape on 1 2" VHS, and someday I'll tape it again onto 3 4" tape for better clarity. The monitor I used to show the video was not tire best: next time, I'll take more care to get the best playback equipment.
In a welcome reversal of the circumstances of a few years back, new Amiga products are now being introduced constantly, and old ones are being upgraded. (If Dpaint III and some of the Select files by Ihcir DateStamp, pattern matching. Archive Bit, and by source directory. All file attributes (DateStontp, Protection Bits, and FileComment) ure retained. Options for setting the Archive bit for incremental backups, verifying the data written to floppy disk, and estimating the number of disks needed for the backup. Up to 4 copies of the backup disks can be created at a time, or disks can
be pre-loaded in up to 4 disk dri ves. New disks are automat- daily formatted and verified. Easy recovery if a bad diskette is found. Parameters to be used for backups can be saved in conother recently released programs had been out at tire time, I definitely would have used their capabilities.) Releases in the last six months have been very exciting for Amiga animators and videots like me, but if I wait until tire latest software or hardware is out before starting a project, I'll wait forever. The time to begin is when the spirit talks.
In short, the show was an Amiga extravaganza. It was really well received throughout the two-week interval. The video always had onlookers, and to my surprise, I received as many favorable comments on it as I did on the prints.
Many Amiga people stopped by, and those non-Amigans who were not converted were at least tempted.
For my part, I came away having learned an abundance of amazing new videographic techniques. (Nothing expedites the learning process like a deadline hanging over your head!) I watch the video every month or so, and I'm still amazed at what can be accomplished in a few sleepless nights with the Amiga. The next galleried showing of my work will benefit widely from this experience, and my next tape is already in production. .AC* figuration files. Either Norma) or Fast File compatible disks can be wrioen. Specifically designed for effective multi-tasking, Backup restoration can be done using
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ASDG Dual Serial Board 169.95 Circle 108 on Reader Service card AmiEXPO Security Matters Chicago; (Jai 28-30 1989 The Amiga has often been called "The best kept secret in the computer industry." At AmiEXPO in Chicago, some users felt that this title was going to be strictly enforced.
AmiEXPO attendees and exhibitors were scrutinized closely by powerful looking men and women in conservative suits. As the Amiga visitors moved through the lower halls of the Hyatt Regency, they passed dozens of uniformed officers and quite stem looking personnel with earphones and two way radios discretely hidden beneath their suits.
The reason for these special security precautions became clear as Amiga enthusiasts passed by the Grand Ballroom, a floor above the AmiEXPO. The National Governors Conference was being held at die Hyatt that weekend and the following week President Bush was scheduled to appear on Monday, a day after AmiEXPO closed.
The reason for die security was suddenly obvious, yet it did not make it easy on Ms. Kim Morey, who was dressed in camouflaged combat fatigues and sporting a name tag that read "Mrs. Uzzi." She had to explain several times to the officers upstairs that she was demonstrating a new product at the Micro Momentum, Inc. booth downstairs, and diat she posed no direat to national security.
Speakers and Classes Seeing an Amiga celebrity or attending a special class on your favorite Amiga application are the highlights of any AmiEXPO. This show featured Jim Sachs, Computer Artist and Programmer; Dr. Henri Rubin, Chief Operadng Officer of Commodore International Ltd.; and Tim jenison, President of NewTek, Inc. Mr. Jenison entered the Saturday morning hall with roller skates on his feet and a gas- powered propeller on his back! (Mr. Jenison is known in his local community for commuting in diis style at speeds of up to forty miles per hour!)
No exposidon of Amiga enthusiasts would be complete widiout workshops, lectures, or displays. Once again, Joe Lowery and Steve Jacobs lined up an interesting assortment of Amiga notables for panel sessions and lectures. Some of the best three-dimensional art, animation, and special videos were effectively displayed, in an effort to excite more artists into the Amiga medium. AmiEXPO is the closest thing to a national Amiga users group, and our best opportunity to witness the achievements of our fellow Amiga users.
AmiEXPO attracts Amiga users of all persuasions!
Amiga Pioneers Amiga Trendsetters NewAmigans New Amiga Companies Jay Miner Tim Jenison Alexx Morrison, at TodorFay, assisted at die NewTek, Inc.'s nine weeks old, of Blue Ribbon Bakery Intuitive President shares his appears to be die kept everyone well fed Technologies boodt. Dioughts. Youngest Amigan. With homemade cookies.
Show Floor Excitement On the show floor there was enough excitement to keep all the Amiga enthusiasts happy, Hardware vendors sported faster and larger hard drives, new accelerator cards, and special networking equipment, while software developers rolled out their newest games, development languages, and productivity packages. Several dealers were offering better-than-average prices on software and hardware.
Great Valley Products Inc. once again occupied one of die largest booths, with a very classy, high-tech look. GVP was demonstrating numerous hard cards, including their removable media drive and two of their '030 board models (16 and 25 Mhz.). Company officials announced the new 68030 board tvith a 33 Mhz chip for delivery in 1 to 3 months. A 32 Mhz version was demonstrated which completed generating a complete hi-res ray-tracing in under 15 minutes, (The wireframe popped up in 3.14 seconds, while the scanline paint mode took a blazing 1 minute flat.) Also shown was their 150 meg streaming
tape drive, which runs at 6 megs minute and has three backup modes, including UNIX tar.
The excited people from Ready Soft, Inc. were demonstrating their AM ax Macintosh Emulator™ and showing demos of their new Amiga game, Space Ace, due for release by year's end. They also talked about Version 2 of the Amax which is scheduled to have hard drive support and possibly even AppleTalk support, (For additional Amax information, please refer to Interactive Video Systems.)
Interactive Video Systems demonstrated their Trumpcard products, as well as a shareware Amax patch that gives hard-drive support with their Trumpcard (utilities should be available for this in about a month.) The package looked extremely smooth during their demonstration on a 2000 with hard drive, flicker Fixer™ and a Zenith fiat-sereen monitor. This set up can run most Mac programs including HyperCard. They also showed a RAM card for their TC 500 which will take 256K or 1 meg Simms for a total of up to 4 meg.
NewTek, Inc. had a pre-programmed demo of their Toaster™ running during all three days of the show (still no hands-on demos.) With their Demo Reel 2 and the new Digi-Paint 3, NewTek had one of the largest and most impressive booths.
The newest "unofficial" release for the Toaster™ is die first of the year.
Micro Momentum, Inc., manufacturers of the Journeyman (the first portable Amiga), demoed their telecommunications tutorial software, TeleTutor, along with Momentum Check, a checkbook management program. For Amiga gamers there was the Uzzi Interface; a joystick adapter that accelerates the firing rate for some of the most exciting game action we've seen.
The nice folks at the Zuma booth were demonstrating their new TV Text Pro™ which will probably be released by the time you read this. We were shown some remarkable tiding effects including embossed wallpaper which can be locked into place so you can tide over. Fonts can be extruded in 3D to adjustable depths.
Other effects include glint, cycling, cast, drop, and transparent shadows. It can use any fonts, including Colorfonts.
Daniel Ten Ton of Digital Animation Productions in Boston. Mass.
Demonstrated his Amiga-based video transputers. According to Daniel, once their is a finished manufactured board, a special version of Turbo Silver will be written for his machine. The processing speed of the transputer can be increased by adding more processing boards. Rendering speeds of one frame per minute can be achieved with the proper ray-tracing software.
Elan Design had a small booth, but they drew a big crowd with demos of their Invision video effects system and Performer.
Sierra on Line was showing Space Quest m, Leisure Suit Larry tl, Silpheed, Police Quest n, and the newest King's Quest all of which will be released for the Amiga in November.
Perky Melissa Grey, President of Blue Ribbon Bakery, and Todor Fay put on their baker outfits and roamed the crowds with large baskets of home-baked cookies, blowing tire diets of all. At their blue-ribboned Amigas, they demonstrated their Who! What! When! Where! Organization software. Melissa, a musician herself, demonstrated and discussed their forthcoming Bars and Pipes (due in October), which she describes as the first object-oriented music system. She says that it deals with music, not MIDI-information. According to Melissa, "you provide the creativity...we provide the musical knowledge!"
CMI showed their processor accelerator board, as well as their new multiport networking board, which is AppleTalk™ compatible. The engineers on duty in the booth said that a few file-protocol software handlers were needed to make tire network fully compatible with Macintoshes, but the system was working fine with direct connections to Amigas.
Mindscape, demonstrating their various games, announced the August release of their newest Fiendish Freddy's Big Top o' Fun.
Sylvester Lee of Lee Software seemed to draw a lot of attention with his new Total Control Diet software, which not only helps Amigans keep fit and trim, but keeps track of the calories and nutrition of what you eat, with the help of a database of over 2400 foods.
Supra Corporation was showing their RAM boards, modems and hard drives.
VidTech International demonstrated their new Scanlock genlock, announced as a broadcast-quality output device at a consumer price.
Central Coast Software, makers of Quarterback, showed their latest: Mac 2 Dos, a file transfer utility which lets you read and write Mac disks on your Amiga.
A real standout of the Expo was tire Intuitive Technologies booth. Mike Lehman, creator of ULTRACARD, was showing off his product all weekend with the help of Jay Miner, who seemed truly fascinated by the program. Lucky attendees were able to have their ULTRACARD purchases autographed by Jay.
Two of the largest booths at the show belonged to retailers. Dr. Oxide was there with his Comp-U-Save team, while Frank Khulusi was there with his crew from Creative Computers of California. Both booths were packed for most of the show.
Bob Maudzinsky from Mindware, makers of PageFlipper Plus F X and Page Render 3D showed these products and discussed their upcoming Page Sync a music synchronization program.
Psygnosis Ltd. Made a few whispered promises about future Amiga products to be made available in October and November. Their booth was crowded with the array of titles they currently publish.
Thank You Chicago!
Amazing Computing collected S5 4.34 in contributions (in exchange for the current copy of AC) to be given to the American Cancer Society of Chicago.
For more information on vendors' products or announcments, please use the inquiry numbers on pages 60 and 61, and circle them on the Reader Service Card by page 96.
Amazing Interviews AC tadis with the, 'Father ofitie, Atni o. " A Conversation with Jay Miner by Steve Giltmor The 1989 .WniEXPO in Chicago was a study in contrasts. The number of vendors seemed down a bit from the previous show in New York, yet the attendance was strong. There were a few' new products exhibited, including several hardware and software developments that filled crucial holes in the Amiga's superstructure.
The Amiga's pioneering hardware design, Jay Miner, was stationed. Waves of fans clustered around "Padre" (as he is known on Plink and other networks), getting his autograph and w'orcis of w'isdom on the state of the Amiga, Afterwards, Jay and I sat down and tried to put tilings in perspective: AC: How' did this AmiEXPO feel to you?
Jay: It seemed a Litde smaller than last year physically diat is. I didn't really get time to wander around. I was too busy in the UltraCard booth.
AC: I am certainly interested in your UltraCard thoughts. But before that, I'd like to know how you feel about the current state of tilings on the Amiga?
Jay: I still think it's the best computer around in the home PC class. However, I am still bothered by the lack of advertisThe advance of Arexx in the Amiga environment was signalled by the release of Digi-Paint 3, the first presentation of Mindware's TASS Arexx-driven application operating system, and the launching of Ul raCard. Much will be written and discussed about Ultra Card and hypermedia in the coming months, but AmiEXPO Chicago '89 will go down as die event at which the promise of an easy-to-use, multitasking, Arexx-friendly Amiga was realized.
Nowhere cvas this driven home more clearly than at the UltraCard booth, where the architect and team leader of m ]. -i The "Father of the Amiga" was on band at
• : AmiEXl'O Chicago to meal with Amiga zealots ing of it as
anything else than an artist's machine.
AC: Do you feel it can compete effectively at the work-station level?
Jav: Certainly, it is architecturally a superior machine. We still don't have the software base of the others, but that is rapidly catching up.
AC: Are the others catching up to us in hardware?
Jay: In specs and appearances they are, but from w'hat I hear the graphics and animations and sound are all bottlenecks that are slow and cumbersome.
AC: What kinds of programs would you like to see advertised more?
Jay: They need to show' programs like PageStream, City Desk, Superbase and WordPerfect as being used, and better on tire Amiga, because of tire superior windows and multitasking.
AC: What is your basic configuration?
Jay: I have a 2000, with a GVP 80 MB hard card, and an 8 MB memory card, with 4 MB loaded. Also. I have a flickerFixer, which I can't overrecommend, and a beautiful Zenith flat-faced monitor that Iras the most lovely colors and contrast!
AC: Where do you see holes in Amiga software?
Jay: Oh, good question. [Pause] There w'as a big hole in the HyperCard area but that is now being filled by UltraCard. I hear that die desktop publishing is slightly inferior to others, but it is still very useful.
AC: Okay, let's talk about the HyperCard area. Why do you feel that's such an important type of program?
Jay: Because it allows "non-programmers" to construct Graphics "shells" that can access and control other programs without having to learn a language like C or M2.
Going back to the subject of flickerFixer for a moment, I would like to recommend that Commodore install one with the Zenith flat-faced monitor in every dealer's store in the United States especially at shows.
AC: With UltraCard as a front end?
Jay: Really! UltraCard should be given out with each Amiga like the Mac does.
It makes a tremendously good-looking display, and will sell more Amigas than anything else I can think of.
AC: How did you get involved with UltraCard?
Jay: I was at a FAUG [First .Amiga Users Group] meeting a month ago, and Mike [Mike Lehman, author of UltraCard] demonstrated it there. After tire demo, all anyone could ask was, "Yes, that's nice, but what does it do?" I could see he needed some help, so 1 offered to help him improve his Demo and tutorial. Then he said he needed help at tire AmiEXPO booth, so I worked with his program for a week, to become familiar with it, and went to Chicago to help in the booth.
AC: What feedback or comments did you get from people at the show about UltraCard?
Jay: Most people said it was about time tire Amiga had a version of HyperCard.
Others still complained about the demo, which we didn't have time to improve much. It was hard to explain drat tire graphics were only an example of what could be done, and not part of the program itself.
AC: Jay, you have been quoted in the past as being quite concerned about the continued survival of the Amiga. As the "Father of tire Amiga", how do you feel today?
Jay: I feel Commodore should try harder to support the developers, and not to compete with them so much. Also, I am very concerned with the present trend to advertise the Amiga solely as air artist's machine, and neglect the great programs in desktop publishing, word processing, spreadsheets, and database management.
They are building up the impression of dre Amiga as a graphics computer only, and that hurts the long range marketing of tire Amiga very much.
I like the hardware work they have been doing, tire 68020 and '030 cards, and the new machines. I just hope they are working on a complete revision of the chip set, done in CMOS, with full 32-bit chip address range. It can be done now with the new chip design rules, and would result in a chip set drat would make a lovely portable downstream.
AC: Can you give us some examples of what UltraCard stacks can be, and need to be, constructed?
Jay: There is one example that comes to mind. Imagine an exhibition hall filled with Amigas (well, 10 to 20), drat each show a map of all the exhibits, with icons for their locations (among dre potted palms.) Now imagine clicking on an exhibit icon and having a picture of the exhibit pop up, with speech describing the exhibit, and then clicking on the people in the picture, and having the summary of dre person shown, and clicking on boxes, that bring up details of the exhibit.
AC: What do you tell people are dre advantages of UltraCard?
Jay: The main advantages of UltraCard are also dre advantages of dre Amiga, such as real multitasking, Arexx interfacing and, of course, also the color graphics, speech, and sound. Arexx is an Amiga Rexx language drat allows programs like UltraCard to talk to each other and control each odrer. If you have the Arexx libraries in your Libs directory then UltraCard can act as a Graphics shell to control and exchange data with any odrer program running simultaneously. This is why Arexx and the Amiga's multitasking make UltraCard such a powerful tool, and it's much easier to program a graphics
controller using UltraTalk than C or M2.
AC: More powerful than HyperCard?
Jay; Yes, much more powerful. HyperCard has neidrer multitasking, nor Arexx, not to mention color and multiple resolutions.
AC: So instead of a subset of several programs' features, you can have die access to a superapplication of the best of all worlds jay: Yes, diat's right. One application 1 would like is to use it to design a graphics controller for a dialer that pulls data out of MicroFiche Filer (another Arexx-interfaced program) and does autodialing for me.
AC; It's available! [See 'Adventures In Arexx" in Amazing Computing V4.6.) I will send you the Arexx macros Jay: Great, thanks.
AC: After I tack UltraCard on top of it, unless you do it for me, jay.
Jay: So you can do a custom dialer controlled with UltraCard, Also UltraCard has built-in UltraTalk, like HyperTalk.
AC: Yes, Mike Lehman kept the two languages similar enough that UltraCard users could take advantage of the many books and stacks available using HyperCard.
Jay: Yes, that similarity will allow someone to do a future translator.
AC: On a personal note, how is your health?
Jay: I am generally in good health, except for this darned cold I caught here in Chicago. Completely lost my voice. My new kidney that my sister gave me is working fine, I have been swimming and water-skiing on my boat in the delta for months now, and feeling great.
AC: Do you anticipate being more active in tire Amiga community again?
Jay: Oh definitely. 1 hope to find work one of these days in that community, and I am presently very active in networking Zorro II Prototyping Board
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In die Amiga community'. People ask me, "What kind of next computer would you build?" And I say, "If I had such a great design in my head (which I might have) why should I tell the world?"
AC: But you'll tell me though Jay: Maybe not the truth!
AC: So help you God?
Jay: Isn't that die same as telling the world?
AC: Of course. Is there anvdiing else you would like to pass along to the Amazing Amiga Community, Jay?
Jay: Oh yes, I would like them to "advertise" the Amiga. Do this by buying an extra copy of an Amiga magazine, like Amazing, and leave one only one per Amiga fan is needed to saturate in every7 doctor's office and waiting room in the country7. If Commodore won't do it, we have to. Or use your old copies of such magazines if you can bear to part with them. OK?
AC: jay7, thanks for talking widr us, and keep in touch, OK?
Jay: I sure will on Plink, CompuServe and PORTAL.
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(602) 246-4238 Inquiry 255 by Nicholas Cirasella When people
refer to graphics and animation on the Amiga, they
invariably refer to blitter operations. The blitter is the
workhorse for many graphics library routines like Bobs and
Vsprites. Instead of accessing the blitter directly, many
programs utilize die Gel graphics routines, which in aim
make use of the blitter.
Walk All Over Your Amiga I find that many beginning and intermediate programmers would like to incorporate moving images or animation into their programs, but they are put off by the many complicated aspects of Gel routines. The thought of initializing Gel structures, setting Bob pointers and flags, and sorting and drawing Gel lists is enough to discourage all but die most ardent of developers.
As an alternative to the more complicated Bob animation routines, there are some very simple blitter routines in the ROM graphics library which allow direct access to die blitter's ability to transfer data. Taking advantage of this fact, I would like to present a programming example in Benchmark Modula-2 which will show' how' die blitter can be used to produce simple cell animations. This sample program illustrates techniques you can use to make the animated figure of a man walk across your screen.
About the blitter The blitter is a special graphics processor designed to move data around in memory, in this example, you will be moving data (pixel images) from a bitmap to your RastFort (draw'ing area). The blitter routine BitBitMapRastPort (which will be discussed later) will do this job for you nicely. Odier useful blitter routines include BltBitMap, which is used to copy image data between bitmaps, and ClipBlit, which is used to copy Figure One: Body positions that make up a simulated ivalking motion.
9 0 1 1 0 v 1 i A v' A Figure 1.
Simple Cell Animation In Modula-2 image data between RastPorts. These routines can all be imported from the Blit Module found in the M2L directory supplied with your Benchmark Modula-2 system.
Cell animation For diose of you who do not know' what cell animation is, a quick explanation is in order. In short, it is a method of animation in which multiple images are quickly overlapped on top of one another. Since each cell image is slightly different from the one before it (e.g., an arm may be raised slightly higher), an illusion of motion is produced. The most common examples of this type of animation are cartoons and children's books in which a picture is drawn at the top right comer of every page. Flipping through the pages generates a short animation sequence. This method of
animation is perfectly suited for the Amiga, as the blitter is designed to move images quickly.
To mn the sample program, you will first need to create some cell images with a paint program. Start by turning on tire Coordinate Display feature of your paint program. Then, on a 320 x 200 resolution screen, draw' a hollow rectangle in the upper left-hand comer with dimensions of 300 x 91 pixels.
Next, draw' vertical lines through tire rectangle, spacing them exactly 75 pixels apart. This should leave you with four adjacent boxes (cells) of equal area. Before continuing, check the coordinates of each one. The coordinates of the top left corner of Cell 1 (not to be confused with the top left corner of the border you drew) should be (1, 1), while those of the bottom right corner should be (74, 90).
To create your animated figure, draw it first in Cell 1.
Next, cut this image, copy it into Cell 2, and alter it appropriately. Repeat these steps, copying the newly altered image into Cell 3 and altering it yet again. After performing the same operations between Cells 3 and 4, you should be left with a different image in each of the four cells. Be sure to leave at Least 5 pixels of blank background to the right of the image in each cell; this spacing will be necessary when you later animate your figure. Figure 1 illustrates the body positions that make up a simulated walking motion.
You may either save your set of ceils as a picture file or, to conserve disk space, cut the set and save it as a brush. The sample program requires the file to be named Celis.pic and expects to find it in the current directory at execution time.
The source code The sample program CellAnimations.mod consists of only three procedures. The first procedure, Initialize, is used to load your cell images into a bitmap (CellBM, in our example) for storage. It also opens your screen and window. The RastPort and ViewPort pointers are set to point to the proper places while the LoadRGB4 routine is called to load the palette of our cell-image file into the current ViewPort.
The second procedure, DrawMan, is the routine that handles the actual cell animation. It renders each cell in sequence, proceeding from Cell 1 to Cell 4, and then back to Cell 1 to repeat the cycle. The important variables in this procedure are CelLLength, which is set to a value equal to tire width of your cells (in pixels) plus one (remember, if you change the size of your cells you must change this value accordingly); CellPos, which holds the cell number currently being rendered; SourceX, into which the calculated X-coordinate of each cell rectangle is placed; and Xoffset, which is the X-
coordinate of the current cell to be drawn.
The Drawman procedure begins with a loop that moves your figure across the screen mice.
SetRast(rpA,0); renders background pen 0 into every pixel of your screen, effectively clearing the viewing area.
FOR i := 1 TO 36 DO is tire loop that controls how many times your cell images are drawn.
INC(CellPos,l); loops through the number of the current cell to be drawn.
INC(Xoffset,-5); subtracts 5 from the X-coordinate of the last cell drawn. To experiment with varying the increments of your animation, try subtracting values higher and lower than 5.
IF CellPos=5 THEN CellP0S:=l; END; cycles back to Cell number 1 when the last cell is reached.
SourceX:= (CellPos-1) * CeilLength + 1; calculates the X-coordinate of the start of each cell. CellPos contains the number of tire ceil to be drawn.
WaitBOVP(vpA) is called just prior to the calling of the blitter routine. This routine is used to synchronize the reading of your image with the screen-updating feature of the Amiga.
Calling this routine will help prevent tire image of your animated figure from flickering.
Finally, there is tire BltBitMapRastPort routine. It takes the following form: BltBitMapRastPort(VAR SourceBM : BitMap; SrcX, SrcY : INTEGER; VAR DeslRP : RastPort; Destx, DestY : INTEGER; SizeX, SizeY : INTEGER; minternr : MinTermFlagsSet); SourceBM is our source bitmap which we will load into our inrage containing our animation cells; SrcX, SrcY is lire X-Y coordinate offset into the source bitmap; DestRP points to your destination Rastport; DestX, DestY is the X-Y coordinate offset into your RastPort; and minternr is tire value defining the type of image drawling you want (a value of 192
decimal will oroduce a vanilla copy).
Now, take a close look at each parameter as it is used in tire program. Descriptions are contained within brackets: BltBitMapRastPort(CeilBM [the bitmap you loaded your cell into], SourceX [tire calculated X-coordinate of cells from your source bitmap], 1 [the Y-coordinate of cells from your source bitmap], rpA [the pointer to your RastPort], Xoffset [the counter of the X-coordinate to place the current cell onto your RastPort], 50 [the Y-coordinate to place the current cell onto your RastPort], 74 [the length of each cell], 90 [the width of each cell], and MinTermFlagsSet(192); [function that
does an exact copy of source onto destination when given a value of 192].
Corrections A number of errors and inaccuracies appeared in the article Exploring Amiga Disk Structures Q 4.6). The article's author, David Martin, provided us with the nec- cesary corrections and clarifications. The following are the corrections were brought to our attention: A math error: 4,294,967,295 is the maximum value that can be stored in a 32-bit word (p. 59).
AmigaDOS disks use 1760 blocks, not 1758. Blocks zero and one are reserved by AmigaDOS for the AmigaDOS boot blocks. The first disk block available for user data is block two (p. 59).
Unused slots in the bitmap table are set to one, not to zero (p. 59).
The bitmap information is not stored in the root block, but in separate disk blocks. The bitmap portion of dre root block contains pointers to these blocks (p. 60).
File notes are stored in a file header block and each subdirectory's user block. They cannot be squeezed into the user directory blocks (p. 60).
Each block's checksum is used to tell AmigaDOS whether tire data is good when it is read later. It can be calculated easily: sum all the words in the block, ignore overflow, and subtract the result from zero. The resulting value which should be zero if the data is good replaces the initial zero in word five (p. 59).
The Archive bit, which tells the user that a file has been changed, tells backup programs whether tire current version of a file has been backed up. The Script bit allows an .AmigaDOS batch file to be executed without die user having to issue the EXECUTE command from CLI (p. 60).
Parent directory pointers are used by AmigaDOS for stepping back one level toward the root directory. Word 124 in the file header block points to the next entry in the hash chain. Word 125 in the same block points to tire parent directory of the file (p. 60).
In the Inside ULTRACARD article (V4.7) and in subsequent references to it in later issues, we referred to ULTRACARD as the first HyperText for die Amiga. We were incorrect in drat THINKER, distributed by Poor Person Software, was actually the first Hypertext for the Amiga. Although both programs use Hypertext, the main difference between them is that THINKER is text- oriented, while ULTRACARD is graphics-oriented.
We apologize for these errors and any difficulues or inconveniences they may have caused.
When diis command is used, it creates a vanilla copy the same size and shape as your cell rectangles. The background color (pen 0) of each cell is drawn over any image on the screen, totally "erasing" it.
In this example, each cell is drawn 5 pixels to the left of the previous cell. This shift gives the illusion of motion, whereas the qrcling of cells gives the illusion of animation. When you created your cells, you left at least 5 pixels of background data on the right side of each ceil, so that the only part of each cell not overlapped by die overlaid cell would be imageiess background data.
The last step in the DrawMan procedure is a loop that slows down the cell renderings long enough for you to view each image properly.
ShutDown, the third and final procedure, simply frees the memory allocated for your bitmap, which contained your cell images. The window and screen are then dosed and the program terminates.
Possible enhancements This sample program is a simple one, and it could easily be modified to include routines for background restorations, in many instances, a background picture which should not be altered by your cell renderings will be drawn into your screen's bitmap. In order to retain background image integrity, copy the rectangle of background data where your first cell is to be placed into a temporary, bitmap. Your first cell is drawn into the rectangular screen area you just copied. To animate your figure properly, the background data is then rendered back into the screen's bitmap and
the process is repeated for all tire cells of the animation. (If you animate an object that does not require your moving it across the screen such as a rotating planet or a windmill then you need not be concerned with background restoration.)
This small sample program provides just a glimpse of how you can use blitter commands to perform various types of graphics animation. I suggest experimenting with this source code to leam more. Try changing the values of the minterm in the BltBitMapRastPoit routine to see what they produce. Before you know it, you'll be walking all over your .Amiga!
Listing One
* Cell Animations Nicholas Cirasella *
* Compiled with Benchmark Modula-2
* This is a sample program to illustrate klitter
* commands to animate a figure across our screen MODULE
CellAnimation; IMPOST Mode01dFile,FiieHandle,Open,Ciose;
Blt3itMapRastFort, MinTermFlagsSet; FROM AmigaDOS FROM Blit
IMPORT FROM Graphics FROM IFF FROM Intuition IMPORT
BitMap,BitMapPtr; IMPORT iFFDone; IMPORT Screer.Ptr,
CloseScreen, WindowPtr, CloseWindow,WlndowFlagsSet,
WindowFlags, ScreenFlags, ScreenFlagsSet; FROM Rasters IMPORT
RastPortFtr,SetKast; FROM ReadPict IMPORT ILBMFrame,
ReadPicture; (* ReadPict is a module from the IFF Libraries *)
FROM RemAlloc IMPORT ChipAlloc, RemFree; FROM SimpleScreens
IMPORT CreateScreen, ScreenBitMapr FROM SimpleWinaows IMPORT
CreateWir.dcw, WindowBit.Map; (* SimpleScreens SimpleWindows
are from the Simplified Amiga Library Module *) FROM SYSTEM
IMPORT ADR; FROM Terminal IMPORT WriteString, WriteLn; FROM
Views IMPORT ViewPortPtr, LoadRGB'!, WaitBOVP; CONST * main
window flag definitions *) KinFlags «
WlndowFlagsSet(Activate,Borderless); VAR (* these are Global
variables *1 winPtr : WindowPtr; (* pointer to window structure
*) CellBM : BitKap; (* bitmap to contain cell images *) scr :
ScreenPtr; (* pointer tc screen structure *) rp : RastPortPtr;
(* pointer to Rast Port structure *} vp : ViewPortPtr; (*
pointer to View Port structure *) *) PROCEDURE Initialize; •)
VAR Fhandle : FileHandle; (* contains info to open our file*)
frame : ILBMFrame; (* contains info about our file's ColorMap
*) BEGIN (** Load ceils of walking man **) Fhandle := Open
(ADRpcells .pic"), ModeOldFile) ; IF Fhandle NIL THEN IF
ReadPicture(FHandle, CellBM, frame, ChipAlloc) - IFFDone THEN
END; Close(FHandle) ; ELSE WriteStringC'Can not load IFF file")
; WriteLn; HALT; END; scr :* CreateScreen(320,200, 5,NIL); ('
low res screen*) winPtr :=
CreateWlndow(0,0,320,200,NIL,WinFlags, NIL,scr,NIL); rp :¦
winPtr".RPort; (* set up RastPort pointer*) vp ;=
ADR(scr".Viewport); (* set up Viewport pointer*) LoadRG34(vp",
ADR(frame.ColorMap),SIDE(frame.colorMap)); (* this sets our
viewport to contain the same pen colors as used in the cell IFF
file *) END Initialize; *)
PROCEDURE DrawMan;
(,****x.x.******x**x.****x xxxxxxxxxxxxxaxxxx.xxxxx**)
VAR SourceX,i,loop,CellPos,Xoffset, j : INTEGER; CONST
CellLength = 75; (* width of each cell + 1 ¦) BEGIN FOR j := 1
TO 2 DO (* move our man across screen twice*} SetRast(rprt,0);
(* clear our RastPort *) CellPos:=0; Xoffset:=220; FOR it* 1 TO
36 DO INC(CellPos,1); (* CeilPos contains the cf the current
cell to draw *) INC(Xoffset,-5); (* move man left 5 pixels each
loop *) IF CellPos"5 THEN CellPos:»1; END; SourceX:=
(CellPos*-!) * CellLength + 1; Remember... Dedicated to the
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(* this calculates X coordinate for each cell *) WaitBOVP(vp"); (* this reduces flicker of image *) BltSitMapRastPort(CellBM,SourceX,a,rp",Xoffset,50, "4, 90,MinTermFlagsSet(192)); FOR loop := 1 TO 20000 DO END; END; END; END DrawMan; PROCEDURE ShutDown; I,,..,,,,,,,,,.,,,,.,.,.,*..,.,*,.,,.,,....,,*-,*..*. BEGIN RemFree(CellBM.Planes[0]); CloseWindowIwinPtr"); CloseScreen(scr"); END ShutDown; Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx«x*xxxxx**x*x*xx*xx*****xx**'trx)r****x*xxxx*j J x x x * » x X * x x * * * x* x x MAIN x * * * x x x * * x x * x x * * x x x x x x x x x x J
(XXxXXXXXxXXxXxXXXXX-XXX***.*.*-*..***XX...,XXXXXX XX.XXXXX) Initialize; (* call routine to set up screen, window, load our cells, and set up RastPort and viewport *) DrawMan; (* call to routine to draw our cells *) ShutDown; (* de-allocate memory and close window screen *) END CellAnimation.
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_____ 6495 Wight Zone-------------------2496 Ultima
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.. 2B96 Vvtoo Page Tww __________36 95 VideoScapo3D20
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..26 95 Zoetrope ______________87.95
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31. 95 IMG Scan .....114 Circle 115 on Header Service card.
Roomers by The Bandito pTfje statements and projections presented in "Roomers " are rumors in the purest sense. The bits of information are gathered by a third party source from whispers inside the industry'. At press time, they remain uncomftrmed and are printed for entertainment value only. Accordingly, the staff and associates of Amazing Computing™ cannot be held responsible for the reports made in this column.] Tlje Amiga LIVE! Story It's been a good year for inside stories first Epyx's secret project, and now die previously untold tale of how Amiga LIVE! Came Into existence.
Our story begins long ago, before die Amiga was released. A-Squared Systems came up with a design for a real-time video digitizer for die Amiga.
They envisioned applications like video performance, publishing, and so on.
Commodore thought diis was a great idea, especially since it promised to be cheaper and better dian any IBM or Macintosh digitizers. So Commodore made A-Squared a deal whereby Commodore would market the product through its own distribution channels as a Commodore-labeled device.
Everything seemed fine. Prototypes were shown at trade shows, and much interest was generated. Then Digi- View came out, and when Commodore saw one of the HAM images created with Digi-View they said, "We want LIVE! To do this!" So Commodore took over the design of LDTI! And proceeded to work on it in their own labs. [Editor's note: A- Squared claims that the initial idea to incorporate HAM software into LIVE! Was its own, and that Commodore which had already been given the LIVE! Design to work on refused to do so, fearing it would delay its release.} But the designer they had working on
LIVE! Left, and more time passed until they found a new engineer.
By this time, Digi-View had been on the market for quite a while. Things were in turmoil at Commodore, what with changing chief executives and shifting marketing plans. Poor LIVE!
Kept getting shunted aside, being shown at trade shows, but never with any idea of when it would ship.
Finally, A-Squared managed to get Commodore to give diem back the LIVE!
Design (much altered by this time) SO A- Squared could bring the product to market. After some further development (which consisted mainly of undoing Commodore's engineering attempts), Amiga LIVE! For the Amiga 1000 finally went on sale just in time for Commodore to stop producing the 1000 and announce the Amiga 500 and 2000, neither of which was compatible with Amiga LIVE!
So A-Squared had to redesign the product yet again, and after many months Amiga LIVE! Was finally in marketable form, [Editor's note: According to A-Squared, Commodore was obligated by contract to produce the Amiga 500 and 2000 versions of LIVE!
When it did not undertake this development, A-Squared took it upon itself to do so] The latest story development is that A-Squared has won more than S890.00Q in a lawsuit against Commodore. A- Squared charged that, by failing to market Live!, Commodore failed to live up to the terms of their agreement, and an arbitration board (confirmed by a judge) mled in A-Squared's favor. So A- Squared will finally get some recompense for die years of battling Commodore, though it's not really enough to cover the lost market opportunity.
[Editors note: According to Commodore, no payments have yet been made to A- Squared, and the ruling is currently under appeal] In many ways, the whole story is a ¦warning of die pitfalls a small company can encounter when it tries to work with a giant manufacturer? Sometimes it's better to just stay in the garage and putter away.
1989 Developers' Conference Report Of course, the Bandito's agents were in full force at DevCon '89- By carefully bugging the water glasses and "The word overheard is that the A3000 is more than just a 68030 dropped into an A2000. Other sources hint at higher-speed custom chips and enhancement of the Amiga's sound capabilities. " plandng microphones in the ceilings, diey were able to gadier much valuable data.
Perhaps [he biggest news was the non-news. No major new products were shown. There was no unveiling of die Amiga 3000, although Commodore confirmed that it is in die works.
Commodore did say they would be spending a lot more on advertising and marketing news which was well received by weary developers tired of explaining what computer they work on ("Omega? What's an Omega?'').
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Circle 155 on Reader Service card- C0NSUL7H0W 11200 Parkview Plymouth, Ml 48170 Commodore also said they are hiring marketing managers for specific vertical market areas. That's good, because they were significantly understaffed in marketing by all accounts. The plan is to push the 2000 family into vertical markets like publishing and video, and push die 500 into the home and education markets. By hiring people to manage this process and be responsible for it, they have shown that it's more than just lip service this time.
What else is going on with Commodore marketing? Better advertising in vertical market publications, with ads targeted at graphic designers, video producers, and music professionals, and more involvement by Commodore at appropriate trade shows. Taken together, all these moves signify that Commodore is finally marketing the Amiga the way they should.
Commodore is also promising a better effort in selling Amigas to the education market. Better discount structures and more help for educational software developers are among the key elements. Amigas have already become indispensable in the graphic arts departments of some major universities.
The challenge now is to get Amigas into K-12 schools.
What's the latest on 1.4? Good news and bad news. The good news is that 1.4 will have plenty of bells and
• whistles many conveniences for programmers and users, and a
slick- looking Workbench designed by a professional graphic
artist. The bad newrs? If you think it will arrive by
Christmas, you must believe in Santa Claus. (Even believing in
the Easter Bunny might be too soon.) However, many developers
were distressed to learn that the Gum Meditation Error will be
changed to something clever and catchy like System Error. Some
programmers were muttering about a public domain utility that
would bring back the Gum.
We'll see.
The astute reader may be asking how compatible the current software applications will be with the new 1.4 software. The official line is that programs that followed all the rules will IN ADDITION to reading and writing any file on an MS-DOS disk, perform the following DOS functions on files and directories.
* Scan any directory
* Create directories
* Rename
* Delete
* Set dates
* Set protection bits
* Seek file positions
* Get disk information
* Add cache buffers Technical Support
(313) 459 • 7271 work just fine, though they may not work with
some of the new graphics modes.
Of course, there are many programs that didn't follow the rules, like most games. Another example is DeluxePaint III, which, allows you to paint in the overscan border a no-no under 1.4. Expect many revisions to appear when 1.4 ships sometime in 1990.
Commodore did confirm that they are coming out with the A2630, a 68030 board for the A2000. And they did officially announce that the A3000 exists, but nothing more. The word overheard is that the A3000 is more than just a 68030 dropped into an A2000. Some people say it has been redesigned for higher system throughput, with faster memory chips and faster DMA. Other sources hint at higher-speed custom chips and enhancement of the Amiga's sound capabilities. More mutterings indicate the Amiga could move up to 16- bit graphics, where you could display 256 colors out of 32,768 even a super- HAM
mode with all 32,000+ colors available at once.
What about backward compatibility? Some software may need revision.
Arid will there be replacement chip sets for older Amigas? Quite possibly. Commodore should know the value of keeping the installed user base happy.
And when will this dream machine be available? Not until 1.4 ships, so don't took for it before 1990. The price has not been set, but the target figure is well under $ 4,000 list.
Now Commodore plans to provide hardware solutions for tire high end. An important element is breaking the 4096 color barrier. They have shown a 256 out of 16.7 million color card. Now they have to ship it and get software support.
Is Display Postscript in the Amiga's future? It would be a bold positioning move that would open a lot of eyes, especially In desktop publishing. Of course, you really need powerful graphics coprocessing to make it work, but the Amiga has that (though a faster blitter would help).
In other news, Commodore magazine is history. Why was Commodore supporting a magazine anyway?
Seems like a silly way for a computer company to waste its time. Maybe it was a good thought when nobody else was doing one, but they should have quit a long time ago. In a somewhat unusual move for Commodore, the staff has been shifted to other jobs rather than being Tired.
