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C o n t e n t s 1 9 1 9 A d o b e 7 6 7 B i t m a p

2 2 8 C a l a m u s 1 1 0 5 C G F o n t s

2 4 4 C o l o u r e d 3 0 0 G D o s

1 7 5 I f f P i c s 9 1 8 I n t e l l i f o n t

1 3 9 P a g e s t r e a m 1 7 3 P r o D r a w

1 6 5 8 P s F o n t s 1 4 7 7 T r u e T y p e

1 5 6 2 T y p e 1

c a u u n t U i u i

£29.95E P K COLLECTION 3 NFA AGA EXPERIENCE 3 SCALA PLUG IN EPIC ENCYCLOPEDIA LIGHT ROM GOLD LIGHT ROM 4

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g p a a £1JH BiSSSmvrrm'

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( L4.SS/C % q w r v <

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E d ito r ia l

E E H 5 3D E C E M B E R 1997 • C O N TE N TS

Editorial EDITOR Tony Horgan

ART EDITOR Helen Dauby TECHNICAL EDITOR Mai Bettinson

STAFF WRITER Andrew Korn PRODUCTION EDITOR Rassell Coi

CO-ROM COMPILER Neil Bothwick TECHNICAL CONSULTANT John Kennedy

ADDITIONAL DESIGN Gordon BarrickCONTRIBUTORS Jason Compton. Sjm Malheson.

Larry Hickmott. Jason Hulaace. Harv laser, Dhomas Trenn,Steve Bye

PHOTOGRAPHY Ben Jennings SCITEX MANAGER Sarah Best

SYSTEMS MANAGER Sarah Jane Leavey

Advertising, Marketing b Management PUBLISHER AndyMcVittie

ADVERTISING MANAGER Marianna Masters PRODUCT MANAGER Kirstin Ritchens

MARKETING EXECUTIVE Zoe Wharnsby PRODUCTION MANAGER Sam Lee

AD PRODUCTION MANAGER Emma Minlord AD PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE Natasha George

ADVERTISING ASSISTANT Annabel Green FACILITIES MANAGER Robert McBride

CU Amiga Magazine37-39 MILLHARBOUR. ISLE OF DOGS.LONDON E14 9TI UNITED KINGDOM

1171 972 6700 [email protected]

WEB SITE: www.cn-amiga.co.nk SUBS ENQUIRIES: 11858 435350

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__________Coma_cis___________________READERS' UTTERS AMO TECHNICAL PROBLEMS In gariral m-tidniciL mures m i pin Item *) the aJIress d m dwA witid to BACKCHAT In itdnul pnNtns snf lira

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ABC Janaary June 1197 27.391

im ag es

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o th e r day lo o k in g like Santa C laus, h is sacked f ille d w ith a 95% f in

ished ve rs ion o f M y s t, th e f ir s t Pow erU P cards to h it U K shores and

th e m y th ica l C h am p ionsh ip M anage r 2! W e th o u g h t w e 'd be po lite

a nd in v ite h im in fo r a cupp a and a slice o f cake. A w e e k la te r w e

w is h e d w e neve r d id as w e p rised h im a w a y f ro m o u r A m igas, so engrossed

w a s he in h is C h am p M anage r crusade to g e t M illw a ll t o th e FA C u p Finals...

B u t I'm go in g on a b i t now , so I'd b e tte r ju s t leave you to en jo y th is to p issue w e

have fo r you once aga in . O h, a nd it 's a b it b ig g e r th is m o n th to o ! See ya.

Tony H o rg a n , E d ito r

E x c lu s iv e p re v ie w

36 M y s tT h e b ig g e s t s e llin g C D -R O M g a m e o f a ll t im e is a b o u t t o b e re leased fo r th e A m ig a ! M y s t is an ep ic

a d v e n tu re g a m e th e like o f w h ic h th e A m ig a has n e v e r seen b e fo re . W ith o v e r 2500 a n im a te d 3D scenes, i t 's a g a m e o f m o n s te ro u s p ro p o rt io n s .

S e tt in g a n e w tre n d , C lickB O O M sa w th e p o te n t ia l o f a n A m ig a c o n v e rs io n o f th e o r ig in a l PC and M ac g am e fro m C yan, and fo llo w e d th ro u g h by b a g g in g th e A m ig a p u b lis h in g r ig h ts , h a n d lin g the

c o n v e rs io n th e m s e lv e s . A s s u m in g A m ig a M y s t d o e s w e ll, w e c o u ld see th e sam e p a tte rn b e in g fo l lo w e d b y o th e r p u b lis h e rs and d e ve lo p e rs , keen to g iv e th e A m ig a th e ga m e s i t dese rves . C lickB O O M a re a lre a d y w o rk in g o n s im ila r ly a d v e n tu ro u s p ro je c ts t o fo l lo w u p M y s t, and if th is is a n y th in g to go by, th e n w e 'v e g o t s o m e h o t ga m e s in s to re !

F ea tu re

2 8 P o w e rU P : F irs t L o o k !

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2 8 IS D N : T he N e t on S peedI t 's a rr iv e d ! T h e A m ig a is n o w o ff ic ia lly back o n th e c u tt in g edge. E m e rg in g f ro m th e sh a d o w s o f th e P e n tiu m PC, th e A m ig a can n o w c o u n t o n th e a w e so m e th ru s t o f th e P ow erP C se ries o f C PUs - th e b lis te r in g ly fa s t p ro ce sso rs th a t ch e w u p th e m o s t c o m p le x fu n c t io n s and s p it th e m o u t w i th v e n o m . The A 4000 is f i r s t to g e t th e P ow erP C tre a tm e n t w i th p hase 5 's P ow erU P C y b e rS to rm PPC ca rd , a nd th is is i t ! A s th e f ir s t b its o f A m ig a P ow erP C s o ftw a re tu rn up , w e take a lo o k a t h o w i t p e rfo rm s a nd a sk w h a t th is w i l l m ean fo r th e fu tu re o f th e A m ig a . W ith A 1200 P ow erU P c a rd s ju s t a ro u n d th e co rne r, th in g s a re Loo k in g U R

The In te rn e t 's g o a lp o s ts h a ve been m oved... in y o u r fa vo u r. N o w th a t i t 's cha n g e d fro m an u n d e rg ro u n d h o b b y is t n e tw o rk in to an e sse n tia l p a rt o f th e w o r ld 's co m m u n ic a tio n s s y s te m , th in g s a re g e tt in g m uch fa s te r and m u ch cheaper. IS D N p icks u p th e pace w h e re m o d e m s and s ta n d a rd p h o n e lin e co n n e ct io n s a re ju s t a b o u t fla k in g o u t, o ffe r in g b e tte r access f o r less cash. W ith fu l l d ig ita l c o n n e c tio n s th e re 's n o sn a p c rack le o r pop to c lo u d th e issue , o p e n in g th e d o o r to v ir tu a l In te rn e t heaven.P lus: Free In te rn e t t r ia l o ffe r!



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N e w s

M o re fe a tu re s .. .

36 M y s t P re v ie w

R ev iew s:4 0 C h a m p io n s h ip M a n a g e r 24 4 C a n n o n F odde r 14 4 C a n n o n F odde r 247 B lade

C hea ts & T ips :5 0 TFX T ips52 T ips C e n tra l

Tech S c e n e .........................................

56 F la tb e d S c a n n e r R o u n d up61 Im ag in e x62 H iS o ft S q u ir re l CD-R66 P h ilip s M in id is c R eco rd e r69 V ip e r 520C D70 LS 120 D rive72 P D S cene74 P D U t il it ie s78 C D -R O M S cene80 A r t G a lle ry

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8 4 Im ag ine 4 .088 A m ig a C P ro g ra m m in g90 N e x t M o n th91 B a ck Issues92 N e t G od93 S u r f o f th e M o n th9 4 W ire d W o rld96 S o u n d Lab98 D e s k to p P u b lish in g104 Q & A a n d A to Z108 B a c k c h a t111 S u b s c r ip tio n s112 P o in ts o f V ie w

G am es

14 C lickB O O M w is h lis t revea led, A m ig a F orever p ro je c t a n d lo ts m ore .

32 F reew are R o u n d up

10 P C T ask 3.1Y o u r e v e r-v e rs a tile A m ig a can n o w e m u la te a PC! PC Task 3.1 is here in fu ll, c o m p le te w i th a f i le d is k to g e t y o u s ta rte d . N o w y o u can run a ll th o s e o bscu re a p p lic a tio n s th a t n e v e r ma i t t o th e A m ig a fro m y o u r fa v o u r ite m a ch in e !

11 D ir W o rk 2.1T h e se co n d fu l l c o m m e rc ia l package th is m o n th is D ir W o rk 2.1, q u ite p o s s ib ly th e m o s t u s e r-fr ie n d ly a n d p o w e r fu l f i le m anager y o u 'v e e v e r used.

1 4 S u p e r C D -R O M 17I t 's a n ic o n ex tra va g a n za !

In c lu d in g th e u lt im a te icon c o lle c t io n , CUCD17 is a n o th e r 100% fu l l CD p a cke d w i th th e h ig h e s t q u a lity A m ig a s o ftw a re .


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• ORGANISER 1.1 (PERSONAL ORGANISER)

• PINBALL MANIA (GAME)

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• AGA CHIPSET

A1200 MAGIC PACK£209.95AMIGA BUNDLE ONE £269.95

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AM IGA3.1 O P E R A T IN G S Y S T E M

AMIGA BUNDLE TWO INCLUDES:


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* r r

a m Jg a l O S

A1200/3000 3.1 ROM£45.95 A500/2000 3.1 ROM£39.95A4000 3.1 ROM£45.95

AMIGA 3.1 OS INCLUDES ROM CHIP.

SOFTWARE AND MANUALS

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IA1200/4000 3.1 CHIPS ONLY £29.95

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NEW VIPER 1230 INC. 8MB £179.95v*a o o f j

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F P U 'S W H E N P U R C H A S E D W IT H A N Y A C C E L E R A T O R B O A R D

2 0 M H Z £ 1 0 3 3 M H Z £ 1 5 5 0 M H Z £ 2 9 (PLCC ONLY) (PLCC ONLY) {PGA ONLY)

APPROVED

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THE POWER ACCELERATORCD BUNDLE INC.:

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8x CD-ROM £269.95 I2 x CD-ROM £319.95

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SIMMS PURCHASED WITH THIS BUNDLE ONLY

8M6 £25 16MB £49 32MB £95

A 500 ACCELERATOR BOARD

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• FAT AGNUS SLOT FREE TO FIT MINI-MEGA CHIP RAM

m 9Visit our NEW web site www.powerc.com

U N IT 8 2 A SINGER W AY KEM PSTO N M K 4 2 7P U

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PPC 175MHZ INC.SCSI-II, BARE

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AS ABOVE I NC.68060/50M HZ

£299

£339

£389

£449

£559

BLIZZARD 1260 MKV TURBO ACCELERATOR

6 8 0 6 0 BARE 50MHz £319.9

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6 8 0 6 0 8MB RAM £359.9

6 8 0 6 0 16MB RAM £389.9

6 8 0 6 0 32M B RAM £459.95

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6 8 0 3 0 BARE 50MHz £95.95

68 0 3 0 BARE INC. SCSI INTERFACE £159.95

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6 8 0 3 0 16MB RAM £149.95

6 8 0 3 0 32M B RAM £209.95

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CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION

CYBERVISION 64 -3 0 GRAPHIC CARD

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SCANDOUBLER CYBERVISION 64-3D FOR

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FOR BLIZZARD 1 2 3 0 /1 2 6 0 BOARD £ 6 5 .9 5includes an exlra simm sccket on-board

MPEG MOVIE MODULE £129.95

4MB 72-PIN SIMM ■ 8MB 72-PIN SIMM ■ 16MB 72-PIN SIMM ■ 32MB 72-PIN SIMM£15.95 I £29.95 I £55.95 I £99.95M EM O R Y PRICES FLUCTUATE D AILY - C ALL TO CHECK LATEST PRICES

£13 9 .9 5 |£ 1 59.95

£69.95

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A500 2MB RAM CARD£59.95 A500 MEMORY CARDS

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A 5 0 0 INTERNAL DRIVE £24.95

A 600 /A 1200 INTERNAL DRIVE £24.95 '

A 2000 INTERNAL DRIVE £34.95

PC880E EXTERNAL DRIVE £39.95

ALL OF THE ABOVE INCLUDE FLOPPY EXPANDER

GVP PRODUCTS

GVP 10 EXTENDER

GVP HC-8 SCSI INTERFACE

GVP GURU ROM v6 NEW REVISION

GVP DSS-8 SOUND SAMPLER

GVP 4M B RAM MODULE

GVP 16MB RAM MODULE

GVP A 1200 SCSI INTERFACE

FOR ALL A1200 ACCELERATOR BOARDS

MISCELLENOUS

POWERTAB - GRAPHIC TABLET £159.95

VIDEOBACKUP SYSTEM PHONO £20.00

VIDEO BACKUP SYSTEM SCART £20.00

ZIP RAM STATIC COLUMN PER MB £16.00

BREATHLESS 3D GAME £15.00

HARD DRIVES - INC. CABLE AND SOFTWARE

QUANTUM FIRBALL 3 .5 '' 1.6GB £159.95

QUANTUM FIRBALL 3 .5 “ 2.1G8

QUANTUM FIRBALL 3 .5 " 3.2GB

1 .3 GIGABYTE A 1200 INT.

2 GIGABYTE A 1200 INT.

STACK CABLE FOR ABOVE

£179.95

£199.95

£129.95

£159.95

£12.95

HIGH DENSITY FLOPPY DISK DRIVES

XL 1.76M 8 EXTERNAL DRIVE £65.95

XL 1.76M B INT. DRIVE A 4000 £60.95

INC. FLOPPY EXPANDER AND 10 HOD DISKS

N[ PSU ( £ BEWARE OF NONE CE PSU'S "The Rolls Royce of P S U V

AMIGA FORMAT

HEAVY DUTY 200 WATT

POWER SUPPLY UNIT

ZIP DRIVES - INC CABLE AND ZIP TOOLS

ZIP DRIVE 100MB S C S I' £135.95

ZIP DRIVE INC. SQUIRREL £169.95

100MB DISKETTE £15.95

•REQUIRES SQUIRREL SCSI INTERFACE

OFFICIAL AMIGA MOUSE AND MAT

AMIGA MOUSE/MAT£9.95CHEQUES/POSTAL ORDERS Odenng By ihequivPO plP.iSP ovWe My»te to POWER COMPUTING LTD anil specify -ti.ch delcrtry >5 requinw WARRANTY All FV>*ei products m r mtti a

i'l Techrxal Bakuo vivk* -Inch is O'Cv-JW lev Port* cuslcrrers. MAI. ORMR PRICES All pnees iisTM am to* If* month o( c>ib<a«r only, call 10 confirm prews befcvr cWcing


ATOR

1 9 .9 5

8 4 .9 5

59 .95

89 .95

59 .95

THE

UDES

59.95

FOR

59.95

>9.95

i

19.95

19.95

9 .95

9 .95

9 .95

9 .95

9 .95

9.95

0.00

0.00

6.00

5.00

ARE

9.95

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iU'S

LI'S"

ITT

IT

'Mg.

N E W L O WPRICES (6

EPSON A4 FLATBED SCANNER

24-B IT COLOUR SCANNING

GREYSCALE AND LINE ART MODES

OCR SOFTWARE AVAILABLE AT £2 0

POWERSCAN BLACK AND WHITE

POWERSCAN 4 . BLACK AND WHITE

HAND SCANNER WHICH INCLUDES

OCR StW AND INTERFACE £ 5 9 .9 5

POWERSCAN COLOUR

POWERSCAN 4 , COLOUR HAND

SCANNER WHICH INCLUDES OCR

SOFTWARE AND INTERFACE.

AGA24-BIT.'400DPI £ 9 9 .9 5

BUNDLE WITH 6X CD£149.95BUNDLE W ITH 8X CD£169.95

BUNDLE WITH 12X CD£189.95

THE POWER CD BUNDLE INCLUDES:

• SQUIRREL SCSI INTERFACE

• EXTERNAL SCSI CD-ROM DRIVE

• OSCAR AND DIGGERS CD-ROM

• CHAOS ENGINE CD-ROM

• PERSONEL WRITE - WORD PRO.

OPTION ONE

• 33.6BPS MODEM AND CABLES • NET & WEB SOFTWARE • IBROWSE SOFTWARE

• ONE MONTH FREE WITH DEMON INTERNET PROVIDER

OPTION TWO


• ONE MONTH FREE WITH DEMON INTERNET PROVIDER • WHIPPET FAST SERIAL

INTERFACE FOR A600/A 1200

OPTION THREE


• ONE MONTH FREE WITH DEMON INTERNET PROVIDER • SURF SQUIRREL SCSI-2

SERIAL INTERFACE FOR A 1200 PCMCIA CONNECTION

N E W L O WPRICES

OPTION TWO£109.95 OPTION THREE£159.95n

FOR CD-ROM OWNERS WHO HAVE A SQUIRREL INTERFACE AND ARE 8UYING A MODEM WITH A SURF SQUIRREL, WE WILL BUY BACK YOUR EXISTING SQUIRREL - PLEASE CALL FOR DETAILS

V IS IT O UR N E W W E B S IT E - w w w .p o w e r c .c o m

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Dur cover disks/CD

include 2 programs

from Quasar

Distribution,

DirWork 2.1 and PC

Task 3.1. Both are

full versions of

commercial pro

grams. CD users also get the demo

version of PC Task 4.3. It's restriction

is that you can't write to hard drive.

In s ta llin g PC Task

F lo p p y d is k usersInse rt th e firs t d isk in a d rive and d o ub le -c lick o n "Ins ta ll PCTask3.1". You w ill be asked w here you w a n t it ins ta lled . A d ire c to ry ca lled PC- Task3.1 w ill b e c rea ted there.

C D use rsYou w ill need to in s ta ll PC-Task m anually, s in c e th e insta ll s c r ip t w as w rit te n lo r in s ta lla tio n fro m flo p p y d isks. F irst co p y th e c o n te n ts o f PC- T a sk3 .l/d e vs to yo u r DEVS: d irecto ry , th is is a ll th a t 's needed if you w a n t to run PC Task fro m th e CD, o th e rw ise c re a te a PC-Task d ire c to ry and c o p y over th e f ile s in PC-Task3 1 and th e M S D O S U lils d ire c to ry

A ll use rsThere a re fo u r ve rs ions o f PC-Task, tw o fo r 68000 m ach ines a nd tw o fo r 6 8 0 2 0 * m ach ines. T h e Turbo vers ion u ses a lo t m o re m em ory , bu t ru n s faster, use it if y o u have th e m e m o ry available. You can rem ove any o th e r c o p ie s fro m yo u r hard d n ve to save space.

B e fo re you can use PC-Task, you need a copy o f M SD O S. w e c o u ld n 't s u p p ly th is o n th e cove r d isks because o f M ic ro s o ft's licens ing

In s ta llin g D irW o rk

F lo p p y use rsD oub le -c lick o n th e "E x tra c t D irW ork2 .1 " icon and se le c t a tem pora ry d ire c to ry to extract to . It n eeds a round 700KB so you co u ld ex tra c t it to R AM : if you have a t leas t 1M b free. Then open th e D irW ork2.1 d raw er a nd doub le -c lick o n th e "Insta ll-D irW ork" icon. O nce again, th e insta ller w il l c rea te a d ire c to ry fo r you.

C D usersG o in to th e D irW o rk2 .1 d ire c to ry and d o u b le -c lick o n th e ''Insta ll- D irW o rk '' icon. O n ce again, th e insta lle r w il l c re a te a d ire c to ry fo r you.

C Task 3.1n s ta ll PC Task as de ta iled in th e box-out. s ta rt the appropria te vers ion fro m its icon

a nd you w ill see the con figu ra tion screen (fig u re 1). For n o w th e b o tto m le ft se c tion is m o s t im portan t

You need to te ll PC Task w h e re it 's hard and flo p p y drives are fo u n d A: a nd B: are flo p p y d rives, use DF0: fo r A :. C: and D are hard drives. PC Task uses hard files to s im u la te the PC's hard drives

There is a 2 M b hard file o n the second cove r d isk . CD users g e t a

10M B hard file You w ill need to c re a te a second hard file on w h ic h to

ins ta ll M SDOS. so c lick o n "C reate H ardD iskF ile" and e n te r h a rd file l for th e nam e and a reasonab le size (in

m egabytes) O nce the fi le has been crea ted y o u can set u p C and D as h a rd file l and hardfileO respective ly 'and save th e con figura tion .

Put yo u r M S D O S flo p p y in DF0 a nd p ress S tart PC Task shou ld b o o t fro m yo u r M S D O S f lo p p y and look like fig u re 3. The f irs t th in g to do is p a rtition a nd fo rm a t th e new hardfile . Type FDISK a t th e p rom p t and se le c t o p tion 1 fro m th is m enu and th e next S e lect Y at the th ird m enu a nd fo llo w the in s truc tions

O nce you have re b o o te d th e PC. you can fo rm a t the n e w 'ha rd drive ' w ith "FORM AT C :/S ". The /S te lls M S D O S to inc lude so m e essentia l

sys tem f ile s o n th e d rive . Finally copy the co n te n ts o f the flo p p y to yo u r hard d rive w ith "COPY A : V C :" N o w e jec t the d isk in A and re b o o t th e PC w ith Ctrl-Alt-Del.

You shou ld n o w have a fu lly w o rk in g M S D O S se tu p o n d isk C: You can c o p y files fro m th e supp lied hard file to C. us ing the M SDO S copy com m and, b u t the re is an easie r w ay. Provided you co p ied hardfile .dev ice to DEVS: you can access th e PC hard d isks fro m th e A m iga

S ince us ing b o th th e A m ig a and PC to w r ite to th e sam e d isk a t the sam e tim e cou ld be d isastrous, q u it PC-Task firs t and then run PC TC rossM ouni. Th is m oun ts C and D as TCC: a nd TDC: o n the A m iga , p ro v id e d y o u have CrossDO S insta lled C rossDO S is supp lied w ith all ve rs ions of W o rkbench fro m 2.1 onw ards. For so m e reason you need to assign HF: to th e d ire c to ry con ta in ing the h a rd files a fte r you run PCTCrossM ount

The 1 0M b hard file o n th e CD con ta ins a large a m o u n t o f PC sharew are. You can a lso copy files fro m PC CDs in an A m iga m oun ted CDROM drive You can copy f ile s to and fro m th e hard files using W orkbench o r th e shell, b u t b y far

the eas iest w a y is w ith a f ile m anager, such as D irW ork.

Have fun l


"C urren t sou rce " and "Selected f iles ". C lick on Use in th is w in d o w and the next, fo llo w e d by Save & Q uit. Th is shou ld re tu rn you to D irW ork w ith yo u r new bu tton .

N o w if you se le c t an m peg audio fi le and c lick on th e b u tto n you w ill hear the file . If you d o n 't have m peg, t ry se tting a b u tto n to sh o w a pictu re w ith V iewTek, V isage o r even

M u ltiv iew . It d o e sn 't s to p there , w e can n o w c o n fig u re D irW ork to recogn ise an m peg file and au to m a tica lly play it w h e n you doub le -c lick its nam e. Go back in to th e c o n fig u ration e d ito r and se lect "C hange

S pec ific file /d ir ty p e Instan tA ctions" and c lic k on A dd . You w ill g e t a w in d o w like fig u re 7. Type MPEG Aud io in th e D escrip tion fie ld and " # ? .m p (2 |3 r in Enter Pattern. This m eans tha t any file end ing in ,m p2 o r .m p3 w ill be recogn ised as m peg audio. S e lect C hange a c tions and se t it up exactly as you d id fo r the bu tto n . C lick on U se th e Save & Quit and d o u b le -c lick on an m peg file.

Th is on ly scra tches th e surface o f w h a t you can d o w ith D irW ork.

Have a look a t the e xam p le c o n fig u ra tions and the various o p tio n s and keep experim enting .

Dir Works 2.1irW ork is th e second prog ram fro m Quasar on th is m o n th ’s cover d isks. It is a d irecto ry

m anager using th e trad itiona l tw o lis te r fo rm a t, as p ioneered b y program s like D irU til and SID and deve loped fu rth e r w ith D irecto ry O pus 4.

I used D irW ork fo r years, f irs t as a sharew are p roduc t and then the com m erc ia l ve rsion. I found it superio r to any o th e r tw o -lis te r file m an

ager (and I tr ie d th e m all). Several CUCDs w e re com p iled using D irW ork and even th o u g h I use D irecto ry O pus 5 in W orkbench Rep lacem ent m o d e now . the re are still fe a tu re s I m iss fro m DirW ork.

Insta ll D irW ork as described in th e box-out, s ta rt i t fro m it 's icon and you shou ld see th e d e fa u lt configu ra tion as show n in fig u re 4. This is a ve ry basic 2 lis te r se tup , bu t D irW ork is capable o f m uch m ore. The insta lle r w ill have saved several sam ple co n fig u ra tio n s (in th e co n fig ura tions d irecto ry). Load som e of these fro m the m a in m enu to g e t an idea o f w h a t can be done.

Creating o r m o d ify in g con figu ra tio n s is done fro m w ith in D irW ork. se le c t C onfigura tion E d ito r fro m the m enu to g e t th e se lec tion w in d o w and se le c t "C hange B u ttons/F ileL is ts /S cro lle rs". You sh ou ld n o w see so m eth ing like f ig ure 5. Everyth ing o n th is screen is an o b je c t tha t can be se lec ted and ed ite d , you can change th e size, pos ition , fo n t, co lou r a nd a c tions of each o b jec t. D irW ork has a range of in terna l a c tions to handle i f f p ictures. m ods, sam ples etc . b u t le t's

se t up a b u tto n to use an exte rna l com m and . MPEGA is on a ll th e CUCDs a nd is an excellen t p layer fo r MPEG audio files.

C lick o r one o f th e bu tto n s and change th e Text gadge t to read MPEGA, c lick on C hange Action(s) and th e n S e lect A c tions , p ick "Run externa l p rogram " fro m th e lis t and you w ill see so m eth ing like fig u re 6. Type “ C:M PEG A % p % f" in the program gadget (th is assum es MPEGA is in C: o f course).

The % p % f re fe rs to th e pa th and filenam e o f th e se lec ted file . Click on C onsole W in d o w and se le c t one o f the op tions , you d on ’t need a w in d o w to open fo r M PEGA b u t it m eans you can see w h a t's going on. It 's a g o o d idea to a lw ays add a w in d o w w h e n se ttin g u p new bu ttons, so you can see any e rro r m essages. You can rem ove it w h e n you have the bu tto n w o rk in g exac tly as you w ant.

M ake sure you use a w in d o w w ith th e CLOSE o p tio n , o th e rw ise it

w ill s tay on th e screen a fte r th e bu tto n ac tion has ended. The tw o g ad ge ts near th e bo tto m need to read

D ia m o n d C aves IIS o m e h o w w e 'v e squeezed th is g re a t l i t t le g am e o n to th e c o ve r d is k s a lo n g w ith e v e ry th in g else! D ia m o n d Caves II is based o n the c la ss ic B o u ld e rd a sh gam e th a t w a s p o p u la r o n th e C64.D ia m o n d C aves II ta ke s th in g s a b it fu r th e r b y o ffe r in g a le v e l e d ito r to e n a b le y o u to m ake d e v io u s m azes fo r y o u rs e lf a nd y o u r m a tes to n e g o tia te , o r even ju s t to m ake in c re d ib ly easy o n e s fo r pe o p le w h o a re c ra p a t c o m p u te r gam es!

T h e o b je c t o f th e gam e is s im p le . C o lle c t a ll o f th e d ia m o n d s th e n leave th ro u g h th e e x it w h ic h w i l l s ta r t t o fla sh . S om e o b je c ts in th e gam e (su ch as rocks) a re a ffe c te d b y g ra v ity , so if y o u u n d e rm in e th e s o il beneath

th e m , th e y 'l l fa l l in to th e gap be n e a th . If y o u h a p p e n t o be u n d e r a fa ll in g ro c k y o u 'l l be squashed. O th e r b its a n d pieces, in c lu d in g y o u rs e lf, w i l l n o t be a ffe c te d b y g ra v ity . I t seem s to m ake sense once y o u s ta r t p la y in g an yw a y . Y o u 'll f in d o th e r fe a tu re s to o . such as c o n v e y o r be lts , q u ic k s a n d , d o o rs re q u ir in g keys a nd la ndm ines .

Before y o u can p la y y o u r f irs t le v e l y o u 'l l need to s e le c t a p la y e r na m e , a nd th e n se le c t a se t o f le ve ls . O nce th a t 's d o n e yo u 're re a d y to g o d ia m o n d h u n tin g .

O p tio n a l e x tra s a lso a llo w y o u to d ire c t th e g a m e t o ru n o n any a va ila b le s c re e n m o d e (in c lu d in g C yb e rg ra p h x ) a nd y o u can have o n e o r tw o p laye rs .


icmI v« wo4

W e lc o m e t o C U C D 1 7 . I f y o u h a v e n 't in v e s te d in a C D d r iv e y e t , re a d

t h is t o s e e e x a c t ly w h a t i t is t h a t y o u 'r e m is s in g .

C U C D 1 7 c a n b e b o o t e d f r o m a C D 3 2 o r a n A 1 2 0 0 /4 0 0 0 w i t h C D 3 2

e m u la t io n . In o r d e r t o u s e t h i s C D f r o m y o u r o w n W o r k b e n c h , y o u o n ly

n e e d t o c l ic k o n t h e In itC D ic o n , w h ic h w i l l t h e n a l l o w s o f tw a r e t o ru n

f r o m th e C D . I t in i t i a t e s M U I , ID e r a n d t h e N e w lc o n s s y s te m s - d o n ' t

b e s u r p r is e d i f t h e lo o k o f y o u r W o r k b e n c h s u d d e n ly d e c id e s t o

c h a n g e . T h e w h o le t h in g is o n ly te m p o r a r y , a n d i t c a n b e r e m o v e d b y

s im p ly c l ic k in g o n In itC D a g a in

T o h e lp y o u in f in d in g y o u r w a y a r o u n d , th e r e is a D O C S .G U ID E ,

w h ic h w i l l c o n n e c t y o u t o n e a r ly a l l t e x t d o c u m e n ts , a n d IN D E X w h ic h

is a C D s e a r c h t o o l . J u s t l i k e e v e r y th in g e ls e o n th e C D , y o u n e e d to

c l ic k o n t h e m t o a c t iv a te th e m .

7 5 M BI t ' s e a s y t o m is s t h e w h e r e th e

r e a l c o n te n ts o f a C U C D l ie s s o

h e r e 's a l i s t o f h o w m u c h d a ta

l ie s in e a c h d ir e c to r y .

C U C D 1 7 is a w e l l b a la n c e d

C D , p a c k e d t o t h e b r im w i t h

6 5 0 M B o f d a ta . T h is m o n th 's

th e m e is t h e d e f in i t i v e ic o n a n d

W o r k b e n c h c o l le c t io n w i t h t h o u

s a n d s o f f i le s 1 3 0 M B o f d a ta !

• C D s u p p o r t .....• O nE scapee .....• C D R O M ...........

• D e m o s .............• G a m e s .............• G ra p h ic s ..........• M a g a z in e .......• O n lin e ..............• P r o g r a m m in g

• R e a d e rs ...........• S o u n d ................

• U t i l i t ie s ............• W W W ................

6 0 M B

2 2 M B

3 2 M B

3 0 M B

3 0 M B

5 5 M B

5 2 M B

2 5 M B

2 5 M B

2 5 M B• P C T a s k /D irW o rk s

• C o o lW B .....................

D -R O M 17Not one but tw o great commercial

packages, a huge icon/workbench

theme and the usual superb

packed-to-the-brim CUCD. Lots of

wholesome goodness!

M b o f W ha t?6 5 0

i u«u ^ Mum im0 2 q 712 i

H ig h lig h ts

PC Task 3.1The exce llen t PC em u la tion package is p ro v id e d c o m p le te w ith a 10M b hard lile to check o u t so m e use fu l M S-D O S a p p lica tions

D ir W o rk 2.1The A m ig a 's bes t sp litscreen s ty le d ire c to ry utility,

n o w o n th e CD in th e com p le te co m m e rc ia l fo rm Use D ir W o rk to b ro w se th is and o the r CUCDs!OnEscapeeA n e w super-dem o o f the fabu lous O nE scapee This tim e it s ove r 5 0 M b in size and fea tu res fa r m ore of the gam e to check out.

C oo lW BThe d e fin itive co llec tion o fw o rkb e n ch enhancem ents, icons, backdrops and m ore Thousands upon thousands o f f ile s that, m ake CUCD 17 a d isk to leave in yo u r CD-ROM.

More on IDer

Reaction to ID er o n CUCDs has Been a m ixed back o f c rit ic is m and pra ise M u ch o f th e p ro b le m s have been caused b y a lack o f unders tand ing o f w h a t ID er is fo r a nd fa ilu re to c lic k o n th e essentia l In itC D icon.

T h is m o n th w e have m ade s o m e changes to th e ID er launcher to w o rk

a round th e te e th in g p ro b le m s so tha t th is sys tem is m o re fo o l p roo f For th o se th a t m issed it. m o s t p ro je c t ic o n s o n CUC D s n o w have IDer

a s th e d e fa u lt too l. ID er a llo w s you to ch o o se exac tly w h a t v iew ers and players you w ish to use fo r s p e c ific typ e s o f files.

G raph ics card use rs m ay d isp lay a ll p ic tu re s on cu rre n t a nd fu tu re CUCDs w ith a h i-reso lu tion v iewer, fo r exam ple. Your p re fe rences are

saved to yo u r hard drive.The CUCD p re fe rences p rog ram can b e fo u n d in th e to p le f t o f the

C D support drawer.


° J C U C P 1 7 - H d , 6 - J . Z M F r e e

.1011010

I n i t C D I m p o r t a n t ! CD:

mQ u a s a r O n E s c a p e e C o o ( M B

A .

A. & J & . J L

o ( MB... v

W hat's in y o u r d ra w e rs?

G C l ^ $- . .d . r . I M nt 1 u« »« tMI

R o o t: The C D support d ra w e r can be found in th e ro o t o f CUCD17. The s tandard W orkbench draw ers icons have vanished (th o u g h the d raw ers rem ain) to be replaced w ith th e C D support d ra w e r and an o p en ing Readm e file . D raw Studio. AIR Link, the IslonaG am es dem o draw er and the m ain CUCD icon can be found here.Q u asa r: Q uasar's fu ll com m erc ia l PC Task 3.1 PC em u la to r and the

sp lit-screen d ire c to ry u tility Dir W ork 2.1 can be found here.

There 's a lso a PC Task 4 .3 dem o to t ry ou t o n th e hardfile. O nE scapee: Sadeness’

O nE scapee gam e dem o revisited

»

••

i &

b u t th is tim e it 's several t im e s b igge r a nd b e tte r than ever.C0 0 IW B : W orkbench backdrops.- p ic tu res, enhancem en ts and icons icons ico n s ' R evam p your W orkbench like never be fo re , you ’ll be co m in g back fo r th is. C D s u p p o rt: The v ita l su p p o rt files fo r the CD; v iew ers, players. IDer a nd th e ob liga to ry CU C D prefs p ro gram.

C U C D : This is w h e re the vast m a jo rity o f the CD h ides. W h a t w o n d e rs can be found w ith in ... C D R O M : The la test AmiCDFS,

A m ine t CD indexes, CD ID co llec tion and a lso theO ptyCDPIayer are all fo u n d here.

D e m o s: A G A a nd ECS o ffe rin g s to sw irl your plasm a and ro ta te yo u r 3D w o rld . Turn th e lights low . crank your s te re o and enjoy!

G am e: Joys tick fo d d e r deluxe.A m iC heats. several Tam igotch i c lones. QUID. Nem esis, Team 17 hard drive ins ta lle rs and an

exce llen t SWOS 9 7 /98 update.

G ra p h ics : A n im a tions , 3DO bjec ts , p ic tu res, the la test P icasso 96 RTG so ftw a re . U ltraconv and S uperV iew NG.

M a g a z in e : A ll o f the C sourcefile s fro m the tu toria l, the p rogram s from

Freeware roundup. A IR Link, W ire d W orld

and th e free U KO nline Trial so ftw a re !O n lin e : AmiFTR M iam i 2.1 p.

v v SANA 2 m eter, w ebleechers, fixers, GUI h tm l crea to rs , RFCs

£ _ and th e U senet Newsand CU A m iga

M a iling lis t archives.P ro g ra m m in g : AM O S M ailing

lis t archive, the source fo r th e DICE C com piler, th e MUI deve lo p m e n t and XPK com press ion

archives.R eaders: Anim s, M ods . Pix, U tils

and lo ts , lo ts m ore all sen t in by o the r use rs o f CU A m iga CUCDs. Is yo u r w o rk h e re /

S o u n d : M ID I files , m odules, sam ples. MPEG A u d io Layer 3 encoder, W avebeast and m ore f ile s and u tilit ie s to ge t those

speakers pum ping.U t il it ie s : Lots o f u tilit ie s inc lud ing

th e la test vers ion o f Syslnspector. V irus checkers such as VirusZ, co m m od ities . ASL to M U I patchers

and m ore.W W W : The b ig th re e w eb

brow sers..A W eb II

3.0. IB ro w se 1.12 and Voyager-NG dem os. The usual on-CD am iga w e b s ites and

CU O nline!

D is k d o e s n 't load?If y o u r CD d o e s n o t load co n ta c t D iskX press o n 01451 810788. If th e y adv ise th a t th e CD is fa u lty send i t a lo n g w i th a SAE to : CU A m ig a M agazine D isk Returns. D iskX press, 7 W illo w C ourt, B o u rto n In d u s tr ia l Park, B ou rton on th e w a te r, G louces te rsh ire GL54 2HQ.

Please n o te th a t s o m e CDs w i l l n o t a u to b o o t o n system s o th e r th a n CD32s. so t r y lo a d in g i t f ro m W o rkb e n ch firs t. C U C D s w il l w o r k w i th a lm o s t a ll A m ig a c o n fig u ra tio n s and fi le s y s te m s . H o w e ve r, w e reco m m e n d o ld e r C D f ile s y s te m s

be rep la ce d w h e re p o ss ib le . A n o n -w o rk in g p ro g ra m is n o t an in d ic a t io n o f a fa u lty C D !


NEWS

Apple no problem for PPConce rn over th e fu tu re o f th e PowerPC processor has been vo iced fo llo w in g th e n e w s that

A p p le co m p u te rs have d e c id e d to lim it th e licens ing o f M acO S and suspend th e CHRP co m m o n hard w a re re fe rence p la tfo rm A pp le , under th e m anagem ent o f re tu rn ing M ac guru S teve Jobs, have dec ided to reign in th e c lo n e m anufac tu re rs . an in te re s tin g m ove a t a tim e w h e n A m iga In te rna tiona l has dec la red th a t the fu tu re o f the A m iga is in c lones A p p le say that they w e re lo s in g m o n e y a t a ra te of $200 fo r every c lo n e so ld , bu t ex CEO Gil A m eho. w h o se depa rtu re w a s less than happy, has c la im ed tha t th e m ove w ill lead to d isaster The m ove has resu lted in a lo t of specu la tion th a t M o to ro la , w h o w orked in co-ope ra tion w ith A pp le

on th e CHRP p ro ie c t and produced a

la rge n u m ber o f c lones and m o the rboards. w o u ld react bad ly S om e in th e A m iga indus try have suggested tha t th is spe lls d oom fo r phase 5 's ne w ly re leased PowerPC boards, bu t M o to ro la have to ld u s tha t the re w ill be no p ro b le m M o to ro la have to ld us tha t PPC deve lo p m e n t is very m uch driven b y th e desk top m arket and th e y have e ve ry in ten tion o f su pp ly ing desk top PPC ch ips to everyone w h o n eeds th e m , be they phase 5 or Apple.The fu tu re o f PIOS is s lig h tly less clear, as they had been w o rk in g on CHRP based sys tem s. Their plans fo r PowerPC M ac and A m iga clones co n tin u e w ith th e announcem en t o f th e M agna series o f M ac c lones w ith M ACH5 PPC p rocesso rs runn ing 350M H z 604s. b u t th e p o s itio n o f th e CHRP TransAM Am iga clone is m ore com p lex PIOS te ll us there is no p ro b le m s so u rc ing th e HYDRA

ch ips, b u t have co n tin g e n cy p lans if any p ro b le m s a rise in th e fu tu re A HYDRA less PIOS m ach ine w ou ld no t be a m a jo r p rob lem a s it was

o rig ina lly designed w ith o u t it. M o to ro la 's plans fo r th e fu tu re of the PPC fa m ily o f ch ip s m akes in te r

es ting study. The m assive success o f th e PPC in th e im bedded system s m arke t has lead to im provem en ts in m anufac tu ring techn iques w h ich

cou ld have in te res ting im p lica tions fo r fu tu re A m iga PPC deve lopm ents. The lo w e r end 603e ch ip , currently runn ing a t up to 350M H z. is be ing redes igned to use 0 .25 m ic ro n tech n o logy ra ther than th e o lder 0.35 m ic ro n it cu rre n tly uses, w h ich

sh ou ld lead to cooler, lo w e r p ow er con su m p tio n , and fas te r ch ips. This

w o u ld m ake it a te m p tin g CPU as a base m ode l fo r fu tu re Am igas. Looking to th e fu tu re , p ro tect 2000 d ue fo r c o m p le tio n a t the end o f the

decade, uses sub 0.1 m icon te ch n o logy and runs a t 1GHz.

UK Online give Amiga support - and free trialCU A m iga has team ed up w ith UK O n line to o ffe r a n o the r In te rne t deal, th is is a lso based on th e superb N e tC onnec l so ftw a re like th e last offer. H ow ever. UK O n line are n o w rig h t a w a y1

o ffe rin g a m o n th fre e trial. The Cover CD has all th e so ftw a re needed . th e re 's n o fo rm s to fill in . if you have a m odem you can g e t on line

u i:<UK O n line plan to support A m iga users as no ISP has d o n e be fo re . In c luded in the ir p lans are an im p le m e n ta tion o f a fu ll Am ine t m irro r a nd m irro ring o f the m o s t im p o rta n t A m iga w e b s ites such as the A m ig a W eb D irecto ry and A m iga .o rg etc. W e w ill b ring you fu ll de ta ils of

these d e ve lo p m e n ts as they com e. A s added incen tive to g e t on line . UK O n line have organ ised an im press ive co m p e titio n . A ll you need is a UK O n line E-mail address w h ic h means you can b e an e x is ting user o r a fresh p a rtic ipan t in th e Free Trial,

see page 31 fo r de ta ils The im press ive lis t o f good ies in the prize h a m per include:A c tive S o ftw a re s K56Flex Dynalink m odem w o rth £129.95. a full N e tC onnect 2 CD w o rth £54.95.H igh speed serial ca rd w o rth £79 95 a nd STFax Pro IfaxW oice so ftw are) w o rth £29 95. a UK O n line Family

In te rne t accoun t fo r a year. Sadeness S o ftw a re 's H idden Truth and AGA

E xperience 3 CDs. and o f course a su b scrip tio n to CU A m iga M agazine. A s if th is ham per w a sn ’t enough, by th e tim e you read th is , i t 's expected tha t the re w ill be an even b igger array o f prizes on o ffe r D rop by h ttp ://w w w .u ko n lin e .co uk/C orporate /C om p/am iga .h tm l fo r fu ll de ta ils on th e co m p e titio n

So w h a t a re y o u w a it in g for? G et a m odem , ge t on-line w ith th e UK O n line fre e tria l and en te r th e c o m p e tit io n ! M o re in fo rm a tion can be

fo u n d on page 31.


http://www.ukonline.co

Cloanto to makeM " " " B -

RC5 crackedThe la rgest exerc ise in d is tribu ted c o m p u tin g has co m e to an end

w ith th e n ew s tha t th e 56 b it RC5 e n cryp tion a lg o rith m fro m RSA labs

has been hacked.Th is privacy cyp h e r to o k the

co m b in e d c o m p u tin g p o w e r o f the equ iva len t o f o ve r 20 ,000 to p end personal com p u te rs 160 days to crack, over 4000 team s con tribu ted to th e e ffo rt, and readers w ill be g lad to kn o w tha t the A m iga team e ffo rt w a s spectacu la rly successfu l.

RC5 A m iga , adm in is te re d by Thom as Tavoly. ran fo r on ly 63 days b u t m anaged to achieve an amazing 7 th place in th e overall rankings, o ne p lace above th e BT e ffo rt w h ich s ta rte d the p rev ious day, and 30 p laces above th e M ic ro so ft e ffo rt. The ta b le fo r average key rate, w h ic h represents th e am ount o f c o m p u tin g p o w e r p u t in to the e ffo r t and n o t th e leng th o f tim e the team had been w o rk in g , p u ts the A m iga in 4 th place.

T he to p team w a s A p p le and the key w a s found by Peter S teuer o f th e S tarlabs team a fte r 47% o f the keys had been checked

Next o n the agenda is th e 64 b it e ncryp tion a lgo rithm . A t th e present ra te th is shou ld take 130 years, bu t c o m p u te r keep g e ttin g faster. This t im e around PPC A m igas w ill be help ing the e ffo r t! For m ore in fo v is it h ttp ://w w w .rc5 .d is tr ib u te d .n e t

Access Amiga clonesIndex in fo rm a tio n are sh ipp ing th e ir pub lic d isp la y /p o in t o f sa le m u ltim e d ia de livery sys tem based o n the A m iga.The A cce ss is a 5 1/4" w id th m o therboard designed to f it in to a standard w id th d rive bay. The system is so ld e ithe r as a board w ith fascia and d isk d rive w h ich s lo ts into a standard PC type to w ercase , o r in a ha lf h e igh t case designed fo r m axim u m com pactness.

The A ccess, n o w redes igned to take 68020 o r 68030 processors, is equ ipped w ith 2 M b ch ip and 2 o r 8 M b fa s t R AM , a sound sam p le r w ith m ic rophone inpu t, non v o la tile RAM fo r con fig u ra tio n in fo rm a tion , an ISA s lo t fo r lo w c o s t m o d e m s o r ether- n e t so lu tions, a real tim e clock. CDDA in p u t a nd m ixer, CD file sys te m so ftw a re on ROM and an IDE in te rface .

It is a im ed square ly a t the p ro fe s s iona l d isp lay and co n tro l system s m arkets, w h e re it is a lready a ttract-

Mews in BriG a te w a y p o s ts $ 1 .7 m lo s s e sD e sp ite re co rd sa les a nd a g ro w ing m arke t share. G atew ay 2000 po s te d a lo ss lo r th e th ird q u a rte r o l 1997. Revenues w e re up $300,000 fro m th e sam e period las t year. But "o n e -tim e " charges m o s tly invo lv ing th e purchase o f th e A m iga asse ts and A dvanced Log ic Research, a server m anufacturer. h it p ro fits . G a tew ay 's in co m e w a s a lso im p a c te d by the long su m m e r s h ip p in g s tr ike in

th e US, w h ic h c u t s a les and raised sh ipp ing p rices.

E -B o o t iq o e s e e k lo y a l tyUK h ig h s tre e t ga m e s reta iler E lec tron ic B ou tique are in troducin g a c u s to m e r lo ya lty card along

th e tines o f th e loya lty card schem es o pe ra ted by m any

superm arke ts . EB a re one o f th e la s t m a jo r re ta il o u tle ts in th e UK regu la rly s to ck in g A m ig a gam es, a nd it w o u ld b e a ve ry u se fu l th ing i f a la rge n u m ber o f A m iga users

reg is te re d w ith th is schem e, m akin g it c lear to EB ju s t w h a t p la tfo rm it is th e y a re in te re s te d in.EB run a freeca ll c u s to m e r serv ice

lin e o n 0800 317778.

L o to s P a c i f ic a n n o o n c e s b r o a d c a s t s y s te m .Lotus Pacific have announced a jo in t p resen ta tion b y them selves

and Chinese Centra l Television Teletext o f th e W onder TV broadc a s t s ys tem based around the W o n d e r TV A 6060. The system w ill p rov ide subscribe rs to cab le channe ls a h os t o f in fo rm a tion services inc lud ing In te rne t access. A s th e d isp u te b e tw e e n Lotus Pacific and G atew ay 2000 is rum oured to be near se ttlem en t, the fab led C h inese A m ig a lo o ks to be tak ing o f f a t last. W e have heard in tr ig u in g re fe rence to an A 5800 desk top m ode l - b e sure to check CU A m iga fo r a ll th e la test de ta ils as they happen.

M ic r o n ik s e t - t o p b o xM ic ro n ik appear to be entering th e se t to p box m arke t w ith an A m iga based so lu tion . Very fe w de ta ils o f th e h a rdw are is cu rren tly fo rth co m in g , b u t th e s to ry is th a t th e re w ill b e a cab le box in itia lly . to be fo llo w e d by a desk top In te rne t box / m u ltim ed ia s ta tion ca lled th e M -B ox. W e 'll g ive m ore de ta ils as they co m e in.

A n o ffic ia l "Pow ered b y A m iga" A m ig a em u la to r fo r PC com pa tib les

is to b e re leased by C loan to , the Ita lian c rea to rs o f Personal Paint.

CJoanto's n e w em ulator, en titled A m iga Forever, is based o n UAE the ECS e m u la to r w h ich has been around fo r a w h ile now. C loanto have acqu ired licenses to use A m igaO S 1.0 th rough to 3.0.

The A m iga Forever package w ill inc lude A m iga E xp lo re r (an A m iga to PC n e tw ork ing so lu tion). The user in te rfa ce is an o b je c t o rie n te d extension to the W in d o w s d esk top , upon w h ich the A m iga appears as a n e tw orked com puter.C onnection w ill be m ade via serial o r para lle l ports. A fu tu re upgrade is planned to use TCP/IP ne tw ork ing .

U nlike th e p rev ious situatio n w ith UAE. A m iga Forever w ill be easy to use w ith an A m ig a operating

system pre-installed.The A m ig a Forever pack

age w ill c o m e w ith a floppy d isk w ith th e A m iga n e tw o rk in g s o ft

w a re o n it. a CD w ith the PC s o ftw are and a c o lle c tio n o f A m iga s o ftw a re inc lud ing Personal Paint. The P icasso 9 6 em u la to r m akes th e s o ftw a re package a lo t fa s te r w ith P96 co m p a tib le so ftw are.

C loan to have answ ered w o rrie s th a t th is w ill dam age th e A m iga by p o in tin g o u t tha t a lo t o f ex-Amiga ow n e rs w ill be a ttrac ted back, and th a t e m u la tin g th e co m p le x ch ipse t o f an A m iga is never go ing to be a cheap rep lacem en t fo r the real th ing .

▲ Keeping the Amiga alive - on a PC. Is

Cloanto's Amiga Forever the way forward?

mg a lo t o f a tten tion . W e have heard and LS120 drives. For m ore deta ilso f a n u m ber o f pe o p le w h o have co n ta c t Index in fo rm a tio n on + 4 4purchased o r are in te res ted in pur- (0)1256 703426.chas ing these m achines fo r e very th ing fro m m u lti channel co n tro l so lu tions fo r theatrica l sound e ffe c ts to p o in t of sale d isp lay sys te m s for a la rge high s tree t m u ltip le. C urren t p rices for the e q u ip m e n t a re as fo llow s :M o th e r b o a r d 8 B ra c k e ts :

1-99 u n its S415 100-499 u n its $370 5 0 0 + u n its S330

F u ll A c c e s s :1-99 u n its $510 100-499 u n its $465 5 0 0 + units $420

A vailab le o p tio n s inc lude CD-R O M s, hard drives

13534376


http://www.rc5.distributed.net

A P O L L O A 1 2 0 0 A C C E L B M R *APOLLO 1 2 3 0 LITE a p o l l o 1230 u te

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High quality low cost 68030 accelerator with:MMU and FPU all runnir* at 33mhz.Built in battery backed dock,Easy trapdoor fitting. Bg

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All the features you asked for at an affordable price!:High performance 68030 with FPU and MMU running at 40mhz. Two 72pin SIMM sockets can take upto 32mb each. Simms can be mixed (i.e.a 4mb and 8mb will give 12mb) and can be single or double sided.Fully PCMCIA compatible regardless of how much memory is fitted. Easy trapdoor fitting with battery backed clock

APOLLO 1 2 6 0 /5 0Fully featured SCSI CD-ROM drive for use w ith the A1200 or A600 including:

Superb metal enclosure with irvbuilt mains power supply All software, cables and instructions for Immediate use Full CD32 emulation and Audio CD player software.Easy PCMCIA fitting Squirrel Interface

P rices In c lu d e Squ irre l. Add £30.00 fo r S u r f Squirre l

zzz8M B SIMM

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APOLLO 1 2 4 0 / 1 2 6 068040/68060*MMU based A1200accelerator.Features include: A

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Z J jJ 'J 32M B SIM M

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Our high speed 2.5' IDE hard drives for the Amiga 4 ^ .A1200 & A600 computers come complete with:

Fitting cable, screws, partitioning software. .full instructions * 4 \ ^ |12 months guarantee.Ai drives suppliec by us format- a ,-ted. partitioned and lave Workbench (WB2 for the A600 and WB3 for theA1200) installed for immediate use. ‘ ' I

Fitting is Incredibly simple: If you can plug the mouse into the mouse socket, you can plug the hard drive Into the hard drive socket.

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A socket for an accelerator FPU Unlike other memory expansions that conflict with the PCMCIA port, our TOTAL memory expansions include unique software that 33MHZ 68882will enable the maximum amount p p y ( P L C C )of memory to be used even 1with a PCMCIA m tln j Oavke { , , \ A \J-.J

SURF SQUIRREL :£K*3.9CLOCK CARTRIDGE £ 1 9 .9EPIC ENCYCLOPEDIA CD £ 1 9 .950 m h z FPU (fo r blizzard 1 2 3 0 ) £ 4 4 .9WORLD OF A1200 CD and TOP 100 A1200 GAMES CD£ 1 4 .9 9 EACH o r bo th fo r £L 9.99 , ANTI-VIRUS & X-COPY £ 1 9 .9 9 EACH or bo th fo r £ 2 4 .9 9

A600/A1200 INTERNAL FLOPPY DRIVE MOUSE 3 .5 ’ HARD DRIVE CABLE 2 .5 ’ HARD DRIVE CABLE FRESH FONTS CD AMIGA POWER SUPPLY SQUIRREL

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For enquires Tel: 0 1 6 1 7 9 6 5 2 7 9 o r Fax: 0 1 6 1 7 9 6 3 2 0 8 Access. Visa. Switch. Delta. Connect e tc accepted Send cheques or postalorders (made payable to Siren Software) o r credit card details to:-SIREN SOFTWARE, 1 7 8 BURY NEW RD, WHITEFIELD, MANCHESTER M 45 6QF, ENGLAND. All prices include VAT. Postage and packing w ill be charged a t £ 3 .5 0 per order (U.K.). £ 7 .5 0 Europe and £ 1 2 .5 0 rest o f the world. OPEN: Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm Saturday 9am to 12pm Personal calle rs welcome. P lease phone firs t to check ava ilab ility o f any item . DIRECTIONS: From the M62 Junction 17 head towards Bury. We are 5 0 yards on the right hand side after the th ird set o f lights. The door to our premises is next to Polar, opposite The Masons Pub.‘ N ex t w orking day. Orders m u s t be p laced before 2p.m . A ll orders w ill be p laced on a 24hour delivery service. Siren Softw are a re n o t responsible I f de liveries take longer than 24hours. Only applies to item s in s to ck . U.K. delivery only.


Wish list results from ClickBOOM!

Total votesNews in Brie

The resu lts o f the C lickB O O M w ishhs t pub lished in th e Ju ly issue o f CU A m iga have been pub lished. Taking in vo te rs via p o s t and E-mail. C lickBO O M rece ived vo te s fro m nearly 5000 vo te rs o n w h a t so rt o f gam es they w o u ld like t o see in th e fu tu re . The tab le o ppos ite show s th e final rankings, b u t fu rthe r tab les can be seen by check ing o u t the O ickB O O M w e b s ite at h ttp ://w w w .c lic k b o o m .c o m . It is in te r

es ting to n o te th e d iffe re n ce s in vo ting pa tte rns b e tw een those w h o vo ted via

the In te rne t and th o se w h o s e vo tes CU A m iga c o lle c te d via p os t The pos ta l vo te rs pu t Q uake d o w n in 5 th place. U ndoub ted ly th is g am e is m ore popu la r to th o se w ith an In te rne t connection O n th e o th e r hand posta l vo ters loved Them e H osp ita l, w h ich m ade it to 10th in th e cha rt fo r pos ta l voters.

The d iffe re n ce s b e tw een th e tw o se ts o f vo ters su gges ts that In te rneue rs have h ig h e r spec m ach ines and. ra ther obv iously, that they a re m ore keen o n n e tw o rk gam ing!

W in n e rs o f the C lickB O O M gam esg iveaw ays areM r M Pearce. C roydonB en C oulthard. W. YorksFrank Parker, B irm inghamall o f w h o m w ill b e rece iv ing a copy

o f M ys t. and:A .Skourous. A thensM a rtin Sinclair. W Yorks

Lew is Jones. Essex.w h o have w o n a copy o f Capital

Punishm ent

14.W ing C om m ander 2-4

15. W i||16 Need fo r speed

24. Daytona25. 3 D Le26. Indy Car Racing 2

27.28 . D oom29.30 . D escem

NEEDS YOU!W e have a vaca ncy fo r a

STAFF WRITERA s i t says, w e need a S ta ff W rite r to jo in o u r Lond on -ba sed e d ito r ia l te a m . W e re

a fte r som e on e capab le o f c re a tin g sp a rk lin g te x t on a va r ie ty o f A m ig a re la ted

su b je c ts The successfu l a p p lic a n t w i l l be ab le to w o rk to t ig h t de ad line s a n d th e

a b il ity to m ake co m p le x su b je c ts so u n d as s im p le as A B C '.

In s h o r t, w e re q u ire th e fo llo w in g ...

A n in d e p th kn o w le d g e o f th e A m iga

T he a b i l ity to ta k e o n e a p a rt and p u t i t b a ck to g e th e r w i th y o u r e ye s c losed

In te re s ts in a w id e v a r ie ty o f d iffe re n t A m ig a a p p lica tio n s

A b ili ty t o w r ite t o de ad lines

Tons o f ide as t o m a ke CU A m ig a e ve n b e tte r th a n i t is

If th a t sou nd s like y o u , send u s a C V w i th an acco m p a n y in g le t te r te ll in g us a b o u t

y o u rs e lf a n d a 300 w o rd ty p e d re v ie w o f a p ro d u c t y o u 'v e b o u g h t re c e n tly to :

Ton y H orga n . C U A m iga . 37-39 M illh a rb o u r, Is le o f D ogs. Lo n d o n , E14 9TZ

Epic sell XG

Yamaha M U -10 m id i p lug in m o d u le c o m p a tib le w ith p ro je c t XG I t is fu lly cased, and is .p o w e re d by ba tte ry o r m a ins It has externa l ana logue inpu ts to its e ffec ts p rocesso rs and m id i in and ou t a long w ith the seria l h os t port. O the r than tha t it has XG’s 32 note po lyphony. 676 vo ices w ith DSP

e ffe c ts and 18 b it reso lu tion . MU- 10 w ill b e so ld fo r C199.95.Epic are a lso w o rk in g on a varie ty

o f CD p ro jec ts , inc lud ing a huge co llec tion o f o ld gam es. They have licensed use o f OS 1.3 fro m Am iga in te rna tiona l to m ake sure th e y all run! Ep ic are lo ok ing fo r g raphic a rtis ts fo r so m e o f these pro jects , co n ta c t th e m fo r de ta ils Call Epic m arke ting o n *4 4 10)1793 514188.

D ig i t a l c a m e r a s f o r t h e A m ig aT h e d ig ita l pho to g ra p h y revo lu tion is c o m in g to th e A m ig a a t last. Versalia C om pu te r o f Germ any have p roduced im age tra ns fe r s o ft

w a re w h ic h su p p o rts th e Casio QV series. Fuji DS7. Kodak DC20 and M in o lta D im age V cam eras. It inc ludes AREXX a nd C ybergraphX su p p o rt. Vesalia a re s e llin g th e so ftw a re fo r D M 99 , b u t a lso se ll b u n d le s in c lu d in g th e cam eras.W e h o p e t o b rin g y o u a fu ll rev iew o f th is sys tem soon , u n til th e n fo r fu rth e r in fo rm a tio n ca ll Vesalia C o m p u te r o n + 4 9 10)2852 9140 or v is it th e ir w e b s ite on h ttp :/A vw w . vesalia .de

V u lc a n c h a n g e sVulcan s o ftw a re lim ite d have announced a m a jo r change to the w o rk in g s tru c tu re o f th e ir operatio n s . Fo llow ing a s im ila r

announcem en t la s t m o n th from S adeness so ftw a re , th e y have announced th a t in th e fu tu re th e ir d is tr ib u tio n w ill b e hand led exclu

sive ly b y GTI G M B H a nd W eird Sc ience in th e UK. Vulcan fe lt tha t w ith so m uch o f th e ir e ffo r t be ing d irec ted to w a rd s d e ve lop ing exc itin g n e w tit le s su ch as G enetic Species, H ell P igs a nd th e recen tly

announced V irtua C op c lo n e Hard Target, they fe lt it w a s t im e to find a se p e ra te d is tr ib u to rsh ip . For m o re de ta ils c o n ta c t Vulcan S o ftw a re o n + 44 (011705 662226 o r W e ird S c ience o n + 4 4 (0)116 2463800. V u lcan 's w e b page is on h ttp ://w w w .vu lca n .co .u k

A m ib e n c h O n - l in e s to r e sAm ibe rtch w ill be expand ing its

cu rre n t services to in c lude an o n lin e da tabase o f A m iga stores. A m ib e n ch has been o ffe rin g an e xce lle n t se rv ice to A m ig a ow ners w ish in g to buy or se ll se co n d hand A m ig a gear. A d ve rts m ay b e w r itte n o r read via th e ir in te rn e t w e b pages 24 h ou rs a day. N o w they a re look ing fo r in fo rm a tio n on A m ig a s to res w o r ld w id e . Send de ta ils o f yo u r shop name, address, e -m a il address, w ebs ite , ph o n e n u m ber and fax n u m ber to : sto res@ te cnobab .s tayfree .co .uk w ith th e w o rd "S to re s " as th e subje c t line.For m o re in fo rm a tio n o n the Am ibench . e -m a il M ark W ils o n on

/Vrfcench@«cnobabs^freeco.Jc or ch e ck o u t th e w e b -s ite its e lf a t hnp^tjndastcnTscfg'AmBench.


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s

Stateside Newsis E d i to r in C h ie f o f A m ig a R e p o r t M a g a z in eb y Ja so n C o m p to n : J a s o n C o m p to n

$ 1 0 7 M ill io n a n d th e Lon g RunI t m ay b e tru e th a t in th e long run w e 're a ll dead For G atew ay 2000. in th e long run it 's c lear tha t they kn e w tha t ju s t se lling W in d o w s PCs to hom e use rs w a s n 't go ing to g iv e th e m th e so rt o f perfo rm ance th e y w a n te d

G atew ay d o e s m o s t o f its se lling ove r h e re in th e USA. w h e re as

you n o d o u b t kn o w PC prices are lo w com p a re d to m o s t o f th e rest o f th e w o rld . That's because the PC m arke t is so heavily co m p e titive - g e ttin g invo lved is a bou t as easy a s find ing a w ho le sa le supplier. p lac ing an ad and w a it in g for

th e phone to ring . I t 's g o tte n to the p o in t w h e re the PC hardw are bus i

ness is looked a t as o n e o f the m o s t c o m p e titive a nd eas iest to

e n te r bus inesses in th e w orld .L o ts o f c o m p e titio n has th e ten

dency to push d o w n prices - so far

so good That has th e f lip s ide o f reduc ing p ro fits , too . In th e long run w e re a ll dead, a nd if w e 'v e g o t 50.000 co m p e tito rs , p ro fits a ren 't to o hea lthy either. The pe o p le at G atew ay are sm art, and kn e w that th is s o rt o f th in g happens.

So n o t to o long ago th e y took s te p s to co u n te r th e p ro b le m They s ta rte d lo ok ing a t h igher value (read m o re p ro fitab le ) products .In all like lihood, they looked a t the corpora te PC server m arke t that th e ir c lo se s t co m p e tito rs d id very w e ll in. Those m achines a re expensive a nd very h igh tech . and few er com pan ies p rov ide th e m to co rpo rations. Price c o m p e titio n w asn 't

as h igh , so G atew ay looked fo r a w a y in. Rather than try to se ll th e ir

fo lksy c o w boxes s tra igh t to com pan ies as a so lu tion , they w orked to a qu ire an e s tab lished PC server

firm . Again, so fa r so g ood . Then th e y looked fo r so m e real va lue - a te ch n o lo g y tha t w o u ld b e the irs, lock s to ck and barre l, and w hose ris ing fo rtu n e s w o u ld b e n e fit th e m firs t and d irectly. Now , i t ’s unclear h o w th is all w o rke d fro m s ta rt to f in ish , b u t as w e a ll k n o w th e y fo u n d the A m iga and d e c id e d that

they had to have it.N obody likes losing

m oney, ce rta in ly no t $107 m illion . B u t before you w o rry a b o u t an "Am iga cu rse ", keep in m in d tha t it w a s m ore th e m echan ism o f the A m erican and w o r ld w id e PC m arke t tha t reared its head th is tim e , a nd that m o re im portantly.

G atew ay has taken a

huge s tep to w a rd rem edying the problem .

The A m iga is th e cu re , n o t th e disease , fo r G atew ay 2000.

Windows 95 on AmigaIn th e race fo r dom inance in th e PC em u la to r m arket. PC-Task has achieved an im portan t first.Q uasar P ub lications recently re leased PC-Task 4 .3 , suppo rting

W indow s95 . The co m p a n y re co m m e n d s th is fo r 060 use rs on ly d ue to th e ex trem e ly h igh overheads of W in d o w s9 5 o n th e em ulator.For som e tim e . PC-Task a nd its rival fro m M ic ro co d e S o lu tions, PCx, supported DOS a nd W in d o w s 3 1 But PC-Task can n o w run M ic ro so ft's m o s t re ce n t o ffe ring , fo r those

A m ig a users w h o requ ire co m p a tib ility w ith th e n e w est PC a pp lica tions. W h ile ne ithe r p rog ram sh ip s w ith any PC o pe ra ting system , users

in te res ted m em u la ting o n a budge t o r in s im p ly keeping th e ir m oney from M ic ro s o ft m ay w an t to kn o w a b o u t Caldera OpenDOS. O penDO S is th e la test inca rna tion o f the fo rm e r DRDOS and N ovell DOS. now o w n e d by Caldera a nd availab le free fo r eva lua tion use. For m o s t pu rposes. O penDO S is th e functiona l e q u iv a le n t o f MS-DOS. O penDO S can be dow n loaded fro m w w w .ca ld e ra com . It is n o t y e t c o m p a tib le w ith PC-Task and PCx. b u t b o th com pan ies are n o w aw are o f O penDO S a nd are m aking th e necessary changes Check ou t th is m o n th 's CD fo r a dem o o f PC-Task 4 .3 as w e ll as the fu lly w o rk in g vers ion 3.1.

Advertisers Index I

A c t iv e S o f tw a r e 5 6 .5 7 0 1 3 2 5 3 5 2 6 0

A n a lo g ic 6 0 0 1 8 1 5 4 6 9 5 7 5

C a re 57 0 1 9 2 3 8 9 4 0 6 4

C la s s if ie d 9 2 -9 3 0 1 7 1 9 7 2 6 7 0 0

D a r t 27 0 1 1 6 2 4 7 0 0 5 9

E n te r p r is e P ic 5 5 0 1 6 2 4 6 7 7 6 6 6

E p ic M a r k e t in g 1 2 -1 3 ,4 8 0 1 7 9 3 4 9 0 9 8 8

E y e te c h 5 3 0 1 6 4 2 7 1 3 1 85

F ir s t C o m p u te r C e n tre 7 8 0 1 1 3 231 9 4 4 4

G a s te in e r 7 4 0 1 8 1 3 4 5 6 0 0 0

G o ld e n Im a g e 9 5 0 1 8 1 9 0 0 9 2 9 1

H a r w o o d s 2 2 -2 3 ,6 8 -6 9 0 1 7 7 3 4 9 0 9 8 8

H iS o f t 1 0 6 - IB C 0 1 5 2 5 7 1 8 181

L H P u b lis h in g O B C 0 1 9 0 8 3 7 0 2 3 0

O w l A s s o c ia te s 57 0 1 5 4 3 2 5 0 3 7 7

P D P o w e r 98 0 3 7 4 1 5 0 9 7 2

S a d e n e s s 3 4 ,3 6 0 1 2 6 3 7 2 2 1 6 9

S e le c ta fo n t 3 6 0 1 7 0 2 2 0 2 8 3 5

S ire n S o f tw a r e 7 0 1 6 1 7 9 6 5 2 7 9

S p e c ia l R e s e rv e 2 7 0 1 2 7 9 6 0 0 7 7 0

W e ir d S c ie n c e IF C -3 0 1 1 6 2 4 6 3 8 0 0

W h i t e K n ig h t T e c h n o lo g y 8 7 0 1 9 2 0 8 2 2 3 2 1

W iz a r d D e v e lo p m e n ts 2 6 0 1 8 1 3 0 3 1 8 0 0


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a n d C ybe rG FX s u p p o rte d P lanned. I a tm o s p h e r ic 9 M b in tro ,

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b e u se d o n D ou b le -S can ned sc reens.. am a n im a tio n s a re c u s to m ren de re d ,

l e p c a l puzz lesF s i u s e o f th e A G A c h ip s e t - u s in g 256 c o lo u rs . M p p S n g w a te r, sw e e p in g l ig h t be a m s e tc .

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w a r /c o n q u e s t g a m e s ! F e a tu r in g m a n y u n iq u e fe a tu re s n o t y e t se e n in a n y gam e o n a n y p la tfo rm . Fea tu res:

EC S. A G A a n d C ybe rG FX fu lly su p p o rte d1 p la y e r ve rs u s 1. 2 o r 3 c o m p u te r p la ye rs .800 fra m e re n d e re d in tro .F u ll c o n tro l o v e r e ve ry fr ie n d ly u n it.R andom le ve l g e n e ra to r fo r in fin a te leve ls . C u s to m m ade 24 -B it m is s io n /m e n u sc ree ns. A d v a n c e d e n e m y A r t if ic ia l In te llig e n ce .R e a lis t ic ron do re d o b je c ts l ik e tre e s a n d ro cks . S e ria l a n d TC P/IP lin k s p la nn ed .2 p la ye r S p lit-S c re e n m ode.O ve r 50M b o f so u n d a n d g ra p h ics .C o m e s w ith m a p /m is s io n ed ito r.E x te n s iv e fu ll- c o lo u r o n - lin e m an ua l/he lp . M u g -s h o ts in c lu d e d fo r A m ig a ow n e rs . A d va n ce d fire /s m o k e /s h a d o w e ffec ts .H ig h -R e s g ra p h ic s -a b s o lu te ly a

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Woo! Look what turned up in our post bag, phase

5's lovely new Cyberstorm PPC from Power

Computing. We take a preliminary stroll around the

impressive hardware ahead of next month's review.

► Thai's i tthat's the card

we've all heea

wailing for. It s a

loaded up

Cyberstorm PPC

for any big-boi

Amiga w ith a

fast slot. That

little ?0QMh;

PowerPC 604e

is on the fast

side too!

■P WER P»AM IGA™ GOES POW ERPC™

O u tra g e o u s p o w e rExcited y e t7 Then th e re 's tha t 'u ltra ' W ide D M A SCSI co n tro lle r fro m hell. The aw eso m e 53C 770 c o n tro lle r is capable o f d riv ing th e la test, la rgest and bes t hard d rives on th e m arket a t speeds as fast as hard drives cu rre n tly go . W e re ta lk ing abou t ou trageous CPU pow er, ou trageous g raph ics p o w e r and ou trageous hard d isk I/O. It 's unbe lievab le1 But th is is the firs t stage in the Germ an Pow erU p m aste rp lan The part everyone is

exc ited abou t is the PowerPC 604e sitting nex t to th e large 68060 ch ip So far th is is on ly s ta rtin g to be e xp lo ited by so ftw a re anc its au tho rs Som e deve lope rs have had access to C ybe rs to rm PPCs fo r a fe w m o n th s b u t th e lack o f a p rope r Am iga native PowerPC c o m p ile r is the nex t hurd le in th e PowerUp evo lu tion .

W ork is p rogress ing a ll th e tim e and the re 's a lready a sm all c o lle c tio n ofA phase 5 unleash the fruits of their masterplan to get the Amiga bach on top.

I here. The m o s t s ig n ifica n t

upg rade fo r the A m iga s ince A G A five long years a go The leap fro m an 80s a rch itec tu re CPU to s ta te o f th e art

co m p u ta tio n a l p o w e r Phase 5 's PowerUp pro je c t th rea tens to address the A m iga 's w eakes t area and prope l it beyond th e capab ilitie s o f h igh end PCs W e re ta lk ing about th e PowerPC processor fa m ily w h o s e low est m e m b e r is tw ic e a s fa s t a s th e 68060 and w ith seven tim e s h igher c lock rates. That's on th e n ip p y side

The firs t Pow erU p m ode l to appear is the C ybe rs to rm PPC This is a b ig box so-called

'fa s t s lo t' conne c te d acce le ra to r w h ic h f its A3000s and A 4000s A lso , im portan tly , it w il l f it the fo rth c o m in g A m iga c lones also equ ipped w ith fa s t s lo ts. The C ybe rs to rm PPC is phase 5 's n o co m prom ise expansion, w ith so m e se rious ly g ro o vy in te rfaces

F itted w ith a 64-b it D M A in te rface , phase 5 have s la ted th is po rt fo r use w ith the ir fo rth c o m in g C ybervis ion PPC. This w ill be 2 D and 3D graph ics far and a w a y beyond any e x is ting A m iga v id e o card and even beyond tha t o f m o s t PCs


ie

v .

3

/ing■

esoussnde!

is

is

and

lie

I t 's a P o w e rP C !U n d e rn e a th th is h e a ts in k is an in n o c u o u s lo o k in g sm a ll 2cm x 2cm ch ip . It ju s t hap p e n s to be a 2 0 0 M h z P ow erPC 604e a n d i t 's o n th e fa s t s id e . I t like s to ta lk t o th e R A M in th e fo u r S IM M so c k e ts th ro u g h a rea l 6 4 -b it w id e 66M H z

b u s w h ic h le ts th e P ow erP C g o even fa s te r. T h is a ls o he lps

, t h ® co m p a n io n6 80x0 CPU such

as th e 68060 p ic tu re d .

S cu zzy !

A n d n o t any o ld SCSI •rth e r. The

53C 770 ch ip h ere is a

s ta te o f th e a r t U ltra w id e SCSI c o n tro lle r capab le o f d r iv in g th e n e w e s t, la rg e s t a nd fa s te s t m o d e rn SCSI

h a rd d r iv e s o n th e m a rke t. J u s t t o the le f t y o u can see th e U W S C S I con n e c to r, i t 's g o in g to b e t r ic k y t o f in d a cable...

W e ’re expecting no th ing sh o rt o f astound ing perfo rm ance , needless

to say.T he graph ics p o rt shou ld be particu la rly exc iting fo r gam es. W hen phase 5 b ring o u t the ir C yberV ision PPC. th e 3 D capabili

t ie s o f th e Perm edia 2 can be com pared to th o se o f a N in tendo 64 in

h igh reso lu tion . C oup led th is w ith the p o w e r o ffe rd by a 604e and th e re ’s

n o 3 D gam e anyw here th a t w o u ld n ’t look s tunn ing on th is com bina tion .

CPU t

R jw erP C supp o rtin g program s. S om e o f the key so ftw a re su p p o rt p rov ided w ith the C yberstorm PPC w ill be g re a tly im proved next m o n th and it ’s then tha t w e plan to review th e C ybersto rm PPC fro m s ta rt to fin ish and take it th rough th e hoops.

M in is c u le P ow erP CA ll th a t's t o see o f th e PowerPC o n the C ybersto rm PPC is a sm a ll hea ts ink and fan array sm alle r th a n th e bare 6 80 6 0 .

Rem oving th is , a m in iscu le c h ip can be fo u n d th a t 's o n ly 4 x4cm in size. The d iffe re n ce in te ch n o lo g y has never been m ore o bv ious w h e n com p a rin g th e t in y 200M Hz square com pared to th e huge 6 80x0 ch ip . The sm all ju n g le o f b u lky ca p a c ito rs next d o o r are p a rt o f a p o w e r co nve rs ion c ircu it as th e PowerPC requ ires 3 .3V instead o f the A m iga 's un iversa l 5V.

T he C yberS torm PPC's fo u r S IM M socke ts m u s t be used in pa irs a s th e entire des ign s p o rts a 64-b it pa th to m e m o ry o n a b us runn ing a t 66M H z. Even th e 68060 bene f its fro m th is m e m o ry in te rfa ce m aking the C ybersto rm PPC th e fa s te s t 68060 card w e 'v e y e t seen.

N o d o u b t th e u ltra w id e SCSI p o rt o n the card w ill cause s o m e w ir in g co n fu s io n in th e sh o rt te rm . N o-one seem s to s u p p ly cables to co n n e c t e x is ting hard d rive s a nd external dev ices to it, ye t. For th is reason alone, th o se te s ts w ill have to w a it u n til n ex t issue.

Is i t re a lly w o r th it?This firs t ca rd n o t cheap by any m eans. In itia lly ava ib le in on ly th e ped ig ree 200M H z 604e and 50M H z 68060 varie ties, hopefu lly the in itia l rush o f p ro fess iona ls a nd th e m ust- have m an iacs w ill d ie dow n, q u ick ly and phase 5 can sh ip th e econom ica l varieties w ith 68040 and 150M H z 604es. A fte r all. th e y d o have to finance th e deve lo p m e n t of th e add-on cards.

R ight now , th e m o s t use o f a C yberstorm PPC is to be had in th e fa s t 68060 system . Then, assum ing you can fin d th e cables, the incred ib le SCSI on board. So fo r many, the

t im e fo r P ow erU P a t these prices is n o t right.However, w o rk p rog resses on th e far

cheaper A m ig a 1200 PowerPC 603e versions and by then , so ftw a re suppo rt w ill be far m ore w id e spread. Shareware a u tho rs having

a ccess to PowerPC is w h a t PowerUP really needs to succeed. If you w a n t to take an expensive s lice o f th e fu tu re , here and now.

you

w on ’t b e d isappo in ted inth e sh o rt te rm , o r thelong. The res t o f us w a it eage rly fo r new s o f the A 1200 un its , a lso n ex t m onth.

R um our is th a t the re w ill b e som e b ig a n nouncem en ts o f key co m pan ies be ing e n ticed back to th e A m ig a on th e bas is o f PowerUP S tay tuned, th in g s are h o ttin g up.

S o ftw a re a t a g la n cePhase 5 in itia lly sh ipped th e C yberstorm PPC w ith s o m e shaky ins ta lla tion so ftw a re a lthough th e p rin ted insta lla tion manual is an im provem en t. The CD con ta ins som e PowerPC de m o s a nd so m e deve lopers m ateria l fo r card based on th e fre e GNU C com piler. T here 's w a s no serious native c o m p ile r o r in -dep th d o cu m en ta tion availab le initially.

T he d e m o s inc lude th e su itab ly im press ive LW Show, a u tility fo r d isp laying L igh tw ave o b je c ts very, ve ry quickly. There 's a lso a fracta l explorer. MPEG v id e o player and an MPEG audio layer III p layer w h ic h w e found im pressive. The fo rm e r na tura lly supp o rt CybergraphX fo r fa s t rea ltim e MPEG v id e o p layer (even V ideoCD) and th e la tte r supp o rte d AHI fo r o u tp u t to Paula o r 16-bit sound hardw are alike.

It sounded supe rb and a ll th e hard w ork w a s done by th e PowerPC. ■M a t B e ttin s o n

Is P o w e rP C re a lly th e s a v io u r o f th e A m ig a ?N o t q u ite y e t, b u t i f a ll go e s to p la n i t w i l l be. T h e P e n tiu m 's p ro g re s s le f t M o to ro la 's 6 80x0 C PUs fa r b e h in d lo n g a g o , a nd eve n th e d e s ira b le 68060 c a n 't to u c h th e n e w g e n e ra tio n o f P e n tiu m s. A s a re s u lt th e A m ig a is s tu c k w i th a b ra in th a t n o w lo o ks h o p e le ss ly o u t o f da te . B u t lo o k , w h a t 's t h a t g a llo p in g to w a rd s u s f ro m th e h o r iz o n in

a c lo u d o f d u s t? Yes, i t 's M o to ro la 's n e w P ow erPC c h ip s ! T h e y 'v e co m e to save us. T h e y 'l l g iv e th o s e PCs a ru n fo r th e ir m o n e y , a nd tra n s fo rm o u r A m ig a s in to s u p e rc h a rged b eas ts c a p a b le o f h a n d lin g a ll k in d s o f a p p lic a tio n s th a t a re ju s t p la in im p o s s ib le w i th ju s t a 680x 0 .O nce th e C PU has h ad such a ra d ic a l u p g ra d e , th e d o o rw a y is o p e n f o r th e re s t o f th e A m ig a 's a rc h ite c tu re t o g e t s im ila r t re a tm e n t, fro m im p ro v e d g ra p h ics d is p la y s and a u d io p ro ce sso rs t o u ltra - fa s t I /O in te rfa ce s . S o th e a n s w e r is yes.


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A rtE ffe c t uses the c o n c e p ts o f

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PCx - S oftw are PC Em ula tion - Advanced 80x86 PC emulation.

ArtE ffect V 1.5 Art Effect V2.0

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P O

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C atW ea se l f lo p p y c o n tro lle r (A1200/A 4000)Use inexpensive PC floppy drives (DD /H D ) £ 49.95 ID EF ix 97 - B u ffe re d A 1 20 0 4-W ay ID E l/F In cludes reg istered Atapi software C atW easel Z o rroSix IDE dev ices * A ll C atw ease l functions £ 69.95 B u d d h aFour ID E devices fo r the A4000

S ia m e se V2.5 S o ftw a re p a cksTCP/IP . R TG and CyberG raphX support software

Picasso

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R uns practically a ll the la test M ac software La test System 8.0 s u p p o r t ! (M a c in to s h R O M 's required)W h y c o n s id e r a w h e n th e A m ig a d o i t fo r you !

P ica sso IVW ithout doub t the m ost

stunning graph ics card yet fo r the Am iga. No w onder CU Am iga cla im ed th is to M

"The G o d o f A m iga G raphics C ards!"

Integrated flicker fixer. 4M b EDO RAM. Au tosense Zorro II or Zorro III

P ic a s s o I I*T he cheapest route to fast, h ig h resolutions and high co lo u r g raph ics ' Zorro II

Pow erfu l C D -B urning software w h ich is ava ilab le m T ra c k -a t-O n c e a n d D is k -a t- O n ce v e rs io n s T A O w ill fu lf il m o s t C D -B u rn in g r e q u ir e m ents, bu t DAO is required to product 100% duplica tes or no standard pre /post gaps.

Burn-It TAO B u m -lt DAO


16 PCa•4 9 .9 5

IE: 14.95 • 14.95 : 54.95 : 59.95 Z 29.95 : 54.95 ■ 99.95 :129.95 :159.95 : 59.95 : 79.95

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Z 69.95

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Amiga OS 3.1A m ig a O S U pg ra de

<ga 500 Anvga 500*. tg a 1500 Am iga 20 00 £3 9 .95’200 Am iga 3000<T),«ga 40 00 ( T ) £ 45.95

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• r g i 500 A /raga 500*.-5 0 0 Am iga 2000 ? X A m iga 30 00 (Inc. Tower),

•*-«?» 40 00 (Inc Tower)

Preluda16 -M sound card w ith fu ll AH I support.

liyama MonitorsT > * hyam a m onitor range is fam ous i h f j B n t J fte r excellent quality and value. 11 T a m aI i ' - p ie te w ith 3 year warranty

M aster 15" MF-8515G M aster 17"M F-8617 M aster 21 " MF-8221G

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Genlock/DigiPenM G 10 G e n lockS-CDOrtS V H S , V H S -C . • Oeo-8 fo rm ats with : '« o s e settings of c o n tra s t . b r ig h tn e s s and c : ou r.Invert fu n c tio n s (i.e. K e y h o le e f fe c ts ) a n d s o ft taang.

MG25 G e n lockAJ the functions o f the M G -10 p lus RGB M onitor sw itch, separa te R GB colour setting. S-VHS. Video-8 . H i-8 and A lpha-C hannel bypass.

O g iP e n sO giP en 303 (7.62 x 7.62

C-giPen 604 (15 .24 x 10.16 : g«Pen 606 (15 .24 x 15.24 c Og«Pen 906 (22 .86 x 15.24 cn

£ 59.95 £ 69.95 £ 89.95 £109.95

Ariadne NetworkF ast Am iga networking. Zorro II ca rd with

additional pa ra lle l poris. C om es com ple te with E nvoy software. £129.95

Amiga Computers and Towers

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In f in i t iv 1300In finitiv Tower. A1200 M otherboard, O S3.1 , 200W PSU. M ouse. External A m iga Keyboard. F loppy dnve.

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lent Partsiv Tower * Keyboard interface iv Tower * K /B in t. ♦ PSU a rd : Zorro II x 5. PCI x 2 , ISA x 2. (option)

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iv uprated PSU 3.5" “Snap-on* bay

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B liz za rd 603ePow erPC 603e © 175 M Hz 68030 50 MHz m ax 128 M B RAM Fast SCSI-II

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0 1 . Y.

Last month we built the fabulous DIY AIR Link.

This month Neil Bothwick dives in the deep

end and tackles some practical applications.

With las t m o n th s exce llen t A IRIm k D IY p ro je c t, you can n o w in te rla ce yo u r A m iga w ith a lm ost a n y th ing tha t sends or

rece ives in fra -red signals. O bv ious exam p les inc lude us ing a TV rem o te c o n tro l to run p rogram s on yo u r Am iga, o r us ing th e A m iga to co n tro l yo u r TV.

VCR. Hi-Fi e tc . The u ses a re end less, lim ited on ly b y your im ag ina tion , bu t firs t you 've

g o t to g e t A IRIink ta lk ing to your in fra red dev ice F irst w e w ill lo o k a t se tting up A IR Iink to w o rk w ith yo u r equ ipm en t, and

then try a fe w exam ples us ing InfraRexx.

S e tt in g upThe basics o f us ing In fraR exxD aem on and In fraR exxEditor w e re covered last m onth.

The m o s t critica l part o f the se tu p is th e b itra te . if th is isn’t righ t, th ings w ill n o t w o rk prop-

r erly. The bad n e w s is th a t there is no easy w a y to de te rm in e the

b itra te o f a un it, on ly tria l and error The g o o d n e w s is tha t the re are on ly

a hand fu l o f co m m o n b itra te s used by th e m a jo rity o f handsets . The rates

used b y th e sam ple co dese ts from InfraRexx are s h o w n in ta b le 1

If yo u r hardw are is n o t lis te d here then you w ill have to m ake a guess w h e re to

sta rt. S ince you w ill need to s top and s ta rt InfraRexxDaem on q u ite frequen tly du rin g the se tup process, it w il l b e eas ie r if you leaveits icon o u t o n th e W o rkbench fo r now . Quit

1125 P h ilips Reflex 1667 Sony

1800 Canon1818 Aka i Canon H itach i K enw ood NEC Teac Yamaha

1786 Onkyo 1887 JVC2500 CDTV Panasonic P ioneer Sam sung Sanyo Technics 3636 Sharp

th e daem on if it is runn ing , s ta rt th e editor, c re a te a n e w en try and se lect ed it.

The m o s t im p o rta n t gadge t here is the one con ta in ing the in fra red b its tream . O nce you learn a code it w ill con ta in a string o f

1’s and 0 ’s co rre spond ing to th e pu lses o f the in fra red signal.

N o w se le c t Learn and p ress a b u tto n on the re m o te co n tro l Then repeat the process, w a tch in g th e con ten ts o f th e b its tream gadge t If they change it m eans A IRIink isn 't see ing th e sam e co d e each tim e, so you have th e w ro n g b itra te. Exit the E dit w in d o w , change to a n o the r b itra te se tt in g and try again

O nce you achieve co n s is te n t resu lts fro m repea ted ly learn ing th e sam e b u tto n you have a good b itra te se tting . It is w o rth ta k ing the tim e to g e t th e b itra te abso lu te ly r ig h t fo r th e firs t bu tto n , if you find you need to change it la te r on you w ill have to re-learn any c o d e s you have a lready learnt.

N o w w e can learn som e codes and assign com m a n d s to them , the firs t th ing to d o is m ake sure you have a DEFRECEIVE to o lty p e set in InfraRexxDaem on. th is w ill

a le rt you to any un recogn ised signals. Copy th e Flash c o m m a n d fro m th e cove r disk7CD to C and add th e fo llo w in g to o ltyp e to InfraRexxDaem on

DEFRECEIVE= 'a d d re ss co m m a n d flash '

^ This w ill e itherflash th e screen, o r d o w h a t

ever a lte rna tive you have con fig u re d in Sound Preferences. If the daem on w as a lready runn ing w h e n you changed the to o ltyp e . you w ill need to s to p a nd re s ta rt it.

P la y in g m u s icThe firs t exam ple uses A IRIink to p lay m ods

th rough H ippoPlayer. w h ic h is in the C D S uppori d raw er o f m o s t CUCDs. The ARexx p o rt o f H ippoP layer is ca lled, surprise surprise . HIPPOPLAYER’ . To p rog ram a bu tto n to s ta rt p lay ing CD. cre a te a nd learn the co d e fo r a bu tto n on yo u r rem o te con tro l, th e n set th e ARexx receive co m m and fo r tha t b u tto n to AD DRESS HIPPOPLAYER

PLAY'. N o te the s in g le q u o te s surround ing th e co m m a n d , th e se te ll InfraRexx th a t th is is an AR exx c o m m a n d to execute , n o t a sc rip t to run. You can n o w d o th e sam e w ith o the r b u tto n s fo r S top. Fast Forward.

Rew ind etc.This is fin e fo r b u tto n s th a t a lw ays d o the

sam e th in g , b u t m o s t rem o te co n tro ls com e w ith a s ing le Pow er b u tto n to s w itc h on and off. Th is is w he re InfraRexx’s a b ility to run ARexx sc rip ts is so use fu l, and th e scrip ts don ’t need to be co m p lica te d as you can see fro m Table 2. it on ly a has tw o lines. Th« firs t lin e checks fo r th e presence o f H ippoP layer’s ARexx p o rt and s ta rts th e pro g ram if it doesn ’ t f in d it. If th e p o rt is alread' there , the second line sends it a QUIT c o m m and. Save th e sc rip t as REXX H ippoS tart irx and se t th e ARexx


T ab le 2

I * Turn HIPPOPLAYER on and o f f via ^ fraR exx * /

• ~show ('P7H IPPO PLAYER '| = 1 then I address com m and ‘run > N IL :

CUCD:CD support/H ippoP layer/H iP ' etse address 'HIPPOPLAYER' 'Q UIT'

Receive com m and for th e Pow er b u tto n to ►*QpoStart w ith n o quotes. Restart th e dae

m o n and the p ow er b u tto n tu rns HippoPlayer :n and o ff. ju s t like a HiFi system .

You c o u ld use th e sam e princ ip les to w o rk w ith any m odu le o r aud io CD player

an ARexx port, ju s t b y chang ing the address and com m ands. I use A IRIink to play audK> CDs th rough YACDP us ing a rem ote

This is on ly th e s ta rt o f w h a t you can do at te rm s o f co n tro llin g yo u r A m ig a w ith a • •m o te con tro l. A m o d u le or aud io CD player • a g o o d firs t s tep , m o s t player p rogram s nave ARexx com m a n d s fo r th e m ain functo r s . and it is genu ine ly use fu l if you have lo u r A m iga in yo u r liv ing room , hooked up to a decent set o f speakers.

C o n tro llin g an in fra de v iceOne exam ple o f con tro lling an external dev ice fro m y o u r A m iga w o u ld be to have it : : r * r o l yo u r v ideo recorder, tap ing p rogram s *’ o m a lis t w h e n e ve r you are out.

O k so v ideo recorders have tim ers, bu t fo u have to rem em ber to p rogram them

tim e, and repeat tim e rs usually require th a t befo rehand th e reco rde r is sw itch e d to im e r m ode. H o w a b o u t se tting yo u r A m iga - z to a u tom a tica lly record all o f your fa vo u rite program s? A ll you need to d o is - a c e sure the re is a tape in th e VCR and f a t yo u r A m iga is sw itch e d on.

This exam ple assum es you have a w a y o f •u n c h in g arexx sc rip t a t regu la r tim es,

som eth ing like C yberCron o r Recall w ill do CyberCron is on th e CD. These pro

gram s a llo w you to sp e c ify th a t a certa in acoon takes p lace a t a particu la r t im e on W ecrfied days. In th is case th e action w o u ld r e t o run th e ARexx sc rip t in Table 3 w ith p rog ram m e deta ils . You can se t it to run a t t r ' . t im e be fo re th e p rog ram m e is d ue to

prov ided it is th e sam e day. You ca ll the v r - o t w ith th is com m and:

-« S tartV C R .rexx C hanne l S ta rtT im e Leng th

D M tha t it is .rexx n o t .ifx s ince th is is *-:n p t ca lled b y you to con tro l ^ a fle x x . n o t th e o the r w ay

e s ta rt tim e needs to be * r in th e standard • M M fo rm a t (using » 2 4 h o u r c lock) and i e n g th is given Tw iu tes. For• n p te . to

record C oronation S tree t a t 7 .30pm you w o u ld use:

rx S ta rtV C R .re xx 3 19:30 30

This s c r ip t is q u ite basic, th e re 's no check ing th a t th e in fo rm a tio n you g ive it is va lid . You can add th is so rt o f ch e ck if you w ish , b u t it 's n o t m uch p o in t if the A s c r ip t re tu rns an error m essage w h e n you a re ; n o t there , so g ive it th e y rig h t in fo rm a tio n to s ta rt w ith . D o n 't ty p e in th e line num bers, they a re the re fo r re ference only, and be care fu l w ith th e quo tes , it is im p o rta n t tha t you d o n o t m ix up s ing le and do u b le quo tes . Save the sc rip t asR EXX: S ta rtVCR. rexx

Line 9 reads in th e variab les y o u have g iven it. L ine 12 pops a requ e s te r up o n the screen te llin g you w h a t is g o in g to happen. Th is m eans you can, fo r exam ple, turn the VCR o ff if are in and you w a n t to w a tc h the p rog ram instead o f record it. as w e ll as w a rn ing you tha t it is a b o u t to sta rt, so you can set the sc rip t to b e run 5-10 m inutes b e fo re the p rog ram m e is d u e to sta rt. Line 13 uses the A m igaD O S W AIT c o m m a n d to pause un til th e t im e reaches th e prog ra m m e ’s s ta rt tim e . You co u ld add a b it o f A Rexx here to sub trac t a coup le o f m inutes fro m th e s ta rt t im e to s ta rt record ing s lig h tly b e fo re the p ro g ram m e 's s ta rt tim e.

Lines 14 and 15 d o the real w o rk (o r at least te ll InfraRexx to d o it) by sending c o m m ands to th e v id e o reco rde r to change to the co rre c t channel and s ta rt record ing.L ines 16 and 17 w a it un til th e p rogram m e has fin ish e d and then send a S top s igna l to the reco rde r F inally Line 18 le ts you know tha t reco rd ing has fin ished.

There is a lo t m ore tha t co u ld b e done w ith som e m ore ARexx. b u t th is isn 't an ARexx tu to ria l. If you kn o w s o m e ARexx already, have a look a t w ays o f s ta rting record ing a m in u te o r tw o early and s topp ing five m in u te s la te . You cou ld a lso use ARexx's ow n DelayO fu n c tio n ins tead o f W ait.

T h is on ly scra tches the surface o f w h a t can b e done w ith InfraRexx. There are program s availab le to a llo w y o u r A m iga to

respond to vo ice com m ands , you cou ldam aze fr ie n d s and fa m ily w ith yo u r

a b ility to co n tro l househo ld appliances m e re ly to ta lk ing to them !

Don’t fo rg e t th e co m p e titio n fo r the b es t uses o f AIRIink.

N o A R exx?All o f th is assum es tha t the p ro

gram you w an t to co n tro l has an ARexx p o rt, b u t n o t every th ing does.

There a re tw o so lu tions to th is.Firstly, you can use any A m igaD O S

co m m a n d s th rough ARexx b y using

the "co m m a n d " port. The use o f address com m and flash ' fo r th e DEFRECEIVE to o ltyp e illus tra tes th is , fo r a m ore flex ib le approach, the re is a p rogram p rov ided w ith A IR Iink to send in p u t events (key presses, m o u se c lic ks e tc .) to yo u r A m iga . Put RexxEvent (and its icon) in W B S tartup to

have it availab le w h e n e ve r you use yo u r Am iga.

To send an even t w ith RexxEvent you send it to R exxEvent’s ARexx port. S tart RexxEvent and add 'add ress REXXEVENT

A "< rc o m m a n d e > " ‘ to a bu tton

■ *# o n vo u r rem 0 ,e con tro l. A list £ o f the q u a lif ie r key com m ands

W can be found in th e C om m odities section o f yo u r w o rkb e n ch m anu

al. The " < > " bracke ts te ll RexxEvent to process these tw o keys toge ther, make

W orkbench th in k you have held d o w n Right- A m iga w h ile p ress ing E.

OK, it 's a p re tty useless exam ple, so here 's s o m e th in g better, 'address REXXEVENT ''c ra w k e y Icom m and u p > " ‘ w ill m ove th e m o u se p o in te r up. A CDTV rem o te co n tro l has joypad s ty le b u ttons , so you if you like you co u ld use it as a cord less m ouse /joypad by add ing th e re levant com m ands to each button.

CD use rs m ay like to check ou t Inpu tS tream in th e M agazine drawer, it is s im ila r to RexxEvent b u t w ith m ore fea tu res, like d ire c t co n tro l o f m o u se pos ition . It a lso has a m ore co m p le te d e scrip tion o f the availab le in p u t events.

That's it fo r now. re m e m b e r the c o m p e tition announced in la s t m on th 's CU A m iga fo r the b es t ideas fo r A IRLink. ■N e il B o th w ic k

T ab le 3D / •

2) Ins truc t InfraRexx to record a s p e c ific p rog ram o n y o u r VCR

31 T h is a ssum es you have con fig u re d th e fo llo w in g AR exx Transm it com m ands4 ) V ID STOP5) V ID RECORD6) V ID J to V ID 6 fo r th e channel se le c t bu ttons7) V8)9 ) parse a rg C hannel S tartT im e P rogLength10 )

11) a dd ress co m m and12) 'R un > NIL: R equestC ho ice > N IL : "AIRIink" "R ecord ing channe l' C hannel 'a t' S ta rtT im e O K'"13) 'w a it u n til’ S tartT im e14) a dd ress 'INFRAREXX' 'V ID J ; |C hannel15) a dd ress 'INFRAREXX' 'V ID_RECORD'16) 'w a it ' P rogLength 'm ins '

17) a dd ress 'INFRAREXX' 'V ID_STOP'18) 'R un > N IL : R equestC ho ice > N IL : "AIRIink" "R eco rd ing o f channe l’ Channel

'f in ish e d " ”OK '"


All You Need For Internet And Comms!

AMITCP-GENESIS

M ICR O O O T-II1

iT IN FO

Wizard - Enter Your Information

Wizard - Entet Basic loft

W A N T M O R E IN F O R M A T IO N ?

STFax Professional £29.95 NetConnect v2STFax P rofattiona l is a new commercial fax program for the Amiga containing the advanced features you would find within commercial PC fax software STFax has been in the shareware for the last few months, and the brand new commercial 'professional' version offers even more advanced features plus voice control for voice modems - use your Amiga as a digital answer maefvne. create a fax on demand service (ideal for small busxiesses Allows your customers to contact you at any time and use fax on demand lo remotely download fascmxle information about your products1) and create odvancod voico control scripts You could even set up your own voico answering service as you find when phoning large companies such as British Airways “press 1 on your telephono to be put through to an operator, press 2 to 'e tc Why not create your own BBS’’ Point and click BBS setup allows you to create multiple doors (with or without secure access), custom ASCII menus and greeting messages Allow your user to download files w ithn a door, upload files and even send you messages via the BBS Ideal for the smalihome business, family or other• Full Fax Feature*

- Support for afl fax/modem classes (1. 2. 2.0)- Phonebook (store all your favourite fax and telephone numbers)- Scheduler (store fax messages to be sent at specified times)- Reports (quickly see when a fax was sent and received)- Datatypes support for image conversion- Printer driver to redirect all printouts to a fax file (pnnt from Wordworth. Pagestream etc1)- Viewer for viewing outgomgnncoming fax messages- Fax forward (forward faxes to another machine)

• Advanced V o ice Features:- Use your Amiga as an answer machine (digital messages, unixmted storage space')- Advanced voice senpting - create your own voice network or fax on demand service- Use your modem as a telephone (make and receive calls via STFax Pro and your modem)- Remote access (listen lo your messages from an external source * from another country')- Caller-ID (see exactly who has called and left you a message)

• Your O w n Min i-BBS:- One or more secure doors' (access areas)- Point and click setup- Allow users to upload f*es and send messages- Custom greetings and menus

High S p eed S e ria l Cards

Vaporware Software

NetConnect v2 is even easier to connect to the Internet1 Launch the new Wizard GUI. choose your modem, enter a tew user details and lei the Wizard do all the rest for you1 Simple1 With version 2 you don't even need to worry about the provider - everythvig s acAomate everytfwig is poxit and c l^k ! Amiga Format concluded about NetConnect v l (June 97 issue) 'A lmost the perfect package for the Amiga Internet user". 'I f you need to get onlino. this 19 the easiest way to do i f and “It's good value for money too

especially the txxxSe mckxkng the 33 6K modem' We have listened to our NetConnect v t users noted their comments and added some other new features. NetConnect v2 is available on CD-rom and floppy disk? 1 C o m m e rc ia l P ro g ra m s w i t h i n N a tC o n n a c t v 2 l

VOYAG ER-NG

AM IRC

A M T E R M

NatConnact *2 is a state-of-tho-art Internet package aimed towards Amiga users wanting to connoct for thefirst time (absolute Internet begmners) those who have been connected a lew months (novices) and now dueto the kwyfile nature of the software, is suitable for advanced Internot users who want to use the modulescoo taxied withm NetConnect with their existing TCP stack NetConnect v2 enhancements Include

• AmiTCP-Genesis • NetConnocl v2 users will be the first people to use tho new TCP stack' Based on AimTCP Pro we have added a number of changes - the mom additions are the now Wizard. MUl based chaser, mulo-user support events control, status window ( txne on ne t connection speed), new prefs

• Setup W izard - makes configuring your ISP a doddle Choose your modem, enter some user details and then the rest of the process a completely automatic1 This «s true Wmdows95™/Mac OS 8 '“ stylo connectivity! See the example pictures - pont and efcek Internet configurator1

• New program s AmTaik. Notlnfo and X-Arc (a brand new WinZIP”" stylo archive management tool Downloads iiartzx/zo files from Voyager etc. auto-extracts them into X-Arc's GUI and allows you to control the Mes)

• MIME Prefs - Central MIME prefs interface means that you only need to setup Ne types once with one ruce xiterface1 This saves masses of time and effort (esp for beginners)

• Octopus Octopus is a new dock bar creator (based on the ongxiaf NetConnect bar) w hch allows you to create mufcple dock bars with point nod click ease • just drag the icons you have created into the con bar1 The new version supports animated cons, the etxfcty to launch another ta r from an con and to create background colours for icon NetConnect v2 is pre-setup with its own con bar for ease of use

• Program s a re now keyfile based (can be used with any TCP stack - Mmmi etc)

• Extras pre -configured MIME types (CO only), datatypes (CD Only), online help files etc

• Updated, la te s t versions o f the m odules (Voyager-NG.M crodot-ll. AmlRC. AmFTP etc)

• Printed m anua l - install NetConnocl and understand tho internet quckfy and easily (with advce from NC users!)