Speaking of personnel, reports from West Chester indicate that many employees are nervously feeling their necks. If big changes are made, some of the good of boys (and gals) may be hitting tire road. It's time for everybody to show their worth or show their heels.
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56. 95 The best news of all from DevCon was not official, but it
was overheard in more than one spot. As the story goes,
Commodore plans to drop the A500 price to perhaps as low as
$ 399 by Christmas time. Of course, this goes hand-in-hand
with tire plan to put the A500 into the mass-market stores.
The Bandito doesn't have any names yet, but Sears would be a
good place for an Amiga, don't you think? With that pricing,
1990 might be The Year The Amiga Gun Downs The Bad Guys! A
complete system (monitor, computer, 1 meg, 2 drives, and
printer) for under $ 1000 a magic price point at tire most
magical time of the year.
Spirit SC 501 Vs Meg.
Trapdoor internal expansion with clock calendar lor Amiga 500 0K 63.95 plus shipping and handling Don't see it here? We've probably got it. Call us.
Your Amiga Source PO Box 575719 Murray, Utah 84157-5719 After all the good news coming out of Commodore, it's almost reassuring to the Bandito to hear a rumor about some truly epic stupidity. West Chester sources say that a prototype of a 6502- based machine that runs at 4 Mhz and produces 4096 colors is in the works.
Circle 110 on Reader Service card.
.-And it's 100% incompatible with either the Amiga or the C64.
The Bandito can only hope it's not true, or if it is, that they take the prototype and bum it (or better yet, send it to Atari. It'll never come out then).
Doesn't anyone there remember the Plus 4? If you had to dream up the worst possible product for Commodore to introduce, it would sound just like that.
Number crunching The 1988 figures for computer sales in the US are worth a look. Apple was ~1 with 1.271 million units, edging out IBM's 1.229 million units. Who was ~3?
Commodore, with 665,000 units. That figure includes C64, Cl28, PC clones, and Amigas. Ot course, MS-DOS compatibles, as a whole, are the biggest market of all (about 75% of all PC's sold in the US are MS-DOS machines). Those numbers may change if Commodore can leam how to sell Amigas, AudiQMasterll Aunt Arctic Adventure Battle Chess Battle Tech Baud Bandit Blood Money Deluxe Music 2.0 Deluxe Paint III DigiPaint III Double Dragon Dragon's Lair Dungeon Master FA 18 Interceptor Falcon Kind Words Licence To Kill Lords of the Rising Sun OutRun Phasar Pioneer Plague Publisher Plus Rocket Ranger
Rush N' Attack Smbad & Throne of Falcon SimCity Sonix :&!
COMPUTER 1 800 347 8004 The rising value of the dollar changed profit into loss for Commodore during the last quarter. Since tliree- quarters of their sales are overseas, the exchange rate really hammered their profit picture. The pressure is building to make good sales numbers for the rest of the year. If Europe slows down, then die US division has to pick up dre slack.
(A bapdsm of fire for Mr. Copperman.)
Even though nobody asked, the Bandito thinks Commodore could make a big splash by being the first computer manufacturer to offer a CD-ROM drive built into a computer. Offering a low- cost CD-ROM option for the A5Q0 (or other models) would also be dynamite.
How about a retail price of under $ 500?
It's possible. Of course, it would also have to play CD audio disks. C'mon Commodore, get with it. Even IBM is talking about CD-ROM and multimedia these days.
Speaking of multimedia (or as the Bandito thinks of it, "desktop buzzwords"), IBM's "Home PC" is heading our way in 1991. The specs Spellbound 28.95 Super Scramble 29.95 Sword ot Sodan 35.95 Test Drive II 29.95 The Three Stooges 35.95 Total Eclipse 29.95 Triad 29.95 TV Sports Football 34.95 V,I.P Virus Protection 29.95 Where in World is Carmen 32.95 Who Framed Roger Rabbit 32.95 Who! What! When* Where! 65.95 Enhancer Amiga DOS 1.3 20.95 Accessories & Hardware Epyx Joystick 14.55 ErgoStick Joystick 19.95 Internal 3V2" Floppy Drive tor 2000 99-95 California 3.5" drive 139.95 Supra 2400 Baud
Modem 129.95 sound hot: 386SX processor, DVI chipset for near real-time video, 2 digital signal processor for great sound and built-in 9600 baud modem, MS Windows and a mouse, and a built-in CD-ROM drive.
The price will probably be in die $ 2500 to $ 3000 range, so they may be slanting it more towards the home office rather than the home entertainment market. It's certainly a target for Commodore to take into consideration. The .Amiga should have ail of those features by then, and with a better installed base, too.
Commodore hopes to capture die interactive video market with die Amiga.
Their first target is interactive point-of- sale video systems basically, a laserdisc player hooked up to an Amiga inside a kiosk, where customers can go up and select Items they want to see. The Amiga's advantages are NTSC output compatibility, making genlocking cheap.
The entire Amiga interactive video system w'ould go for under $ 3000 with laser disc player and genlock.
A comparable IBM-type system would run at least $ 1000 more, and a Macintosh system similarly configured would be around $ 7000. Commodore estimates this to be a billion-dollar-a-year market in training, sales, and education.
They are working on an authoring system to make it easier to create interactive videos. No word yet on whether diis technology might reach the average user.
Developments mid non-developments Musicians take note: MasterTracks Pro and die rest of Passport's music software line is currendy being ported to die Amiga; expect software to arrive this fall. More and more music software publishers are developing for the Amiga as the machine is increasingly being accepted as a serious music macliine.
One important reason is the Amiga's video capabilities, which are more important to music videos.
While we're talking about music, how about a new IFF format for sampled sounds without the incredible limitations of 8SVX? A standard is a must, but let's develop one that really takes advantage of the Amiga's sound capabilities. Let's not let an outmoded file standard hold us back from getting die best sound possible from our favorite computer.
DeluxeVideo III may be the last Amiga creativity product from Electronic Arts. [ Edito r's note: Elect ro nic A its insists that it "is and will continue to be dedicated to its Deluxe line of products. ..'] The word is that Electronic Arts has killed plans for Instant Music II, [Editor's note: Electronic Arts would not comment on Instant Music II as it is an unannounced product.] Most of the people involved with producing creativity products have been reassigned, trans- fen-ed, or otherwise departed. Seems like they want to concentrate on games, which is really where the company has always
put most of its effort.
Interestingly, bodi Epyx and Mediagenic have had great trouble making their creativity products divisions profitable, and they're cutting back in those areas as well. The Banclito figures that games and work-type software just don't mix.
The Bandilo is considering regularly setting aside a part of the column for legal issues, since they're so common these days. The latest: Xerox has prevailed upon Metaphor to pay a licensing fee for using windows, icons, and a mouse in their interface that IBM has licensed, Xerox may demand licensing fees from everybody using a windowing interface. That means .Amigas, and maybe even GEOS. What it really means is good news for lawyers, who stand to make a lot of money. The whole tiring seems silly to the Bandito.
Xerox has never copied anything, have they?
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Also the I meg Agnuses are still in very shot! Supply, but all A250O's and 2000's are now shipping with them installed.
Hie siaiation may have cleared up by the time you read this. Certainly the dealers hope so. At about SI50 each, they're doing a good business in upgrades. On the software scene, PageReader 3D looks hot. The Bandito sees more 3D software on the Amiga than on the Mac and the IBM combined. And the results are far better on the Amiga.
If you haven't noticed lately, RAM prices are dropping faster than Medi- agenic's profits. With the new 4 megabit chips being introduced, prices are sure to be driven even lower. The Bandito expects a megabyte of memory to be under $ 100 by the end of the year, if not before. Good news for animation fans.
The Bandito's colleague in the Macintosh market keeps hearing that Apple plans to breathe life into the corpse of die IIGS by including its chip set in the new low-cost Macintosh under development for next year. Wishful thinking.
Adding those chips would bring the cost up too much. Apparently Apple just wants to keep the schools happy by giving them an upgrade path for their old software. More believable is some sort of add-in card that gives IIGS compatibility. Either way, an .Amiga 500 under $ 1000 will make the Cheap Mac look pretty sick. Another crab apple, if you ask the Bandito.
• AC- BattleTech Amazing Game Reviews SNAPSHOT Four Amiga Game
Reviews An era is at an end. Many computer users are familiar
with Infocom, the company that produced a myriad of text
adventures for many different computers.
While their adventures were rich and detailed in their time, text adventures have become much less popular with tire advent of more powerful computers with more graphics capabilities. Unable to generate sufficient profits, Infocom has been bought out by Mediagenic (formerly Activision), who reportedly closed their offices. So ends an era.
Fortunately, all is not lost. Under tire Infocom label, Mediagenic has just released a new, graphics-based role- playing game (RPG) for your gaming pleasure BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception. It is the first in a possible series of computer games based on a board game produced by FASA.
The backdrop for the game is futuristic robotic combat, as popularized on television, in comics, and in board games.
You begin the game controlling the character Jason Youngblood, the son of an illusriious family whose origins can be traced back more than 1,000 years to the early 21st century. Since your father is Captain of Security Forces for the planet, you have added pressure to successfully overcome the obstacles put in your way.
By R. Bradley Andrews Play begins with your MechWarrior training in the training complex on the planet Pacifica. This training, while simple at first, becomes increasingly grueling, it is designed to refine your skills completely before you are finally put in charge of one of the galaxy's most potent fighting machines, the mighty Mech. The technology to build new Mechs has been lost, so the existing ones are guarded with extreme care, since they hold the key to swaying die batties fought in occupied space.
In addition to your Mech training, you have other opportunities to sharpen your personal skills at a price.
Fortunately, money is periodically ''sent from home" and deposited in your account. By budgeting properly and playing the stock market successfully, you can make diese small sums blossom quickly into sizable amounts. You should maximize all your skills while you're in the training city, since once the entire planet has been opened to you, only your medical and repair skills can be increased.
A good strategy for multiplying your money in the stock market is to put all of it in the high-risk BakPhar company.
Save tire game before investing, so if you lose money you can restart and try again.
If you gain money, re-save and continue the process over. 1 have found that the optimal amount to invest in BakPhar is about 8000 C-Bills; more always seems to lose. Though you can invest your money only a limited number of times while in die training area, once in the spaceport, you can invest as much and as often as you'd like. The only limiting factors are your patience and willingness to watch your money grow in little chunks.
Unfortunately, your preparation is interrupted before you can finish completely. If you can maneuver successiully, you will find yourself wandering around the planet's surface, searching for the starport and a way out of trouble. While there, you will come into contact with your new team, the Crescent Hawks. After gathering all the members, you need to fix a damaged holodisk and then locate a hidden weapons cache which you will turn over to the leader of your side of the conflict. Once these tasks are completed, your quest will be over.
The entire game is menu-driven and features very nice looking graphics with a smoodily scrolling background. The sound is adequate and complements game play. Although you can play die entire game from the mouse, I found diat die keyboard worked better, since either die keypad or the arrow keys could be used to move on-screen characters.
While only a limited number of actual options are available during play, game play is fairly fluid and not too limited. Games can be saved or loaded at any time, though only six slots are available for doing so. Frequent saving is important, but the disk-access delays can be a bit annoying. Hard disk users should have fewer problems in this area since the game can be loaded onto and played from a hard disk.
Despite its nice points, RatdeTech does have several flaws that mar its otherwise excellent exterior. First, the advertised theme of the game, robotic combat, plays a small role during play.
Sure, you participate in a few training missions and some battles on the planet's surface, but the initial thrill of combat soon wears off. I had the computer perform most combat to avoid the time delay associated with its resolution.
Second, I found the ending of the game to be extremely and-dimacdc. The closing speech announces diat die universe is now open to your group, but the game ends before you can explore it.
Third, it is possible for key members of your team to be traitors. This possibility would not be so bad were it not for the fact that you need all your team members later in die game. It is advisable to save the game before picking up new team members, since traitor status is apparendy decided randomly at the time you pick diem up, The first combat should flush out any traitors. If you do pick up a traitor, restart die game at the point before you picked him up. Otherwise, you will not be able to finish the game.
Fourth, the segment in which you unlock the arms cache is rather tedious a lot of busywork that doesn't really add to die quality of play. And finally, a lot of playing time is spent simply roaming around the planet's surface from one spot to another. It would have been useful to have a way of automatically sending the team to a desired spot.
I would rale BatdeTech as a reasonable entry-level adventure, noting the above reservations. I actually did enjoy my playing time, though I do regret that die ending did not live up to the level of effort I invested to reach it.
If your RPG tastes are on the sophisticated end of the spectrum, you might want to avoid this one. Given the relatively few competitors in BattleTech's genre, however, it may be your only choice.
Rampage Next on the list this month is Rampage from Mediagenic (under their Activision label). This game is an adaptadon of die coin-op version notable for its mayhem and destruction. While die game does have a high-score feature, your primary goal in playing it is simply to destroy as many cities as possible before your energy level runs out.
Three monsters are available for use during play: Ralph the Wolf, who has the meanest punch; George the Big Ape, who's the best at scaling buildings; and Lizzie die Lizard, who's the fastest thing on four scaly feet. Originally simple, ordinary human beings, they all came in contact widi a strange chemical substance that made them the monstrosities they are today.
You destroy buildings by punching out their infrastructures undl they come crashing down. Effective demolition involves punching both sides of a building, which requires you to use your creature's scaling ability'. If you're adept, you can even jump from one building to another, accelerating the process.
Most playing time is spent on die city' screen, which displays a side view of the buildings you are attempting to flatten. Once one city has been cleared (or "renovated," depending upon your perspective) it's off to the next for more fun. Between dues, news flashes appear, chronicling the adventures of your monsters as they blaze a trail of desuucdon across die U.S. Be warned: These messages make liberal use of puns and other forms of "humor.'' Figure Three: You play the whip-wielding Indy in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Figure Four: Use your power crystal to cut out the screen and
expose the underlying picture in Powerstyx The chief hindrance to your crosscountry rampage is your ever dwindling energy supplv; when it runs out, your monster shrinks back to a ''normal" human Form and beats a hasty retreat off the screen. Soldiers, tanks, and helicopters are constandy firing their arsenals at you, speeding up your energy loss and bringing about your demise.
Fortunately, eating humans or any of the odier "goodies" that are uncovered when you demolish a building can restore some of your lost strength, prolonging your life. However, you must be careful not to put everything you see in your mouth. Some things are harmful to your health, such as active light bulbs, which can really send some "bad vibes" through your system.
The graphics are acceptable, but as you might expect, they do fall short of tiiose in die arcade version. Some of the objects are somewhat block-like and difficult to recognize. I'm not certain, but I think that Mediagenic could have done a little better job in this area.
All three monsters can play simultaneously, controlled by joystick, mouse, or keyboard. Since die acdve controls can be changed, nearly any possible configuration is possible. One drawback, however, concerns my favorite controller for diis type of game: the joysdck. Both jumping and punching are controlled by die fire button. This configuration can often cause you to perform the wrong action. The programmers aren't necessarily at fault here: What we really need is a two- button joystick.
Rampage is a reasonable adaptation of the arcade game, allowing you to destroy major urban centers from the comfort of your own home. The Amiga version, however, is missing some of the spark that made its coin-op progenitor so endiralling. For this reason, I highly recommend that you try before you buy.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Next up is Indiana Jones and die Temple of Doom, another adaptation of an arcade game this time from Mindscape, As you may have guessed, this is the "official" game based on the second movie in the Indiana Jones series.
In it, you guide the whip-wielding Indy through an attempt to rescue die enslaved children of Mayapore, recover the stolen Sankara Stones, and put an end to the evil reign of the ruthless high priest Mol a Ram. While a whip may not seem like much, Indy's proficiency with it makes it more than enough for the task at hand.
Each segment of die game is played in one of three different areas: die Mine Caverns, the Mine Tunnels, or the Temple of Doom itself. In the Caverns, Indy must work his way up a complex arrangement of ladders and ledges to reach die entrance to the Tunnels. This first area is also where die captive children are imprisoned. Indy's whip will make short work of their bonds, but each is held in a different area, and it may require some hunting to find them all.
After die Caverns are completed, Indy jumps into die mine car for the ride of his life. The Tunnels are basically a maze of rail-car tracks which has to be successfully navigated all the way to the bottom, Some tracks end abrupdy, sending our hero plummeting into the darkness. Once you learn the pattern for each track, the Tunnels are relatively easy to complete. (For the safest route, keep to die right.) Speed is also important. If Indy takes too long, he will encounter a massive fire at the end of the tracks and lose another life.
At the end of the Tunnels lies the Temple itself. This is by far die easiest area, as Indy must simply maneuver his way around die fire pit, stunning any guards that get in his way. Then, once he reaches die Sankara Stone, he can steal it and enter a new cavern to free even more children.
After this, Indy must find and cross a rope bridge for a face-to-face encounter with Mola Ram himself. If Indy defeats the high priest, he then enters a bonus round to rack up as many points as possible. Unfortunately, diis bonus round seems to end only when Indy runs out of lives. As a result, intentional suicide appears to be the only way out of this phase.
The game features a total of three Caverns-Tunnels-Temple sequences, each of which can be played at one of three difficulty1 levels: easy, medium, or hard. The two higher levels feature spikes that pop up at various locations in die caverns, as well as more aggressive guards in die Temple.
The graphics in the game are very crisp and clear, comparing favorably with those in die coin-op version. The joystick is used to control Indy during play and generally works well.
Sometimes problems do arise because of imprecise positioning. For example, I have had guards walk right up to Indy and block him out while he flailed away with his whip. It can also be difficult to align Indy with ladders, often resulting in nasty falls diat cost a life.
The game is a good rendition of die "maneuver, kill, and free die prisoners" arcade theme. Once you master the mechanics of it, however, the limited number of screens do not provide much of a challenge. While The Temple of Doom may be a worthwhile acquisition for some, the infrequent buyer should probably look into some of the better action games available on die Amiga.
Powerstyx Finally diis month there is Powerstyx. Based on the arcade game Qix, it goes a step further, resulting in a game diat is both enthralling and slightly bizarre. Programmed by Magic Bites and distributed by DigiTek Software, it follows the somewhat off-the-w-ali theme begun with their other release, Hole-In- One Golf.
The goal in Powerstyx is to use your power crystal (controlled with the joystick) to ait out sections of the screen, exposing the underlying picture. When a sufficient amount of the picture is exposed, die level is over, the entire picture is displayed, and the next level is loaded.
Of course, there are several enemies provided to complicate this task. One is a kind of energy monster who randomly zips around the interior of the unexposed area. While it's pretty to look at, don't touch it! Any contact results in immediate death. Other monsters equally fatal when touched roam around die edges, but diese move at a fixed speed and can be temporarily stunned if surrounded with a newly exposed area.
Several objects diat can aid you in your task periodically float across the screen. The heart gives an extra life, die tube gives more speed, the dock gives more time, moneybags add to your point total, and the door immediately transports you to the next level. The cross is to be avoided, however: it will end your current life if you catch it.
Sometimes a question mark will float across the screen. The only way to find our which object it represents is to catdi it and hope for die best.
Letters also appear periodically in the playing area. As each is captured, it is placed in the word-holding area. When the entire word describing the current picture is spelled out, you are advanced to die nex level.
The graphics in the game are well done and match die theme quite well. The background pictures are also drawn nicely, albeit with a rather bizarre motif. Some of the more interesting designs include a half-plane, a half-bird, and a two-legged alien eye definitely something to see.
("Palettes", continuedfrom page 49) Uncovering new pictures does add something to the quality' of play, and can keep you coming back even after die game mechanics are no longer challenging. This is not to say that the game ever becomes easy. The speed of the opponents gradually increases with each level, adding more and more complexity.
Powerstyx is probably the best of the three arcade games discussed this month. It's a game that's sure to be enjoyed by all who purchase it.
• AC- Listing One LISTING 1 a simple example of dithering source
code by Robert D'AstO DIM P%(1) PALETTE J,1,C,0 LINE
(100,50)- 200,150),l,b LINE (250,50)-(350,150), l,b LINE
40G,50)-(500,l50 ,l,b PAINT (1,1),2,1 PAINT (101,51},3,1 ?%
(0) "&HA5A5 F%(1)=&H5A5A PATTERN ,?l PAINT (401,51),3,1
?%(0)=&KFFFF P%(1)=SHFFFF PATTERN ,P% Listing Two 'create
display 'grid (629, y) ,2 LI NEXT 'display starting 'colors
'create bit 'pattern 'start dithering 'reset fill 'PATTERN
Mediagenic Infocom SattleTechr The Crescent Hawk's Inception
3885 Bohannon Drive Menlo Park. CA 94025
(415) 329-0800 Price: $ 49-95 Inquiry 256 Mediagen ic Activision
Rampage 3885 Bohannon Drive Menlo Park, CA 94025
(415) 329-0800 Price: $ 39.95 Inquiry * 257 Mindscape Indiana
Jones and The Temple of Doom 3444 Dundee Road Nordibrook,
(312) 480-7667 Price: $ 49.95 Inquiry 258 DigiTek Software
Powerstyx 104 West Seneca, Suite 4 Tampa, FL 33612
(813) 933-8023 Price: $ 34.95 Inquiry *259 x=l:y=2 WHILE count =
118 ColorCycle cl,c2 DitherFii! X,y,cl,c2 : =x+37: IF X
593 THEN x=l y-y+23:IF y 162 THEN y=24 count=count+l WEND
LOCATE 23, 21 .'COLOR 1,2 'brag a little PRINT "136 colors
on a 4-bitplane screen!"
SCREEN 1, 640,200, 4,2 WINDOW 2,, (0,0)-(631,186),0,1 DEFINT a-z DIM PatArray(l) PALETTE 4, .6, 0,0 'start PALETTE 5,1,1,.13 PALETTE 7, .4,.4, .4 PALETTE 10,.1, .7, . 7 PALETTE 11, .3,.3,0 PALETTE 12, 1, 0,0 PALETTE 13, 0, .6, 0 PALETTE 14,0, 0, 1 PALETTE 15, 1,0,1 FOR x=l TO 556 STEP 37 PAINT (x, 1}, c, 2 c=c+l NEXT PatArray(0)=£HAAAA PatArrav(1)=&H5555 PATTERN ,PatArray DitherFill 593,1,0,1 PatArray(0)=S KFFFF PatArray(1)-&KFFFF PATTERN .PatArray END FOR X=Q TO 629 STEP 37 LINS :, 0)- (x, 184) ,2 NEXT y-Q TO li NE (0,y)- Robert D'Asto LISTING 2 produces 136 apparent colors or. A 16-color
screen source code Be an Amazing Writer!
Get paid for what you love to do... using your Amiga!
Contact AC for a Writer's Guide.
SUB DitherFill x,y,Clr1,Clr2 STATIC COLOR Clrl,Clr2 PAINT (x, y) , Clrl, 2 END SU3 SUB ColorCycle(cl,c2) STATIC c2=c2t-l IF c2 15 THEN Cl=cl+1 IF cl = 15 THEN cl=0 cS cl+1 END IF IF c2 15 THEN c2=0 END SU3 Bug Bytes The Bugs and Upgrades column by John Steiner A-Max, the Macintosh emulator for tire Amiga, is a unique product diat addresses some Amiga users' desire to run Macintosh software on their Amigas.
A revision to the program has been made diat corrects a problem with the Setpatch command found in version 34.25 Workbench systems (die latest available Workbench).
The original A-Max fails to operate floppy drives properly if die new Setpatch command has already been issued. An upgrade is available which fixes not only this problem, but several odier minor bugs, including a problem with the prinL routines.
To determine whether or not you have die latest version, simply check die Readme file on the master disk. If the Readme file mentions HyperCard, you have the latest version. If you do not have the latest version, you can send RcadySoft your original disk, and diey will replace it for you by mail.
As reported last mondi, die Fatter Agnus chip is being installed in earlier model A2000's and A500's around the country. The major reason for the upgrade is to be able to run Professional Page and Professional Draw simultaneously.
After performing the necessary surgery on my own machine, I immediately started work on a newsletter. But before long, I encountered all kinds of problems when I ran die two programs together. It turns out that die problem was related to a specific document (my empty newsletter template), not to the upgrade. Once I corrected the problem, the two programs worked together very nicely.
In the process of tracking down that problem, however, I discovered that early Fatter Agnus chips could have a defect. There is a simple test you can perform to determine whether tiiere is a problem witii a specific Fatter Agnus chip. From your original Workbench disk, run die Clock and Lines programs simultaneously in the Demos drawer. If, after letting the two programs run for about a half-hour, you find that the Clock program behaves in an unusual fashion, or that die Lines program starts drawing lines outside of iLs defined window, you have a defective Fatter Agnus chip. Commodore will
replace diem under warranty via an audiorized service center.
There is an Arexx update available from William Hawes. 1! You did not request notification from Arexx eidier by postcard or by dieir automatic upgrade policy -when you registered your software, you can now request an update to version 1.10. It costs $ 5-00, and can be obtained by contacting Mr. Hawes (see address at end of column).
1 received several letters this inondi from readers with bug reports. Jacques Chatenay of Fargo. ND reports a few bugs in Superbase Professional. Both problems have been worked through by technical support at Precision Software.
First, there is a problem with some kind of contention between the PRINT and LABEL commands, If you use the PRINT command for printing text, printer codes, or even just a blank PRINT command before using die LABEL command, die LABEL command will not work correctly. The symptom is that the appropriate linefeeds are not issued, causing each field in the label to be printed on the same line.
To work around this problem, instead of using the PRINT command, which outputs to the printer, use Set Printer On followed by the ? Character, which outputs to the current output device. This allows die LABEL command to operate properly.
The second problem in Superbase is that die forms editor generates incorrect code in a report program when you attempt to use the SUM function to subtotal a group or total a report.
To demonstrate the problem and how to fix the incorrect code I will use a fictitious file named CLIENTS, which has two fields. Salesperson (a text field) and Totals (a numeric field). Open the file and select Group from the Repoit menu. You will get a Select Group dialog box containing a list of fields. Select Salesperson to group on and click on OK. Tliree boxes will appear on die form, labeled "Before group Salesperson," "Select," and "After group Salesperson." From the Set menu, choose Field, click in the Select box, enter the field you want subtotaled (Totals, in our example), and then
click on OK. Select Function from the Set menu, click in the "After group" box, and select SUM from die requester. Then click on the Totals field chosen earlier.
To have the program total the report, select Report from the Report menu, adding mo more boxes "Before report" and "After report" to the screen.
Still using the function tool from die Set menu, click in the "After report" box and select Sum and Totals in the same manner you did earlier.
Now' save your completed form.
When you select Open Form from die Project menu in Superbase, answer the requesters as you normally would.
Eventually, an error message reading "Can't Do This, Invalid Parameter" will appear and the report will stop. Click on OK to enter the program editor. The cursor will be on the line where the program failed, but the error is actually before diat line. Look above it for a line that begins with AFTER GROUP Salesperson.CLIENTS. Then look further up for a line that reads GROUP, followed by die same fieldnames. At the end of the GROUP command, add a comma, and dien the fieldname of die field diat is being summed. For example: GROUP Salesperson,CLIENTS,Totals Next, find the line that contains
After the word REPORT, leave a space and then enter the field being totaled.
For example: REPORT Totals Now run the program again. It should work properly.
Jim McCabe of Upland, CA reports on a couple of problems with Maxi Plan
1. 8g and 1.9b. Version 1.8g crashes frequently when he attempts
to make charts, requiring him to reboot. The program has also
crashed randomly when Ire scrolls through a large spread
sheet with the screen arrow gadgets.
Version 1.9b no longer exhibits the problem with the chart functions, but it still has a problem with random crashing when he scrolls through the spreadsheet.
Jim is also having problems printing a chart larger titan a quarter of the size of a 8.5 x 11-inch page. He also reports that the program redraws a chart if the right mouse button is pressed, causing a delay while the screen is redrawn. It seems that Maxi Plan spends too much time doing screen redraws.
Now that Maxi Plan has been upgraded to Plan It, as reported in an earlier Bug Bytes, some of these problems have been fixed. One problem with the new Plan It which I discovered relates to saving IFF picture files. The graphs saved in low-resolution 320 x 200 mode are just fine, but graphs saved in 640 x 400 mode all contain a black box in the center of the image where the file requester box is located just prior to the IFF file creation. Since the resulting IFF graph is useless, Plan lt should redraw the graph once more, just before it writes the graph to disk.
Ron Battle of Albuquerque, NM writes to ask if there is an update to allow Music Studio from Activision to run under Workbench 1,3. His attempts to contact Activision have yielded no results. I do not have an address on File for them. If anyone knows how to contact these people (assuming they are still in the Amiga software business), please pass along the information.
Mark Heilman of Wheatridgc, CO writes widi a bug report for version 3.11 of B.A.D. He accidentally discovered that
B. A.D. locks up the Amiga irretrievably when it encounters two
disks with the same name. There is no Guru message; die
computer simply locks up. The problem is easily solved: Before
B. A.D., simply be sure that no two disks have die same name. If
some do, use the RENAME function in either AmigaDOS, CLI or
the Workbench to change one (or both) of the names I received
an upgrade notice from some very pleasant folks at Blue Ribbon
Bakery, publishers of Who! What! When!
Where!, an appointment calendar and scheduling program. The list of improvements to the latest version (1.3) indudes an Arexx port, a new "Kill Timer' program, printing to disk, faster disk I O, die ability to repeat appointments on a certain day of the week every month, and several odier enhancements. To upgrade your program, send in your original disk and a check or money order for $ 10.00 payable to Blue Ribbon Bakery.
According to the people at Pixelations, version 1.1 of PrintScript is ready. Actually, PrintScript has been renamed PixelScript because of a trademark conflict. The 1,1 version has an Intuition-style user interface that allows you to start from an icon and use a file requester (without dealing with the
CLI) . The font-loading code is now roughly ten times faster for
our fonts, and about two times faster for other fonts. This
improvement doesn't make pages print that much faster, but
the startup time is reduced significantly.
Memory' usage is also improved.
Curves in graphics are much faster and require much less memory. Support for both WordPerfect .ps files and City Desk
2. 0 is also in this version. PageStream EPS import can be
handled, so you can use PageStream to import EPS and print it
with PixelScript. You can also add Pixelscript to the list of
many programs that now have added Arexx support.
The program's price has been increased to $ 149.00 list. More fonts will be available soon. Registered owners of version 1.0 can call or write for details on upgrading to Pixelscript 1.1. That's all for this month. If you have any workarounds or bugs to report, or if you know of any upgrades to commercial software, please notify me by writing to: John Steiner c o Amazing Computing Box 869 Fail River, MA 02722 ...or by leaving Email to: Publisher on People Link or 73075,1735on CompuServe.
• AC* I"" William S. Hawes
P. O. Box 308 Maynard, MA 01754 fj
608) 568-8695 &¦; P (Inquiry 200) Blue Ribbon Bakery 1 1248
Clairmont Road, Suite 3D 1 ¦S3 Atlanta, GA 30030 3:
(404) 377-1514 (Inquiry 201) Pixelations, Inc. Box 547
Northboro, MA 01532
(508) 393-7866 (Inquiry 202) ReadySoft Corporation 30 Wertheim
Court Unit 2 Richmond Hill, Ontario, CN L4B 1B9
(416) 731-4175 (Inquiry 203) Precision Software f 8404 Sterling
St., Suite A Irving, TX 75063
(214) 929-4888 (Inquiry 204) ij i . 1 Amazing Computing
has been providing solid support for the Commodore-Amiga
for over 3 years with helpful, informative issues and we
have the documents to prove it!
Since February 1986, Amazing Computing™ has been providing users with complete information for their Amigas. Tliis store house of programs and information is still available through our back issues. From the Premiere issue to the present, there are insights into the Amiga any user will find useful. AC was the first magazine to document Cli, tell its readers how to connect a 5 1 4 IBM drive, describe a 1 meg upgrade hardware project for the A1000, and many more. And AC is doing more everyday to help Amiga users be more productive and entertained.
If doing more with your Amiga is what you want, subscribe to AC today and if you do not have a full set of back issues, order soon.
Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever, and the availability of some of our Back Issues is definitely limited. Complete your Amazing Computing™ library today, while these issues are still available, by completing die order form in die back of this issue.
Back Issues are $ 5.00 US, $ 6.00 Canada and Mexico, $ 7.00 Foreign Surface All payments must be made by check or money order in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. Bank.
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1-800-345-3360 Volume 1 Number 1 Premiere 1986 Super Spheres By Kelly Kauffman An Abasic Graphics prog.
Date Virus fly J Foust A dsease may attack ydur AmigaJ E2*Term by Kelly Kauffman An Asasc Terminal program Miga Mania by P, Kjvotemtt Programming fixes 6 mouse C£ e Inside CU byG. Musseragudedinssg imotheAmisaLtos™ CLI Summary by G. MusserJr. A fcstolCUcommands AmigaForum by B. Lubldn Visit CompuServe's Amiga SIG Commodore Amiga Development Program by D. Hicks Amiga Products A isting of present and expected products Volume 1 Number 2 March 1986 Electronic Arts Comes Through A review of sohware frcm EA Inside CLI: part two G. Musser trvestgates CLI i ED A Summary of ED Commands Live! By Rich
Miner A review of the Beta version ol Uvef Online and the CTS Fabite 2424 ADH Modem by J. Foust Superterm V 1.0 By K. Kauffman A term, prog, in Amiga Basic A Workbench'More" Program by Rick Wirch Amiga BBS numbers Volume 1 Number 3 April 1986 Analyze! A review by Ernest Viverios Reviews ol Racter, Barataccas and Mind shadow Forth! The first of our on-going tutorial Deluxe Draw!! ByR.Wirch AnAmiga Basic art program Amiga Basic, A beginners tutorial Inside Cli: part 3 by George Musser Gecrga gives us PIPE Volume 1 Number 4 May 1986 SkyFox and Articfax Reviewed Build your own 5 V* Drive Connector
By Ernest Vfwiros Amiga Basic Tips by Rich Wirch Scrimper Part One by P. Krvdowtz prog to print Amiga sseen Microsoft CD ROM Conference byJimO'Keaie Amiga BBS Numbers Volume 1 Number 5 1986 The HSI to RGB Conversion Tool by S. Pierowcz Color maniptJatcn in BASIC ArmgaHotes by R. x Rae The first ol the Am ga muse columns Sidecar A First Lock by John Foust A fra 'under to hood* John Foust Talks with R, J. Weal at COMDEX'1' How does Sidecar affect the Transformer an interview with Douglas Wyman ol Simile The Commodore Layoff s by J. Foust A look Ccmmodore'cuts' Scrimper Part Two by Perry
Kivolowfo Marauder reviewed by Rick Wirch Building Tools by Daniel Kary Volume 1 Number 6 1986 Temple of Apshal Triology revewd by Stephen 3ietrowici The Haliey Project: A Mission reviewed by S Pietrowicz Flow: reviewed by Erv Bobo Textcratt Plus a First Look by Joe Lowery How to start your own Amiga User Group by William Simpson Amiga User Groups Mailing List by Kelly Kauffman a bask mail list program Pointer Image Editor by Stephen Pietrowia Scrimper: part three by Perry Kivolowiti Fun With the Amiga Disk Controller by Thorn Storing Optimize Your Amiga Basic Programs for Speed by Pietrcwicz
Volume 1 Number 71986 Aegis Draw; CAD comes to the Amiga by Kelly Adams Try3D by Jm Meadows an introduction ;o 3D graphics Aegis Images Animator: a review by Err 3obo Deiuxa Video Construction Set reviewed by Joe Lowery Window requesters in Amiga Basic by Steve Michel ROT by Colin French a 3D graphics edtor
* 1C What I Think" Ron Petersen with a few Cgraphc progs Your
Menu Sir! By B CaPey program Amiga Basic menues IF Brush to
AmigaBasic 'BOB' Basic editor by M Swnger Unking C Programs
with Assembler Routines,..by Gerald Hull Volume 1 Number 81936
The University Amiga By G.Gamtte Amga at Wash tcn State MicroEd
a look at a one man army tor the Amiga MicroEd, The Lewis and
Clark Expedition reviewed Fnzeffe Scribble Version 2.0 a review
Computers in the Classroom by Robed Frizelte Two for Study by
Fnzeile Discovery & TheTalkmg Coicring Bock True Basic reviewed
by Brad Grier Using your printer with the Amiga Marble Madness
re-viewed by Stephen Pietrowicz Using Fonts (rom AmigaBasic by
Tim Jones Screen SaVer by P. IgvofowiLz A monitor protection
prog, in C Lattice make Utility reviewed by Seen P. Evemden A
Tale of Three EMACS ty Steve Pdmg .bmap File FteEder in Amiga
Basic by T Jcnes Volume 1 Number 91986 Instant Music Reviewed
by Steve Pietrowicz Mfndwalker Reviewed by Richard Knepper The
Alegra Memory Board Reviewed by Rich Wirch TxEd Renewed by Jan
and Cml Kent Amazing Directory A guide to the sources and
resources Amiga Developers Aistmgcf Supphers and Developers
Public Domain Catalog A istng o! Amicus and Fred Fish PDS Dos 2
Dos review R. Knepper Transfer files from P0M$ -DQ$ MaxiPlan
review by Richard Knepper The Amiga Spreadsheet Gtzmoz by
reviewed by Peter Wayner Amiga extras!
The Loan Information Program by Brian Cat ey basic prog. To for your financial options Starting Your Own Amiga Related Business by W. Simpson Keep Track of Your Business Usage for Taxes by J. Kummer The Abscft Amiga Fortran Compiler reviewed by R A. Reate Using Fonts from AmigaBasic, Pan Two bv Tim Jones 66000 Macros on the Amiga by G. Hu4 Advance you atrity.
TDI Modla-2 Amiga Compiler review by S raiwisze Volume 2 Number 11987 What Digi-Vlew Is... Or, What Genlock Shcufd Be! By J. Foust AmigaBasic Default Colors by Bryan Ca'Jey AmigaBasic Titles by Bryan Catiey A Public Domain Modula-2 System reviewed by Warren Slock One Drive Compile by Douglas Uvea Laitce C with one drive A Megabyte Without Megabucks by Chris Irving An internal Megabyte upgrade Digi-Ylew reviewed by Ed Jakobs' AC Provides Amiga Support!
Defender of the Crown revowed by Kfrto Contort Leader Board reviewed by Chuck fiairions Roundhill Computer System's PANEL reviewed by Ray Lance Digi'PainL.-.by New Tek previewed by John Foust Deluxe Paint It ...from Electronic Aru previewed by J. Fcust Volume 2 Number 21987 The Modem by Josph L Rahman elfons ol a BBS Sysop MecroModem reviewed by Stephen R. Pfetrcwcz GEMINI or It takes two to Tango" by Jim Meadows Gaming between machnes BBS-PC! Reviewed by Stephen R. Retrowscz The Trouble with Xmodem by Joseph L Rotoman The ACG ProjecL...Graphic Teleconferencing on the Amiga by S. R. Pietocwicz
Right Simulator II...A Cros Country Tutorial by John Ralfeny A Disk Librarian In AmigaBASIC by John Kennan Creating and Using Amiga Workbench Icons by C. Hansel AmigaDOS version 11 try Gilford Kent The Amazing Ml Dl Interface build your own by Richard Rae AmigaDOS Operating System Calls and Disk File Management by D, Haynie Working with the Workbench by Louis A. Mamakos Prcg in C Volume 2 Number 3 The Amiga 2000 ™ by J Foust A First lock st the new, end Amiga™ The Amiga 500™ by John Foust A look ai the new, low priced Amiga An Analysis of the New Amiga Pcs by J. Foust Specula'- on on the New
Amigas Gemini Part II by Jim Meadows The concluding article on two-player games Subscripts and Superscripts in AmigaBASIC by Ivan C. Smith The Winter Consumer Electronics Show by Jchn Foust AmigaTrix by W. Block Amiga™ shortcuts Intuition Gadgets by Hamet Maybeck Toffy A journey through gadget-land, using C Shanghai reviewed by Keitn M. Contort Chess master 2000 4 Chessmate reviewedby Edwin V. Apei, Jr.