• Plus m any m ore sm aller changes and additionsIf you are not interested m purchasing NetConnect you can also buy Vaporware Products individually either by disk, a keyfile sent via e-mail (Quickest and cheapest method) or on CO-rom (currently only Voyager-NG and Genesis can bo purchased on CD-rom) - CD versions have added extras such as pre-setup MIME types (VNG). HTML documentation etc

On COGenesis »»•« tcPUP Sued lor the Am *. (Available December)Miami tCPXP Stac* to. aw toaagmOctopus • •rand new doc* Bar creator (Available December)Voyager Next Generation M crodot-ll AmlRC AmFTP AmTaik X-Arc AmTelnet Am TermAmTelnet ♦ AmTerm Package Deal AnwgaNCP A«w»e to Pama, mom eofbovo• IN Dtatooot when t * Vapor proOotu an boufht 10*. Otecourrr for ».

Cenfral MIME Preferences -■ W in rd . Configuration

N e tC o n n o c t v2 CD I c f i l n a t i n e lun r n MMX m s i f * wvw Vow i f l ml n n l m n\ £ 52 95 I N e tC o n n o c l v 2 F lo p p y D ieks M r r a w t o can ( ■ > W , U a l £54 95 N e tC o n n o c t v 2 U p g ra d e f ro m v 1 /v 1 .1 |n»« it« lIMCoamctr f / illm n g a l|l £ca ll!

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D E LIV E R Y C H AR G E S

Tel: 01325 352260 Fax: 01325 482343

E -M a il: a c t iv e @ e n te rp r is e .n e t



Latest Technology Modemsi here1 Download software and wet> pages upto tw ice the

• 8 modem 56k modems will operate at 33.6K speeds for uploading but . -• o j phone bills drastically when using the 56K technology! Isn't it about

a that 14 .4 or 28 8 modem? For further information about the new (% >c«rweii developed) technology contact us!

supply quality branded modems (Oynalink UK Ltd or Diamond

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need to connect to another K56Flex modem in order to use 56K technology mm your provider supports K56Flex technology). Call for further technical details.

3 3 . 6 k E x t e r n a l D a t a / F a x / V o i c e< Quality branded Dynalink or Supra modem• 33600 Dps OATAFAXVOICE modem • true v34.

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• Group 1. 2 & 3 send*receive FAX (14.4)• Voice Commands - DSVD upgradeable (by software)- V.80 (video conferencing) capable• Call Discrimination• Fax on demand• Caller ID and Distinctive Rmg enabled• Simultaneous voice and data IS.V.O.)• Speakerphone for hands-free operation

^ • Upgradable ROM chip• Includes headphones'microphones ■ for voice control

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5~6k E x t e r n a l D a t a / F a x / V o i c e■a a M J J A •• v x * the range Dynalink 56Flex makes

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I. voice mail and free head/microphones i use a single phone line for all your

s - voice, fax. and file transfer The e o f a K56Flex modem is crystal clear

m t • ecording (via STFax Pro), faster downloads -u w j-g the Internet work faster for you) and Tt* M c o rn s technology

SupraExpressV> Oxii f«r*xtnn r.lh IpNlwrTt/v

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inect for the md now. due the modulesde:

jsed on 4UI based iw prefs details and fie

nt tool

r c r r i E x te rn a l ISDNI .? * I " " P Tired o f waiting for your modem to download a

I n ra l favourite Web page o« retrieve large files?i |mag|nesurf|" g ^ a>a ,ock

N C t ^ A ) * * * 128.000 bps connection with a Dynalmk ISDN| 1 w ith terminal adaptor, or nearly five limes the speed

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;• been designed :o be the easiest and mostcost-effective route to high-speed access to the Internet and remote LANs.

£ 1 4 9 . 9 5 is d n works on your standard Amiga in• 56164/112/128 Kbp* connection* conjunction with a Hypercom or other high-' ° " B; chanoel* M . speed serial card and Genesis. NetConnect

: *211*2X2!? ’ or Miami You also an ,SDN "ne ms,a,,ed• AnM«^S>vp»i: Rlngs up to 3 Ulaphonos to use an ISDN adaptor Please note: ISDN

adaptors cannot be used directly as fax machines, you would need a cheap analogue.. modem to handle this (which connects to the ISDN TA)

• User-assigned distinctive ringing• Multlmk-PPP• Flex Channel Bandwidth-on-demand• PAPCHAP authentication

... Choosing Your Modemi ■ - Tach below should help you choose the mojrapti below should help you choose the modem for your needs For the pnee. a 33.6K modem

• D M value for money as a serial card is not absolutely necessary A 56K modem is a good option % r those wanting maximum speed but have a limited budget (the red bar shows the maximum : d— O on Speed - as most '56K' modems connect around 44-48K the extended bar shows the -•wrsbc connection). You need a serial card with a 56K modem For the true 'net surfer. ISDN is

rw lA m ate option - solid 64/128K connections, constant speeds but higher running costs. Note mrnt transfer rates with analogue modems can vary depending on factors such as line quality Z * i *or further information'

12.14

•Time (shown in minutes) taken - in ideal conditions (ISDN is not affected by line quality, however) - to download a 1MB file by various modems.

Completed

£52.95£54.95

£c a lll

Various Modem Pack OptionsCODE PACK CO N TEN TSPX01 33 .6 M o d e m & STFax

PK02 33 .6 M o d e m & N e tC o n n e c t

PK03 33 .6 M o d e m & N e tC o n n e c t & STFax PK04 33 .6 M o d e m & N e tC o n n e c t & H y p e rc o m l & STFax

PK05 33 .6 M o d e m & N e tC o n n e c t & H y p e rc o m 3 Z & STFax A D O £25 (o r a 56k M o d e m ( in s te a d o f th e 33 .6k m o d e ll ADO £55 (o r a n IS D N M o d e m ( in s te a d o f th e 33 .6k m o d e ll

PRICES ££ 89.95

£109.95

£119.95 £149.95

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crefcs come with ohe month tree connection to a major Internet Service Provider f options may be available - call» e between the CD or Floppy disk version of NetConnect with your modem pack ix Professional will be despatched on release

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CA

RE


The Neton Speed

High speed

56K modems

have arrived

and the cost

of ISDN has

fallen. We take a

look at surfing the

Net at unparalleled

speed and unveil a

new free Net trial.

In the las t fe w years the In te rn e t has m oved fro m be ing th e dom ain o f the rocke t sc ie n tis t to a to o l fo r th e m asses. It 's n o w co m m o n be lie f th a t every co m p a n y m u s t have a w e b s ite and if

you can 't E-mail them , they c lea rly a re n 't a m orde rn happen ing co m p a n y CU A m iga has run tw o m a in In te rne t dea ls spec ifica lly for A m iga ow ners , th e firs t w ith In ternetFC I and th e second w ith W irene t. W e 've a lso ram ped

up ou r N e t coverage and im p le m e n te d the com prehens ive CU O n line to m atch the ever g ro w in g n u m ber o f A m iga users on th e Net.

The la test and g rea test th in g to a rrive in

th is area a re the n e w h igh speed 56K m odem s. Probably because o f th is fac t, te le co m s opera to rs have taken a fresh look at th e lu d ic rous charg ing s truc tu res fo r an older, ye t faster, te chno logy That techno logy is In teg ra ted S ubscriber D ig ita l N e tw ork (ISDN) and the b o tto m line is th a t it 's still m uch fas te r than m o d e m s and it 's cheaper than ever. A s a tr ib u te to th e thousands of d ie hard A m ig a N e t heads w h o b om bard us w ith E-mail eve ry day, CU A m iga takes a look a t 56K m o d e m s and ISDN.

W hen us ing a standard te lephone line, yo u r te le co m s ope ra to r is essen tia lly using an 8 b it sam p le r each w a y and an 8 b it sam ple player. The sam pling ra te used is 8Khz w h ich g ives rise to the nasty sound quality. A M odem tu rn s da ta to and fro m yo u r Am iga in to sound w h ic h goes th rough th is p rocess

o f be ing sam p led , tu rn e d in to d ig ita l in fo rm a tion , tu rned back in to ana logue and the m o d e m a t th e o th e r end tu rn ing it in to d ig ital again. It 's c o m p le x and it 's really qu ite unnecessary.

A ll an ISDN line is . is a te lephone line m inus th e ana logue to d ig ita l and d ig ita l to analogue. So it 's am azing tha t th e te lecom s opera to rs charge so m uch m ore fo r insta llation and renta l though th a n k fu lly it ’s low er now . The ISDN equ iva len t o f a m odem is a 'te rm in a l a d a p to r ' o r TA fo r short. Th is ju s t in te rfaces th e 64kbps s tream to yo u r c o m pu te r a nd also looks a fte r b u ffe ring , data co m press ion and th e M u ltiP P P p ro toco l if you w a n t to com b ine b o th channels.

ISDN co m e s as standard w ith tw o ‘B’ channels w h ic h have a 64kbps capacity each. If you really w a n t the u ltim a te in d o m e s tic In te rne t connection , it 's possib le to co m b in e th e tw o w ith th e M ultiPPP p ro

toco l and have a s ing le 128kbps co nnec tion to yo u r In te rn e t Service Provider. I f in d it m ore practica l to use 64k on ly and s tay on fo r lon g e r s ince m any tasks can be d o n e at th e sam e t im e and it ends u p m ore e ffic ie n t ove r tim e . ISDN has severa l m ore d iffe rences a lso, th e m a in be ing th a t w h e n a c o n nection is requested to a te lephone number, the re is n o d ia lling and n o m odem rate nego tia tion . There isn 't even a log in p roce dure to e n te r usernam e and passw ord.

C onnection is v irtua lly in s tan t because

M in c o n ta c t: C o n n e c tio n : R en ta l Q tr /Y r : C a ll A llo w a n c e : C o s t P er Year: * C o s t F irs t Year:

2 yea rs £ 2 3 3 .8 3

£ 1 5 7 . 1 6 / £ 6 2 8 .6 3

£ 1 2 3 .3 8

£ 5 5 9 .2 5

£ 7 3 9 .0 8

N o te : A fte r 2 yea rs , ca ll a llo w a n ce in c re a se s to £270.25

M in c o n ta c t: C o n n e c tio n : R en ta l Q tr /Y r : C a ll A llo w a n c e : C o s t P er Year: * C o s t F irs t Year: *

1 ye a r £ 5 8 7 .5 0

£ 6 2 8 .6 3

£ 4 1 7 .1 3

£ 2 1 1 .5 0

£ 7 7 9

N o te : A fte r a year, c a ll a llo w a n ce re duces to £270.25

M in c o n ta c t: C o n n e c tio n : R en ta l Q tr /Y r: C a ll A llo w a n c e : C o s t P er Year: * C o s t F irs t Year:

£103.40

1 ye a r £ 4 7 0 .0 0

£ 4 1 3 .6 0

N /A £ 3 2 1 .8 8

£ 8 8 3 .6 0

N o te : A fte r a year, jo in in g S tanda R e n ta l is p o ss ib le . £628 re n ta l, £270 ca ll a llo w a n c e , £358 C o s t Per Year

* a ssu m in g y o u use a ll o f th e ca ll a llo w a n ce .“ In s ta lla t io n a n d re n ta l o n ly (These p rice s a ll in c lu d e VAT)


:» s rou ted in m illise co n d s , th e 64K I ; s - s tan tly d e te c te d b y th e ISPs

■ o d e m s and th e PAP/CHAP usernam e and BassMOfd sys tem is used ra ther than a scrip t *o r a BBS s ty le login.

d o e s one need to g e t ISDN fo r the Firstly, a no rm a l te lephone lin e isn 't f. so you need to g e t an ISDN line T h is d one , y o u 'll have a box o n the

- » ■*, th an ISDN jack o n it . N ext y o u need e r SON Term inal Adaptor. N atura lly fo r the - - ga. w e 'l l b e w a n tin g an exte rna l one.TNev >e gene ra lly th e b e s t anyw ay. Then w e -w ee som e fo rm o f h igh speed seria l device

th e A m iga to d o th e ISDN TA jus tice . The rye m a l seria l p o rt is s tressed o n th e 56K - : te rn s , le t a lone ISD N ! Finally, w e 'l l need i - - te rn e t S ervices P rovider (ISP) tha t s u p p o rts ISDN d ia l in.

T here 's n o d o u b t th a t ISDN is m o re co s tly >"«3 a litt le m ore com p lex . I t 's n o t o n e fo r the cas-a l w e b brow ser. H ow eve r if you . like me. :-c e 'd w h o le e ven ings w e b b ro w s in g , d ow n- : i t ng o r even in tend to n e tw o rk a fe w

m achines u p to th e sam e co n n e c tio n , ISDN s -s t th e ticke t. It 's fa s t, it 's re liab le a nd it 's

th e next g re a te s t N et s ta tu s sym b o l a fte r •o u r o w n d om ain .

ISDN e xp e rie n ce w ith BTH seem s BT are paranoid a bou t n o t m aking e nough m o n e y (I w o u ld have th o u g h t £100 a

second p ro fit isn 't bad) so the re a re num ero u s facto rs to in fluence w h ic h package is b es t fo r you. if any a t a ll. I f you take a look at tb e BT ISDN tab le, no m a tte r w h ic h service you choose, you can e xpec t to pay be tw een 700 and 800 pounds in th e firs t year before : 3 costs . H o ly cow . it 's no t cheap.

S tart Up is th e m o s t co m m o n w ith the lo w e s t ins ta lla tion charge. H ow eve r th e high yearly renta l and a m in im u m 2 year co n trac t can be hard to sw a llow . It 's s till th e cheapest

pence per minute fo r a U K call5 p n t n » n char & f o r o i l ca lk , p rices incht4e VAT D ifferen tprices apply to payphoae aadB T C karggcart calls

□

■

you - the caller

d a ytim eM o n to F r i S e n - 6pm

evenings &. night-tim e M en to F ri ie fo r t S on Sr after

weekend j g w g t f w -

n a t i o n a l oyer 3 5 miles

r e g i o n a l tip to 3 5 miles

localw it t t it year local ca ll area

overall fo r the f irs t year cos t. Low S tart can be a ttra c tive fo r the 1 y e a r ‘m in im u m con trac t and lo w ren ta l. It requ ires an in itia l outlay tw ic e as m uch as S ta rt Up. E ither way. it looks like BT isn 't sh o rt o f a bob o r tw o .

If you do have a cab le o p e ra to r in your

ISPs s u p p o r t in g ISDIV , K 56 F le x a n d X 2Phone X2 K56 ISDN 64K IS D N 128K

W ire n e t/U -n e t 01925-496482 Yes Yes Yes Yes —

Dem on 0181-3711000 N o * N o * Yes No

E n te rp rise 01624-677666 N o * N o • Yes Yes

U KO nline 01749-333333 N o • N o • • Yes Yes

Pipex 0500-474739 Yes No No No

V irg in 0500-558800 Yes No Yes No

* These ISPs c la im t o be w a it in g f o r th e o ff ic ia l 56K s ta n d a rd to em erge , d e s p ite th e fa c t t h a t e x is t in g X 2 a n d K 56 ISP m o d e m s a re u p g ra d a b le t o th e s tanda rd .

:::’ S u p p o r t w a s c la im e d to b e c o m in g so o n

* T here is a cha rge fo r u s in g 128K ISDN

N ote tha t severa l o f th e ISPs are re fus ing to c o m m it to o ffe r X2 o r K56. It 's w o rth no ting •"a t w e are ye t to see an X2/K56 m odem m a n u fac tu re r w h o does n o t c la im th e ir m odem ••• II b e upgradab le to th e o ffic ia l standard w h e n it arrives. However, it w o u ld b e a very aood idea to ask h o w th is is accom plished. IE flash R O M upgrade, re tu rn to base, chip change etc.

< BT's telephone pricing structure at a glance. Use this table and then apply the discount schemes mentioned elsewhere for the actual cost.

area, g ive them a ca ll and f in d o u t w h a t they cha rge fo r an ISDN serv ice su itab ly arm ed w ith BTs as a com parison . W e d id n 't find anyone a t Cable and W ire le ss - w h o m uch

o f th e UK cab le franch ises - a nd M ercury, w h o w o u ld b e he lp fu l a t all in p rovid ing ISDN p ric ing . BT o ffe r incentives fo r ISDN fro m tim e to tim e . You'd be w e ll advised ca lling BT 's ISDN h o tline to check a nd see if

th e re 's a cu rren t schem e (one w a s a bou t to exp ire a s w e w e n t to press) and ask any o th e r ISDN q u e s tio n s you m ay have. BT's ISDN h o tlin e is 0800 181 514

T he F ina l C o s tD is c o u n t s c h e m e s :

BT used to keep its d isco u n t schem es a secre t un til th e c o m p e titio n h o tte d up.There are tw o typ e s o f service, business and residentia l.

For som e reason. BT re fuse to a cknow led g e th a t an ISDN can b e res iden tia l so an ISDN serv ice is c lass ified as business. Your standa rd te lephone a t hom e w ill be res iden tia l. It 's su p rem e ly im p o rta n t to be aw are and genera lly to s ign u p to th e d iscoun t schem es to save m oney on ca ll charges.

R es iden tia l:The g re a te s t BT d isco u n t schem e w h ic h is still und e r u tilised b y N et users, is th e so- ca lled Prem ier Line. £28.20 per year g e ts you a g loba l 15% o ff all ca lls. V irtua lly any-


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▲ On the top is a basic diagram ol a V.34 33600 baud modem. The data each way must be turned into noise with an Analog to Digital converter and thus loses speed in the complex conversion.On the bottom we have K56Flex which allows straight through communication from the server to the client. The result is a higher download speed.

one fa lls in to a usage ca te g o ry w here P rem ier Line pays o ff. You also g e t Talking Points fo r yo u r phone bill w h ic h can be exchanged fo r A ir M ile s . Friends and Family is fre e so everyone s im p ly m u s t s ign up. This

g ives a 10% d isco u n t on 10 nom ina ted num bers. So w ith bo th schem es in place, th e disco u n t is 25% o ff local ca lls w h ich is identica l to B us iness d iscounts .

The d iffe re n ce is B usiness d iscoun ts ge t a su b s tan tia lly h igher d isco u n t on national and in te rna tiona l ca lls, and the re 's a charge fo r the Friends and Fam ily equ iva lent. Still, on th e w eekend , ca lls c o s t 4 5p pe r hour on line w ith b o th d isco u n t schem es. Pretty good actua lly

Business:The B usiness equ iva len t o f th e P rem ier Line is called B usiness C ho ices. It com es in 5 tie rs fo r ever increasing b ills , norm al hom e usage w ill rea lly o n ly be in te res ted in B usiness C ho ices 1. For a cha rge o f £5.88

pe r quarter, you g e t 20% o ff local calls and 27% o ff Regional, national and In ternational

calls. Th is is a c tu a lly q u ite im press ive c o m pared to P rem ier Line a s it reduces th e cos t o f a N et ca ll o n w eekends to 48p pe r hour.

H ow eve r th e B usiness equ iva len t to Friends and Fam ily is a litt le less im pressive . Key N um bers cos ts a once o f f fe e o f £10 and g ives a saving o f 5% on 10 nom ina ted num bers. N atura lly o ne o f those w ill be your ISP num ber. Th is is on to p o f th e 20% d is coun t fo r B usiness C hoices so th e n e t saving is 25% so tha t an hour on th e w eekend w ill c o s t 45 pence. N o t bad.

C o n c lu s io nW hile I d o u b t th a t anyone w o u ld argue that BT a re n 't be ing greedy w ith th e ir ISDN conn ection and renta l charges, th e o n line charges fo r ISDN and regu la r te lephone lines is lo w e r than it 's ever been. 45 p ence per hour isn 't a lo t to pay fo r an hour o n the In te rne t o n th e w eekend . A norm al m odem

serv ice w ith a coup le o f h ou rs a w e ekend o f u se is o n ly g o in g to c o s t £3.60.

If ha lf yo u r m oney goes to th e ISP account, and ha lf to phone costs ;

£10 pe r m o n th fo r ISP accoun t

£10 pe r m o n th BT charges - 1.75 hours during th e w e e k (o ff peak) and 2.75 hours on th e w eekend pe r w eek.

£20 pe r m o n th g ives 4 and a ha lf hou rs o f In te rne t access pe r w eek. Th is is really in c red ib ly good va lue fo r w h a t you ge t. It w o rks ou t. inc lus ive o f VAT. th a t a p in t o f beer in a p ub cos ts the sam e as 4 h ou rs of

N et access.

B u y in g X 2 o r K 5 6 FlexW h e n cons ide ring a 56K m odem , it 's im portan t to check w h ich ISPs suppo rt th e s tan dard o f m odem you are considering.V irtua lly a ll ISPs su p p o rt ISDN a t least w ith s in g le channel a s it 's a standard fea tu re o f th e m odem racks they use. A ll o f th e se ISPs fea tu re free w e b space b u t o n ly W ire n e t and U KO nline o ffe r o ffic ia l A m iga support. V irgin in particu la r w ill need to b e harrassed into re leasing th e de ta ils to se t u p manually ra ther than us ing th e ir PC so ftw are.

The la test 56K m o d e m s a re fin a lly seeing ana logue m o d e m s pushed to th e lim its o f w h a t's poss ib le . To g e t h ig h e r rates than 33600bps. these n e w m o d e m s e x p lo it the fa c t tha t th e s igna ls are trave lling a long d ig ita l lines fro m the exchange to th e hom e This w a y they a tte m p t to encode data in sync w ith th e 8K sam pling rate th a t th e te le phone sys tem uses.

The resu lt is th a t th e se m o d e m s can ache ive h ig h e r dow n lo a d rates than the 3 3 600bps m ax im um o f s tandard m odem s. The rates achieved vary g rea tly acco rd ing to the q u a lity o f th e line b u t they ve ry rarely approach th e 56K rates th e m o d e m s are so ld as. H ow ever, any im provem en t is a w e lco m e im p ro ve m e n t and th e 40-46K typ ica l 'co n n e c ts ' are no ticab ly fas te r than 33K6 m odem s. The g re a te s t p rob lem a t the m o m e n t is tha t the re are tw o co n flic tin g

standards.O ne is US R obotic ’s X2 and th e o th e r is

R ockw e ll/Lucen t's K56Flex. The la tte r is ga in ing popu la rity in th e UK and the re are several brands o f m o d e m s supp o rtin g it w he re as on ly US R obotic m o d e m s support X2. P erform ance w ise , w e 'v e te s te d both and found th a t they pe rfo rm d iffe re n tly on d iffe re n t lines, w ith K56 be ing fas te r on one lin e a nd X2 on ano th e r so th e re 's litt le b e tw een them .

The fu tu re p itfa ll is th a t b o th p roprie try s tandards w ill b e o b so le te w h e n the offic ia l s tandard is announced early next year. M o s t 56K m o d e m s are sh ipped w ith flash ROM upgrades so th a t th e y can b e reprog ram m ed to suppo rt th e n e w standard. The p rob lem arises w h e n th e re 's no d irect A m iga su p p o rt, w h ic h is th e case w ith all o f th e m th a t w e are aw are of. A PC needs to

b e used to upg rade th e m odem so it 's w o rth check ing if you can send yo u r m ode back fo r a re tu rn -to -base upg rade and what, if any. charges w ill resu lt.

'en-

ver a I rm a • I

o w n-1

IS D N , M o d e m s , th e fu tu reThe cho ice b e tw een insta lling ISDN o r using a 56K m odem isn’t such a d if f ic u lt one.

B ecause o f th e ve ry h igh p rice d iffe re n

tia l, y o u ’d have to b e m ad abou t your In te rn e t c o n n e c tio n to co ns ide r ISDN over

standard m odem . That sa id . ISDN is norm ly 50% qu icker than 56K m o d e m s fo r do1 load nearly tw ic e as fa s t fo r up loads. It a lso has th e capab ility o f m oving to 128K dual-channel fo r se rious ly fa s t speeds.

N e ither o f th e se system s is ideal, howe^ er. M any o f us w o u ld like a p e rm anen t non* tim e -lim ite d co nnec tion a t fa s te r rates still.In these te rm s th e ho ly gra il is th e Cable M odem . C onnected to th e cab le te lephone ne tw ork , these p rov ided near E thernet speeds 24-hours a day.

A t the p rec ise m o m e n t th e se a re being tria led a t various cab le com pan ies in the Ul as usual a long w a y beh ind th e w id e spread ava ilab ility in th e US and m a in land Europe. . In the case o f Cable M o d e m s and ISDN, the I th in g th a t you shou ld do is ca ll yo u r local Icab le ope ra to r and find o u t if they supp ly Ith e se sen/ices.

The next 'b ig th in g ' on the horizon is th e I prov is ion o f In te rne t co n n e c tiv ity th rough | e lectrica l sockets. It m ig h t sound crazy but som e e le c tr ity p rov ide rs and In te rne t Servi Providers a re tak ing th is ve ry seriously. Sin* every hom e has e lec trica l w ir in g , research is nearing c o m p le tio n o f m od u la tin g In te rne t I da ta o n to th e p o w e r lines. This avoids the necess ity o f having a cab le com pany serv iced area o r us ing conven tiona l pay-by-tim e

'i

te lephone services.The re su lt is s im ila r to cab le m odem

ex c e p t o ne doesn 't need cab le to th e hom e ! to use it. In th e sho rt te rm Cable m odem s are like ly to be th e n ex t te chno logy readily availab le w ith th e 'e le c tr ic in te rn e t' fo llow ing)

■m uch later. L e t's hope so m e o f these next genera tion In te rne t co n n e c tiv ity op tions arrives sooner ra ther than later. ■M a t B e ttin s o n


Free Internet Trial U XWe've run Internet connection offers before but this time we have

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l IK O N L IN E

P e r s o n a l in fo r m a tio n

S ign U p For In s ta n t In te rn e t Access!T o s ig n u p w e n e e d t o a s k y o u f o r s o m e d e ta i ls . T h is p r o c e s s s h o u ld t a k e a b o u t f i v e m in u te s , a f t e r w h ic h y o u w ill b e is s u e d w i t h y o u r u s e r n a m e a n d p « *e 9 w o r(J w h ic h w il l e n a b le y o u t o u s e t h e s e r v i c e im m e d ia te ly

T o m o v e f r o m o n e b o x t o t h e n e x t , u s e t h e T A B k e y o n y o u r k e y b o a r d , o r u s e t h e m o u s e t o c k c k in t h e b o x y o u w a n t t o g o t o P le a s e m i n a l l t h e f ie ld s

title

C o n t a c t d e t a i l sIT S a g r a n t h e l p t o u s I f y o u c a n e n t e r y o u r f u l

C o s t o o d * : I f y o u d o n ' t n o w y o u r f u N p o s t o o d * ,

l u s t g i v e u s t h • b e g i n n i n g

P I * a s * i n c l u d e y o u r l o o a l s i r * a c o d e w i t h y o u r p h o n * n u m b * r t h i s is u s * d t o i d • n « y t h * n u e b t r t h t t w i g h r *

( • moIu d in g t o w n ,

c o u n t y a n d p o s t c o d • )

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------------

CU A m iga has run tw o reader s In te rne t conn e c tiv ity dea ls in th e past. B o th have been in c red ib ly successfu l w ith h und reds a nd hund reds o f A m iga users s ign ing u p to ge t N etted . This m o n th w e 've conc luded a deal w ith UK O n line to o ffe r a m o n th ‘ fre e tr ia l*

in add ition to th e fre e N etC onnect L ite s o ftw a re o n th e cove r CD.

UK O n line te ll us they have ju s t started suppo rting th e A m iga to th e 'h ilt '.N etC onnect L ite - a 10 0 day. o ne hour session vers ion o f the fu ll N e tC onnect CU A m iga supe rs ta r ra ted package is available fo r free . UK O n line subscribe rs are ab le to take advantage o f a special upg rade price to th e fu ll ve rs ion o f N etC onnect fo r the special p rice o f £39 .95 . a saving o f £15

In add ition to no rm a l In te rne t services such as th e W o rld W id e W eb . E-mail a nd so on. UK O n line w ill b e m irro ring s o m e o f the m o s t im p o rta n t A m iga s ites in th e w orld .The firs t tw o o f these s ites are A m iga W eb D irec to ry and th e V aporw are su p p o rt s ite (m u ch o f th e N e tC onnect so ftw are). In the longer te rm a fu ll A m ine t m irro r w ill be in place. T here is cu rre n tly on ly one A m ine t

m irro r in th e UK w h ic h is updated sporadica l

ly. UK O n line c la im th a t th e ir A m in e t m irro r w ill be au tom a tica lly updated once a day. So all th e la test A m in e t f ile s w ill appear qu ickly w ith h ighspeed loca l dow n lo a d rates. T ha t is e x tre m e ly g o o d n e w s fo r A m iga N et use rs in the UK and d e m o n s tra te s UK O n line s c o m m itm e n t to A m iga support.

A fte r ins ta lling N etC onnect and running fo r the f irs t tim e , you w ill need to en te r your lo g in n am e a nd passw ord . To activa te a tria l a ccoun t, f i l l these in as...

L o g i n N a m e : s i g n u p

P a s s w o r d : s i g n u p

Leave th e res t o f th e boxes o n th is screen blank.

W hen insta lla tion has fin ish e d you need to s ta rt up th e In te rne t co nnec tion us ing the S tart/S top icon in th e In te rne t Dock Then you need to fire u p Voyager us ing th e W W W

icon. A t th is p o in t you need to typeh ttp ://w w w .ukon line .co .uk /pub lic -

b in /s ignup/cuam iga w h e re it says Location

ju s t b e lo w th e navigation bu ttons.Fill in th e fo rm you f in d th e re The firs t

th in g th is fo rm w ill ask y o u fo r is your R eg is tra tion Code, th is is C U AM 97 (all caps). Please n o te th a t you w ill no t have to supply a c re d it ca rd n u m ber o r such like A fte r the fo rm has been fille d in you w ill rece ive your o w n log in nam e, passw ord and E-mail add ress - w r ite all these d o w n ! C lose d o w n Voyager and d isco n n e c t fro m the In te rne t us ing th e S ta rt/S top bu tto n th a t 's in the In te rne t Dock.

S ta rt up th e Am iTCPPrefs p rogram . Go to th e u se r sec tion and fill in th e Log in Nam e. Passw ord and E-mail A dd ress w ith the de ta ils you ju s t rece ived E nter yo u r nam e in to th e Real N am e box and click o n Save.

You're n o w ready to g o and use yo u r tria l accoun t fo r th e n ex t 30 days. You'll a lso rece ive a le tte r and an E-mail te llin g you h o w to con tinue us ing the serv ice if you like w h a t you see


http://www.ukonline.co.uk/public-

Freeware Round-upWe round up some of the best freeware in recent months and ask why the

authors chose not to charge for this fabulous software.

N e w Ico n s 4Rather th a n ju s t a n icon se t fo r W orkbench. N e w lco n s is a co m p le te ly n e w icon system w h ic h so lves th e p rob lem w here a f ixed

p a le tte is requ ired fo r W o rkbench ico n s to render co rrectly . Th is is e v id e n t fro m th e horr ib le tones o f M a g ic W B ico n s w h e n no t us ing a M a g ic W B pa lette .

N ew Ico n s 4 co m e s w ith a 32 co lo u r icon c o lle c tio n fo r y o u r s tanda rd W orkbench

draw ers, d is t in c t in th e 3 D iso m e tric fo rm The im ages are s to re d in th e icon im ages in th e to o lty p e s o f th e icons, and th e co lours are re -m apped fro m w h a te ve r pa le tte you m ay have. These b ecom e inv is ib le w h e n the n e w lco n s p a tch is runn ing . I f th e pa tch isn't runn ing , you see th e s tanda rd icons.

T here 's been severa l m a jo r im p rovem en ts to th e N e w Icons sys tem over tim e and the ca ta logue o f N e w Icons c o lle c tio n s has g ro w n cons ide rab ly to rival th e sharew are M ag ic W B. O ne o f th e re ce n t a d d itions is th a t ico n s can n o w b e transparen t rather th a n bordered w ith a beve lled box w h ich W o rkbench in s is ts u pon . The resu lt looks supe rb a s ico n s floa t o n th e W orkbench. Version 4 is a ls o cons ide rab ly fas te r than earlier vers ions. Even advanced W orkbench

rep la ce m e n t s o ftw a re like D irec to ry O p u s 5 has been q u ick to recogn ise th e p o p u la rity o f N e w Icons and n o w fu lly su p p o rts th e syste m internally. I t even a llo w s ind iv idua l tu rn in g o n a nd o f f o f transparen t icons. W e like th e look o f N e w Ico n s a lo t a t CU A m ig a and it 's been a d o p ted as th e Icon s tanda rd for CUCDs a lth o u g h Icongraph ics is s t ill used for

th e standard icon set.W h e th e r you w is h fo r th e N e w Icons look

o r w o u ld ra ther use th e package fo r your o w n h igh co lo u r ico n s th e n i t 's ju s t th e trick . In lieu o f a W orkbench upda te fix in g th e icon sh o rtco m in g s . N e w Ico n s d o e s an adm irable jo b o f m aking W o rkbench look m u ch sm arte r a nd m odem . The ins ta lle r is o n ly to o happy to rem ove th e N e w Ico n s i f y o u d o n 't like it so yo u 've no th ing to lose.

Y A MYAM has g o t to b e the s in g le m o s t popu la r

E-mail package on th e Am iga. There are tw o sim p le reasons fo r th is , firs tly it ’ s ve ry good and second ly it 's to ta lly fre e S om eth ing YAM shares in co m m o n w ith th e res t o f the so ftw a re fea tu red here.

The S w iss M arce l Beck orig ina lly a tte m p ted to opera te YAM a s freew are b u t w here one had to a p p ly fo r a key w h ic h w as free, h e 'd have an in d ica tion o f the n u m ber of use rs He w a s sw a m p e d w ith thousands upon thousands o f requests to the p o in t w he re h e gave u p and reve rted to standard fre e w a re YAM is a n a ll in o n e package based u p o n M U I, w h ic h has b u ilt in te x t ed it- mg/E -m ail co m p o s itio n fac ilities , M IM E and U U encode encod ing and decod ing fo r E-mail a tta ch m e n ts and a bu ilt in POP3 c lie n t fo r do w n lo a d in g th e m ail fro m th e In te rne t Service Provider. A ll th a t m eans the re 's no th ing extra to se t up. it w o rk s ou t o f th e box.

H ow eve r in th e tra d itio n o f exce llen t Am iga so ftw a re , it s ta rts o f f s im p le b u t gets as c o m p le x as you ’d like to go . It has an extens ive ARexx in te rfa ce a nd th e A m in e t is litte re d w ith YAM scrip ts to run e veryth ing fro m m a iling lis ts to dow n load ing o f files fro m the A m ine t via AmFTP

The standard filte rin g o p tio n s are the re so you can im p o rt m a iling lis ts in to th e ir ow n fo ld e rs by m a tch in g certa in rules. YAM is a superb m ail c lie n t b u t it 's n o t pe rfe c t w ith

s o m e p e rfo rm ance issues Fortunate ly M arce l isn 't s itt in g o n his laure ls and YAM


f u

Total tim e: 000537 Songs■ 1 R0 5 :3 7 Noko extended .mp3 ■ ■ A

V

0 0 : 0 0 )----------

2-0 is due to b e re leased la te r th is year. A fa c t w h ich has a g rea t m any A m ig a In te rne t -se rs e xc ited fo r g o o d reason.

S ong P la ye rS tephane Tavenard has been respons ib le for a g rea t m any "I to ld you so 's ". The Frenchm an has p u t in serious e ffo r t a t w rit- n g p rogram s to p lay back MPEG audio s tream s. S tarting w ith th e in itia l so-ca lled Layer I and Layer II types , Tavenard w ro te an a ssem bly o p tim ise d player fo r D elitracker capable o f p laying in real tim e. I t w as th o u g h t im p o ss ib le tha t even a m igh ty

68060 w o u ld b e capable o f p laying th e la test fo rm a t, MPEG aud io Layer III. The la tte r took o f f in popu la rity o n th e PC a lb ie t w ith the lega lly dub ious prac tice o f c ircu la ting copy

rig h t m ateria l on the In ternet.Layer III p rov ides a round 12:1 co m p re s

sion o f CD qua lity aud io and re su lts in playback qua lity ind isce rnab le fro m th e original a t th is co m press ion level. A t lo w e r b itra tes and h ig h e r co m press ion still. Layer III com es in to its o w n as an FM radio q u a lity system w ith m assive co m press ion fo r use by sp o o ling aud io ove r the Internet.

Tavenard's firs t Layer III p roduct, MPEGA, has been co n s ta n tly rev ised g e ttin g faster and fas te r each tim e u n til it consum es less than 50% CPU p o w e r on a .68060 a t fu ll CD q u a lity ou tp u t. Every tim e they said i t co u ld n't ge t m uch faster. Every tim e w e w ere proven w ro n g . N o w even 0 30 use rs can play Layer III s tream s in m o n o w ith frequency d iv is ion . SongPlayer takes th e M PEGA Layer

III eng ine and a p p lies a fine lo ok ing M U I GUI and play fac ilities fo r uncom pressed sam ples as w e ll as all MPEG aud io layers. The resu lt is a p rog ram th a t 's stagge ring in its e ffic ien -

L n u t r s I * I I 1 L o v e r I I I

O u o l l t u 3 | L o u J Q u a l i t y | L o w j

Mow p r o n 1 2 0 O Q U i| M a x F r e o !2 0 0 0 U z J

F o r c e t o

□O

c « ~ 3 I

RamPatch ReqToob Patch

Screen Activa tion Screen Blanker Screen Dimmer

ScreeraMenuShapeShifterSnapSoid Windovmoving

SyslHack Title Clock

Trackdwk Prefs W ait Validate WBAbOUt WBGauge

T o n h o , , , , D e I o y

P « 2 = r n _ C

I n t e r n a 1

OFF* ON

OFF ON

* OFF - OFF

OFF* ON

O L B 3 1 S S

1 S l M | g ] | - oU o r K o y s I

T u n P o o T o T r o n t

P a t t e r n I

"GJ | D i s a b l e d

E d i t

I

cy. capab ility and quality. H a ts o f f to S tephane fo r m aking MPEG aud io poss ib le o n th e A m iga w ith his im press ive p rog ram m ing ta lent.

M C P 1.30I t 's co m m o n fo r A m iga use rs to install W o rkbench enhancing pa tches in th e ir s ta rtup sequence o r W B S ta rtup . The on ly c o m m o n goal o f th e se pa tches is they enhance o r a lte r th e behaviour o f th e A m ig a 's opera ting system . The p rob lem is th a t p ow er users te n d to app ly m any o f these un til th e ir user-

s ta rtup is litte re d w ith program s.The G erm an duo. S tefan S om m erfe ld and

M ichae l Knoke crea ted MCR o r M aster C ontro l Program , to th is end. M CP is a m as

s ive c o lle c tio n o f th e hacks and enhancem en ts fo u n d in m o s t o f these com m od ities . Fortunately, any o r all o f th e m can be ac tiva ted th ro u g h th e use o f th e p re fe rences p ro g ram w h ic h runs separa te to the patch itse lf, insta lled in the s ta rtup -sequence . A sm all

se lec tion o f M C P 's pa tches include, A le rt/G uru cap tu re and logging. C opyM em Q uick. C runch p a tch . DOS w ild - star, fo n t search and cache. Force N ew Look m enus. Form at P rotection. M o u se acce le ra tion . screen blanking, Q u ick d ra w and layers pa tches, CPU se ttings , requ e s to r patches, screen manager, so lid w in d o w m oving/resizing and m ore . L o ts m ore in fact.

M CP even has the fu n c tio n a lity o f A ss igns M anager b u ilt in so th a t system ass igns can be m anaged via a GUI rather than insta lled in to user-startup. T h is is m uch q u icke r w h e n s ta rting up. T here 's also ho tkey m anag ing and th e exce llen t Tools A lias w h ic h w ill search fo r Tool Types pa tte rns and launch yo u r o w n app lica tion . A ll those horrib le M ore varia tions w ith hard coded pa ths w ill load yo u r favourite text v ie w fo r exam ple. M CP w ill even fo rce certa in a p p lica tions to use fa s t m e m o ry rather than ch ip and tim e o u t reques to rs au to m a tically. Phew.

T here 's no do u b t. M CP is th e ideal syste m enhancing program fo r yo u r Am iga .

T hough it 's in fam ous fo r caus ing prob lem s w ith som e so ftw a re w h ich is no t surpris ing g iven th e range o f hacks and enhancem ents it o ffe rs . So w ith care fu l use and tu rn in g o ff o f unnecessary pa tches, it ex trac ts a lo t ou t o f th e A m iga and it w o n ’t c o s t a penny. G osh

life is g ood . ■M a t B e ttin s o n

is i i


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SCREEN SCENE

Yes, it's here at last! One of

the most eagerly awaited

games of all time - and I

could be talking about the

review of Champ Man2 or

the massive preview of

Myst here... chuck in new RPG Blade and

the last few hints and cheats for TFX and

you should find plenty to get on with.

R e v ie w s

36 M yst P rev iew

40 C ham pionship M anag er 2

44 Cannon Fodder 1

44 Cannon Fodder 2

47 Blade

T ip s & G u id e s

50 M ore TFX Tips

52 Tips Central

Scre

enSc

ene


"You have just stumbled upon

a most intriguing book, a

book titled Myst. You have no

idea where it came from, who

wrote it, or how old it is.

Reading through its pages

provides you with only a

superbly crafted description

of an island world. But it's

just a book, isn't it?

As you reach the end of the

book, you lay your hand on a

page. Suddenly your own

world dissolves into black

ness, replaced with the island

world the pages described.

Now you're here, wherever

here is, with no option but to

explore..."


Here is a

selection of

some of the

2500 beautifully

rendered

screens that

make up Myst.

using renders of

the island from

hundreds of

viewpoints.

Myst allows you

to explore the

whole pace.

We lc o m e t o M yst. M is t, m ys f fte ry . o w o r ld o f w o n d e r a nd T :

e n chan tm en t, r is ing ou t th e 1fog o f th e unknow n. W e lcom e | 8to th e b ig g e s t se lling CD-ROM

gam e o f a ll t im e , and prepare to be amazed.M y s t is th e bra inch ild o f b ro th e rs Rand

and Robyn M iller. W h e n it w a s re leased a Ife w years back it w a s so m eth ing e n tire ly j u g f l f fn e w and innovative. It 's a n adventure gam e, b u t one w h ic h talks in p ic tu res, no t w o rds . j? J 0 "I t 's a non-linear gam ing experience , con- g

tro lled by an in tu itive sys tem o f m ouseclicks. It has obsessed adven tu re gam ers by ----------------------------------------------------the thousands, and spaw ned an e n tire industry o f m erchand is ing , fro m books to pos te rs A rt adventure gam es such a s M onkey Island

to baseball caps. A t last, th anks to Canadian tha t w e re so p opu la r w h e n M y s t h it theso ftco C lickB O O M , A m ig a users can share scene tha t no -one w a s to o sure w ha t totha t experience . m ake o f it. The g raph ics a re q u ite s im p ly

b reathtaking. A ll you have to g o on is the P la y in g t l l6 g a m e dream like scenery around you. You play by

M yst is n o t a g am e w h ic h can be exp la ined m oving a round and in te rac ting w ith th ingsb y te llin g you th e plo t. I t isn’t like tha t. You you see in th e im ages. If you w a n t to m ovesta rt th e gam e s tand ing a t th e d o cks o f th e le ft, you c lick o n th e le ft edge o f the screen,island o f M ys t. A head o f you th e pa th leads if you w a n t to activa te a lever, you c lick onto strange, cog like s truc tu res on th e to p o f a th e lever. There is no f ig h tin g and therehill. Beside you the m a s t o f a sunken s h ip seem s, a t least in itia lly , to be very l it t le in te rs ticks o u t fro m th e s till, b lue g reen water. action . P lay it fo r a fe w m in u te s and y o u areY o u kn o w n o th in g a b o u t the p lace y o u a re in. like ly to th ink th a t the re isn 't ve ry m uch toThere a re no in tro d u c tio n s o r exp lanations, th e gam e th a t a s lide sh o w o f all the p re ttyy o u are in a t th e deep end, and a ll you can p ic tu re s w o u ld n o t p rov ide . P lay it for a cou-

d o is w ander a round, exp lo re a nd observe p ie o f h ou rs and s o m e th in g happens tountil the p ieces o f th e puzzle fa ll in to place. change yo u r m ind . You b ecom e subm ergedIt s hard to exp la in th e phenom enon o f M ys t. in th e w o rld o f M ys t. in tr ig u e d by theIt is so u tte rly un like th e s ty le o f th e Lucas s trange p laces you are exp lo ring , and eager

to fig u re o u t ju s t w h a t th e hell it 's all about.The key to th e w o rld s o f M y s t are the

books o f A trus. These m ag ica l tom es a re in som e s trange w a y ga tes to o the r w orlds, and by un lo ck in g th e s e cre ts o f the pages you can un lock th o se ga tes and . eventually, so lve th e secre t o f M yst.

M y s t is unusual in tha t part o f th e gam e is find ing o u t w h a t the p o in t o f th e gam e is. A t firs t you are lo s t o n th e m ys te rious is land w ith l it t le n o tion o f w h e re you are and w ha t you a re d o in g there . There is a fee ling that you have en tered a d ream , the landscape like so m eth ing o u t o f Dali v ia Dr Seuss. The gam e is filled w ith strange g o th ic bu ild ings and b izarre m achinery, p a rt H eath Robinson and p a rt W illia m M orris . A r t d e co ironw ork curves g ra ce fu lly across th e screen, w h ile a irsh ips o f 1920s s tream line m od e rn design

w a it to take you to w h o kn o w s w here . As


S r i S ^ 3 J i rattention to I

detail is what I '

(he game . s a i l ------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------

about Look

carefully, or yo u play it a ll s lo w ly s ta rts to m ake sense. It ^ , * .you’re bound to seem s a s i f you a re fo llo w in g in th e foo t- Imiss something! ste p s o f A trus. find ing traces o f h is pass ing . V .

and fo llo w in g in his earlie r d iscoveries I-------*-1— u i !--------------------— :— ............ . . . ■ I

S low ly b u t surely, the w o r ld o f M ys t d raw syo u in. and it can b e ve ry hard to leave A m iga vers ion appeared o n th e A m ine t. a lm os t over, and fro m w h a t w e have seen it

M y s t is ve ry m uch a g a m e o f obse rva tion A lth o u g h th is tu rned o u t to b e a c leve r fake. lo o ks like it has b een w o rth it. The Am igaThere a re c lu e s a ll over th e place, h idden th e in te res t it sp aw ned w a s enough tha t th e vers ion is no t ju s t a d ire c t co n ve rs ion o f theam o n g st th e 2500 b e a u tifu lly rendered o rig ina l p ro g ram m ing team Cyan g o t w in d o rig ina l w ith everyth ing in p lace, it is a ctua lly

im ages. If you are n o t care fu l, you are sure and becam e in te res ted in the n o tio n . better.to m iss so m e The th re e t ip s everyone Publishers S unso ft. w h o had re leased ver- W h e n th e g am e w a s o rig ina lly released, itsh ou ld kn o w w h e n p lay ing M y s t a re take s ions fo r a n u m ber o f CD c o nso les , had n o t used a 2 56 co lou r p a le tte The p a le tte w asno tes , p lay w ith a friend ffo u r eyes a re b e tte r cons id e re d th e A m iga u p u n til then because fixe d fo r each is land, lim it in g th e a m o u n t o f

th a n tw o ) and . fo r th e rea lly dark scenes. o f th e re la tive sca rc ity o f C D -RO M drives d iffe re n t co lo u rs availab le fo r each scene. Intu rn u p th e b righ tness o f th e m on ito rs . am o n g s t A m ig a users. N o w tha t C D -RO M co m parison , th e A m ig a vers ion uses a d iffe r-M ys t is a ve ry cerebra l g am e You don ’t f ig h t drives a re so c o m m o n , it m akes a lo t o f en t p a le tte fo r each screen. B y us ing a flickin it. you don ’t d ie in it. You h it dead ends. sense. A fte r m o n th s o f nego tia tion . screen fo r th e m enus , th e y re ta in a ll b u t theb u t th e re is a lw ays a w a y o u t. if on ly y o u can C lickB O O M . prev ious ly know n for th e to p tw o o r th ree co lo u rs used by th e m ousefin d it . A m ig a beat ’e m u p C ap ita l Pun ishm ent, pro - p o in te r fo r th e p ic tu re display. The co re of

c u re d th e license. Ever s ince they announced th e o rig in a l M ys t w a s th e Q u ic k lim e amma-A m iM y s t th e license in M a rch o f th is year, th e A m ig a t io n fo rm a t. For th e A m ig a version.The h is to ry o f the A m iga vers ion o f M ys t is a c o m m u n ity has been sp lit b e tw e e n th o se C lickB O O M have d e ve loped the ir o w n cus-so m e w h a t c o nvo lu ted one. It s ta rted a year w h o can’t w a it and those w h o aren 't su re to m Q u ick tim e p layer w h ich handles featureso r so a go w h e n a pu rp o rte d d e m o o f th e w ha t the fu s s is all about. W ell, the w a itin g is su ch as 24-b it o u tp u t o n C ybergraphx dis


« Riven: Myst 2.

A picture of the

forthcoming fo l

low up to Myst.

According to the

Sunsoft website,

as well as ver

sions for Mac,

PC. Playstation

etc. they are

considering the

possibility of an

Amiga version...

sm oo th ly , b u t th a t is n o g rea t loss.

reb irth if you like, lead b y the n e w schoo l o f

‘A m iga deve lope rs keen to im press.W e live in in te res ting tim es . Th is m o n th

w e have seen tw o conve rs ions o f b ig nam e

tit le s co m e in to th e o ffice , b u t o d d ly they represent d iffe re n t ends o f a spec trum . One is a s tra y rem nan t o f the days w h e n everyth in g g o t re leased on the A m iga as a m atte r o f cou rse (Cham p M anager 2). th e o the r m arks th e re -em ergence o f th e A m ig a as a gam e p la tfo rm . W e ’ve been hearing a lo t

abou t th is in th e last fe w m o n th s and n o w it 's s ta rtin g to happen. W ith M yst. C lickB O O M have a ve ry high p ro file en try in to th e A m ig a g a m e s m arke t. A t a m ake or

break tim e such a s th is it is reassuring to see so lid , w e ll respected title s , and even m ore so w h e n w e see th e m up and running and lo ok ing ve ry good. There are s till a fe w

tw eaks to g o be fo re M y s t h its th e shops, b u t th e fina l gam e shou ld b e ready for rev iew n ex t m on th . B e ready fo r a tru ly m yste rio u s adven tu re . ■

A n d re w Korn

r 3e

piays. s im u ltaneous an im a tions , QT sound playback and tra nspa ren t co lou rs , w h ich aHow th e a n im a tions to play sm o o th ly in te g ra ted w ith th e backd rops. It also in te llig e n tly skips fram es on lo w e r horsepow ered m ach ines so th a t th e g am e does no t s lo w d o w n and everyth ing s tays in sync w ith the sound even o n a 68020 Am iga.