Zing! From Meridian Software reviewed by Ed Bercovitz Forth! By Jon Bryan Gel stereo sound into your Forth programs, Assembly Language on the Amiga™ by Chris Martin Roomers by theSando Genlocks are finally shipping, 4 MORE1!!
AmigaNotes by R. Rae Hum Buflere- 'No stereo? Y no*,?... The AmiCUS Network by J. Foust CES, user group issues and Amiga Expo* Volume 2 Number 4 1987 Amazing Interviews Jim Sachs by S. Hull Amiga Artist The Mouse That Got Restored by Jerry Hull and Bob Rhode S teething Public Domain Disks with CU by John Foust Highlights: the San Francisco Commodore Show by S HuS Speaker Sessions: San Francisco Commodore Show H Toly Household Inventory System in AmigaBASIC™ by B Catley Secrets o( Screen Dumps by Nalkun Gkun Using Function Keys with MicroEmacs by Greg Douglas Amigatrix II by Warren Block More
Amiga shortcuts Basic Gadgets by Brian Catley Create gadget functions Gridiron reviewed by K Contort Real football for the Amiga Star Reel 1 Version 21 raviewee by J. Tracy Amigan Space The TIC renewed by J. Fousi Battery powered Clock Calendar Metascope review by H. Telly An easy-to-use debugger Volume 2 Number 5 1987 The Perfect Sound Digitizer review by R. Battle The Future Sound Digitizer by W. 3!ock Appfed Vision's SO Forth! By J. Bryancomparing Jforth amd Miib-Forth, Basic Input by B. Cattey AmgaBAStC input routine for use in ail your programs.
Volume 2Numbe;5 1987 conSnued Writing a SoundScape Module in C by T. Fay Programming with MIDI. Amiga and SoundScape by SoundScape author.
Programming in 68000 Assembly Language by C. Martin Continuing with Counters & Addressing Modes.
Using FutureSound with AmigaBASIC by J Meadows Am,da BASIC Programmng utility with real, d bzed STEREO AmigaNotes Rich Rae reviews SoundScace Sound Sampler.
More AmlgaNotes by R. Rae A turtheriook at Perfect Sound.
Wavelorm Workshop in AmigaBASIC by J, Shields edit A save waveform fee use in other AmigaBASIC programs.
The Mimetlcs Pro MIDI Studio by Sulivan. Jeffery A review ol Mime tics' music editor player.
Intuition Gadgets Part II by H. MaybeckTdly Boolean gadgets provide the user with an on'off user interface.
Volume 2 Number 5 1987 Forth! By J. Bryan Access resources in the ROM KemaJ.
The Amazing Computing Hard Disk Review by J. Foust A S. Leon on In-depth looks at the C Ltd, Hard Drive. Microbotds' MAS- Driv920. Byte by Byte's PAL Jr., Supra's 4x4 Hard Drive and Xebec's 972DH Harp Dnve. Also, a took at disk driver software currently under dev'fopmeni.
Modula-2 AmigaDOS™ Utilities by S. Farwiszewsk A CaT;s to AxicaDOS and the ROM kemal.
Amiga Expansion Peripheral by J. Foust Explanation of Amiga erpanscn peripherals.
Amiga Technical Support by J. FouS How and where to gel Amiga tech support.
Goodbye Los Galos by J, Foust Closing Los Gatos.
The Amicus Network by J. Foust West Coast Computer Fa re.
Metecomco Shell and Toolkit by J. Foust A review The Magic Sac by J. Foust Run Mac programs on your Amga.
What You Should Know Before Choosing an Amiga 1 WC Expansion Device ty S. Grant 7 Assemblers for the Amiga by G. Hgii Choose your assembler Shakeup Replaces Top Management at Commodore 0 S. Hull Peter J, Baczor*by S. Hull Manager at CBM gives an inside Icck Logistic ArevtewbyRchard Knepper Organize1 by A rev«w Richard Knepper database.
68000 Assembly Language Programming on the Amiga by Chris Martin Superbase Personal Relational Database by Ray McCabe AmigaNotes by Rae, Richard A look at FutureSound Commodore Shows the Amiga 2000 and 500 at the Boston Computer Society by H Maybeck Tcfly Volume 2, Number 7 1987 New Breed of Video Products by John Foust., Very Vlvldl by Tim Grantham... Video and Your Amiga by Oran Sands III Amigas A Weather Forecasting by Brenden Larson A-Squared and the Live! Video Digitizer by John Foust Aegis Animator Scripts and Cel Animation by Jchn Foust Quality Video from a Quality Computer by Oran
Sards IIL Is IFF Really a Standard? By John Foust.. Amazing Stories and the Amiga™ by John Foust.
All about Printer Drivers by Richard Bielak Intuition Gadgets by Harriet Maybeck Tolley.
Deluxe Video 11 by Bob Eber Pro Video CGI ty Oran Sands III.
Digi-View 20 DigitizerSoftware by Jennifer M, Jank Prism HAM Editor from impulse by Jerrtifer M. Jarik Volume 2, Number 7 1987 continued Easy! Drawing tablet by John Foust- CSA's Turbo-Amiga Tower by Alfred Abulo 58000 Assembly Language by Chris Marta Volume 2, Numbers 1987 This monto Amazrtg Computing™ focuses cn entertainment packages foe me Amga. Amazing game reviews- SOI, Earl Weaver Baseball, Penal, The Surgeon, Utt'e Computer People, Sinbad, StarGikJer, King'sOuest 1,11 and III, Faery Tale Adventure, Ultima Hi. Facets of Adventure. Video Vegas and Bard s Tate.
Rus Amazing monthly columns.- Amiga Notes, Roomers.
Modula-2.65000 Assembly Language ana The Amicus Network.
Disk-2-Disk by Matthew Leeds The ColorFonts Standard by John Foust Skinny C Programs by Robert Riemersma, J*.
Hidden Messages In Your Amiga™ by John Foust The Consumer Electronics Show and Comdex.by J Foust Volume 2 Number 9 1987 Analyze 10 reviewed by Kim Schaffer Impact Business Graphics review by Chuck Raudons Microfiche Filer review by Harv User Pag esc tier review by Rick Wirch Gizmoz Productivity Set 2.0 review by Bob Elter Kickwork review by Harv Laser Diga Telecommunications Package review by Steve Hull Mouse Time and Timesaver review by John Foust Insider Memory Expansion review by James Q'Keane Microbotics Sta'boartf-2 review by S. Farw-szewski Leather Goddesss ol Phobos by Harriet
Maybeck-ToHy Lattice C Compiler Version 3.10 revewed by Gary Sarif Manx 3.4a Update reviewed by John Foust AC-BASIC reviewed by Sheldon Leemon AC-BASIC Computer an alternative comparison by B Catley Modula-2 Programming S Faiwiszewskj Raw Console Dev. Events Directory Listings Under AmigaDOS by Qave Haynie AmigaBASIC Patterns by Brian Cattey Programming with Soundscape Toda Fayrraripufeie's samples Bill Volk, Vice-President Aegis Development, by Steve Hut JimGoodnow, Devekoper of Manx 'C interview by Harriet M Tdly Plus a great collection ol monthly columns- Volume 2 Number 10 1987 Max
Headroom and the Amiga by John F x$ t Taking the Perfect Screen Shot by Kerb Ccrfcrt Amiga Artist: Brian Williams by John Foust Amiga Forum on CompuServe™.- Software Publishing Conference Transcript by Richard Rae All About Online Conferencing by Richard Rae dBMAN reviewed by Clifford Kent Amiga Pascal reviewed by Michael McNeil AC-BASIC Compiler reviewed by Bryan Calrey 55000 Assembly Language by Chns Martin Amiga Programming: Amiga BASIC Structures by Steve Michel Quick and Dirty Bobs by Michael Swinger Directory Listings Under Amga-DOS, Part II by Dave Haynie Fast File VO with Modula-2 by
Steve Fawszewski Window t'O by Read Predmbre Plus a great collection of monthly columns... Volume 2 Number 11 1937 Word Processors Rundown by Geoff Gamble ProWrite, Scribble1, and WordPerfect compared LPD Writer Review by Marion Detand VizaWrite Review by Harv Laser Aedil Review by Warren Block Word Perfect Preview by Harv User Jez San Interview by 6d Bercc.rtz StarGlder £»,toor speaks!
Do-it-yourself Improvements to the Amiga Genlock Olgi-Paint Review by Harz Laser Sculpt 3D Review by Steve Ptetrcvwcz Shadowgate Review by Linda Kaplan TeleGames Review by Mchael T. Cabral Reason Preview: an intense grammar examinationapptcaton As I See It by Eddie Churchil WordPerfect.Gizmoz V2.Q & Zing!
AmisaNotes by R Rae 4 eiectrom-c muse books Modula-2 Programming by S.Fawiszewsfe devices, LO, serial pert 65000 Assembly Language by Chris Martin Display routines The AMICUS Network by John Foust-Desktop PuMshing, Saybcid C Animation Part It by Mks Swinger AnimationCbjeas BASIC Text by Brian Cafley Priei perfect tort positioning Sourtoscape Part III by Todcr Fay VII Meier and more Fun with Amiga Numbers by Aian Barnett File Browser by Bryan Catley Full Feature BASIC File Browsing Plus a great collection ol monthly columns- Volume 2 Number 12 1987 The Ultimate Video Accessory by Lany White The
Sony Connection by Stewart Cobb 15-Puzzle in AmigaBASIC byZoHan Sxspsl Life, Parti: The Beginning by Gerald Hull The ultra-complex nine blit so'ution to the 'Game of life.'
Amiga Virus! By John Foust CU Arguments in C by Paul Castonguay MIDI Interface Adapter by Barry Massonl Amiga 1000-style MiOl rtartaces can fit A2300s v 500s Modula-2 by S, Fakwlszewski Pal 1: command tine ealcJatx AmigaNotss by Rick Rae auSo changes made in toe A50Q 1A2000.
Animation for C Rookies: Part 111 by M. Swinger doub'o- buflering, The Big Picture by Warren Ring Assembly language programming Karate Kid Revtewby Stephen R. Pietricwicr GO! 64 review by John Foust, James O'Keine, and Rick Wirch Three C-S4 experts investigate a new Amiga 64 emulator.
A-Taik-Plus Review by Brendan Larson Calligrapher Review by John Foust Animator: Apprentice Review by John Foust Playing Dynamic Drums on the Amiga by David N. Blank WordPerfect Review by Steve Hu!
Insider Kwikstart Review by Ernest P. Viveiros Sr RAM & ROM expansion: Con mens and installation tips.
Forth! By Jon Bryan DunpRPortuSlfy lor ytxx Mjb-Fortn tocfocx As I Seell by Eddie Churchill Digi-Pain; Portal, iVidecscape
The Commodore Show and AmiExpo: New York!
Plus a great collection of monthly columns,.. Volume 3 Number 11988 AmigaNotes by Richard Rae Atgadgtel music generation.
C Animation Part IV by Michaef Swrger Forth by John Bryan Sorting out Amiga CHIP and FAST memory The Big Picture by Warren Ring Daring assemWer language programming: CU system caHs and manipdating disk files.
66000 Asssembly Langueage Programming by Chns Martin
• Create a mufti-cotor screen without using Intutcn routnes!'
Modula-2 Programming by S. Faiwiszewskr A new modj!a-2!
Amicus Network Special Report Fall COMDEX by J. Foust The ultimate Vtdeo Accessory; Part n ty Larry Whte Lite: Part ll by Gerald Hul The Amiga Witter.' FormatMastcr: Professional Disk Formatting Engine byC.Mann Put Batch language to work on the drudgery ol disk tormadmg.
Bsprcad by BnanCatfeyfui featured AmigaBASIC spreadsheet!
AmigaForum Transcript ed by Rick Rae Amga s Dave Haynie.
Haicalc Review by Cnuck Raudoris easy to use, spreadsheet.
VIP Professional Review by S, Mitchell Manage stock pcridio Money Mentor Review by S.Ksmp Personal finance system.
Investor's Advantage Review by RchartJ Krtepper plus 'Poor Man's Guide to ire Stock Market.'
Plus a great collection of monthly columns.,. Volume 3 Number 21988 Laser Light Shows with the Amiga by Patnck Murphy Lassrsandlhe Ajniga:ADa2iSng Tandem The Ultimate Video Accessory: Partfll by Lany Whate Take die final steps*.oward desgnng your own vcteos.
Our Rrst Desktop Video by Larry White Step-by -step gude to organzi ng 4 presenting your Am ga video.
Rooked on the Amiga with Fred Fish interview by Ed Berkovitz.
Photo Quality Reproduction with the Amiga and DigHVtew by Stepnen Ubans Balancing your Checkbook with WordPerfect Macros by S.Hl I Hand your checkbook womes ovor so the Amiga.
More Basic Texl ty Bryan Cattey easier tort cn an Amiga Life: Part Bl by Gera's Hull S"es winds up wffi lamed nr.e-b'i cataiation 4 source to Li"R.
Solutions to Linear Algebra through Mabix Computations by RoptertBis Simplify malnx algetxa with base operations 4 routines.
Modula-2 Programming by Steve Faiwi$ 2ewski Catching up w.th Calo-a soume follow-up.
68000 Assembler Language Programming by Chzis Martin Graphcs- Part II ol Assemgram.
Arazok's Tomb nternew by Kenneth E. Schaefer AiRT by S. Fa-wszewski mnovatve icon-tasede program, tang.
Forms in Flight ty S. Percwicz Render 4 Animate 30 objects Silicon Dreams and the Jewel of Darkness by K E. Schaeler Leisure suit Larry by Kenneth E. Schaefer Two New Entries From Mlcrobiotics by John Fousi M501 Expansion 5 Starboard II MufiFunctotowl Mindlight 7 and People Meter by John Fojsi PhantasieKen E. Schaefer Amazing Phantasie Character EcSlor, Rus a great collection of monthly columns... Volume 3 Number 319B3 Desktop Video,PartIV byLairy White Put all the pieces together-ne desktop vdeo cammeroa.
The Hidden Power of CU Batch File Processing uy J. Rcthman lAake you: Am a easier to $ e with CLI Bashfites, A Conference with Eric Graham erSled by John Foust The mastermind bertnd ScsJpt 30 and Animate 3D.
Perry Kivdowitz Interviewed by Ed Bercovitz Amiga rtsights from a ma cr devetoper and personalty ¦ Jean "Moebius" Giraud Interviewed by Edward L Faogan Avant-garde art comes to the Amga-in dazzlmg Icrm.
PAL Help by Perry Wvolcwitz AlOCO expan on reliability.
Boolean Function Minimlzalton by Steven M. Han A usefU digital des n tool n AmigaBASIC.
Amiga Serial Port and Midi Compabbfilty for Your A20QG! Ty- L Rrtter and G. Reraz Add an Ai OOO-sty-te ser.il per: to toe A2C00!
?ectric Network Solutions the Matrix Way by Robert Etis Engineers! Practcle routres tor using matmr algebra The A.M.U.G. BBS List compiled by Joe Rcthman. Che! Solace, A Dorolhy Dean 514 BBS phene numbers in the U.S. 4 Canada.
FACC U reviewed by Graham Kinsey S peed your floppy drives.
Uninvited reviewed by K E. Schaeler Flow reviewed by Pamela Rothman brainstorms into mental art.
Benchmark Modula-2 Compiler reviewed by Flch'e Bfelak Modula-2 Programming by Steve Farwszewski The gameoart de.-ice and 5-mpte sprites in action.
AmigaNotes by R. Rae A1Q0C! Sofrware-s'witchatoeoutput filter.
Roomers by The Bandto AmiExpo. Kckstart 1.4, Conmodore The Big Picture by Warren Rrg- Unlied Field Theory!!
Plus a great collection of monthly columns... Volume 3 Number 41988 Highlights from AmiExpo, Los Angeles by Steve HuH Writing a SounflScape Patch Librarian T. F2y System Exclusive Upgrade Your A1000 to A500 2000 Audio Power-by H Bassen ModiScations to heSp your A10CO mate sweet music, toe!
Amiga Audio Guide Listing of all Amiga auclc products Gels in Multi-Forth by John Bushakra Macrobatics byPa1 ckJ.Horgan Ease the trauma ol assembly language programming, Amiga Audio Sources The talks behind a!l these audio products.
Taka Five! By Sieve Huh five Amiga games reviewed.
Amiga Notes by Rick Rae A base tour p.* Amga aud o.
The U Itima te Video Accesory, Part V ty Lamy Whits Bug Bytes oy John Steiner The Big Picture by Warren Ring Pan II Unified FiekJ Theory.
Roomers by The Bandito Hardware hijrix... Toasted video... the dream Amiga... and more!
In the Public Domain by C.W. Flatie Time Bandit review by Keith Contarti AudioMasler review by B, Larson Real-timg d tizr samples.
Music Mouse review by J Henry Lowengard Making music wrthcut ffeng a finger hem toe mouse.
Amiga-Tax Canadian Version review by Ed Bercovitz A Canadian income tax planning, preparation, & analysis package.
SAM BASIC review by Bryan Catley A new BASIC which exploits even mere unique Amiga features.
Volume 3 Number 51988 Interactive Startup Sequence by Udo Perrtisz The Command Une part iby Rich Fakxnburg AmigaTrtx II by Warren Block Tips arc tidr.s to ease Amiga «te Amiga Product Guide: Hardware Edition Proletariat Programming py P Quaid Publicdomam corrpiers The Companion by P.Gosselrn Amiga's E rent Handing capability.
IhfldUght 7 reviewed by David N Blank VideoScape3-D 2.0 reviewed by David HocKins Extend re-tewed by Bryan D. Catiey An AmigaBASIC extension AssemPro reviewed by Stephen Kemp Opening a dccr to assembly language programming, APL63000 reviewed by Roger Nelson Book Reviews by Richard Grace Three "C programrrmgtexts.
CBT REE reviewed by Michael Usman A tidy correct on o! Functions to aic the C procrammer.
The Big Picture by Warren Rrvg The rree-pan Unified FseW Theory winds up Modula-2 by Sieve FaiwiszewsH Termination modules tor Benchmark and TO: com piters.
68000 Assembly Language ty Chris Martin PeeLng away the compi.cation of display routines Plus a great collection of monthly columns... Volume 3 Number 61988 Bear Time Reviewed ty Sieve Carter Whal mates this inexpensive AiOOC bartery-tacted dock tck?
Acquisition Reviewed fry David N. Blank A lock inside me latest release ol a pcurerfut reaticra: caiaoase.
Butcher ZO Reviewed by Gerald Hull A t dy collection ol diverse image pxcessing utilities.
Reassigning Workbench Disks by John Kennan End'ess disk swapping comes to a frefcrt end.
Product Guide: Software Tools Edition A I'Stng of b1 tite products you new to put your Am ga to wtvk.
An IFF Reader in Mulli-Forlh by Warren Bock Create an easy to use IFF reader in Muh-Forth Basic Directory Service Program by Bryan Catley A prograjnrring aftemative to the Gimrr reeZeroZero windows, C Notes from the C Group by Stephen Keno A Cegnny's gwde to the power of C programming, An Amiga Forum Conference with Jim Mackraz The Amiga marte! As seen by the 'Stepfatoer of irtuiscn ' Son of Seven Assemblers Reviewed by Gerald Hull Acemparat.vebasle Between seven native «Je assemblers.
The 1938 Commodore Amiga Developers Conference A look instos toe coherences held m Washington, D.C. Amiga Working Groups by Perry Kivolowitz and Eric Lavltsky An oufine cf toe innovative Amiga Workng Groups concept.
The Corvnand Line by Rich Fatoonixrg Exporrg toe murii-talerted LIST ecmmand.
Plus a greil collection of monthly columns... Volume 3 Number 71983 Look, Up On the Screen, U s an Ami... It's a Pro... It's SuperGen revewed by Larry Whie-Gen'ock com oar sons An Interview with "Anim Man," Gary Bonham by 3 Larson An animated conversation 'with toe man bervnd tore fonuat The Amiga at Spring COMDEX in Atlanta by Efl Bereontz Amiga Product Guide: Video'Graphics Edition Thrteen pages devoted to the Amiga's dazzlmg strong sui.
The Developing Amiga by Sieve Pietrowcx Dreretopers' notes: PD vs. shareware vs. freely ckstnbutabieetc.
Roll Those Presses! By Barney Schwartz Wetocme to tne dandy, demanding wond cf desktop fwbtisftng!
Linked Lists in C by W. E. GamrrJ Pit dynamic memory to work!
FrameGrabber Preview by Cran Sancs Captunng an mage can now be as fesi as punching a single fceyl A First Look al Interchange reviewed by David Hopkins Bridge the gap between those incompatible animation packages Perfect Vision reviewed by Bryan CatSey Capture, digitize and save pictures tram any video source.
Amazing Volumes!
ProWrite 10 Review renewed by Pamela Rahman A grapfic word processor speciafiiing in effiderc ©cStng Doug'* Hath Aquarium: The An cf Mathematics ty R. Bieiak Bear Products MegaRex II Expansion RAM by Sieve Carte The Command Une by Rich FaJconburg Amiga Notes by Rick Raa The Oner Guys' Symhear A digital synthesizer features worn step, C Notes from the C Group by Stephen Kemp Weathering the unknown *C* ol base object and data typos.
Plus a great collection ol monthly columns- Volume 3 Number 81988 The Command Une by Rch Faksmbug The journey into the CU continues.
The Developing Amigi by Stephen R. P»e5rowicz A Sjag e Of great programmng tools.
ModuEi-2 Programming by Sieve Farwlszewsfc Libraries and the FFP and l£E Math. Routines.
C Notes from the C Group by Stephen Kemp Arrays and posters uimasked.
Dark Castle reviewed by Kertn Contort! The Black Knight lurks Ports of Call reviewed by Julie Lanj.y Leatherneck redewed by Michael Creeden-Rar, bo's not so cughf Capons reviewed by Joyce and Rctcy tfeks- Ughs Guns blaze Casino Fever reviewed by Mchael T. Cabral Vegas on Anga Ferrari reviewed by Jeffery Scot! HaB Start yew ervjne Arkanoid reviewed by Graham Kinsey 1tiockiusWr' Ebonrjf by Kaflh Contort -tiack hole reking.
Deluxe ProductionvGvrewed by harv Laser Video wizardry Game Pizazz by Jeffery Scott Hal Register jcur questions here.
TrackMcuse by Donryf Joyce Corvea a standard Alan trackball iito a peppy Amiga TrackMouse.
Amiga Interface for Blind U sers reviewed by Carl W. Mam An ingenous interlay that opens the Artjga to even more users' Video In the Sunshine Slate reviewed by Stephen R. Pietrowcz RGB Video Creations hosts a video urrveing1 Amiga Product Gul de: Games Edition Turn Win' Tots by Davd Ashley assempty language program.
Plus a great collection of monthly columns- Volume 3 Number 91988 The Kideo Tapes by John DarxJurand A Georgia elementary school puts desktop video to work.
Speeding Up Your System by Tony Preston floppy drik caching Amiga Product Guide: Education Edition Everything you need to send your Amiga to the head ol the class.
Computer Awed Instruction by Pad Castcnguay Authoring system in AmigaBASIC.
Gels in Multi-Forth, Part II: Screenplay by John Bushakra Make the Fr converter from Part I easy to use-gadgets, merus.etc. An Expo Midwest '88 by Mchaei T. Cobras A w taking ihe coasts by stom. The Amiga wews Chcago JntelDtype by Harv Laser Leamng to type rodeeasy . And hr?
Shakespeare by Barney Schwartz Destoop publstwvg in hi cdcr.
Xspecs 30 by Steve HuJ Anewdmersaon in Amigagnipfvcs, AmigaNotes by Richard Rae-How IFF sound samples are stored?
Take Five! By Steve Hulk Beat the back-to-schod blues« The Command Line by Rich Falcorbur g contirung tour ol CU.
Hot on the Shelves by M hael T. CatvaJ A Michael Creodun What do you get when you com&ne intense war strategy with a monochrome monitor and destoop preseratcn? Check flout.
Bug Bytes by John Steiner C Notes from the C Group by Stephen Kemp Operators, expressions, and statements in C uncovered.
Roomers by The Bandflo Can Apple llgs Plus keep Am$ a away' Volume 3 Number 101988 A First Look At Deluxe PhoicLab reviewed by Davd Duberman A pans package, poster •maker, and image processing program DiskMaster reviewed by Steve Hu'l -file management utility.
DSM: A MC&80000 Disassembler reviewed by Gereto HdJ Locking tor ea&y modJiablo. AssOTbter-ready cooe1 Fbasic Language Syttem reviewed by Patrick Quad BASIC compJerand development system.
Hot on the Shelves by Wcftaet T. Cabral Devons See. G-pping gray scales, cdcr cartography, mating modems, and much more.
The Command Une by Rch Falcon burg NEWCU; A painless way to create a new console window.
The Developing Amiga by S. P-etrowicz Usenet 24-Hour News C Notes from the C Group by Stephen Kemp loops Roomers by The Band la WP wars, ignominious interfaces, A mere PD Serendipity fcyC.W. Flatte Fred Ftsh cofecsonpasses 150.
Comparison of Mui I Scan Monitors by Steven Bender Five mutiscan Heciat-ves square oft on toe desktop Record Keeping for Free-twcer*: A Supeoase Professional Tutorial by Maroi Deia'd Record keeping system for tree- lance photographers and others On The Crafting of Programs by Davd J. Hanfcns-A look at optimization kicks off a series ol articles on programming sawy.
Bob and Ray Meet Frankenstein by Robert D Asto-Creale, animate, and metamorphose graphics objects in AmigaB ASIC.
Digital Signal Processing in AmigaBASJC by Robert O s Perform your own dgtal experiments with Fast Fourier Twsfami KAM A AmigaBASIC by Bryan Cattej Pack yax AmigaBASIC programs wfto many of the Amiga's shades!
CAJ Computer Aided instruction: Part II by Paj Caccrguay The cdtor progrem wrap* up or tutoring system m AxgaBAS C Volume 3 Number 111988 Desktop Publishing with Professional Page by Barney Schwartz tutorial in document creation, plus seme jazzy enhancements Game Pizzazz by J, Hal gamng hints, tips, high-scoro secrets.
Structures in C by Paid Castorguay C programming n an nutshel.
On The Cralting ol Program* by D. Hankins speed up your progs.
Desktop Video VI: Adding the Third Dimension by Lorry Whtta Urravefag the compreary of 3D tor your video creations.
A2£X» Hard Drivi Round Up by Sheifon Uemon Keyclick by Mae M. Duppong a typewntsr cick in your keyboard.
More Lifted Lists In C: Techniques and App-lcaiions by Forest
W. Amcxd Procedures tor managing Ssts. Storing d-rerse data types
to toe same 1st, anj punng Lsa to work in your programs BASIC
linker by Enan Zupke Combine individual routines from your
program ibrary to create an executable program The Developing
Amiga by Steven Pietrcwicz A look at mysteries and successes
behind efficient beta testing.
Modeler 3D Preview reviewed by David Hopkins A peek inside a new, open-ended 3 D package.
AprcDraw Graphics Tablet reviewed by Keith Contort Arose! Meet the Lire ol Amiga graphics.
StatGEder li renewed by Jeffery Scot: HaS Those mating Ergons are back tor anotoer iaser-lasheng.
Wshefl reviewed by Lawrence ben mar. CL I subttitute.
Hot on the Shefves by M. Cabral viruses, music, microfiche mastery PD Serendipity by C.W. Ftatte Fred Fish csks 149-152, Roomers by The Blridta GcMen RAM, 16-til vdeogames. CD-I, another HAW skirmish... what could possfcly tie NeXT?
Volume 3 Number 121938 Hot on the shelves 3y M, T. Cabral Grephc adventure, control over Prefererces. A Postscript pn.ii utirty. Sequence Lve action anmation. A new deal lor user groups and toe figure consJrection set PD Serendipity by C.W. Flaw Fred Fisn risks 156-162 Bug Bytes by John Staner A2 toe latest from tne world cf bugs and upgrades.
Roomerefcy The Banoto AmiExpo. C.D. toe latest from Ccmmottore and more.
Am'Expo California By Stephen Kemp Hot Aflthe news.
EMPIRE reviewed by Stephen Kemp EMPIRE. The game ol conquest, has Enaly come to toe Amiga, Virus Infection Prolection (V.LP.) reviewed by Jeffery Scoc Hall Wh-ai makes a computer sick and toe cure.
The Command Line by Rxto Faiconburg Whai to da when toe com mands cf Am igaDos fal.
Converting Patch Librarian Files by Pti! Sanders Howtc get your sounds from there to here.
EC.T. SampleWare by Tm Moi'onsir h The E.C.T. samples corean several gems.
The Creation ol Don Btuth'a Dragon's Lair by Randy Utoon A took behind the scenes.
Easy Menus In Jforth by Phi Burk HELLO WORLD.
Extending AmigiEanc by John Kerran The use cf itrary cals from wrtin AmigaBASIC.
Better Dead Than Alien renewed by Jefiery Sex Hall Dcrl fire until you see toe greens of their eyes.
Getting Started In Aisembly by Jeff Gian At. Introduction to Amiga assembly language programming AC BASIC 1.3 revicwod by Bryan Cattey Release 1.3 ol Absofl's AOBASiC com piler lor toe Amiga, Thexder reviewed by Bruce Jordan Thexder turns onto be a real screamer Actor, Adventure, Fa-rasb'c Sound, and sbming Graphics.
Magellan: The AMIGA Gets Smart reviewed ty Steve Gjmor The wcrtos of ar.fcal rse' ijerce cones to toe AM GA m toe form of Al, system software.
C Notes From The C Group by Stephen Kemp Program or hnction conrd codng; toe case history.
AmlgaDos, At terribly Language, And FileNotes by Dan Huto Weapons in toe war against file overload; accurate, descriptive file naming.
Volume 4 Number 11989 The Wonderful World of Hashreque reviewed ty Shamms Monter A re.tew o' r» Aiuga software produca of Hash Enterprises Desktop Video ty R criard Starr Thintaig abort getting nto Vfoeo? Here's whatyoul need to know.
Industrial Strangto Menu* by Robert D'Asto Add some snazzy sibmenui c your AmigaBASIC ausne Second Generation 20 Animation Software by Geoffrey Wiliams Cel Animators and Koy Frame Animators, how they differ and a look into their use.
What's The Drff? Renewed by Gerald Hufi A review of Lartce s Compfer Companion Scrolling Through SuperBitMap Windows ty Read Pretoriore How a rnperent SuperBflVaps for rewhg or drawrg rto large graortc areas Aiv® tn 30 ty Shamrrs Morter A -review ol Caigaji, a High-£nd 3D sciipti & animation package.
Sync Tips by Oran J Sartos III Dot crawl, na Am.-ga and conpcstB vfoec devices.
How May I Animate Thee?, Lot Me Count The Ways- by Shamms Mora'er An overview of aft mstion techrtques.
Stap-Motion Animation On The Amiga cy Bran Zubke A hands x aocvoach to animation and toe Amga Roomers &y Tne BandJo Commodore's deal. FAM cftip cr-is, a-to more' C Notes From the C Group by Stephen Kemp Stojcteres - A powerti feature ol C On toe Crafting ol Programs oy David J. Hankins Whai Format is nght tor you The Command Une by Rich Fatonburg A took at new and improved Assembly Language commands Questron II renewed by Jeffery Scot: Hall Questron If - It's a journey back in time Pointers, Function Pointers, and Pointer Declarations In C by Fores: W. Arnold Reducing data type dependencies
Las Vegas Comdex Report by Louse Brinkmam Commodore's new 2500,2500 JX. And mare!
Philadelphia World cf Commodore by Chris Darsch & Rex Rae Highfights ol Pftladefprta1s Commodsre Show 5TELLARYX Review by Stephen Kemp Exiting & chaJenging1 Terrific stereo and sound enacts Artanod imposters: Unmasking the Impostors, reviewed by Jeffery Scctt Hall A took at Aricanoid look a,rikcs Bug Bytes by John Stoner Bugs and upgrades Death of a Process by Mark Cashman Derefop an error handing modJe in MocMa-2 Volume 4 Number 21989 HnieSffler; Tin Neis Ctnersdon by Sieve Caw Anew level r Amiga anmatton Ami Forum by Steve Pietrowld The Amga pays a mid- writer visit to Mfoke s hometown.
Max Morehead Interview by Rchad Rae Rick talks to toe creator of Movesetier.
A Common User Interface f« toe Amiga by Jm Bayfoss Does toe Amiga need a krfoer, gentler interface?
Superbase Professional by Marion Demand A us s took at Supertase Pro, Microfiche Filer Plus ty Ronald Courier A nulti-asking database that uses Arexx to wort with otoer progrs Torch 2081 by Jeffery Scott HaS Fast action, and smooto graphics SPY ty Steve Fawtszewsfa Programming intrigue n MocJa -2 Sync Tipsby Oren Sands Get-hgristoeshegenicck.
On trie Crafting of Prog rams by D J- Hankins Do we need a common standard for C programming? Look ANSI.
C Notes Irom the C Group by Steven Kemp At introduction to arsons The Command Une by Rich FaJconburg ED. Your Workbench Screen Eftor An Introduction to Arexx programming by Sieve Fowizewiki Ctbi bing toe Towers of Hana.
Crunchy Frog by Jn Fere Atsga-speofic C programming.
Super Bug Bytes by John Sterner A double dose ol bug repeLant.
New Products by Mchael Croeden Whar6 New? Deluxe Prnt H. ThoTalung Animator, 3 digfl fm, mere.
Roomers by The Bandflo &g resignation at Commodore, and toe Bancto's feaiess predctions.
Volume 4 Number 3 1989 Falcon reviewed by Joe Dcare Latest Irom Spectrun HoloCyte's hangar Air Warrior reviewed by Michael Mantino Hook up via modem and barte fl out w;to international opponents!
Carrier Command reviwec by Lawrence Licritmann Adnrai LxtoLT-an sign* up lor earner d.ry Worid of Commodore Toronto by Ed Berkovitz Ed Ses his report from Toronto Fractal Fundamentals by Paul Castcnguay Experiment on toe edge of a new science; create or own Yscais Image Processing with Photosynthesis by Gerald Hjl An experiment wtfi a reperfore of Al image-processr techriques Gtzmoz ZO by Steve Cart Sieve Carer reviews verSfon 2.0 of Digital Creations' box o' tun AmgaTEX by Barney Schwartz A page desorption language Iron fiadcal EyE software nickerFbeer ty Steve Bender Steve gives us a dear
perspective on MicroWay's fUbrerFuer Benchmark 1: Fully utilizing the MC66681 by Read Fredmare Fart I; Tupxhargng the savage benprarte Brea lung trie Bmap Barrier by Robert D'Asto Stream ine your Am aSAS C itrary access wito Guck Lb Double Play by Robert D Asfo AngaBASlC program yakJs double vsfon.
C Notes From the C Group by Slephen Kemp A walk through preprocesor control trves New Prcxfucts.,.and other Neat Stuff by Michael Creederi 3-M-dous1 The tales: Irom MchTren. MtcrcEd and M.ndscape The Video Desk by Larry Write The Amiga meets Nkcn Camera Roomers by The Baftito Mag'eto-cctcal dsks on toe HoozcrT .
Amga first stop tor WorpPertec; 6.0?_arfo toe HAM part wan Volume 4 Number 41989 AmiEXPO NY'89by Steve Gilmor Amiga takes a hie out ol the Big Apple.
AmfEXPO Art and Video Contest Winners by Steve Jacobs Winrers cf toe first-ever Arr.iEXPO art evert.
Adding toe Not-So-Hard Disk by J P. Twardy Shorter memory' foiafng a Had Dmre was new so easy.
Hard Drives an Introdtctiah tyJan A 3oute A sffiightforward, companion of Haro Dnvts.
Tax Sreax by Kim Scftafer OXX's new tax program The Max Hard Drive Kit by Donald W. ' organ A Had Dnve installation project, using Paomax's Max ti.
Menace re vie wed by Jeffrey Scctt Hall Blast aliens & destroy toe evil Draccna.
Sync Tip* by Oran J, Sard* Oran presents a dearer picture of video and computer resolutions.
Passing Arguments by Brian Zupke Am'giBASIC Subprogram explains step-by-step how to pass data from ne CU to AmigaBASIC C Notes from toe C Group by Stephen Kemp A humorous view ol toe wacky world of programmers Creating a Shared Library by John Saez Program for increased Amga productivity.
MultiSort by Steve Farwiszews« Put yoxr data in its place with this ufra organzrg program.
New Products and Other Neat Stuff by Mchaef Creeden Face-off wto Gretsky, play Pcasw wth Basic Art Encoder, balance your Desktop Budget, plus more.
Snapshot by fl. Brad Andrews Four eictirg Amiga games are reviewed Roomers by The Band.ro Amiga developers go for toe bucks.
Commodore siock up, & Part Wars.
Bug Bytes by Jem Sterner Soft-Logks PageSiream, and more.
Volume 4 Number 51989 The Business of Video by Steve Giknor Get started ri the wdeo tusness.
An Amiga Advintur by Larry White The g'oOetrotfng Amiga In Cologne, Germany.
Unlnlerruptibte Power Supply (UPS), Part I by Steve Be-foer Voltage spTres, sages, power faJures? Are r-ey oiconnx?
The Amazing Audio Digitizer by Andre Theberge Cu&'fty Amiga audio for tett-bukSng ytxr 7*n ste'eo dgflizer.
A UD1 Out interlace by Br. Seraphim Wm&cw HeiphjJ tips lor happy jammng, Dlgltired Sourds In Modula-2 ty Len A Write Produce cpressive sound effects win sampled sounds.
Sync Tips ty Oran j. Sands The secrets ftcaer. Oenean tne fticker mode.
On toe Crafting ol Programs by Davd J. Hankins See how Lattice C 5.02 measures up.
Insta Sound in AmigaBASIC by G*eg Smg&tow The sounds you wan: lex your prograrwi an instant1 Who are you, Ur. Guru? By David Martin Davd exposes ifts Amiga deviant for what he really is.
Gold Disk's Professional Draw by R. Sham ms Morter The latest in professorial drawing tools Irom Goto Disk.
Electronic Arts* DetuxePafnt HI by Davd Duberman Opart1! Par crush grows See: centres pan win artnawn.
Aegis's AudioMaster II by Phi Sairders Aegis's newest rerdtion o! Sound sampSng h edft-g is reviewed.
New Wave Software's Dynamic Studio by Chuck Raudonfo New Wave's or. A roil wto tins fobw-up to Dynamic Drums.
Dr, Ts MIDI Recording Studio by Tim Mohansingh A high-performance, low-twdgei remedy for your MIDI Wit.
Snapshot by R Bia3 Andrews Aen Synttirome and Tetfis are among p e new Amiga games.
New Products and Other Neat Stuff by Mtfiae; Creeden Cenmal Coast Saftware ca'fs huddle over phony Qtacx 3 0, caVftrw meets Disney wtm Dfars ill, B j? Rtbcn Bakery jents up organzaticn. Pus more.
Bug Bytes ty John Steiner Virus* 3,3 an enl twin, sera bi anng Iron Nag Plus 3 0. Plus, Roomers by the Bandito The Bandfto ttafks ArniEXPO NY. A'arv Nintendo lawsuit expands, A toe Beatles get a litte hop from toe Law PD Serendipity by C W. Ftatte C,W, covers Fred Fish from I£9-200.
C Notes trom toe C Group by Stephen Kemp Formatted Output functions.
Volume 4 Number 51989 New Products i Other Neat Stuff ty Michael Creeder.
Add another dxrenscn ro your Amiga wrth Design 3D, Escape Hen toe aoarwoned pianet Atrai, and more!
Adventures in Arexx by Steve Gilmor Enter the world of muftitasfong with a powerful super-applcation.