M ys t w ill run happ ily o n m o s t gam ers' m ach ines The requ irem en t o f C D-RO M drive a n d 8 M b R A M is p re tty un iversa l, and m o s t gam ers have an ’030 processor, w h ich is •ucky as M y s t lo o ks a b it jerky o n a bog standard m ach ine . G iven an ‘030 and AGA. the gam e runs w e ll, bu t you ’ll s till no tice th e anim a tions skipp ing a little . A g raph ics card o r a >tep u p in p rocesso r p o w e r is necessary to ru n M y s t a t its best, and you ’ll p robab ly need bo th to v ie w the fu ll screen in tro an im ation

A n d th e fu tu re ...O ne o f th e bes t th in g s a b o u t M y s t reaching the A m iga is th a t it he lps p u t th e p la tfo rm on a m o re serious fo o tin g fo r gam es. If M ys t succeeds, th e n w e can e xpec t to see a lo t m ore to p tit le s head ing ou r way. C lickBO O M have done an im press ive jo b o n M ys t. a nd if yo u w an t m ore ev idence o f th is th e n pop o n to th e S u n so ft w e b site.

Sales o f A m ig a M y s t w ill a lso b e a m ajor fa c to r in th e d e s tin y o f A m ig a gam ing. W ith any luck, th e y shou ld b e hea lthy e nough to encou rage o th e r such m am oth developm ents. no t o n ly fro m C lickB O O M (w h o are a lready have s o m e m ore su rp rises up th e ir sleeves). O u r guess is tha t it w il l m ark the s ta rt o f a n e w d a w n fo r A m iga gam ing. A


hen th e annals o f com pu te r

g am e h is to ry a re w r it te n and th e lis ts o f long de layed gam es are d raw n up . th e A m ig a ver

s ion o f C ham pionsh ip M anager 2 w ill be w a y u p the re w ith th e likes o f Je t S e t W illy and TFX. A t least tw o yea rs la te W ith all th a t deve lo p m e n t tim e th is has g o t to be

p re tty g ood , right?This w a s a lw ays g o in g to be a challenge.

The PC ve rs io n requ ires a P entium to run a t de ce n t speeds and co m e s on CD-ROM.

Even th e saved gam es ea t u p an absurd 22 M b o f hard drive. H o w c o u ld th is b e m ade to run o n an A m iga? The o rig in a l c o d e w as ho rrendous ly u n o p lim ise d C om pared to C ham p M an 1, it doesn 't d o e nough m o re to

ju s tify th e sys tem overheads. E xtract the co re a lg o rith m s, re d o th e co d e m a nice co m p a ct, e ffic ie n t A m iga s o rt o f way. re co d e th e database s tru c tu re a n d yipee.

Sure, i t 'd require a lit t le extra RAM and w o u ld c ra w l as lit t le o n a vanilla A 1200. bu t m o s t o f u s have extra R A M and CPU pow er th e se days. N o t everyone has a CD-ROM

d rive ye t. bu t if you sk ip p e d all the extras, it co u ld f i t o n a fe w flo p p ie s and in s ta ll on

yo u r hard drive. Sorted? If only.

T he R e f's b lin d !Hard drives, apparently, aren 't co m m o n on A m igas A s fo r a cce le ra to rs a nd extra RAM .

Championship Manager 2■ Price: £29.95 ■ Publisher: Eidos Interactive D 0181 636 3000

You see it advertised at football grounds around

the world and, at last, you can play it on your

Amiga. If you have a lot of time, that is...

M ' l k tGianfranco Zola.

They don't |e t

mnck better

than this!

Below: That tac

tic s screen in

action. Petrescn

runs dangerous

ly ftiw n id

th e tin y m in o rity o f use rs w h o have these add o n s a re su re ly n o t w o rth th e e ffo r t. As

fo r CD-R O M s, th e CD32 d ied o u t yea rs ago, d id n 't it? The gospe l acco rd ing to Eidos.

The resu lt is tha t they asked c od ing house S terling S o ftw a re to w r ite it fo r th e m o s t basic m ach ines go ing . Ok, so i t is Quite n ice th a t it w il l run fo r p re tty m uch everyone. If th e p rice is th a t it ru n s like a d o g even o n th e m o s t souped u p A m iga , it is n 't w o rth it . There in lie s th e rub. Ves, it is C M 2, and yes . it has a lm o s t all th e fea tu res

th e PC vers ion has a nd one o r tw o i t d o e s n 't. b u t i t ru n s fa r to o s lo w ly For th o se o f y o u fam ilia r w ith th e PC incarna tion , cast yo u r eyes to th e PC v s A m iga box w h ich expla ins th e d iffe re n ce s . I f y o u a re n o t. then here is th e run dow n .

C M 2 is a fo o tb a ll m anagem en t gam e in th e c la ss ic m ou ld . You can take cha rge of any fo o tb a ll c lu b in th e land. You have to co p e w ith th e b o tto m lin e o f a ll foo tba ll c lubs - success , on th e p itc h a nd in bank. You need to w h ip yo u r squad o f w a s tre ls in to f ig h tin g shape fo r th e season ahead, se lling th e d u d s and b u y ing in th e s ta rs as you go . The w o r ld goes o n a round y ou . w itf th e fo u r leagues, th e Coca C ola c u p . th e FA c u p a nd a ll th o se ir r ita tin g in te rna tiona ls yo u r players c o m e back in ju red fro m all p layed ou t. J u s t abou t th e on ly th in g m iss in g is th e A u to W in d sh ie ld s cup . w h ic h no- one b u t a S h rew sbury Tow n fan w o u ld m is:

The p rinc ip les a re th e sam e as every fo o tie m anagem ent g am e s ince Kevin Tom'

Each p layer has s ta tis tic s w h ic h sp e c ify th i leve l o f various a b ilities , fro m sh o o tin g to


PC vs A m ig aT h e re a re a n u m b e r o f d iffe re n ce s b e tw e e n th e tw o ve rs io n s , m o s tly changes to reduce m e m o ry usage, b u t s o m e tw e a k s m ake th e A m ig a v e rs io n a

l i t t le nicer.A p a r t f ro m th e ch anges m e n tio n e d

e ls e w h e re in th e te x t , o th e r changes w o r th k n o w in g a b o u t are:

N o f u l l S c o tt is h league , n o m a n a g in g

in te rn a tio n a l s ides. P la ye r h is to r ie s ha ve been c u t o u t, as h a ve a ll th e b a c k d ro p s . Y ou can n o lo n g e r access th e to p p la y e r l is ts a lth o u g h th e p la y e r search screen can s im u la te th is . P layers can be b o u g h t im m e d ia te ly ra th e r th a n h a v ing to w a i t f o r n e g o tia t io n s to ta k e p la ce in su b s e q u e n t w eeks . R ig h t m o u s e c lick s e le c ts "d o n e " w h e re v e r th e m o u se is o n th e page, m a k in g n a v ig a tio n easier.

Qh +j - i Q | N r o i n t D

(V .V >V *V .V .Vv3?:«V ■ V V V V -V <V V V0 :JM HU. rt 1*4 lowii'ifc Hii? Ixi«

* Gullit throwing in the odd early cross. Little do Forest know what is about to hit them... check the bottom ol the gage for a half time scare to make Ruudy prond...

speed to flair. T heore tica lly th e pu rp o se of th e s ta ts a re to a llo w you to g e t th e righ t co m b in a tio n o f players, b u t in p rac tice they a re ju s t a s im p o rta n t to insp iring reasoned debate a lo n g th e "1 0 shoo ting fo r Berger?

He shou ld b e a t least 18! A re th e se peop le $ % @ £ !in g insane?" lines. O nce yo u r e leven

players a re se lec ted , you ju s t d o y o u r ta c t ic s and o f f y o u g o to g lo ry o r defeat.

O v e r th e m oonThe im p lem en ta tion o f each o f these e lem ents is w h a t norm a lly m akes o r breaks a foo tie m anagem ent gam e, and in C M 2 the im p lem en ta tion is exce llen t. The player data is if a ny th ing a litt le to o c o m plete, it can take a w h ile be fo re -you have a sense o f the s treng ths o f yo u r players. On the o the r hand th is m eans tha t it is very in d e p th , and should have s ta t fans d roo ling.

The ta c tics screen is a m ode l o f h o w it shou ld be done, w ith cu s to m fo rm a tio n s eas ily set up by d ragg ing players to w he re o n the p itch you w a n t them and dragg ing bars to w he re you w a n t th e m to run.

The p layer database has an exce llen t range o f search fac ilities w h ich a llow you to h u n t th rough th e very s izeable lis ts o f hom e coun tries and overseas players in any w ay you like. W a n t to search fo r all p layers called Baggio? No problem . Looking fo r a 15-18 year o ld European le ft s ided a ttacker valued a t less th a n 500k w ith a speed of g re a te r than 15 and a fla ir o f b e tw een 12 and 16 w h o a re in te res ted in a m ove? Just se lect th e co m b ina tions a nd th e search w ill be done in m om en ts . This is th e fea tu re tha t CM1 m o s t obv ious ly lacked and CM2 does it brilliantly. The database con ta ins som e 3400 p layers, n o t on ly m o s t o f the

league p layers in England b u t also loads of b ig nam e players fro m S cotland , Ireland, W ales (?) and abroad. U n fo rtu n a te ly the

database is o u tda ted , a bou t r ig h t fo r the e nd o f last season bu t d o n 't e xpec t to see Paolo D iCanio at Sheffie ld W ednesday.

O nce th e gam e is a t hand, you w ill g e t to f in d o u t w h e th e r all th a t hard team p icking and tactica l trickery w ill w o rk . The gam e runs w e ll, w ith a reasonab le ind ica tion of w h a t is actua lly tak ing p lace. T here a re a c oup le o f fla w s in th e rou tines, w h ich m eans th a t the te x t co n cen tra tes heavily on c yc le s o f p rom is ing balls in. fo llo w e d by d e fe n s ive clearances. There are also the rather S com ers . If you th ink a p layer crossing the ball in fo r h im se lf w a s spectacular, you shou ld see th e headed corners, they 're really specia l. A m ino r po in t, as the re is enough in the g am e to keep you o n the edge o f yo u r seat, and w h e n th e gam e ends you are p resented w ith e nough s ta ts to keep the w o rs t fo o tb a ll anorak happy.

S ic k as a P a rro tSo w here has it all g o n e w rong? Speed. W h e n I sa id th a t th is w a s a s lo w monkey, I d id n 't really d rive th e p o in t hom e. I t is s lo w w ith a cap ita l S-L-O-W. It co u ld b e overtaken by a s tu ffe d to rto ise and w o u ld ea t d us t in a race w ith a co n cre te breezeblock.Calcu la ting all th e a c tions o f a ll th e o the r team s takes an absu rd a m o u n t o f tim e . Fire u p your g am e and you 'll be g o in g a good h o u r and a ha lf be fo re you g e t to see your team in action.

I t ’s n o t ju s t th e b e tw een g am e calculations w h ic h suffe r. The g am e is fu ll o f odd litt le s lo w d o w ns. I t takes a 'fra c tio n o f a second to c lic k on o ne o f th e nam es o n your team shee t to exam ine th e ir sta ts , b u t return

to th e team page and e xpec t to w a it as it th in ks hard abou t no th ing relevant.

O n the p layer search screen, c lick on a b u tto n to change a s ing le w o rd o f te x t and it redraw s th e e n tire screen. The p rob lem here is th a t the o rig ina l co d e w a s to o b lo a t

ed. PCs genera lly have silly specs and th is m eans p rog ram

m ers can g e t aw ay w ith w ritin g c o d e 10 tim e s less e ffic ie n t than it

cou ld be. A c tua lly S te rling have d o n e an good jo b in certa in areas. The database searches take a bou t as long on a 14MHz '0 2 0 as they take on a 100M Hz Pentium , and th e y 've im p le m e n te d v irtua l m e m o ry paged fro m th e f lo p p y drive to bo ls te r th e m in im al 2 M b o f the Am iga.

W hen w e g o t w in d o f all th is , w e s tro n g ly recom m ended E idos d o so m eth ing about th e serious lack o f suppo rt fo r m o dern spec A m igas. T here has been som e w o rk on the g am e s ince , so th a t it n o w takes advantage o f extra m e m o ry if you have it. b u t rea lly the gam e needs to be tw eaked and recom piled in an A m iga fr ie n d ly way. In its cu rren t sta te , the gam e d o e sn 't s ig n ifica n tly speed up w ith acce le ra tion , bu t w ith recom piling , it

w o u ld a c tua lly run a t P entium like speeds on an e l cheapo 68030.

W h a t is m ore , it co u ld b e hard d rive based. S te rling so ftw a re ind ica ted tha t if

th e re 's su ffic ie n t in te rest, th e y 'll cons ider se lling a pa tch d isk w h ic h w ill co rrect a ll th is b u t b o th E idos a nd S terling w o u ld have to

b e persuaded tha t it is w o rth w h ile first. C heck th e in fo pages at the s ta rt o f the g am e fo r m ore details.

It is an exce llen t gam e b u t un fo rtuna te ly i t w a s never go ing to w o rk on a basic Am iga w ith o u t a fu ll re w rite o f the code , w h ich E idos d id no t seem to w a n t to do . Despite th is it w a s w ritte n w ith o u t taking advantage o f th e hardw are m o s t A m iga gam ers have these days, tu rn in g a g rea t g am e in to one w h ic h is a lm o s t unp layable ■A n d r e w K o rn

I CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER 2

■ LVnrkhpnrh yprsinn Any™ nuiRuciiki vciaiuu..iui|■ Number of disks 2 Sound............................JANi■ RAM............................2Mb Instability......................S2%■ Hard disk installable ...Na Playability------------------ 35S


*

Australian orders 02 9520 9606 posted orders Epic Marketing 36 Forest Road, Heathcote, NSW. 2233, Australia.

J le-mail:

[email protected]

Telephone: +49 0 7071 63525

German office Epic - Paul Lechler Strasse 4, 72076

Tubingen, Germany.

I etc Wm 95 s commended oc you* PC . but isn l

essential The package includes everything you need including cables

tohware « MW'wtf " n tvI «« Amiga aryl PC »OM? dim . cm o 1 i unut to- no r **> o m CD*61 OK 'W W • AUST w SPECIAL'

megabytes of Video backdrops,

.fonts. samples, and clip images. The CD

also includes a full version o f Scala » s r CDtMi UK fS» • AUST CD

Amiga Desktop Video 2

' ” i T H ? E p ! c ? N C Y c S ^j v 7 T Q l l | C* * r l * ft999 • AUST S*C J |

‘ I iI U T I T B " eP’c 'ntef.TCtive Eicyciocedia <s a ompietely updat«i * ■' : to ........dent I' u’. it imii's .voond 16.000 ■ ■

w D l W f P f H subjects. Thts version ot the Epic Inlerectfve^ Encycl opodta is available now It foniures a suporb new ■ I

updatod multimedia intertaco hundreds of film clips, images, sound sam- ■ ► 1 pies and subjed information le»l This version now supports a multitude of 1 L

now features mcludmg: Coiou' images. Fuk-screen fllm Cpi. National anthems ■■ and a unique Inter-ACT- feature which a»ows you lo -Heract with certain |■ subjects i* e Draughts etc A superb r e fe re e and educatonai title tor the v I

_ l lFeatures Include•16.000 articles from Aachen to Zurich M l -‘ Unique Inter-ACT" feature •Updated Interface supporting colour images •Hundreds o f film clips small and large ‘ Over 4.000 images both b&w and colour

M ‘Dozens o f new features i l ' rA -Music Styles from country muSK lo rave T -Updated Exptorapedia now erght secbons

» 'Sound clips animals to famous speeches * -National Anthems o f dozens o f countries

J EURO-Pedia information on Europe‘Sound montages styles of music, animals etc "Zoom In to Animations 4 times as large

R and m uch more.

mmm |U M ; v ■ -1

TTM1I 1 T T iI s a g CU im ig i ■ 91% E l• 1 A J l+oaU se lnttfna lim *- 90S M

- X ^ t e p n g - n N » ■ ■ '

I and space coaled a

ALFRED CHICKENI TNs is no yOk As I | worlds only c

a bionic buak. you h I to save Id** world 13}

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cramve Pmg-Pong. Pengo khssde command 'eakout. Be te r* Donkey Kong. Terns and tons more

great games.

19. Chuck Rock 26. Microcosm 28. Nick Faldo GoH 30.Sensible Soccer32.Zool33. Wing Commander 34.OscarS Diggers35. Fears36. Thomas' Pinball39 RoadKill40 D Generation 4 1.Whizz Other titles available (Gel a Catalogs



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17BIT LEVEL 6

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is an amazing new 1 Amiga

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images that 'no-one‘ wanis ^ ^ H y c u to see. The CD rovers ^ ^ ■ ■ i aspects o‘ A b du oo s J 3 B |a n d UFO Sightings

inble lor use on anyAmiga.

UC:f!4.W • 4US7.S30

includes numerous n.jpl • ■ ■ ^ Q k A c i i t io - moces bom -

dard -Jos type copy tu a^ ^ ^ ^ ^ O e e p nibble type copy Every Amiga owner should have a copy! OK:£>259 - 4UST.SX ‘rtUWtWfrUKtm

Order: CDi23 UK: £1999 ■ AUST: UO

1 " - ' ' i t a•• CD ‘-'CM

‘ h,|h A !'A '■< '■ fhrni.ghout COv‘-nr<i sub| jects like: UFOs & Aliens, Strangelite (Bigfoot.

Lochness monster etc). Mysticism, M ind over matter. M yths and Legends and more, this CO promises to give you an "experience' Also tor the first time on an Amiga multimedia CD. there are true "AVIS Wes (Audio S

, Videol.. Hundreds of colour .mages, masses of AVI’s, and animations, hun ,dreds of voice-overs, over 40 minutes of presentations around 400 subjeci synopsis', and hundreds of cross- l i — . . , # , ‘ - 4 li!■ I I Ulur-. IICL'U'

■ M e a l Zjr I

1 B litz B a s ic 2.1|A. next general on BASIC

^ H | r | - r 0 w i t h loatures borrowed ■ w g B jA f r c m PASCAL. C, and o r

Prcgram any type oi1 ftn*tware w tr m m- pc*- '

' ■ ^ B ^ g i h a n ever before.^ ^ ^ ^ ^ C o m p ie te with full manual. AVAILABLE ON DISK AND NOW AMIGA CD-ROM.The CD version includes the full Blitz Basic 2.1. the fu> printed manual as well as on-disc manual. The complete range of BUMS (Blitz User Manuals) These atone would cost you over £200, soorce-code and more. Order: (CD500) U K :m » - AUSr.MU

C::-M of software.I i r T t f lii&uftrx: VVotkoonc-' Games.

Fonts. Textures. Clipart. ^ Z H ^ iJ s a m p te s . Multmiec a ^ Backdrops. Music modulus.B 0 jf la |B s ..R in p s s .ene-s

Backdrops. Toots and more, UK: £19.99 • 40ST:MO

Europdl iris at I

SFX SensationOver 15,000 files. Includes sound effects from all over the place. (C0165*) Only £9.99

The very latest 17BIT disks specially com-

I pled by Quartz. All the I best titles are here.■ Through an easy to lu s e interlace you■ nave access to

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ t U u l u x u I dint as a product is \ the envy the the whole PC I world It's features and ease | of use are not matched by i any otncr graphics package (either on the Amiga or PC (Deluxe Paint 5. the latest

^ V y ^ ^ V W e ie a s e «s ho exception, y i f j i Deluxe Pamt 5 is without a

. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ d o u b t the fastest pamt pack- » available on the Amiga, it s unique palette

'e supports virtually all the Amiga s graph c* modes. Deluxe Paint 5 includes the most l»ftflriui yei simplest to use animation feature

could imagine Direcl support for all the ja s animalion formats are included as well

u o' course the industry standard IFF pidure t o t . AVAILABLE ON DISK AND CD-ROM!

Complete with on-disc manual as well as the never before published fu ll printed manual.

M r CWM UK: £1999 • AUST: MO (9M beryl)

(M ini Office Suite"(Recently re-released by \ Guildhall, this superb easy

’ ( to use office suite is great X (for the home and small

(business. It includes a JWord Processor with aspell checker, DataBase,

Hundreds o t articles - ‘ Updated Interface - ‘ Hundreds o f film clips •Hundreds of images - ‘ Sound clips - ‘T rue AVI feature

•Over 400 Synopsis’ - ‘ Full Multimedia Presentations

Iarourx! 600 brand new Amiga d«sks an categorised into various themes.

f t I I S V 7 Z U - V / I

SJ W M iM A R E E X P L O S IO N ! ■ New Release -

Worth £20 - Place an order now o t £25 o r m ore and , receive th is CD freeI Contains a wealth of software, Including: Workbench Games. Fonts.Textures, Clipart,

I Multimedia Backdrops, Samples, Music modules,I Business Letters. Tetris Games, 3D Objects, 3D■ Backdrops, images, Colour Clipart, Tools and more.■ spend £50 and well send you another Mystery CD tree. * Spend C75 and we ll send you another 7 CP’s treet etc...

Spreadsheet and more. OK: £1999 - AltSTMO

F R E E 2 4 P A G E C O L O U R C A T A L O G U E I n A V A IL A B L E . I

S e m ls S A E R o n ! | l i )K id s Games Suitable for any Am igaA

Only £3.75 each (m inim um o f 2) POSTMAN PAT

COUNT DUCKULA 1 or 2 BULLY'S SPORTING DARTS

HUCKLEBERRY HOUND POPEYE 2

POSTMAN PAT 3 THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE THOMAS' FUN WITH WORDS

SOOTY S FUN WITH NUMBERS other titles available...

, (Nathan Ludkin's MIDI GOLD I \is a professionally compiled | (collection of around 3000 i (MIDI files. Every MIDI track I (is categorised into various r (directories, like: Film, J Composer/Artist. Style, etc.Great wtih Yamaha XG System

AMIGAInternulHtnal

MfHIC DETAIL THE TOTAL VALUE OF THE GOODS ARE PLUS POSTAGE OF SO THE TOTAL OF MY ORDER IS MY NAME AND DELIVERY ADDRESS IS...

m m m .g u ild h a ll

AQlJl.-rOrder Adult Sensation One, Two

and Three for just £20or order them singularly for only

£7.99 each

AMIGA MODELI WISH TO PAY BY....CHEQUE □ POSTAL ORDER Q CREDIT CARD □ CARD NUMBER______________________________ EXP.


Cannon Fodder■ Price: £9.99 ■ Publisher: Guildhall Leisure £> 01302 890000

hen th e h is to ry o f the real tim e s tra tegy gam e is w ritten .Cannon Fodder w ill have a ra ther un ique pos ition . In e vo lu

tionary te rm s, it is like th e kangaroo perfe c tly fo rm e d fo r th e sp e c ific c ircum stances und e r w h ic h it flo u rish e s - and w h e n it 's do w n to th e b o tto m line, b loody absurd

Playing th e g am e is all abou t shoo ting so ld ie rs and bom b in g hu ts . You lead up to fo u r so ld ie rs o n m iss ions w h ic h m o s tly a m o u n t to k illing v — — th ings . The m iss ion screens a re n ice ly draw n

sc ro llin g backdrops o f de se n . snow , jung le , m o o r a nd fin a lly an unde rground base Bad

guys w a n d e r a round sh oo ting a t you. o cca siona lly w ith rocke t launchers o r he licop ters , w h ile you a tte m p t to w ip e th e m out and des troy all th e barrack b u ild in g s w h ic h gen e ra te so ld ie rs w ith grenades and bazookas. The g am e is sp iced u p by an asso rtm e n t o f veh ic les w h ich you can drive, and th e occas iona l p ie ce o f ingen ious id iocy such as

exp lo d in g sheep War. w e a re assured, has never been so m uch fu n You can te ll b y th e P ythonesque

p re sen ta tion a nd absu rd th e m e tune. Black h u m our is d e fin ite ly in o rde r here, w ith a lo t o f ca rto o n y Sensi s ty le m in i sprites ly ing a round pum p in g b lo o d fro m th e ir dy ing bodies. A s you progress, you ga in rec ru its to rep lace th o se lo s t to th e rigou rs o f war. and a re rem inded g raph ica lly o f th o se fallen sp rites b y the ce m e te ry in the background w ith its increasing co u n t o f w h ite crosses

Cannon Fodder fa lls som e w h e re be tw een Syndicate and D une 2. I t has S ynd ica te ’s sm all u n its a nd arcade speed gam eplay. bu t a m o re D une 2/C om m and a nd C onquer sty le overhead v ie w and co n tro l flu id ity.

Cannon Fodder hasn 't g o t th e tactica l dep th o f D une 2 There 's n o co n s truc tion .

th e on ly deve lo p m e n t be ing th a t so ld iers

w h o surv ive a fe w m iss io n s s h o o t fu rthe r There isn 't the sa tis fy ing d e s truc tiveness o f

Syndicate e ithe r W ha t the re is m akes up for it though.

To th is day it rem ains a lo t o f fun to play. A t a tenner fo r flo p p y o r CD version, i t ’s a b it o f a bargain too. R igh t, n o w s to p th a t you m en. th a t's no t sens ib le a t all. ■A n d r e w K o rn

Cannon Fodder 2Price: £9.99 ■ Publisher: Guildhall Leisure © 01302 890000

hen th is fo llo w u p to Cannon i f . j I Fodder f irs t cam e ou t. response

w as lukew-arm People thoughtI I tha t it w a s a b it o f a cash in.and tru th be to ld it d o e sn 't exactly revolut io n ise th e fo rm u la O n th e o th e r hand, re- re leased fo r lit t le m ore than the c o s t o f a pack o f fags and tw o cans o f lo w grade g u tro t specia l expo rt. C annon Fodder 2 is c lass ie r in th e cheap e n te rta inm en t stakes

The scenario has changed a litt le from CF1. even if th e gam ep lay hasn't The m in i spn te a rm y has qu it th e ir em p lo ym e n t in her m a je s ty 's a rm ed fo rces to b ecom e m ercenaries and

fig h t m a w a r o n an a lien planet. Their new

e m p loye rs need to te s t them so they, log ica lly e nough, hurl them th rough th e tim e zones

in search o f a de ce n t cha llenge. H ence the b a ttleg rounds you fig h t in here are rather m ore ec lec tic than th e o rig ina l, tak ing in d e se rt w arfa re . C h icago gangsterland . spaces h ips and the dark ages be fo re your arrival in th e fina l a lien warzone.

T here is ce rta in ly m ore varie ty in the

g raph ics than th e o rig ina l, and the o p p o rtu n itie s fo r h u m our are w e ll taken,

b u t the re is un fo rtu n a te ly a conco m ita n t loss o f c larity. Th is is

particu la rly no ticeab le in s o m e o f th e la tte r stages w h e re garish a lien co lou r schem es can m ake play a lit t le tricky.

If th e co lo u r s chem es don 't m ake you te a r o u t yo u r hair,

th e leve ls m o s t likely w ill CF2 has a s teepe r learn ing cu rve than CF1.

w ith a coup le o f easy m iss ions a t th e s tart to lu ll you in to a fa lse sense o f se cu rity be fo re th e trick iness zoom s exponentia lly If you haven’t g o t th e hang o f th e gam e princ ip le p rio r to th is th e n you m ay never p ick the

4 There's plen

ty e l choice

Desert buildings

and alien bases

w ith Indian

resaarant w a ll

paper on their

floors

g am e u p aga in , so un less you 're a g a m e nu tte r you 're b e tte r o f f p ick ing u p CF1 first.

A t th is lo w price, CF2 has a lo t to recom m end it. I f you liked C F1 th e n the re 's no q u e s tio n tha t you sh ou ld b u y th is For all the m ino r n igg les, it ’s s till C annon Fodder, has 72 m ore leve ls to cha llenge you and a lo t m ore laughs than a day in M ilto n Keynes ■ A n d r e w K o rn

l — M

(Hard disk installable.................. No ] § 8


'SX-ZZ"_________A 5 0 0 S o f tw a r e

* . HARD DRIVE REQUIRED : SHAREWARE GAMES) 9.99

F000CR2.................... 13.99MANAGER 2 ..... 22 992 92%.................19.99

SPECIAL RESERVE NEW CLUB SHOPU P M IN S T E R G R A N D O P E N IN G O C T 18TH

** 209-213 S t. M ary's Lane, Upm inster. Opposite Somerfield

a ✓ P re-release gam es to try ✓ Specia l a ttra c tio n s ✓ Free g ifts ✓ C om pe titions ✓ Meet Games M aster's Dave Perry

Fee l free to c o m e a lo n g fo r a fu n d a y o u t fo r a l l th e fa m ily

Over 300.000 people have joined

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A 1 2 0 0 D E S IG N P A C K P L A Y S T A T IO N T O P 15DESIGN S PRINT PACK FOR A12O0CCfd TAINS WORD WORTH 7 0.DELUXE PAINT IV AGA. PRINT MANAGER. OSCAR ft DENNS

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OF SOCCER

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ACID ATTACK COMPILATIONGUARDIAN. ROAD MU..SUPER SKIDMARKS 14.99ALIEN 8HEEO 30 .......................0.99ALIEN BREED 30 2 90% ............. 17.99CHAOS ENGINE 2 .................... 19.99COLONIZATION .......................13.99FEARS .................................7.99FIELDS OF GLORY .................... 11.99OUABCXAN .............................. 6.99PREMIER MANAGER 3 ................ 5.99ROAD KILL ..............................5.99SLAM TILT .................................7.99SUPER STREETFIGHTER 2 TURBO 14.99THEME PARK ........................... 14.99UFO • ENEMY UNKNOWN............. 13.99WORD WORTH SPECIAL EDITION F**v,»‘ WYSIWYG <»wtot. DTP leahm. *P*I ih K tn j vary easy Vi use interfaceami excNtenl prinlrq coVxms .........9 99WORDWORTH Vft N»* n 0.5 .anon rcliXMimp-ovted drawing locls. troro AREXX CO— WNA watoimaflu. 50 oyrt-jjrapOK Toni*. impeoveO RTF sopped and otearBnhBncwmeinls (3MB RAMI.............3199WORMS ■ THE OlRECTORS CUT .1899

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I a n d A FREE COPY OF EDGE M AGAZINE

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Z e e w o lf 1 4 2 , F o o lb a ll G lo a n d Q u lc k jo y fo o tp e d a lsA ll OFFERS SUBJECT TO STOCK.OTHER OFFERS ARE AVAILABLE

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When you call Alive Mediasoft you w i De entered on our customer database. From there you can request any information you require. We would be happy to send you a full catalogue so >ease grve us a eal or re-mad us as below. Alternatively, you may already be interested in a game and want some more info about it We have a full review of every title on our system so■ould be happy to fill you n on anything you need to know. We also welcome and log all requests so step searching for that game and lei us do the work. As soon as we track down a ccpy■e ll let you know, and of course, as with the rest of our services, this is entirely free and there's no obligate* to buy a thing At Aive we feel that extensive knowledge of the products is the key to providing the best customer service so our staff play every game we sei.Christmas Specials: Free software and books with every order while stocks last! A*ve Gift vouchers now available. £5. £10. £15 with free presentation card Ideal Xmas gifts for everyone. With a new age for the Amiga dawning you need to belong to a team that knows how you feel about Amiga - because we feel the same. Alive Mediasoft - try us.

A LIVE Mediasoft Ltd

P O B O X 9 4 0 ,K I R K B Y - I N - A S H F I E L D N O T T I N G H A M , N G 1 7 7 F AS’w are Orders J e n n ie a live ln n o tts .co .u k Tel: 01623 467579P u b lish in g Andyeallve.demon.co.uk Tel: 01992 718990w w w .pu re am iga .co .uk /a live /a ljve .h tm lO ffice H ours 9am-7pm, Mon-FriP&P £1 per Item (UK), overseas £CallPlease make cheques payable to A live M ed ia so ft L td

Screenshots taken from Blade - the latest release from Alive Mediasoft.50 superb levels of casting, goblin fighting, treasure hunting entertainment In the ultimate role playing fantasy adventure you take command of a team made up of warnors, wizards, dwarves and ehies. Your mission is to explore ihe forests and dungeons finding treasure, killmg monsters and gaining experience points so you can cast spells which do everything from simple heals to summoning the four horsemen of the apocalypse1 Runs on min.1 meg A500. 256 colour gixwith full speech on AGA machines which require a hard-drive and 4 meg fast ram. Blade auto-configures to your system with CPU-BLIT option for machines with accelerators above 030. Blade is available now. To order your copy send £14.99+ £1 p&pto Alive Mediasoft.


http://www.pureamiga.co.uk/alive/aljve.html

Coming Soon from Sadeness Software, the ultimate Amiga

CDROM games!

The U ltim ate Am iga Strategy Wargame! In c re d ib ly d e ta ile d H -R e s g r a p h ic

Due for release in November 1997. Foundation will set new standards for the Real-Time strategy war/conquest games! Featuring many unique features not seen in any game for any platform'

Combining the very best elements ol The Settlers 2. Warcralt 2. Command and Conquor. Megalomania along with some totally original ideas and features - Foundation will sel new standards lor strategy games on all computers.

Brief Feature Lis I:

• ECS. AG A and CyberGFX lullly supported. • Serial and TCP/IP links planned• 1 player versus!. 2 or 3 computer controlled players. ■ 2 player Split-Screen mode stunmng 2*b it irn.ozmenu screens'.• over 800 Irames rendered intro • Over 50 meg o f Sound and Graphics. _ ___ _______• Full control over every friendly unit • Comes with a Map/Mission editor.• Random level generator tor intinite levels! • Extensive lull-colour on-line manual/help. - H• Custom made 24bit quality mission/menu screens. • Mug-Shots included from Amiga owners!• Advanced enemy Artificial intelligence. • Advanced Fire/Smoke/Shadow effects. . {• Realistic rendered objects such as trees, rocks etc. • High-Res graphics-absolutely amazingI _

II you would like to be one ot the very hrst owners ot this massive new Amiga game, you can tilt in the pre-ordet Iterm i,i-iow INOTE: No money will be debited until your order is sentI) Tlvs will ensure that your ordci is ; • <despatched on the very day ot release1

Release Dale: November 1997 • £29.95 inc p 8 p • httpi/WWW.sadaness.demon.coMk/foundation.htmiSYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Any Amiga - 2 Meg RAM minimum Double-speed CDROM. ACA and Graphics cards fu lly supported and enhanced F u l l b a t t le a n d m a n a g e m e n t c o n tr o l !

F u l l 2 5 6 c o lo u r A G A g r a p h ic sDue lor release in October 1997 onEscapee wilt sel new standards lor Aclion/adventure games!

ICombining the very best-elements'of classic games as Prince o l Persia, Another World and Flashback along with some totally original ideas and lealures ■ onEscapee will sel new standards tor action/adventure games games on all computers IPC and Amiga versions underdevelopment).

Brief Feature list:

• AGA required and CyberGFX support planned. ! • 700% pure assembly language• 5 minute long, atmospheric 9meg Intro! ' • Thousands o l hand-drawn animation frames! - •• 700% multi-tasking system friendly. >, • Can be used on Double-scanned s c r e e n s . ___________• Incredible, atmospheric digital music score! • Complex animations are custom-rendered! 600• frames ot• Cave, City, Underwater and space levels * more! • Logical puzzles (|Bl• Control choice o l Keyboard, Joystick or Joypad. • Full use of AGA chipset ■ using 256 colours.• A great variety of different enemies - with intelligence. • Rippling water, sweeping light beams etc.• 4 years in development by a large learn! • Amazing film-qualily cul-scenes!

I I you would like lo be one o t the very first owners o f this massive new Amiga game, you can fill in the pre-order from below (NOTE: N o m oney w ill be debited until your order is sent!). This will ensure that your order is despatched on the very day o l release!

Release D ale: October 1997 • £29.95 inc p& p • http:/www.sadeness.dem on.co.uk/foundation.htm l jSYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Any Am iga - 4 Meg RAM minimum. Double-speed CDROM o r belter. Graphics card sup po rt planned lo r the future. F u l l a tm o s p h e r ic d ig i t a l m u s ic s c o re . '

ta t io n !

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PLACE AN ORDER FOR EITHER CAME OR RECEIVE MORE INFO ABOUT THEM - PLEASE TICK THE CORRECT BOX. AND FILL-IN YOUR DETAILS. Please send completed form (telephone/email us) to: Sadeness Software ■ 13 Russell Terrace - Mundesley • Norfolk • N R It 8LJ • UK Tel: (01263) 722166

Place a Pre-Order tor FOUNDATION ■ Recive further into about FOUNDATION ■ Place a Pre-Order lor onEscapee ■ Receive further into aboul onEscapee I

Please fill in your details in BLOCK CAPITALS. Thanks.

Name Address


http://WWW.sadaness.demon.coMk/foundation.htmi

http://www.sadeness.demon.co.uk/foundation.html

tra p o n vo u r b ro a dsw ord , it 's yo u r jo b to p lu n g e in to th e d u n geons b e lo w to de fe a t the ho rdes o f evil b e fo re they o ve r

run th e land . I'll b e t yo u 've heard that one before.

Turn th e lig h ts d o w n lo w a nd b e very, very q u ie t. W e 're hun ting m onsters .

P referab ly o f th e b ig and s lim e y variety, because th o se a re th e s o rt w h o requ ire th a t you and n o t s o m e o the r s louch de fea t them . The kind th a t earn y o u g o ld , e xpe rience, and u ltim a te ly the respec t and adm ira t io n o f a ll o f th e l it t le pe o p le w h o s e m eagre ex is tences yo u 've saved by yo u r actions.

O f cou rse , you d o n 't have to g e t your

hands d irty. T echno logy 's evo lved so far that you don’t have to even p ick u p th e joys tick

o r touch th e keyboard, y o u can d o all- th is w o rk w ith ju s t a m ouse.

Blade u n sh ea th e d| I f you had lo peg it in te rm s acronym s.

B lade w o u ld be a CRPG 3D -isom etric turn- based gam e. But yo u 're p robab ly look ing for som eth ing m ore in fo rm a tive than that.

To b reak it d o w n : B lade is a com pu te r | ro le-playing gam e, m ean ing it 's g o t its roots I in th e sw ords and sorce ry paper-and-d ice

I gam es as w e ll as in fluence fro m th e past

15+ years o f co m p u te r RPG deve lopm ent.T hese are n o t a u n ifo rm g ro u p - there

a re som e CRPGs w h ic h fo cu s very heavily o n puzzle-so lv ing, be ing in th e r ig h t p lace at the r ig h t tim e w ith the r ig h t passw ord or m ap. The o ffic ia l SSI AD&D gam es are a g o o d exam ple. O thers are m ore "h a ck and s lash", w ith a loose se t o f goa ls and puzzles b u t m o s tly de fined b y k illing m ore a nd m ore m o n s te rs to accum u la te pow er. The U ltim a series e xh ib its th is tendency. B lade is rather m ore in fluenced b y th e la tte r group.

3 D -isom e tric m eans, w e ll, w h a t i t says, really. M o s t o f us kn o w th e type , it 's been done q u ite a lo t on gam es d a ting all th e w ay back to th e S pectrum . The v ie w is angled fro m above, no t firs t-person . A nd in being turn-based, action is carried o u t in sequence, person to person , a nd each chara c te r has a certa in a m o u n t o f “ a c tio n p o in ts ” w h ich are s p e n t m oving, tu rn ing , fighting, ca s ting spells, and so on . In p o in t o f fact, th e w h o le in te rfa ce bears m ore than a passing resem b lance to UFO : Enem y U nknow n, a lthough it 's g o t fa r fe w e r th in g s fo r you to w o rry a bou t th e in te rface is very, ve ry s im

ple. B lade w ill cater to a w id e variety o f sys tem con-

▲ I t takes a figu ra tions - bes t experienced on an 030 orwhile, but there be tte r AGA m ach ine w ith hard drive, stillthey are at the p layable (jus t) fro m flo p p y on a base 1 megshop at last. A500.Anyone got 50p Exploring the s tru c tu re and the w o rld o f for a broad- Blade is a series o f p leasantly surpris ingsword? M ine's s im p lic ity w h e n i t ’s m o s t apprec ia ted (like in gone rusty. th e in te rface) and head-shaking d isb e lie f at

a g ross ly o ve rcom p lica ted issue - bu t m ore on tha t later.

F o rm in g th e p a rtyIt 's a bou t m ore than g e ttin g th e beer and pre tze ls toge ther. M any b u t n o t all CRPGs are based around a sm all g ro u p o f adven tu re rs ra ther than th e lone quester. In B lade, you fo rm a pa rty o f 4 characte rs fro m a pool o f seven. These are, in no particu la r order, the W arrior, th e Em path, th e E lf. th e Dwarf, the W izard, th e C leric, and th e Thief. Unlike m o s t CRPGs. however, you d o n 't g e t any say w h a tso e ve r in w h a t th e se characters are

...a nd th e h a c k

B la d e is th e b ra in c h ild o f one M a rk S heeky, w h o a c c o rd in g to th e g am e c re d its w a s re sp o n s ib le fo r each e le m e n t o f th e g a m e 's c re a tio n . I t m akes an in te r e s tin g te s t case fo r th o s e o f u s w h o fe e l th a t o fte n th e b e s t ga m e s o f a ll t im e cam e f ro m a s in g le hand.B la d e ...w ill n o t q u ite be re m e m b e re d w ith such gam es. P a rt o f d o in g th a t w e ll is re c o g n iz in g y o u r l im its , a nd M r. S h e e k y 's 3D m o d e lin g s k ills (used fo r v a r io u s a r t in d e ta il a nd in t ro s h o ts ) le a ve s o m e th in g to be d es ired . T h e g a m e p la y co u ld h a ve used s o m e b o ls te r in g to g ive

i t a b it m o re " fu lln e s s " , p e rh a p s fro m a c o lla b o ra to r. T h e m u s ic , a nd w h a t th e re is o f s o u n d e ffe c ts , are h o w e v e r q u ite good .

Blade■ Price: £14.99 ■ Publisher: Alive Media Soft © 01623 467579

New software company Alive Media kick off

with a budget RPG called Blade. Get ready for

a dungeon bash that goes on for ever...


- i t - : jsal- i*’ * ! i A h . I f

like - the re a re no s ta ts to random ly generate o r p ick , n o k it co lo r to se t, y o u can’ t even nam e them .

That’s n o t such a h o rrib le th in g , actually, s in ce tha t can o fte n b e te d io u s and off- pu ttin g to casual gam ers. People w ith paper RPG expe rience usua lly d o n 't m in d th e task o f characte r crea tion , b u t th o se w ith sho rte r a tte n tio n spans d o n 't a lw ays w a n t to take 30- 90 m in u te s ju s t to g e t ready to p lay a gam e. In th is . B lade has m ade o n e o f th o se pos itive

tim e-sav ing innova tions I to ld you about.The seven characters each have d is tin

gu ish ing fea tu res. The m o s t b tand is the W arrio r - h e can fig h t and th a t's a bou t it, a lthough h e d o e s fig h t ra th e r w e ll. W izards, C lerics, and E lves have spe ll po w e rs (in dec lin ing o rde r o f po w e r! and E lves gain so m e o th e r a b ilit ie s a s w e ll. The one in te res ting cha rac te r ty p e (in th a t it w a sn 't lifte d s tra ig h t o u t o f D ungeons a nd D ragons) is the Em path , w h o can sense life a round he r - go o d fo r fin d in g badd ies o r avo id ing them .

B u ild ing th e p a rty o f fo u r invo lves trad ing o f f th e a b ilit ie s o f th e characters aga inst one ano th e r - y o u can g o in to th e dungeon w ith an Em path , Elf, C leric, and W iza rd and be q u ite a m ag ica l pow erhouse , b u t w h o 's go in g to w a tc h th e ir back? Forget to b ring a th ie f and tha t locked d o o r is a m uch b igger p rob lem . You b e g in to see th e issues at

stakeN ow , s ince B lade w e n t a nd saved y o u all

tha t tim e sav ing y o u fro m a long d raw n -o u t cha rac te r g ene ra tion , yo u 'd th ink i t w o u ld d ro p you o u ts id e th e dungeon d o o r ready to go . r igh t? W rong. You're a c tua lly d ro p p e d o ff on a ra ther dese rted lo ok ing road in a to w n .

w h e re a n u m b e r o f sm a ll sh o p s s tand ready to p rov is ion y o u fo r yo u r jou rney to the depths. Th is is o k . b u t rem em ber tha t turn- based sys tem I to ld y o u about? W ell, you have to m o ve each characte r ind iv idua lly and it w il l take you severa l tu rn s to reach a store.

A n d if you s p lit up , yo u 'll have to ge t everybody back to g e th e r sooner o r later.T h is isn’t so te rr ib le in a nd o f itse lf s in ce th e g am e m oves p re tty respons ive ly to your com m ands . B u t th e re a re s o m e really unnecessarily annoy ing issues here.

The shops a re spread apart, and w h ile yo u r characte rs co m e w ith an in itia l e n d o w m e n t o f go ld , th e re ’s m o re g o ld sca tte red

around th e to w n th a t you shou ld p ick up so you can a ffo rd so m e o f th e be tte r item s, and so a W izard can buy a sp e llbook quicker.

There is an u ps ide to g o in g a fte r th is g o ld th a t 's been la id o u t in p la in s ig h t - it le ts you

g e t used to th e g am e en g in e w ith o u t a g o b lin b rea th ing d o w n yo u r neck. B u t th e d o w n s id e is th a t i t takes ha lf o f fo reve r and really shou ld have been hand led in a m o re e ffic ie n t m anner th a n send ing y o u a ll ove r th e place d o in g te d io u s tasks. T h is is one o f those incom prehens ib le co m p lica tio n s tha t m ake B lade a cho re a t tim es .

T he s la sh in gE xcept fo r th e shopkeepers and m o n k s in

th e te m p le , th e re 's no s ig n s o f l ife a nyw h e re o n th e surface . (A fe w ran

d o m ly m oving peo p le w o u ld have b roken th e m o no tony

nicely, b u t no such luck.) O nce you e n te r th e dun geon, though , tro u b le w ill c o m e lo ok ing fo r y o u p re tty quickly. "You see a m on

s te r" , o r so the op tional speech fo r H D ow n e rs w ill

te ll you. A t the o u tse t they 're ju s t w eak m o n s te rs - b u t you 're

re la tive ly w eak heroes, too . You'll w a n t to w h o m p s o m e m ons te rs , co llec t so m e treasu re a nd experience , re tire to the su rfa ce to cash in and heal up, head back in. a nd so on . The cha llenge g e ts s teepe r as you g e t m o re po w e rfu l, o f course.

In case you w e re w o rr ie d o r concerned a b o u t it by now . th e g am e d o e s have a p lo t w e a lluded to at the beg inn ing . The evil Qaal w a s so evil th a t ins tead o f ju s t k illing him

A Generalised m onkey monsters lo ok ing pretty confused by a wizard and his amazing invisible disappearing tricks.

(w h ich never w o rks on these really evil guys) h e w a s im prisoned in a P lot Device.

And w h e n an earthquake broke open the P lot D evice. Qaal re -em erged and b ro u g h t havok and m ayhem upon th e land. Being the on ly fo u r s ta rtin g he roes w ith a fre e a fte rnoon, you g e t pressed in to service. Pretty standard s tu ff fo r th e a fo rem en tioned m orv ste r-w hom ping .

B lade 's in te rfa ce really does w o rk p re tty w e ll once yo u 're in th e dungeons. The map is revealed to you as you g o b y line o f sigfot. and you can d ep loy yo u r tro o p s in an e ffe c tive m anner to pu t m ons te rs o u t o f yo u r m is ery. N o t everyth ing is im m ed ia te ly obv ious o n s ig h t, so by righ t-c lick ing o n o b jec ts you can g e t a sh o rt de scrip tio n . C om ba t p ro g resses m u ch like a ny o th e r tu rn , e xcep t that the m o n s te rs w ill b e co m in g a fte r you and in flic tin g dam age w h ile you w a it to g e t your action p o in ts back I t ’s ju s t a sham e tha t once you leave th e dungeon you lose your w ill to live.

The g rea t ba lancer aga inst qua lity is price. As a budge t release. B lade rep resen ts p re tty good e n te rta inm en t value. It w ill w in fe w enem ies, b u t is no t like ly to s ta rt a cu lt o r be th e source o f sp irited debate . Being available fo r so m any co n figu ra tions , in b o th ECS and AGA graph ics m odes , it ba lances access ib ility a nd te chno logy fa irly w e ll.

If you g ive it the chance - m ore to the po in t, if it g e ts the chance - B lade really can suck you in. T here 's a lo t o f fu n to m onster- w h o m p in g and th e speed o f th e in terface means you w o n t b e w a itin g a ll day to g e t to the punch line Turn th e ligh ts d o w n lo w and stock up fo r th e long haul, because B lade's the s o rt o f ep ic gam e tha t, if it g rabs you, can m ove th e c lock fro m 6 pm to 6 am very, very quickly. ■Jason C o m p to n


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S c a n Q u ix v 3 .0 - o n ly £5 9 .95

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. . . . foslest drive I h a ve .I Important Notes 11 * David Taylor - Amiga Format February 1997Thinking ot buying a BIG dnve? Dont waste your money on ANY DRIVE OVER 4.3GB as the Amga OS doesm support it! (2^32-1 bytes actually). Be warned'

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metal shiekfcng - which itself reduces the value ol your computer msiantDrvw require no hcte wiling case cippng or shield remove requred and 3.5* InslantDnves core Inclusive ot lull fttng kn and easy-lo-tolow nstrucficms All drives come ready-to-uae with WB3.0 prenslatod S WB2.x install script AH wrves over 350MB a»o come with over 45 too qualify unities (not shovetware) and MMo mixemedia authonng soitware prensiated contigured and ready-to-run

In s ta n tD r iv e s : 2 .56G B A V (-3 M B /s ) £219.95T ow e rD rive s : 1.7GB

2.11 G B £169.95 3 .2G B £189.954G B - Take y o u r A m ig a fo th e l im i t ! - fo r ju s t £249.95

2 .5 “ In s ta n tD r ive s fo r th e A600 . A 1200. S X 32 & S X 32 P ro 344MB A 2.5* drr«e ideal tor Ihe SX32Mk2 and tor the A12CO'A600 £99.95540MB A last, superslim drive with ample capaoty lor most users £129 95810MB A superb, supcrsiim Wive deal lor users ol serous applications £169 901,08GB The hi(y» performance superslrtl dnve is ideal tor power users £179 961.8GB i-is toc-cfthe-range dive * periect I or w *1203 & SX32Pio £199.95

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Voted A U l Am iga Company o f the Year 1996/7

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mem boards £6: manuds £7; 3.5* dines, modems, psus £950. T « CD* (2day)£t0

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All ernes rarlude VAT al 17.5%.VAT is not appicable to non-EC orders



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TFX TIPS

TFX T ip s ^Back once again with some more tips for the game that just gets better

the more you play it. Tips Central this month offers some advice on

survival, refuelling and frankly, cheating. Iff you've still got any queries on

TFX, send them to 'TFX Q+A' at the usual CU Amiga address.

f

ires rou to dock' w ith a purpose-built refueller plane that patrols

the skies at around 30,100 feet - a delicate operation that can |0 horribly wrong

A You can use the virtual cockpit or exterior views to check that your refuelling fa

been extended in anticipation for the rendezvous

R e fu e lin gThere w ill c o m e a tim e w h e n th e t ig e r in yo u r tank is exhausted and you run o u t o t fue l. Fortuna te ly fo r th e fo rg e tfu l, you are w a rn e d th a t yo u r fu e l is runn ing low . in w h ic h case th e t im e is n igh to re fue l. You have a ch o ice :• F ind a fr ie n d ly ru n w a y a nd land Iw h e re y o u w ill a lso b e re-arm ed)• Find a KC Tanker la re fue lling a ircra ft)

Press the Del ke y to open y o u r a irc ra ft's re fue l access

E F2000 R e fu e llin g

B oth m e th o d s a re n o t easy and requ ire practice , b u t it shou ld b e n o ted tha t loads o f bonus p o in ts a re o n o ffe r fo r re fu e llin g in th e air. A KC Tanker is a lw ays fu ll o f fu e l a nd o n s ta n d b y {above th e c lo u d s if it 's a c lo u d y day), so fly h igh . The ta n ke r usua lly op e ra te s a t a serv ice level o f 30 ,000 fe e l and at a speed o f around 3 00 knots. W hen yo u 're c lo s e e nough to th e KC Tanker and m a tch its sp e e d , it w ill re lease a fu e l line, o th e rw ise know n as a 'b o o m '.