NAG Review by Marion Deland An eiectrooc apoolntmen: calendar with a sense o( humor, Digi-View Gold • It's Goldlcy Bruce Jordan A review of NewTek's videc ddcz'rg system Bug Bytes by John Stew A 'ook a: sore protier.s wrth toe A2 0 contiofier CA'd and hgh-resoiution I ncre.
Kind Word 5 2.0 review by WiTcn Deiand High-qaairty fonts plus graphics, at tne expense ol speed PageStream tutorial Part I by Bony Schwariz A look al Soh-Lojik's fuil-feaurod oocumen; processor Video Preparation by Otto Focus Hew fo plan you vdeo belore you go on vacation Roomers by Tne Borfoto The Bands takes a took at Ccnrodore i future anc toe end c! Toe Apote 1 At Your Request by John F. Wetferrim Desgn yar wm recuesters in A- gaBAS C- Exploring Amigi Disk Structures by Davfo l artn AlookattoeheaioftiteAiriga; Ar,.;aDCS. 5S CMI Accelerator Processor review by Rch J. Grace Bcosl the
periormance of your Amiga al a :ow cast. 63 Diskless CcmpHe in C by Chuck Raudoms Make development easy with COMPILE, a fufl-foalured programmer's workbento (UPS). Part II by Slevs Bender Steve continues fts discusson on the lechnioa- aspects and ceaiis o1 various :,pes of UPS uftts Progfamrri'ng the '881 Ptrl I by Read Predr.=re A dscusstr on ft to cafoiJate V&xeixor. 4 a set* C Notes from to* C Group by Stephen Kem: Steire d sc-sses tome ways to avod fvoyemt wrren pasvng paramrers Between functions.
PD Serendipity ty C,W. Fane
C. W, covers Fred Fisn disks 201-210, To be continued ...
video, SchmideO by Barry Solomon It all slatted with my
friend. Simon.
We met while working at a fancy audio video store. We got along right off the bat. I loved listening to him talk about his computer. At tire time he had an Amiga 1000 and seas about to trade it in for a 2000, I guess I wasn't die oniy one he mesmeri2ed with his tales; two other guys in his department had recently purchased Amiga 500's. They loved to talk about their Amigas, but when Simon spoke about his... Well, there was a certain gleam in his eyes. He was like a sixteen-year-old boy who had just convinced that special girl to accompany him to the prom. Whenever we had a moment to spare at
work, he would tantalize me with stories about his amazing machine.
He talked about computer graphics, animation, and ray-tracing all of which I knew- little or nothing about.
Each time we spoke, I became more and more curious about this mystical device.
He brought in a few' issues of Amazing Computing. I became more fascinated each day and w'as soon borrowing copies to read at home. I began to question him daily about articles 1 had read. He could not supply me with enough magazines. In a few weeks he wras bringing them to work in bundles, and my questioning, I'm afraid, turned into grilling. Always the good sport, Simon took it in stride.
Then one magic day Simon brought that infamous Amiga demo tape into work. I must have watched it at least 20 times on our best monitor with my mouth hanging open. I had always been interested in graphics. In my younger days, I had even gone so far as to make a few' attempts at film animation. I suppose I never followed it through, because I never really considered myself an artist.
By now I could hear the wTieels turning inside my head. I could almost smell the smoke I imagined must have been pouring out of my ears. Hadn't I always been fascinated by colors and shapes and motion? Hadn't 1 always wanted to be creative? Didn't I have a brother-in-law who ran the video department at a local hospital, and did video w'ork of his own on the side? And couldn't he, just perhaps, use some computer graphics???
I spoke with my brother-in-law after work that day, bringing the subject up oh-so-carefully. It turned out that, yes, he thought it w7as a great idea and he could probably budget some money into his projects for computer graphics!
Well, that was all I needed to hear! I was off and running. I began to purchase my own copies of Amazing Computing. In fact, I bought every Amiga magazine I could find. Not wanting to make any mistakes, I even bought magazines on PC's and Macs. My questioning-tumed- grilling of Simon became a regular inquisition, but he took it like a champ.
I was about four months into my quest when I received my second omen.
I was roused from my lunchtime reverie one day to help answer an unusual question from a customer. It seems someone wanted to know' if our VCRs worked on NTSC video. Now ro be fair to the other salespeople, they all knew that our VCRs were NTSC. I guess they w'ere just thrown by the question, because all VCRs in this country' are NTSC. In a sense, it was kind of like asking, "Does this hair dryer plug into the wall?" Or "Is this peanut butter made from peanuts?"
I ran upstairs and introduced myself to a very pleasant-looking fellow', I explained that all our VCRs were NTSC and that, in fact, all American television of any' type or format was NTSC. The customer quickly informed me that what he really wanted to know was whether Lhe VCRs had an NTSC video input jack.
My curiosity w'as roused. "If you don't mind my being noseyy why do you ask?"
My heart began to race as he explained that he had a computer set-up with an NTSC output and he wanted a good VCR to record some graphics.
I think my voice must have cracked as I asked, "What kind of computer?"
"An Amiga," he answered.
"Oh, which one?" He laughed and said, 'Well, I have a couple of 500's, a couple of 1000's, and a few 2000's." I must have been staring. "Just who the hell are you?" 3 stammered.
"I'm Don Hicks, Managing Editor of Amazing Computing. Pleased to meet you."
If I needed any' further convincing, that w'as it! The gods were definitely smiling down upon me. Like Steve Martin in The Jerk, I had a "Special Purpose.'11 began in earnest die Quest for Funds. Friends, neighbors, relatives no one was safe. I begged, borrowed, weaseled, and cajoled my way into a modest 2000 system.
OR. TEE LAYMAN''E GUIDE TO AMO A VIDEO fire first thing that occurred to me was that, not being independently wealthy, this would have to be a sideline for me, at least for a while. I realized that most of the video professionals who had authored the many articles and columns I read were indeed professionals and had been in the video business for quite some time. The Amiga may have been new to them, but video was not.
Basically, I was starting from scratch, although I did have the distinct advantage of having a connection (my brother- in-law) to whom I could pitch my services.
Almost a year passed between tire day my interest began and the day I picked up my Amiga. Until that day I had never actually seen an Amiga. 1 had researched it up, down, and sideways but had never really touched one. I would venture to say that of all the people on this planet who have never used an Amiga, I knew more about it than anyone.
I have been in business as View- topia Computer Graphics for about nine months now and have completed six projects. (I am now working on numbers seven and eight.) What I have learned mostly by trial and error (with emphasis on the error) could fill a book. What I still have to learn could fill volumes.
What I have earned... Well, I didn't get into this for tire money anyhow (but I still have hope!).
I have written all this for a couple of reasons. First, it seems that too many of the articles I read have been written by people burned out on the Amiga.
They are disappointed in this one's lack of support, or that one's lack of support; they are upset with this program or that company, etc., etc., ad nauseum.Th.2Vs not me. No sir, I love tire Amiga. The honeymoon is far from over for me and my dear electronic friend.
Second, the articles I read always seem to be written by two types of people those who don't know video from a hole in the ground, or the superprofessional video types who only use the Amiga while their Crays are in the shop!
In tire last two weeks alone I have met two people who recently purchased Amigas with the idea of producing some son of video graphics. Both of them are rank amateurs, fresh out of the box.
Strangely, both are middle-aged (the onset of a second childhood, perhaps?).
They had both read many Amiga magazines and many anicles on the Amiga, but neither one had a clue! It seems hall these articles told them nothing of any value, and the other half just confused them. Neither of these men appear to be lacking in intelligence. It's just that no one is writing truly informative video articles for video beginners.
If you want to know about sub- carrier phase, vertical switching, and horizontal sync, great! But you don't need to know these things to be creative, or even to make a little money. What you do need to know is, "How do I do this?" Or "Does this work? and if it does, does it just work okay, or does it work exceedingly well?"
These days, when every revision of a program becomes a "dazzling new product" and every genlock from $ 150 up produces "broadcast-quality output," beginners can become confused. 1 know I was (and still am!). What I will try to do in future articles is give you the beginner's-eye view of professional video. Or tire professional approach to beginner's video. Or... well, you gel the idea.
I will do my best to give you simple, useful hints for the types of problems you are likely to come across.
Please write if you have questions about video or video-related graphics that require practical solutions (not charts, graphs, and formulae). I will do my best to answer your questions in simple, practical, down-to-earth terms so you can continue to enjoy your Amigas as the gods intended.
• AC* Barry Solomon, Video Editor c o Amazing Computing
P. O. Box 869 Fall River, MA 02722-0869 Memory Squares ,pr- by
Mike Morrison Memory Squares is a game I wrote in AmigaBASIC.
It started out like most of my programs. I was playing around
with a certain aspect of die Amiga, like sound or graphics,
and the next thing I knew, I had written a new game. That is
one of the aspects of programming that I find very exciting.
You are limited only by your imagination (and the number of
hours in the day).
Memory Squares is a complete program in the sense that it is functional. The number of enhancements that could and should be added are limitless. Loosen up your tie and let your mind wander! Modify, change, add, delete, cut, paste, append, criticize, modernize, and expand this code to your hearts content. Get into the nuts and bolts of the code and make it a real learning experience. How many times do you think the Amiga beeped at me with syntax errors while I was writing this?
Gameplay The game play is basic, and I have found it to be somewhat addictive. The game board is made up of a large square that is divided into four smaller squares. The game starts out by lighting two squares randomly and then waits for you to repeat the same sequence. As the game progresses more and more squares are lit, and you need to remember the sequence and repeat it.
To add interest to the game play, the sequences pick up speed as die game progresses. If you complete the sequence correcdy you are rewarded with a small 'victory' display. You have four 'lives' to use before the game ends. If you have a good memory, you could be added to the high score list.
Tt:e Source The nice thing about programming a game is that you can experiment and learn while you go. You also end up with something fun that other people can enjoy and leam from.
Coding the program Set die seed for the RNDO function so it will return a different sequence of numbers when the program is started again.
RANDOMIZE TIMER Reserve space so we can keep track of square sequence the program chooses, including the high score list.
FORz=l TO round r=INT(4'RND(l))+l where(z)=r ON r GOSUB bxl ,bx2,bx3.bx4 'Draw the box picked, NEXT z DIMwhere(10),scores(l l),namesS(l 1) 'Pick a number from 1-4.
The ON..ERROR allows us to capture any errors that may occur when the program is running while trying to fix whatever may be wrong. It is used in case die high score file doesn't exist.
When the 'file not found error* occurs, the error is handled by skipping to die label 'skipit'.
ON ERROR GOTO skipit OPEN "memory.score" FOR INPUT AS 1 WHILE NOTEOF(l) x=x+l INPUT 1 ,namesS(x)ACOres(x) WEND CLOSE 1 If everything went OK, set the error handling back to the system, or else the next time any other error occurs, it will jump to the 'skipit' label. Then go directly to the 'start' label and get diifigs moving.
ON ERROR GOTO 0 GOTO start We end up here if diere is no high score file, so fill it with 'Empty for now'.
Skipit: FOR x=l TO 10
* namesSCx)="Emoty for now" NEXT We first go to the 'endyet'
subroutine because it waits for a response from the player
before moving on. No need to write code that already exists in
our program.
Start: GOTO endyet This is where it all happens. The 'x' variable keeps track of the number of rounds that will tie played. Currendy it is impossible to get dirough 10 rounds, the program moves to quick by then.
You could slow things down by messing widi die variable'd' which controls the delay along with the 'pause* sub program described below.
Main: GOSUBinlt FOR x=l TO 10 GOSUB board d=d-1 round=round+2 The 'z* loop is where the computer randomly picks the next square. We store it in array 'whereO' so later we can check to see if die player picks the correct square.
GOSUB turn a gi ; ] IF didit=0 THEN GOSUB minicelebrate IF noleff=-l THEN endyet NEXT x If you make it through ten sequences, the program would end here. Currently it goes to the 'endyet' subroutine. If you modify the code the program can be completed ten times, and you may want to add a grand victory celebration here.
GOTO endyet Set up a few odds and ends here. The three pieces that represent your number of turns left are drawn here.
Init: CLS noleft=3:sc=0 FOR ml=l TO noleft 'Draw number of turns left.
LINE (10+Cmt*60),160)-(60+(ml"60),180),2,b LINE (35+(mr60)d60M35+(mr60),l80),2 LINE (10+(ml'60). 170}-(60+Cmr60), 170),2 NEXT ml d=l,2:c=3:round=0 RETURN This sub routine plays a tune and then asks if you want to play again. If your score is good enough to make the high score list, then tire 'hiscore' routine is called. If you want to play again tire program starts over. If you want to quit, the high score list is displayed and the program ends.
Endyet: FOR s=300 TO 500 STEP 20 SOUND s,l SOUND 5Q0-s,l NEXT ;Fsc scores(10) THEN GOSUB hiscore GOSUB board LOCATE 3,25:PRINT"Select with mouse to play again."
COLOR 3,1 :LOCATE 7.25:PRINT"YES" COLOR 2,1 :LOCATE 7,55:PR!NT'NO':COLOR 1,0 GOSUB interpit LOCATE 2,25:PRINT" IF pt=l OR pt=3 THEN GOTO main CLS COLOR 2,1 :LOCATE2,28:PR!NT "Memory Square Aces'ZCOLOR 1,0 L1NE0 28,32)-(464,144),2,bf COLOR 1.2 FOR x=l TO 10 LOCATE 6-f-x,20:PRINT namesS(x) LOCATE 6+x,50:PRINT scores(x) NEXT x COLOR ToiOCATE 1,1 END IT you made the list the appropriate space on the list is cleared, and you are asked to enter your name. The new list is then saved.
Hiscore: CLS:here=0 _ COLOR 2,1 :LOCATE 2,28:PR!NT "Memory Square Aces :COLOR 1,0 Find out where in the list your score belongs. Then blank the old name out.
FOR x=10TO 1 STEP-1 IF soscores(x) THEN scores(x+ 1 )=sc o res(x): na m es$ (x+1 )=na mes$ (x) scores00=sc:namesS(x}="":here=x END IF NEXT x Display the list with the blank spot for the new name.
LINE (128,32)-(464,l 44),2,bf COLOR 1,2 FOR X=1 TO 10 IF x=here THEN COLOR 3,2 ELSE COLOR 1,2 LOCATE 6+x,20:PRINT namesS(x) LOCATE 6+x,5Q;PRINT scores(x) NEXT x Put the cursor in the correct position and ask the player to input his her name.
COLOR 3.2 LOCATE 6+here,18:INPUT' 'ZnamS nam$ =TEFT$ (namS,20) names$ (here)=namS LOCATE 6+here,18:PRINT ' ":COLOR 3,2 LOCATE 6+here,20:PRINT namS LOCATE 6+here,50:PRINT scores(here) COLOR 1,0 Save the new high score file to disk for future reference.
OPEN "memory.score'' FOR OUTPUT AS 1 FORx=l TO 10 WRITE 1 ,namesS(x),scores(x) NEXT CLOSE 1 A routine that will pause the program until the player dicks the mouse.
LOCATE 20,25:PR!NT"Cltck mouse to continue."
M=MOUSE(0) WHILE MOUSE(0)=0 WEND Cl s RETURN This is tire routine that draws the game board. 1 left tire ability to dreat in the code. I initially put this in the code so I could debug it. See if you can figure out how' to engage 'cheat mode1.
Board: m=MOUSE(0): IF MOUSE(l) 5THEN cheat=l LINE (50,25)-(590,125),0,bf LINE (50,25)-(590,125).l ,b LINE (320,25)-(320.125),1 LINE (50.75X590,75),1 COLOR 2,0:LOCATE 1,30:PRINT "MemorySquares by Mike Mo" COLOR 1,0:LOCATE 2,6:PRINT *Score=';sc COLOR 3,1 :LOCATE 2,60:PR!NT 'Hi-Score=";hs:COLOR 1,0 SOUND 550,5:GOSUB bigpause LINE(50.25)-(590,125),2,b LINE (320,25X320,125), 2 LINE (50.75X590,75), 2 RETURN Now we see if Lhe player remembers the sequence, turn: didit=0:dum=d:d=. 3 LOCATE 20,35: PRINT' Gol I' FORq=l TO round IF cheat THEN LOCATE 10,1: PRINT where(q) See where the player is clicking
tire mouse. If the player clicks the wrong square then we set the 'didif flag to 1 (didn't make it), put tile round back to the last round, and decrease 'd' so the next time the game goes faster.
GOSUB interpit IF ptowhere(q) THEN didit=l:round=round-2:d=d+.l SOUND 170,10 LINE (50,25X590,125) ,2 LINE (50,125X590.25).2 Decrease the number of 'men' left and then gosub to 'menleft' to see if the game is over.
Noleft=no!eft-l GOSUB menleft GOSUB bigpause IF noleff=-T THEN GOTOIpl END IF IF didit THEN Ipl If the correct square was picked, then flash it.
ON pt GOSUB bxl ,bx2,bx3,bx4 Update the score and check to see if the new score is greater than the current high score. If it is, the high score is updated and printed on the screen.
Sc=sc+(10*round):LOCATE2,8:PRINT "Score=";sc IF sohs THEN hs=sc:COLOR 3.1 iOCATE 2.60:PRINT "HP Score=";hs:COLOR 1,0 NEXT q Ipl: LOCATE 20,35:PRINT * " d=dum RETURN A routine that causes a large pause.
Bigpause: FOR dd=l TO 3000:NEXT dd RETURN Check where the mouse is being clicked and convert it into the number of the square that is there.
Interpit: WHILE MOUSE(0) 0 WEND WHILE MOUSE(0)=0 WEND mx=MOUSE(l):my=MOUSE(2) IF mx 320THEN IF my 75THEN pt=l ELSE pt=3 ELSE IF my 75 THEN pt=2 ELSE pt=4 END IF RETURN A graphic and music display that rewards the player for remembering the entire sequence.
Minicelebrafe: c=2:d=.2 FOR p=l TO 4 ON p GOSUB bxl ,bx2.bx4,bx3 NEXT p pause FOR p=l TO 4 ON p GOSUB bxl .bx2.bx4.bx3 NEXT p d=dum;c=3 GOSUB bigpause RETURN Erase each 'man' diat is used, leaving the number of 'men' that remain displayed.
Menleft: FOR ml=noteft+l TO 3 L!NE(10+(ml'60),16Q)-(6Q+(mr60),180),0,bf NEXT ml RETURN The next four sub routines draw the four squares and play a sound diat is exclusive to each square.
Bxl: LINE (51,26)-(319,74) ,c ,bf SOUND 440,3 pause LINE (51,26X319,74),0,bf RETURN bx2: LINE (322,26X589,74) ,c.bf SOUND493.88.3 pause LINE (322.26X589,74) ,0,bf RETURN bx3: LINE (51,76X319,124), c.bf SOUND 523.25,3 pause UNE (51,76X319,124),0,bf RETURN bx4: LINE (321.76X589.124) .c.bf SOUND 587.33.3 pause UNE (321,76X589,124),O.bf RETURN There is only one sub program used in this program. Sub programs allow us to add commands to AniigaBASIC. Here we add the command 'pause' that delays for a ceratin amount of time depending on the value of 'd1. As you can see, the variable 'd* is SHARED.
This means we can set the value of 'd' somewhere else and the sub program can still 'see' it. All other variables used within a sub program that are not SHARED are exclusive to the sub program.
SUB pause STATIC SHARED d FOR x=l TO 1000*d:NEXT END SUB
• AC* This Fall see all the best of the Amiga AC (A IDVjkiiGA
When the nights turn crisp and your thoughts return to your
Amiga, let AC's Guide To The Commodore Amiga be your guide.
A Harvest of over 2100 products by more than 400 vendors!
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Notes IjrotK the C (f oat) Utility programming by Stephen Kemp Last month I ended the column with a listing of a sample "skeleton" for many utility programs called "generic.c." One of the tilings I like about programming in C is that if you need a little program to do some specific task, it usually isn't too difficult to write one yourself. This is especially true if you already have a sufficient number of tools to help out and skeletons from which to start. This month, for your perusal and my discussion, I have included a small utility that was developed from the simple program provided
last month.
For daose of you who may have missed last month's column, don't despair. The entire source is included, and I will try to point out what is skeletal and what isn't. This should enable you to recreate the basic program, so it can be used in your own utilities. Anyone who did type in last month's column can begin the experiment.by copying the code to a new file.
(Note: I recommend working on a copy of the file because you may need to start over, and you may want to start other programs from the same file).
You may recall from past articles that I believe a utility program should have one specific task. Now this does not mean that a program cannot have a multipurpose function, but a program that must support multiple tasks will usually be cumbersome to use. "Keep it simple" is a good motto to Follow in utility programming.
Listing 1 is a "case" program alphabetic case, that is. It simply changes all the alphabetic letters in a text file to upper or lowercase letters. As a teaching aid, this program also demonstrates a few things that newcomers to C should leam. Elaboration on these topics will occur as the listing is discussed.
First note that the comment block at the top of tire program was changed from that included in the "generic.c'' listing provided last month. It is important to keep your comment blocks up to date. Yeah, 1 know, you want to get right to the programming. But a few extra minutes of typing may prove useful if you have to look at this code again in a few months, or years. This could be especially true if some other poor soul ends up having to maintain the source. I like to keep a history of revisions under the program comments. A date, initials, and a short sentence or two about the revision can
provide a nice audit trail. (If you have not yet realized it, I assume that you are, or one day will be, involved in writing programming with others.)
A few new variables that were not in the original have been declared in this listing. First you will notice two variables declared with the type 'TILE", *ifp and *ofp. As you may guess, these are pointers to a file. The FILE type is usually defined (as a typedef) in one of tire standard C header files. It defines a structure that maintains information about the status of an input and or output stream. You may recall that an I O stream can include tire console, printer, or almost any other device or disk file. At this point it is not really necessary' for you to know exactly what is contained
in the FILE declaration. Just recognize that it is used to accomplish "buffered" input and output.
Standard C libraries normally provide buffered I O. This method (as opposed to its unbuffered counterpart) means that tire system will perform I O by physical blocksize. A blocksize is that amount of data which is usually the most efficient for the device to move during a given event. Using a disk drive as an example, it is usually more efficient for the drive to read more than one byte in a revolution. The actual blocksize used is usually some multiple of 256 or 512, depending on the device.
So if you are reading from a stream, the first read will fill the buffer regardless of how much data you requested. Subsequent calls do not have to read from the disk again until tire buffer is empty. Naturally, if you ask for more data than a buffer can hold, the device will continue transferring data until your request is met. Any data left in the last buffer will be used in the next call. In the case of text files, where lines will lie of varying lengths, buffered I O is especially useful.
Two other variables that were not in the original source have been declared. The first is a "flag" which will determine what case (upper or lower) to apply. The second is simply a character buffer large enough to hold the longest line we expect to read.
The flag setting is expected to be found on the command line. The source to determine this state can be found after the program's "error" exit code. (The exit code should also be kept up to date.) This program assumes that the flag setting can be identified on the command line by a leading hyphen (-) followed by the letter U or L, meaning UPPER or LOWER. The letter following tire lrypiren is tire command of choice and is placed into the variable flag. (Note: When you parse tire command line for switches or flags, be sure to "index" into the arguments. If you change the argument pointer, you
may interfere with references to that variable whiclr occur later in tire program.)
Also note that this program loops through all the arguments and, if multiple flags are discovered, only tire last flag takes effect. This is something you can handle any way that you want. You might say this would be an error, or you could even change the program to use one flag for a while and then change in midstream. To simplify, this program will use the same setting throughout. After the arguments are examined, the flag is changed to an uppercase letter to reduce the code requirement later in tire program. However, if tire flag has not been set or is set incorrectly after each argument
is examined, control is sent to tire error exit.
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The next new code occurs after a file name that matches the command line is found When starting from the generic, c source, this will be where most of tire utility's code will be found. Notice that the file is opened twice once for reading and once for update.
Now the question on your mind is, "Why open the file twice?" Well, we could have opened tire file once, but when you are using buffered I O to do a job like this, it can be a little tricky. The reason is that this program changes the characters "in place." It is not writing a new file, but rather expects to place tire buffer (after alteration) right back where it was found.
Buffered streams do not provide a straightforward method to accomplish this task. To draw an analogy, think of a river stream. Streams flow' in one direction. The same is basically true for these buffered streams, which means that extra code is required to help keep the direction identified. Now I don't want it to sound worse than it really is. It doesn't require a lot of code. It's just that the source provided here is more straightforward. There is no problem in opening the file twice like this.
The first file pointer keeps track of the reading, and the second the writing. Since we are putting back exactly what we have read, die two file pointers will not conflict.
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AMIGA IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF COMMODORE.AMIGA, INC. encountered. Another would be to assume some default flag.
Let's face it, if you are changing the case of an entire file, what is the worse that could happen? If you get the case wrong, just run it again with tire correct flag. Try a few experiments. You never know what you might discover!
Listing One: CASE.C CASE.C is a program char accepts a list of filenames or wildcards and will read and rewrite each program altering the case. The state of the case is determined by a command line switch. -U indicates that the files should be changed to upper case. -L indicated that the files should be changed to lower case. Only one flag is used for all files.
"An example command line might look like this: * CASE -u *.txt file.c docs."
* If a "standard" open fails on a file it is skipped.
* This program was written for the MA1IX C compiler include ''stdio.h" include "fcntl.h" The actual case change is handled by one of two functions provided at die bottom of the listing. These are fairly simple functions that can usually be found in the standard library provided with many compilers. Manx, however, did not include these two, so I wrote the functions myself. Each uses a pointer to move through a string, altering each character by calling another standard function.
Extern char *scdir(); extern short access (); main (argc, argv) short argc; char *argv(]; char *fptr; short cnt; short ndx; char flag; FILE *ifp,*ofp; char lbuf[2561; if (argc - 2) t errcut: When you put it all together, compile and link it, you should have a working program. Test it out on a few documents. DO NOT use it on your source code or you'll be sorry.
Remember, C is case-sensitive. Try it on other documents or batch files, etc. That's it. CASE will alter the alphabetic letters in each file that matches the command line criteria. If you have a little extra time and energy, take the program and try to make a couple of your own modifications. One possibility I mentioned earlier would he to switch flags in midstream when a new flag is printf("Change the alphabetic case of a file n"); * announce * printft" CASE -flag (file pattern] .., n"); * example * printf(" where flag is: -U for upper case n"); * upper * print:(" or: -L for lower
case n"); * lower * * directory function* * file accessable function* * program start ¦ * argument counter * * argument variable pointer(s)* * pointer to a filename" * counter for files * * index for arguments * * case flag " * file io pointers " * line buffer ¦
* if not enough arguments provided " * exit point if error
discovered * Check for flags and switches here-- flag * % Q';
• indicate no flag* for (ndx = 1; r.dx argc ?ndx++) *
examine arguments* if (argv[ndx]!0) == * found an indicator*
flag = argvfndx][1]; * store the flag * ) flag =
toupper(flag); - alter case* if flag !" 'U' &S flag != 'L )
goto errout; * no indicators exit* print f ("Convert to %s
case n",((flag « 'U')? "UPPER": "LOWER")); . for(ndx • 1; ndx
argc ; ndx++J( * examine arguments* if (argv(ndx)[0] «» «
flags already found* continue; * so skip to next * for
cnt=0;(fptr=scdir(argv(ndx)J};cnt++)( " look for wildcards *
if (access(fptr,0) « 0)1 • if file is found * printf (*¦*¦*
%s *** n,r, fptrl ; * display filename * Utility program
specific cede goes here ifp = fopen(fptr,"r"); * open file for
read* ofp = fopen(fptr,*r+"); * open file for update* if
(ifp =" NULL II ofp == NULL)( * if opens fail* printf(" -
skipped - n"); if (ifp) fclose(ifp); • close if open * if
(ofp) fclose(ofp); • close if open * continue; * continue
looping* ) for ;?) * loop through file * if (fgets (ibuf,
256, ifp) == NULL) * EOF * fclose(ifp); * close file *
fclose(ofp); * close again* break; * end loop * i if (flag
-- 'U') * if upper flag * strupr(lbuf); ¦ up the string *
else * otherwise * strlwr(lbuf); * lower the string*
fputs(lbuf,ofp); * put the line back* * * )else| * if not
found * printf ("Cannot find %s n",fptr); • indicate * ) I if
(cnt ==0) * no matches * printf("Cannot find
%s n",argv(ndx] ; * for this argv * } ) * strupr is a
function that indexes through a string and converts * ¦ all
alphabetic characters to upper case * strupr( str ) char *str;
( fort ;*str != 1 Q'; str'-*) * search until null is found ¦
* str ¦= toupper (*str); * call upper case function * } *
strlwr is a function that indexes through a string and converts
• ¦ all alphabetic characters to lower case * strlwr( str )
char 'str; i for( ;*str != ' C'; str*-) • search until null if
found * ¦str » tolower(*str); • call lower case function * )
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Adapting Analog Joysticks to the Amiga by David Kinzer David Kinzer shows Amiga game buffs how to ami their machine with an analog joystick.
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1989 Spring Comdex, Chicago by Ed Bercoviiz AC EXAMINES AMIGA GAMES!
Wayne Gretzky Hockey review by Bob Bor gen Is the game as great as the name?
Western Games review by Stephen Kemp Quid spittin', cow milkin', beer shootin', and watch those belches.
The Duel review by Joe DiCara Joe blasts down the highway in this sequel to Test Drive.
Baal review by Derek J. Perry Derek straps on the gear and goes after the war machine.
DataStorm review by Paul Costa Defender's mutants invade the Amiga.
Lords of the Rising Sun review by Derek J, Perrv Samurai fighting in Shogun japan.
Dungeon Master review by Graham Kinsey Enter the dark halls of Lord Chaos' dungeon.
Zany Golf review by Joe DiCara Plaid pants aren't tile only crazy thing on tills golf course.
Holc-in-One Miniature Golf review by Stephen Kemp Putt putt will never be the same.
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HyperCard is a trademark of Apple Computer. Inc. Amazing Programming Improving Your Crap kies rr 9 by Richard A. Martin ( You work for hours on a hot new program for your Amiga, slaving over every graphic detail. All your gadget imagery is immaculate, your IntuiText tasteful. It's just beautiful.
You're so thrilled with your work, you call up a fellow AMIGAid and invite yourself over to show off your efforts. When you arrive, you eagerly insert your disk into your host's drive and begin to run your program.
But -what's this? Your fellow AMIGAid's Workbench colors are entirely different from your own. Since your program opens its window on the Workbench screen, it uses those colors selected by Preferences. The program that looked great on your screen at home now looks dreadful on someone else's Amiga.
As you try to explain this to your now skeptical (and unimpressed) AMIGAid host, you realize that you have just been victimized by "Blind Artist's Syndrome." The Blind Artist draws very well, but it doesn't know color from a hole in the ground. It will draw with any old color, paying no heed to the fundamentals of light and shadow. The Blind Artist reaches out, grabs pen number three, and draws like crazy, caring nothing about which color ink the pen contains. Not surprisingly, nobody buys the Blind Artist's drawings.
If you write programs which open their windows on the Workbench screen (or on any other screen which you did not open yourself), you nin the risk of contracting Blind Artist's Syndrome each time you use arbitrary pen numbers to do your graphics rendering. Since each user has the option of choosing a unique set of Workbench colors, you, as the programmer, make a rash assumption if you presume the default Preferences palette is unchanged. It's a pretty safe bet that using color 0 for background and color 1 for line drawing will result in a readable display. But this is an Amiga, not a Mac. With
four colors available on die Workbench screen, your renderings can be enhanced by highlighting important items, subduing lesser material, and shadowing graphics with the appropriate pens.
Simple defines such as $ define MED_BLUE 0 define WHITS 1 Idefine BLACK 2 define ORANGE 3 may work fine on a factory-fresh Workbench disk, but out there in the real world, many users are abandoning that hideous color scheme left and right.
If you're like me. You spend a considerable amount of time laboring over attractive display graphics with such "3D" elements as drop-shadowed text and realistic looking buttons.
Personally, I prefer to make color 1 BLACK and color 2 WHITE.
As a result, many programs look odd on my Amiga, with highlights appearing where shadows ought to lie. This technique gives the display a sort of Bela Lugosi-style -- "lit-from- the-bottom" look, You can avoid Blind Artist's Syndrome by tailoring your graphics routines to utilize the current Workbench colors more intelligently. Once you know which colors you have to work with, you can choose those most appropriate for your graphic purposes. Here is one method for choosing the most appropriate pen, no matter which four colors are being used at tire time.
Hoic it all works Since the Workbench screen employs only four colors, 1 sort them from darkest to lightest, giving them generic names like Shadow, Subdue, BackGround, and Hiiite. I keep these names handy by creating the following global structure of the Palette type, which I name WB_PaIette: struct Palette BYTE Shadow; BYTE Subdue; BYTE BackGround; BYTE Hiiite; } WB_Palette; Each of the four elements contains the current Workbench pen numbers that best suit the color value. The Shadow element contains the pen number of the darkest color currently displayed on the Workbench, Subdue the
second darkest pen number, and BackGround the third, leaving Hiiite for the brightest available pen. By selecting the darkest and brightest pens available (Shadow and Hiiite, respectively), i can render crisp, easy-to-read text by printing a Hiiite color over a Shadow color, at a slight offset, The nitty gritty Intuition provides a function named GetPrefsO which allows you to examine ali die settings you have made with the Preferences tool. A call to GetPrefsO will yield an abundance of user-defined data, but the focus here is on only a small portion of the Preferences data structure. Nearly
halfway through the list of settings are four 16-bit elements named colorO, color 1, color2, and color3. Each of these contains the Red, Green, and Blue values of the current Workbench pens. By sorting these colors from darkest to lightest, you can be sure that your shadows are dark, your window background is muted, and your text is bright and easy to read. A call to GetPrefsO takes die following form.
GetPrefs(PrefBuffer, Size); PrefBuffer is a pointer to a memory buffer that you want filled with Preferences data, and Size is the number of bytes you want filled in. It is up to you to allocate the memory needed to hold the Preferences data. Intuition groups the more common settings at tire top of the Preferences structure, so reading the whole thing is rarely necessary. For example, to check whether the user has selected 60 or 80-column text mode, simply call GecPrefsO with a Size argument of 1L, since FontHeight is the first element in the Preferences structure. When it returns, your little
one-byte buffer will contain a value of either TOPAZ_SKTY or TOPAZ_EIGHTY, depending on die current setting. In the case at hand, you will read 118 bytes of data, just enough to get the current colors.
To hold your color data, you must allocate memory for an array of four Color structures. Each Color structure contains four elements, each of which is 4 bits in size. You then utilize a special feature of the C language known as a bitfield to hold each nybble-sized value. Using bitfields, you can access tiny objects packed into a single word. Intuition packs the Blue, Green, and Red values into the three least significant nybbles of an unsigned SHORT. You will want to take advantage of the unused fourth nybble for your own purposes.
Struct Color unsigned Blue : 4; unsigned Green : 4; unsigned Red : 4; unsigned Value : 4; J; Bitfields look and behave much the same as ordinary structure elements, with a few differences. Most obvious is die inclusion of a colon in the element definition, followed by the field size, expressed as the number of adjacent bits. Also notice that the fields are listed with the least significant bits at the top of the list. This is done because the Amiga assigns bitfields from right to left. On other computers, they might be assigned from left to right, so bitfields do not lend themselves well to
portable code. Also, since each field is only a portion of an int, you cannot take the address of a bitfield. However, in other respects you can treat bitfields as though they were regular integers.
Once you assign die RGB values of your Color structure, pass them to getValueO which makes a rough approximation of the color's brightness by averaging the Red, Green, and Blue values of the Color in question. The result is then placed in the most significant nybble of the Color structure. This averaging algorithm is an oversimplification of actual perceived brightness: it discards any R, G, or B value less than four (values this low contribute almost nothing to the color's brightness) and takes an average by integer division. With most Workbench color schemes, it seems to do the job. When I
tested it on some more exotic palettes, however, die color assignments came out less than, perfect. (Incidentally, anyone who cares to improve the reliability of this funcdon is heartily encouraged to do so. Kindly send me a copy when you are done.)
Your freshly assigned Color structure is actually the first element of a slightiy larger structure I call a Color_Register, The second element is simply a SHORT integer used for storing the pen number. Since you will be shuffling these structures, you will need to know' the original pen numbers when it comes time to do some actual drawing. Once your Color_Register structures are completely filled out, you can free up die memory allocated for the Preferences data and proceed to the next step: sorting the colors. SortWBenchValuesO is only a slight modification of the shell sort routine found in
Chapter 3 of The C Programming Language by Kemighan & Ritchie. I simply customized it to handle the specific task of sorting an array of four Color_Register structures from darkest to lightest, according to the cr_Color.Value element. Once this sort is done, just copy the original pen numbers into your Palette structure, deallocate your array of Color_Registers, and begin drawing.
Putting it to use Once your WBJPalette is initialized, you can render freely in your window, reasonably confident that your images will look as good as they can given die available colors. If you desire a dark color, you can specify WB_Palette.Shadow or WB_Patette.Subdue. You can utilize the brightest color by specifying WB_Paiette.Hilite. The final chapter of Style, the Intuition manual, mentions that Intuition's Pointer is designed with die light source coming from die upper right. To uphold this convention, I have assigned color values in the demo program accordingly, with shadows appearing
at the lower left.
Note how' tiiis can be used to create the illusion of both raised and recessed surfaces within your window'.
Drop-shadow'ed text can be rendered easily using a linked pair of IntuiText structures. First, draw your text using die WB_Palette's Shadow' color for the FrontPen and the WB_Palette's BackGround color for die BackPen. In Drawing Mode JAM2, these settings will both erase any existing background and draw the text. Next, draw' your text again using the WBJPalette's Hilite color not directly on top of our shadow-, but offset slightiy upwards and to die right. This time, use Drawing Mode JAM1 so only the letters will be drawn over the shadow', The following sample program opens a simple Work-
bendi window', displays some text and graphics using the WB_Palette metiiod, ana. Waits for either a mouse click in its Close gadget or any keypress before exiting. Note that die IDCMPFlags of diis window include die NEWPREF5 bit. If, during die course of the program's execution, you choose to alter Workbench's Preferences structure, Intuition will send an IntuiMessage of class NEWPREFS. You can then reexamine die current colors and redraw your graphics accordingly. You can experiment by tunning SortColors and Preferences simultaneously, w'atching SortColors redraw its window after each
invocation of Preferences.
If you are satisfied that your graphics programming is safe even in the hands of the most colorblind Workbench user, you can include sort_colors.h and sort_colors.c in your own programs. All you need to do is call ChoosePensO after opening die intuition.library and before you begin rendering in your window. If Intuition is doing any amount of rendering for you Gadget imagery, Menus, or IntuiText you will probably want to call a routine which initializes those colors before you open your window'. With a WB_Palette handy, impressive graphics are automatically managed for any Workbench color
Listing One: sort_colors.h * sort_colors.h * ifndef SORT COLORS H Amazing on Disk Source Listings and Executables from the pages of Amazing Computingr Only $ 6.00 per disk ($ 7.00 for Non-Subscribers) lAmzrni mazi AcoMivn; See the complete listing on page 26.
SHORT wpref_buf; struct Color_Register *reg_buf; void "AllocMeraO; if(! (pref_buf - (SHORT *)AllocMem(ilSL, MEXF_FAST))) ( return(OUm_MEMDRY); ] if (!(reg_buf * (struct Ccior_Register ') AllocMem(sizeof(struct CoIor_Reoisterl «4L, KEMF FAST))! ( FreeMemiprefJ&uf, 1I6L); return (OUTTA_MEMORY) ; ' we only need the first 110 bytes * * to find the color data * GetFrefs(pref_buf, 11BL); for (i=0; i 4; i+ + ) ( (reg buf+i)- cr_Color = "(pref_buf + 55 + i); (reg buf+i)- cr_Colcr.Value * getvalue(RED_PEN,GREEN_PEN,BLUS_PEN) ; * save the pen number * (rag_buf+i)- cr_Number = i; 1 FreeMeir,
(pref_buf, 118L); * sort them from darkest to lightest * sortWBenchValues(reg buf); WB_Paiette.Shadow KH_FaIette.Subdue WB_?aiette.3ackGround wa Paiette,Hilite * we use bit-fielas here * * because that's the way * Intuition stores * the color data * use last 4 bits cr_Color; cr Number; * we use this to store the * * color register numbers which * * correspond to our shading * * scheme. * struct Color unsigned Blue : 4 unsigned Green ; 4 unsigned Red : 4 unsigned Value : 4 I; * for brightness * struct Color_Register struct Color SHORT Instruct Palette ( BYTE Shadow; BYTE
Subdue; BYTE 3ackGround; BYTE Hilite; ?define SORT_COLORS_H tifndef EXEC_TYP ES_H ?include exec types.h ?endif EXEC TYPES H * This routine could stand some improvement.
* A true evaluation of how the eye * * perceives brightness is beyond me. * 'So for now, we ;ust take an average *Y getvalue(r,g,b) WORD r, g, b; ( Idefine avg_VAMJE (a,b, c) (( (a) + (b) + (c) ) 3) r = r 4 ? 0 : r; g = g 4 ? 0 : g; b = b 4 ? C : b; FreeMem(reg_buf, siteof(struct Coior_Register) * 4L); return (SUCCESS); * end ChoosePens() ' = lreg_buf )- cr_Number; " (reg_buf+i)- cr Number; . (reg_buf+2)- cr Number;
- (reg buf+3)- cr_Number; * this is our global Palette
structure, * * used in ail our display routines * extern
struct Palette WB_Palette; ?endif SORT COLORS H Listing Two:
sort_colors.c return (AVG_VAI,UE (r, g, b) ) , ) »***«*«.....
* This is a modification of the shell () function • ' listed
in K I S. It specifically sorts 4 ' * Color Register
structures ' sortW3enchValues(v) struct Color_Register v[]; *
sart colors.c * tifp.aef S0RT_COlORS_H include
"sort_colors.h" fendif SCRT_COLORS_H Kifndef EXEC MEMORY_H
((include exec memory.h tendif EXEC_MEMORY_H define
OUTTA_MEMCRY 1 Fdefine SUCCESS 0 struct Palette w3_Palette; *
this guy looks at the current WorkBench colors, * ' computes
the brightness value of each, sorts * * them from darkest to
lightest, and puts the proper * * pen numbers into a global
Palette struct. ' ChoosePens () cr Color.Value define VA1
WORD gap, i, j; struct Color_Register temp; for (gap = 2; gap
0; gap * 2) for ( i «¦ gap; i 4; i++} for (j » i-gap; j 0 SS
(v[j].VAL v[j+gap].VAL); j -= gap) ( temp = v[ j]; v[j] =
v[g+gapj; v[j+gap] = temp; Listing Three: demo.c
(rea_buf+i)- cr_Color.Red (reg_buf+i}- cr_Color,Green (reg
buf+i)- cr_Color,Blue ' demo.c * define RED_PEN fdefine
CREEN_PEN Sdefine BLUE_PEK SHORT i;
* *¦ + ***¦* ?ifndef INTUITION_INTUITION_H ? Include intuit
ion intuition.h About the Author Rich Martin graduated from
U.C.L.A. in 1978 with a B.A. in Motion Pictures Television. A
musician all his life, he specializes in MIDT and electronic
music and has been recording for the past decade. With a
knowledge of C, BASIC, and AmigaDOS, Rich has been able to use
Inis Amiga as a powerful tool in making music.
Struct Border border[] = * these two get the raised look *!
CO, * Left, rop ' 0, 0, JAM1, * pens, mode * 5, button_hi_vects, £border[l] 1, * next * 0, 0, ' Left, Top * 0, 0, Jafkl, * per.s, mode * 5, button_sh_vects, NULL }, * these two get the recessed look * 10, 13, "Left, Top * 0, 0, JAM!, * per.s, mode * 5, tirle_sh_vects, 4border[31 ), * next ' 10, 13, " Left, Top * 0, 0, JAM1, « per.s, mode ' 5, title_hi_vects, NULL ); Rich's passion for animation is almost as old as his dedication to music. When free from his duties as Amiga manager of Do_While Studios, a computer arts cooperative in Boston, he indulges himself with
the help of Deluxe Video, Sculpt-Animate- 3D, and DeluxePaint III.
Tlendif INTUITION_INTUITION_H Sifr.def 50RT_COLORSJi rinclude "sort_colors.c" Sendif SORT_COLORS_H " first, a couple of TncuiTexts * * for drop-shadowed text * struct IntuiText text[] = ( 1, 0, JAK2, 0, 0, NULL, NULL, 4text[lj }, i 1, 0, JAM1, 2, -1, NULL, NULL, NULL ), }: * a few drawing vectors * ?define BUTTON WIDTH 46 ?define BUTTON_HEIGHT 15 ?define TITLE_WIDTH 300 ?define TITLE_HEIGHT 30 WORD button_hi_vects [] = •' 1, 0, BUTTON_WIDTri-l, C, BUTTON WIDTH-1, BUTTON HEIGHT-2, 3UTT0N"wiDTH-2, 3UTT0N_KEIGKT-2, BUTTON WIDTH-2, 1 I; WORD button_sh_vects !] = BUTT0N_WIDTH-1,
BUTTON_HEIGHT-I, 0, BUTTON HEIGHT-1, 0, 0, 1, 3UTTON__HEIGHT-2 If WORD title_hi_vects[] = !
1, 0, TITLE_WIDTH-1, 0, TITLE WIDTH-1, TITLE_HEIGHT-2, TITLE_WIDTH-2, TITLE~HEIGHT-2, TITLE_WIDTH-2, 1 )f WORD title_sh_vectst ] = ( t:tle_width-i, title_height-i, o, t:tle_height-i, 0, o, 1, i, 1, 7ITLE_HEIGHT"2 ?define WINDOW_riAGS WTNDOWCLOSE I ACTIVATE I WINDOWDRAG i WINDCWDEPTH ] SMART REFRESH TEXT window_title[] = " Window Sweet Window struct MewWindow new_window = 160, 50, * Left, Top ¦ 320, 100, * Width, Height *
- 1, -1, • Pens * CLOSEWINDOW I RAWKEY I NEWPREFS,
WINDOW_FLAGS, NULL, * 1st Gadget * NULL, * CheckMark *
window_title, NULL, » screen * NULL, ' BitMap V 0, 0, 320,
100, WBENCHSCREEN 1; struct Library "IntuitionBase; struct
Library "GfxBase, *OpenLibrary () ; struct Window "window,
"QpenWindow(); char "strings!] = !
"'Twas brillig and Che slithy toves,", " Did crvre and gymble in the wabe.", }f DoText(rp) struct Rastport "rp; * set up the colors * text[0].FrontPen = WB_?aiette.Shadow; text [0] .BackPen - WB_Palette.BackGrour,d; texc[lj-FrontPen = WB_Palette.Hilite; » plug in the first line * text[0].ITexc = text[1j .IText = IUBYTE ')strings[0]; PrintlText(rp, text, 13L, 20LI; " plug in the second line " text[0].IText ¦ cext[l].IText = (UBYTE *)strings[1]; PrintlText(rp, text, 131, 30L); DoBoxes(rp) struct RagtPort "rc; LONG X, y; " set up the colors * fcr (x=0L; x 4L; x+=2L) borderfx
].FrontPen = WB Palette.Hilite; border [x+1! .FrontPer. = WS Palette. Shadow; ) " draw the title box V DrawBorder(rp, Sborder[2), 0L, 0L) ;
* and a bunch of fake buttons *' far [x=36L; x 32CL -
BUTTON_WIDTH; xi-=-;CL) for (y=46L; y 100L - B'JTTCL HEIGHT;
y+»IoL) DrawBorder(rp, border, x, y); MASK V2.0- NEW NEW
F-BASIC' 'is an Enhanced, Compiled Basic Language System.
? Complete For Serious Programmers ? Direct IFF File Support ? Record Structures and Pointers ? Ultra Fast Floating Point ? Sample Program Disk 100 Examples ? Snobol-Like Pattern Matching DrawSorae(win) struct Window *win; ( struct RastPort *rp = win- RPort; DoTexc(rp); DoBoxes ro); !
DoATrick(win) struct Window *win; i struct RastPort *rp •* win- RPort; LONG x, y; for (x=QL; x 36L; x+ + ) WaitTOF ); SetRast(rp, (long)(KB_Palette.Shadow)); WaitTOF (); SetRast (rp, (long) WB_Palette,Hiiite)); ) !
OoenShop() r if (not(IntuitionBase = ReplyMsg(message) ) Func'r.Out (code) WORD code; ( if (window) Closewindow(window); if (GfxBase) CloseLibrary (GfxBase) ,- if (IntuitionBase) CloseLibrary(IntuitionBase); exit(code I; } main () ( struct IntuiMessage *im, 'GetMsgO; OpenShop(); FOREVER ( * sleep 'til Intuition comes a- callin' * WaitFort(window- UserPort) ; ' get all the latest news * while(im = GetMsg(window- UserPort)) ( if (ReadMaillira) == FALSE) I TidyUp(window); PunchOut(0); ) } ] } DoBackGround (win) struct Window *win; ( * Gotta fill the background if * * color 0 is not
acceptable * if (WB_Palette.BackGround != 0) ¦; SetAPen(win- RPort,(long)W3_Palette.BackGround); RectFill (win- ?iPort, 2L, 10L,window- Wldth-3L, win- Height-llL); RectFill fwir.- RForc, 2L, (long) wir.- GZZHeight, win- GZ2Width+3l,, win- Height-2I,},* 1 ? Easy For Beginners ? SO Fast Beats C!
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INSTANT 60.0 Gels In Multi-Forth, Part III by John Bnshakra I usually make this tasty dish in the morning while I vacuum: Ingredients 10 3-5-inch blank, floppy diskettes 1 bottle of tabasco sauce 1 roll of Peppermint LifeSavers Several pieces of broken glass 1 bottle of fine wine 1 dozen carrots 1 piece of burnt toast 1 egg, rotten 1 ballpeen hammer Place all ingredients except disks, LifeSavers, wine and hammer on pastry board. While drinking wine, pound on board vigorously with hammer until all ingredients are thoroughly pulverized. Pour powdered debris into blender, including hammer for
good measure. Set blender to "puree" and let run for 3 minutes. After blending, pour contents into one of your disk drives. Insert disks one at a time and type FORMAT DRIVE DF1: NAME JUNK-FOOD NOICONS Place formatted disks on silver platter, garnish with LifeSavers, and serve chilled.
When listing my faults as a programmer, 1 have to rank laziness right up there in the top five. The whole Gels In Multi- Forth project was conceived out of laziness. 1 just cannot stand typing in image bitmaps by hand. Even if you use the public domain IFF routines, you've still got to do all that terrible initialization the hard way by hand. Anyone who has ever had to do this will tell you diat it takes inordinate amounts of time.
The resulting code is not only ugly but wasteful, as it is typically executed only once by the main program, After reflecting upon the problem for a while, 1 determined that nearly all Gel initialization could be done through a single function, if die necessary' information w'ere stored in a disk file. The information was already there; all I had to do was convert it into a usable form IFF files.
I immediately began writing a program to convert IFF files made with Dpaint II into files I could read in from the disk, storing the information direcdy in Gel structures. The result appeared in Part One of Gels In Multi-Forth, which appeared in the April, 1988 issue of Amazing Computing.
However, even diat program proved to be too hard to use. I knew it had oudived its usefulness after some late-night hallucinadons, in which die program asked me to delete its executable image, as well as its own source code. The time had come for me to rewrite die program, using die ultimate lazy- man's user interface: Intuition.
For those uninitiated folks who may be unfamiliar with exacdy what the program does, here is a short explanation. The converter program allows die user to draw Gels using one of the myriad paint programs available. The image is then saved to disk as an IFF Brush file. Using the converter, the user may enter information pertinent to Gels such as x- and y-positions, collision masks, all the various Bob flags, and the zillions of animation object flags so diat it may be stored on a disk. The program then converts the IFF image to the format needed by the Amiga when it is time to display the Gel
(see part one of Gels for a detailed explanation of tiiis process). Using specialized functions, these numbers, flags, and converted image data can be read direcdy back into Gel structures at run time, This is much easier dian having to store all die information by hard- coding.
The file format used by the old program proved to be too clumsy for larger programs, so it was also redesigned. Now, the converter program stores more than one Gel in a file, so an entire animation sequence can be read in one shot. Below' are the layouts for the newr files, beginning with the layout for a hardw'are sprite:
1. ) Number of Gels stored in the file: a long integer (4 bytes).
2. ) SimpleSprite structure (defined in graphics sprite.f).
3. ) Sprite Image data. Note that the converter program
automatically pads the first and last two words of image data
with zeroes.
The tw'o blocks above are repeated for each sprite stored in the file. For Virtual Sprites, die file structure is as follows:
1. ) Number of Gels in the file (4 bytes).
2. ) Virtual Sprite structure (defined in graphics gels.f Sprite
Image Data).
The Virtual Sprite structure and its corresponding image data are repeated for each Gel in die file.
Next, the file format for Bobs:
1. ) Number of Gels in the file (4 bytes).
2. ) Virtual Sprite Structure.
3 ) Bob structure.
4. ) Bob image data.
Once again, the Virtual Sprite, Bob, and image data are repeated for each Gel in the file.
For Animation Objects, the file format is as follows:
1. )
Number of Gels (4 bytes).
2. )
.'Animation Object structure
3. )
Virtual Sprite structure.
4. )
Bob structure.
5. )
AnimComp structure.
6. )
Image data.
The Virtual Sprite, Bob, AnimCoinp and image data blocks are repeated for each animation component in the file, Note that the Animation Object structure is not repeated, since only one such structure is needed.
There is no colormap information stored in the Gel files.
The converter program still writes out the colormaps to a separate file.
Now take a look at listing One, which is called "gels.f,'' This file contains all the Forth code required to read in files made with the convener program. For non-Forth readers, I've included Listing Three, "gels.c," which contains the functions written in C. Listing Two is a short demo program that contains Forth code for placing a hardware sprite, virtual sprite, bob, and a joystick-controlled animation object on the screen.
The first items in "gels.f' are global variables, which are used by all the functions. Why not just include them as "locals"?
That was my original intention, but when I got around to writing the function to make an animation object, I ran into some serious trouble. Multi-Forth allows the use of only 10 local variables inside a definition. The "makeaob" function was using 15, so 1 had to factor these out and make them global.
One of these global variables, "gacarr" (global AnimComp array), is a two-dimensional array that will hold animation components as they are read in from disk. After they are read in, they will be linked together (more on that later).
The first function, "readygels," initializes die Amiga's Gel system and is lifted pretty much intact from its C counterpart in die ROM Kernel Manual. The Gel system keeps track of things using (what else?) A linked list. In diis case, it is a list of virtual sprites. In order to use die system, you must allocate dummy head and tail Virtual Sprite structures. .All virtual sprites will be inserted into the list between diese two.
Another necessary structure is called Gelslnfo.
The leftmost, rightmost, topmost and bottommost fields in this structure are most important. These fields define the size of the screen for collision-detection purposes.
Also of interest is the "sprRsrvd" field. This field reserves certain hardware sprites, thus making them unavailable for allocation. Experience has shown diat these hardware sprite functions should be reserved in a manner exacdy opposite to that described in the ROM Kernel Manual.
There are 8 hardware sprites available for use, each of them having a corresponding bit in die byte- sized field called "sprRsrvd.11 For example, bit 0 corresponds to hardware sprite 0 (the Intuition pointer), and bit 7 corresponds to sprite 7. The manual suggests that storing a 1 in a bit posidon will reserve the respective sprite. The manual goes on to suggest that storing a 3 in diis field will reserve sprites 0 and
1. In fact, the opposite is true. Storing a 0 in the bit position
will reserve die sprite. Thus, you must store 252 to reserve
sprites 0 and 1 (11 111 100 binary = 252 decimal).
Notice that all dynamic memory allocation is done using Intuition's AllocRemember function. "Remembering" solves the problem of having scads of ugly memory pointers lying around which you'll have to free up one at a time when you've finished. For arguments, AllocRemember wants to see tlrree things: 1) an address where it can store the addresses of the Remember structures it creates; 2) the size of the requested memory block; and 3) flags indicating die type of memory being requested (CHIP, FAST, etc.). The first item, die address of an address, might cause some problems. Intuition calls this
magic address a "key." (We'll run across these again when we get to .Animation Objects.) In Forth, we can set up this key using old-fashioned VARIABLES. Declare a variable like this; VARIABLE mykey 0 mykey i Later, when we need to pass the key to AllocRemember, we just say the name of our variable and its address is pushed onto die stack. For instance, we might call AllocRemember like so; mykey size MEMF CHIP AllocKemember to nemptr This statement calls the function and stores the result in die local or global variable called "mernptr." If, after calling this funcdon, we were to type mykey @
ENIER Putting it at! Together.
Special! AMAZING Video Supplement Getting Started in Video by Richard Starr Part I of everyman's intro to great Amiga desktop video!
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Pro Video Gold by Oran Sands III An Amiga program for video pros.
MediaPhile by Larry Krieff An affordable Amiga video editing system.
Broadcast Titler by R, Shamms iMortier, PhD.
Broadcast-quality titling on the Amiga.
Amazing Reviews Superplan by Marion Deland Grafox's new spreadsheet and time manager.
Intruder Alert by Mike Morrison A new' kind of Amiga monitor.
On Your Alert: Using System Alerts from BASIC by John F. Wiederhirn Display the Guru within BASIC & create your own messages.
Snapshot reviews by R. Brad Andrews Hostage Rescue Mission, Combat Course & Thunder Blade.
International Soccer reviewed by Derek J. Perry A weathery look at the game in the Amiga atmosphere.
Amazing Features V1.4: A Pre Preview by Mike Morrison A pre-release look at Amiga OS 1.4. DevCon '89 by Mike Morrison DevCon '89 in San Francisco, Mike tells all!
Hardcopy by Melissa J. Bernier More puzzles to ponder for die .Amiga enthusiast.
Amazing Programming Lattice 5.0 by Gerald Hull Experiences with the Lattice C Development System.
Executing Batch Files in AmigaBASIC by Mark Aydellotie Executing AmigaDOS commands within AmigaBASIC programs.
Building a Better String Gadget by John Bushakra Smooth data entry using string gadgets.
Amazing Columns New Products and Other Neat Stuff by Elizabeth G. Fedorzyn Elan Performer, IMG Scan, Dual Serial Boards, Archipelogos, Momentum Mail, TeleTutor and even The Three Bears!
Bug Bytes by John Steiner A new Fat Agnus chip, Digi-Paint upgrade & more!
C Notes by Stephen Kemp Directing programs via the Command Line.
Roomers by the Bandito Whispers from Epyx, Atari, and the approaching hoard of European software products.
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Use the Reader Sendee Card in every issue of AC to contact those advertisers who have sparked your interest. Advertisers want to hear from you. This is the best way they have of determining the Amiga community's interests and needs. Take a moment and contact the companies with products you want to know more about. And, if you wish to contact an Amazing Advertiser directly, please tell them you saw their advertisement in: Advertiser Page Reader Service Number ACDA 32 104 AmiEXPO 21 159 Anivision 31 150 AROCK Computer Software 52 107 Arrakis 54 10S ASDG 70 160 B & B Computers 69 110 Celestial
Systems 60 112 Computability 66 115 Consultron 68 155 Creative Solutions 38 144 Delphi Noetic Systems 93 116 Empire Graphics 43 151 Expansion Technologies 97 120 Express-Way Software 53 122 EZ-Soft 4 119 Great Valley Products 1 158 Micro Momentum, Inc. 14 125 Micro-Systems Software _ 126 Micro-Systems Software CII 101 MicroBotics 11 109 MicroWay 9 114 NewTek CIV 102 Omnitech Computers 49 128 One Byte 87 129 Poor Person Software 40 131 Prespect Technics Inc. 17 133 Safe Harbor Software 103 134 Sedona Software 10 135 Software Advantage Consulting Corp. 101 138 Tangent 270 30 154 Templicity 46
157 Tensor Productions 38 141 The Bit Bucket Computer Store 51 142 The Memory Location 65 143 the address of "mykey" would be put onto tire stack, and the symbol would fetch 32 bits at that address. As a result, tire number left on the stack is an address itself or, more specifically, the address of an address. Voild! What exacdy is that magic address stored at "mykey"? It's a pointer to the first Remember structure in a linked list of Remember structures.
Each node in the list keeps details on the size of the allocated memory block, the actual pointer to the memory, and, of course, a pointer to the next node.
In C, we would declare a variable and tell the compiler something about its type. In this case, tire variable is a pointer to a Remember structure: struct Remember 'mykey = NULL; When we actually call AllocRemember, we use the ampersand (&) to give us the address of this variable (the address of a variable that holds an address): raemptr = AllocRemember(Sraykey,size,KEMF_CHIP); We need to make three more allocations before we can use the Gel system. The iastColor" array holds pointers to Virtual Sprite color tables. There are eight cells in the array, one for each hardware sprite. Here the
system stores the address of the color table last used to display the respective sprite.
The "nextLine" array again has space for eight numbers.
In diis array, the system stores the next display line at which it may re-use the corresponding hardware sprite.
The last table we need to allocate is for collision handling.
A "collTable" is an array of 16 pointers. Each pointer is the address of a routine executed when the system detects a certain kind of Gel-to-Gel collision. Using pointers to functions in Forth is difficult, because the routines must be written in machine language. The reason for this is that the Gel system executes these routines as machine language subroutines, and the function must end with an RTS instruction. Normal Forth definitions return through addresses left on the "return" stack.
The oniy thing left to do is store the address of our Gelslnfo structure in the RastPort and call InitGels. At this point, the Gel system has finally been initialized and is ready to use.
The first and by far the simplest in our array of functions is called "makehardsprt." As its name implies, it creates a hardware sprite given the name of a disk file, a Remember key, and an array to store the hardware sprite pointer.
Since these functions will be using the AmigaDOS file I O routines, you might want to include the Forth file, "libraries dos.f," which contains the various file-access flag definitions. In my system, I've included both this file and a file defining Forth AmigaDOS calls. I have also made a snapshot, so that these definitions are ready to use when Multi-Forth loads. This file, "dos.calls," has been listed in the previous Gels articles, but for completeness, I've included it again as Listing Four.
The function "makehardsprt" opens the file and then reads the number of hardware sprites it contains. It then enters a loop, in which it reads each of the elements in the file. You might want to refer back to the file format for hardware sprites, which I described above.
The first block in the file is a SimpleSprite structure. The function allocates space for this in memory and reads it in from the file. Remember that in Multi-Forth, when you say the name Use A2000 Cards With Your Amiga 500 or 10!
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Of a structure in a definition, die size of the structure in bytes is pushed onto the stack.
From information already contained in die SimpleSprite structure when it is read in, die program determines the size of die data block dm makes up die sprite image. The formula is as follows: size = height + 2) *2*2 A value of 2 is added to the height because sprite data is actually padded with 2 additional rows of data. One row proceeds the actual image, and die other follows it. The first multiplication by 2 compensates for the fact that each line of die sprite image is made up of 2 words of data. The next multiplication by 2 gives us the size of the data block in bytes. For example, if
the sprite were 9 lines high, we w'ould add 2 to get 11, and then multiply by 2 for a product of 22. This result represents die number of 16-bit words that make up die sprite image. We multiply by 2 again to get 44, the number of bytes that make up the image. We then allocate a block of memory to hold the image data and read the data from the disk.
Next, we have to store the SimpleSprite in the user's array.
The function looks at the number of Gels in die file. If the number is greater dian one, dien die address passed to this function is assumed to be an array of pointers. The array is indexed by the loop index, multiplied by four (a pointer is four bytes long}. If diere is only one Gel in the file, then the Gel structure is assumed to be the address of a variable, and the pointer to the Gel structure is stored at the address. The loop continues for each sprite stored in the file. When the loop terminates, the file is closed, and the function returns.
The function "makevsprt" is similar to its hardware sprite companion. The main exception is the additional memory allocation that must take place in a virtual sprite. Specifically, the virtual sprite's collision mask and borderline image both of which are used to detea collisions must be retained. The following formulas are used in determining the size of these two blocks: CollM£sk_size = (Height * Width) * 2 Borderline size - width * 2 From these formulas, it is evident that the collision mask must be as big as one plane of the sprite itself, and the borderline area must be as big as the
sprite is wide. Therefore, if the image is 2 data words wide (16 pixels), we need to ask for space to store 2 words of data. Both sizes are multiplied by 2 to give the size in bytes, rather than in words.
The collision mask is the logical "or" of all the bit planes that make up the sprite image. The borderline image is the horizontal logical "or" of the collision mask. Think of die image bit planes as pages of a book. To make the collision mask, all the pages are put under a magic iron that squishes them into a single page. To make the borderline image, this page is then folded like an accordion, and put back under the iron. The iron squishes the accordion so that it becomes a single, narrow' strip of paper.
After these memory areas have been allocated, "nia- kevsprt" calls the Gel system function IniuMasks, which performs die squishing described above. Again, if there is more than one Gel in die data file, it is assumed diat the user passed an array to die funcdon. The current Gel is stored in the array indexed by "i" which tells us how many iterations the loop has done.
If only one Gel is stored in the file, the function assumes the user passed die address of a variable at which it can store the address of this Virtual Sprite. After reading all Gels, die loop terminates, the file is closed, and the function returns.
The next step on the Gel function evolutionary ladder is called "makebob," and by now you should be getting die hang of how' these diings w'ork. The number of Gels stored in the file is read in, and the function enters a loop. In the loop, space is allocated for a bob, as well as, for a Virtual Sprite.
From numbers already stored in the Virtual Sprite structure (using the converter), die size of the bob's image data is calculated. The formula is (Width * Height * Depth) * 2 The depth variable is, of course, the number of bit planes in the image; once again, die multiplication by tw'o gives the size of the image data block in bytes. The bob, virtual sprite, and image data are then read from die data file. The pointer to the image data is stored in the Viitual Sprite, then die two Gel structures are linked together. The bob drawing flags OVERLAY, SAVEBACK, and SAVE BOB are all saved with the
converter and need not be set again, The function then performs the same allocation as "makevsprt" for the bob's collision mask and borderline image.
In addition, die same pointer to the collision mask area is stored in the bob's ImageShadow field. These tw'o data areas are the same size. If the SAVEBACK flag was set widi the converter, dien the function will allocate the necessary memory area for saving and restoring the background when die Bob moves.
If the user requests a double-buffered bob, die converter stores a non-zero value in the bob's Dbuffer field. 'When "makebob'' sees this non-zero value, it allocates a data strucaire called "DBufPacket" and stores its pointer in the bob's Dbuffer field. Also, 'makebob" will allocate anodier memory block exactly the same size as the original block used to store die bob's image data. You can see diat double-buffered bobs have a voracious appetite for memoty use them cautiously.
A call to InitMasks creates the masks for collision detection. The same mechanism described for hardware and virtual sprites stores the resulting Bob. When all bobs have been read and initialized, the data file is closed and the function returns.
The real star of this show is the function called "makeaob." As advertised, it reads in an animation object stored on disk and does the dirty work of linking it together. It turns out that linking die animation object is not half as bad as deciphering the reams of variables and flags that control these beasts.
I'll go into a litde more detail on how to control animation objects when we examine Listing Two. For now, let's concentrate on reading in and hooking togedier an animadon object.
An animation object can be made up of several different components called AnimComps. A classic example of diis is die "RoboCity" demo that nearly every Amigaphile has seen. It features a lanky bean-pole robot strolling along a city street.
The demo also features a buxom female being, of sorts, a hopping creature, and, of course, the (in)famous dog that endlessly terrorizes a hapless fire hydrant.
Let me explain how' animation objects are put together, using the robot from RoboCity as an example. The robot might be made up of six different animation components: one head, one body, two arms, and two legs. The position of each component is specified relative to the position of the Animation Object itself ([AnX, AnY] in tire animation object data structure).
In each AnimComp structure there is a pointer to the next AnimComp in the list (NextComp), as well as a pointer to the previous AnimComp (PrevComp).
Each component may have several different views. The robot's head might have two views, while Iris arms and legs might have three views each: forward, middle, and back. Each different view of a component is itself an AnimComp and is linked into the list by pointers called NextSeq and PrcvSeq.
Think of the entire structure as a two dimensional array with tire different views of each component in the columns and each different component (head, arms, legs) in the rows. Figure 1 illustrates this concept.
The array "gacarr" is used to hold AnimComps as they are read in from the disk. The rows and columns are indexed by tocal variables w and x, respectively. When animation objects are created with the converter, each IFF image convened is assumed to be the next view in a sequence. In order to signal the end of a view sequence, die RINGTRIGGER gadget is selected. The flag is stored in die AnimComp structure and written to the disk. When reading back components, "mak- eaob" looks for any component with the RINGTRIGGER flag set.
When the function finds the flag, the row index, w, is incriminated by one, and the column index, x, is set to zero. The next AnimComp in the file is then assumed to be die initial view of the next component making up the animation object. Figure 2 illustrates the hypothetical contents of the two-dimensional array after all components in the file have been read in. Note that the components have not yet been properly linked together.
Linking the components is performed by die second do- loop in "makeaob." First, the column index is set back to zero.
The function then enters a loop that executes once for each component making up the object.
Inside the do-ioop is a while-ioop that links up each view of die current component. To do diis, we must look in die cell that follows the current view. If we find a zero there, we know the current view is the last one for this component, and we must start on die next row of die array. If the value at die next cell is non-zero, we store that value in the current view's NextSeq pointer. We then store dre current view in die next cell's PrevSeq pointer, increment the column index, and perform the next iteration of die while-ioop.
When the while-ioop terminates, we need to set the NextSeq pointer of the last view to point back to die initial view thus creating a circular list. We tiien set the NextComp pointer of the initial view (x = 0) to die AnimComp at the next row in die array. We will also store the current component in die PrevComp pointer of the next component in the array. The do-loop then continues with die next row of die array.
There are only three more tilings to do after the do-loop terminates. We need to store die AnimComp at row zero, column zero in the HeadComp pointer of the AnimOb structure (the first component in die array). Then we call GetGBuffers, which handles allocation of the CollisionMask, Borderline and ImageShadow for each component diat makes up die object. A final call to InitMasks finishes the job. The data file is then closed and the dynAMIGAlly allocated animation object is left on the stack for the calling program. Figure 3 illustrates an animation object diat has been completely linked
There is a limit to die number of components you can store in a data file. If you look at the declaration of the array "gacarr," you will see it has been dimensioned to 10 rows by 10 columns. This means that the animation object must not have more than 10 components, and each component can have a maximum of 10 different views. It's important to remember just how memory hungry Gels actually are: Each component takes up 130 bytes of RAM: 60 bytes for die Virtual Sprite structure, 32 bytes for the Bob structure, and 98 bytes for the AnimComp structure. Ten such components would total 1,300 bytes.
If each component had 10 views, you would be looking at 13,000 bytes of memory, and that does not include image data, collision masks, image shadows, borderlines or the buffers needed for saving and restoring the background. In short, Gels can be very useful gadgets, but you must be frugal in using them. They have a voracious appetite for RAM!
Now let's take a look at the short demo program in Listing Two. The demo uses images drawn with Dpaint Z wdiich were run through the converter program. The hardware sprite is a pinball that bounces around in a star pattern; the Virtual Sprite is a little stick figure that does jumping jacks; the Bob is a spirograph pattern; and the animation object is a Centipede-like spider controlled with the joystick.
At the top of the program you will find all the variables needed to pass to dre Gel functions. Two of the less obvious constants are "stickchip" and "sticktrig," which are actually hardware addresses. While shunned in the Amiga's early days, reading and writing directly to the hardware is now all the rage among programmers. (Ever the fashionable computer geek, I naturally follow diis trend.)
The array "myvs" will hold the two virtual sprites. Each cell must be big enough to hold a four-byte address, so I ALLOT space for eight bytes. The remaining variables hold die pointers to each Gel created by the functions. The array "sprpatii" holds the coordinate values of each point along the path followed by the hardware sprite.
The function "readcmap" reads in the colormap values from die disk. The file was created with die converter program and has the following format:
1. ) Number of color registers (4 bytes).
2. ) One word for each color register, stored in 0RGB form.
Space for the color table is allocated using AllocRemember, and a block of sized (numregs * 2) bytes are read from the file.
"Readstick" uses a quick and dirty method of detecting the direction in which the joystick is pointing and moves the animation abject accordingly. We are interested in the 16 bits residing at memory location SDFFOOG specifically, bits 9, 8, 1, and 0. To inspect the state of these four bits at any moment in time, wre must AND the contents of location SDFF00C with 771 (0000001100000011 binary = 771 decimal). Any of the four bits that are set in location SDFFOOC will also be set as a result of this operation. The following table summarizes the possible results of diis AND operation (bits are
numbered zero to fifteen, zero being the bit on the far right): 0000000000000000 = 0 stick centered stick down stick down, right stick right 0000000000000001 = 1 0000000000000010 = 2 0000000000000011 - 3 0000000100000000 = 256 = stick up 0000000100000011 = 259 = stick up, right 0000001000000000 = 512 = stick up, left OOCOOOllOOOOOOOO = 76S = stick left OQQQOOUOOOOOOOl - 769 = stick down, lefi The spider is controlled by storing appropriate values for its velocity. For example, if the stick is centered, the spider is not moving and has a velocity of zero. If the stick is pointing to the right,
the spider will have a velocity of +3, which moves it to the right by 3 pixels. Recall from part one of this series that all values pertaining to animation objects pixel values, velocities and accelerations must be specified in fixed-poinl binary fraction notation. The decimal point is fixed in tire word at bit location 6. This means drat all whole-number values must be shifted 6 places to die left before they are stored. The Multi- Forth word "scale" does this for us.
Opening up die screen is done by the word "de- moscreen." The screen is opened, die colormap is read and loaded (LoadRGB4), and the Gel system is initialized using "readygels."
The hardware sprite is read in by the word "initss." The call to "makehardsprt" has die following form: O'1 dfl :pinbail. Sprite" mykey myss makehardsprt: 0" dfl:pinball.sprite" puts die address of the NULL-terminated string onto the stack. The variables "mykey1' and "myss" are used for Intuition's memory: aad storage of the pointer to a SimpIeSprite structure.
Like all other resources the Amiga uses, hardware sprites must be requested and allocated. The call to GetSprite does this. A -1 passed to GetSprite indicates that any old sprite will do. If we wanted to be very specific, we could pass a value of 7 for instance, and GetSprite would try to give us sprite number
7. If it failed, it would return to us a -1.
To get tire sprite ready for display, we call ChangeSprite, which expects as its parameters a ViewPort, a SimpIeSprite, and a pointer to die sprite's image data. Notice that we had to fetch die address of our SimpIeSprite with myss 3 since "myss" is a variable.
Initializing the virtual sprite is similar. The sprite's color table is stored in SprColors. There are two sprites stored in die file, so the same color table is stored in the second sprite as well. We can get at the second sprite with myvs 4+ 6 We must do 4+ before fetching the address of the virtual sprite from "myvs."; otherwise, we'll be storing a pointer in the wrong place. Before we can use the Virtual Sprite, it must be added to die system's Gel list, with AddVSprite. In order to keep diings simple, I add only the first virtual sprite. To change die sprite's image I swap the image data
pointers back and forth between the two sprites.
"Initbob" reads the spirograph pattern. Initial x- and y- coordinate values were stored with the converter program but did not work well with this demo, so I simply change these values after die Bob has been created. Like Virtual Sprites, Bobs must be added to the Gel list. Before drawing the Bob, the list .must be sorted witii SortGList. The pattern is tiien drawn and removed from die list, since it is only a backdrop over which the other Gels move.
The spider is created widi "initaob." The pointer to die resulting AnimOb is stored in the global variable "aob." Again, initial values of Xvel, Yvel, RingXTrans and RingYTrans were stored with the convener but proved unsighdy in this demo.
The values of Xvel and Yvel are set to zero so that the spider does not move when it first appears. RingXTrans and RingYtrans are used to move the animation object when die system detects a component widi the R1NGTRIGGER flag set. When die flag is found, the system uses die NextSeq pointer to point back to the initial view in the sequence, and the values at RingX and RingY are added to the object's AnX and AnY values. I didn't want the spider to move when the R1NGTRIGGER flag was found, so 1 had to store zeroes in RingX and RingY.
To add die animation object to die list in exacdy the same fashion as AllocRemember a key is used. The contents of die variable "aobkey" are a pointer to die first AnimOb in a linked list of AnimObs.
Now the fun begins. The word "demo" uses the initialization routines above to build the Gel demo. All Gels are created, added to the list, and displayed. The program dien enters a loop, which continues to execute until the fire button on the joystick is pressed.
First, the hardware sprite is moved. When the program detects the zero at the end of the path array, it resets the local variable "padi" to point back to the beginning of die array.
Otherwise, the sprite is moved to the current pixel values. To move the hardware sprite tve must use die Intuition routines MakeScreen and RethinkDisplay. These two routines must also be used to display and move Virtual Sprites.
Next, the joystick is read and die program calls the Animate function, which moves the spider to its new location.
Note that the spider is not actually drawn at this time. Animate processes every object in the list, so even if we had five animation objects, u'e would only need one call to Animate, The animation system uses a simple mechanism to switch between viewrs of an object.
When you create an animation object, you store a nonzero value in the TimeSet field of the AnimOb data structure.
This value is copied into anodier field called Timer. On each call to Animate, die value in Timer is incremented by negative one. When die value reaches zero, the system uses the NextSeq and PrevSeq pointers to switch to the next view of the component. The next view might have a TimeSet value different from that of the previous view, but this is perfectly legal. Remember that even tiiese TimeSet values must be "scaled" or shifted six bit-positions to the left.
Before the Gels can be drawn, the list needs to be sorted.
SortGlist does the sorting for us. Finally, one call to DrawGList draws the entire list of Gels.
The hardware sprite is then moved a second time, and the Virtual Sprite's image is toggled. Why bother to have two Virtual Sprites around if only one will be added to die system list? In this program, both sprites are the same size, so die question is quite valid. However, what if this weren't the case?
In the real world, it is very' likely that different views of an object will be different sizes. Even a difference of one or two pixels could cause problems, because tire image data will not be interpreted correctly.
In all probability, if you were using these functions in a real graphics application, you would have one virtual sprite (or bob) that is actually added to tire list and the array that is passed to the appropriate "Make" Gel function. When it came time to display a different view of the object, you would have to copy the width, height and depth values as well as the image data pointer into the virtual sprite data structure that you actually added to the list.
To check for the joystick trigger, we examine eight bits at location ''sticking'' (SBFE001). When the value at this location is 124, the trigger has been pressed, and the loop terminates.
Before exiting, we must remember to return to the system all those resources the demo program was using. The hardware sprite is returned with FreeSprite, the Virtual Sprite is removed from die list, and the screen is closed. Also, we mustn't forget the memory that is tied up in the spider's CollisionMask, Borderline, and ImageShadow. The function FreeGBuffers frees up diis memory. A zero is passed to FreeGBuffers to indicate that the spider was not double-buffered.
Finally, we free up all remaining memory with FreeRe- member. The Remember key is passed, along widi a non-zero value, to indicate that we want all memory freed. If we pass a value of zero to FreeRemember, the function deallocates only the space for the link nodes (the Remember structures) and leave the allocated memory blocks intact.
Well, this concludes the Gels in Multi-Forth series. 1 hope 1 was able to pass along some knowledge in an enjoyable, comprehensible way. If you are interested in using the updated converter program, look for it soon on an Amicus disk!
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Listing One: gels.f All programs were written using Multi-Forts, from Creative Solutions -1701 Randolph Rd. suite 12 Rockville MD 20852 - Globals fcr Gels.f -- global fileid 0 to fileid File handle returned by dosCpen 10 10 4 2array gacarr Will hold AnimComps... global idata 0 to idata Address of ImageData read from data files global size 0 to size Size in bytes of the ImageData.