A fu e l tu b e is lo ca te d a t the fro n t righ t-hand side o f th e a ircra ft fyou can see it if y o u use a V irtua l o r E xterna l v ie w ) The tr ic k is to f ly so tha t the tu b e pokes in to th e e nd o f th e b o o m re leased fro m th e le ft-hand feedin s ta tion o f th e KC-10 Twin B oom Tanker. W h e n y o u m anage th is , the b oom w ill lock in to p lace and re fue lling w ill a u to m a tica lly occur. The noi m a l fue l fe e d ra te is app rox im a te ly 3 00 ga llons pe r m inu te . The fue l gau g e sh o w s th e q u a n tity o f ava ilab le fue l.

Underhand cheats

H ere 's a g rea t chea t tha t le ts you s k ip righ t th ro u g h th e tra in ing se c tion a nd s tra ig h t on to

th e real m iss ions . A t th e Enrol screen, enter yo u r firs t n am e a nd surnam e a s no rm a l O nce you ’ve typed yo u r nicknam e, h o ld d o w n CRTL a s y o u p ress Return fo r th e th ird tim e . You'll advance to th e screen w h e re y o u se lect a save g am e s lo t, th e n o n to th e norm al gam e se lec tion screen N o w however, yo u 'll be ab le to se lect Tour o f D u ty a nd Flash Points. Easy eh>

I f th a t's n o t enough, th is chea t shou ld see y o u th rough th e entire g am e W h ils t fly in g , ho ld d o w n th e le f t S h ift key and type PLOP This invokes a chea t m o d e m aking y o u r p lane invu lne rab le to m iss iles W h a t's m ore , if y o u crash in to th e g ro u n d th e c u rre n t m iss ion w ill be regarded as a ccom p lished and yo u 'll be m oved o n to th e next. Do the sam e to tu rn th e chea t o f f again.

_-_i_%

Time w m tFE

- -S I

m....BRC 1M9 FUC 34S7r n c w ig mm

1 ^ 5 0 ' ►V’

A O ice you've hooked up. you con relax for a while as yoar tanks are replenished. As you

need to approach the refueller at roughly the same speed for a smooth dock’ , i t '* handy ti

turn on Timewarp mode, but i t should be turned off before this point to aid fina l adjustmen

B O


F -22 a n d F117aThe p ilo t o f an F-22 o r F-117a has a n easier t im e re fue lling . The re fue l access is a t the rear o f th e a irc ra ft, d ire c tly beh ind the cockp it. T h e KC-135E s in g le B oom tanker w ill push a p ro b e in to th e back o f yo u r a irc ra ft. A ll you have to d o is s it t ig h t and keep your

speed, head ing and a ltitu d e constant.

Emergencies

In land ing , m any th ings can g o w ro n g . If yo u r a irc ra ft is a lready dam aged. land ing m ay b e m ade m u ch harder, b u t a tte m p tin g a c rash land

ing i f poss ib le is a lw ays pre fe rab le t o e je c tin g and los ing yo u r a irc ra ft. If y o u have en g in e dam age, fo llo w th is p ro ce d u re as b e s t y o u can . You m ay have a m u ch h igher VSI read ing and you co u ld dam a g e yo u r gear, b u t g lid in g d o w n w ith b o th eng ines o u t is poss ib le .

Gear dam age co u ld p reven t you fro m e ithe r re trac ting o r low ering y o u r undercarriage . I f y o u ca n 't lo w e r th e undercarriage , land w ith o u t it.

Try to keep th e VSI v e ry low , and d e p loy th e b rake c h u te (A lt-b) i f you have o n e o n to u ch d o w n , w h ic h sh ou ld b ring y o u to a h a lt ra ther m ore qu ick ly . I f th in g s lo o k bad w h e n you h it th e g round, e ject.

I f yo u r w h e e l b rakes a re d am aged, i t w il l b e harder to s to p . D eploy th e b rake c h u te and air b rakes (b). If y o u lo o k like careering o f f th e end o f th e runway, d e p loy y o u r a rreste r hook (h). Every ru n w a y has a rreste r cab les fo r em e rg e n cy land ings (n o t o n ly a irc ra ft ca rrie rs l. If y o u can 't

acu ta lly land o n th e runway, land near to i t . You'll th e n b e in fo r a rough ride , b u t s hou ld have a g o o d chance.

A Something has gone badly wrong here, hot for a w hile at least i t 's s till possible to con

tro l the plane An emergency landing should he attempted, but if handling and mechanical

failure conspire against you, h it the e ject button (tscapel to save your skin.

A Oh dear. The General's not going to be happy w ith you is he? You’ve gone and rammed

into the back of the refueller plane. While the refueller is quite forgiving ol cack-handed

pilo ts, there is a lim it. No gold stars for th is mission then.

AMIGA t h £ _

W o r l

0 1 6 2 4 6 7 7 6 6 6—

Technical S upport: 0 1 3 2 5 3 5 2 2 6 0

h ttp ://W w w .en te rp rise .n e t

C o rpora te S o lu tttn s a lso available

Term s & co nd itio ns availab le on request

•£ 9 .4 0 mc.VAT, J t o online charges

All tra d s n a rk s recognised.


http://Www.enterprise.net

T ip s C en tra lHere we have another set of cheats sent in by you lot, and over on the

next page our brand new adventure guru Sjur Matheson all the way

from Norway, does some expert adventure solving for us.

P o p u lo u s S y n d ic a te

R ise o f th e R o b o ts R oad Rash C iv il iz a t io n

H ere 's a ta s ty litt le chea t from Eddie Van Dyke o f L incoln.

F irst you s ta rt c o n q u e s t gam e as usual. Then c lick o n th e Game Setup icon. N o w se lect custom cu s to m g am e and th e n gam e op tio n s . C lick on OK to g e t rid o f the gam e o p tio n s w in d o w , then c lick on evil, then 2 players and fina lly cancel.

If th is is d o n e co rrec tly the en e m y w ill b e unable to a lte r the landscape and a ll o f th e ir h u ts w ill be m u d h u ts and w ig w a m s

W e rec ieved a to ta lly w a c k y le tte r fro m C hris Lahabib from Croydon, w ith som e tip s o n Syndicate.

In o rder to p ick up cars, tra ins, even peop le and en e m y agents all you d o is d ro p a w e apon , c lic k on it again to p ick it up b u t then qu ick ly c lic k on a fo re ign icon as th e agen t b ends to p ick u p the w eapon , so it 's unsuccessfu l.

S till on ‘p ick-up-w eapon ’ m ode,

he/she trund les o ff a nd p icks up the a lien icon (as long as it 's stationary). Cars and tra ins appear as

H ere 's a m a g n ifice n t l it t le cheat fo r C ivilization sen t in fro m a chap b y the rather unusual name o f Cheezy in G rim sby., hope i t ’s n o t a ny th ing to d o w ith th e sta te o f h is socks !!

W hen you bu ild yo u r firs t colony, renam e it CHARLOTTE. You'll th e n see a m essage s ta ting ’Cheat M o d e A c tive ' and find at least 50,000 g litte r in g g o ld co ins in th e bank. A lso , a s a bonus the e n tire w o r ld m a p is availab le to view . Get crack in ' then !!

road, th e n yo u r car trave ls in and o u t o f v is ion a long a sing le s tra ig h t line a cross the screen.

M ore e xce rp ts fro m tha t le tte r fro m Chris Lahabib (w h o also c la im s to be su ffe rin g fro m 'tim e w a rp fa tig u e ' fo r som e unknow n reason), and here he supp lies a supe rb co llec tion o f chea ts for Road Rash.

F irst o f f ty p e in 112233 011H7 o r VUKBE 27QAG as yo u r passw o rd to g e t an in fin ite am oun t of m oney and tha t super-duper top no tch bike th a t you need.

In o rd e r to w in any race, you need to d rive in to th e rough, all o f th e w a y to the r ig h t un til you com e to a s top a t th e very extrem e o f th e play area.

Keep yo u r co n tro l to th e righ t a nd rev up to to p speed. That extrem e o f the play area has road like qua lities so tha t you can m a in ta in to p speed

Trees and houses w ill hurtle to w a rd s you , b u t th e ir ico n s vanish on ly ju s t b e fo re th e y com e in to co n ta c t w ith you. The end resu lt is th a t you jam the joys tick to d o th e ‘u p -righ t’ m anouevre w h ile you s it back and g e t the life scared o u t o f you , eventua lly w in n in g all the races.

w e a p o n s , and am azing ly you can n o w s tro ll e lsew here o n th e m ap and d ro p these w e apons ... Presto, th e vehicle sp lonks back o n to the g round, n o w sh ifted b fac ing the original d irection.

You can now

drive th rough w alls, so long as you don 't com e to a road and y o u 're in a n o w shiftec car. If you never com e

H ere 's one th a t's eas ie r to d o than it sounds. A cco rd in g to th e m anual, it 's im p o ss ib le to g e t tw o E lectrocorp d ro ids to fig h t each other, b u t Kay A re U lvestad of N orw ay has fo u n d a w a y to ge t both players co n tro llin g m ilitary d ro ids. C oncentra te now :

S e lect th e tw o p layer gam e. W hen th e handicap a d ju s tm e n t m e te r appears, playe r tw o m oves his jo ys tick righ t. W h e n the

bart go e s p as t the s ix th m arket fro m th e le ft (coun ting th e border m arkers w h ich m akes nine in all), p layer o ne m oves h is jo ys tick to the le f t a fe w tim e s (no rm a lly three o r fo u r is su ffic ien t), w h ile player tw o keeps ho ld ing his to th e right.

T he gam e shou ld n o w sta rt a u tom atica lly w ith b o th players

c o n tro llin g th e m ilita ry d ro id . J u s t m ake sure the bar is

b e tw een the s ix th a nd sev e n th m arket a ll th e tim e.

Y ou nee d h e lp

I f y o u w o u ld l ik e s o m e h e lp o n a n y g a m e - o r y o u h a v e s o m e t ip s t h a t y o u 'd l ik e t o s h a re w i t h y o u r f e l lo w re a d e rs - th e n p le a s e w r i t e t o us a t T ips C e n tra l a t th e fo l lo w in g a d d re s s , re m e m b e r in g t o m a rk y o u r e n v e lo p e A d v e n tu re o r A rc a d e a c c o rd in g ly :T ip s C e n tra l,C U A m ig a M a g a z in e ,3 7 -3 9 M il lh a rb o u r , Is le o f D ogs. L o n d o n E 14 9TZ.


A d v e n tu re h e lp lin e

by a s ta tu e ca lled G orloc to fin d a ridd le . W here is th e riddle?

I ca n 't f in d it anyw h e re !! In m y

inven to ry the re is a s w o rd , shield, bom bs, dagger, sha tte r sw ord , tin der. s tre n g th po tion , m a lle t, sc re w

driver, g loves, gem , shoes, ice ham m er and cu tte rs . Is the re som e

th in g I sh ou ld have p icked u p earlier? I've obv ious ly m issed som eth ing b u t w ha t? Please help m e as I've been s tu c k th e re fo r a lm o s t a year! K e rry B ro m fie ld , Lancs

Y ou need to g o b ack to G illih a rd s R hine, a s y o u seem to ha ve m o ve d o n a b it to o q u ick ly . I assum e the sh o e s in y o u r in v e n to ry a re the h y p e r b o o ts . F in d R u p e rt and ta lk t o h im . T hen w a lk r ig h t a w a y fro m h im u n t i l h e 's o f f screen , tu rn ro u n d and run h im d o w n u s in g th e h y p e r boo ts .

H e 'l l d ro p a s e c re t pass. Use th is t o g e t in to th e in fo rm a tio n s b u ild in g , w h e re y o u s h o u ld f in d a ch e s t c o n ta in in g th e b o o k o f r id d le s b u t w i th 3 pages m iss in g . To f in d th e m , lo c a te s o m e b a rre ls , use th e s h a tte r s w o rd t o sm ash th e m , a nd P res to , th e b o o k is c o m p le te .

G ive i t t o G o rlo c . I w o u ld a lso t r y p la y in g a ro u n d w i th th e s w itc h e s in th e T h e H ouse o f M ys te ry . L e ft, r ig h t , le f t , r ig h t , s o u n d s like a n in te re s tin g c o m b in a tio n .

E n ch a n tiaO n cu rse o f Enchantia I have given th e fish to th e e sk im o in th e ice lands b u t h o w d o you g e t o u t and w h a t d o you w ith th e fish ing rod?? C ra ig L icense

F irs t ly y o u sh o u ld m ake y o u r w a y t o th e b ig ice cube , th e n t r y f ig h t in g th e f is h in g p o le . Y ou 've n o w m ade a f ire ! L e t 's ju s t ta k e a m o m e n t t o a d d u p e v e ry th in g .

Y o u 're s ta n d in g n e a r a b ig b lo ck o f ice a n d h a ve ju s t m ade a fire . W h a t c o u ld p o s s ib ly h appen n e x t I w o n d e r? ... O ne 'a n o th e r c re a tu re e n jo y s i t 's f re e d o m ' la te r, and you

s h o u ld p ick u p th e ashes and w a lk a lo n g th e le f t s id e o f th e screen t i l l yo u m e e t th e W alrus.

N o w I d o n 't w a n t t o g iv e to o m u ch a w a y b u t y o u have to g e t a c ross s o , use th e W a lru s a s a b r id g e , th e n sc re a m fo r h e lp . You n e v e r k n o w y o u m ig h t ju s t g e t i t

S im o n th e s o rc e re rI 'm s tuck o n S im on the so rce re r 1. I ca n 't seem to g e t th e beer barrel in th e pub . Please he lp me.

A lso I tr ie d us ing the m a tches on th e beehive w h ic h is m e a n t to w ork b u t w o n 't, p lease te ll m e w h a t I’m do ing w rong??L o u is S hanahan

T h e se t w o th in g s are a c tu a lly c o n n e c te d . Y ou need to use th e w a x fro m th e b e e h ive o n th e b a rre l in o rd e r t o p lu g it . T hen th e b a rm an w i l l th in k i t 's e m p ty and c a rry i t o u ts id e .

N o w , h e re 's h o w t o g e t h o ld o f th e w a x . Y ou sh o u ld head f o r th e c a s tle . Use th e c la p p e r y o u sh o u ld

have fo u n d a t th e b la c k s m ith 's , w i t h th e b e ll, and a lo n g p ie ce o f h a ir w i l l fa l l d o w n . C lim b u p and in to th e w in d o w , th e n ta lk t o th e g ir l, and k iss her.

W h o o p s ! Take th e re p u ls e r back to th e c h o c o la te tru f f le h ouse and le t i t h a ve a l i t t le ta s te o f th e doo r. O nce in s id e , ta k e th e h a t a nd th e sm o ke b o x . U se th e s m o k e b o x on th e b e e h ive a nd th e re y o u go .

B ack w h e re w e s ta r te d , in th e bar, a sk fo r a d r in k t o keep th e ba r

m a n o c c u p ie d w h ile y o u d o y o u r m a g ic s tu ff.

B ig Red a d ve n tu reI'm s tu c k r ig h t a t the s ta rt o f The B ig Red adventure . I have le ft m y h o te l ro o m and p icked u p th e rope in th e foyer, b u t can ’t f in d a w ay o u t. It is driv ing m e com p le te ly m ad ! P lease help!D ick ie D im es, C h e ss in g to n

W e ll... You p ro b a b ly g o t u p o n th e w ro n g s id e o f bed . G o back in to y o u r ro o m , t r y th e bed , and

g e t u p o n th e s id e c lo se s t t o th e t o i le t th is tim e ... o n ly jo k in g , it ta k e s a m a s te rm in d t o f ig u re th is o ne o u t s o y o u s h o u ld n 't fee l em barrassed .

W h a t y o u d o , w h e n in th e fo y e r, (c o n g ra ts o n m a k in g i t th is fa r b y th e w a y ) is g iv e y o u r key t o th e Porter. T hen m o v e y o u r c u rs o r t o th e b o tto m o f th e screen to g e t o u t. D id y o u rem e- b e r th e T V -a e ria l b y a n y chance?

P o lice Q u e s t 2C ould you he lp m e w ith a p rob lem in Police Q ues t 2 . I 'm a t th e m ote l.

I've show n m y badge and th e mug s h o t o f B ains to th e guy a t th e w in dow , so I kn o w w h a t room he’s in, b u t I'm unsure o f w h a t to d o next. S te ve n F le tche r, B u ck in g h a m sh ire

G e t b ack to y o u r c a r a n d ra d io in a re p o rt. T h e n y o u re q u e s t a w a rra n t and ca ll f o r backup. R e m e m b e r 'S a fe ty F irs t ' ju s t like w i th im p o r ta n t fi le s o n y o u r hard d is k ... a lw a y s m ake b a ckups ! W e ll..E n o u g h w is d o m .

G e t o u t o f th e c a r a g a in and w a it . A n o f f ic e r w i l l co m e a lo n g a n d h a n d y o u th e w a rra n t. You s h o w i t t o th e m a n a t th e w in d o w , and a sk f o r th e ke y to th e ro o m . G o th e re and w a i t f o r y o u r b a c k u p to a rr ive . Be su re t o s ta n d a t th e r ig h t s ide o f th e d o o r w h e n y o u a tte m p t t o o p e n i t s o as t o a v o id b e in g s h o t. N o w y o u

w o u ld n 't w a n t th a t , w o u ld you?

M o n k e y Is land 2I'm s tu ck o n 'M o n ke y Island 2 ’. can you te ll m e h o w to w in th e sp itting co m p e titio n ? O n th e easy gam e, on Inky Island, I've g o t to the X m ark, bom bed it a nd w e n t dow n . I know you 've g o t to m ake a v o o d o o d o ll o f Le chuck and I g o t m o s t o f the ing re d ie n ts b u t can’t g e t som eth ing o f f th e head and a lso c a n 't open th e d raw ers in th e room w ith the broken d o w n g rog m achine, is the re a way?? Please help?J o h n Jo rd a n

W in n in g th e s p it t in g c o m p e tit io n is q u ite c o m p lic a te d . F irs t you need to g e t a l ib ra ry ca rd on P h a tt 's Isle. T hen g o to th e b a r on S cabb Is le , use th e ca rd a s ID, and b u y th e y e l lo w and b lue d rin k .H ey y o u eve n g e t a s u p le m e n ta ry c ra zy s tra w ! M ix th e t w o d rin ks and y o u e nd u p w i th a g re e n one.

N o w it 's t im e t o se t s a il fo r B o o ty Is le and t r y s p it t in g . D id n 't d o th a t w e ll d id you . T ry lo o k in g a t , and th e n m o v in g th e flags. Y o u 'll need a d is tra c tio n . T ry th e

h o rn o n sa le in th e a n tiq u e s h o p . T ry s p it t in g and y o u 'l l see a s lig h t im p ro v m e n t. T ry a g a in and th is t im e use th e c ra zy s t ra w o n th e g re e n d r in k t o g e t th ic k e r sp it.S t i l l n o t g o o d enough?

T ry one la s t t im e , and th is tim e lo o k a t th e s c a rf w o rn b y o ne o f th e sp e c ta to rs . S p it o n ly w h e n th e w in d b lo w s , a nd y o u sh ou ld be c h a m p io n .

T he S p e ris LegacyDear Helpline,I am s tu ck on ‘The Speris Legacy'. In th e o u tla w s Caves. I am asked


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TECH SCENE

6 2 H iS o ft C D -R kitP lu m m e tin g c o s ts o f CD re c o rd a b le d is k s and CD re co rd a b le d r iv e s n o w m ake w r ite -y o u r -o w n C D s a n a ffo rd a b le rea lity .

6 6 Sharp M in id isc_____________In a fo l lo w u p to o u r cove ra g e o f D ig ita l C o m p a c t C a sse tte , M a t B e ttin s o n checks o u t S h a rp 's la te s t p o r ta b le M in id is c p la ye r/re co rd e r.

6 9 V ip e r 52 0 C DTony H o rg a n checks o u t P o w e r C o m p u tin g 's a llin -o n e 68020 a cce le ra

te 4 1 to r a nd ID E /C D c o n tro lle r fo r th e A500.

7 0 Eyetech 1 2 0 M b flo pp y_____A f lo p p y d r iv e th a t uses 1 2 0 M b o p tic a l f lo p p y d is k s a s w e ll as 7 2 0 K /1 .4 4 M B PC d isks? M a t B e tt in s o n asks i f i t 's re a lly tru e .

3 7 2 PD Scene_______________T h e W o rld o f M a g ic , S p la t 2, H o td o g , T o ssw o rd , K idS TO P V 5.3. S te ve B ye re v ie w s th e lo t.

7 4 P D U tilitiesS te ve B ye ta lk s th ro u g h som e h a n d y u t i l i t ie s s o ftw a re a v a ila b le t o us A m ig a users.

7 8 C D -R O M Scene______________T h is m o n th i t 's a ga m e s sp e c ia l w h ic h fe a tu re s a w h o le b u n c h o f CD32 gam es a v a ila b le fro m Epic.

8 0 A rt G alleryA n d re w K o rn s tro k e s h is c h in a n d a s to u n d s y o u w ith h is k n o w le d g e o f a r t. . . w h i ls t ta lk in g y o u th ro u g h th e w o n d e rs o f A r t G allery.

W hat a monster

tion of Amiga goodies

we have this month!

You'll pry my

Amiga from cold dead fingers.

5 6 S canner Special__________L a rry H ic k m o tt exa m in e s th re e SCSI f la tb e d scanne rs . A re th e b ig b ra n d s b e s t o r w i l l a ch e aper u n it s tu m p u p th e goods?

61 Im ag inexT h is s o ftw a re a d d -o n to Im a g in e fa lls u n d e r J o h n K e n n e d y 's c lose sc ru tin y . He asks i f i t 's w o r th th e m oney.


ScannersTake a look at the new breed of

cheap high performance scanners,

along with some hot new software a

tested by Larry Hickmott.

nee upon a tim e, th e on ly cho ice the ^ A m iga o w n e r had w hen it cam e to

scanning im ages w as to e ithe r m ortgage th e house to buy a flatbed

scanner o r pu t up w ith a hand scanner, a fate w o rse than o w n ing a PC fo r many. The on ly s ign ificant advantage the hand scanner ever had over its m ore illustrious rival w a s p rice b u t now. even tha t e dge has been eroded w ith fla tbeds costing as little as a hundred pounds.

O n th e A m iga however, th is p rice advantage is com prom ised by available scanner drivers. Until recently, scanning so ftw a re w a s very th in on the ground b u t th is has recently changed fo r th e be tte r w ith th e arrival o f th e com m erc ia l package ScanQuix 3 (review ed over th e page).

A ll these changes in th e m arket m ean tha t you can n o w take any prin ted im age and use i t w ith in your o w n pro jects , w he the r th a t's standard DTP w ork. 3 D rendering, g raphic designs, w e b s ite creation o r whatever. You can scan im portan t docum en ts fo r arch ive purposes, use yo u r scanner as a pho tocop ie r in con junction w ith yo u r desktop p rin te r and explo it it even fu rthe r b y converting te x t o n paper to text on screen w ith th e he lp o f an OCR (Optical C haracter Recognition) program . W ith prices o f scanners n o w low er than ever, you d o n 't need m uch o f an excuse to buy one.

B u y in g a f la tb e d s c a n n e rThe n u m ber o f fla tbed scanners available to c o m p u te r users is m ind b ogg ling these days. W ith so m any to choose from , th e type o f fla tb e d you buy w ill depend on m any fa c to rs such a s its resolution , availab le op tiona l extras, p rice a nd m o s t im portan tly , an A m iga so ftw a re driver.

The f irs t p o in t o n yo u r check lis t sh ou ld b e an A m iga so ftw a re driver. W ith o u t it, yo u r scanner w ill b e useless. A s a general rule, scanners supported by com m erc ia l packages like ImageFX and ScanQ uix shou ld b e fine. If however, you m ust ins is t o n us ing a scanner no t covered b y a com

m ercia l package, t ry to g e t a n idea o f h o w good th e a lternative is be fo re buy ing th e scanner, because so m e non-com m erc ia l scanner drivers a re bare ly useable.

N ex t the re 's the sub ject o f op tional extras like

transparency adaptors . These a re lig h t boxes w h ic h s it o n th e to p o f scanners and a llo w you to scan slides. From w h a t I have seen o f these, a ded ica ted slide scanner is be tte r a lth o u g h I don 't

see any su p p o rt fo r th e se on th e Am iga .The th ird p o in t t o bear in m ind is th e reso lution

o f th e scanner, spec ified in DPI (d o ts p e r inch). A lthough y o u m ay have a 300dp i scanner, you m ay find y o u r so ftw a re on ly a llo w s scann ing in

lo w e r reso lutions. Th is m ay a lso occu r it you are

lo w o n m em ory. However, a h igher reso lution scanner w ill be a n in ves tm en t fo r th e fu tu re even if your cu rren t so ftw a re can 't m ake th e b es t o f it.

In m o s t cases, 100 to 3 00 d p i w il l b e plenty. It 's on ly w h e n y o u scan line a rt o r m ake enlargem en ts o f sm all details.

S c a n n in g re q u ire m e n tsThe tw o m ain cons idera tions as far as yo u r Am iga is concerned are RAM and hard d rive space. For anyth ing b u t very sm all scans yo u 'll need a hard d rive (preferab ly w ith p len ty o f spare space for yo u r scans (a g o o d 100M b fre e a t least in o rd e r to stock up a library) and a m in im u m o f 6 M b of RAM . ScanQuix has the usefu l o p tion o f scanning d ire c t to disk, w h ich a llo w s you to grab im ages fa r la rger than yo u r available RAM capacity. W hen cob ined w ith Im age S tud io 's v irtua l m em ory op tions, you can m an ipu la te th e m too.

Finally, m y overall im pression w a s tha t m o s t o f the 24-b it fla tbed scanners review ed w e re p re tty c lose in te rm s o f speed and quality, w h ich ju s t le ft price, som eth ing w h ich favoured th e H ew lett-

Packard ScanJet 5R Cheaper scanners ex is t but be very carefu l w h e n purchasing such units because m any o f these requ ire shareware drivers

and the quality o f these does vary a great deal. G ood Luck!

SUPERSTAREpson GT-5000-SCSI

Price: £289.00 ■ Supplier: Epson UK © 0800 220 546

so ftw a re . The a m oun t o f con tro l you have over it th e re fo re is de te rm ined to a degree by th e so ftw a re you use to d rive it. The qua lity of scans fro m the GT-5000 w a s a s expected, very good and if I’ve learned one th in g using Epson scanners, it is tha t they have proved to be ve ry re liab le over tim e.

Overall. I liked th e Epson GT-5000 SCSI but its does c lock in a t around £100 dearer than the com parable Hewlett-Packard o ffe ring review ed above righ t. ScanQuix 3 w o rks w ell w ith th is scanner, a lthough you can use it w ith o the r so ftw a re covered on th e fo llow ing pages o f th is round up. Perhaps build quality w ill p rove to be a plus po in t in the long term .

< Reliability is

the name of the

game w ith Epson

and the GT-5000

looks like being

no exception to

the rule.

This is p robably the m o s t popu la r scanner for Am iga ow ners and the re are m any reasons fo r th is. The m a in one is com patib ility . There are qu ite a fe w scanner drivers fo r the 300x300 dpi GT-5000 and it 's a lw ays been q u ite good value, a lthough th a t advantage has receded lately w ith p rice d rops fo r m any o f its c loses t com petito rs . Unlike the Epson GT- 8500. the 24-bit GT-5000 scanner does no t have dual po rts so you have to choose either a SCSI o r Parallel version o f the un it. The SCSI m odel rev iew ed here c om es w ith th e large C entronics type 50 w a y connectors . Cables for th is are easier to purchase than th e m ore c om pac t so-ca lled SCSI-2 variants w h ich are especia lly popu la r in lap top PCs.

The Epson GT-5000 is fa irly ord inary to look at. as you can see. Its ‘fo o tp rin t1 is only

s ligh tly larger than th e A 4 scanning area it o ffe rs , and it stands a bou t 7 inches tall

w ith th e to p dow n . It on ly has tw o bu ttons: o ne fo r p ow er and another to reset

the scanner. Everything else is con tro lled by

System Requirements: wnuench t« « t o tub «imemory, hard drive. Mare memory aid accelerator recommended.

OVERALL

An excellent scanner but over priced for the Amiga market.


Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 5P SCSI■ Price: £175.00 ■ Supplier: Hewlett-Packard © 01344 369 369

This w a s th e f irs t tim e I had used a Hew lett- Packard scanner and having had g rea t success w ith th e ir printers. I had high expecta tions fo r th is budge t p riced 24-bit fla tbed. The 300x300 d p i ScanJet 5P is about th e sam e size as th e Epson GT-5000 and com es w ith tw o SCSI-2 ports, so it can be placed w ith in o r a t th e e nd o f a SCSI chain.

O bvious ly you 'll need a SCSI-2 cab le to connec t it to yo u r Am iga. You'll a lso have to se t th e SCSI ID. U nlocking the scanner heads is certa in ly easier than o n the o th e r scanners. W hat is annoying how ever is th e location o f the p ow er sw itch : a t the back, on th e righ t hand side o f the scanner, m aking tu rn ing it on and o ff a pa in if it 's s ittin g a m o n g s t o ther devices (un less you ’ve g o t long arms).

Driving the scanner fo r the purpose o f the review, I used the ScanJet driver from ScanQuix 3. Th is w asn 't as trouble free as the Epson m odule. From tim e to tim e. I had som e tricky m om ents w ith the preview s on the

"Scan to D isk" u tility and a num ber o f corrupt files as w e ll, bu t w h a t results I d id ge t were certainly a m ong the best. I pu t the corrup t files dow n to the hard drive I'm using bu t users should be aw are tha t th is may happen from tim e to lim e , so check yo u r files carefully.

In the perfo rm ance stakes, th e t im e taken to scan im ages is qu icker w ith th e ScanJet a lthough the d iffe rence b e tw een th is and the other tw o isn 't anyth ing to really shou t about. Like the Epson GT-5000.1 used a Classic Squirrel to a ttach the ScanJet to the A1200 and used ScanQuix to con tro l it. I d id also use th e Hewlett-Packard m ode l w ith ImageFX 2.6, and a lthough no t troub le free (nor was ScanQuix), it d id a passable job.

If p rice is yo u r m a in concern, then th is is de fin ite ly the best o f th e th ree looked a t here. Even if it ’s no t. it 's still th e m o s t h igh ly reco m m ended overall. It m ay no t have the extra features o f the V iew Station, bu t it does just as good a jo b o n scanning prints.

A Doing an

impression of a

toadstool, the

HP ScanJet is a

great union of

quality and

value.

■ Price: £259.00 ■ Supplier: Gasteiner © 0181 345 6000

The 300x600 d p i A rtec scanner has been around fo r a w h ile n o w a nd if th e co m m en ts I've had fro m c u s to m e rs are anyth ing to go by, th e o n ly d ra w b a ck w ith it in th e past has been th e so ftw a re i t c om es s u p p lie d w ith . T h is doesn’t seem to be an issu e anym ore as it 's n o w supp lied w ith a vers ion of ScanQuix 3 (u n fo run ta te ly w ith Germ an m anual though).

O ne o f th e advantages o f th e A rtec V iew S ta tion ove r th e o th e r scanne rs on rev iew is th a t it co m e s w ith a C lassic Squirrel SCSI in te rfa ce as an op tiona l extra priced a t o n ly £ 30 if b o u g h t w ith th e scanner. The cab le supp lied h ow eve r w a s no t co rre c t so m ake su re th e one g iven to you w ill a llo w you to connec t e ve ry th ing up w ith o u t th e need fo r g e n d e r change rs a nd so on. Check w ith yo u r e x is tin g gear to fin d ou t h o w it w ill s it in yo u r sys tem and m ake a no te o f w h a t leads and co n n e c tio n s w ill be required b e fo re ordering.

To g e t u p and runn ing . I w a s n 't he lped by

th e lack o f any in s tru c tio n s fo r un lock ing the scan heads, se tting the ID and so on. These I ’m assured by Gasteiner. are norm ally p ro vided. O ne th in g th a t w o rr ie d m e th a t w o u ld have been he lped b y d o cu m en ta tion w a s th a t the scanne r lig h t s tays on w ith the A rtec, even w h e n its not in use (b u t tu rn e d on).

A t the e nd o f th e day, I w as im pressed w ith th e A rte c even though it w a s up aga inst som e s tif f o p pos ition . I t d id w h a t it w as asked and you can 't ask fo r m ore than tha t.It cos ts m ore than th e o th e rs here, b u t it do e s c o m e w ith a c o n n e c to r fo r an op tional transparency scanning unit, and a lso has a s in g le line LCD sta tus d isp lay on the scanner itse lf. It 's a b u t b ig g e r than th e o the r tw o . b u t no t su b s tan tia lly so. and o ffe rs increased upper lim its o f scann ing reso lu tion w ith its 300x600 d p i 'eye '. This is a good o p tio n fo r anyone w h o is lo ok ing to m ove in to m ore p ro fess iona l p ro jec ts in th e near fu tu re .

A Offering

300x600 dpi

scanning, the

ViewStation can

create some

very crisp repro

ductions.


ScanQuix 3■ Price: £59.95 ■ Supplier: Eyetech ® 01642 713 185

Much more than just a scanner driver, ScanQuix 3

offers seemless scanner import features with your

favourite graphics and DTP applications.

he A m ig a has fo r a long tim e had to d o w ith o u t a ded ica ted scanning package th a t g ives us the sam e fea tu res th a t PC o w n

ers have en joyed fo r years w ith th e ir scanner drivers. N o t anym ore, because ScanQ uix 3 le ts you use yo u r s canne r m u ch m ore e ffe c tively. You can use it o n o ne o f tw o m ain leve ls : e ithe r as a s tand-a lone scanning in te rface o r as a device to a llo w scanning d irec tly in to a num b e r o f ex is ting graphics and DTP packages. The ScanQ uix drivers cu rre n tly availab le w o rk w ith the H ew lett- Packard ScanJet. Epson GT series, A rtec and M u s te k scanners.

S ca n Q u ix : b a s ic useFirs t le t's take a look a t ScanQ uix in its m ost ba s ic fo rm : scanning an im age and saving it to disk. O nce a scan has been com p le ted , th e im age can be saved to d isk us ing various

co lou r de p th s such as 8 -b it {256 co lours) or 24 -b it {m illions o f co lours). JPEG saving is su p p o rte d fo r 2 4 -b it im ages, w h ich is handy con s id e rin g th e eno rm ous size o f raw 24-bit im ages o f even sm all d im ens ions . Som e A m iga -spec ific fi le saving o p tio n s w o u ld have been n ice (such as H A M -8 fo r exam ple) b u t any ha lf de ce n t im age p rocesso r w ill be able to conve rt b e tw e e n a fe w f ile types.

The on ly t im e scanning g o t m ild ly c o m p lica ted w a s w h e n I had to se t m any o f the a ttr ib u te s fo r co n tro llin g the scanner. These a ttr ib u te s vary depend ing on w h ic h scanner m odu le is be ing used a t th e tim e and I fe lt w e re no t th a t w e ll exp la ined in the prin ted manual.

S c a n n in g d ire c t to d is kA fu ll 24 b it scan a t 300 d p i o f an A 4 im age is g o in g to g e n e ra te a tru ly g ig a n tic f i le , far b ig g e r th a n m o s t A m ig a use rs w ill ever have ro o m fo r in R AM . For th is reason, th e re 's a Scan To D isk o p tio n in c luded , w h ic h cu ts o u t th e need to s to re th e en tire scanned im age in RAM a t once . T h is has th e knock-on e ffe c t o f a llo w in g q u ite large im a g e s to b e w o rk e d on by th o s e w ith sm a ll A m ig a s to o , a lth o u g h d o n 't b o th e r try in g to d o a n y th in g to o a m b iio u s w ith o u t

a t leas t 6 M b o f RAM .

N o w th e g o o d b itW e n o w c o m e to th e real high p o in t w ith ScanQ uix: its un ique a b ility to le t you scan in to a n u m ber o f app lica tions. These are fe w in n u m ber b u t neverthe less, p rov ide a m uch needed boost fo r th o se o f us w h o d o a lo t o f scann ing on the Am iga . The p rogram s s u p po rte d b y ScanQ uix 3 are Im ageFX. Personal Paint, P hotogen ics. PageStream 3 and Art D epartm ent Pro.

The scann ing o pe ra tion in PageStream 3 is dead easy. O nce th e scann ing m odu le has been ca lled fro m a PageStream macro. ScanQuix 3 appears on th e sam e screen as PageStream 3 a nd w h e n fin ished , the im age

is p laced o n to yo u r page. It co u ld n 't be s im p le r and I'm sure I 'm go ing to be us ing th is a lo t in fu tu re .

The next te s t w a s Personal Paint 7 and d e sp ite som e e rro r reques te rs on booting

th e p rogram d ue to the ScanQ uix scanner

driver hav ing tro u b le w ith a dev ice on the SCSI chain, o n ce Personal Paint w a s loaded.I w as tic k le d p ink to see h o w w e ll th e p ro gram w e n t a bou t load ing th e scanned im age via the usual ScanQ uix in te rfa ce w h ich opens up o n W orkbench.

Scanning in to ADPro again proved to be no p rob lem and I a lso m anaged to scan an im age in to Im ageFX a s w e ll a lth o u g h th is un fo rtuna te ly w a s n 't w ith o u t a fe w d iff ic u lties. none o f w h ic h a ffe c te d th e fina l image.

N o w i t 's a p h o to c o p ie r !The last fe a tu re o f ScanQ uix is the Pho tocopy p rogram . The a im o f it is to let you scan and p rin t in the one action . There are tw o scann ing m odes , one fo r te x t and another fo r ph o to s w ith fu r th e r c h o ices for th e reso lu tion o f th e scan.

The end resu lt o f the c o p y process w as an im age b e tte r than yo u 'll g e t on a s tandard p ho tocop ie r p ro v id in g you use a g o o d quality p rin te r w ith enhancem ent so ftw a re . W h a t I d o n 't u nde rs tand w a s w h y the a u tho rs have res tric ted it to black and w h ite . Le t’s hope w e see som e co lou r o p tio n s soon.

In sho rt. ScanQuix 3 is very good . Not pe rfe c t and m any areas co u ld b e im proved b u t I like it a lo t a nd i t ’s ju s t w h a t w e need. W ith a p rice o f £59 99 , it isn 't cheap b u t then it does a g rea t jo b o f g e ttin g th e m o s t fro m to d a y 's p ow erfu l scanners.

SCANQUIX 3Developer: Eyetech

System Requirements:Woikbeach 2 04 oi higher. 6Mb RAM and hard drive

s are simple to use. The configuration I section can be tricky but need not be used in general.

e interlace gets the job done, although there a few inconsistencies and occasional glitches.

p but for this kind ol integration withh a variety o l applications, i t s hardly eipensive.

A How about th is lo r a neat trick. Scan images straight

into PageStream 3 is not a problem lo r ScanQuix 3.

A ScanQuix enables you to scan text at high resolution

as well as photographs and other stuff. I t does not

though come w ith any OCR functions.

A ScanQuix 3 is a new package that allows you to scan

images using a number of popular scanners including

those from Epson. Hewlett-Packard, Artec and Mustek.

I OVERALL

I An essential puichase for all I scanner owners 90


Other Accesories

System R equirem ents: w u tk K h 204.6Mb memory, hard disk. Recommended: 18Mb

memory. Accelerator 6 FPU.

P o w e rsca nP ro fe ss io na l■ P r ic e : £49.95■ S u p p lie r: Pbwer Com puting■ C o n ta c t: 01234 851 500

L ike ImageFX, Powerscan P ro fess iona l has been around for m any yea rs and is a hom e g row n p ro d u c t fro m w e ll know n A m iga sup p o rte rs P ow er C om pu ting . Like ScanQ uix 3. Powerscan P rofessional is the type o f app licatio n th a t le ts you co m p le te th e job o f scann ing an im age w ith a m in im um o f fuss.

It com es w ith a w e ll p roduced manual and ce rta in ly has many m ore im age p rocess ing fu nc tions than ScanQ uix 3 b u t less than Im ageFX (n o t surp is ing really, as Im ageFX is th e und ispu ted king o f A m ig a im age processing). It is a lso

designed a round sup p o rtin g the Epson scanner range and as far as I know, no o thers . Its s tronges t advantage is p rice because o f all th e scann ing app lica tions. Pow erscan Professional is the ch e a p e s t a t £49.95.

M y on ly reserva tion a b o u t the program is th a t unlike ScanQ uix, it do e sn 't le t you scan in to app lica tio n s w h ich is s o m e th in g tha t I've found ve ry use fu l. If th a t’s som eth in g you can live w ith o u t, then Pow erscan Professional does the jo b a nd very w e ll a t th a t. C ould do w ith an in te rfa ce change though.

A Everything from large full colour scans to high resolution black and white copies are possible. If direct scanning into applications isn't important, check out PowerScan.

A The program with the best interface for scanning is ImageFX 2.6 although it must be said, I did experience a few glitches with SCSI scanners and the application is three times more expensive than either ScanQuix or PowerScan Professional.

C ab le cape rsW h a t's th e b ig g e s t p rob lem connecting a scanner to an Am iga

a fte r so ftw a re drivers? The answ er: cab les. A ll th ree o f the scanners I rece ived fo r rev iew gave m e g r ie f w h e n it cam e to c o n n e c tin g th e m to an Am iga.They a ll had d iffe re n t SCSI connections and i t to o k som e lateral th in k ing like us ing a Z ip d rive as an in te rm ed ia te conve rto r to g e t all th e scanne rs to co n n e c t to the

Am iga.If you happen to g e t a parallel

scanner like th e parallel ve rs ion o f th e Epson GT 5000. th e s itua tion isn 't any better. Forget th e cables th e PC and se ll or

g ive you, th e y w o n 't w o rk unless you have a specia l a d a p to r availa b le fro m E yetech. D epend ing on w h a t so ftw a re you use, th e ty p e o f cab le w ill a lso vary. A ll a re parallel cab les, bu t th e y are w ire d up d ifferently.

T h e varia tions in para lle l cables a re ScanQ uix. ASDG and GVP The m o s t p opu la r type o f cab le is an ASDG w ire d o n e w h ic h is suppo rted b y m any packages. That do e s n 't m ake it th e b es t b u t it does make it th e m o s t com pa tib le . Im ageFX, ScanQ uix. PowerScan

and A D Pro all su p p o rt it.The m ora l o f th e s to ry is to

make su re tha t w h e n you buy your scanner, you g e t th e appropria te

cab le o r you co u ld fin d you rse lf w ith a g rea t scanner b u t n o w a y to

co n n e c t it.

Im ag e F X 2 .6■ P ric e : £179.99■ S u p p lie r : W izard Dev.

■ C o n ta c t: 0181 303 1800

ScanQ uix 3 m ay b e the n e w k id on th e b lock b u t th e re are s t ill a num b e r o f o th e r p rogram s th a t w ill

d rive scanners o n th e Am iga . The o ne I have been us ing fo r years is Im ageFX w h ic h su p p o rts Epson and Hew lett-Packard scanners.

O f th e tw o m akes, I w o u ld say th a t Im ageFX s eem s to w o rk best w ith th e paralle l-based Epson GT series. Using it w ith SCSI versions o f the above scanners has resu lted

in m ixed resu lts a lthough m ay b e d o w n to the

I 'm using Squirrel).

ImageFX certa in ly has the best scanner in terface fo r previews and because you ’re scanning in to one o f th e fin e s t im age processing packages w e have on th e Am iga, it 's w e ll equ ipped to le t you d o w hat you w a n t w ith a scanned image.

Im ageFX’s o n ly d ra w b a ck is price. A t a lm o s t £180, i t ’s looked upon as being w e ll over p riced for th e average A m iga user, w h ich pe rhaps it is. It is h o w eve r a profess iona l q u a lity p ro duc t, p riced in tha t no-m an's land b e tw een c o m parab le p ro fess iona l so ftw a re on o th e r p la tfo rm s a nd fa r in fe rio r co m m e rc ia l so ftw a re and shareware. A t th e e nd o f th e d ay you ca n 't really qu ib b le a b o u t th e price as i t 's in a league o f its o w n . This is ju s t one area in w h ic h it shines.

System Requirem ents:nortkinch 2.04. 0Mb mummy, bird disk.

OVERALL

G etting on a b it bu t th is *■ Jpackage w ill le t you


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Parallel BiO Prnter CaNe I 8M Pamet Cabe 25 Ptd O Type tejll iAoaem Cable 250F-25DF Modem Cabe 25DF-2SDM RGB 9 Pin rAontKit Cable Exleniieo Multisync Mcnilor Cable Ext 143$ 23 Pm To 15 Pin D Map Amga To Start Cable ICM8833 Mkl 9 P«r Ertenson Cable 3M Amga Id PNIija 8833Mk II 250 To Cenlrtviics Male Ccntro-tir.r. Male To Female 1M Cen iron tee Male To Male 1M SCSI 3 Oe-ece internal Cable SCSI 7 Oewce Inievnal Cable Micro D Mate To Micro D Mate Micro D Mate To CcnJramcr. Male 250 To Ccnlromco Female Internal 50 Way SCSI To External Amiga A600AI200 2 5* IDE Cable DuaT3 5* IDE Cable A6COAI200 2 5' lo 3 5‘ CatXe Sel

Citizen

Stylus 600 Colour lnk|et £234.991440 x 720 DPI. e«<ri Bar*. 4(ttnC»aif KOSteffA&l Stylus 800 Colour inkiel £312.991443>>20DPI.8«rriB»».7w*rCttew ICOS-edASFl

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ABC 24 Pin 001 Matrix £ 119.99Xti 0P1.50 ASF 0JI h Otnxal Up m Fwd ai £34.99 PfOJeMIC £129.993XI x 3M CPI CcAxx ngti P-rtwg 70 Sfett ASF Pnntiva 600C £291.99

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http://www.firstcom.demon.co.uk/

*

1

i w r " 1" " ™ — —

Imaginex■ Price: £15 ■ Supplier: GOC Publishing © 01482 500597

Imagine is a way of life for some: could it

possibly be improved upon?

here is no d o u b t th a t a t tim es Im ag ine can b e a real p a in in th e rear v ie w display. I t w o u ld n 't be a lie to say th a t th e Detail

Editor, w he re m o s t tim e is spen t crea ting

ob je c ts , can appear overly co m p lica te d Of cou rse , o n ce it a ll c lic ks in to p lace it makes pe rfe c t sense, b u t the learn ing cu rve is so steep tha t a t tim e s i t seem s to do u b le back on itself.

O bv ious ly anyth ing w h ic h a tte m p ts to

m ake Im ag ine easier to use is th e re fo re very w e lc o m e indeed, espec ia lly a n e w p roduc t fro m a UK so ftw a re house. Im ag inex is a n e w p roduct, designed to im prove the Im ag ine user-in terface. and speed up everyday fu n c tio n s To achieve th is . Im aginex e xp lo its a little -know n, little -u se d Im agine

fa c ility th e a b ility to d e fine n e w b u tto n s O nce you in s ta ll Im ag inex (a pa in less

p rocess invo lv ing th e s in g le f lo p p y d isk and th e Im ag ine P re ferences E d ito r) you ’ll no tice tw o th in g s f irs t, th e co lou r schem e is now b lue , and second the re is an extra ba tch o f bu tto n s a t th e b o tto m o f the Detail Editor

Yes, Im aginex w ill speed u p Im agine, bu t n o t because o f any increase o f rendering speed The tim e you save w ill b e th e tim e you norm ally spend puzzling o ve r th e various m enu o p tio n s , because all th e v ita l fu nc tions

a re now availab le a t th e b o tto m o f the screen. Instead o f h u n tin g a round fo r the m enu o p tio n to crea te an o b jec t, you can n o w c lick o n th e O B J bu tton .

Click o n th e ATT b u tto n and th e ob jec t a ttr ib u te w in d o w p o p s up. The new se lect sc ro ll b u tto n s a re especia lly use fu l, cyc ling b e tw e e n th e o b jec ts o n screen o r ind iv idua l

B u tto n s

p o in ts or faces , depend ing on w h ic h ed iting m ode has been se lected . In fac t, as you can see from th e screenshots , p le n ty o f o ther co m m o n ly used fe a tu re s n o w have th e ir ow n bu tto n s M y fa vo u rite is th e o ne w h ich m eans y o u can n o w p e rfo rm a Q u ickrender

w ith a s in g le c lic k : b liss.The shade o f b lue used is p leasant too.

and has been ch o se n to reduce th e flickering caused w h e n runn ing Im ag ine in an in te rlaced screen m ode. I t ’s ve ry relaxing o n the eyes, bu t if y o u d o n 't like it, an ord inary b ro w n /g o ld co lou r schem e is provided.

On the m in u s side, m o s t if n o t all. o f the bu ttons rep lica te fu n c tio n s w h ic h have pe rfe c tly good Am iga-key sho rtcu ts . You aren't g iven th e a b ility to d o anyth ing new . on ly to

do w h a t you a lready do th a t litt le b it faster Im aginex does m ean tha t you can perfo rm a lm o s t all fu n c tio n s w ith o u t touch ing the keyboard, b u t it d o e sn 't p e rfo rm m irac les

F aste r ren d erin g ?W ell, a lm ost. A s you p ro b a b ly know . Im agine m akes use o f p re se t g raph ics m odes . These a re the im age sizes w h ic h you can select

f j l g a

or «n*>» «•» l i a r

F a t to fa r I I I

' • I k f » r "»w

H lQ H -s r ttD - i H OH nnL-m m tri HIGH srCCD-1 HIDE SCREEN HION-SRECD-? NORflM - SC RTIN HIQH-SrLLD-2 Ml DE-SCREEN HI QWU.ITV 1 -Okrim . SCREEN H I -Q lift I I IY —I MIDI - H I-a V H L llY -2 NOW 1lll.-It.Ktm

▲ A change incolor, bat ■otice the eitra buttons i t the bottom of the screw The Detail Editor h is been upgraded1

w h e n you open a rendering su bp ro jec t fro m

th e Project m enu. Im ag inex has PAL-ified all these fro m th e ir d e fa u lt NTSC se ttin g s Iso tha t a low -re so lu tio n screen is 320 b y 256

ins tead o f 3 20 by 200) a nd a lso p rovided som e sens ib le AGA H A M 8 se ttin g s Two n e w m odes g iven the n icknam e "Pixel Burners" a re d e fined , a nd th e se a re sm all enough to rende r quickly, w h ils t s till be ing la rge e nough to be visib le.