Global numgels 0 to numgels Number of gels in the data file.
I reaaygels initializes the Gel system ) ( rport = address of a RastPort structure ) ( key = address of a Remember key variable 1 : readygels ( rport key - ) 0 0 0 locals I head tail ginfo rkey rport I rkey VirtualSprite MEMF_CLEAR AllocRemember to head rkey VirtualSprite MEMF_CLEAR AllocRemember to tail rkey Gelslnfo MEMF_CLEAP. AllocRemember to ginfo 252 ginfo tgisprRsrvd c! Reserve sprites 0 and 1.
0 ginfo +gileftmost w!
0 ginfo +gitopmost w!
Rport +rpBitMap @ +bm3ytesPerRow w(? 8* 1- ginfo tgirightmost w!
Rport +rpBitMap Q +bmRows w9 1- ginfo +gibottommost w!
Rkey 4 8* memf_chif kekf_clear ! AllocRemember ginfo vgilastColor !
Rkey 2 8* MEKF_CHIP MEMF_CLEAR | AllocRemember ginfo fginextLine rkey collTable MEMF_CHIP MEMF_C1EAR AllocRemember ginfo +gicollHandler !
Ginfo rport +rpGelsInfo !
Head tail ginfo InitGels ; 1 I raakehardsprt - reads in hardware sprites from disk ) ( name - address of a NULL terminated filename string.
) ( key s address of a variable for Remembering.
) I ssarr - either an address of a variable, or an array big enough to ) ( hold all sprites in the file.
) : makehardsprt ( name key ssarr ) 0 localsi ssprt ssarr rkey r.ame name MODE_QLDFILE dosOpen to fileid fileid addr.of numgels 4 dosRead drop numgels 0 do rkey SimpleSprite MEMF_CLEAR AllocRemember to 0 0 locals I lbob vs vsarr barr rkey name t ssprt fileid ssprt SimpleSprite dosRead drop name MCE E_0 LDFILE dosOpen to fileid ssprt +ssheignt w@ 2+ 4* to size rkey size MEMF_CHIP MEMF_CLEAR f AllocRemember to fileid addr.of numgels 4 dosRead drop idata fileid idata size dosRead drop numgels 0 do idata ssprt +ssposctldata 1 rkey VirtualSprite MEHF_CLEAR AllocRemember to vs rkey Bob
MEMF_CLEAR AllocRemember to numgels 1 if lbob ssprt ssarr i 4* + J fileid vs VirtualSprite dosRead drop else fileid lbob 3oh dosRead drop ssprt ssarr !
Vs tvsHeight w@ then vs +vsWidth w@ * loop vs tvsDepth v S * 2* to size rkey size MEMF_CH1P MEMF_CLEAR | AllocRemember to fileid dosClose ; idata 1 _ V fileid idata si2e dosRead drop I ( makevsprt reads in virtual sprites from disk.
Idata vs tvsImageData i ) lbob vs tvsVSBob I ( name = address of a NULL terminated filename.
Vs lbob tbobBobVSprite !
J ( key = address of a variable for Remembering.
Rkey ) vs +vsHeight w8 vs +vsWidth w@ * 2* vsarr = either an address or an array to store vsprites at.
MEMF_CLEAR MEMF_CHIP | AllocRemember dup ) vs +vsColl.Xask !
: makevsprt ( name key f vsarr - ) ibob tboblir.ageShadow !
0 locals 1 ivsprt vsarr rkey name 1 rkey name MOD£_OLDFILE dosOpen to fileid vs tvsWidth wS 2* MEMF_CHIP MEHF_CLEAR AllocRemember vs fileid addr.of numgels 4 dosRead drop +vsBorderLine numgels 0 do vs tvsFiags w0 SAVEBACK and rkey VirtualSprite MEMF CLEAR AllocRemember to if Ivsprt rkey size MEKF_CLEAR MEMF_CHI? I AlloeRemenber fileid Ivsprt VirtualSprite dosRead drop lbob tbobSaveBuffer i Ivsprt +vsHeight w@ then Ivsprt +vswidth w@ * Ivsprt +vsDepth w@ * 2* to size bob tbobDBuffer 0 rkey size MEMF CHIP MEMF CLEAR I AllocRemember if to idata rkey BbufPacket MEMF CLEAR AllccRemember fileid
idata size dosRead drop lbob +bobDBuffer !
Idata Ivsprt +vsImageData !
Rkey size MEMF_CLEAR MEMF CHI? 1 AllocRemember lbob tbobDBuffer @ tdbpbufbuffer 1 rkey then Ivsprt +vsHeight w@ Ivsprt +vsWidth w6 * 2* MEMF_CHIP MEMF_CLEAR I AllocRemember vs InitMasks Ivsprt +vsCollMask !
Numgels 1 if vs vsarr i S* + !
Rkey lbob barr i 4* - !
Ivsprt +vsWidth wG 2* else MEMF_CHIP MEMF_CLEAR | AllocRemember vs vsarr !
Ivsprt +vsBorderLine !
Lbob barr !
Then Ivsprt InitMasks loop numgels 1 if fileid dosClose ?
Ivsprt vsarr i 4* + 1 else ( -
- ) Ivsprt vsarr J ( makeaob
- read in and link together an animation object.
Then ) loop ( name 33 1 NULL terminated filename.
Fileid dosClose ; 1 key ad dress of a variable for Remembering, ( - ) t ( rport = ad dress of a Rastport structure.
makebob - read bobs in from disk... 1 ) ( db - TRUE ( i) or FALSE (0) flag indicating whether or name = NULL terminated filename not ) ) 1 the AnimOb is double buffered.
key 13 address of a variable for remembering.
1 ) : xakeaob ( name key rport db - acb ) ( barr = address of a variable or an array for bobs 0 0 0 0 0 0 ) locals 1 lac Ivs lbob iaob w x db rport key name !
( vsarr = n " " " vsprites ( V = row, = col ) j : makebob ( name key barr vsarr ) 10 0 do 10 0 do 0 j i gacarr !
Loop loop name MODE_OLDFILE dosOpen to fileid key AnimOb MEMF_CLEAR AllocRemember to laob fileid addr.of numgels 4 dosRead drop fileid laob AnimOb dosRead drop numgels 0 do key VirtualSprite MEMF_CLEAR AllocRemember to lvs key Bob MEMF_CLEAR AllocRemember to lbob MEMF CLEAR AllocRemember to lac key AnimComp fileid lvs VirtualSprite dosRead drop fileid lbob Bob dosRead drop fileid lac AnimComp dosRead drop lvs +vsWidth w@ lvs +vsHeight w£ * lvs +vsDepth w@ * 2* to size key size MEMF_CLEAR MEMF_CHIP I AllocRemenber to idata fileid idata size dosRead drop idata . Lvs +vslmageData lbob lvs
¦f-vsVSBob lvs lbob +bobbobVSprite lac lbob ¦s-bobbobComp lbob lac +acAnimBob laob lac +acHeadOb lac w x gacarr !
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RINGTRIGGER and if W 1+ to V 0 to x then Circle 1}4 on
Reader Service card.
Fileid dosClose laob ; loop Listing Two: demo.fi 0 to x w 0 do i x 1+ gacarr 0 i x 1+ gacarr rta 1 V 1 V i x gacarr (3 +acNexcSeq !
I x gacarr 0 ( 0 - 1 • i x 1 + gacarr 4acPrev£eq 3 X 1+ tO X repeat begin while - ) i 0 gacarr 0 i x gacarr 0 +acNextSea ( Point around the circle ) 0 to x 1 1+ x gacarr 0 i x gacarr 0 +acNextComp 1 i 1+ x gacarr 0 if i x gacarr 0 i 1+ x gacarr 0 +acPrevCorrp then loop 0 0 gacarr 0 laob +aoHeadComp 1 laob rport db GetGBuffers laob InitGMasks drop global cmap Holds address of dynAMIGAlly allocated color map. ) global sc For easy access to the address of my screen.
) global hardsprit' e ( The number of the hardware sprite returned by ) , ( GetSprite.
Global aob ( ¦t Address of the AnimOb returned by makeaob.
Hex dffOOc constant stickchip ( Joystick hardware address.
• bfeOOl constant sticktrig ( Joystick fire button.
Decimal create myvs 8 allot myvs 8 i erase ( Holds two pointers to vsprites variable myss 0 myss ! 1 A spot to store the SimpleSprite ) variable mykey i 0 mykey ! ( Variable for Remembering...... variable aobkey i 0 aobkey i ( Variable for AnimOb key variable mybob 0 mybob J ( Will hold the address of a bob* i variable mybobvs i 0 mybobvs ! ( Holds the bob's vsprite struct.
I struct NewScreen ns ( The demo ( Initialize the screen.
( The virtual sprite's color OffO w, ( Path for the hardware sprite create sprpath 160 c, 19 c , 159 c, 22 c, 158 c. 25 c, 157 c, 28 c, 156 c, 31 c, 155 c, 34 c 154 c. 37 c. 153 c, 40 c, 152 c, 43 c, 151 c, 46 c, 150 c, 49 c , 149 c, 52 c, 148 c, 55 c, 147 C, 58 c, 146 c, 51 c. 145 c. 64 c 144 c, 67 c, 143 o, 70 c, 142 C, 73 c, 141 C, 76 c, 140 c. 79 c 139 c, 82 c, 133 c, 85 c, 137 c, 88 C, 136 c, 91 c, 135 c. 94 c 134 c, 96 c, 133 c, 101 o, 132 C, 104 c, 131 C, 107 c, 130 c. 110 c. 129 c. 113 c. 12 8 c, 115 c, 127 c, 119 C, 126 c, 122 c. 125 C, 125 c. 124 c, 128 c, 123 c, 131 c, 122 C, 134 c,
121 C, 137 c. 120 c. 140 C, 119 C, 143 c, 118 c, 145 C, 117 c, 149 c, 116 c, 152 c. 115 c, 155 c, 114 c, 158 o, 113 c, 161 c, 112 c, 164 c, 112 c, 165 C, 114 c, 164 c, 116 C, 163 c. 118 c, 161 c, 120 c, 160 c. 122 c, 153 c, 124 c, 157 c, 126 = 155 c, 128 c, 154 C, 130 C, 153 c, 132 c, 151 C, 134 c, 150 c, 136 c. 148 c, 138 c, 147 C, 140 c, 145 c, 142 c, 144 c, 144 c, 142 c, 146 c. 141 c. 143 c, 140 c, 150 c, 138 c, 152 c, 137 C, 154 O, 135 c, 156 c, 134 c, 153 c, 132 c, 160 c, 131 c, 162 c, 129 C, 164 C, 128 c, 166 c, 127 c, 168 c. 125 c. 170 C, 124 c, 172 c, 122 c. 174 c. 121 c, 176 c, 119
c, 178 c. 118 C, 180 C, 117 c, 182 c, 115 C, 184 c, 114 c. 186 c, 112 c, 188 c. 111 C, 190 C, 109 c. 192 c, 108 c, 194 C, 106 c, 196 c, 105 c, 198 c, 104 c. 200 c, 102 c, 202 c. 101 c, 204 c, 99 c, 206 c, 98 c, 208 c. 96 c, 210 C, 95 c, 212 c. 93 C, 214 C, 92 c, 216 c, 91 c, 218 c, 89 c. 220 Cr 88 c, 222 c. 86 c. 224 c, 85 c, 226 c, 83 c. 228 c, 82 c. 230 c. 81 c, 232 c, 79 C, 234 Cr 78 c, 236 C, 76 c, 237 c. 75 c. 235 c. 75 Cr 233 Cr 75 c 231 c, 75 c, 229 Cr 75 Cr 227 Cr 75 C 225 c, 75 c, 223 c, 75 c, 221 c, 75 c. 219 Cr 75 Cr 217 Cr 75 C 215 75 c. 213 Cr 75 Cr 211 c. 75 c. 209 Cr 75 C 207
c, 75 c 205 c, 75 c. 203 c. 75 c, 201 c, 75 c. 199 c, 75 c, 197 Cr 75 c 195 c. 75 c, 193 c, 75 c, 191 c. 75 Cr 189 C, 75 Cr 187 Cr 75 c 185 c, 75 c, 183 Cf 75 Cr 181 c, 75 C, 179 C, 75 C i 177 c, 75 c 175 e, 75 C, 173 c. 75 c, 171 c, 75 C, 169 C, 75 C| 167 c, 75 c 165 c, 75 Cr 163 Cr 75 c, 161 c, 75 c, 159 Cr 75 Cr 157 Cr 75 c 155 c, 75 c, 153 Cr 75 Cr 151 c, 75 Cr 149 Cr 75 Cr 147 C 75 c 145 c, 75 c. 143 c. 75 C, 141 c, 75 C, 139 c. 75 Cr 137 Cr 75 c 135 c, 75 0, 133 c, 75 c, 131 c, 75 c, 129 c, 75 c, 127 c, 75 c, screen ... ) ns initscreen ) * hex create sprcols table ) 0 w,
Oeca w, OfOO w, decimal 125 c, 75 c, 123 c, 75 c, 121 c, 75 c, 119 c, 75 c, 117 c, 75 c, 115 c, 75 o, 113 c, 75 c, 111 c, 75 c, 109 c, 75 c, 107 c, 75 c, 105 c, 75 C, 103 c, 75 c, 101 c, 75 c, 99 c, 75 c, 97 c, 75 c, 95 c, 75 c, 93 c, 75 c, 91 c, 75 c, 69 c, 75 c, 87 c, 75 c, 85 c, 75 c, 83 c, 75 c, 84 c, 75 c, 86 c, 77 c, 88 c, 78 c, 90 C, 80 c, 92 c, 81 c, 94 c, 82 c, 96 c, 84 c, 98 c, 85 c, 100 z, 87 c, 102 c, 88 i 104 Cr 90 o, 106 c, 91 c, 108 c, 93 c, 110 c, 94 c, : 112 c, 96 Cr 114 c, 97 c, 116 c, 98 c, 118 c, 100 c, 120 c, . 101 c, , 122 c, 103 c, 124 Cr 104 c, 126 c, 106 c, 12B c, 107
c, 130 c, 109 c, 132 c, 110 c. 134 C, 111 c, 136 c, 113 c, 138 c, 114 e, 140 c, 116 c, 142 c, 117 C, 144 C, 119 c. 146 C, 120 C, 148 c, 122 C, 150 0, 123 c, 152 c. 125 c, 154 Cr 126 c, 156 c, 127 c, 158 c, 129 c, 160 c, 130 c, 162 c. 132 c, 164 Cr 133 c, 166 c, 135 c, 168 c, 136 c, 170 c, 138 c, 172 g, 139 Cr 174 Cr 140 c. 176 c, 142 c, 178 c, 143 c, 180 C, 145 c, 182 c, 146 c, 184 c, 148 c. 186 C, 149 c, 188 c, 151 c, 190 C, 152 c, 192 c. 154 c, 194 Cr 155 c, 196 c, 156 c, 198 c, 158 c, 200 c, 159 c, 202 c, 161 c, 204 c, 162 c. 206 c, 164 c. 207 C 164 c. 206 c, 161 c, 205 c, 158 c, 204 c,
155 G, 203 c, 152 Cr 202 Cr 149 c, 201 c, 146 C, 200 c, 142 c, 199 c, 139 z, 198 c, 136 Cr 197 Cr 133 c, 196 c, 130 c, 195 c, 127 c, 194 c, 124 c, 193 e, 121 C, 192 Cr 118 c, 191 c, 115 C, 190
c. 111 c, 189 c, 108 c, 188 c, 105 Cr 187 c, 102 c. 186 c, 99 c,
185 96 c, , 184 c, . 93 c. 183 c, 90 Cr 182 c, 87 c, 181 c,
84 c, . 180 c, , 80 c, 179 c. 77 c. 178 C, 74 C r 177 C« 71 c,
176 c, 68 c, , 175 c, r 65 c, 174 c, 62 c, 173 c, 59 C r 172
c, 56 c, 171 c, 53 c, . 170 c, , 49 c, 169 c, 46 c, 168 c, 43
Cr 167 C, 40 c. 166 c, 37 c, . 165 c, , 34 c, 164 c, 31 c, 163
c, 28 Cf 162 C, 25 c, 161 c, 20 c, 0 c, ( I ( readcmap - read
in color map values from disk.
I : readcmap 0 0 locals| fileid numregs I 0" dfl :article3. Cmap" MODE_OLDFILE dosOper. To fileid fileid addr.of numregs 4 dosRead drop mykey numregs 2* MEMF_CHI? MSMF_CLEAR ] AlloeRemember to cmap fileid cmap numregs 2* dosRead drop fileid dosClose ; I [ readstick examine contents of 5DFF0QC, AMD with 771 and ) ( take appropriate action.
Stickchip w0 771 and case ( stick is centered. ) 0 of 0 aob +aoxvel w!
0 aob taoyvel w!
Endof ( stick is pulled back. ) 1 of 0 aob +aoxvel w!
4 6 scale aob iaoyvel w!
Endof ( stick is back, right. ) 2 of 3 6 scale aob +aoxvel w] 4 6 scale aob a-aoyvel w!
Endof ( stick is right ) 3 of 3 6 scale aob +aoxvel w!
0 aob +aoyvei w!
Endof ( stick is up. ) 256 of 0 aob +aoxvel w!
- 4 6 scale aob +aoyvel w!
Endof ( stick is up, right ) 259 of 3 6 scale aob +aoxvel w!
- 4 6 scale aob taoyvel w!
Endof ( stick is up, left ) 5X2 of -3 6 scale aob +aoxvel w!
- 4 6 scale aob raoyvel w!
Endof ( stick is left ) 768 of -3 6 scale aob +aoxvel w] 0 aob +aoyvel w!
Endof ( stick is down, left. ) 769 of -3 6 scale aob +aoxvel w!
4 6 scale aob +aoyvel w!
Endof endcase ; ( - j ( demoscreen - open up the screen, load the color map, initialize ) ( the gel system.
) : demoscreen 0 ns +nsviewmodes w!
SPRITES ns +nsvievmodes w!
Ns tnsType dup w@ SCREENQUIET I swap w!
Ns openscreen currentscreen 0 to sc readcmap sc tscViewPort cmap 32 LoadRGE4 sc +scRastPort mykey readygels ; ( - j ( initss read the pinball image from disk, allocate a hardware ) ( sprite, and get the sprite ready for display.
) : initss 0" dfl:pinball.sprite" mykey myss makehardsprt myss 0 -1 GetSprite to hardsprite sc +scViewPort myss 0 dup +ssposctldata 0 ChangeSprite ; ( , ( initvs - read in the stick figure, store pointers to color table. Add the vsprite to the list.
) : initvs 0" dfl:stickfig.vsprite" mykey myvs makevsprt sprcols myvs @ -tvssprcolors !
Sprcols myvs 4+ @ tvssprcolors !
Myvs 0 sc +scRastPort AddVSprite ; ( ) ( initbob read the spirograph, change x £ y values, add the ) ( bob, draw it, and remove it, so it doesn't clutter ) ( the list.
) : initbob 0" dfl:spiro.bob" mykey mybob mybobvs makebob 110 mybobvs 0 +vsx w!
50 mybobvs 0 +vsy w!
Mybob 0 sc tscRastPort Add3ofc sc +scRastPort RortGList sc +scRastPort sc +scViewPort DrawGList mybob 0 sc +scRastPort sc +scViewPort RemlBob ; t--) ( initaob - read in the spider, set its velocities and ring ) ( translation values to zero, add the AnimOb.
) : initaob 0" dfl: spider.aob" mykey sc -fscRastPort 0 makeaob to aob 0 aob +aoxvel w!
0 aob iaoyvel w!
0 aob +aoRingXTrans w!
0 aob +aoRingYTrans w!
Aob aobkey sc tscRastPort AddAnimOb ; ( ) ( demo open the screen, initialize all Gels, loop until ) ( joystick fire button is pressed.
) : demo 0 sprpath locals| path vstoggle i demoscreen initvs initbob initss initaob begin path c0 flit sprpath to path then sc +scViewPort myss 0 path c@ path 1+ cQ MoveSprite path 2+ to path sc MakeScreen RethinkDisplay readstick aobkey sc +scRastport Animate sc +scRastEort Sortglist so tscRastPort sc +scView?ort Drawglist path c0 0" if sprpath to path then MEMF CLEAR); path c@ path 1+ c@ MoveSprite path 2+ to path sc MakeScreen RethinkDisplay vstoggle if myvs 0 +vsimagedata 0 myvs 4+ @ +vsimagedata @ myvs (?
Fvsimagedata !
Myvs 4+0 +vsimagedata !
Vstoggle not to vstoggle else vstoggle not to vstoggle then sticktrig c@ 124 = until harcsprite FreeSprite myvs S RemVSprite sc CloseScreen aob sc +scRast?ort 0 FreeG3uffers mykey -1 FreeRemeraber ; Listing Three: gels.c » Functions for initializing Gels * Include exec types.h include exec memory.h
• (include graphics sprite.h ((include graphics gels ,*n
iinclude graphics rastport.h include intuition intuition.h
linclude libraries dos.h ((include proto Intuition.h
I!include proto dos.h linclude proto graphics.h * * *
ReadyGels prepares the system for use.
This is lifted pretty much intact from the Rom Kernel Manual Except all ay allocation is done with AllocRemember().
* void ReadyGels(rport,key) struct Rastport Trport; struct
Remember ''key; t struct Vsprite 'head = NULL struct Vsprite
'tail - NULL struct Geislnfo 'ginfo = NULL head = (struct
Vsprite *) AllocRemember(key,sizeof(struct Vsprite),MEMF_C1EAR)
; tail ¦* (struct Vsprite *) AllocRemember(key,sizeof(struct
Vsprite) ,MEMF_CLEAR) ; ginfo = (struct Geislnfo *)
AllocRemember(key,sizeof(struct Geislnfo),KEMF_CLEAR); ginfo -
sprRsrvd = -1; ginfo - leftmost = 0; ginfo - topmost = 0;
ginfo - rightmost - rport- BitMap- BytesPerRow * : ginfo -
bottommost - rport- BitMap- Rows - 1; ginfo - lastColor =
(WORE *') AllocRemember(key,sizeof(LONG) 5, ginfo - nextLine =
(WORD *) AllocRemember(key,sizeof(WORD) * 3, MSMFjCHIP I
MEMF_CLEAR); ginfo - collHandler " (struct collTable ')
AllocRemember(key,sizeof(struct collTable), MEMFJ1HIP I
MEMF_CLEAR) ; rport - Geislnfo ¦ ginfo;
InitGels(head,tail,ginfo); ! * ReadyGels * * * *
MakeHardSprt(name, key, ssarr) Synopsis: Reads In data stored
in the user's file, sets up a hardware sprite.
Inputs: name: NULL terminated filename.
Key: pointer to a Remember struct.
Ssarr: either an array of SimpleSprite pointers, or if there is only one gel in the file, the address of a pointer to a SimpleSprite.
Returns: an initialized SimpleSprite, or an array of SlmpleSprites.
* void MakeHardSprt(name,key,ssarr) char 'name; struct Remember
''key; struct SimpleSprite ''ssarr; ( BPTR fileid = NULL;
struct SimpleSprite 'ssprt - NULL; WORD 'idata = NULL; int i;
long numgels = 0; ' number of sprites ir. The file.
= 0; * size of the image data, in bytes.
Long size fileid - Open (narr.e,MODE_OLDFILE) ; Readlfileid,(char *)Snumgels,4L); for(i = 0; i numgels; i-r+) ssprt = (struct SimpleSprite *) AllocRemember(key,sizeof(struct SimpleSprite),MEMF_CLEAR); Read(fileid,(char ')ssprt,(long)sizeof(struct SimpleSprite)); size = ((ssprt- height + 2L)) * 4L; idata ** (WORE *) AllocRemember (key, size, MEMF_CHIP MEMF_CLEAR); Readffileld, (char *)idata, (long) size) ,* ssprt - posctlcata = idata; * If there is more than one gel, we're storing in an array, * otherwise, we're storing in a pointer.
* if(numgels 1) ssarr[i) = ssprt; else 'ssarr = ssprt; } *
for * Close (fileid); ) * MakeHardSprt * * - *
Makevsprt(name,key,vsarr) Synopsis: Reads in data stared in a
Vsprite file.
Inputs: name: NULL terminated file name.
Key: pointer to a Remember struct.
Vsarr: if more than one VS in the file, an array of pointers to Vsprites, otherwise, it's an address of a pointer to a Vsprite.
Returns: An initialised Vsprite, or array of Vsprites.
* void Makevsprt(name,key,vsarr) char 'name; struct Remember
""key; struct Vsprite ""vsarr; ( BPTR fileid = NULL; struct
Vsprite "vsprt = NULL; WORD *idata " NULL; int i; long numgels
¦ 0; long size = 0; fileid = Open(name,MOD£_QLDFILE);
Read(fileid,(char *)Snumgels,4L); for(i = 0: i numgels; i++)
( vsprt = (struct Vsprite ") AllocRemember(key,sizeof(struct
vsprite), MEMF_CLEAR) ; Read(fileid,(char
*)vsprt,(long)sizeof(struct Vsprite)); size = (vsprt- Height *
vsprt- Width * vsprt- Depth) ' 2h; idata - (WORD
*)AllocRemember(key,size,MSMF_CHIP I MEMF_CLEAR); Read (fileid,
(char *) idata, (lor.g) size); vsprt - CollMask = (WORD *)
AllocRemember(key, (vsprt- fieight * vsprt- iWidth) * 2L,
MEMF_CLEAR ! MEMFJIHIP) ; vsprt - Borderline = (WORD *)
AllocRemember(key,vsprt- Kidth * 2l, MEMF_CLEAR I M£MF_CHIP);
vsprt - ImageData = idata; InitMasks(vsprt); If(numgels 1)
vsarr[ij = vsprt; else "vsarr - vsprt; ) * for *
Close(fileid); ) * MakeVSprt * * * *
Make3cb(name,key,barr,vsarr) Synopsis: Reads in and initializes
a bob, or an array of bobs.
Inputs: name: NULL terminated file name.
Key: pointer to a Remember struct.
Barr: array of pointers to Bobs, or an address of a pointer to a Bob if only one gel in the-file.
Vsarr: same as above, only Vsprites.
Returns: initialized bob, or an array of bobs.
* void MakeBob(name,key,barr,vsarr) char "name; struct Remember
""key; struct Bob ""barr; struct Vsprite ""vsarr; struct Bob
* bob
* = NULL; struct vsprite
* vs = NULL; WORD
* idata = NULL; BPTR fileid = NULL; int i; long mangels = 0; long
size = 0; fileid = Open(name,MODE_OLDFILE) ; Read(fileid,(char
*)Snumgels,41); ford = 0; i numgels; i++) vs = (struct
vsprite *) AllocRemember(key,sizeof(struct
vsprite),MEMF_CLEAR); bob = (struct Bob *)
AllocRemember(key,sizeof(struct Bob), MEMF_CLEAR);
Read(fileid,(char ")vs,(long)sizeof(struct Vsprite));
Read(fileid,(char *)bob,(long)sizeof(struct Bob)); size =
|vs~ Height * vs- Width * vs- Depth) " 2L; idata -- (WORD
*)AllocReraember(key,size,MEMF_CL£AR | MEMFJIHIP) ;
Read(fileia,(char *)idata,size); vs - imageData = idata; vs -
VSBob = bob; bob - BobVSprite = vs; vs- ColiMask =
bob- ImageShadow - (WORD *)AllocRemember(key,vs- Height *
vs- Width * 2L, MEMF_CLEAR I MEMF_CHIP); vs- BorderLine = (WORD
")AllocRemember(key,vs- Width " 2L, MEMF_CLEAR I MEMF_CHIF);
if(vs- Flags £ SAVEBACK) bob- Save3uffer = (WORD *)
AllocRemember(key,size,MEMF_CLEAR I KEMF_CHIP); if(bob -
Dbuffer != NULL) !
Bob - Dbuffer = (struct DbufPacket *) AllocRemember(key,sizeof(struct DbufPacket), MEMF_CLEAR); bob - Dbuffer- BufBuffer - (WORD1 *) AllocRemember (key,size, MEMF_CLEAR I MEM?_CHIP); ) InitMasks(vs) ; if( numgels 1 ) i vsarrfi) - vs; barrti] = bob; ) else ac - AnimBob ac - HeadOb bob; aob;
* vsarr = vs;
* barr = bob; Inputs: buffering, FALSE otherwise, returns a
pointer to an AnimOb via a 'return' statement.
Returns: * struct AnimOb 'MakeAOB(name,key,rport,db) char *name; struct Remember "key; struct RastPort *rport?
Int db; I struct AnimComp *acarr[10][10]; struct AnimComp *ac ¦* NULL; struct Vsprite 'vs = NULL; struct Bob *bob NULL; struct AnimOb *aob = NULL; WORD 'idata = NULL; BPTR fileid = NULL; long numdone =0; long sire - 0; int i,k; " various loop control vars * int h = 0; int j = 0; * j = row, h = column ...* * The 10x10 array of AnimComps needs to be cleared of garbage. * ford = 0; i 10; i++) for (k = 0; k 10; k++) acarr[i][k! = NULL; fileid - Open(name,MODE_OLDFILE); aob = (struct AnimOb ') AllocRemember (key, sizeof (struct AnimOb), MEMF_CLEAR) ; Read(fileid, (char
*)Snumdone,4L); Read(fileid, (char *)aob,sizeof(struct AnimOb)),- for(i = 0; i numdone; i+t) vs " (struct Vsprite *) AllocRemember(key,sizeof(struct Vsprite),MEMF_CLEAR ; bob = (struct Bob ") AllocRemember(key,sizeof(struct Bob),MEMF_CLEAR); ac = (struct AnimComp *) AllocRemember(key,sizeof(struct AnimComp),MEMF_CLEAR); Readlfileid,(char *}vs,sizeof(struct Vsprite]); Readlfileid,(char 'lbob,sizeof(struct Bob)); Readffileid,(char *)ac,sizeof(struct AnimComp)); size = vs- VJidth * vs- Keight * vs- Depth * 2L; idata = (WORD ')AllocRemember(key,size,MEMF_CLEAR I MEMF_CHIF); Readffileid, (char
*)idata,size); vs - ImageData *= idata; Writer!
Call or write Today for our Writer's Guide.
Vs - VSBob = bob; bob - Bobvsprite = vs; bob - BobComp - ac; acarr[j][h] = ac; h++; ) * for * Close (fileid); | * HakeBob * if( ac - Flags S RINGTRIGGER ) * time to start * ! * on a new row? * j++; h = 0; 1 * * * MakeAOB(name,key,rport,db) Synopsis: Creates and links together an animation object from data stored in a file, name: NULL terminated file name, key: pointer to a Remember struct, rport: pointer to a RastPort.
Db: an int, TRUE if user wants double } * for * h = 0; j-; for(i = 0; i j; i++) !
While(acarr[i][htlj != NULL) ( acarrtii [h] - NextSeq = acarr[i][h + 1]; acarr[i] [h + lj - PrevSeq = acarr[i] [hj; h++; ) acarr[i][b] - NextSeq = acarr[i]EOj; h = C; acarrii][h]- NextComp = acarr[i + 1][h]; if(acarr[i + 1][h] !» NULL) acarr(i + l][h] - PrevComp = acarr[iJ[h]; ] * for * aob - HeadComp « acarr[0][0]; GetGBuffers(aob,rport,db); InitGMasks(aob); Close(fileid); return(aob); ; * MakeAOB * Listing Four: dos.cafis **«* Dos function calls, as per Multi-Forth.
** I've prefaced each function with 'dos' to avoid " confusion with Multr-Forth's file functions.
!d2 Jdl tall, lib 1 5 C'dO ; Idl call.lib 1 6 ; ! D3 !d2 !dl call.lib 1 1 0dO !d3 !d2 idl call.lib 1 8 SdO call.lib 1 22 @d0 ; idl call.lib 1 12 ; ! D2 idl call.lib i 17 @d0 ; !d2 idl call.lib 1 18 SdO ; idl call.lib 1 21 GdO ; idl call.lib 1 35 8d0 ; !d2 idl call.lib 1 14 ?d0 ; idl call.lib 1 15 ; idl call.lib I 24 ; idl call.lib I 25 8dD ; dosOpen dosClose dosRead dosWrite dosIoErr dosDelete dosExamine dosExNext Currer.tDir ParentDir dosLock aosUnlock dosExit dosLoadSeg dosUnLoadSeg idl call.lib 1 26 !d4 ld3 id.? Idl call.lib 1 23 SdO dosCreateProc
• AC* Be an The AMICUS & Fred Fish Public Domain Software Library
This software is collected from user groups and electronic
bulletin boards around the nation. Each Amicus disk is nearly
full, and is fully accessible from the Workbench. If source
code is provided for any program, then the executable version
is also present. This means that you don't need the C compiler
to run these programs. An exception is granted for those
programs only of use to people who own a C compiler.
The Fred Fish disk are collected by Mr. Fred Fish, a good and active friend of the Amiga.
Note: Each description line below may include something like 'S-O-E-D', which stands for 'source, object file, executable and documentation'. Any combination of these letters indicates what forms of the program are present. Basic programs are presented entirely in source code format.
Extoisk gam.eport paraEel serial vt.1 update vf.1h.txt Files for build Brush2lcon Dazzle DeciGEL Kiock life TimeSel EMEmacs MyCLI Texts: FnctnKeys HackerSIn 3d solids modeling prog, w sample data files draws blocks draws cubes draws pictures in the style of Durer draws fractal landscapes 3D drawing program, w hidden Ine removal simple paint program draw several optical illusions simple pain: program draws the Shuttle in 3d wireframe graphics demo speech utlity draws color spirals 3d function ptas artificial topography draws circle graphics P-L wdiex AmigaBas.'cpn rams' pointed ¦ optimize
calencar HAL9000 Police Sugarplum Cprograms: Ateon add external memory to the system example of BOB use console 10 example create and delete ports create standard I O requests creating task examples example of track read and write source to toe 'dotty window' demo dual piaySeid example Hood SI example old version of 'freemap' tools for Vsprites and BOBs graphic memory usag e indicator window example from RKM adding an input handler to toe input stream reading the joystick direct keyboard reading layers examples test mouse port example of making your own fbrary with Lattice tests parallel port
commands tests serial port commands example of serial port use sample printer interface code printer device definitions decvnl Dotty echo* fasterfp Fix Date freedraw GfxMem Greo amortize brushloBOB IBM2Amiga Marde!
Moire cbjfix quick els Modula-2 trails caseconven Forth Analyze KwikCopy LibDir SavelLBM SpeschToy Which Font Texts: 68020 Aliases Bugs CLICard region test program source to interlace orv'eft program set the attributes of toe parallel port set toe attributes (parity, data bits) of toe serial port single pfayfieW example source to narrator and phonetics demo simple timer demo exec support timer functions more exec support timer (unctions bads and displays all available system fonts process i and prtbaseJ assm eWer include files: autorqsir.txt warnings of deadlocks with autorequesters
consoleiO.txt copy or the RKM console I O chapter diskfonl.txt warning ol disk loot loading bug fullfunc.txt Sst of ffdefines, macros, functions inputdev.txl preliminary copy of the input device chapter License information on Workbench distribution license printer pre-release copy of toe chapter on printer drivers, from RKM 1.1 vl 1 fd.txt 'dff of .fdfSe changes from version 1.0 to 1.1 v28v1.diff 'dift' of incfude file changes from version 28 to 1.0 AmfCUS Disk 5 Files from the Amiga Link Amiga Information Network Note that some of these files are old, and refer to older versions ol the
operating system, These files are from Amiga Link. For a time, Commodore supported Amiga link, aka AIN. For online developer technical support. It was only up and running lor several weeks. These files do not carry a warranty, and are foreducalionat purposes only. Of course, that's not to say they donl work.
A demo of Intuition menus called 'menudemo', in C source whereis.c find a file searching as subdirectories bobtestc BOB programming example sweep.c sound syntoes s exam pie Assemblerfiles: mydevrasm sample device driver mySbrasm sample library example mytb.i mydevj asmsuppj macros.i assembler indude files Texts: amigairicks tips on CU commands Irps on fixing _main.c in Lattice make your own 51 4 dnve explains toe Guru numbers bug fist of Lattice C version 3 03 user's view of the MicroForge HD EXEGUTE-based print Spool prog.
EdCommands Renames HaH3right MoOemPins RAMdsks ROMWack Sornds fixotj shell sq.usq YacfrtC Make Emacs qsorLasm setimprasm Svpnntf trees.o Robot Texts vendors cardco rindude m'mdwalker slideshow AmigaDOS object library manager, S-E text file archive program. S-E autfrchops executable files simple CU shet, S-E fOe compression programs, S-E a familiar game, s-E a simple 'make'programming utility. S-E an early version of the Amiga text editor, S-E-D Assembler programs: bsearctiasm binary search code Unix compatible qsortQ function, source and C test program $ etjmp() code for Lattice 3.02 Unix
system V compatible printfQ Unix compatible treefl function, O-D (This disk formerly had IFFspecification filesand examples. Sixe this spec is constantly updated, the IFF spec files have been rrwed to their own disk in tne AM iCUS collection.)
John Draper Amiga Tutorials: Animate describes animation algorithms Gadgets tutorial on gadgets Menus leam about Inter ton menus prpgra aid to compJing with Lattice C opposite of CONVERT for cross developers source code to the 'dottiy window den o unix-styte filename expansion, partial S.O-D explains use ol fast-floating poin: main fixes future dates on all files cn a disk, S-E simple Workbench drawing prog .,S-E graphic m emory usage indicator, S-E searches for a given string in a file with docs, ham shows off the hoid-and-moctfy method of cdcr generation fast parallel cable transfers between
an IBM and an Amiga Mandelbrot set program. S-E patterned graphic demo, S-E makes Lattice C object file symbols visible to Wack, S t quick sort strings routine example sampfe window frO turns on interlace mode, S-E qix-type graphic demo, S-E draws fractal planet landscapes Abasic programs: Tools AdcressBook sim pie database program lor addresses CardFile sim pie card file database program Deno mutii window demo KeyCodes shews keycodes for a key you press Menu run many Abasic programs irom a menu MoreCdors way to get mora colors on the screen at once, using aliasing shapes sim pie color shape
designer Speak It speech and narrator demo Abasic programs: Games BrickOut classic computer brick wall game Othello also known as go' Saucer sim pie shoo! -em-up gam e Spelling simple talking spoiling game ToyBax selectable graphics demo Abasic programs: Sounds Entertainer piays that lime pretends it's a real computer simple police siren sound plays 'The Darce of the Sugarplum FaTies' ____________ board Irom CSA explains uses of the ASSIGN command known bug list in Lattice C 3.02 reference card tor AmigaDOS CU CUCommarKls guide to using me CU Commands shorter guide tc AmigaDOS CU commands
giide to the E D editor- AmigaDOS filename wildcard conventions explains rare graphics chips that can do more colors description of the serial port pinout tips on setting tp voor RAM: disk tips on using ROMWack explanation of Instrument demo sound fUe format Speed refutation of Amiga's CPU and custom chip speed WackCmds tips on using Wack Cprograms: 3DSofids Blocks Cubes Durar Fscape Hidden Jpad OptcaJ PaintBox Shuttle Space An Speaker Sphere Spiral ThreeDee Topography Wheels Xeros AMICUS PisK t Abasic programs: Graphics speech demonstration displays all avaJabfe fonts Other executable
programs: setlace sparks AMICUS Disk 3 C programs: Xref a C cross-reference gen., S-E 6bi!co!or extra-half-brighl chip gfx demo, S-E Chop truncate (chop) files down to size, S-E Cleanup removes Strange characters Irom text files CR2LF converts carriage returns to line 'eeds in Amiga files, S-E Error adds compile e rrcre to a C file, S He3o window ex. From the RKM, S Kermit generic Kermit implementation, flakey, no terminal mode, S-E sound demo piays scales, S-E Rubik cube demo in hi-res colors, S-E ¦to automata simulation card game lurcten graphing programs a game AbasiC programs: Casino games
ol poker, blackjack, dee, and craps Gomoku also known as totheilo* Sabotage sort of an adventure game Executable programs: Disassem a 88000 disassembler. E-D DpS5de shows a given set ol IFF pictures, E-D Arrange a text formatting program, E-D Assembler programs: Argcterm terminal program with speech and Xmodem, S-E AMICUS Disk J Files from the original Amiga Technical BBS Note that some cf these files are old, and refer to older versions of the operating system. These lies came Irom the Sun s stem that served as Amiga technical support HQ lor most of 1985. These files do rot carry a warranty,
and are loredurational purposes coy Ol course, that's not to say they donl work.
Compete and nearly up-to-date C source to Inape.etf, an early version of the icon Etttor, This is a little flaky, but compiles and runs.
An Intuition demo, in full C source, including files: demomenu-C, demomenu2,c, demcreq.c, getascii.c, idemo.c, idemo.guide, idemo.make, idenoall.h, nodos.c, and txwnte.c addmem.c bobtest.c console lO.c creaport.c creastdi.c creaask.c diskio.c dotty.c dualpiay.c fiood.c freemap,c geftods.e gfxmem.c hettoc inputdev.c ioystk.c keybd.c layertesx mousport.c ownHbx, ownfibrasm paralest.c seritest.c serisampc prinifjtr.c prtbase.h regmtes.c settase.c setparallet.c SetSeriaLc sing play .c speechtoy.c timedely.c timer.c trmrstuf.c WhlchFont.c external isk specification game pert spec parallel port spec
serial port spec list ol new features in version 1.1 'diff cf indude file changes from version 1.0 to 1.1 g your own printer drivers, inducing dospeeial.c, epsondata.c, iniiasm, primer.c, prinier.fink. printenag asm, render c, andwaitasm. ThjsdiskdcesconramanumberollilesdescriblngtoetFF specification. These are not the laiest and greatest files, but remain here for historical purposes. TteyincJude text files and C source examples.
The latest IFF spec is efsewnere in this library.
AMICUS Disk 6 IFF Pictures This disk includes toe DPSIide program, which can view a given series ol IFF pictures, and toe 'simple* program, which can view each file sithe dick of an icon. Tbs pictures induce a screen from ArticFox. A Degas dancer, toe guys at Electronic Arts, a gorilla, horses, King Tut, a lighthouse, a screen from Marble Madness, the Bugs Bunny Martian, a still from an old movie, the Dire Straits moving company, a screen from Pmball Ccn'ruction Sol a TV newcasler, the PaintCan, a world map, a Porsche, a shuttle mission patch, a tyrannosaurus rex, a planet view, a VISA card,
and a ten-speed.
AMICUS Disk 7 DigiView HAM demo picture cisk This diskhaspicuresfrom toe Dig iViewhold-and-modjfy video digitizer, ft includes the ladies with pencils and lollypops. Toe young girt, toe bulldozer, toe horse and buggy, toe Byte cover, toe dictionary page, the robot and Robert. This includes a program to view each picture separately, and all together as separate, doable screens, The'seeSbm' program, to turn any screen into an IFF picture.
AMICUS PisKa Cprograms: Browse view text fifes on a disk, using menus S-E-D Crunch removes comments and write space Irom C files, S-E iconExec EXECUTE a series ol commands from Workbench S-E PDScreen Dump dumps Rastportol highest screen to printer BetAlemate sets a second image tor an Icon, when clicked once S-E SetWindo* makes windows for a CU program to run under Workbench S-E SmaiClock a small dgitalciockin a window menu bar Scrimper toe screen printer to toe fourth AC S-E Amiga Basic Programs: (Note: Many ol these programs are present on AMICUS Disk 1.
Several of these were converted to Amiga Basic. 4 mduded here.)
Address3ook a simple address bock database Ball draws a ball Cload program to convert CompuServe hex files to binary, S-D Clue the game, intuition driven Color Art art drawing program DeluxeDcaw the drawing program in the 3rd AC, S-D Eliza conversational computer psychologist Othello toegame.asknownas'go' RatMaze 2D ratmaze game ROR boggSragraphics demo Shuttle draws 3"D pictures of toe space shuttle Spelling simple spelling program YoYo wierd zero-grav.ty yo-yo demo, tracks yo-yo :o toe mouse Executableprograms: oDcube Modula-2 demo of a rotating cube Altleon sets a second icon image,
displayed when the icon is cficked AmigaSpeil a slow but simple spell cnecker, E-D arc toe ARC file compression prog must lor telecom, E-D Bertrand graphics dem o prog, lo rescue trashed disks, E-D quick tut nasty disk copy program: ignores enors, E-Q lists hunks in an object file t-D saves any screen as IFF pic.E-D ?? SaeenDump shareware screen dump prog, E only StarTerm version 2.0. term program, XmodemE-0 Texts: LatticeMain GdiskDnve GuruMed Lat3.03bugs M Force Rev PrircSpoolar .BMAP files: These are the necessary inks berween Amiga Baste and the system libraries. To ake advantage of the
Amiga's capabilities to Baste, you need toese files. BMAPs are included lor 'disT. 'console', 'diskfemf.
'exec', 'con', intuition', layers', 'maihffp'. M athieeedoubcs', 'matoieees- incbas', 'matotrans', 'pctgo', iimer and translator, AMICUSOisk 9 Amiga Basic Programs: FfightScm simple (light simulator program HuePalette explains Hue, Saturation, & intKisity Requester ex. Of requesters from Amiga Basic ScrotlDemo demonstrates scrolling capabilities Synthesizer sound program WoridMap draws a map ol the wodd Executable programs: Boing! Latest Bong! Demo.with selectable speed.E Brusn2C converts an IFF brush to C data instructions, initialization code. E Bru$ h2k»n converts FF brush to an icon, E
Dazzle graphics demo, backs to mouse, E DeciGEL assembler program for stopping 68010 errors, S-E-D Ktock menu-bar dock and dale dispfey.E life the game of Ite, E TimeSet Intuition-based way to set toe time 4 date EMEmacs another Emacs, more oriented to word processing, S-E-D MyCLI a CLI shell, works without the Workbench, S-E-D Texts: FnctnKeys read function keys from Amiga Basic HackerSln exptai ns how to wi n the game 'hacker' IstBSOfO guide to installing a 68010 in your Amiga Bang! Latest Bong! Demo,win seiectablespeed, E Brush2C converts an IFF brush to C data msteucttens,
initiaizationccde. E converts IFF brash to an icon, E graphics demo, tracks to mouse. E sembtef program tor Stopping 68010 errors, S-E-D menu bar clock aid date display, E She game ol file, E Intuition-based way to set toe time date, another Emacs, more oriented to word processing. S-E-D a CLI shell, works without toe Workbench, S-E-D explains he* to read tension keys from Amiga Baste explains hew to win the game 'hacker' guide to installing a 68010 in your Amiga Printer Tip sending escape sequences lo your printer Startuo up tips on setting up jour startup-sequence tee XfrmrReview test of
Transformer programs that work Printer Drivers: Printer dnvers lor the Cancn PJ-1C8QA. The C Boh Prowriter, ar improved Epson driver that eliminates streaking, the Epson LQ-
800. The Gemini Star-10, the NEC S025A. The O&daia ML-92, toe
Panasonic KX-P10xx family, and toe Smito-Ccrona D300. With i
document describing the installation process.
AMICUS Disk 10 Instrument sound demos Thisls an con-driven demo, circulated tomany dealers. I! Includes toe sounds of an acoustic guitar, an alarm, a banjo, a bass guitar, a boink. A calliope, a car hom, claves, water drip, electnc guriar. A flute, a harparpegio, a kickdrum, a manm ba. A Grgan minor chord, people talking, pigs, a pipe organ, a Rhodes Diane, a saxophone a sriar, a snare drum, a steel dram, Sells, a vibrophone, a violin, a walling guitar, a horse whnny, and a whistle.
' 1MJ1 moving-worm graphics demo converts Modula-2 keywords to uppercase Breshehan circle algorithm example 12 templates for the spreadsheet Analyze There are lour programs here that read Commodore 64 picture files. They can translate Koala Pad, DaxSe, Prim Shop and News Room graphics to IFF format Getting the tees from your C -64 to your Amiga is toe hard part.
=xecuSb!e programs blink 'aEnk1 compatible Inker, but faster, E-D dean spins the ask for disk cleaners. E-D epsonset sends Epson setttincs lo PAR from menu E-D snowbg view hi-res pics in bw-res superiHtmap, E-D speaktme leT toe time, E-D undelete undeletes a He, E-D ertvapldhm converts Apple j[ low, medium and hlgb res pictures to IFF, E-D menud menu edrtor produces C code lor menus. E-D quick qiick disk-lo-disk nibble copier, E-D quickEA copies Electronic Arts disks, removes protection, E-D demo cf text editor from Microsmiths,E-D grids draw and play ware forms Albert draws Hilbert curves
madlib mad fb story generator maihaik talking maifing list program meadcws3D 30 graphics program.'irom A C™ articie mouse track mouse tracking example in hires mode sk t slot machine game tictactce the game switch pacttinko-fi ke game weird makes strange sounds Execurab'e programs cp unix-Ske copy ccrr.marxl, E cis screen dear, S-E diff unix-like stream ediicr uses 'difr output to fix files pm chart recorder performances mdteator AsserrUer prog rams rotating blocks graphics demo, S-E-D start a new CLI at the wess of a button, like Sidekick, S-E-D vsprijo Vsprite example code Iron Commodore,
S-E-D AmigaBBS Amiga Basic bulletin board prog., S-D Assembler programs startd makes star fields Eke Star Trek intro.S-E-D Pictures Mount Mandelbrot 30 view of Mandelbrot set Star Destroyer hi-res Star Wars starship pointer and spriteedHa program optimization ex anple Irom AC article targe, animated calendar, oary and date bock progran loan amortizations converts small IFF brushes lo AmlgaBaste BOB OBJECTS Intuition-based, CL! Replacement manager S-E shows and adjusts priority of CU processes. S*= shows info on CU processes, S-E displays CompuServe RLE pics, S-E robot arm grabbing a cylinder
Amiga vendors, names, addresses fixes lo early Cardco memory boards cross-rolerence to C include files clues lo playing toe game weJ make your own slideshows from the Kaieidoscopedisk screen clear and CLI arguments example txedi.3 Cprograms sprn3 popdi Cprograms di util AMICUS flllLU Amiga Basic programs Routines horn Caro n Scheponer oi CBM Tech Support, to read and dsday IFF pctures Irom Amiga Basic. Wiih documentation. Also included is a program so do screen prires n Amiga Basic, and the newest BMAP files, with a corrected Convert-D program. With ex- ample pictures, and the SavellBM screen
capture program.
Routines to toad and play Future Sound and IFF sound Fees from Am iga Basic, by John Foust tor Appled Visons. With documentation and C and assembler source lor writing your own Itoraries. And interfacing C to assembler in 'abrades With example sound.
Executable programs gravity So Amer Jan B5 gravitation grapta am uiation, S-E-D Texts MIDI mate your own MIDI tostrument interlace, documentation & a hi-res schematic.
AMICUS Disk 14 Several programs from Amazing Computing issues: 'oofs Oar Kar s C struCtre nder program. S-E-D Amiga Basic programs; BMAP Reader by Tim Jones FFBatshiSCB byMteSw.iger AutoReguestef example DOSHeipef Wlnctowed heip system for CLJ commands. S-E-D PETians translates FET ASCII files to ASCii Stes,S-E-D C Squared Graphics program from Science American. Sept 86, S-E-0 crtf adds or removes carriage returns from Res S-E-D dpdecode decrypts Deluxe Para, remo ves copy protectcn, ED queryWB asks Yes or No from toe user returns exitt code, S-E k VisiCaJc type spreadsheet. No nwM control,
E-D new views text files with window and slider jadgat. E-D Ong, Sproing. Yaacing, Zoing are sprite-based Bong! Style demos. S-E-D CUCtodt, sCiock, wClock are window boder docks, S-ED Texts An arWe on tong-persiSarce ohospor martm, tips on making brushes o! Odd shapes m Deluxe Pant, and recor.merdatiens on icon interfaces from Commodore-Amiga.
AMICUS PiaiUS The C programs Include: pr* a file printing utility, which can print files n the background and With tine numbers and control character filtering, lm' displays a chart ol the blocks aitocated on a dsk- 'Ask' questions an 'execute' file, returns an error code to control the execution in that batch fife Star an enhanced version of AmigaDO S 'status' command.
Dissolve' random-dot dissolve demo displays IFF picture slowly, dot by dot, in a random fashion.
PopCUZ invoke new CLI wndow at the press of a key.
The executable programs Include: form' file Formatting program through the printer driven to select print styles DskCaf catalogs disks, maintains, sortsjuerges lists of ask ffles 'PSourxf SunRize Industries' sampled sound editor J recorder Iconmaker* makes icons lor most programs 'Fractals' draws great fractal seascapes and mountain scapes.
¦3D Breakout 3D glasses, create breakout in a new dimension 'AmigaMonitof' displays lists of open files, memory u se, tasks, devices and ports in use.
'Cosmorods1 version of'asteroids'for the Amiga.
¦Sutlers' high re solution graphics dem o wrrrte N in Moduta 2.
Texts: ansi trf explains escape sequences the CON: device responds to.
¦FKey* includes template for making paper to sit in the tray at the tcp of the Am iga keyboard.
"Spawn' programmer's document from Commodore Amiga, describs ways to use the Amiga's multitasking capabilities in your own programs, AmigaBasic programs: Dribs' draw sound waveform s, and hear them played.
Ughf a version of the Iron lighl-cycte video game, MigaSol" a game of solitaire.
¦Stats' progra m to calculate basing averages "Money try to grab all the bags of money mat you can.
AMICUS 15 also indudes two beautiful IFF pictures, d the enemy walkers from the ice pfanel in Star Wars, and a picture of a cheetah.
AMICUS DMIfi " juggles' demo by Enc Graham, a robot juggler bouncing three mirrored ba!s, with sound effects. Twenty-Ixr frames of HAM animation are flipped QuicJdy to produce this image. You control the speed of the jugging. The author's documentation hints that this program might someday be available as a product IFF pictures parodies of the covers of Amiga Worid and Amaing Computing, C programs: Inputhander" example of making an infwt hander.
* FJeZap3' txnary file edting program
• ShowPrinr displays IF picture, and prints it.
Den' program indexes and retrieves C structures and variables declared in the Amiga include He system.
Executable Programs: FixHunkZ repairs an executable program He for expanded memory "m s2smus' converts Musto Sixdo ffes to IFF standard "SMUS* femaL I have heard trts program might have a few bugs, espeoaJy in regaros to wry leng songs, but it works in mosi cases.
'Missile' Am verscn of tte'Wsste Command videogame.
This tSsk also eoreains several files of scenarios tor Amiga Fight SmtJatof 11. By putting one of these seven files on a blark ask. And inserting it in the drive after performing a special command in tfts game, a number cf interesting locations are preset inso the Fight Simulator program. For example, coe &»rario p'aces your pi ane on A'catiraz. WhJe another puts you in Centra) Fade amicus pirn; Teicommuncaticns ask whuch contains su terminal programs.
'Comm* VI .33 term prog, wnh Xmodem, Wxmodem.
* ATerm*V7 term prog, nctodes Super Kemit YT-10Q'V2.6
DaveWecker's VT-IOOem atcrwdh Xmodem,Kemit, and sen ping ¦Amiga
Kermis* V4Di060) port cf toe Unix C-ram* 'VTeK*V2J.1 Tektrorix
graphics terminal em.ufator based or the VI-1 CO prog. V2.3 and
centals latest 'arc' file compression 'AmgaHost' VOS for
CompuServe. Indudes RLE gra pries abiStes & CtS-B fife transfer
protocol, 'Fix Hunk* expansion memory necessry 'FixOtj* removes
garbage characters from modem received files
* Txl* filters texl files Irom other system s to be read by "he
At iga E C, ¦addmem* executeahe version for use with mem
expansion artide in AC v2..l 'arc' fife documeraatcn and a
basic tutorial on un'a c'nq files 'arcre1 formakeing
arc'fiesE.C. AM'CUSDisKIS Lego Amiga version of the popular
computer language!, with example programs, ED TvText Derr, o
verson d the tY'T ext character generator PageSeter Freely di
stributable versons cf She updated PagePrint and PagelFF
programs lor the PageSetter desktop pubeshng package.
FuiiWindow Resizes any CLI window using griy CLI commands, E-D Lite3d 3-D VERSION of Conway's Uft program, ED Defd-sk Cuutitoytiore-assionanew Workbench dsk, S-E-D Calendar.WKS Lctus-compatibfe worksheet that makes calendars SetKey Demo of keyboard key re-programmer, with IFF picture to mate function key labels. E-D VPG video pattern generator tor aigrmg monitors, ED HP-1 DC Hewlett-Packrad-Ike catulator. ED SetPrete Change the Preferercessetaigs on the fiy, in C.S- ED StarProbe Program stuces st&lsr eralutcn. C souk included for Amiga and MS-005. S-ED ROT C verson of Coin French's AmoaBask:
ROT program from Amazing Computing. ROT edits and ds ays polygons to create three dmenslcnal otrecs. LS to 24 *ra.mes of artmation can be created and dsplayed. ED Scat like ire, wndows on screen run away from the nouse.E-D DK Decays' he CLI window rto dust, m Moduia 2, S-E-D DreoShadcw Ados layered shadows to Workbench windows, E-D AmiCygpi$ ki9 _ _ Titis disk carres several programs from Amazing Compmng. I ne ii-r picrures on tris osk include the Amiga Wake part T• shirt logo, a sixteert-ca'cr hi-res mage of Andy Griffith, and five Amiga Irve pictures from the Amazng Stones ecsode mat
featured the Anga.
Solve Linearequationsolierinassemblylancuage.S-E-D Gadgets Bryan CaCey's AmgaEasc tutorial. S-D Household Bryan Casey's AmgaBasic household invenfcry program, SD Waveform Jim Sheds' Waveform Workshop: AmigaBasic, S-D Disk Up John Kerman's An iga Sa&c dsk librarian program, S-D Subscripts fvan Smith's AmigaBasic subscript example, S- D String, Eotoeai C programs and executables for Harriet Maytoeck Tolly's Intuition tutorials. 3-E-D Skinny C Bed Riemersma's example for making smati C programs, S-E-D COMALh Make C took like COMAL header Ele, S-D EmacsKey Makes Emacs function key definitions by
Greg Douglas. SD Amon 1.1 Snoop on system resource use, E -D 9TE Bard's Tate character ecStor, E-D Size C LJ program shews the site of a given set cl files. ED WinStze CLI window utiity resizes current window, S-E-D AMICUS DISK2Q Compactor. Decoder Steve Michel AmigaSasic sods, SD 3obEd BOB and sprite editor written in C.S-E-D SpriteMasterll Sprite editor and animator by Brad Kiefer, ED BstUb Blitter chip excforation C program by Tomas Rowcki, S-E-D Fpic Image processing program by Bob Bush loads and saves IFF images, changes them with several techniques. E-D Bankn Cot piete heme banking
ptog., balance your checkbook1 E-D Aims M 2i Target Makes each mouse dick sound like a gunshot, S-E-D Sand Simple gam e ol sand that foitows the mouse pointer, E-D PropGadget Hamiei May beck Toffy's proportional gadget example, S-E EH3 Checks to see if you have extra-half-bright fraphics, S-E-D imi' Piano Simple piano sound program CefScripts Makes cel animation senpts lor Aegis Animator, in AmigaBasic This disk has electronic catalogs lor AMICUS disks 1 lo 20 and Fish disks l to 80. They are viewed with the DiskCat program, incfuded here.
AMICUSJiskff Cycles Light cyde game. E-D Snow_Printll Views and prats IFF pictures, including larger than screen PrtDr Gen23 Latest verson of a printer driver generator Animations Video Scape animations of planes and bong bad Garden Makes fractal gardenscapes BasicSorts Examples of binary search and insertion sortinAmigaBasie ATOSDisfca An AM DUS ctisk completely dedicated to music en Lhe Am a. This Osk contains two muse players, scngs, instruments. And players to brag the thnO of playing "Big Sound* on your Amiga Instruments a cofecian of 25 rsJrumems lor playing and creating muse. The
coftxtion ranges from Cannon to Marimba List INSTR program a Est the instjuments DMCS wR not load as weil as is. The origins lor any instrument.
Muse a collection of 14 Classical pieces 18i20vertJre The 16 minute ctasscal feature complete with Cannon!
Three Amiga Music Ptayers: SMUSPtay MuscCrafeSMUS MusicS tuOo2 SMUS AMICUS PisK24 Sectorama Adsk sector edtor tor any Am.igaDOS 9- rjuctured de.'-ce. recover files mom a trashed hard dsk. By Davd Jdner ol Mcroltisions fcomzs Reduces the size of IFF images, com par,on program. Recolor, remaps the pa'ette colors of one pcue to use the patefle colors cf another. Using these programs and a tool to convert IFF brashes to Workbench icons, make icons look tike mtoiatires of toe pictures.
CodeDera Moduia-2 procran comerts assembter object Sties to inline COOc statement. Cories with a screen scxQfting exampfe Arri3ug V cckbench habt makes toe same fly wak across the screen a! Random rtervaJs. Otherwise, completely harmless.
BNToois Three examples ol assembly language code from Bryce Nesbitt:
1. OetLace prog o switch interface onAoff,
2. Wny. Replace AmigaDOS CU Why
3. Loadrt prog to load a file into memcry until a reboot. Only
the most esoteric hackers wii find LoadltusefiJ.)
Manoiace CU program resets Preferences to several cdors of monochrome & interface screens. C source is included, wcrks wito DisplayPrel. A CU program which displays the current Preferences settings.
BongMachine A ray-traced animation ol a perpetual motion Borig-makirg machine, includes the latest verson cf the Move program, which has the ability to pfay sounds afcng with the animation. By Ken Offer Example of using the translator and narrator devices to make the Amga ak. It is written in C. Daisy QuckRix Senpt-dr.ven animation and slideshow program flips through IFF images.
Bmon System monitor AmigaBasic program; perform simple manipulations ol memory, Moose Random background program. A small window c»ers with a moose resembteng BolwinlCesaying witry phrases user definable, DGCS Deluxe Grocery Constrocticn Set. Simple treuibon- based prog for assembling and printing a grocery fist.
The Wru$ Check directory holds several programs reiatog to toe software virus that came to the US Irom pirates m Europe as detailed in Amazing Com putrig V2.12. Bill Koester's full explanation of toe virus cede is included. One program checks tor the software virus cn a Workbench disk; toe second program checks tor toe virus in memory, which ccxid ntert ether disks AMICUS Disk 25 Nemesis Graphes demo pans through space towards the fryTica! Dark twn of toe sun with wenderfu: music aid space graphics.
The KickPlay drectcry holds texl toat describes se era! Patohes to the Kdkstart disk. For Amga 1000 hackers who feel ccm'orfatfe patching a disk in heiadecmai, KckPiay ohers toe chance to automatical do an ADDMEM for o d expans.cn memory, as wet as toe at ity to charge toe pcture cf toe 'Insert Workbench' hand A program is a so included tor restoring toe correct cnecksun of the Kcksfart tfsk.
KeyBiTO BASD prog edcs ksynaps, adjust the Workbench keycaps cr create yoj- own.
ScdorWS Mod ties tneWcrktsrch so three btptares are used.
Icons can have eght colors, instead of tour, eight- co'or icons are included Public domain program 'zapaxY or 'tresh con' converts eght-color IFF brushes to icons, to use Deluxe Pa ft» make tens lev tois new Workbench.
Sresnlcon Corrrerts brushes to icons (txzarrdocs).
Egraph Graphmg prog reads |x.y] values fion a fite and d?spay5 toem on 'toe screen, ssniar to the same- ramed Unix program.
Keep 1,1 Message-managing p'ograrn for telecommunications, iets you save -messages from an online transcript to another file, uridersunds the message formal of the rational networks ar d several types cf bu'ietin board software. Moves through toe transcript and save messages KiiLfastd r Speed up directory access, it creates a small file in each directory on a disk which certains the mfor ¦ maton about the files, wif also remove all the '!asti±r' files Irom each directory, by Climate's autoons The UceY B program changes between interface and non-interface Wofkbencft. Previously, you were
forced to rebool after changing Preferences to an interfaced screen.
This program flips between the normal arid extended screen heights, PWJJtlity A shareware utiity for PfoWrite users, changes maroin settings and forrt types.
Guru A CU program, prints out probable causes for Guru meSations: C source included.
DiskWipe Latest from Software Distillery, removes files from directories or disk drives, much faster lhan 'delete.'
Snow AmigaBasic makes snowflake designs.
Milst Mailing list database.
Softballstats Maintain softball statistics leam records.
Dcdge Short Modula-2 program moves the Workbench screen around after a period of time, prevents monitor burn-in.
AMOiJilsUS Todor Fay s SoundScape module code from his Amazing Computing articles. The source lo Echo. Chord, Tx, and VU is included The Lattice and Man* C source code is here, along with the executable modules.
C!az2 Update of prog to convert IFF images lo PosiScnpt files lor printing on laser printers SDBaekup Hard disk backup prog with Lempef-Ziv compression to reduce toe necessary number ol risks.
TCB Prints information about tasks and processes in the system: assembler souroeis included.
FunBut Lets a function key act like a rapid series of left mouse button events.
DC A handy program tor people who use an Amiga 1020 5 IN inch drive as an Am.igaDOS floppy. A Workbench program that sends s Dtskghango signal to toe operating system; instead ol typing 'diskenange df2:* over and over a gain, just dick on the eon, C source included.
System ccnfig File makes screen 80 cotomns wide o! Texl in the Scrbble! Wcrd processor.
Dck2ftam 2 programs to move the Scribble! Spelling dtoSonary to and from the RAM disk.
Lexical Aniyzes a text file and gives toe Gunning-Fog, Flesch, and Kincaid inaces which measure readabiity.
HexDump Modi a-2 progiam to dspfay memory locations in hexadeomal.
Tartan AmigaBasic: design Tartan plaids.
DirMaster Disk catalog program.
BMP plays BSVX sampled sounds in toe background white scroetotng efse is happening in toe Amiga, as your Amiga :s booting, for exampe.
ShowPt CU program changes your pdnter to a grven pointer.
AMCUS 26 also has a cofledon cf mouse pciniers. 4 Workbench program to asplay toem SORRY... Do to the ever increasing size of the Fred Fish Collection, AC will no longer be able to maintain a complete catalog of Public Domain Software in every issue. However, AC will continue to update this abrievated catalog with new additions to the library. A full catalog of every disk and program in the Amicus and Fred Fish Libraries is available in the current issue oi: ACT GIWE Lwga At your local Amazing Dealer Fred Fish Public Domain Software Ffed Fish Disk 179 DtetAd Diet planning aid 'o allow toe user
roconpite lists cf ingredients (recipes! And aj'cmatce!! compute caioretcUis, etc. Update FF36.
V3 1. Binary only, by Terry Gintz Dmake Beta retea se of Marts version ol toe UN IX make utility. Features nyttpfe dependences, wildcard support, aid more. Inctooes soiree By Mart Drfiicn Excpdon Exception is a set cf emir haxl ng roanes toai prcwde a program ner wrth me abfty to easi y handte often cffioif to implement routines.
Rouires such as no r-cre memory. Be not op®i,readwrceeror....etc. VO.E.ixiudes source. By Gerald T Hewes KickFart Fa A-1IXOowrefSrwflperranentfy replace toe lopaz font oi toe bekstert dsk win a fere caitea look'. RcJ-udes a sampie in toe form of ai iff ptoure V3 0, bnaiy only. Also xnijjed ts Btr-ATin Fufier's freely redstrtoutabte 'Sir Kick' program. By G*eg Browne Launch Sample program showing how you can load aid execute a program, r toe wakbench envronment then retun so toe CL:. Todudes source. By Peter da Sira Regexp A .nearty-pt Ac-doriain reiripiemertaticfi d V3 regexp(3) package. Gives
C programs Ts ad cy»use sty e reguia* eifress.ois. and dees ifinamixh ctearp- fashion than toe analogous routnss n SysV. Tic-'uoes souree.
ByHomySpeice- Tsnip Very race'cut and Mfie't pe utitly wrtn ts cf uses and functions. Features a pcp-up intuiacn control par,el. Multiple font and color recognition, d pboard Aid ope support and a coupe of utrtity programs. VI ,4a. Sour 'cc susoort prorans criy. By John Russel!
A few CU utiStes. Indufing scr,e functicnaf y UnoUti sir Far :o toe UNIX utispesof the same names, induoed are: V c. Head. Tail. Tee, Detab.
Entab. And Tome Descrptions are g ven in the incuded '.doc' files. By Gary Brant FredfiiflJMlfifl Browser A programmer's 'Wprkterach,' Alcws you to easily and conveniently move. Copy, rename, and delete ties & directories from a CLI environment Aso provides a method lo execute ether Workbench or CU programs.
VI. 6. update to rf 134, binary oniy. By Peter da Silva GecTime A
couple of interesting 'dock' type progams based cn toe
'Geochrcn'. Observe toe earth's shadow sadl aaosi a map or
globe in realtime. Based on the system dock. V1 0. Biary
only, shareware. By Mike Smithwick Gprmt A black A white
graphics print utility for Epscn compatible pnniers. Comm
and-tine options allow several diHerent print qualities and
densities. Includes a couple ol sample IFF fifes for
printing, V2.03, binary only, shareware. 3y Peter Chema Jed A
nicely dene, intu tion-based editor that is quite
user-friendly. Features word-wrap, auto-indent, newcli. Art
buffer, spirt-window, keyboard macro, help, printing, aid
more. VI ,0. Binary only, shareware, By Dart Burris NoVirus
Another Anti-Virus utility. This one features known and new
virus detecton, view boot block, save and restore boolWocks.
Several 'Install' options and more. Written in assembly.
VI. 56. binary only By Nic Wilson RepStong Nice little CU utility
to replace any type of string in any type of fiie wito
another stores of any rape. VI .0. binary only, shareware."2y
Luciano Bertato TrekTrtvia Very nee mouse-criven tnvta type
program Or Star Trek fans. Contains ICC questions with
additional trivia disks arailatle from toe author.
I, shareware. 3y George Broussard na only.
Fled Flafi fliltl AMXLI5P Amiga-rzed version o! The Xusp riterprelar originally by David Betz. V2.00, indudes source. By David Betz: Amiga wcrt by Franoois Houaix Bally Amiga port ql ihe farmer arcade a are named Clck. Lacks sounj effess.pronvsed for later updates. VO.ti, binary onfy, shareware. By Ofiver Wagner Tracker Useful debugging routines simEa; to function but more versa: te to these of 'MemTrace' on FF163. Wii track and report on calls to AibcMem )4 FreeMem() lor tack toereol!] amor others. V0 Ca (A'pha release). By Kari Lehenbauer Fred Fish Disk 182 AMD 'Amiga Message Canter*.
Serous a message Irom a text file across toe screen cn a coteriJ tackgrourd. Sim !ar to the 'greetings' programs devetoped by European Amiga enthusiasts. VI .0. binary only. By Fester Hal Edmap A keymap edtor. Ajows you to read n an existng keymap fie, modfy it to suit our needs, and sare it as a ready-to-use'keymap.
V1,0. Indudes source. Autoor; QftesGamssh HR: 36 An IFF fite contain rag a chan showing every pcsstole maLre cf the sixteen base paieie cdcrs. Also irduded are optxr.-zed arol monocrirome cateses aong with several tips areJ techr«?Lies tor using tfrem with various pamS programs.By Dick Bcune Iconrr.erger ."uiovcased program to ake any fwo crush lies aid merge then into an atiernateimage type icon. V2.0. binary onfy. By Terry Gintz San Another IFF sound payer wth several ccmmand-tne options Lncludes sereral samples V1.0. txnary onfy. By Nic Wilson SeLPort Allows you to change the system font
with various command-fine oqions, Cleans up a?
Known tugs to FF75. V2.5, induOW scurce in C*+. By Dtra Ha»nie FrriFshPisUM A utility tor Anga assembly programmers.
FuFd w.J read a '.FD file and outpul a fi'e fat can be 'INCLUDE ed ratoer fan having jo Ink with toe cotossal 'Amiga.Lib'. V1.0, includes source in assempy. By Peter Wyspanski Ancther exampfe of bufdtog a shared I txary that evolved Iron 'Elib' FF87. Asa i.nc!uded is a ktxary. Edlib. Which conte ns several fuxsons not mc uded m the Manx standard libraries, includes source By Edwin Hoocerbeets wito C- functions from sesera! Dif'e,ert authors PCQ Asul imptem©italioncfafreetyxedstntxrtabte Pascal compd©. Supports rcuJe files, external references, records, tnunteraled types, pointers, arrays,
stnngs and awe. PresenTy does not supped range rypes, ne hrth' sCatamea* cr sez Vi .0, indudes sa ce and sample programs. By Patrick Quad FrctififlPfiKIH & A snal brush to to C-code iteo? Caved©, ntendedtobeu&edtxmCU VIJ), binary orty By Terry Girti CanSUaV© A programmer's aid fcr creating card maga data foal can be used in any card game that uses me Standard 52 card dax V13. Binary only. By Tory Ghn DPS Demo version of a program that will allow you to lake any IFF file and save it as a totaSy sell contained executable file, without re need fcr any IFF-vfewors. V1.0, binary only. By Foster
Hall MouseUtil Intuton based program to alow you lodiange your mcwse Speed wthou? Hawng to go through preferences. V1.1, rctodes assembly source. By Luaano Bertato Prim Smal print utiify deseed to replace the 'copy dlenamo to prT command. Opens a window h splaying toe filename b&ng primed, length, and a status bar showing percent completed. Ajso mdixfcs an abort gaogel V1.Q, brary onfy. By Luciano Bertato Vacffertoh This amusing Me screen hack wTcfeanup' yoir WorkBench screen for you when it gets too Cluttered' &nary only. By Randy Jouett World A text adventure game s-milar to tie Wocan
adventures of PtaneCal and Staroross. Quito large
* th a tremendous variety ol responses. V1.02. indudes source. By
Doug Mcdonaid, Amiga pod by Erie Kennedy FmflinpamK Commodore
IFF Ths is a copy of trie offcal November 1968 Commodore
tFFtfsteAl toe fnesr the 'doanerts* director are in zoo Be
• daxmemico* Fred fish Disk 186 A58k AE3CC0
assembfetffionaZywTT in WadUa 2n 1965 and convened to C by
Chafe Gfcb n 1987.
Has been converted x accept metaxneo- compaflbfe assembler soute coda anl to generato Arruja objects. Torixtesscurce.7hsisV2.42tar update to Ffl 10. By Brian Anderson; C translator and Amiga work by Charfe Giib Cards'O Rama A simpte game toattefs you push you memory. It is played with a deck of 32 cards, grouped int 6 pars. The cards are shuflted and inen displayed at toe beginning cf each game. Your goal is to pci up as marry pairs as you can. Until there are no cards left on the screen, V1D, includes soiree. By Wenher Prani Ot2 A cute program that ovesne fine toe way marry people acaraly
do. Ir Yts ready fen to five* todudes source p assembly. By Charts Gfcb SrnCPU A CP.W simuialor lor the Amiga. Smutates an 6080 along wtoHi 9 terminal emuialwr. Includes source. Tits ts VZ3, an update to FF109. By in Cathey; Amiga port by Charlie Gibbs and mb Kusche ErsdEisii Disk 187 Diskperf A disk benchmark program whkto runs on both Urix and the Amiga This is an update to Ffaa.with bug foes and more ratable measurements of the last© read and wnte speeds available under the new Fast Fife System, By Rck Span&auer, enhancements by Joanna Dow HackLfto Tms is toe latest version the Amiga port
of Hack, with lots ol Amiga specific entencemerts and neat graphics. New includes an easy to use instafiaiicn program. Ths is Hacklie VI .0U. binary only. By Software Distifery MaAe Aversatteci'macrcHiey nibator based on POPC J wto a unique metood af*scre©vtanteng I won! Say more, |ust tori! V 1.13. includes scoce.
This is an update to FF161. By Tcrr.as Rokicki 5etCPU A program designed to altow the user to detect and maSty various parameters retated to 32 bit CPUs Indudos commands to enable or disable the texV data caches, swlch on or oft the'030 buret cache Una 60 request, use the UUU to nxi a ROM image iron 32-M memory, and to report various parameters when rated ton a script. VM.
Rcutte sarcs. By Dave Haynte Fred Fish Disk 183 Boctnro Ths program creates a sna! Nst on the bocfttock ol any risk, which wl appear after you insen the $ $ kforbootng. The heaine can be up to 20 characters. The scrdnj text pcox can be up E 225 characters, VI .0, binary orty. By Roger Fiscfin.
DflDr WttfrMmparesCteaarrierasaftwodirecsones.
Reporting on (ifterences such as Bes present in aYy one directory, different modficatiai dates, lie Lags, sizes, comments, etc. V1.0, includes souoe By Mark Rtofrel Exec&s A disassembler comment generator program lor the
1. 2 Kcksta t ROM erec ffixary image, (knerates a commented
ifeassenbly of the eiec library. V1.0, binary only. By Marias
Wandef FastGro A fractal program, sruiatng Drffusfon-Limited
Aggregation (DLA) as described in the December 1988 SoentiBC
American in the Computer Reoeatons cdvnn. The program is about
an order of magnitude faster than the *SLO GRO* program deser
ted ir Scaenafc American V 1.0, rdudes soace. By Doug Houck
FracGen A fractal generator program that generates fra cat
pictures tom 'seeds* trial you create. This is un&te any ol
the other 'fractal generalors* I've seen. It can be used to
load and dspiay previously created fractal pctures, modify
existing fractals, or create your own fractals. V123, binary
only, update to FF142.9 Doug Houck MemoryClock A ckxk program
that shows the amount ol tree tast ram. Tree chp ram, as wtQ
as the tme and dale. Indudes $ oute in assembly code. By Roger
Fbchfin Minfien A smpfe Aren irtertaoe whfeh can be easfy
patohedmto almost any program. Ln±ioesasan example toe
freecraw progriT. Tcra t-ri. Indudes source. By Tomas RcAdo HJ
A new dos device toat behaves ike 'NL'* but unfcre 'NIL'*, it
is a real hander. Ths makes it use*Jo iocs ol srtuaaons where
'NIL* cannot be used. V 0 0, includes source. By Gimp;
Nordnark TexTDisplay A ten iSsdlay program. Bie 'more* or
less*, but about hal l too siz e and handles a3 screen tamats
(paMsc,tnt0taceAtorvintertace,etcJ, V 1.1, binary xly. By
Roger Fischin FredFistiDisk 189 Uadoe A versatile citnaa'&key
ncacr based on POPC J wi* a LTK?je metnod of
'screen-bia.skirg1. Iwori say more, Mt try it! Vorson 120.
Indudes source, upcateol FftBT. Autoor; TcmasRotodd NotHack
Trtsaporl 1 ol a two pari dstntutcn of NetHack, whch was too
largo to 6t on a single dsk. Even when zoc'C. Pari 2 ts on da
190. Beth parts, akng wsh toe¦» inpack them, are requred to
use or reouad NetHack V23 todudes sotra. Ai or Various; Am a
work by Olal Serfwt UotJl V2 g shareware odor. Has lean mode,
a com* maru tanguags. Menu customcabon. And other user
cor£gurabiriy and customuabicy leaLres Binary criy.
Shsreware. Update to FF173 Author Rx* Sties BttlfgfiDtaK 1SQ Gvyfecns Acdtecaonolmcre nteresringandusefiiiccins- Autrar Gary Rosom.an LBM21mageTa)res an FF pichxe and generates a C source module wtveri can be ccmpded and Inked wito your program to display the ptive with the mtuton Draw image hjrctwn. Bmanronly.by; Denis Green NctHack Ths is pari 2 or a two pari dtstnbulon o! Net Hack.