O the r p re se t m o d e s are de fined w ith ink je t p rin te rs in m ind. The se ttin g s have been o p tim ise d to su it p rin te rs operating fro m 3 60 by 360 DPI to 1440 b y 1440 DPI. To he lp you plan fo r th e se se ttings , a te m p la te

is p rov ided fo r you to load in to yo u r scenes. Th is is in rea lity a rec tang le w h ich w o n t

appear in yo u r fina l scene, b u t is use fu l for accu ra te ly c o m p o s in g yo u r scene

A ga in , th is is n o th in g w h ic h you cou ldn 't ac tua lly d o yo u rse lf i t ’s s im p ly th a t the m a jo rity o f Im ag ine use rs w o n ’ t have b o th ered. o r even know n th a t th e fac ilities exist This laziness d o e s resu lt in a lo t o f w asted tim e in m enu o p tio n s and larger-ihan-necessary test-renders.

It w o u ld b e easy to w r ite Im aginex o f f as un im p o rta n t, bu t a fte r us ing it fo r a w h ile it has proved its e lf ve ry use fu l on m y system , and I’d ce rta in ly n o t d e le te it. The asking p rice is fair, and in sho rt, if you d o use Im ag ine a lo t y o u ’ll f in d th a t Im aginex makes th in g s tha t lit t le b it eas ie r and q u ic k e r ■ J o h n K ennedy

IMAGINEXDeveloper: GOC Publishing_____________

System Requirements:Imagine

OVERALL

Worthy add ition to Im a g in e ... n ice new co lou r schem e too!

L


Squirrel CD-R■ Price: £399.95 ■ Developer: HiSoft b Philips ■ Supplier: HiSoft 0 01525 718 181

A plug *n' play CD writer package for the A1200 is

long overdue. Now HiSoft have rectified the

situation with their Squirrel CD-R.

SUPERSTAR

H iS o ft CDR o p tio n sB ecause o f th e v a ry in g s p e c if ic a tio n A m ig a s o u t th e re , H iS o ft a re v e ry f le x ib le w h e n i t com es to CD-R packages. Here are th e m a in ones.S qu irre lC D R X L - E x te rn a l d r iv e + d is k , M akeC D a nd S u rf S q u irre l £469.95

S q u irre lC D R GT: E x te rn a l d r iv e + d is k , M akeC D a n d n o SC S I In te rfa ce £399.95

S qu irre lC D R 1: In te rn a l d r iv e + d is k , M akeC D a nd n o S C S I In te rfa ce £349.95

M ake CD p r iv a te v e rs io n w ith m anua l £39.99

CD-R m ed ia - p ack o f 10 £22.90

d readed b u ffe r underun ' in w h ic h th e dala s tream dries u p (even i f o n ly fo r a s p lit second). The re su lt is a ru ined CD-R d isc disaf- fe c tiona te ly kn o w n in CD-R c irc le s as a coaster'.

T he S q u ir re lThis ex trem e ly p opu la r PCM CIA SCSI in te r

lace is ju s t th e tic k e t lo r an A t 200. K now n to lu n c tio n p e rfe c tly w ith a w id e va rie ty o l

A m iga acce le ra to rs and various SCSI dev ices , th e S qu irre l is a g o o d general c h o ice to co n n e c t a CD-R to th e A 1200. There 's a lso the S u rf Squirre l w ith m u ch th e sam e SCSI in te rfa ce But a lso sp o rtin g a high speed serial p o rt fo r th e N et heads

H iS o ft te ll us they can s u p p ly a ny co m b ina tion o l S quirre l va rian ts , in te rna l a nd exte rna l C D-R s and o f cou rse the MakeCD so ftw a re .

D rive o p tio n sH iS o ft w ill e ilh e r supp ly a P h ilips CDD2600 or a Yamaha CDR200T m echan ism w ith the ir CD-R bu n d le B o th a re ro u g h ly th e sam e spec ifica tion , read ing data a nd ra w cd d a ICD D ig ita l A u d io ) a t s ix speed w h ile they w r ite a t tw o speed.

H ere a t CU A m iga , w e 're fa m ila ir w ith th e C D R 200 a nd its fa s te r b ro th e r the C DR400. as w e use th e m to c u t ou r cove r CDs. These d rive s are fa m o u s fo r re lia b ility and a lack o f firm w a re p ro b le m s . S adly th is is n o t q u ite th e case w ith th e P h ilips

C D D 2600 d rive . I've heard num erous re p o rts o f firm w a re p ro b le m s w ith th is d rive . A fte r an an e x tens ive te s t o u t o n a v a rie ty o f so ftw a re , it s u cce ss fu lly m anaged to w r ite m u lti-se ss io n . M o d e 2 s ty le p h o to C D s and so on . w h ic h is to be e xp e c te d b u t

a b it o f a ch a lle n g e a ll th e sam e. H ow ever, it d id n 't w o rk in D isk-A t-O nce m o d e w ith B urn It ( th e b und led M akeC D so ftw a re

d o e s n 't d o D isk-A t-O nce)T h is is a l it t le b it o f sh a m e as Disk-At-

O n ce m akes it po ss ib le to m aste r com p lex aud io C D s w ith track m arkers and custom

lead-ins. The Yamaha d rive o n th e o th e r hand is fa u ltle ss here.

The Philips a lso had a b it o f a p rob lem read ing ra w CD aud io R eading cdda o f f a CD to w a rd s the end o f a d isc (the ou ts ide edge) saw th e d rive lock up. report e rro rs and so on.

The p rob lem w e n t aw ay if I fo rced M akeCD to read a t s ing le speed though.

W e 've had bad experiences w ith th e fo rm e r Ph ilips m ode l, th e C D D 2000 b u t Philips seem to have ironed o u t m o s t o f th e p ro b lem s. Given a cho ice . I w o u ld s till p re fe r the

n b o u g h t m y firs t

CD w rite r (a bare SCSI m echan ism ) fo r a bou t £800. w ith every blank d isk c o s ting

£10. Look ing a t to d a y 's p rices it 's hard to be lieve tha t w a s on ly a co u p le o f years ago. These days th e c o s t o f b lank CDs has fallen to a b o u t £2 and lo w e r if you shop around.

A t th is p rice , th is m eans CD Recordables (CD-R fo r sh o rt) a re eas ily th e cheapest rand o m access m ass s to rage a round A ctua lly w r it in g to a CD-R is a d e lica te a ffa ir, s lo w and tim e critica l, bu t a t the end o f the day you have a 6 5 0 M b d isc tha t can be read by standard C D-RO M drives M o s t CD-R drives can read a lo t fas te r than they w rite , and so

do u b le u p as very capable C D-RO M drives in

th e ir ow n righ t

That m akes a CD-R d rive m o re a ttractive

than ever. H iSoft have p roduced a pack fo r s tan

dard A 1200s w h ich bundles a S quirre l PCMCIA SCSI in te r

face and an exte rna l CD w rite r w ith its o w n p ow er supply. H iS oft a re also th e UK dealers fo r th e supe rb CU Superstarra ted M akeCD so ftw a re and th is is p rovided in th e bundle

The d raw backs o f CD-R in th e p as t w e re th e c o s t and th e tim e critica l nature o f record ing . The c o s t has c o m e d o w n and in roads have been m ade in to reco rd ing re liability . the la tte r a ccom p lished w ith larger in terna l bu ffe rs . W hen CD-Rs a re ‘cu ttin g ’ a go ld d isk , th e y m u s t feed th e d rive w ith a co n tin u o u s f lo w o f da ta (un like o the r sto rage devices). I f th e CPU o r th e SCSI bus is in te rrup ted . the CD-R is in danger o f su ffe rin g the


A p p lic a t io n s

A ll th is CD c u tt in g is w e ll and g o o d b u t w h a t can y o u re a lly d o w i th it? H e re 's a fe w o f th e m o s t c o m m o n ;1. Backups.B ack ing u p p ro b a b ly w o n 't be th e m a jo r reason to b u y a C D -R b u t w h e n y o u 'v e g o t o n e , a q u id p e r m o n th to c o p y th e v ita l p a rts o f y o u r h a rd d rive t o CD c a n 't be bea t. W h e n th in g s go b a d ly w ro n g , h a v in g y o u r e n tire sys tem a nd v ita l f i le s o n a CD m akes y o u fee l v e ry g o o d t o have a CD-R.2. L ib ra ry s to ra g e .I f y o u h a ve an a p p lic a tio n th a t req u ire s

f i l in g o f la rg e q u a n it ite s o f file s , be th e y scanned im a g e s , so u n d s a m p le s o r w h a te v e r, C D is idea l. I t s to re s a la rge a m o u n t o f d a ta b u t is v e ry q u ic k to access. O ne can a lso use m u ltis e s s io n m o d e s to a p p e n d m o re d a ta t o a CD w h ic h has a lre a d y been re co rd e d to .3. A u d io reco rd in g .T h is is a v e ry n ice a p p lic a tio n o f CD-Rs. I t 's p o s s ib le t o read th e ra w d ig ita l

a u d io f ro m e x is t in g C D s in to la rg e da ta file s . These can th e n be b u rn t o n to a n e w C D -R c re a tin g a p e rfe c t d ig ita l copy. T h a t m e a n s y o u can m ake yo u r o w n C D s w i th y o u r fa v o u r ite C D tra cks w h ic h w i l l w o rk ju s t f in e in a CD p o rta b le fo r exam p le .

T h is m ig h t have been o v e r th e to p w i th h ig h m ed ia cos ts b u t in re ce n t t im e s th is is a v e ry rea l a lte rn a tiv e to o th e r d ig ita l a u d io re c o rd in g m e th o d s . A CD-R is a f ra c tio n o f th e c o s t o f DAT o r M in id is c m e d ia a lth o u g h w r i te o n ly once o f cou rse .

A Here's Make CD's maia GUI about to build one of CU Amiga’s cover CDs.

Yamaha drive , so it w o u ld be a good idea to reques t it specifically.

H iS o ft ’s e x te rna l box fo r e ith e r d rive ca n 't be fa u lte d w ith its SCSI ID se le c to r and a reaso n a b ly a ttra c tiv e fin ish , th o u g h pe rso n a lly I’m n o t to o keen o n th e Squirre l sticker.

The S o ftw a re : M akeC DM akeC D has been covered in de ta il p rev iously. I t ’s th e p re m ie r CD m astering s o ftw a re fo r th e A m iga, used to m aste r CU Am iga ’s o w n cove r CDs.

M akeCD su p p o rts v irtua lly every th ing the re is to suppo rt e xcep t fo r D isk-A t-O nce m ode.If you w a n t to d o fancy aud io m astering , the expens ive Burn I t is th e o n ly o p tio n until M aste r ISO 2 arrives la ter in th e year.M akeCD su p p o rts eve ry flavour o f ISO gen

era tion you co u ld poss ib ly w ant.W h e th e r you w a n t to m ake a s im p le CD

c o p y o f yo u r hard d rive o r m u ltip la tfo rm ISO 9660 and R ockridge fo rm a ts , i t ’s u p to the job . M akeC D also has the fa c ility to cu t 'on the f ly ’. Instead o f bu ild ing th e 'ISO im age ’ on to a hard d rive a nd then cu ttin g fro m tha t, it can bu ild the ISO im age and send it s tra ig h t to th e CD w rite r, thus saving hard

drive space.U nfortunate ly, to cu t on th e f ly th e re a re a

nu m ber o f fa c to rs w h ic h a ffe c t success. These are th e speed o f the Am iga , speed of th e d rive , w h e th e r you are read ing fro m a SCSI d rive o n th e sam e in te rface and w h e th e r the re ’s a lo t o f sm all f ile s in the

source.The on ly safe w a y is to t ry f irs t in Test

m o d e b u t th is invo lves hang ing a round fo r as long as it takes to cu t a CD to see if it w ill w o rk fo r real. In reality, w e recom m end you don ’t co u n t on th is w o rk ing , ins tead m aking su re you have a la rge hard d rive fo r storing th e tem pora ry ISO images.

M ake CD is a fa n ta s tic package b u t it is loaded w ith sw itch e s and s e ttin g s w h ic h can

be con fus ing . T h o u g h tfu lly H iS o ft have provided a p rin ted manual ra ther than the Am igaG u ide on ly fo rm as re leased on A m ine t. M akeCD s till isn’t pe rfe c t however. I t ’s n o t as e ffic ie n t as M as te rlS O and the package s ta tes a 68030 as one o f the requ irem ents.

W ith th e P h ilips drive, every tim e I tried to a b o rt a process, I found th e package locked up and I needed to reboo t. The MakeCD authors say th is is d ue to th e CD- R ignoring a SCSI com m and w h ich seem s to p o in t to o a suspe c te d firm w a re bug.

The M akeCD GUI is also ra ther la rge and convo lu ted .N ot a m a jo r cons ide ra tion s in ce w h e n cu ttin g CD-Rs. the Am iga sh ou ld b e le f t a lone to avo id bu ffe r unde rruns b u t I w o u ld have liked th e m ain GUI to have van ished a t least.

C o n c lu s io nThe Squirre l is the w e a k link in th is set-up. as w ith a ll PCM CIA dev ices it ’s n o t th e qu ickest and it a lso co n su m e s s ig n ifica n t CPU tim e.A s a resu lt th is im pacts o n read ing fro m an IDE dev ice w h ic h is a lso a CPU driven in te rface . N o d o u b t th is is w h y H iS o ft d o n 't o ffe r the o p tio n o f a m ore expens ive 4 speed CD- R deck.

I'm im pressed w ith th e fa c t th a t th e pack does w o rk fau ltless ly o n a standard 68030 equ ipped A1200. That sa id, cu ttin g on-the-fly is v irtua lly im p o ss ib le un less the re ’s no t a lo t o f sm all f ile s to w rite . W e tr ie d to copy a CD fro m an IDE CD-ROM to th e CD-R w ith

M akeC D s copy fu n c tio n b u t th is a lso fa iled w ith a bu ffe r underrun.

The Squirre l CD-R package w o rk s w e ll enough fo r th e m a jo rity o f app lica tions . If m aking severa l changes to a large CD and th e n re cu ttin g is your bus iness then you 'd be w e ll adv ised to co ns ide r a fas te r SCSI in te rface . perhaps an add-on to a tra p d o o r a cce le ra to r such as th e Blizzard SCSI, then it shou ld b e poss ib le to use a 4X CD-R and

b u ild on-the-fly.M o s t o f u s w o n 't need th is a nd w ill w e l

co m e th e va lue fo r m oney th a t the Squirrel CD-R package presents . A sk fo r th e Yamaha 200 CD-R m echan ism , o rgan ise a la rge hard d rive and y o u w o n t b e d isappo in ted w ith the

H iS oft CD-R bundle. ■M a t B e ttin s o n

I OVERALL

I E xcellent and econom ica l CD I w r it in g so lu tion .


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iWrtiCT^awioiWWSKWcronvrtoiWnsjnMP!Cyberstom II68040/40 «MHf 6»5»s»: CMb. tiw-dWe id i 28Mj Cyberstornt II68060'SO Wo. id i/H it JB lV iT VCyberstorm II SCSI-2 Module ▼ W W FCyberstonn II SIMM RAM Expansions i»e*eiMk.«rargeatSWW(»xM ■ f “ *

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(O»o-. lu* * W SC9* «B WAM n *»W W* ** to w I2»'C art tJM Blimrd1240TitRC Turbo 4Wtrfa»lirtMUW»nj.CMi32&i Fast SAM op to US

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S T P B B M f f ihag- 4,ot,ub

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than 10 bmes tasio r . r ar>r £8t based artriwe wtt doc< sweds c» ’ M.' 80 art ZCCMHz. re c OUk m acceots erTe* s 68M0 cr (80M Tl ennmelr last menay exprun xrq wn ol v

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Sharp MD-MS200 Minidisc■ Price: £289.99 ■ Developer: Sharp ■ Supplier: Victor Electronics ® 0181-4271889

► Here's Ike

S h ir* MD-MS2I0

portable

Miteidisc

player recorder.

Hoi M l) high

lech staff h i t it

leeks great to

We've looked at Philips' Digital

Compact Cassette, now it's the

turn of Minidisc with the latest

Sharp model.

o n su m e r e le c tro n ics has to be s o m e th in g p re tty specia l fo r us to cover. P h ilips ’ d ig ita l casse tte w a s ju s t th a t; s tunn ing CD qual

ity audio in HiFi separa tes and portab le playe r/recorders alike. Sadly P h ilips dec ided to p u ll o u t o f DCC a nd th e fo rm a t is destined fo r th e h is to ry books a long s ide Betam ax. T hose w ith DCC k it and a s u p p ly o f tapes w ill no d o u b t use it fo r m any yea rs y e t bu t w h a te ve r k illed DCC had to b e s om eth ing specia l. It w as . it w a s M in id isc.

S ony 's M in id isc in itia lly fa iled to im press m e. The early u n its had tw o serious ly negat ive fea tu res ; they w e re very expensive and th e aud io qua lity w as c lea rly in fe rio r to DCC a nd CD S ince then , a n u m ber o f o the r m a n u factu rers have licensed M in id isc to m ake th e ir o w n un its . Th is coup led w ith rising popu la rity and b e tte r te chno logy has forced p rices dow n . A ll th a t rem ained w as the audio qua lity issue. That to o has been addressed.

S harp is sh a rp e rThe p o rtab le M D p layer/recorder review ed here is th e Sharp M D -M S 200 . th e m am com p e tito r to S o n y 's popu la r MZ-R30. I spend a

lo t o f t im e com paring the tw o units in HiFi shops and eventua lly conc luded the sam e as w e b based research w a s saying, the Sharp has be tte r qua lity aud io , be tte r fea tu res and

is m uch be tte r value. W h a t’s it like then?From th e o u tse t, th e M S 200 s truck m e as

th e m o s t incred ib le p iece o f te chno logy I've w itn e sse d yet. The po rta b le 200gr (th a t's ligh t*) un it fe a tu res fro n t load ing and com es w ith a 3 6 v 1400m Ah L ith ium -Ion ba tte ry tha t w e ig h s less than a s in g le A A w h ile sp o rting m any tim e s m ore pow er. The Sharp w ill p layback fo r an ou trageous 9 .5 hou rs a t a realis-

F u rth e r re a d in gIf you ’re in te res ted in M in id isc a nd fin d in g th e b e s t m o d els and p rices fo r you. th e re 's tw o w e b s ites you shou ld check out;h t tp : / /w w w .m in id is c .o rgand if you w a n t to buy the la te s t m o d e ls at to p rates d ire c t fro m Japan, cons ide r N ic B oyde at; h t tp : / /w w w 2 .g o l.c o m /u s e rs /b o y d e /M D p a g e h tm l

t ic vo lu m e level and record fo r

7 hours! An op tiona l 6 x AA pack c lip s to th e back The

lis t o f fea tu res and n ice ties o f theS harp goes on , the headphone re m o te carr ies fw .back.s top .p lay.bass boost/track insert and d ig ita l u p /dow n vo lum e . The la ter is w e lc om e. no ro ta ry co n tro ls to b reak a fte r a fe w m onths. T here 's also a socke t on the head

phone re m o te to use yo u r O W N headphones D ecent in-ear u n its are p rovided A lso con ta ined are a fa t m anual. 6 0 m in disc and carry ing pouch.

E d it in g fu n c t io n sA s w ith alt M in id isc u n its , reco rd ing can be n um bered , labe lled , e d ite d , d e le ted , inse rted , jo in te d and a p le thora o f o the r e d iting fu n c tio n s . The b u tto n co n tro ls are ve ry easy to use. The in p u t/o u tp u t jacks are a lso very w e ll th o u g h t ou t. The in p u t jack is a dual a na logue/op tica l d ig ita l in p u t, reco rd ing level can b e a d ius ted o n th e f ly a nd th e re 's a very g o o d peak h o ld LCD level meter.

The o u tp u t jack d rive s headphones and line level o u tp u t alike. T h e LCD d isp lay is a fu ll d o tm a trix a lphanum eric |0 b. Physically th e u n it is g o rgeous , lig h t and robust. The reco rd ing qua lity is s tu n n in g . I reco rded a

v a rie ty o f sou rces and th e p layback w a s unbe lievab le th rough headphones and jacked in to a HiFi. M in id iscs th em se lves a re fan tastic . sm a lle r th a n a flo p p y d isk o r even a CD s ing le, th e s h u tte r can 't b e opened b y a cc id e n t a nd m a n y M D s can f i t in a p o cke t w ith

th e Sharp com fortab ly.A m I im pressed? You bet. Th is tin y m ira

c le o f te ch n o lo g y has rendered m y entire DCC HiFi d eck and po rta b le p layer obsolete. M D prices a re n o w cheaper than DCC tapes and th e e d iting fac ilities are superb . It 's great sk ip p in g tracks ju s t like a CD d iscm an. The m ic ro p h o n e in even po w e rs a c tive m ic ro phones and unsu rp ris ing ly o ffe rs a ce rep ro d u c tio n . I rea lly can’t re com m end it enough.

T h e y 'll have to p ry i t fro m m y co ld dead fin g e rs b e fo re they g e t it back. ■M a t B e ttin s o n

A u d io c o m p re s s io n

reduce th e q u a n tity o f data ed for d ig ita l aud io to ach ievable

audio co m p re ss io n ta rge ts o n ly the sounds th a t th e hum an ear can d is tingu ish . Th is w a y th e ea r’s w eakness-

> can b e exp lo ited . In su ch com press ion schem es. G enerally th e m o re com p lex th e com p re ss io n , th e b e tte r qua lity audio

i b ttra ie o r a 1 fo r th e sam e

w a s based on a varian t MPEG t 192kb/s. T h e orig ina l

n y 's p rop rie try ATRAC This w as te rrib le . Fortunately

' a co u p le o f years Sony developed

i o f ATRAC 1 tha t it 's eas ily indis- lab le fro m CD a ud io . Sharp have fur-

1 ATRAC them se lves and the un it :ed a t here uses 24 -b it D igita l Signal

ng and th e ir o w n ATRAC 5.

SHARP MD-MS200HDeveloper Shaip___________

System Requirem ents:Audio sources to lecoid or commercial Mraidtsc recordings

records yoa caa skip a Hrfi

OVERALL

The u ltim a te techno logy in portab le audio


http://www.minidisc.org

http://www2.gol.com/users/boyde/MDpage

S i a m e s e P C f o r A 1 2 0 0 o n l y £ 7 9 9 . 9 5 i n c V a t

The Ultimate A1200 Upgrade from

Will run with Amiga 2000/3000/4000 with Kicl</WB3+ but needs Zorro bus Ethernet upgrade £49.95 Amiga needs hard drive and 4mb ram.

Siamese PC with RTG v2.1 features !!Use PC graphics card as an Amiga RTG graphics display. Each Intuition friendly program opens in a seperate PC Window upto 256 colours &1024 x 768 (higher with 4mb graphics upgrade). You can also have 24 b it backdrops & Video on workbench. Siamese RTG uses Zero Amiga ram for display in any resolution.Amiga can use the 1 6 b i t CD Q u a l i t y sound card in the PC, including Wave sound generator.High Speed PCMCIA Ethernet card, using TCP/IP to transfer Files, graphics, sound, user input etc.Use cheap PC drives from the Amiga including CDrom, Hard Disk, HDD floppies, Removable drives, Tape streamers at very high speed.Use any modem (optional) through TCP/IP, use IBrowse, Netscape 4, AmiFTP, AmilRC ail at the same time and through one Internet connection. Runs all Windows/Dos programs and games at 166mhz processor speed, no slow emulation.Use low cost MJoea cards to enhance your Amiga multimedia abilities, from £150.00 for VHS quality video record/playback. SVHS versions from £500. Perfect for Video producers moving from Amiga based Analogue to Digital production methods.

All this for only£ 7 9 9 . 9 5S iam ese PC’s in c lu d e th e fo llo w in g com p on en ts ....

C y rix 166m hz p ro ce sso r, 512k ca ch e m o th e rb o a rd , 16m b EDO ra m , 1 .7gb d rive , 1 .44 m b F lo p p y d rive .16b it so u n d ca rd . 4 m b s3d 6 4 b it PC I g ra p h ic s ca rd . K e ybo ard , M ouse, W in d o w s 95 , C E a p p ro ve d M in i I / - 4 DSDT o w e r case . A m ig a c o m p o n e n ts :- H ydra p c m c ia e th e rn e t card , S ia m e se v2.1 S o ftw a re (no s w itc h e r) , I f l C i f C l © X f O f f

Siamese upgrade packs . .. ... for Amiga / PC owners.

!! Software only v2.1!!Supports optional High speed Ethernet network,

“the diference to the SiameseRTG was astounding” Mat Bettinson CU Amiga

Launch special on ly £ 99 .95

C a l l f o r c o n f i g u r a t i o n u p g r a d e o p t i o n s

AMIGA rJ S T T O jJ QS i a m e s e V id e o S w i t c h e rOriginal Switcher card and cable kit

for use with the Siamese PC pack above and Siamese RTG v2.1

software only pack.

£ 9 9 . 9 5inc ludes S iam ese v1.5 softw are.

Still not convinced, then take the Video B u y t h e S i a m e s e V id e o o r S i a m e s e M P e g C D f o r £ 5 i n c P & P . T h e n i f y o u w a n t t o b u y t h e S i a m e s e s y s t e m w e w ill r e f u n d d o u b l e t h e C D / V i d e o p r i c e f r o m y o u r S i a m e s e o rd e r .

D o n ’t w a it , b u y i t T O D A Y !

S iam ese/H ydra Ethernet Card A 1200 (p c m c ia ) £ 149 .95, A2/ 3/4000- £ 169.95

Designed and manufactured by HiQ Limited software by Paul Nolan, email steve@ hiqltd.demon.co.uk 9 Church Lane, Hockliffe, Bedfordshire, LU7 9NQ, UK. www.siamese.co.uk

tel 01525 211327, fax 01525 211328 No surcharge fo r Credit cards.w r m m



http://www.siamese.co.uk

AMIGAREPAIRSC O M P U T E R S A N D M O N I T O R SW HILE-U-W AIT!!!

A t t e n t i o n D e a le r sR in g /F a x N o w f o r b e s t t r a d e p r ic e s a n d te rm s

o n R e p a irs , S p a re s , F lo p p y D riv e s , H a rd D rive s ,

C D R o m D r iv e s a n d M e m o r y U p g ra d e s .

- FAST TURNAROUND

- 1 20 DAYS WARRANTY O N ALL REPAIRS

- £10 .00 EXTRA CHARGE FOR WHILE-U-WAIT SERVICE

* PICK UP 6> DELIVERY CHARGESE705 EACH WAY

- A 1500 /A 2000 /A 4000 EQUOTATION

P f f P T I Upgrad* lo 1 M«g | T f ? ¥ Upgrade lo 9 Meg

L 2 ^ £ 1 3 9 5 1 L 2 I I » « * * S K U N B E A T A B L E

I N T E R N A L F L O P P Y D R I V E SA500/A500+/A600/A1200.. £24-95

P R IC E SPlease c a ll fo r la te s t be s t p r ice

A1200

A P O L L O A C C E L E R A T O R S1 2 3 0 L i t e ............... £ 6 9 9 51 2 3 0 /5 0 ................. £ 1 1 9 -9 51 2 4 0 /2 5 ................. £ 1 3 9 -9 51 2 4 0 / 4 0 ............... £ 1 9 9 -9 51 2 6 0 / 5 0 ...............£ 2 7 9 -9 5

o n S IM M p r ic e s th am a c c e le r a to r

SCSI CD-ROMSQuad Speed SCSI

+ Squirrel £139.00

IDE CD-ROMSHitachi 16 max £79.95

MODEMSBABT APPROVED

- NC0N1M SOFTWARE - CABLES

3 3 .6 k . . . .£ 7 9 .0 0

LOLA GENLOCKSL1500........... £169-95L2000S....... £349-95

S I M P L Y T H E B E S T A F T E R - S A L E S S E R V I C E

nG U A R A N T E E D S A M E D A Y D E S P A T C H ( S u b j e c t t o a v a i l a b i l i t y

T R A D E I N Y O U R A M I G A F O R A P CW E B U Y D E A D O R A L I V E A 1 2 0 0 A N D A 4 0 0 0

R IN G US FOR A REASONABLE OFFER FOR Y O U R A 1 2 0 0 /A 4 0 0 0 COM PUTER O R JUST M O TH E R B O A R D IN A N Y C O N D IT IO N

A M iG ACOMPUTERS

A S 0 0 W ith PSU + M o u s e + M a t ............................. .£ 7 9 .9 5

2-5" IDE HARD DRIVESA ll hard drives are © reform atted, p a rtitio n e d w ith W ork Bench lo a d e d and include cab le software

6 0 M B ....... ..............................................£ 5 5 .0 0 5 4 0 M B ............................................... X I 29.00BOMB ....-------- -— .......... .— -----------X 6 5 .0 0 8 1 0 M B ............................................... X 1 5 9 .0 01 7 0 M B --------------------------------------------£69 .00 , , .2 6 0 M B ................................................. .£ 8 6 .0 0 1 * S>9................................................X 1 99.004 2 0 M B ...............................................X 1 2 0 .0 0 2.1 j i g ............................................... £ 2 9 9 .0 0

A 5 0 0 + W ith PSU + M o u s e + M a t ........................ £ 8 9 .9 5

A 6 0 0 W ith PSU + M o u s e + M a t ............................. .£ 9 9 .9 5A 1 2 0 0 M a g ic P a c k ....................................................... .£ 2 4 9 .9 5

2 . 5 " ID E C a b le U S o f t w a r e ( I f b o u g h t s e p a r a t e l y ) ......................... X 9 . 9 5

3-5" IDE HARD DRIVESA 1 2 0 0 W ith 8 0 M B H a r d D r iv e .............................. .£ 2 7 9 .9 5

A 1 2 0 0 W ith 1 7 0 M B H a rd D r iv e ............................£ 3 1 9 .9 5A 1 2 0 0 W ith 8 1 0 M B H a r d D r iv e ............................X 3 7 9 .9 5

A 1 2 0 0 W ith 2 .1 g is H a r d D r iv e .............................£ 4 6 9 .9 5A 2 0 0 0 ( A v a i la b le ) ..................................................................C a ll

* . i g i g ...........................................4 r i> T .o u *# .* g i g ........................................... a m t .w

P le a s e c a l l f o r o th e r c a p a c it ie s

CHIPS -I- SPARES ACCESSORIESROM 2 .0 4 ........................................................ £18 00 A600/A1200 KEYBOARD ....................... £29 95ROM 2 05 ..........................................................£19 00 SCART LEAD........................................................£14.95

A 4 0 0 0 ( A v a i la b le ) ..................................................................C a llA500/A500. KEYBOARD £19 95 00AMIGA MOUSE * MAT £14 95 SURF SQUIRREL...............................................£89.00A500/A600/AI200 CIA...................................£12 00 A520 MODULATOR .......................................... £18 00A500/A600/A1200/POWER SUPPLY............................................................................................................... £24 95A1500. A2000/A3000/A4000 POWER SUPPLY .................................................................................................CALL* A l l c h i p s a r e a v a i l a b l e e x - s t o c k* P l e a s e c a l l f o r a n y c h i p o r s p a r e n o t l i s t e d h e r e

* HEAVY D ISC O U N TS O N M E M O R Y UPG RADES A N D ACCELERATORS W H EN B O U G H T W ITH A 1 2 0 0

* EXTENDED W A R R A N TY UP TO 5 YEARS A VA ILA B LE O N A LL A 1 2 0 0 COMPUTERS

analogic Analogic Computers (UK) LtdUnj, 6( Ashway Centre, Elm Crescent,

z H

- - - - - - - wi n* v, #s»hway Centre, Elm Crescent,M m L O G I C Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey KT2 6HH

Open Mon-Fri 8-OOam-5-30pm, Sat M0am-*00pm Fax: 01S1 541 4671

T e l : 0 1 8 1 5 4 6 9 5 7 5* A ll prices include VAT ★ A ll prices 6» specifications subject to change w itho ut no tice * Fixed charge fo r repair does n o t include disk drive/keyboard

* We reserve the right to refuse any repair * P&>P charges £3-50 by Royal Mail o r £7 05 fo r courier * Please a llo w 5 working days fo r cheque clearance * A ll sales/repairs are on ly as pe r ou r te rms and conditions, cop y available on request.________________________________


Viper 520CD■ Price: £99.95 (8Mb) ■ Supplier: Power Computing © 01234 851500 http//www.powerc.com

Time your old A500 was traded in for a new model? Hang on,

there's hope for the old dog yet in the shape of the Viper 520CD.

VIPER 520CDDeveloper: DCER C om puter Service

Installation is easy enough - just make sure you've got the IDE connectors on the right way ronnd.

re. I t works, makes your AS60 faster, gives shadows and lots more besides.

You got quite a lot for five pence under £109: 8Mb RAM. a new CPU, IDE ports and a whole OS upgrade can't be bad.

System Requirem ents:Any Amiga 500

O p tio n a l e x tra sKeep ing th e d r iv e s a nd FPU a s o p t io n a l e x tra s g ive s y o u th e chance to c o n fig u re y o u r s e tu p as y o u w is h . T h e FPU is a d e fin ite ly w o r th w h ile a d d it io n fo r anyone in to 3D re n d e r in g , w h ile t h e IDE c o n n e c to rs a l lo w you to a dd v a r io u s ly s ize d h a rd d riv e s . Z ip d r iv e s and C D -R O M s a c c o rd in g t o y o u r re q u ire m e n ts .

1: General ‘glue logic’ chip 2: Kickstart 3.0 ROMs

3: 88020 CPU 4 FPU crystal 8: 68882 PGA FPU 6: Fast RAM7: Gale chip (handles IDE functions) 0: 2.5 inch IDE hard drive 9: two additional IDF ports

□ e n yea rs is a

long tim e in co m p u tin g , and th e c ru s ty A 500

is ce rta in ly sh o w in g its age.

A n yone w h o has o w ned one fo r th a t long has had a m p le t im e to so u p it u p w ith extra R AM . hard d rives. OS u pda tes and w h a te ve r e lse, b u t Pow er C o m pu ting are banking o n th e re s t ill be ing a p o rtio n o f A 500 ow n e rs s till us ing th e ir m ach ines a s w e re

s u p p lie d b y C om m odore.The V ip e r 520CD m akes

an a dm irab le s tab a t g iv ing th e o ld so ld ie r a co m p le te fa ce lift. In o n e go , it o tte rs all o f th e fo llo w in g : a 33M H z 68020 CPU. an upda te to K icksta rt 3 .0 (w ith W orkbench 3 .0 too), th re e IDE p o rts fo r C D -R O M s a nd hard d rives, a 4 o r 8 M b Fast RAM upgrade, p lus a so cke t fo r a 68882 PGA FPU. The hard drives/CD- R O M s th em se lves and th e FPU are n o t inc luded in the £99.95 p rice tag. bu t e ve ry th ing e ls e is.

S qu e e z in g i t a ll inYou're p robab ly w o n d e rin g w here all o f th is f its in to yo u r A500. B elieve it o r not. it 's all housed in te rna lly - n o t in th e tra p d o o r slot, bu t on to p o f the m otherboard .

It co nnec ts to th e 68000 CPU s o cke t on the m othe rboa rd . A ll you d o is take o u t the bu lky 68000 a nd p u t th is in its place. I t ’s a b it o f a fid d ly jo b b u t s im p le enough. T here ’s ju s t enough room ins ide th e A 500 ’s case to f it a s lim line 2 .5 inch IDE hard d rive o n to the card. The rem ain ing tw o IDE co n n e c to rs are tra iled o u t th rough the le ft hand s ide o f the

case. A narrow s lo t shou ld be cu t in s ide o f th e case w h e re the to p and b o tto m parts m ee t if you w a n t the case to sc re w back toge ther, a lthough IDE cab ling isn 't that th ick, so you co u ld g e t aw ay w ith sc rew ing the case to g e th e r a lit t le m ore loose ly than usual if you 'd ra ther n o t hack th in g s about.

The IDE co n n e c tio n s o ffe r access to cheap C D -RO M drives as w e ll as hard d rives. A dd ing extra drives to an A 5 0 0 has never been easier.

A lm o s t an A 1 2 0 0Apart from th e AGA g raph ics ch ip se t, the 520CD has a lm ost all you need to tu rn your

A 500 in an A1200. Ok. so the A G A c h ip se t is q u ite a m ajor d iffe rence , espec ia lly as add ing a g raph ics card isn't an o p tio n . A s ide fro m tha t though , th is does g ive a tired o ld co m p u te r a b ig k ick up the backside, a llo w in g i t to run m odern a p p lica tions that requ ire a hard d rive , OS 3, a

ha lf de ce n t CPU and a b it o f RAM on th e s ide. However,

th is ra ises the obv ious questio n o f w h e th e r it 's w o rth

bee fing u p such an o ld m ach ine in pre fe rence to ju s t

d itch in g it in favour o f an A1200. If A G A isn’t im p o rta n t

to you and you d o n 't envisage th e need to add m uch m ore in th e w a y o f add itiona l upgrades (a lthough there 's

s t ill th e s ide expansion slo t) th e n th is is indeed a neat and c o s t e ffe c tiv e so lu tion . For anyone w h o has found th e m selves m arooned w ith an o u tdated co m p u te r and in su ffic ie n t funds to g e t a sh iny new one, th is is an o p p o rtu n ity to g e t w ith the

p rog ram fo r re la tive ly lit t le outlay. The d if fe rence in a s tock A 500 and one w ith a 520CD under the bonne t is radical. I t tu rn s a v irtua lly use less box in to a h igh ly ve rsa tile and a ttractive com puter. W ha t m ore d o you w an t? ■

T ony H organ



LS120120Mb Floppy Drive■ Price: LS120 £119.95 IDEfix £34.95 ■ Developer: 3M ■ Supplier: Eyetech D 01642 713 185

The L S I20, also commonly known as the 'A: drive',

we've known about for some time but due to a

lack of drivers it seemed to be a non starter.

□ ye te c h have n o w s o rte d o u t

d r iv e rs to r th e LS120 in the n e w p a ckage c a lle d EZ-Drive. T h e la te s t IDEFix 9 7 ATAPI

p a ckage a ls o c o n ta in s d rive rs to r the

L S I20. That so rte d , w h a t 's th is L S I20 a b o u t then?

T h e L S I 2 0 is a f lo p p y d r iv e 're p lacem en t' th a t reads and w r ite s on 120M B d is k s in a d d itio n to PC M S D O S s ty le 720K DD and 1 .44M b H O flo p p y d isks . S o unds good d o e s n 't it? The d rive is th e exact d im e n s io n s o f a s tanda rd f lo p p y d rive a nd th e 120M b o p tica l d is k s a re ph ys ica lly iden tica l t o a s ta n d a rd f lo p p y d isk a lb ie t w ith h igh te c h o p tic a l m e d ia in s id e and a snazzy looking 3 M case.

N o t f lo p p yThe LS120 does n o ! p lug in to th e flo p p y in te rfa ce , i t is a n IDE dev ice . I t w o rk s fine w ith th e A m ig a s IDE in te rfa c e w ith the IDEFix so ftw a re . A s s tanda rd , th e LS 120 is m o u n te d as DF4: a nd th e d rive fo rm a tte d p e rfe c tly w ith th e Fast F ile S ys tem o n th e f irs t a tte m p t. I t a lso has an e le c tro n ic e jec t ra ther than a phys ica l m echan ism .

T here are s o m e p ro b le m s th o u g h . F irstly y o u ca n 't read A m ig a d isks . S ince it 's d e s ig n e d fo r PC d is k s o n ly it req u ire s the sync fu n c tio n o f PC d isk fo rm a ts . The g re a te s t d o w n e r h o w e ve r w a s th e speed. M uch fa s te r than a f lo p p y d rive b u t a t 115K/S w r ite a nd 160K/S read, it 's nearly 10 tim e s s lo w e r th a n an Iom ega Z ip d rive . I t takes an

e te rn ity to fo rm a t and fill th e d is k s up.T he access ra te is so s lo w th a t th e s lo w

seek t im e as w e ll d o e sn 't m ake a lo t o f d i f fe re n ce so AFS d idn ’ t speed th in g s u p a g rea t deal.

L e ss ro b u s tThe m ed ia is an e q u iva le n t p rice pe r M b to Z ip d isks b u t m ore co m p a c t. Tha t sa id , I w o u ld n 't fee l c o m fo rta b le leav ing them a round unco ve re d un like ro b u s t Z ip d isks

T hey need p u ttin g back in th e ir case w h ic h m akes th e m a b o u t th e s ize o f a Z ip d isk again.

The LS 120 is supe rb fo r read ing and w r it in g PC HD d isks if you have a real need to d o th is w ith C rossDO S. It op e ra te s a t fu ll speed w ith o u t th e Paula b o ttle n e c k m aking HD flo p p ie s such a pain o n th e A m iga . It 's a lso p o s s ib le to fo rm a t d is k s in the 1 44M B fo rm a t b u t w ith A m ig a FFS so gam ing a s lig h tly u se fu l H D f lo p p y d rive o f so rts .

N o t really. The L S I20 w o u ld b e g o rgeous if o n ly it w a s n 't so dam n s lo w a nd if on ly a lo t m o re p e o p le had th e m . The Z ip d rive , on th e o th e r hand, co m e s in IDE and SCSI v a rie ties , in te rn a l a nd ex te rn a l, is che a p e r and a hell o f a lo t fa s te r T here a re a lso a lo t m ore pe o p le w h o o w n th e m to sw ap m ed ia w ith . So if speed is n 't im p o rta n t to you . o r you rea lly w a n t th e extra space pe r d isk and the a b ility lo re a d /w r ite PC HD flo p p y d is k s then th e LS120 c o u ld b e fo r you.

It 's u n like ly anyone w o u ld f it in th is b racke t on th e A m iga espec ia lly s ince A 1200 use rs ca n 't rep lace th e ir f lo p p y d rive w ith it. I t 'l l c o s t y o u an extra £35 fo r the s o ftw a re to use an LS 120 o r an IDE Zip

▲ Here's the LSI 20 drivewhich will fit i> a standard floppy

drive bay of a big-box Amiga or

a tower set-np

d rive a lth o u g h you m ay have ATAPI s o f t

w a re to d rive a C D-RO M anyway. ID E fix 97 rem ains

th e u ltim a te ATAPI CD- R O M /IDE d riv e r package and is

w e ll w o rth th e m o n e y b u t w e re co m m e n e d you use i t w ith a Z ip d rive

in s te a d ■M a t B e ttin s o n


New! The Eyetech Complete Guide to Towering your A1200 Do-it-yourself EZ-Tower k its; Mk 2 EZ-Tower assem bly; Keyboards and keyboard adapters; High den

s ity flopp ies; 100MB+ cartridge drives; M ultip le IDE/ATAPI devices; Zorro s lo ts; High-res Graphics cards and scan doublers; PC-Pentium slave boards; Amiga-PC Networking & Integration; Port exp'n.

The All-New Eyetech EZ-TOWERDo-it-Yourself EZ-TowerI f y o u a re c o n fid e n t a b o u t u n d e r ta k in g a s m a ll a m o u n t o f m e ta lw o r k u s in g h a n d to o ls th e n th is is " T h is d e f in i t e ly o n e o f t h e e a s i e s t s o lu t io n s to b u i ld in g y o u r o w n t o w e r ." A m ig a F o r m a t - J u l y 1 9 9 7

" T h e E y e t e c h t o w e r o f f e r s c l e v e r s o lu t io n s w ith a V e lc r o e a s y f i t m e n ta l i t y " C u A m ig a - O c t 1 9 9 7

I t C o u ld n ' t b e E a s i e r !

y o u r lo w e s t cost ro u te to a re a lly p ro fe ss io n a l A 1 2 0 0 T o w e r sys te m - ca p a b le o f a l l th e o th e r

e xp an s ion o p p o r tu n it ie s o u lin e d o n th is page.

T o b u i ld y o u r D - I - Y E Z - T o w e r y o u w i l l need to : Remove the back panel of the supplied PC tower by drilling out the aluminium pop-rivetsRemove a section of internal shelving by making three short hacksaw cutsTrim down a removable plate using metal shears or a hacksaw and deburr any sharp edges with a file Fasten the custom back panel back in place using the screws provided or your own pop rivets.Clip the A1200 power adaptor on to the PSU cables using a pair of pliers and the Scotchlock (squeeze-type) cable joiners provided.

T h a ts i t ! Y o u ’v e ju s t saved y o u r s e lf £20 fo r a ro u n d 2 0 m in u te s w o rk .

T h e E y e te c h D IY E Z - T o w e r costs j u s t £ 9 9 .9 5 - in c lu d in g a l l th e c o m p o n e n ts su p p lie d w ith

th e r e a d y - b u i lt M k 2 E Z -T o w e r .

T h e D I Y E Z - T o w e r is a lso a v a ila b le to n o n -U K

c u s to m e rs w it h o u t t h e P C t o w e r F O R E X P O R T O N L Y a t £4 9 .95 in c V A T @ 1 7 3 %

MMhz 060* A 64MB*

Remove the case top and keyboard ribbon cable (No shield removal required).Slot in the ribbon cable from the optional PCI Amiga keyboard interface.Mount existing and new hard and floppy drives and CDROM units in the bays using the screws provided.Connect up the drives power and data cables. Clip the A1200 motherboard/base Into the custom backpanei.Push on the power/HD/FDD LED adapter and the A1200 power connector.Put back the outer case. Thats HI...

N ow Y ou 've G ot T o w er P ow er!

F lo p p y d r ive a n d b a c k u p o p tio n sPlease bear in mind that you should ALWAYS hate a bootable DF0:(connected to the internal floppy drive 34-pin header I as this may be the only way to boot your computer in an emergency.Your options arc:I. Use vourold drive with the faceplate & extension cable supplied 2 Use Eyctechs EZ-DF0 adapter 114.95. or £34.95 w nh Sony FDD.3. Mount your external floppy in the EZ-Tower as DFI (Its lead must

be at least 70cm or you'll need a 50cm extension cable - £12.95)4. Use a DislP lut interface (you consul! use 4 drives on the IDE port

- Catwcavel doesn't allow this) for DD/HD/XHD Amiga/PC disks5. Use an Eyetech LSI20 drive* on the IDE port Reads & writes PC

formal 720KB/144MB diskettes & 120MB superdiskx (£34.95/3)6. Use an Eyetech IDE Zip drive* for standard data interchange with PowerPC

PC's. Mac's < supported by Shapeshifler) and other Amiga*. | upRraJ e i *

Z o rro 2 , Z o rro 3 a n d o th e r e x p a n s io n o p tio n sThe A1200 was originally conceived as a low-cost, entry-level home o f performance then our best advice is to either buy an A4000 now. or computer with limited expansion capabilities. Inevitably some com- to buy one of the new PC-AT sized, third-party Amiga motherbords - promises had to be made in its design. Two of these limitations which will fit into your EZ-Tower directly - when they become should be bom in mind when planning your A1200 exapnsktn. available early in 1998.1. There is no practical, reliable way to add a video slot (sec below) Apart from graphics cards - see below • most o f the desired expansion2. The well-documented problems in the rev9 Buster chip used for options can be achieved more cheaply and more reliably using other

bus control on the A4000 were earned over into the A1200 A1200 poets, such as:design. However - unlike the A4000 - the AI200 chips are IDE port • using the Eyetech 4-device buffered interface and EZ-IDE soldered directly on to the A1200 main board, making a field- software - for multiple CDROMs. hard drives. Zip drives. 1_S 120update to the A1200's equivalent of tlie rev 11 Buster impossible super floppies. CD writers and tape streamers.

In practice this means that any A1200 Zorro bus conversion is Clock port using the Eyetech PortPlur :2xscr * Ixpar). PortJnr inevitably going to be fraught with performance problems at high ( I xscr). DiskPlus <2xDD/HD/XHD Amiga/PC floppies). EZ-IOspeeds. For this reason extra memory and high-bandwidth pcriphcr- <2xDD/HD/XHD Amiga/PC floppies * 2xser ♦ Ixpar)als such as.SCSI cauls should always be associated with your A1200 Parallel port - for frame grabbers, sound samplers & PC networking accelerator, not with the Zorro cxpunsion hoard. (Graphics canls are PCMCIA port - for ethemet (Siamese RTG pack), frame grabbers, fine - they actually reduce the bus bandwidth required). This is also sound samplers and SCSI expansion.the reason why we believe it is not sensible to offer a costly Zorro 3 Alternatively you may wish to consider adding a slave PC motherboard expansion .-ption lor the EZ-Towcr. If you really need these levels within your EZ-Tower-networked to perform these and other function-

What about The Bli/zard PowerPC boards from phasc.S will fit in the trapdoor space of an hZ Tower'd A1200. with or without aZotro expansion hoard. However you should bear in mind that the PPC boards will be limited to providing subroutine' support lo specially written 680x0 programs (just like an expensive FPU) for the forsccablc future. II and when a proper native PPC Amiga operating system is available Eyetech w ill start stocking and supporting these boards directly

Looking fo r an all-in-one package? Why no t treat yourself to the Eyetech

EZ-Tower Professional Pack?J u s t lo o k w h a t y o u g e t f o r a n u n b e l ie v a b le £ 7 9 9 .9 5 ! a?Graphics cards,

scan-doublers and the single

s lo t Zorro optionThr Eyetech single *k* Zono aUn«a

A l2CDnvT he Eyetech P r o fn u o n a l

p ac k t o m * • a h a fu l l E Z-Tow er. new 1*8.1./

! 100 a n d .. ,EZ-Tower with full UK specification A1200.Kickstart 3 .1/Workbench 3.1 disks and manuals, mouse, mousemat. TV lead and 250watt psu.EZ-Key keyboard adapter. Windows95 keyboard.25MHz 040 processor (approx 19 Mips) with MMU & FPU and 16MB of program memory. e z -k e y a **..«* t*. 1.7GB TowerDrive with Workbench 3.1 and shareware utilities preinstalled 8-speed CDROM including the Eyetech 4-device buffered interface with fully registered EZ-IDE CDROM/hard drive/IDE Zip drive/LSI 20 driver software (see main ad for EZ-IDE details)880KB floppy drive including faceplate

> Fantastic software bundle including Wordworth 4SE. Turbocalc 3.5. Datastore 1.1, Photogenics 1.2SE, Personal Paint 6.4. Organiser 1.1. Pinball Mania and WhizzFully installed and tested together with all relevant cables and manuals

AND the option to have:An LS120 720KB/1.44MB/120MB super floppy drive/cable installed in your machine for Just £99.95 extra (at time of purchase only)

main baud and selected PCcat* lobe Tumi umullaneoinly.Il hit* primarily been designed tor me »uh Amiga firaphtct car*. PWavc nc*e that as Uere is no |raclkal. tr liable nay to abwau ibr video signal* t*r*em on ihe A4000Z*mo video *ku from an A1200 (without soldering

the main boaxd) you cannot <w*v.fully use the buili -iiVoptional wan doublers on ihe Picasso IV e«Cyber.isw.nMnD boar* with any add on AI200 Zeno adapters.To overcome this limitation Eycicch has pasJwtxl two plugin adapters which can be used cither individually or together depend ing co your existing motor t scanning capabilitiesThe AUTO-MON adapier woks in con junction wiih the Cybenision 64/3D card to automatically display the uutgarf of y war current program w briber retargetlcdio the CVMT <D card or displayed via the AGA chipset. II you have an Amiga-compatible multisync iikxiIoi the AUTO-MON Is all you need for seemless use of year Amiga.The EZ-VOA ,*l*ter is an external unit that attaches to thr 23-pin video socket erf any Amiga and auimucarally scan doubles any I SKhx screen mode signals so lhat they display correctly cm a normal PC SVGA monitor PC-compatible screen mode signals (DBIJ’AL. Ploducusay. Super?2 etc) are pissed through unaltered.AUTO-UON adapter £39.95

f JAVA IEZ-VGA adapter £79.95

Love your A 1200 bu t need PC compatib ility fo r work o r study purposes?

Then you need Eyetechs EZPC-Tower system fo r your A 1200.

5 S 3 S ? £ S lJU * t 1:899 3 5 9 e ls y o u a re a d y -to -ru n s y s te m w ith :A full Amiga EZ-Tower system ready lo take your A1200.

flrsyuio—f/.V/.’O

Jumperless 266MHz-capable TX'PC Pentium board with 166Mhz cpu. 32MB of memory. Windows 95 keyboard, mouse and Windows 95 operating system.High performance, high res graphics card wiih full screerVfull frame rate MPEG playback (with sound),

v 32-bit high performance sound card with direct-to-disk. CD-quality recording software1 7GB hard drive. 16-speed CDROM. 2 x serial. 1x parallel pods and 1.44MB high density floppy drive

A N D e ith e r th e E ye tech EZ-P C in te g ra tio n p a c k :The Eyetech EZ-VGA compact, external Amiga scan-dotkXer to d«play 15KH2 modes - eg games • on a PC SVGA monitor. PC-Amiga networking software which allows all PC side hard dnves. floppy doves. CDROM drives and networked dnves to be read trom and written to by the Amiga, including cable The Eyetech EZ-Key PC keyboard adapt©' for the Amiga

- A remote desktop switchbox to ftp monitor and keyboard between the PC and Amiga sides

O R th e E ye tech S ia m e s e p a c k (additional £99.95):The fun Siamese system version 2.5 software including reiargeiable graphics.The Eyetecn EZ-VGA compact, external Amiga scan-doiA8er to display 15KH2 modes - eg games - on a PC SVGA monitor)The Eyetech EZ-Key PC keyboard adapte' for the Amiga The AUTO-MON automatic monitor switch to display either the PC graphics card output (including retargetted Amiga screens) or the scan-doubled Amiga output lor Amiga screens - such as games - wtuch w« not retarget onto the PC display

.O This product list represents the mini a common items that you may need to .2E Tower’ your A1200. Using these a case-pt > 17O ordering cosies will help us lo prac- E case-ft- exxtB css your order more efficiently © a12-mgk-eztx“ “ Wc also have many other items avail- e afc-c p i-eztoC able for ihe DIYer and srften have Atc-siA-os

*C special offers on bundles o f product* C >npr,«Hn-6psp■p -such as the current £20 reduction on rbd-win9sq the EZ-Tower i f bought in conjunc- «_ adpt-xbd- 1200 X, tion with the CDPIussystem. Check ™ adpt-aud-rzt*

our main advert or ring for funhcr ^ adpt-scs-ezt* « details. O *Dpr’ DF°"T^p

Please also read the terms and condi- H N lions on the right of this page before S* fdd int driwt

ordering. Thankyou. * pluc-iec

Code Description Price £ Code Description Price £§ EZ- Tower coses . systems, keyboards & accessories Zorro adapters graphics cords. LSI20 A Ooppy drives

Cybergraphics 4X8

c 460Xbaud S - 8001

...feature a slide-out mounting fram e fo r

fitting e ither . . .

...a standard PC motherboard and

cards, or...

E ye te ch G ro u p L td The Old Bank. 12 West Green,

Stokesley, N Yorks, TS9 5BB. UK

Tel UK: 07000 4 AMIGA 01642 713 185

Tel In f I: *44 1 642 713 185 Fax: *44 1642 713 634

eyetechOcix.co.uk www.eyelech.co.uk

V oted A U I A m iga Com pany o f ih e Year 1996/7

EYETECH

...a Zorro board and cards (as well as

your A 1200).Neil 0 ^ delivory to 1C and USA/Canada.

Worldwide deiivertee m 2-7 days from receipt ot faiad ordar and payment detain

(eg SX32 next day to NVC OS »)Uktr lend next da, vuveed dtvy charges

SA». a tm . hutta-ed »1 E l 2-S* dnves. accoTs. mam teams £6; manuals £7:36* drwee.

modems, psu's £980. Twa. CO- (2O*ytfl0 RkiglUxMtnM toe ether delivery cos! j

s. Vea*.UK BankOuWrg k Mastercard*. Swtch. Delta. ConnoC. PoMa* Money orders occao'oJ • A 3“. surchargo is

MQlcaOa to oil crodt cam orders Duo lo space *m*a*one acme ol ihe tpecs

pven are mdieitr* crVy • pMaM rngVrmo lot tuWier detaiU Please check prices, spect

and availability be lore ordering. II ordering by post please include e contact phone m Goods » e not suopted on

All pncm indode VAT at 17.SV VAT « not opplxaDIo lo non-EC crders

i. E»0€


http://www.eyelech.co.uk

PD SCENE

Game after game... Steve Bye was happier

than someone living downwind of a Prozac

factory when we gave him these to review!

* * * * * To ta lly b lind ing* * * * * Good* * * * * Average* * * * * Substandard* * * * * Oh dear

T he W o rld O f M a g ic■ Type: G ra p h ic a d v e n tu re g am e

■ A v a i la b le f r o m : F1 S o ftw a re . 1 L o w e r M il l C lose , G o ld th o rp e , R o th e rh a m . S 6 3 - .?BY;iT e l j . 0 1 7 W .8 W 1 ^ .........................................

■ P r ic e : £4.99 p lu s 50p P&P

W ith a serious sho rtage o f com m erc ia l adventure g a m e s it is le f t up to th e PD secto r to fe e d th e ever hung ry ho rdes o f adventu re rs o u t th e re , so in tha t respec t T W O M is a w e lc o m e sight.

It is a 2 d isk adven tu re g am e crea ted w ith GRac (The G raphic A dven tu re C reator) and th e on ly bad p o in t abou t a gam e created w ith GRac is the non-standard m ouse operation . b u t you soon g e t used to tha t. You can insta ll th e gam e to hard d rive o r b o o t it from floppy. O nce u p and runn ing w e have the usual p o in t and c lic k panel a t th e bo ttom

th ird o f th e screen and th e play screen above. The graph ics, th o u g h s lig h tly c rude in

places a re m a in ly pleasant and certa in ly g o o d enough fo r a g am e w ith th is p rice tag. The gam e takes p lace in the w o rld o f Kawam oon. w h e re D ragons, Ores. Goblins, W erew o lves , K ings and evil p ries ts roam.You play a young chap ca lled G rendon. w ho appa ren tly has a s tro n g d es ire to b ecom e a 'm age ' (a m ag ic ian one presum es?)

By m an ipu la ting o b jec ts and in teracting w ith characters, o f w h ic h the re are plenty, you m u s t so lve yo u r w a y around the gam e

to its fina l conc lus ion .I m u s t a d m it tha t I d id n 't have tim e to

co m p le te a ll th e gam e fo r th is rev iew so I ca n n o t co m m e n t o n th e fu ll dep th o f the gam e. I d id g e t s tuck, b u t as is usual in this type o f g am e if you have th e tim e to try every poss ib le m ove in eve ry poss ib le locatio n you w ill g e t th e re sooner o r later.

T W O M has p le n ty o f sh o rt an im ations th a t ce rta in ly add to th e a tm o s b u t sound e ffe c ts and h u m our are fe w and far be tw een . T W O M appears to be a fa ir ly w ell rounded and pro fess iona lly p roduced gam e, w h ic h is q u ite re fresh ing now adays. I have a tte m p te d a fe w GRac crea tions m yse lf and I

can te ll you it is a lo t o f hard w o rk and th e au thors shou ld ce rta in ly b e co m m ended fo r 's tick in g to th e ta sk ' by p roduc ing a nice gam e, even though I d id n 't! ★ ★ ★ * *

S p la t 2 ...........................................■ T y p e : G am e

■ A v a i la b le f r o m : C la ss ic A m ig a PD, 11 D eansga te , R adc liffe , M a n c h e s te r M 26- .?SH: Tel: 01611.723 1638.........................................

■ P r ic e : £1 p lu s 7 5 p P&P p e r order.

Here w e have ano th e r A rkano id c lone , i.e. hit a bou n c in g ball w ith a ba t to knock o u t the b ricks and c le a r th e screen.

H ow ever, th e tw is t th a t m akes th is gam e w o rth y o f its p lace am ong a ll th e o the r A rkano id c lones is th a t ins tead o f a b a t w e have a crab, yes. a crab , and you have to hit f ish instead o f b ricks. B u t don’ t le t tha t put you o ff. Sp lat 2 d o e s o ffe r b o nuses in a s lig h tly d iffe re n t w a y th a n usual, ins tead o f bonuses d ropp ing fro m th e fish as you knock th e m o u t a b onus m e te r bu ilds u p at the to p o f th e screen instead.


You can co lle c t a bonus a t any t im e by p ress ing th e r ig h t m o u se b u tto n S urpris ing ly th is d o e s m ake th e gam ep lay s lig h tly d iffe re n t because you f in d your a tte n tio n keeps lu m p in g o f f th e ba t a nd ball to th e bonus m e te r in th e hope o f co llec ting th e b es t one fo r the jo b in hand

Looking a t the g raph ics I th ink Splat 2 m u s t have been a im ed a t younger players, th o u g h you w o u ld n 't th in k so ju d g in g b y the rid icu lous ly fa s t d e fa u lt ball speed The graph ics are c r is p and c lear and the sound e ffe c ts are adequate The fu ll ve rs ion , w h ich cos ts £6, has 5 0 leve ls , b u t I m u s t a d m it I c o u ld n 't p lay m u ch p as t 5 o r 6 leve ls m ain ly due to th e m o n o to n y ra ther th a n fro m the d ifficu lty.

M ore than o n ce I w as s tuck o n a level w ith jus t one f ish h id ing in th e to p co rn e r o f the screen, and w ith very lim ned co n tro l in d irec ting th e ba ll it took ages to w ip e him ou t. b u t to be fa ir th is is a co m m o n p rob lem w ith th is type o f gam e. Splat 2 is OK. it looks g o o d and p lays f in e fo r a w h ile b u t it sure w o n 't w in any aw ards * *

KidSTOP V5.3

HotdogI T y p e : D o g - f ig h t G am e c o m p ila t io n

■ A v a i la b le f r o m : O n L in e PO 1. The C lo is te rs . H a lsa ll Lane , Form by. L ive rp o o l. L37-3 PX . Tel: 017 04 834 335

■ P r ic e : 75p

T h is d isk co n ta in s fo u r dog fig h t gam es First u p is th e 2 p layer o n ly D og-figh t V I .0, re leased in 1990 b u t su rp ris ing ly s till good fu n to play.

It took m e 15 o r so a tte m p ts ju s t to learn to take o f f in m y c u te b i-p lane b u t th e ensuin g plane crash a n im a tions w e re so am using I d id n 't care. O n ce you a re in th e a ir your p ro b le m s are n o t over because th e s ligh tes t fa lse m ove o f th e jo y s tic k and y o u are toast, f ly to o s lo w o r c lim b to o fa s t and you stall and crash hum orously.

N o rm a lly a g a m e w h e re each life lasts around 2 0 s e co n d s w o u ld fru s tra te th e hell o u t o f m e b u t th is b lig h te r has so m eth ing tha t g rabs you . m a yb e its th e a ttractive g ra p h ics o r th e g rea t a n im a tions a nd sound e ffe c ts? N o. i t 's ju s t jo lly g o o d fun.

The n ex t gam e on th is c o m p ila tio n d isk is. w a it fo r it... D og-figh t V I . I 1 W h ich is n o w fu lly A G A c o m p a tib le w ith im proved g raph ics and s o m e g round de fences. The th ird g am e is S trike C om m ander, m uch the sam e a s o th e r D og F ight ga m e s e xcep t w ith a m ish -m ash o f d o d g y g raphics, g o o d sound e ffe c ts , bu t a w fu l gameplay.

Last and ve ry nearly least is D og-fight S im V 1.5 w h ic h has s o m e o f th e ug liest g raph ics I have seen fo r ages, b u t i t does o ffe r som e g o o d fea tu res , th e m a in o ne be ing the a b ility to have fo u r s im u ltaneous hum an players.

Overall th is d isk is ce rta in ly w o rth the

asking p rice fo r D o g -fig h t b u t th e o th e rs are s im p ly space fille rs th a t you m ay squeeze five m in u te s o f fu n o u t o f if you a re really despera te * * * » »

I T y p e : E d u c a tio n a l gam e

■ A v a ila b le f r o m : A m in e t\g a m e \m is c \K id S T O P lha fo r th e d e m o a n d B rian K o e tt in g 3043-B O ak G reen C irc le , E ll ic o t t C ity , M a ry la n d 21043. U S A . f o r th e f u l l y e rs io n .................................................■ P r ic e : $ 25 w i l l u p g ra d e th e d e m o v e rs io n to th e fu l l ve rs io n .

T h is 6 .5 m e g ep ic o f a gam e, sorry, "en te rta in m e n t sys te m ", a s th e a u th o r w o u ld have it. is des ig n e d fo r c h ild re n o f a ll ages, r ig h t fro m to d d le rs th rough to say 8 o r 10 year o lds

O n runn ing th e p rog ram you a re p resen ted w ith an an im a ted m enu, w h ic h w ill ce rta in ly grab

th e a tte n tio n o f m o s t kids. U s ing th e m ouse , jo y s tick o r keyboard th e c h ild s im p ly has to c lic k on an a n im a tion , such a s th e m erry-go-round o r airp o rt in o rd e r to p lay th e activ ities .

S e lec ting th e a irp o rt fo r e xam p le takes y o u to 1 o f 5 scenes. Each scene has h o tsp o ts tha t w hen c licked o n w ill p ro d u ce a h u m orous s ound o r a n im ation , m y five ye a r o ld son en joyed th is a c tiv ity fo r q u ite so m e tim e.

A t th e to p r ig h t hand co rn e r o f each a c tiv ity screen is a "page tu rn " icon so th e ch ild can p rog ress th ro u g h th e d iffe re n t screens a t w ill. To q u it back to th e m a in m enu is ju s t a s im p le task o f c lic k in g o n th e ever-present schoo l b u s icon at th e b o tto m o f th e screen.

O the r a c tiv itie s in c lude a ve ry g o o d m atch ing t i le s g a m e , co lo u rin g book. M ix and m atch , a

co u n tin g gam e, a m us ica l keyboard, ABC-123 and "ripp le m a ch in e " fo r c rea ting w e ird co lo u rs and

shapes. I f you have seen th e Dr. Z e u s 's CD-ROM ga m e s fo r th e PC you w ill fee l ve ry a t h om e KidSTOP as I am su re th e insp ira tion cam e from there .

T h e d e m o vers ion o f KidSTOP has 5 o f the 12 a c tiv itie s d isab led , to un lock th e m iss in g ga m e s you have to reg is te r w ith th e author.

The g raph ics a re ju s t a bove average fo r th is ty p e o f p rog ram and d o th e jo b w e ll enough.There a re s tacks o f g o o d a nd c lear sound e ffe c ts and th e p rog ram co u ld n 't b e s im p le r to use. The ac id te s t fo r any educa tiona l p rog ram is w h e th e r o r n o t it w ill keep a ch ild in te re s te d fo r a p ro lo n g e d period , KidSTOP w e n t and passed th is te s t w ith fly in g co lo u rs o n m y k id and th a t 's good enough fo r m e, a fte r a ll w h a t d o a d u lts kn o w abou t such th ings? * * * ★ ★

Tossword■ T y p e : W o rd p u zz le gam e

■ A v a ila b le f r o m : S a d d le tra m p s PD. 1 L o w e r M il l C lose . G o ld th o rp e , R o the rham .

Te|: 01709 W 8 127 ...............................

■ P r ic e : 80p p lu s 5 0p P&P

1 or 2 hum an p layers m u s t p it th e ir vocabulary gen ius aga inst th e A m ig a w ith the aim o f sco rin g the m o s t p o in ts b y crea ting and p lac ing w o rd s w ith h igh scoring le tte rs on th e board, ju s t like Scrabble.

Tossw ord has its e cce n tr ic itie s though, fo r exam ple, any w o rd you p lace th a t's n o t in its d ic tio n a ry w ill b e a cce p te d b u t th e tiles fo r th a t w o rd w ill no t be a llo w e d o n the boa rd fo r tha t gam e. A ppa ren tly th is is to s to p cheating, scary s tu ff huh!

The p ro b le m w ith th is is th e tin y d ic tio nary, i t d oesn ’t recogn ise s im p le w o rds ‘po u n d ’ a nd fa te ' so it w ill take a fa ir am ount

o f p lay ing to b u ild u p a de ce n t dictionary.However, the re a re o p tio n s to im p o rt and

e d it d ic tiona ries w h ic h co u ld so lve tha t p ro b lem if you a re tha t w a y inc lined . Tossw ord co m e s w ith th ree d ic tiona ries . Russian. G erm an and o f cou rse English, a lo t o f fun if you a re a lin g u is t I shou ld th ink.

B u t w ha t really s truck m e as odd . o r is it novel? Is tha t w h e n th e A m iga takes its turn o n th e board it a tte m p ts to h e lp you b y placing lo ng ish w o rd s in g o o d p o s itio n s as opp o se d to crea ting w o rd s tha t sco re high bu t g ive you fe w n e w o p p o rtu n itie s as it w o u ld in S crabble, in te resting . Tossw ord is fundam en ta lly Scrabb le w ith a fe w added tw is ts w h ic h I th ink m o s t w o rd puzzle fans w ill g e t e n jo ym e n t fro m o r even g e t th o ro ugh ly im m ersed in.

If th e screen des ign , d o d g y ti le graphics and fidd ly co n tro ls w e re im p ro ve d the gam e w o u ld b e even m o re e n joyab le . ★ ★ ★ *


C3»> UtilitiesSteve Bye tries out some of the more

useful examples of public domain so ft

w are, then gives you his honest opinion

on their w orth . Read on...

Tota lly b lind ing★ ★ ★ * Good★ ★ ★ Average★ * Substandard★ Oh dear

A m iG lo b e V 0 .9 9 3 in fo rm a tio n abou t th e co u n try inc lud ing pop-

■ T y p « : W orid A tla s ............................................... u la tion . flag, currency. GNR e tc . B y c lick ing.— .................... — . ................ o n th e co u n try flag you are g iven a textual■ A v a i la b le f r o m : O n lin e P D 1. The „ Qn ,ne a,ea C lo is te rs , Halsall Lane. Formby. L iverpoolL37-3PX. Tel: 01704 8 34 335. Y° U ' T ' ,h ? m aD ' " d 'n ' 0U'......................................................................................... w a ys , fla t, spherica l, pe rspective and m erca-

.............................................................. to rs (don 't ask !) C licking on the Elem ent"A m iG lobe is a w o rld A tlas fo r yo u r A m iga. bu tto n and th e n anyw here on th e m ap w ill

The program b o o ts up w ith a fla t p lan g ive you long itude , la titude , popu la tion andm ap o f th e w o rld , to f in d o u t a b o u t a co u n try th e nam e o f th e reg ion. A m iG lobe has a fewo r a re g io n o f a co u n try you ju s t c lic k o n it p ro b le m s here, fo r exam ple , c lick ing onand you can th e n zoom in o r o u t o f th e m ap C ornw all UK. g ive s in fo fo r B rest in France.o r c lic k o n 'in fo s ' (SIC) fo r so m e de ta iled I kn o w it s o n ly a fe w m ile s a cross the

Utility of the Month...

C a rto o n S tu d ioI T y p e : A n im a tio n E d ito r

I A v a i la b le f r o m : 17 B it. 4 4 Cecil S tree t. W a lkden,M ancheste r. M28-3LE Tol:0161 702 6737

I P r ic e : £ i p lus 70p P6P

O k. yo u 've ju s t crea ted a n ice an im a tion in DPaint. H m m . n o sound, n o fa d e s a nd no t runnab le w ith o u t a player, th is is w he re C artoon S tud io can help. C artoon S tud io is an IFF an im a tion ed ito r. Load in yo u r anim ation and w ith a fe w c licks o f th e m ouse

y o u can eas ily a dd IFF sound sam ples, fades, se t th e fra m e speed, add pauses a nd lo o p s and fin a lly c re a te a s tand-a lone se lf-runn ing d isk fo r yo u r m asterp iece. Cartoon S tud io w ill on ly a ccep t IFF-Anim5

low res-an im a tions w ith a m ax im um o f 32 co lou rs , b u t fo r m o s t s im p le ca rtoon type a n im a tions th is shou ld b e adequa te (say's th e author).

T he exam ple ca rtoon inc luded is

supe rb and sh o w s w h a t C artoon Studio can do. S im p le , nea t and m o s t e ffective .

channe l b u t is tha t rea lly a g o o d enough excuse? I am a lso conce rn e d a t th e accuracy o f som e o f th e data, a fte r a ll th is version w a s m ade in 1995 so un less you can fin d an updated vers ion you w o n 't be ab le to re ly on th e exchange rates, p o pu la tion figures and anyth ing e lse tha t is likely to change

It 's a fasc ina ting p rog ram tha t co u ld be use fu l, b u t n eeds updating.

M ic ro P a in t■ T y p e : Paint program

■ A v a i la b le f r o m : C lassic A m iga PD. 11 Deansgate. Radcliffe . M a nches te r M26-2SH Tel: 0161 7 23 1638

■ P r ic e : E l p lus 75p P&P pe r o rder

Even a fte r all these yea rs any n e w pa in t p ro gram on th e A m iga is im m e d ia te ly com pared

w ith DPaint. fa ir o r n o t th a t's th e w ay it is. s im p ly because DPaint is w h a t m o s t peop le are fa m ilia r w ith

S o any n e w p rog ram tha t g o e s to o far aga inst th e g ram has to live o r d ie o n its firs t im p re ss io n s and if it is tricky to ge t to g rips w ith peo p le are ju s t go ing to junk it. The e xce p tio n to th is rule o f course is if th e program can o ffe r p ow erfu l fe a tu re s n o t availa b le e lsew here (e.g. P hotogen ics) W h a t I am g e ttin g a t is M ic roP a in t (M P fro m n o w on ) hasn 't d o n e its e lf any favou rs A s a use r I w o u ld have junked M P a fte r 10 m inu tes s im p ly because it a liena tes you fro m the w ord go . b u t as a rev iew er I w il l so ld ie r on and g ive M P a fa ir hearing.

D on 't ge t m e w ro n g . I a m n o t im p ly ing th a t a ll pa in t p rogram s m u s t b e th e sam e as DPaint b u t i t is co m m o n sense to b u ild on e x is tin g k n o w le d g e ra ther than s ta rt again

each tim e. M P has s o m e sim ila rities to DPaint o f cou rse bu t it has g o n e its o w n w ay o n a lo t o f unnecessary th ings , take th e undo fe a tu re fo r exam ple If an undo is available


on a fu n c tio n you have to re -se lect th e function to undo yo u r la s t p iece o f w o rk , sure ly a s im p le undo bu tto n o r keystroke w o u ld have been be tter? O r h o w abou t te x t input?

Yuk, you type th e te x t in to a re q ues te r on a d if fe re n t screen, po in tless. O n th e plus side th o u g h M P su p p o rts all th e usual too ls p lus u p to 256 co lours (AGA A m iga 's). In te llifo n ts . co lo u r fo n ts , p rin t p ic tu res , grab screens, su p p o rts da ta types, play anim atio n s . has an ARexx port, has a recent file lis t, c lip b o a rd su p po rt, m acros and som e s im p le im age m an ipu la tion tools.

I th ink M P cou ld be a use fu l extra a long side yo u r usual p a in t package as it has som e grea t fea tu res no t found in m any o the r s im ilar program s, b u t I doub t m any pe o p le cou ld p u t i t to serious use on its o w n , th o u g h I am su re th e re w ill b e som e. In th is d em o version you can on ly save in B M P fo rm a t, you have to re g is te r (15) fo r th e keyfile to un lock th e fu ll save fu nc tion . ★ ★ ★

Class HD Utils 23■ T y p e : U tilities assortm ent.

■ A v a i la b l e f r o m : Classic A m iga PD. 11 Deansgate, Radcliffe . M anches te r M26-2SH T e |.01 61 723 1638

■ P r i c e : £1 p lus 75p P&P pe r order.

T h is c o m p ila tio n o f sm all u tilit ie s con ta ins som e o ld , new and in te res ting program s.

Q uickG rab A G A is an exce llen t screen

grabber. D iskm asher 2 is a ok. b u t s lig h tly bugged, fro n t end fo r D M S. LHA2LZX au tom atica lly coverts LHA arch ives to th e superio r LZX fo rm a t. S ystem U pdate U til co u ld be use fu l as it com pares vers ions o f yo u r system files w ith th e la test vers ion availab le and updates them if y o u w ish .

H otB ar d isp lays a ro w o f icons o f your favourite p rogram s on yo u r W orkbench so you can launch them eas ily and quickly. Pio Icon a llo w s you to use Personal Paint 6 .3+ as an icon ed ito r, w h ich is n ice if you don 't like any o f th e Icon ed ito rs d o in g the rounds.

There are also five W orkbench backd rops fo r W B 3 users. H o w to w r ite Am igaG u ide is th e s ta r o f th is d isk fo r m e . It is a com pre

hensive g u id e on h o w to w r ite Am igaG uide d o cu m e n ts . The a u th o r w ro te the gu id e as he w a s learn ing h im se lf so it is n o t to ta lly com p le te , bu t the re a re on ly a

fe w o d d itie s le ft to cove r th a t w ill no t w o rry m o s t people. It is a nd w e ll w r it te n and if you w a n t to learn fro m scra tch I haven 't seen a

b e tte r g u id e a round than th is . ★ ★ ★ *

V ideo Base V2.01■ T y p e : Database

■ A v a i l a b l e f r o m : O nLine PD. 1. TheC lo isters. Halsa ll Lane. Formby. Liverpool.

■ P r i c e : 75p

This p rogram shou ld be in an A m iga m useum som ew here , its been knock ing around th e PD scene for yonks. I rem em ber g iv ing it a g o o d look ing a t years ago and no th ing

appears to have changed, b u t as the d o c file c la im s to have been w ritte n in 1997 I guess

s o m eth ing m u s t have been d o n e to it?No n e w fea tures are lis te d in the d ocs or

indeed a ppa ren t in th e program . O h w e ll. I s uppose I had be tte r g e t on w ith it then. V ideo Base V2.1 a llo w s you to easily ca ta lo g u e yo u r V ideo fi lm co llection .

You can add, ed it, d e le te , v iew , sort, search and p rin t records as w e ll as add a le n g th y personal rev iew fo r each tape . The fro n t-end is as ug ly as a Tory M P and the p rogram , w ritte n in A m o s 1.3 and n o t in A m o s Pro as sugges ted by th e program m er, isn 't com piled .

So. if you w a n t to look a t som e A m os sou rce co d e o r you w a n t to ca ta logue your v ideo co llec tion and you aren 't to o fussed a bou t looks, s ty le and fe a tu re s th is o ld tim e r

w ill d o you nicely. ★ ★ *

Best of Aminet

T h is has been a p re t ty g o o d m o n th on th e A m in e t u p lo a d s f ro n t. I f th e a m o u n t o f u p lo a d s to th e A m in e t in any g iven m o n th is a g o o d in d ic a tio n o f th e h ea lth o f th e A m ig a scene in g e n e ra l, th e n I

can o n ly sa y th a t th e p a t ie n t is d o in g v e ry w e ll in d e e d ! T h e s ta r u p lo a d o f re ce n t d a y s has g o t t o be u til/w b /N e w lc o n s 4 1 . lh a (655K) and

u t il/w b /N e w lc o n s 4 1 u p d . lh a (115k), th e la te s t v e rs io n o f th e N e w lc o n s icon re p la c e m e n t u t i l i ty . R a tin g a s som e o f th e b e s t f re e w a re ever, th is Icon re p la c e m e n t s ys te m p re se rve s th e p a le tte s o f Ico n s sep e ra te ly , a vo id in g th e d re a d e d p a le tte c lash th a t M a g icW B icons s u ffe r fro m . A t CU w e ra te th is as th e b e s t Icon re p la c e m e n t s ys te m g o ing .

O n th e u t i l i t ie s f r o n t th e re w e re a fa ir b a tch o f w e ird and w o n d e r fu l th in g s th is m o n th . m is c /e m u /M id iS h a p e .lh a (134k) is a b o n u s f o r th e a u d io p h ile S h a p e sh ifte r, a llo w in g M ID I o u tp u t fro m M ac packages v ia S h a p e sh ifte r. I w o n d e r w h a t d e c e n t M ID I X G s o ftw a re th e re is fo r th e M ac? O n a s l ig h t ly m ore u n u su a l s id e is g fx /e d i t /w r i te J t . lh a (5k). T h is is a b o u t a s s im p le as p ro g ra m s ge t, b u t I lo v e i t . I t o pens a w in d o w o n th e W o rkb e n ch screen a nd a llo w s y o u to d o o d le in i t w i th th e m o u se . You can p la y b ack th e m o u s e m o v e m e n ts q u ic k ly o r s lo w ly and save y o u r d a ta . I 'm n o t 100% su re w h a t i t is a c tu a lly fo r , b u t fo r an u n re p e n te n t d o o d le r su ch as m yse lf, i t saves n o end o f sc raps o f paper. The w o r ld is fu l l o f l i t t le W o rk b e n c h hacks b u t fe w a re as im m e d ia te ly a n d o b v io u s ly u se fu l as u t i l/w b /P o w e rW B .Ih a (66k), a s im p le and a p p a re n tly fa ir ly c lean h ack w h ic h a d d s tw o g a d g e ts to a n y w in d o w s y o u o pen , o ne to s h o w a ll ic o n s and th e o th e r t o s w itc h b e tw e e n v ie w b y n am e a n d v ie w b y icon . T here a re a ls o a b u n c h o f e x tra ke yb o a rd s h o r tc u ts p a tc h e d in . T h is is one w h ic h w i l l m a ke i t o n to m y sys te m .

R egu la r re a de rs o f th is c o lu m n kn o w I lik e th e A m in e t t o keep m e a m used to o , so b e fo re I s ig n o f f fo r a n o th e r m o n th I 'd b e tte r p o in t y o u in th e d ire c t io n o f p ix /tra c e /W h y Y o u S o L o o k .lh a , a b iza rre b u t ra th e r e x c e lle n t m o n ta g e by B a rtosz M ediger.

*


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O n e day w e all h ope lo see ihe rebinh o f Ihe Amiga with a PowerPC processor and ocher new features lo enable ii lo com pete again with today's systems. Sadly though, mom

: than 2 years since Commodore's : demise, little o f substance has : actually happened We've seen : prototypes and heard promises : w e all hope to sec new Amiga• developments.

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All Macs have the latest PowerPC RISC processors (poor Pentium systems are still CISC designs!. Even enity

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• Macintosh still dominates the creative world with an 80% market share in colour publishing.

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CD-ROM SceneWe're doing a games special this month,

rounding up a bunch of new and "nearly new"

CD32 games available from Epic Marketing...

For the p rin ce ly sum o f £2.99 each (p lus £1 pe r t it le postage and pack ing) you can purchase any one o f th e se gam es - plus

th e y ’ll even th ro w one in f re e fo r eve ry fo u r

y o u buy!There are a w h o le load m o re g a m e s than

these, so g e t in c o n ta c t w ith them if you w a n t m ore de ta ils . Be w arned , no t a ll CD32 gam es w ill w o rk on an A1200. b u t all o f these w o rke d fin e w h e n w e te s te d them u nd e r iDEfix 97 so ftw are.

Using CD32 e m u la tio n und e r IDEFix97 so ftw a re is particu la rly s tra ig h tfo rw a rd . A

sm all u tility w il l p repare a b o o t flo p p y for you. S tick th e CD-ROM in th e CD d rive and

th e b o o t f lo p p y in th e flo p p y d rive and boot u p The gam e loads a s if on a CD32 Great, huh? There is o f cou rse o ne o th e r im portan t issu e to take in to cons ide ra tion , w h ich is tha t m any CD32 gam es use th e extra b u tto n s on a CD32 con tro lle r

The easy a n sw e r is to buy o ne o f these fro m Epic, b u t th e CD32 em u la tion w ill a llow you to e m u la te th e c o n tro ls th rough keys. Som e gam es a re ok th is way. o th e rs are a pa in to play on the keyboard. B ecause o f th is w e have rated th e im p o rta n ce o f a genuine CD32 c o n tro lle r to re ta in ing p layab ility

■ J o h n B arnes E u ropean F o o tb a ll

■ J o y p a d ? : Necessary

I kn o w som eone w h o on ce p layed foo tie w ith Jo h n Barnes in the loca l park, and has ever s ince w o rsh ip p e d th e very g round upon w h ich th is ex England, e x L iverpool m id fie ld legend o f d u b io u s dress sense walks.

Perhaps to h im the re m ig h t be som e va lue in th is gam e, a s o rt o f k its c h hom age to th e h e ro o f h is you th . To everyone else, m y advice is to s teer w e ll clear. Ok. it w o rks , the g raph ics a re no w o rs e than h und reds of o th e r lo w grade title s , b u t tha t is a bou t the b es t th in g tha t can b e sa id abou t th is cheesy m onstros ity

There is lit t le d o u b t (desp ite w h a t th e e d ito r m ay th ink ) a b o u t the fa c t th e Sensible S occer is to th is day th e King o f Football gam es, so any o th e r t i t le has to have a t least so m e th ing to o ffe r as an a lte rna tive to w h ile a w a y th e tim e if you a re fee ling a lit t le bored o f Sensi.

Total Football. Footba ll Glory. Kick O ff 2. D ino D in i's goal, these gam es all had som e

th in g w o rth w h ile to o ffe r in th e ir o w n way. som eth ing to m ake you turn to th e m from tim e to tim e.

This on th e o th e r hand has no th ing B arnsey is cu rre n tly achieving m o dera te suc

cess reviv ing his career w ith N ew cas tle u n ited. Th is g am e shou ld never have been given a revive. 2 0 %

■ Fears

■ J o y p a d ? : unneccesary

Fears w a s o ne o f th e firs t o f the A m iga ’s "D oom clones". Released a round th e sam e tim e as G loom , th is o ne w as ra ther overshadow ed b y the g o rey v io lence o f th e latter. Looking a t th is g am e now , I can ’t h e lp but fee l w e have m issed o u t a little.

The ob v io u s fa iling o f th is g am e w hen com p a re d to G loom is tha t th e a liens in th is look absurd ly ca rto o n y com p a re d to G loom .It is n 't th a t th e A c tio n m an fig u re s in G loom w e re so u tte rly brillian t, i t 's ju s t tha t the m o n s te rs in Fears a re to o dom ica l to b e anyw h e re near scary.

O n th e o the r hand the backgrounds are scary indeed. There are exce llen t textu res and su itab ley g lo o m y m us ic . The w h o le th ing trund les a long a t q u ite a reasonab le rate.This is very d e fin ite ly one o f th o se gam es w here p lay ing o n an acce le ra to r m akes a big.

b ig d iffe rence . G ive it a reasonable CPU and th is g am e flies , fu ll screen.

A 68030/50 is a ll you need to ge t the m o s t o u t o f th is en g in e w h ile o n a CD32 you had to reduce th e screen size to m ake it

re m o te ly p layable

JOHN BARMS EUROPEAN FOOTBALL

A llh o u g h th is ty p e o f gam e te n d s lo be

lum ped to g e th e r under th e ca te g o ry of D oom c lo n e , i t is m ore p ro p e rly a W o lfe n s te in 3 D clone.

You can o n ly look fro m s id e to s ide , i t is basica lly a run th ro u g h a m aze sh oo ting

th in g s ty p e o f gam e, a nd a s a b laste r it is a c tu a lly q u ite g o o d fun . I t ’s ve ry s im p lis tic b u t a lso ve ry cheap W e ll w o rth a look i f you like g iv in g ca rtoon o c to p i b o th barrels. 8 5 %

■ S tr ip P o t

■ J o y p a d ? : O h s top sn ig g e rin g ! No!

This is th e no tion . You p ress a b u tto n and th e ree ls sp in .

I t 's ju s t like a fru it m ach ine b u t if you ge t a line y o u a lso g e t to see a b a d ly d ig itised p h o to o f a n u d e o r sem i nude m ode l A fte r a w h ile , you see a n a n im a tio n o f a sem i nude m o d e l, apparently.

Even a t under C3 th is one is a m iss.C om e o n , if y o u rea lly have to th e n th e top s he lf o f y o u r local n e w sagen t a t least o ffe rs b e tte r pho tog raph ic re p roduc tion . Cheap, tas te less and frank ly ve ry sad. 2 %

■ L e g e n d s

■ J o y p a d ? : N ot necessary

Legends launched its e lf in to o b scu rity a c o u p le o f yea rs ago, d e s p ite be ing s o m e th in g o f a ra rity o n th e A m iga. Set over fo u r tim e p e rio ds . Legends is an RPG in th e Z elda style.

■ i - 8


T here is a c o m p le x s to ry line , fu ll o f characte rs to ta lk to and e nem ies to shoot. G raphica lly it is po lished, and re m in isce n t o f th e B itm ap b ro th e rs ca rto o n y s ty le o f art.

T here is p le n ty to see and d o a nd a lo t o f o b je c ts to find . T h e g am e is hum u ro u s at th e sam e t im e as be ing invo lv ing, and m anages to be cha lleng ing w ith o u t be ing too frus tra ting . So w h a t w e n t w ro n g ? I t d id n 't g e t launched a t th e b e s t tim e fo r Am iga gam es, and i t ce rta in ly o ffe rs v e ry l it t le tha t is new.

The ideas beh ind th e g am e perhaps ou tw e ig h th e execu tion , b u t fo r th e RPG fan

s tarved o f fo d d e r th a t is a sm all m atte r. I'm sure th is one tha t sh ou ld keep you go ing a fa ir w h ile . 8 5 %■ T o ta l C a rn a g e

■ J o y p a d ? : Unnecessary

Spare m e. W h oeve r w ro te th is g am e w as c learly o f the op in io n tha t ju s t so long as you d ra w b lokes w ith b ig m uscles a nd the re are lo ts o f peop le d y in g all o ve r th e screen you d id n 't have to b o th e r a b o u t m ino r th ings

such a s s ty le , gam ep lay a nd so on.This is o ne o f those top-dow n-run-around-

k illing-th ings gam es tha t really took o f f w ith tha t classic o f the arcades G auntle t and w en t do w n h ill fro m there . Total Carnage sees you taking o n the ro le o f a R am boesque character, e ithe r on yo u r o w n o r in th e com pany o f yo u r ow n litt le Ram bini s idek ick to be contro lled b y so m e friend , if you can find one w illin g to w a s te th e ir tim e on this.

You are regu la rly assau lted b y hordes o f looka like Schw arzenegger badd ies w ho m arch b lin d ly in to yo u r line o f fire and can p ick up th e o d d w eapon , key, o r d iam ond

■ G u a rd ia n

■ J o y p a d ? : Adv isab le

G uardian w a s c lea rly a im ed a t be ing d e fe n d e r in 3D, even d o w n to th e name.

There aren 't l it t le peop le to defend here, the re a re bu ild ings to guard instead, it lo o ks m ore like a flig h t s im and you don 't g e t the p leasure o f w a itin g a t th e to p o f th e screen fo r a lander to g e t a lm os t far enough to tra n s fo rm in to a m u ta n t be fo re y o u b las t h im . g rab th e lit t le guy and d e p o s it h im on th e g round fo r a 500 po in t bonus. N everthe less, in te rm s o f shee r fre n e tic gam eplay, G uardian has succesfu lly tapped in to th e D e fende r e thos.

You are p ro b a b ly all bored to tears w ith g am e rev iew ers g o in g o n a bou t h o w great gam es w e re in th e o ld days, b u t D efender a lw ays had th a t som e th ing specia l. There a re ve ry fe w 15 year o ld gam es th a t you cou ld happ ily f ire up fo r a q u ick zap m o m e n t a fte r fin ish in g a sess ion o f T rapped2, Q uake o r Tom b Raider, bu t D e fende r is d e fin ite ly one o f them . That

Guard ian w a s likened to D e fende r w h e n i t cam e ^

o u t w a s no surprise , tha t th e com aprison s till holds

u p is te s ta m e n t indeed to its gameplay.The po lygona l sp acecra ft look p rim itive

b y to d a y 's standards, b u t th e co p p e r lis t horizons, adrena lin pum p in g a c tio n an d

b e a u tifu lly fas t screen u p da tes m ake th is a very sa tis fy ing gam ing experience , an d

o ne I am sure I w il l s till have th e o dd b last a t in 10 years tim e . 9 0 %

you find ly ing about.Every n o w and again a large tank o r w h a t

ever appears, bu t as th e f ir in g p a tte rns all appear to b e p rede te rm ined they are no t really a p rob lem , you can ju s t s tand a t a spo t w h e re they d o n 't shoo t and fin is h them off.

In fa c t th e b es t advantage th e enem y have is th a t because th e screen on ly m anages to scro ll w h e n it w a n ts to , they can so m etim es tra p y o u aga inst th e edge o f the screen. Total R ubbish m ore like. 3 8 %■ V i ta l L ig h t

■ J o y p a d ? : Usefu l

I'm no t even go ing to try to exp la in th e narrative here, it 's fa r to o w e ird . S om eth ing to do w ith a c ity ca lled Ram ron, w h ic h is a c ity o f

m ystery, m an/e ls and v id e o gam es.This is o ne o f th o se Tetris insp ired gam es

th a t are s till be ing churned o u t today. It is easy fo r a tit le to lose its e lf a m o n g s t the m orass o f o the r gam es a tte m p tin g to d o a Tetris, and in th e case o f V ita l L ig h t tha t is a p ity because it dese rves better.

There are. as you w o u ld expect, b locks fa lling. They are in d iffe re n t co lou rs . You have to sh o o t them to m ake th e m th e sam e colour. I am sure you kn o w th e basic p rinc ip le b y now. There are p le n ty o f o p tio n s and tw o p layer head-to-head m ode.

T he se tting , g raph ics and sound are evoca tive ly and d is tin c tive ly w e ird , a nd the gam ep lay is ve ry sm oo th . V ita l L igh t is o ne o f the ve ry b e s t o f th e pseudo Tetris genre and ve ry w e ll w o rth a look. 8 8 %


A r t G a l l e r y

Send pictures to: Art Gallery, CU Amiga, 37-39 Millharbour,

Isie of Dogs, London El 4 9TZ or E-mail them to [email protected].

T h e S u r re a l T h in g , b y M a r k In g ra m

T h e b a c k g ro u n d is V is ta , th e p a in t in g P h o to g e n ic s . th e m o d e ll in g Im a g in e , th e in s p ira t io n M a g r it te . T h e c o n t ra s t b e tw e e n th e 3 D re n d e re d f ig u re a n d th e p a in te r ly 2 D c a n v a s a d d s a le v e l o f ir o n y R ene M a g r i t te ju s t d id n 't h a v e th e te c h n o lo g y fo r .



W e a re m o re u s e d to s e e in g Lee d o c a r to o n y re n d e rs th a n t h is m o o d y re a l is t C in e m a 4 D p ie c e . T h e s t ro n g c e n tra l c o m p o s it io n a n d h ig h c o n t ra s t is re m in is c e n t o f t h e m o d e rn is t p h o to g ra p h e rs . I f W e s te rn h a d a n A m ig a , h e 'd d o re n d e rs l ik e th is .

T h e O n e A r m e d R a v e r, b y F re a k y (P h il P r ic e )

A s u i ta b ly lu n a t ic p ie c e o f c o m p u te r c o lla g e . T h e c o lo u rs a re w e ll s e le c te d a n d th e im a g e ry a p p r o p r ia te ly u s e d . A n a p p ro p r ia te n ic k n a m e , P h il.

P a tr ic k ( n o t th e a s tro n o m e r ) u ses Im a g in e 3 fo r th e re n d e rs and p h o to g e n ic s t o t o u c h u p . T h is re m in d s m e o f a d u s ty m u s e u m c o r r id o r , r e d o le n t o f m y s te ry . A n e x c e l le n t se n se o f p la ce .


G a s t e i n e r LONC AMIGA Sfi0 1 8 1 3 4 5 6 0 0 0 &REPAIR

Facsim ile 0181 345 6868 CENTRE

viVJ2£)0 H A h \Trapdoor fitting . clock. FPU socketOMBWITH 4MB WITH 8MBWITH 4M B & 33Mhz FPU WITH 8MB & 33Mhz FPU

£29.00£44.99£59.99£54.99£69.99

Will fit all makes of RAM-CARDS & ACCELERATORS33MHz 68882 picc50MHz 68882 pga £29.99CRYSTALS £4.99

£ 1 0 .0 0

£25.00

We have been selling simms & memory fo r amiga computers fo r 10 years, we carry large stocks that fits all makes of ram cards & accelerators.30pin 1 m b 4mb 72pin 2m b 4mb 8m b 16mb 32mb

MICROVITEC 14" MICROVITEC 17”SHOP SOILED PHILIPS 8833

EPSON 400 EPSON 600 EPSON 800 CANON BJC4100 CANON BJC4200

£159£249£359£149£169

w t g m m m m mMOTOROLA 3400 PRO 28.8 DATA/FAX MODEM £3933.6 DATA/FAX MODEM £5955.6 DATA/FAX MODEM £99

ZIP 100MB CARTS £12.99JAZZ 1GIG CARTS £69.99SQUEST 230MB CARTS £18.99SQUEST 135MB CARTS £12.99JAZZ DRIVE £349.00ZIP DRIVE £119.00ZIP TOOLS £20.00

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+ A 1 2 0 0

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F O U R G A M E S £ 5

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For all A1200 & A600 AMIGA COMPUTERS2.5" IDE Super slim with cables & software170mb £59.99540mb £129.9810mb £129.91 .8glg £199.92.5gig £349.93.5" IDE Super slim fast w ill fit all Amiga a1200A4000 computers w ith cables & software.420mb £79.99850mb £89.99i-2gig £119.91.7glg £149.93gig £169.94glg £199.96gig 9m/s £349.9

May need scsi controller work with A1200 & A605 with squirrel, A2000 to A4000 with Okagon

£149.9 £199.9 £299.9 £499.0 £poa £49.99 £39.99 £74.99 £84.99 £72.99 £119.9 £349.9 £ 2 0 .0 0

£199.9

lal SCSI Case 45Watt PSU

14008 mulltlface III zip drive Jazz drive ZIP TOOLS syquest 230mb

I j U - TSCSI CD-ROM fits A600 & A1200 comes with its one power supply & Squirrel 2 speed £129.06 speed £1798 speed £21916 speed £249IDE CD-ROM

- Fits A2000 A4000 & A1200 w ith Alfaquatro (A120 needs case)12 speed £59.0016speed £65.'24 speed £79.'

, 0 0>oc

A1200 & A600 only£54.99£39.99

£14.95£16.95£39.95

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PLEASE ALLOW WORKING DAYS FOR CHEQUE CLEARANCE


From coding tips to desktop publishing,

our regular Workshop section continues

to instruct you in an expert fashion.

Sure to keep you busy for some time.

8 4 Im ag in e 4 .0 ___________________T h e p e n u lt im a te le s s o n in t h e Im a g in e s e r ie s . J o h n K e n n e d y s h o w s h o w t o a d d p e o p le t o y o u r re n d e re d sce n e s .

8 8 C P rogram m ing_______________J a s o n H u la n c e g iv e s a w a y a f e w m o re m o u th w a te r in g t ip s t o h e lp y o u t o p ro g ra m w i t h ease.

9 2 S u rf's Up_____________________C o r b lim e y , e v e n m o re A m ig a In te rn e t e x c lu s iv e s t o fe a s t y o u r e ye s o n p lu s t h e fe a r fu l N e t G o d s p e a k s .

9 3 S u rf o f th e M o n th ____________T h is m o n th w e l in k u p w i t h th e F re e w a re R o u n d u p (p a g e 32 ) t o g iv e y o u a l l th e a s s o c ia te d h o m e pa g e s .

9 4 W ired W orld__________________N e t b lo k e N e il B o th w ic k te l ls y o u a ll a b o u t T h o r 2 .5 , t h e e x c e lle n t c o m b in e d m a il a n d n e w s re a d e r.

9 6 Sound Lab_____________________M o re w is d o m f r o m D h o m a s T re n n o n h o w t o use a n im a g e p ro c e s s o r t o a d d c ra z y e f fe c ts t o y o u r a u d io s a m p le s .

9 8 DTPU p t o p a r t 8 n o w in th is P ro P a g e tu to r ia l , a n d t h is m o n th L a rry H ic k m o t t te l ls y o u h o w t o in c o rp o ra te D ra w S tu d io L ite w i t h it .

1 0 4 Q & A _________________________S e e k in g s o m e m u c h n e e d e d a s s is ta n c e o n A m ig a re la te d to p ic s , h e re o u r e x p e r ts d o th e i r u tm o s t t o g iv e a n s w e rs .

107 A to Z____________________F ro m A m ig a t o Z o r ro , a n d q u i te l i te r a l ly e v e ry - f l ip p in g - th in g in b e tw e e n . T h is m o n th i t 's t h e t u r n o f C ...£ 91 Back Issues

M is s e d a n is s u e o f C U A m ig a 7 S h a m e ! H o p e fu l ly a l l is n o t lo s t a n d y o u c a n f in d th e o f fe n d in g ite m r ig h t he re .

c c 108 BackchatC r it ic is m , c o m m e n ts , g e n e ra l in fo rm a t io n , s u g g e s t io n s . T h is is w h e re y o u c a n see y o u r n a m e in p r in t .

111 SubscriptionsL ife is ju s t g re a t w h e n y o u ta k e o u t s u b s c r ib t io n to C U A m ig a , th e U K 's b e s t s e ll in g A m ig a m a g a z in e .

112 Points o f V iewW ith th e ir s o a p b o x e s a t th e re a d y , C U A m ig a s s ta f f a n d c o n t r ib u to r s le t i t b e k n o w n w h a t th e y th in k o f c e r ta in issu e s . D o n 't m ess .


0 Imagine 4.0Taking your rendering to the next

level involves putting real people

into your work. John Kennedy can't

find any real people, and so uses

himself instead.

Have you ever w a n te d to add real peo p le to your rendered s ce n e s? A s a sp in o f f fro m o u r e xp lo ra tion o f b rushm aps. w e

can n o w d e ve lo p a te ch n iq u e to add re a lis tic peop le to y o u r v irtua l stage, and w h a t's m o re , w e can even anim a te them

To s ta rt w ith , w e ll need som e im ages to w o rk w ith . Th is is w he re y o u r in genu ity a nd b u d g e t com e in to play. I f you are on ly dea ling w ith a s t ill im age, th e n a s in g le scanned im age w ill d o However, if you are th in k in g o f c rea ting a n an im ation , th e n y o u 'll obv ious ly need m ore than o ne im age.

G rabb ing a sequence o f s tills fro m v id e o is o n e o p tio n , as is us ing a d ig ita l cam era to g ra b a se ries o f im ages. B o th these requ ire extra hardw are I 'm afraid, b u t the re is no t a g rea t deal w e can d o a bou t that.

ProGrab fro m G ordon H arw oods is re la tive ly inexpensive a nd yet capab le o f e xce lle n t resu lts, and if you ad ve rtise in y o u r loca l paper you are bo u n d to f in d a VIDI Am iga go ing cheap You'll s t ill need a v ideo

sou rce , b u t m o s t pe o p le have a re la tive they cou ld b o rro w a video cam era from .

In th is exam p le , w e re m a k in g an a ssu m p tio n tha t the overa ll o u tline o f th e pe rson does no t change from fra m e to fram e . This is q u ite a big a ssu m p tio n to m ake, bu t i t does s im p lify every th ing trem endously . It

a lso w o rks ve ry w e ll fo r a "ta lk ing head” an im ation.

I f you d o w a n t to a n im a te a pe rson w a lk ing , then yo u 'll need to pe rfo rm ce rta in s te p s fo r each

ind iv idua l fram e

S te p 1T he f irs t s tep is to m ake a mask. U s ing any im age, tra ce a round the b a ckg round de ta ils and p a in t e ve ryth in g in w h ite .