Wrich wras too large to tt on a sngte dsk, even when zoo d. Part 1 is on dsk 1K. Both pahs, along with zoo to inpack them, are required to use or rebuild NtfHadt V23 Indudes source Author: Various; Amca work by Cwai Seibert Fred Fish Disk 191 BktLab BkSab is a program wtuch trts you experiment with the biter, to you hearts content, m relative safety, ft opens a workbench window with gadges for si the regissfs o(re bicer, and allows you to maniputate indvidual registers and perform bSts on a magnified btnap. V 1,4. An update to FF54. Indudes source.
Auhor: Tomas Rofocki B*. A requester making tool omptoyng various recursive algorithms ncJudng a recusve parser, tt takes input text files and converts tocm to C-souree lor inctodng as requester dectaratnns. Update to Ffl 52, wh many enhancements. Includes souoe. Autoor Stuat Ferguson FileBoctBkock Thiss*nptel«fleprogram readsbbdisOand 1ba bemtie dsk and saves tern as a program Se that can be nn (heaven forbid) or dsassemded by programs like DtS cr DSM. Todudes soute n assembly code by: John VekSfus Spol AportdaUruwjrsicnof a keely bstribuBtte screen cricrtod, rteracsve. Speixng cftxker.
Update to FF54.
Win ofhanccmensCy TcmasRofcdu V20 02.
Indudes source Autoor PaceWfescn; enhancements by Tomas RoAdu Pzli Computer wreionol those cheap plastic puzdes wdh 15 write ties nunbered 1 torough 15 and an empty square ria 4 by 4 arrangement Ttts one c more dalerging since you cant sofve it by jus pryvng out the pieces, hdudes source. Auhor Mike Hal FttiEsiL Evil Tbsp kage alows you to mahpdate expressions.
CurrenSy its two main funcScns are evaluation and (Sffereri&afion I also does some base sinpfiScabons (based on pattern mathtogtto make toe resuS of a dfferirtaton more pruscrOabe Indudes source.
Auhor: DavdGay PacMan87 Ths is a rice kfle'pacman Lke* game with some new features Hie fire pits, stabbng fcwes, eledric arcs and flatne throwers, that must be avoided. Has toree levels of dfflculty. Easy, medium, and hard. Sounds can be toggled on or off. Keeps a record of toe top ten scores.
Shareware, binary onfy, Author Sieve Jacobs and Jim Boyd ReSourceDemo A demo verson of ReScum an interactive disassembler lor toe Amiga. Ths is a complete version except that the 'save* features have been disabled.
V0 36, binary only, by; Gfen McTXannto Enflmfifsuaa KeyMapW ' )td Ajfows you to change toe KoyMaps used wdri SetMap Thesis a W teetered edtor providing support lor normal. Smg and dead toys. The krytxjard represented a from an A2XGA500 but it is fidy compatblewitoAl 000 keyboards. V1.02. rcudes source Author Tim Friest Zc This is a modified version of the Sozobon C corapier fromFFi71, (has been modfled to generate code compatiifo wrti toe A£8k assembler rom FF106 and a new Irctelend control program makes rt easy to use Ike the UNIX*cc'Irontond. V1.0J,tedudessouxe.by: Jcham Ftoega: Amiga work
by Joe Montgomery Fred Raft Pitt W Mona A single ptaver dungeon simiiaisr. The object of toe game is to defeat the BaJreg, whch k*ks in toe deepest tevob of toe dmgeon. Voubegkialtoefcwn lewf ab&re toe ckrgecn. Where you may acquire suppfes, weapons, armor, and magical devtees by bartering wito various shop owners, before dascenorg tetotoedrigecntodoba&te. Arwja enhancemens srcjfla pud down menus, graphcs mode, pkkup mode, a ccrtruxis mom mode, a real bme mode, a message wak imo mode, as well as other ncdtxatons to improve cwwal pLaya.biiTy and tc advantage ol the inque featuresoi toe Amga.
V3.0, txrary only, requires at least 1Mb of memory. Autoor Rcoert Alan Koeneka and others Amiga version by Richard Henderson and others.
Lias McrofcMACS Verson 3. Iqd Daniel Lawrence's variant of Dave Conroy's maoemacs Ths e an update to the vision reluasod cxi dsk 119. New tealres indude mi tfpfe marks, more tuxbon key support, a better crypt algcnthm, and end-of word command, a command lne switch lor senng erwcnmeni variables, new hooks lor m acres, a command to stop traing whitespace, intemalpnalzation lea teres fike toreqn larguage message supper, honzonal window scroang, much faster search algontom, Amiga rtution support, and more. Indudes source and extensive crine documeraaton Autoor; Dave Corroy, MANY enhancements by
Daniel Lawrence Ebfl-FfoiLEisLlffi HamPics These are some of toe most stunning dgitized pictures yet tor too Amiga. They were scsmod a: a resduucn of 4096 by 2900 pixels, 36-bits per pixel, on an Eaonix 1435 sfxte scanner. Cropped, gamma corrected, scaled, and converted to Amga IFF HAM files. They are ck-ciayed wn a uxcal 1LEW bader that handles cwrecan HAM mages. Includes soira lor toeiispiay program. Autoor: JonatoanHut Eftd Fisfl Piik. 197 Ctags Create a tags He tram toe specfiedC. Pascal, Forsan, YACC, ex. Cr iso sorces A tags tie can be used by a cooperatno eotor to qwcWy locate speoSed
ob os in a program s scute code Bcrteiey V4.7, indudes source. Autoor: Kar. AmokJ. In Kteckncr. And Bil Joy Ported to Amga by G. R (Fretf Water Find Find is a utiitywhkto searches ia ties that satisfy a cyven boolean e pres son of ahibules. Start rq fmn a root pathname and severing reeursrvety down through toe herarcriy of too fife system. Very much Ike the Uru find program, VI2. Mdjsfcs souoc. Update E FF134 Author: Rodney Lewis Fatiiik A program to modify executabte ties to atow town to run r external memcry. It forces all DATA and BSS hcrtts n toe Be o be leaded r*o CHP memory. CODE hunks
wit slil load no FAST ram ifavatade New tealres indude an rteracbve mode to sefed where each DATA cv BSS hitok wJ toad nto rifemory. Support tar owrlays. Support for AC BASIC compited programs, and support tar new htok types as used by tfrfc*. V2.1, bnary orty.
Update to FF3S Autoor D J. James hra Another raff fffe leu lomatter. Thu is verson
1. 5, an update to toe vereton released cn Ssk 79 New feahres
indude generation ol ANSI ISO codes tor bdd, italics, and
underlne, more than one tormahng command on a Ire, longer
macro names, and many more formating commands.
Indudes scuce. Author Unknown, posted to usenet by Ajan Vymetaik Manyonhancanentsby OtalSebert Stevie A public dcrean done of toe UNIX 'vYodeor.
Supports wmdow-sizrg, arrow keys, and too help key. V335a. Includes source Update to FF1G6 Author: VanouS, Amiga work by C R (Fred) Walter Fred Fish Disk 196 Charon Charon is Braffe s entry lor toe Fvsl Annual Badge Kiier Demo Contest. The tex1 ol too demo was wmten try Lord Dunsany (long beioro the A r.xga). BracJeyffeafedtoejflustrabonsand ar.ma'on The sound Tack is a trad fiorul Scottish hne 'The Arran Boat*, by: Lord Dunsany(19t5L BradteyScri£snck(i968) EmLEjsLDiaJM Asimpfex An impfemenlatscn of the Simplex algorithm lor sdvma linear programs. It uses too standardized MPSX Iorm at lor
input data files. VI .2. indudos source. Autoor: Sletan Forster Csh V3.02a d a ari kke she* derived from Man Duon's 5hel.V2.07. hdudes many new onmproved commands, some bug fixes, etc Indudos saxoe.
Autocr Mad Ota, Steve Drew. Carlo ftorreo, CesareDieri Mosoft A prograr to transfer sound samples between toe AzmgaandaRdandS-220. V1T), brery orfy.
Author, [kefer Bans Pyra A screen trarwrg program toat goes beyend too normal blaniung process. Whentoorearenorpui events, pyro takes over and starts a irttio fireworks dsplay m cdor. VI. 1. Binary only. Author; Steve Jacobs and Jtfn Boyd SnipDemo Demo version 123 ol signal processing program sold by Digital Dynamics. Sriary onfy. Autoor John Hodgson Vewer A v sm.al program for (Spying IFF pares of anyresofubcn. This one ts wnsen in assembly code and is only 9B8 bytes bng Binary only.
Author tfkektota* Fred Fish Disk 200 NcOovigAgaxi Dr.Gandatfsertry tor toe Frst Anrual Badge Kfler Demo Coraesi It is an rteraced HAM animation vntonfoefy integrated sound effects ft ts a groat visual pui on toe ongraiBomg demo, but lo say anymore would rum toe effect Binary only, requires 1 kfe of memory Author; Dr. GanMlI (trie J. Fleischer, MD) Tank This is Voorst's emry lor toe Frsi Annual Badge JOIer Damo Cfflitest It is an animation of a ¦fishtank sirrulatcr", with sound effects and a cuto twist. Binary only. Autoor: VncentH.Loo Fred FistiDisiLM Draco Update to Chris Gra s Draco
dstnbution lor toe Amiga.Enhancemenis include support la floating pant, register vanabtes. More optroizaum, imprtrred caltctinstandard. Etc. VI .2. an update to FF76. Requres documentation from FF77 to caTpfetetoedstobubonks. Bawy on . Autoor ChnsGray DropGoto DrapOcto lets you place a paoan. A 2 fxplono IFF image or a ram&nakri of a pabem and mage, into the WorkBench backdrop. This is verson Z4.
An update to verson 2.2 on dak 12fi. Sfarcvrare, bmffy criy. Autoor EricLavitsky fn&m mm StavcFocs A whde bunch of new fonts from Robn LaPasha.
Version i .0. Author: Robin LaPasha Vli VlTisbrtha VT100 emulator and a Tekfroncr (4014 plus subset of 4105) emJalor. Curertey n use a! S'lAC (Stanford Lnea Acceferafcr Center).
Ajtoough toe VT100 part was originaly based on Dare Wecker et afi's VT1M. Many enrancar.erts were made The program rtq es ARP. And it has anAReupor. XMOOcMlKCRCandKeriw protocol support afso ncfoded. Verscn 3-656.
Bnary only. Author: Ywy Langevekl FredFiahDiti 203 Examples Asserntfy ard C cede examples, rdudnq sarnie ofo tavenfes (ike speecrtoy and y*totc3i dowixodedtoasscmbfylanguage houdwa reptacerriat la toe official audodevco. An example of creating a subtask, a rewrite n assembly oi R. J. McaCs fie requester, an example of hstaUng a custom input hancfier ahead of intuton. And more. Author: Jim Fiore A Jeff Gian GurusG tide The source fifes for as examples published in toe ¦Gau's Gude. Meditation it; lntemAks' by Carl Sasserrath, toe archriect of toe Amiga's bw-levot muftrlasfong operating system
and desigrwr ol Exec. Autocr: Carl Sasienrato tsan A ibrary of routnes to access reia tonal d3ta base systems using toe index SequenwJ Access Method (ISAM). Ths is beta verson 0.9. bhary orty. Autoor. Kai Ofirer Ptoog Fred Fish Disk 204 FieReq A simple fie requestor, written as an expose by toe author to see hew easy it would bo frt wasn't).
Indudes source. Autoor: Jonathan Potter GnuGrep The grep program tram too GNU project. Replaces grop Igrep. Eqrep, and tmgrep. Currently does not expand Amiga style wildcards, soil you wish lo scan multiple fifes you will rood lo uso 4 w4h a sheitoatdoes tots for you Version 1.3. rxAxfes source. Autocr Mka Haertet, James Woxfc, Anriur Olson. RktoardStatoran, Doug Gwyn. Scott Anderoon. Henry Spencer HAMCu hstais a custom copper list for toe oxrentaanre view (usualy wofkberxtoi toa! Ccnans toe cotoos ten 0x030 to Oxffl. A neat effect and an easy way to sriczw ofl toe cckx capabiees cf too Amiga,
hefedes souce Autoor: Jonatun Pccer tmag&Ed An shareware icon edter sta fted by too author for irdLtsfon r toe Ibrary Suggested shareware donawnolS20. Version 1B, bnary orty Autoor Jonathan Potter JPClock A dock program that is just packed with loaJures Includes souce. Autoa: Jonatoan Potter McuseBounce A shod hadfgame that makes your nousa pdraerbooxearoi id the screen. The object is lo close the ktouse3arce wncfcw aid ent toe game.
Each time you dick toe mouse button, toe ponior speeds up hdudes source by. Jonathan Porter PopDit A smaJl oticy when T»ps cpen' to help you look a: the coifents of a partoiar directory on demand Verson 1.4. route source by: Jonathan Pcav PcpWo Asmalutifitywtocri'popsoperFtogpreyaj riormatcn about tte states of yaa devices & memory. V 2.9. hdutes sourre. By. J. Pater Teadier Teacher is a short, simpte hack. 1 wont spof toe foi by tefing you wtoat it does toctodes source Autoor Jonathan Potter Fred Fish Disk 205 Batf Amiga port ol toe ferner arcade me named Gicx Ths ver&cn row has sound
Verson it. An update to FF131. Br.arycn!y, shareware by: Cxwer Wagner BanfeForce A rticefy done shareware game, submiflsd by toe author, that simulates corabai between two or more giant, robot-fke machines. Bnary onfy, version 3 01 Author Ralph Reed Chess A prrtof a chess game posted to Usenet This is an update to toe rerta first nckxfed on disk 96 It has been upgraded to use an Amca totixtion interlace. Version 20. Binary onfy, Autoor John Stanback. Ported to Am a try Boo Lewan Version 2 0 upgrades by Afred Kaufmann ErriB5aJ jLj£Q6 Browraan A demc based on bcDfraoaJ theory and brcwnar motion.
Incfudes source. Auffxar John M Olsen Hawk A stereo image of a hawk. Requires red green stereo glasses to vfew. Autoa; Unknown (no docanentabon included) MemFlefc Treats afl the memory m your Amiga Skert was pot of a htpfene insde a graphcs dsplay.
Provides sort of a grapTxcat picture of your memory usage Bnary only, by: Jm Webster PeX Adorno of toe various graphcs capabtbcsol toe Amiga. Author Unknown (no documentation rnduded) PcroeGarden AnotoerOeroa, apparenby m com pfed baste. Author Unknown (no dramntatan mcfoded) SferecDemo A demo of sierscscooc yaorics. Written in assembfy language. Requras red green stereo ctassestovew tn udes soooes.kfftr. Darid M McKnstry Tnpfe 3 demos of some ol toe Amqa's gratfves and sound capabfces. Binary onry. By: Tomas Rokacfe FiSflfiaJ2iiL2QZ Coyote Gene's eraiytt toe 19S3 Badge K3terDemo contest. A
very cute [and targe) anrnabon.
Rajjires about 1930 btxks of isk space, so 1 is dstniwted in "arc formal*. Autocr Gene Brawn is lAchasTsenby lor toe 1983 Badge Kd©-Demo Contest It is a large anmabon of a spa cecrah flying madly through an asterod fod (chased by irseen toes) toa irdute a coupfe of near misses Author MchadPowefl Fred Fish Disk 209 B55 Ums Vcm's entry tor the 1983 Badge Kiler Demo Contest, ft is a Salpf-Animals aimainn that shows toree colored balls frying in aretes above a mirrored toM Rendering toe animation look about 2 weeks Distributed in zoo tormal bocause of is sze (zoo program inducted la easy
unpacking). Autha: VemStaals Dps A program designed lo wok wito the PnnlScript program, a commercial PostScript interpreter la toe Amga, to provide a page previower. V 1.1 and inOixJes source by: AjtenNaskog Emuaam zip Calc Aver v nicely done soencfic.prograniroer ptoaer cateuUfer. The scterbfic porbcn has most of toe operations totnd on toe more popute handhelds me programmer potion has afl toe special hex txnarydecrcal conrersors as wel asredster cperairs ike ASL ROL LSL AND, OR, XOR, etc. The ptotter portion wdplotequabons. Other leatures mcfode 26nemones, M mouse a keyboard operation,
pul-down menus, and korxza&on. V 30, bnary only, by: Jfetmy Yang LabdPnnt A program that alows you to easily print labels for your asks. Version 1S, shareware, binary orty (source available tor autoa). Autoor Andreas Krebs NuRand An aomaaon ol a hand with fingemals scrapeng cr a desktop, rcudnj sajtj efkics Ths is Bryan's ertry tor toe 1968 3adge Kle-Demo Contest. Binary only by Bryan Carey Gafcvan Fred Fidh Disk 21T AngaWareThs is Alen s enTy u toe 1983 Badge Kfler Derro Ccraes t b an anroaaon wth sand effects by : AlenHasbrgs Esperanto AteymapmoJficabonteusalirhch.rtcon- juncaon wttotoe
suppked stateJort, wd atow one tc hrpe n Esperanto and Wesh. R any program toai wiO use keycaps A lores by: Gtyn Govmg htage-Ed An shareware icon edtcrsubmised by toe autoor la inpusjon rc the hbrary. Suggested shareware donation of $ 20. VlS.txnarycrty, F«esa serious bug n VIJ on FF204. By: J. Potter SignFort Akeymapand font Ihatwilal'ow the user» be able to type m American Sign Lanotage, provided that one knows toe lore Autocr Gtyn Gcwing WusContrd A new vires detection and control program that chocks dsks during mserton. Protects from Irt nruses, shows toototocx ona screen, penodcalr checks
system vectors, corerofe aaess lo files wito a requester, etc. VtJ, indudes ftjfl assembiy language MuXd eode.
Autoa: PiusNppgen Fred Fish Disk 212 Akce Ths aamatxxi is Carey's ertry to toe 1588 Badge Kiler Demo Contest Autoa: Carey T. Pefto DtskSalv A disk recovery program la an Amiga fife system devices that use either toe Amiga Standard Fjo System or the Amga Fast Fie System. Dsksalv creates a new filesystem structure on another (tevite. Mtn as mudi data safraoed Iron toe ongeial device as pcssibie Update lo Ffl77, Binary onfy. Autoor DaveHayhe DogsWorid Ths arvmatten is Chafes' entry to toe 1988 Badge Ki© Dono CcreesL ty: Charles Von© Fred B iDbK 213 Cung ThsanmabonoftoeChampakp-Urbana Commodo*
Users Group togo was subwled to toe 1983 Badge Ki© D©no Catest by Ed S©be. By: Ed Sate Icons Almost 300 cons in ««ght (!)crtas. Uses a special program lo get an eight cda wovboch to dcplay these icons, which were made wrih Dpamtll and teonGen. Most icons are nnature'.
Of the mam screen of their correspondng programs, a toe pieure they show, maw with tooreze* and 'reeoia* Iron rF85. By: WoB-Pet© Derincx FrsdRsfl Disk 214 AitFYep ArcPrep prepares files andfordreclonesfor archval with arc or any ccher program that can 1 scan through different rircctories anricr haoSe long Benames. VZ1. IntfuJes source. Autoor GanyGtendwn MarriefVrccr- A MarxJefcrct JLia-ajrve generating program that faa&res five nxnencal generators (integer, rip, ieee, 020, and 020 381) r hnd- craTted asscmbt tor maxjrnim spoed, onfine mouse setoaaaa hefp for as finocns, genera Don ot m-Jtpio
ptCres sunutoneousfy, a soprt3 035ed user irtertacewiUi shaded gadgets, etc. Seme of the other features inckxte zeem, magnify, cola- cyclng, colouring. Auto-contouring, histogram, statistics, presets, extra-halfbrite support overscan, crtiits, pan mode, and more, fieqiires 1 Mb or more of memory. Tits is the source to V2.0, ai uodaio toFF78. A compted binary, along with help ftes and example images, can be fooid on FF215.
Author KevinClague MemDiag A memory diagnostic program to identify addresses which produce memory errors, and a memory quarantine program which removes such defective addresses Irom too system's tea memory list, until such tmc as toe harowaro errors can be corrected.
Version 1.1, ndudes source. By: Faboan Woe RunBadt Another step in the evdution of Rob Peck's RinSackGreuxj program, tram dsks 73 anjtSZ Atows you 10 stert a new CU program and tun it in the background, then closes Ihe new CUL This version has been enhanced to use the NULL: device by Gunnar Nordmark (included, wtari is a 'roaT device, so it solves proWems with previous versions of RunBack which used the Nil: fake" device, causing many cashes, todudos source.
Author Rob Peek. Daniel Barrett Ire Maffett Smarflcon Tfrs shareware program, submitted by the autoor, is an htiticn objects iconifier. Verson 1.0 is fimted to ccnrtjvig windows, which is stil very handy, tt adds a new 'icorify gadget' to each mrfocw, that when cficked cn, Kxnfes Ihe window into an toon in the ram :risfo This is the same verscn as released on FF134, but rww indudes tho source code. Autoor Gauthier Grout A WandafcroyJiJa'Ct ve generating ,, ieee, 020, and 02&B31] n handcrafted assembly tor maximum speed, onfine mouse selectable help lor al functions, generator of miiopfe
pctutes samuftaneously, a scphtsticaied user interface with shaded gadgets, etc. Some of the other features ncfode zoom, magnify, cdor- cycSng.comounng, auto-contounng.tsstogram, statists, presets, extra-talfbrits support, overscan, ortxts. Pan mode, and more. Requires 1 Mb or more of memory. Ths 0 V2.Q, an update to FF70.
Source Is available on Fr2H. By: Kevin Cfe je BaOBMUMM BackDrop Backdrop aJkm route defrw a pattern which wiB then be d splayed on the workbench screen in the normaly empry area behind aa fie windows.
Smiar ncana-pt to DrapCfoto, but tte ere dees not reqiire workbench to be leaded (and does not cohabit very wd iwtfi workbench). Tndudes source. Autfw: Eddy Carrofl C64EmJ An Apri Forts spoof that ins your Amiga into a G64, or at least makes fl took that way. Includes source. Author Eddy Carrcfl Cloud A program that generates and rispiays fractal surfaces that took romaikaWy like douds. Based on ideas from the bock 'Fractals' by Jens Feder.
Binary orty. Author: MfcoHafi PrtSpoot A DOS hander, a print program, and a control program that implement a print spooling system.
La® PRT:, the DOS hander waits lor stuff tc be sent to it to be crimed. The print program does fine rtombenog and page headers. Thecatid program handles admnstrabve functions. Binary only. Author Daniel Barrens ViusX Vgrscn 320 rt too pcputa; mis detector.
Vacdnabon program. Foatires a test tor 3 new wuses since the 3,10 verson on FF175. TotiucJes source. Autoor Steve Tbbefl Wanderer A real firte game with graprtcs and sand, pored tram the Una version, criaina&y wrtjien on a Sun workstation. The idea fonVarderer came bom games such as Bodderdash, Xor, and the Repan games from Superior Software. Includes a tuftin editor tor extend ng the game by addng addtioraJ screens. V2.2, includes source. Author Steven Shipway and others. Amiga port by Alan Blend Fred Fish Disk 217 An&CBS An ammahon ccokod up by Leo in proiest o( CBS's coverage ol the Hackers
Conference in Oct 83.
Alter rearing She iranscnpl I was angered enough to feet this neoood widespread ristobuboo, ever though it «s quite old. By: Leo'Bols Ewhac' Schwab Echo A smal replacement lor the AnngaQOS echo that wi do seme specs'! Furbens, such as dear She screen, delete to bottom of screen, scoJ the screen, place the cusor at a particular beaten, and set the text style andtor color. Includes source. Autor: Garry Gtendown InstaliBeep This program replaces the ftspiayBeep (unction so lhal an FF 8SVX sound is played instead ol the screen flashing The PlaySeep function runs as a task in Ihe background and
runs asynchronous so ihe length ol the sound does not stow anythhg down, rekxles a couple of sample sound files.
Version 1.1. binary orty. Author TimFriestand DonWtfrey Sraplt An input handler wedge which allows yculocSp text from any window and then paste that text anywhere, as though you had typed it on the keyboard You mark the text you wart to 'srip* using the mouse, and then use the mouse to ¦paste" the last snipped ten into ffte active window, requester, or anywhere. Version 12, includes source. Aufior ScodEvemder SonixPeek Autilty to let ytu list al the instruments used bj ore or more Aegis Sonix score files. 1: can scan inckwdual files, or search ore or mere frectxes, checfcng al score files in
each directory. The outout is a list of all Ihe instruments you reed to have present in order to be able to play the indtoated scare files. Includes source. Author: Eddy Carroll Stevie A public domain done of the UNIX XT etStcr.
Supports window szing. Arrow keys, and the help key. V3.6, includes sowce. This is an update to V3.35a co FF197. Author, Various. Amiga work by
G. R. (Fred) Walter FredPs.h01sk2ia EdLb A library ol additional
toncttons tor Manx. The is V1.1, an updateto V1.0 from FF183.
Tocfedes source. Audwt Edwm Hoogerbees widi G- funcions from
several dfierent auihors Mandet Another mand brot generator
program, with bits and pieces of code from C. Hea* and RJ.
Mtoal ThoisVlJ.annxJaletoFFin, Newleatues and improvements
inctode an Areix interface, eoortfnates to sght, more state
info saved w*h a picture, bath ffe, programmable tonctons, and
more cteOng opoons. Tecudes source. Author dal Seibert Maze A
program fra lets you tu&d mazes and then solve them. Itofis
can be Lwal ore levei mazes to very tSffiait three level
mazes. Version 12, indudes source. Autear Todd Lewis PcPafch
Patches for PCCopy and PCFormat from the EXTRAS Ssk, to afcw
reading, writing, and formatting of any kind of MS-Dos stylo
Todudtog720K3 .5"cfiskettes. Binary only. This is an update to the version on dsk 163. Author: Wemor Gitenlher Scanner Scanner makes commented C code ol aJ ntukon structures in memory. The structures wl recewe correct pointers towards each off«r. Scanner starts looking al ttutwnBase, and foltows al pomtBre, storing them in memory. Wien finished, it wrss al toe srucbras to the standard output.
Version 1 C. ndudes scurce. Author: Stefan Pamark Worm An Amiga implementation of Ihe classic Vxms" program, based on an artcte in the Doc 1537 issuo of Soentjfic American, You can specify tho size and length of the worms, and tho number ol worms. Includes source. Aulhor. Brad Taylor, rt by Chuck McManis A database containing information on 10,368 non- sleiSar obiects, 600 color contrasting easily resofved double stars. 70 stars for setting orctes, and trisc wtwe dwarfs, red stars, binaries, etc. The database s dsthbuted in zoo formal, and is about 12 Mb after extraction. V5,0.Au5ior. Saguaro
Astronomy Club My A Urn style rtvCplm program fiat moves, copes, cr removes lies, toctxtes rteractr.e node, recursrvemode, and force qtwef mode. Copies flo permissions, dates, and comments, supports arp style wildcards, supports moves across votomes, honors the delete bfl. V 1.1, indudes source.
Author. Edwin Hcogerbeets Fred Rsh DisK £20 Dnei A ink protocol that provides essentialty an unlimited number of reliable connections between processes on two machines, where each end of the Ink can be ether an Arnica or a Unix (BSD4 3) machine. Works on the Aniga with any EXEC device that looks Sre the senaiqevica. Works on UNIX with tty arri socket devices. Achieves better than 95% average tirougnpul on file transfen This is V20, an update to FF145. Inctodes sources lor both the Amiga and Unix versaons.
Author. MadDSon Fred Fish Disk 221 AjocMasrer Alocmaster is a program inspred by Nick Sdfvan's *Bese!ve' artide to Amiga Transactor, lor control mg the amount of both Chip and Fast memory available to ihe rest of Ihe system. It is very useful for testing applications in tow memcry situations, ft also has a snapshot feature to report differences in available memory before and after funning an application, V 1.17, binary only. Auhcr: John Geriach Jr.
ANSIEd Demo verson of an ANSI screen fife editor, ft allows you to easily create and modfya screen of ANSFfiytelext'graphicscn 1he Amiga- The standard ANSI cdor set (red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, white) and text styles (plan, boldface, underfired, ftak) are provided, along with sotTte&mpfeedSngandorawirigfitoCfions. This demo version has toe save featores cfisabtod.
V12j3aD, binary only. Author: Gregory Epiey Balyll Amiga port of toe ferrner arcade gams named Click. This vwson adds a theaT mode and fixes some minor bugs. Vlk. An update to FF205.
Binary only, shareware .Author Oliver Wagner Dframo A utflily that helps you to create animated bobs ft instals itseil in Dpaint II, after which you can draw each bob in Dpainl Jl withn its own frame and check toe animation by taftng Oframe from within Dpaint V1JJ2, binary onlyAjtoor. Jan Burienhus FF M2 Demo version of an IF support module lor Interface Technologies M2Amiga Modula-2 system.
Indudes a version of View (LEM (with sorce) that uses toe IFF support routines. V1JD.00. binary onfy. Author Gregory Epiey Stomschfag A tetns Ike game (Startschfeg means 'Fating Rock') submitted by toe aulhor. V1.5, bnary only.
Author; Peter Handel FrcdFitilPi5K222 Mem Gauge A tool to display toe ament memory usage, very mitoh Ike the usage bar Workbench displays in rootdrecicries. VIA includes scuce. Author: Otal Ofsen' Banhel Mischtel This Me program is in the long tradtion of 'dsplay hacks', ft uses toe input .device to perform vanous ads of mischief. Includes source. Autocr: Otal 'asen'Barfhel Ptpiot AI bray ol C functors useful tor sc«ntifc plotting on the Amiga. The ibrary is Lance C compatible.
Contour plotting, three timenstonal ptoCirg. Tetis redetnroon, log-feg prottng and multiple subpages are a few of RpJofs features. The plots can be 6splayed an a moritcr or sent to a graphics fie for subsequent printing. VI.CO, indudes source.
Author. Tony Richardson rrcdflstiIM223 Csh V3.03a ol a csh Like shell derived from Matt Dlfen's sheS, version 2.07. Tks is an update to FF199.
Indudes a couple of new filter commands, new dir option, new editing options, sourcing of a standard startup fie, and some bug fixes. Includes source.
Author MattCiBcn, Stove Drew, Carlo Borneo, CesareD-eni FUDisk A program to recover as much as possible trcm a defective tSsk. Ft can sometimes recover damaged (unreadable) backs, check file iraegrny, check the cfirectry stoxStra, undelete Kes, copy cr show Hes, fix corrupted rirectcry porters, etc. FJ inMron irtcrface. Version 1A binary only. Autocr Wemer Guentoor GravSsm Aprcgram toarwitete upto6ptoretarymasses.3il of wtouch exert a mutual gravitational lores on each other. The planetary masses can be placed anywhere on the screen, and their mass and ntaJ vdooty can bo detormned by the user.
The program then steps toe animation through time, plotting and displaying too new position in toe trajectory ol each mass. V1.50. includes source.
Author Richard Frost HT2Sun A smafi utSty lor those of you who may have access to a Srxi workstation. Takes an Amiga IFF Be and converts it to a Sen rasferile format Update to Ft 74, wto better parsmg. Support tor HAM made, and some bug fixes. Source orty, as the program needs to be re-compied and nun from aSoiAutoors: Steve Beny. Mark Thompson IFFtoSUN This program takes a standard IF formal image and translates it into a SUN rasterffe format, ike the C2Sun program also on toisiisk. However, the one runs on the Amiga. VU1, indudes source. Autoor Richard Frost Paccor A pacman done wito sound
and a game screen edlor. VIA shareware, binary only. Author Dirk Hoffman PopJnfo A small utJrty wfxch Txps open' to give you information abott the status of ytxr devices and menay. V3J1. An update to F204. Incfudes scurce. Autocr Jonathan Potter SetCPU A program designed to aBow the user to detect and modfy vanous parameters related to 32 W CPUs.
InduJes commands to enable or tSsabfe the texV data caches, swich m cr off the "030 buret cache line H request, use the MMU to Wi a ROM image Iron 32-bit memory, and lo report various parameters when caled from a script V1A an update to F187. Fodudes source. Author: Dave Haynie Fredfish.Disk.224 Clknax Feral those people who wish that their CLI windows had 25 Ines ol 30 characters just ike an old fashioned ncn- windowing computer, ihe answer is here. Cunax creates a bcrderiess backdrop Cll window on a custom screen. Also thrown m is MoveSys, whch reassigns SYS; C; S; L, DEVS; UBS. And FONTS:
to a new volume witocne simple'pure* command. Induoes souce.
Author PaJ KferitZ KickMem A program for A1000 harthnrare hackers fat have dens the Amazing Com pusng 512K upgrade.
KickMem will path yen 12 or 13 kfoksiart risk io perform addmem dung kfokstart. Tris allows warm boot surwveabiity ol ram risk devices and elminaies addmem commands tram your startup sequence. V2.0, inctodes source. Autoor: Dave Williams MorelsSener These two hacks make MORE more useful.
One is called V; its a smal toure* CU command that acts as a front end for More, causing it to create its own wridow. Make V and Mora both resided! The otoer is Fenestrate, which sugicaSy afterc toe CON: window spec inside More enabfng it to, for instance, use ConMan feateres to create a borderless window on toe topmost saeen (very useki with Cllmax). Kidudes source Author.
PadlGenrtz PetorsOuest This cute game fas you, the intrepid Peter.
Fo?owrtg a trail of hearts through a world cf 20 tevefs, riddfed with porcupines and other hazards, to rescue Daphne, toe love of your file that has been kidnapped by toe evi Brutus Version 1.0, bnary only. Autoor; DawdMeny Who A rewrite of "who'. Iron FF79, which gives substantially more elaborate nlormamon about toe tasks Currency runring (or waiting) cn your Amiga.
Indudes scuce. Author: George Musser, rewrite by PaJIGenitz Xebec A cocole ol hacks to mate He easier for toose who have Xebec hard risks. One makes it more posscte to Mount a Xebec hard risk wito toe Fast Fife System, toe otoer s a conpad head parting program, InduJes source. Author: PaulKienttz Fred Fish Disk 225 AmigaTCP The KA9Q Wemet Software Package. The package supports IP, ICMP, TCP, UDP, and ARP as basic services, and implements the FTP, Telnet, and SMTP protocols as applications. It runs on IBM PC and denes, the Apple Macintosh, and toe Amiga. Includes source. Autoor: Sdala 3a.tee,
Phi Kam. Brian Lloyd My Menu MyMeru alows you to add your own menus to toe WorkBench menu strip, to run corrmorty used commands. My Menu wll allow you b execute both CLI and Work Bench programs, and is configured with a normal ten file Induces sorce. Autoor: DannJohn5cn Fred Fs?h Disk 226 V6 VLT is both a VT100 emulator and a Tektronix (40K plus subset of 4105) emulator, arrertty in use at SlAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center).
Although toe VT100 part was originally based on Dave Wecker el al.'s VT 100. Many enhancements were made. Tho program requires ARP, and it has an Arexx port. XMODEM 1K CRC and Kerm.t protocol support also ndufed. V4.036, wffli many enhancements over the previous iers»cr, 3.656, on F202. New leaares include support lor otoer serial ports, external fie transfer promcais and
• chat* mode. Improved behavior on the Workbench. Teforona
emdation now akwvs sa-ring IFF files, PostScrpt ftes, and
pnnting btnaps to toe prrtter. Many otoer enhancemens and bug
fixes. Binary only. Autoor: way LangeveW Fmj F)sh Disk 227 kWUb
A risk based library that permits sharing d toa senal port by
MIDI applications through a MlOl message raring and processing
system. Themiri utJties induce a mid monitor to rispfey
incoming miri messages to the console, a routxig utifey, a md
lixary stetus utitty, and more. V2.0, an update to F101. And
irtokjdes significant speed enhancements, new utities to play
with MIDI Res.
And updated utilises, documentation and examples Binary only (source for examples and tmrings however) Author: Bill Barton PickPacket PekPack&gvesycuawsualrispfayofthe DosPacket strucires that are serf to handers, anc lets you see toe results. You can actually perform harrier cperations such as open ties, read or wrt® dafa. Examine or ExNext focks, aid so lorto, al by taking rirectf fo the file system handler rvofved using PickPacket VI.Q.indudessotfce. Author: John T oebes and Dcug Waker RexxArpLib A ibrary wtkto oiginaly was supposed to be an Arexx interface to toa ARP library. However.it
has also become an interface to various Intuition tunctons, containing over 50 functions induding a He requester, stm bodean requester, environment variable firctions, simple message window, wildcard expander, etc. V23, an update to FI 7B. Binary orty. Autoor W.GJ. Laigeveld RexxMatoLb A tbray wttich makes vanous high level mato hnajcrts such as sin, tangent, log. Etc, avaiatie in Arexx. Vi 2 and 12, binary orty.
Author W.GJ. Langeveid FrcdflahPiafcag Ai A nice little text aitor that is fast simpleto use, and very Amiga'ized. VI .40, binary only Aitoor Jean-Michel Forgeas Gfib A text screen oriented fibranan and editor lor SyntoS. Suppats theTXBlH, DX100, DEP5, DWBOOO, and K-5. Includes source. Author: Tm Thompson, Steve Fa to, and Alan Bland JazzBench A Crop-in multitasking repfecem ent lor WcrkBench.
It has mere features that WorkBench and is lUly multitasking (no more waiting lor ZZZdouds) II allows you to extend it, add your own menus, Key shortcuts, etc This is alpha version 0 8. Brary only. Autoor. David Navas Xoper Very comprehensive program to monitor and control system activity. Monitor cpu, memory usage, ports, itemjpis, devices. Close windows, screens, show loaded forts or fast Gum code number. Clean up memory, Rush inused ibraries, devices, fonts etc. and a whole bunch more1 Spawns its own process, A very handy background task to have loaded. V1.3, an update lo FF171. Assembly
source included. Author: Wemer Gunther To Be Continued. "... In Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, the materials ir this library are freely distributable. This means they were either publidy posted and placed in the public domain by their authors, or they have restrictions published in their tiles to which we have adhered, if you become aware of any violation of the authors' wishes, please contact us by mail.
This list is compiled and published as a service to the Commodore Amiga community for informational purposes only. Its use is restricted to non-commerdal groups only!
Any duplication for commercial purposes is strictly forbidden. As a part of Arnaiing Computing™, this list is inherently copyrighted, Any infringement on this proprietary copyright without expressed written permission of the publishers will incur the full force of legal actions.
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P. O.Box 869 Fall River, MA 02722 PiM Publications Inc. is
extremely interested in helping any Amiga user groups in non
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Colorize - Play Ted Turner and add color to black-and-white images or change colors on already colored images.
Flexible Text Rendering - Allows for anti-aliased fonts, Rainbow Fonts a Transparent Fonts and more.
Texture Mapping with Anti-Aliasing - Gives you super-fast warping and stretching of any image.
User-Controllable Transparency - Allows real time control of the amount of transparency and the location of the light source.
100% Assembly Language - Makes Digi- Paint 3 the fastest HAM paint program ever!
Transfer 24 - Digi-Paint 3 comes with Transfer 24 image processing software to give you support of all Amiga resolution modes and the same advanced image processing found with NewTek's best-selling Digi-View Gold Video Digitizer.
Variable Dither - Computed internally at 30 bits per pixel (over one billion colors). Giv you over 100,000 app ent colors on screen.
Super BitMaps with Auto-Scrolling - Realtime scrolling on up to 1024 pixels high or wide image with full overscan display.
The Ultimate Paint Program: DIGI-PAINT;] NewTek For more information call NewTek at 800-843-8934 or 913-354-1146 Digi-Paint 3, Digi-View Gold and Transfer 24 are Irademarks of NewTek Inc, INCORPORATED Circle Reader Service Card No. 102