N o w pa in t over the d e ta il inside b lack. You shou ld e nd u p w ith a s im p le , tw o co lou r im age like th is. Th is w ill be ou r m ask im age. Save it a s an IFF im age

S te p 2U sing th e m ask, w e can cre a te an Im ag ine o b je c t o n to w h ic h to m ap

▲ Alter the view point and i t 's dearly obvious that y o u "people" are fla t and lifeless. It's a

neat lit t le effect thonph

all the fra m e s o f o u r an im ation.In Im ag ine s D eta il E d ito r the re is

an o p tio n “C onve rt IFF /ILB M ...". W hen you load th e m ask im age u s in g th is too l. Im ag ine w ill c o n s tru c t an o b je c t o f th e sam e shape as the b lack ou tline .

T h is p rocess w ill occasiona lly

cause Im age to barf, b u t you can s o m etim es ignore th e e rro rs and s till e nd u p w ith a useab le ob ject. U se "M e rg e " o n th e o b je c t to so lid ify i t a b it. and m aybe app ly the S m oo th ing to o l to take o f f any rough edges

S te p 3N o w w e can a p p lv ou r b rush map. F orget abou t a n im a tio n fo r the m om e n t, and se lect th e A ttr ib u te s o f th e m ask ob ject.

A dd a b rushm ap tex tu re , and se lect th e f irs t im age th a t 's in th e se ries o f ta lk ing heads. Th is series

s h ou ld b e a ll IFF fo rm a t im ages, nam ed as ‘ head-O O O r. “head 0002" and so o n and so fo rth

E nter th e file n a m e “ head" a s the

f irs t im age, and se t th e M ax S equence va lu e to th e n u m ber o f

head im ages.


S te p 4I U nless you are incred ib ly lucky, ih e

Im ag ine o b je c t and th e b rushm ap im age w o n 't b e p e rfe c tly m atched,

a nd you w ill need to m ove (and pos- I s ib ly sca le) th e b rushm ap to fit.

Th is is a very tr icky process, and I it 's w o rth spend ing tim e g e ttin g it

I righ t. Use th e E d it A xes b u tto n to I a lte r th e size and pos ition o f the

b rushm ap in re la tion to th e ob ject. You shou ld p e rfo rm a Q uickrender, m ove th e m ap. p e rfo rm another q u ick rende r and so on.

E ventually you shou ld e nd up w ith a m atch , and w h e n rendered you shou ld see th e head im age w ith no background.

S te p 5N o w you can save th e o b jec t, and u se it in th e S tage Editor.

M ake sure th e cam era is square on, and you a re ready to render. It 's p robab ly a good idea to m ake the head o b je c t b righ t, as th is w ill m ean

I th e re is no shading.A fte r a ll. a ll th e shading w e need

is inc luded in th e o rig ina l brushm ap.

S te p 6| O ne rende r later, and y o u have a

rea lis tic (w e ll, s o rt o f) o b je c t to add in te re s t to yo u r scenes.

W h y n o t co m b in e i t w ith your o th e r o b je c ts , so th a t y o u r cars have d rivers and yo u r spacesh ips p ilo ts? B ecause w e have crea ted an o b je c t o f the r ig h t size, ra ther th a n pasted an im age o n to a rectang le , even the shadow s ca s t b y th e v irtua l person w ill be correct.

T ip s a n d tr ic k sB ecause w e a p p lie d th e brushm aps as a sequence, th e o b je c t w il l ren d e r p ro p e rly w h e n w e inc lude i t in

an an im ation . H ow ever, so m e tim es you m ig h t w a n t m ore co n tro l over th e speed a t w h ic h th e fram es change.

Instead o f c rea ting o ne ob jec t w ith m u ltip le b rushes, t ry crea ting m u ltip le o b je c ts w ith one brushm ap each. You can th e n use Im ag ine 's b u ilt-in m o rp h in g a b ility t o sw itch s m o o th ly fro m one fra m e to another. T h is te ch n iq u e w o rks ve ry w ell w h e n an im a ting c louds a nd o the r o rgan ic patterns.

U n fo rtu n a te ly it a lso has w e ird

consequences: a p p ly i t to tw o fram es o f a pe rson b link ing , and it appears th a t th e ir eye lids tu rn transparen t!

A n im a t io n l im ita t io n sU sing a f la t o b je c t like th is in an im a

tio n takes care.A s th e o b je c t is to ta lly fla t, a ny

v ie w o th e r th a n co m p le te ly fron t-on

w ill be tra y its tw o d im ens iona l na tu re . S o m e tim e s yo u 'll w a n t th is e ffe c t, o th e r t im e s y o u w o n 't, a nd it w il l b e hard w o rk d e fin in g yo u r

o b je c ts s o th a t th e y a lw ays face th e cam era.

V is it th e A c tio n e d ito r a nd play w ith th e A lig n m e n t to o l, and you m ig h t f in d th is m akes th e task s lig h tly easier. H ow ever, if y o u w a n t to c re a te a s o lid . 3 D ta lk in g head th e n you have a lo t o f w o rk in fro n t o f you.

C reating th e m e sh fo r th e head is a real cha llenge in itse lf, a lthough th e e xam p le B ee thoven b us t w h ich

c a m e w ith m any ve rs ions o f Im ag ine m akes a g o o d s ta rtin g po in t.


▲ k fume from the movioj cloid se^«ence. as we'vi sipplied this noith's CUCD

covariish.

in Im agine.The sequence co n s is ts o f m ov

in g c louds , s to re d in a re so lu tio n o f

320 b y 256. W ith ju s t a lit t le luck you shou ld be a b le to use them d ire c tly fro m th e CD w ith o u t having to b o th e r w ith load ing th e m o n to yo u r hard disk.

This w o u ld m ake th e m a b so lu te

ly ideal fo r use as G lobal B rushm aps fo r exam ple, w h ic h w ill p rov ide a w o n d e rfu l re fle c tio n in th e w in d screen o f th e car tha t you have ren

de re d ■J o h n Kennedy

Next m on th

W e ll I t 's been g re a t fu n p la y in g a ro u n d w i th th is p ro g ra m , b u t u n fo r tu n a te ly a ll g o o d th in g s m u s t co m e to a n e nd and n e x t m o n th i t 's g o in g to b e th e la s t in th e se ries o f Im a g in e t u to r i a ls. In th a t le sso n w e 'l l be ta k in g a g o o d lo o k a t p la n n in g , d e s ig n in g and re n d e r in g a s h o rt f i lm fro m b e g in n in g to e nd ... D o n 't m is s i t ! !

A s fo r m app ing a p ic tu re o n to the

3 D surface , w e ll again, you have problem s.

You rea lly need th e equ iva len t o f a m a p o f th e pe rso n 's face , n o t a fron t-on pho to g ra p h . If y o u aren't squeam ish , im ag ine unw rapp ing th e ir fa c e and p lac ing in on a p h o to

co p ie r - th a t 's th e k ind o f im age m ap you need.

You co u ld app rox im a te it. by p ho to g ra p h in g yo u r m ode l fro m m any

d if fe re n t ang les You cou ld th e n cu t o u t th e cen tra l s tr ip in each p h o to gra p h and use th a t a s th e basis of th e textu re

I t w o u ld b e tim e co nsum ing and a labo rious p ro ce ss - so I am c u rren tly try in g to w o rk o u t a w a y o f au to m a tin g it. a nd I'll le t you know h o w I g e t on.

E ffe c tsO K. a d m it it. You're a ll s ick people. I know it. y o u kn o w it. You w a n t to ap p ly specia l e ffe c ts to th e head ob je c t, don ’t you?

L ike any o th e r Im ag ine ob ject, y o u can a p p ly th e d e fo rm a tio n to o ls o r th e spec ia l a n im a tio n e ffe c ts to w a rp and sh a tte r th e o b je c t in unusual ways.

O f cou rse , th a t w a s o n e o f the firs t th in g s I d id . H ere a re som e exam p les o f h o w you can m an ipu la te th e o b je c t us ing Im ag ine ’s e ffe c ts . T h e e xp los ion and o the r e ffe c ts a re a lit t le d isa p p o in tin g , as th e o rig in a l head o b je c t is n o t cons tru c te d fro m a regu la r m esh o f face ts .

This is d u e to th e w a y the C onvert IFF to o l w o rks , so the re is lit t le w e can d o a bou t it. I t ’s m ade w o rse because th e b rushm ap does n o t appear to c h a n g e w ith the o b jec t, w h ic h lo o ks m o re than ju s t a lit t le odd

That's n o t to say it ’s n o t w o rth e xpe rim en ting o f cou rse , and thanks to Im ag ine 's p o w e rfu l d e fo rm a tion to o ls y o u can cre a te a ll k inds o f spec ia l e ffe c ts

You can even use a ge n lo ck and a dd th e m to yo u r h o m e m ovies: is n 't it a bou t tim e A u n tie Beryl is a ttacked b y a fly ing saucer, a nd conve rte d to a p ile o f p ixe ls w ith a ca re fu lly rendered deathray?

C o v e rd is kJ u s t a s w e prom ised you . th is m o n th on th e CUCD coverd isk you w ill f in d a sequence o f s till im ages th a t y o u can use a s yo u r backdrop


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Many prices subject to exchange rate. E & O E - 19/10/97

Mi


Amiga C Programming0 W indows, windows, w indows and

guess w h at... some more windows.

This month it's all about handling mul

tip le, dynamic windows.

Th is m o n th w e 're go ing to b ring ou r exam ple a litt le c lo se r to a real p a in t prog ram . T h is invo lves q u ite a fe w changes to th e last

e xam p le o f th e p rev ious tu to ria l, the m o s t im p o rta n t o f w h ic h is th e sepa ra tion o f th e d ra w in g area and the to o l g a d g e ts In a p rog ram like DPaint you have th e d ra w in g in one v ie w a nd th e d ra w in g to o ls in a n o th er. To a ch ieve th is e ffe c t w e 're go ing to add a second w in d o w , p u t the g adge ts in o ne o f th e m and use the o th e r so le ly fo r draw ing.

O p en ing a second w in d o w is no t a huge p ro b le m and. in fac t, the co d e is ju s t w h a t you sh ou ld expect by now . The rea lly b ig ch anges are to th e ID C M P m essage handler: the "W aitPortO " fu n c tio n can n o longer b e used because w e have to w a it fo r m essages fro m m o re than one w indow . To d o th is w e m u s t de lve a lit t le d eepe r in to th e A m iga 's m essage s igna lling m echan ism .

Pass th e P o rtA s ever, th e c o m p le te exam p les are

o n th e coverd isks. and w e ll exam ine on ly th e in te res ting b its . T h e f irs t such s n ip p e t is th e rep la ce m e n t for

th e "W aitPortO " fro m th e earlier e xa m p le s Isee th e o u tlin e in Exam ple 1, taken fro m

"m u ltiw inO .c").Ins tead o f w a it in g fo r a m essage

to a rrive a t a so lita ry m essage port (us ing "W aitPortO "). w e need to ere-

M essa g e P o rtA que u e (o r l is t ) o f m essages, h e ld in f irs t- in , f i r s t - o u t (FIFO) o rd e r. W h e n m essages a r r iv e a t a m essage p o r t ( ie , w h e n a p ro g ra m o r p a r t o f th e O p e ra tin g S y s te m a d d s m essages to th e

q u e ue ), a s ig n a l is se t, w h ic h u s u a lly w a k e s u p a n o th e r p ro g ra m th a t is w a it in g t o hand le th e m essages.

Next Pen

a te s igna l m asks from b o th o f o u r w in d o w s 'ID C M P signal b its (us ing th e b it-sh ift-le ft operator. “ < “ ). W e then co m b in e th e se tw o m asks (us ing th e b itw is e O R operator. " I ")

to cre a te a m ask fo r use w ith "W aitO " This w ill m ake the p rogram go to s leep un til one (or bo th ) o f the s igna ls is se t. and w h e n th is happens th e "W aitO " w ill re tu rn w ith a m a s k tha t ind ica tes w h ic h s ignals w e re se t The resu lting m ask is s to re d in "go t- s ig ". and th is can be used w ith the m asks for ou r w in d o w s (and the b it-w is e A N D operator,"& “ ) to d e c id e w h ic h ________w in d o w has m essages Q f lH S B B B

th a t need to be handled (see th e o u tlin e in E xam ple 2).

S tr ic tly speaking, i t 's no t really necessary to check th a t "g o ts ig " ind ica tes a p o rt's s igna l has been set b e fo re try in g to g e t m essages fro m it . s in ce "G etM sgO " w ill re tu rn “ NULL" i f the re are n o m essages B ut. s igna ls can be u se d fo r m ore than ju s t m essage p o rts (Control-C handling, fo r exam ple), so th is code serves as a good te m p la te for the

genera l case.The res t o f th e ID C M P handling

co d e is p re tty m uch th e sam e as w e 've seen be fore , a lthough it has n o w been separated in to th e tw o pa rts tha t re la te to each w indow .

N o F ro n t EarsN ext u p is a p u re ly co sm e tic change : w e 'l l m ake th e d raw ing w in d o w look like it 's th e w h o le screen b y rem ov ing th e b o rde rs and

d e co ra tio n s (w in d o w flag "W FLG BORDERLESS") and m ake it s it pe rm a n e n tly a t th e back ("W F LG B A C K D R O P "). You o u g h t to

Colour: a sA With the tool bar and icretn title

be p re tty fa m ilia r w ith a w in d o w tha t yo u can change fro m be ing a norm al w in d o w t o a backd rop and bo rde rless o n e : i t s ca lled W o rkbench (You can sw ap b e tw een th e tw o types us ing th e B ackdrop ite m o n the W o rkbench m enu.)

O ne b e n e fit o f us ing a bo rderless w in d o w is th a t w e no lon g e r need to w o rry a b o u t se ttin g u p a c lipp ing reg ion , s in ce the re are n o b o rde rs to o ve rw rite (ie.. you can d ra w o n the

E x a m p le 1

U LONG d r a w s i g , t o o l a l g , g o t s i g j

d r a w s i g - 1 < d r a w w l n - > U s s r P o r t - > m p s i g B i t ;

t o o l a l g - 1 < t o o l w l n - > U s e r P o r t - > i t t p _ S i g B i t |

w h i l e ( g o i n g )

(/ * W a i t f o r m e s s a g e s t o a r r i v e * /

g o t s i g - W a i t ( d r a w s i g | t o o l s i g ) ;

/ * R e s t o f c o d e . . . • /

w h o le o f th e w in d o w ). A nd if th e re 's n o c lipp ing reg ion to se t. th e re 's no need fo r th e Layers lib ra ry to be

o pened So w e can tr im d o w n the co d e a little.

T h e n e w se co n d w in d o w w ill be k e p t a s a n o rd in a ry bordered w in d o w to h o ld o u r gadgets . W e 'll a lso a dd a long-aw a ited tit le , b o th to th is w in d o w (us ing th e "W A T itle " tag) a nd th e screen (us ing "S A T rtle ") . The n e x t b it is th e n to d o s o m e (n o t

a s


E x a m p le 2

/ * C h e c k m e s s a g e s f r o m t h e d r a w i n g w i n d o w f i r s t */ i f ( g o t s i g & d r a wsig){w h i l e ( i n t u i m s g - O T _ O e t I M s g ( d r a w w i n - > U s e r P o r t ) ){/* . . . H a n d l i n g co d e . . . */

/* R e p l y w h e n f i n i s h e d w i t h m e s s a g e */ O T _ R e p l y I M s g (i n t u i m s g ) ;

))/• N o w c h e c k m e s s a g e s f r o m t h e t o o l w i n d o w */ i f ( g o t s i g & toolsig){w h i l e ( i n t u i m s g = G T G e t I M s g ( t o o l w i n - > U s e r P o r t )){/* . . . H a n d l i n g c o d e . . . */

/* R e p l y w h e n f i n i s h e d w i t h m e s s a g e */ G T _ R e p l y I M s g (i n t u i m s g );

))

ve ry clever) m a ths to m ake th e too l w in d o w open r ig h t a t th e b o tto m o f

th e screen (see Exam ple 3). N o tice tha t, as a sm all o p tim isa tio n , w e re m e m b e r th e t it le bar s ize fro m the g a d g e t c rea tion co d e in "o ffto p ", w h ic h w e have n o w m ade in to a g loba l variable.

So, w h a t happens to th a t m enu s tr ip tha t w e crea ted la s t m onth? W ell, it can sa fe ly be a tta ch e d to b o th w in d o w s , so th a t is w h a t w e have d one . The m enu s tr ip is shared , and w e 'll use th is to our

advantage in th e n ex t exam ple.For now . it ju s t m eans th a t bo th

w in d o w s w ill have th e sam e m enus, a nd so m u s t both hand le the "IDCM P_M ENUPICK” m essage (and d o the sam e th ings , un less you w a n t to co n fu se th e p o o r user!).

Try o u t th e n e w e xam p le to g e t a fee l fo r th e w a y th e parts are now w o rk in g . You can m o ve th e to o l w in d o w around to p a in t underneath it, b u t (a t th e m o m e n t) the screen t i t le b a r a lw ays covers the to p o f the d raw ing .

D y n a m ic W in d o w sIn th e f irs t exam p le , th e c lo se g ad g e t on th e to o l w in d o w q u its the

p rog ram and the re 's n o w a y to g e t a c o m p le te , u n o b s tru c te d v ie w o f the d ra w in g w in d o w . The second exam

p le , "m u lt iw in l.c " . rem ed ies th is and ad d s a n e w m enu to 'tu rn o f f ’ th e to o l w in d o w and th e screen tit le bar. Th is m ay seem like q u ite a sm all change, b u t if y o u look a t th e code yo u 'll see th a t i t ’s rad ica lly d iffe ren t.

To fa c ilita te o pen ing and c losing th e to o l w in d o w w h ile th e program is s t ill runn ing (and th e o th e r w in d o w is open), w e need to fa c to r ou t th e co d e fo r o pen ing and c los ing th e w indow . A s ty le s im ila r to the lib ra ry o pen ing and c lo s in g code w o u ld w o rk , if w e w e re to keep a reco rd o f th e im p o rta n t resources (such a s th e w in d o w s ) in g loba l variab les. However, it 's gene ra lly bad p ra c tice to have a lo t o f g loba l variab les because any b it o f co d e is a b le to change th e ir va lues, and th is can m ake it harder to deb u g your program .

In th is case, us ing s o m e g lobal

variab les seem s to b e a reasonable trade o ff, a nd it 's q u ite in te re s tin g to see h o w th is s ty le can b e app lied to a ll o f th e resou rce a llo ca tin g code. (In fac t, th is w ill a lso enab le u s to do th in g s like dynam ica lly chang ing the screen, b u t w e 'l l leave th is fo r la te r tu to ria ls .) S pend som e tim e look ing a t the d iffe re n ce s in th is exam ple, and pay pa rticu la r a tte n tio n to w h ich variab les are s ig n ifica n t e nough to m ake global.

T he m o s t in te res ting n e w p a rt of th is re s tru c tu rin g is in itia lisa tion and c leanup co d e (see Exam ple 4). The boo lean A N D operator. used in "createAIIO” w ill ‘sh o rt-cu t’, w h ich m eans th a t th e fu nc tions w ill be ca lled in tu rn un til one o f them re tu rns ’’FALSE". In o th e r w o rds . "createAIIO" w ill re tu rn "FALSE" as soon as th e f irs t fu n c tio n re tu rns ’’FALSE", a nd it w ill o n ly return

E x a m p le 5

S ig n a l M a skT h e gene ra l s ig n a l w a it in g fu n c t io n , "W a itO " , can w a it fo r a n u m b e r o f s ig n a ls a t once. These s ig n a ls are sp e c ifie d t o "W a itO " in a s ig n a l m ask , w h e re each s ig n a l is re p re se n te d b y a p a rt ic u la r b i t in th e m ask . B ecause a n u m b e r o f s ig n a ls can be se t co n cu rre n tly , "W a itO " re p o rts th e re le v a n t s ig n a ls as a m a sk , to o .

M essageA sm a ll p ackage o f d a ta t h a t can be passed b e tw e e n a p p lic a tio n s . A s w e 'v e a lre a d y seen, th e A m ig a 's In tu it io n sy s te m uses m essages to in fo rm a w in d o w o f th in g s like g a d g e t p resses and m o u se c licks .

"TRUE" if a ll o f th e m re tu rn "TRUE". So, fo r exam p le , th e p rog ram w ill n o t t r y to open th e to o l w in d o w if th e screen co u ld n o t be opened.

O n th e o th e r hand, the ‘'freeAIIO" fu n c tio n ju s t d e-a lloca tes everyth ing in th e o p p o s ite order, w h e re each de -a lloca tion fu n c tio n is 'g ua rded ’ (it checks th a t th e re 's s o m e th in g to dea lloca te f irs t!) a nd ’sa fe ’ ( it se ts the a p p rop ria te variab les to "NULL” a fte r d o in g th e de-a lloca tion , so th a t the de -a lloca tion ca n n o t b e p e rfo rm ed a se co n d tim e , even if th is fu n c tio n is ca lled again acc identa lly ).

C zech M a rxThe rem ain ing p o in t o f in te re s t is th e n e w Tool m enu. Th is con ta ins tw o check-m ark, to g g le item s: Screen B ar and Tool Bar. Initially, bo th are checked, s ince th e screen tit le bar and th e to o l w in d o w w ill bo th be active a t firs t. The m enu m essage hand ling c o d e has been extended to deal w ith th e se m essages. and in th is case w e a re inter-

E x a m p le 3

/* T h e m i n i m a l h e i g h t o f o u r t o o l w i n d o w */ i nt h - M Y T O P G A P + o f f t o p + a c r - > W B o r B o t t o m ;

E x a m p le 4

i n t c r e a t e A I I O {r e t u r n o p e n L i b s O & & o p e n S c r O &&

c r e a t e M e n u S t r i p () & & c r e a t e G a d g e t s () && o p e n T o o l W i n () & & o p e n D r a w W i n ();

)

v o i d f r e e A l l (){c l o s e D r a w W i n (); c l o s e T o o l W i n (); f r e e G a d g e ts ( ) ; f r e e M e n u S t r i p (); c l o s e S c r (); c l o s e L i b s ( );

)

c a s e 2: /* T o o l s m e n u */ s w i t c h (i t e m N u m b e r ){ca s e 0: /* M e n u B a r */S h o w T i t l e t s c r , i t e m - > F l a g a & C H E C K E D ) ; b r e a k ;

c a s e It / * T o o l B a r *//* Set s t a t e t o i n d i c a t e w h e t h e r t h e t o o l w i n d o w

s h o u l d b e o p e n */o p e n t w ■ ( i t e m - > F l a g s & C H E C K E D ) ; break;


e s te d in re m em bering the m enu ite m co rrespond ing to each se lectio n so w e can ex tra c t th e check va lue fro m th e "F lags" e lem ent.

B ecause w e have used th e sam e m enu s trip w ith each w in d o w , th e s ta tes o f th e checked ite m s are shared, w h ic h d o e s save u s a fa ir a m o u n t o f e ffo r t in keeping them syn ch ron ised1

The "Show TitleO " fu n c tio n tu rn s a screen t it le ba r on and o ff. and w e 'll use a n o the r g loba l variab le to record th e u s e r 's reques t to c lose (o r open) th e to o l w in d o w (see Exam ple 5).

S ig n a lP art o f th e h e a rt o f th e A m ig a 's m u lt i- ta s k in g m e ch a n ism . A s ig nal is b a s ic a lly a f la g th a t can be se t o r c lea red . A p ro g ra m can g o t o 's le e p ' a nd w a it fo r a s ig n a l to be s e t (u s in g "W a itP o rtO " or. m o re g e n e ra lly . "W a itO "). Th is fre e s u p th e C PU t o d o s o m e th in g e lse w h ile th e p ro g ra m is s leep ing . W h e n th e s ig n a l be co m e s se t (b y so m e o th e r p ro g ra m o r th e O p e ra tin g S ys tem ), th e w a it in g p ro g ra m is w o k e n u p ( i.e . th e "W a itP o rtO " o r "W a itO " re tu rn s ) and th e s ig n a l can b e a c te d on .

Next MonthO p e n Y o u r M i n d !

w ith A n d y M cln e ry o f Dex & Jo n e se y

Master o f the banging house brigade. Andy Mclnery of Dex & Jonesey supplies a to ta lly exclusive track fo r our CD and takes us through the process of rem ixing a classic trance tune fo r a m ajor re-release, divulging tricks, techniques and secrets along the way. Essential reading fo r all musicians and music lovers.

C o l o g n e S h o w N e w sThe biggest Amiga show in the w orld , and th is year it w ill be bigger and better than ever. W ith conferences sponsored by Gateway 2000, and m ajor product launches from dozens of Amiga companies, th is w ill be the most exciting show in years. If you can't be there, then do the next best th ing and read our in depth report.

We've been promised a good look a t th is giant m ulti CD adventure game from Alive media Software. Featuring some of the most impressive rendered graphics seen on the Amiga, this long awaited game is here at last. Prepare to be scared.

H a u n t e d

c a te d s tu ff, b u t w e 'v e n o w g o t a d e c e n t fram ew ork . It 's easy to see h o w it m ig h t be ex tended to a real pa in t p rog ram , b u t th e concepts a lso a p p ly to m any k inds o f p ro g ram s. It 's tim e to s ta rt d ream ing abou t th e app lica tion you w a n t to create, and s ta rt try in g th in g s o u t.

N ext m o n th w e 'l l m ove on to look a t so m e u se fu l lib ra ries! ■ Ja so n H u lance

A . .M d w ithout them

W e can 't s im p ly c lose

th e w in d o w du rin g the m essage handling, because w e haven't yet rep lied to th e m essage and i t m ig h t have com e fro m th e to o l w in d o w 's IDCM R So. w e m u s t go to a ll th is co m p le x ity o f reco rd ing th e d o s e (or

open) reques t and d ea lin g w ith it later, o n ce all th e ID C M P m essages have been handled

A n o th e r co m p lica tio n c om es fro m c lick ing on th e c lo se g a d g e t o f the to o l w in d o w W e w a n t th is to c lose the too l w in d o w , b u t n o t end the p rogram , so th e m enu s tr ip m u s t be updated to rem ove th e check m ark fro m th e Tool Bar ite m (to keep it co n s is te n t). The "ID C M P C LO SEW INDO W " code

m u s t th e re fo re rem ove th e m enu s tnp fro m b o th o f th e w in d o w s , upda te it and then re -a ttach it. Luckily. "R esetM enuS tripO " is guar

anteed to w o rk if th is is the on ly change w e 'v e m ade to th e m enu s trip , so w e d o n 't have to co p e w ith a ny fa ilu res a t th is p o in t O ne fa ilu re w e m u s t co p e w ith , is n o t being

ab le to fu lf ill a reques t to o p e n the to o l w indow . This is checked b y the co d e th a t handles these requests. "checkToolW inO ". a t th e e nd o f the m essage hand ling loop . Fairly a rb itrarily. th e p rog ram is q u it (by settin g "g o in g " to "FALSE") i f th e too l w in d o w ca n n o t be opened again.

T h a n ks fo r th e F ishThis m o n th w e 'v e covered c o m p liHi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM

Disks Draw Studio I ute. AIR Imk Software leatu.es I I T AM Imk. Aladdia 41 VS I . M u A I?N I ther act Mjc

ipsoa Stylus Phot Stieet Racer

Priority Order Form 01858 435 350

C w M * * • I— rn t u r t « m * n . K M u C« t f I b tU M Bad H ' b n K I M I l n i a l i i i l l l i M f i I b c w * CO BON M um s I I I I m l *liw » i Hmm. S tm nga Part. UtfekiD St Hartal Hartafaayn I n n LE1I ItF. fa t M S I 431 M l .a r t * (7.51 *» pnces » cM a paiuya an! » < l» l O tr titO . ara m t M M l a l d n C l artoaa n

Please rush me the following .ss .es of CU Amiga Magazine " * “ • ' “ “ 1Method o i paymeit

; ] Visa C A m i C Acetss □ Diaers Club cart [ C k t(N (£ S

Card

Sifaatare .......................................Please make cheques payable la (MAP laiages I

Daytime leiepheac aaaber iecled.0, STD caAa)

[ipiry date

Date

Ptooto alleu 21 days hr WMueai ipea roct.pt el itqooot « l orden Mbfect to aMiabriny


Net God speaksS ta ting th e obvious, a g reat s tre n g th o f the Am iga has a lw ays been the sense o f com m un ity . It 's im pressive to see th e bias th e A m iga in com m s has taken to w a rd s com m un ity based e ffo rts . F irs tly how can one n o t be dead im pressed w ith Am iga users cracking th e to p 10 in RC5 stats? Hundreds o f A m iga users bend ing hund reds o f com puters to the g rea ter task o f cracking the secre t key in th e Bovine e ffo rt.

Our news th is m onth also includes th e expansion o f th e A m iga specific IRC ne tw o rk , A m igane t, w h ich is go ing s trong . Via A m igane t A m iga users the w o r ld over g e t to g e th e r and ta lk a bou t Life, the Am iga and Everyth ing w ith o u t fea r o f invasion by troub lem akers fro m o the r p la tfo rm s.

S o it 's tim e ly th a t the u ltim a te com m un ity aid, M irab ilis ' ICQ system , looks se t to b u rs t o n to the Am iga. N o w yo u 'll know w hen yo u r Am iga buddies are on lin e , you can ask them w h a t th e y 're up to , chat and sw ap files w ith o u t consciously launching an IRC c lie n t to check if th e y 're on line . I t m ay have s ta rted on th e PC b u t ICQ seems designed fo r the Am iga com m unity . G roup hug tim e . :)

Surf's Up!Ail the latest Amiga Internet exclusives for you including

news of a possible ICQ port to the Amiga. ICQ? Read on.

S u n ta ke s M ic ro s o ft t o c o u r t o v e r Ja vaSun has taken the step o f filin g against M ic ro so ft, c itin g a breach o f co n tra c t and vanous o the r a llega tions in th e ir legal action.The su it con tends ; "R ather than com p ly w ith its con tractua l ob liga tions, th e d e fen

da n t M ic ro s o ft has instead em barked o n a d e libe ra te cou rse of co n d u c t in an a tte m p t to fragm en t

th e standa rd ised app lica tion p ro g ra m m in g e n v ironm en t e s tab lished

by th e Java te ch n o lo g y ; to b reak the c ro s s -p la tfo rm co m p a tib ility o f the

Java p ro g ram m ing en v iro n m e n t, and to im p lem en t th e Java te ch n o lo g y in a m a nner ca lcu la ted to cause s o ftw a re deve lope rs to cre a te p rogram s th a t w ill ope ra te o n ly o n p la tfo rm s tha t use M ic ro s o ft ’s W in32 based ope ra ting sys te m s and no t o n any o th e r system s p la tfo rm o r b ro w s e r"

T h is p iece o f in fo rm a tio n has arrived a t a tim e w h e n Java rem ains in d e ve lo p m e n t fo r th e Am iga b ro w se rs via Haage a nd Partner s M e ra p i p ro jec t. ■M a t B e ttin s o n

A m ig a n e t s h u ff leA m igane t is a n e w IRC ne tw ork w h ic h is run spec ifica lly fo r Am iga . The re su lt is th a t it te n d s to 'n e t-s p lit ' less o fte n th a n th e big n e tw o rks like IRCnet and EFnet.

The UK A m ig a n e t server used to be irc .pu ream iga .co .uk b u t th is has

sinced m o ve d to a n o the r ne tw ork. The co rre c t A m igane t server is n o w stayfree .uk.am iganet.o rg .

H ere 's a co m p le te lis t of A m igane t servers, w h ic h a re all ope ra ting o n p o rt 6667 w ith the m a in channe l be ing ca lled # A m iga

•th u le .n o .a m ig a n e t.o rg (N o rw a y ) •w h ite ro s e .u s .a m ig a n e t.o rg (U S A ) •k th .s e .a m ig a n e t.o rg (S w eden) • fa s tla n e .a u .a m ig a n e t.o rg (AU) • lin u x .u s .a m ig a n e t.o rg (U SA) •s ta y fre e .u k .a m ig a n e t.o rg (UK)

ICQ A m ig a p o r tICQ tro m M ira b ilis , is a m u ltip la tfo rm re a l-tim e co n ta c t, cha t and m e ssa g e based system .

It a lready b o as ts m illio n s o f use rs and th e serv ice its e lf is fre e a t th e cu rren t tim e . ICQ runs w h e n yo u r In te rne t co nnec tion Is active and repo rts o n th e s ta tu s o f other

se le c t ICQ users as to w h e th e r th e y 're o n lin e a t th e sam e t im e o r no t. M essages a n d /o r file s can be sen t in s ta n tly o r via th e M irab ilis server. I t ’s po ss ib le to d isp lay your s ta tu s and m e ssa g e via a w e b page and m ore.

ICQ g e ts th e th u m b s u p fro m CU A m iga and th e g o o d n e w s is th a t an A m iga po rt is o n th e c a rd s D rop in toh ttp : / /w w w .m c m e d ia .c o m .a u /a m i-

g a icq a nd f i l l i t o u t to exp ress your in te res t in th e port.

A m ig a RC5 e f fo r t c ra c k s to p 10T h e A m iga RC5 c rack ing e ffo rt und e r th e B ov ine c o lle c tiv e banner

has rocke ted u p th e c ha rts to go crash ing in to th e to p 10 a s w e w en t to press

This is an e x trao rd ina ry e ffo r t by

lite ra lly th ousands o f A m ig a users w h o have access to se rio u s c o m p u tin g p o w e r b e th e y A m igas o r not. C urren t ra te o f crack ing is in the reg ion o f 72 M ega keys per second.

That e qua tes to an equ iva len t c o m p u tin g p o w e r o f 600 50M Hz

68060 m ach ines w o rk in g o n the p rob lem day a nd night.

I f you w o u ld like to v ie w th e cu rre n t s ta tis tics , checkh ttp : / / r c 5 .d is t r ib u te d .n

e« o r jo in in th e RC5 crack ing e ffo r t you rse lf by g o in g to . h t tp : / /w w w .c ls f r o n .n l / - t ta v o ly / r c 5 /

♦ r S u nmicros ystems


http://www.mcmedia.com.au/ami-

http://rc5.distributed.n

http://www.clsf

URL’s

So m e tim e s i t ’s a m us ing the s ite s you run a cross o n the w e b fo r h o w sad they are. O ne ch a p exc ite d ly repea ted o n IRC tha t Reznor

E n te rta in m e n t’s s ite h ad exc lus ive n e w s o f Tom b Raider o n th e A m iga

Checking i t o u t, i t ’s yo u r typ ica l

u n su b s ta n tia te d ru m our fodder, a p rize exam ple o f its s o rt. The a u tho rs ca n 't even fig u re o u t h o w to make a lin k to C lick B oom le t alone g e t th e URL co rre c t O n th a t no te , I ch u ck le a ll th e w a y to C lick B oom them se lves.

In te resting ly , fo r a com pany devo ted to A m ig a users, th e ir w eb s ite sp rink les PC o n ly Javascrip t c o p io u s ly th rough it . Fortuna te ly it

w o rk s a n yw ay a nd p leasan tly I fo u n d th a t th e y had o n lin e o rde ring fo r C lick B oom ga m e s to o The

w h o le s ite lo o ks fa n ta s tic i f a litt le c o n vo lu te d and g raph ics heavy.

The on -lin e o rd e rin g is fu ll fea-

▲ Click Boom's Javascript laden site.

Fortnate ly i t works anyway

h t t p : / / f r i e s i a n .a t w w d a .c o a / r o z n o r -e n t e r t a i n m w n t / a m i g a .html

h t t p : //www.clickboon.cowi

h t t p i / /w w w . a n i g a n e C .o r g / N o w l c o m /

h t t p i / / w w w . c i . t u -b « r l i n . d e / - z o r o c o a / i l i w n -d e e i g n . h t m l

h t t p i / / 1 i n u x .u i .a m i - g a n e t .o r g / c s t a r

h t t p i //w w w .y a m .c hV i " ' . I M n 1 T J A F f f y S a F H !

8 S S = l i i £ ]

Yes, N ew lcons V ers ion 4 is f in a lly ava ilab le !

^ A b o u t N e w l c o n s

< © > F c a m N t v v I c o n s

^ W h a t s i n V e r s i o n 4 V

| I . \ ; u n | > L - S c r e e n s h o t k

S u p p o r t i n g P r o g r a m s

D o w n l o a d N e w l c o n s !

This month we chase down the home pages for each

of the programs in the Freeware Roundup (page 32).

A Black screeas a id readered logos are ia

vogae This tim e the M Cf home page

4 / 1 0 / 9 7

I A m i- T o m b R a id e r ?

Ann - • a>*aP T*»aa •JO. wa giv« you t**a g-aat w of • Coen rapacaaanl angina. to

KOooa sorting on a 020 « Mag AlJOO. ana this re a l newt c 'a An sanon of ToBOFk Set M a a n l r F a s * * In tv rttlnn en t A n ja %fejazin# a l w a v s Snrg»

EXCLUSIVE AMGA NEWS1

v ' . r ir&.i.-. r ; v . .-.-ara--

A What's the lateraet good lo r if i t isa 't good old aasahstaatiated rumours Far jas t such lahri-

catiaas aad falsehoods, the Re/aor Eatertaiameat s ite caa 't ho heat

A The New Icons 4 home page is attractive, well designed aad has a cornucopia of downloads

A The case stady of the perfect support site. This time i t ’s YAM - Yet Anether Mailer.

g ills w ith su p p o rt files.

The s ite is excep tiona lly w ell designed and y o u can f in d full de ta ils abou t YAM . a FAQ. screen

sho ts , a fi le a rch ive and m ore . YAM ce rta in ly does seem to look like it is th e bes t su p p o rte d E-mail c lie n t in th is regard.

T here 's a lso ske tchy d e ta ils on th e u p co m in g YAM 2 0 d ue around C hris tm as tim e . ■M a t B e ttin s o n

tu re d w ith currency convers ion bu t fo r s o m e reason th e y d on ’t th in k lis ting th e In te rna tiona l sh ipp ing co s ts is im portan t.

In th e m e fro m o u r Freeware round u p th is m o n th . I dec ided to ch e ck o u t h o w m any o f them had . w e b pages. First th e N e w Icons can b e fo u n d on th e Team N e w Icons

h om e pageThis is an exce llen t d e m o o f

w ha t th e icon s e t looks like a nd has p le n ty o f d o w n lo a d s fro m NI4 to all o f th e availab le icon sets. I t uses PNG im ages th ro u g h o u t so a da ta typ e o r Voyager-NG w ill be needed to v ie w them . M C P a lso has a w e b page a t th e a u th o r's . A lien Design, h om e page

U n fo rtu n a te ly th e re 's n o t a lo t to see. ve ry litt le su p p o rt files , t ip s and such fo r th so it 's a b it und e r utilised. It do e s a lw ays have th e la test vers io n o fte n ahead o f th e A m in e t tho

ugh. S adly th e re 's no MPEG A /S ong Player w e b s ite fro m S tephane Tavenard (som eone shou ld vo lu n te e r to m ake one?) bu t the A uss ie Cstar m akes it h is business to p o rt U n ix M PEG aud io Layer III p layers a nd encoders.

You can o b ta in th e la te s t Cstar- w a re o n h is hom e page. YAM does

ra ther b e tte r on th e w e b w ith the hom e page be ing c ra m m e d to the


http://friesian.atwwda.co

http://www.clickboon.cowi

http://www.aniganeC.org/N

http://www.yam.ch

;ort outgoing messages S , t o " S e n tM a i

W h e re to g e t T h o r ...H y o u d o n 't have th e CD, y o u can g e t th e f ile s f ro m th e c o m m /th o r d ire c to ry o f A m in e t. T h e on e s y o u need are: t h o r 2 5 m a i n . l h a - t h i a c o n t a i n s T h o r i tsalf th o r 2 5 i n a t . l h a - t h a inter n e t m o d u l e sth o r 2 5 a r e x x . l h a - e x t r a a r e x x s c r i p t s f o r T h o r - r e c o m m e n d e d

A ls o a va ila b le is t h o r 2 5 bbs.lha, w h ic h c o n ta in s th e m o d u le s fo r BBS, F id o n e t, e tc . T h e 2 5 in th e f ile n a m e s re p re se n ts th e c u rre n t v e r s ion . 2 .5 , th is m a y h a ve ch a n g e d b y th e t im e y o u read th is .

U n a rc th e m a in a rc h iv e a nd c o p y th e in e t a nd a re xx a rc h iv e s in to

th e T h o r d ire c to ry th is crea tes.

Save and exit

Thor 2.5, the best mail and news read

er just got better. Powerful though it

is, many people find it daunting at

first. Hopefully, things will become a

lot clearer in the next couple of pages.

CUCD17: C U C D /M agatine /W iredW or Id/Thor. You cannot in s ta ll d irect fro m th e CD so co p y th is d ire c to ry to som e w h e re te m p o ra ry o n your hard d rive (o r RAM I

The insta lla tion p ro ce ss is fa irly s tra ig h tfo rw a rd , a nd a lso covers c o n fig u ra tio n o f Thor to w o rk w ith

yo u r ISP and a ccoun t. W h e n asked if you w an t to in s ta ll th e In te rne t m odu les, an sw e r Yes and choose the TCP a nd UUCP m o d u le s to insta ll. S e lect Yes w h e n asked if you w an t to co n fig u re y o u r TCP in fo rm ation . If y o u use SM TP m a il (such as w ith D e m o n l y o u shou ld choose U U M ail: fo r th e d o w n lo a d d ire c to ry

N o w c h o o s e a nam e fo r your In te rne t system . It can b e called w h a te ve r you like , b u t the de fa u lt o f In te rne t is a s good a nam e a s any. un less y o u w a n t to use m u ltip le sys te m s fo r m u ltip le ISPs The insta lle r w il l n o w s ta rt T h o r's TCP c o n fig u ra tio n program , t o a llo w you

to se t u p th e accoun t d e ta ils for yo u r ISR This has fo u r pages.

Add neu trigger Edit a trigger Rearrange triggers Delete a trigger

fiuto cenfiguration

Cancel

Th or is a co m b in e d m a il and n ew s reade r in tended fo r use w ith a w id e range o f m e ssa g e fo rm a ts , inc lud ing

In te rne t. F idonet and various BBS sys tem s. T ho r uses a hierarchy o f sys te m s and co n fe rences A syste m is used fo r a particu la r type o f

m essage, so y o u w o u ld have one fo r In te rne t, o ne fo r F idonet and one lo r each BBS you use. M o s t In te rne t use rs u s e a s in g le s ys te m , un less

th e y use m ore than o n e ISP A confe re n ce is a m essage area w ith in a sys te m , and can b e a new sgroup, m a iling lis t o r genera l E-m ail fo ld e r

W ith in th is se tup, e lm o s t e ve ryth in g is con figu rab le , b u t m ost th in g s can be le f t a t th e ir d e fa u lts for in itia l use. It is th is level .o l c o n fig u ra b ility . co m b in e d w ith te rm ino logy tha t is s o m e tim e s un fam ilia r to

In te rn e t users, th a t m akes Thor appear m ore d au n tin g than it rea lly is

In s ta lla tio n a n d s e tu pThe firs t th in g to ‘ o n y o u r hard d riv need a re in

real n am e o n th e f irs t page, the o th e r ite m s m ay b e igno red lo r now .

T h e second page c o n ta in s th e s e ttin g s fo r yo u r E-mail account. If

y o u r ISP uses separate m a ch in e s fo r send ing and rece iv ing m a il, un tick th e U se M ailserver box a nd enter

■ th e address use d fo r s e n d in g m ail, s uch as se n d m a il.u -ne t.com o r

p o s t.dem on .co .uk . I f y o u r m ail a cco u n t is th e sam e as th e part o f y o u r address b e fo re th e <§> sym bo l, y o u n e edn 't e n te r a lo g in nam e. T ho r e x tra c ts it fro m y o u r m a il address. W ire n e t a nd D e m o n use rs shou ld e n te r th e ir h os tnam e here. Finally, u n tick th e pa ssw o rd b o x and type y o u r passw ord , o r e ls e y o u 'll have to g ive if w h e n e ve r check ing fo r m ail.

M o s t pe o p le find d e fa u lt s e ttin g s on the N e w s page lin e , so ju s t g ive th e n am e o l yo u r n e w s server. Later on expe rim en t w ith th e n u m b e r o f s o c k e ts used fo r n e w s c o lle c tio n ( to see w h ic h is fa s te s t) b u t leave i t a t 4 fo r n o w The A m in e t page is fo r T ho r’s f tp dow n lo a d fa c ility (m o te o n tha t later). C hoose th e s ite b e s t fo r you and sp e c ify w h ic h d ire c to ry the d o w n lo a d s sh ou ld b e saved in. Finally, d ic k o n Save O n ce the ins ta lla tion is c o m p le te . stBrt Thor.

F irs t t im e yo u 'll g e t a w a rn ing a bou t th e G lobal co n tig u ra tio n . c lick

O K, th e n G lobal and th e n save. N ow c lo se th e con tig u ra tio n w in d o w , and se le c t yo u r system . C lick o n n ex t and y o u 'll see an in tro d u c to ry message.

A Using the news hiawset A CfgSartMail l e i i r to m to n is tic illy s«t i f ■ null snrtng trigger


U s e fu l u t i l i t ie s

T h e re a re s o m e u se fu l u t i l i t y p ro g ra m s in th e E x tra s d ire c to ry o n th e CD, th e s e a re a ls o a v a ila b le f ro m th e c o m m /th o r d ire c to ry o f A m in e t. A m in e tP a rse : F a s t a d d in g o f A m in e t IN D E X a nd RECENT files . M L M a n a g e r: A u to m a t ic s u b s c r ib in g to m a ilin g lis ts , c re a tin g a S o r tM a il t r ig g e r a t th e sa m e tim e .N e w s G ro u p E d : E x tra fe a tu re s fo r m a n a g in g a n e w s g ro u p lis t.

A CcaeectTHOR a tm asin | Da All

A My Thor setup, fancy hacM raya ate passible, hut turned off lor manimum readability

are a g o o d s ta rtin g p o in t Look in

U s in g T h o rRight, n o w it 's ins ta lled le t's try som e m a il and new s. C lick o n th e W rite b u tto n in th e toolbar, type in the nam e, address a nd sub ject a nd make sure tn e con fe rence gadge t says Email, c lick on OK and th e ed itor o pens W rite yo u r m essage, save it and q u it th e editor. N o w se lect Join C on f fro m th e E vent com m ands m enu, you don 't have a fu ll lis t o f new sgroups in th e system y e t. so ty p e a lt sys.am iga .thor in th e string

gadge t at the bo tto m o f the requester. S e lect G et C onflrst from th e Event C om m ands m enu to d o w n load yo u r ISP 's fu ll new sg ro u p lis t.

You d o n 't need Thor runn ing w h e n y o u g o o n line , s o you can e ith e r q u it o r ico n ify it now . A ll

In te rn e t o n lin e a c tio n s a re handled fro m a sepa ra te p rogram , C onnectTH O R . s ta rt th is u p and th e n g o on line .

The firs t fo u r b u tto n s are sell- explanatory, C on fig TCP s ta rts up th e c o n fig u ra tio n p rog ram you used to set th e server in fo rm a tio n during ins ta lla tion and B ro w se N ew s lues u p th e o n lin e new sg ro u p b row se r

R estart o r un-icon ify T ho r and

y o u 'll see th e m essages yo u 've |us t do w n lo a d e d T h e f irs t th in g y o u 'll w a n t to d o is se t T ho r u p lo su it yo u r w a y o f w o rk in g . T here are th re e m a in w in d o w s used w h e n read ing m essages open th e C on flis t

a nd M s g lis t fro m th e W in d o w s m e n u . I f y o u u s e a 640x256 screen you ’ll f in d th in g s a b it c ram ped , so i t 's b es t to o n ly o p e n th e se w hen needed, o th e rw ise , p o s itio n the th re e w in d o w s h o w you like . N o w

se le c t th e C onfiguration/V isual O p tio n m e n u ite m , th e Save G lobal b u tto n saves th e p o s itio n and s ta tus

o f eve ry w in d o w , so y o u can ensure c lo se d w in d o w s o p e n w he re ve r you w a n t th e m to . W h ile yo u 're here,

tu rn o n C o lour qu o te . D o ub le Q uote . S ty le Tags. You can a lso se t h o w T hor h ig h lig h ts U R Ls a nd th e ac tion taken w h e n y o u c lic k o n one.

M a il s o rt in gB ecause o f th e w a y Tho r trea ts E m a il a nd new sg ro u p s s im ila rly , i t ’s easy to tre a t m a iling lis ts in th e sam e w a y a s n e w sgroups . T here are p o w e rfu l so rtin g p rocedu res applied to a ll m a il as it is im p o rte d , y o u can s e t u p tr ig g e rs fo r each m a iling lis t w ith th e ARexx scrip t C fgS ortM a il th o r M ake sure a m ess a g e in te n d e d fo r th e m a iling lis t is d isp la ye d in th e m a in w in d o w , s ta rt u p C fg S o rtM a il.th o r a nd se le c t A u to co n fig u ra tio n . You w ill b e asked for a n am e fo r th e m a ilin g lis t and a tr ig g e r w ill b e crea ted u s in g th e in fo rm a tio n in th e cu rre n t m essage

FTPT he idea o f b u ild in g FTP in to a m ail a nd n e w s p rog ram m ay se e m a litt le s trange a t f irs t, b u t i t tu rn s o u t to be extrem e ly u se fu l. I f y o u im p o rt the A m in e t index in to T ho r’s f ile data- . base, you can su b scn b e to the A m in e t m a iling lis t a n d n e w f i le s can b e a u to m a tica lly ad d e d to th e da ta base v ia a S o rtM a il trigger. The new f ile s each d a y can a ls o b e d isp layed in a w in d o w , so y o u o n ly need to c lick o n a fi le a nd i t w il l b e m arked fo r dow n lo a d I fin d th is incred ib ly u s e fu l fo r c o lle c tin g s o ftw a re fo r the CUCDs, I scan th e N ew F iles w in d o w each m o rn ing and c lic k o n a n y th ing I th ink m ay b e su itab le . T here 's no need to g o nav iga ting A m in e t's d ire c to rie s w ith a n FTP program , the w h o le th in g is d o n e autom atica lly.

You firs t need to se t u p th e file da tabase D ow n lo a d th e la te s t INDEX f ile fro m A m in e t. and use A m inetP arse to im p o r t it. T here is en ARexx sc rip t to d o th is , bu t

A m ine tP arse is m any tim e s faster, a nd is inc luded in th e Extras d raw er on th e CD. C opy A m in a t Parse to T h o r 's b in d ire c to ry and A d d A m in e t.th o r to Tho r's rexx d ire c tory. Then execu te A d d A m in e t.th o r

fro m th e ARexx m enu.If you change your m in d a b o u t a

m a il yo u 've w ritte n , open th e E vents E d ito r fro m th e W in d o w s m enu, th is sh o w s a lis t o f a ll q ueued m ail, n e w s a nd f tp events . You can ed it and d e le te events , o r fre e ze th e m

u n til la te r (u se fu l if y o u w a n t to d e la y la rge FTP d o w n lo a d s u n til the evening o r w eekend). -There's m any o p tio n s to co n figu re , b u t de fau lts

th e various c o n fig u ra tio n w in d o w s to see w h a t 's ava ilab le , con text-sens itiv e he lp is availab le fro m th e H ELP key. R em em ber th e B row se N e w s b u tto n in C onnectThor? It’s fo r o n lin e new sg ro u p b ro w s in g and is ideal if you w a n t to g rab a se le c t io n o f m essages, ra ther th a n a fu ll fe e d , o r dow n lo a d a sp e c ific article.

W e 've on ly sc ra tched th e surface o f w h a t is po ss ib le w ith Thor, so lo o k a t so m e o f th e ARexx s c r ip t to see w h a t e lse is poss ib le , a nd read T hor.gu ide and su b scrib e to th e Thor m a iling lis t a lso. ■N e il B o th w ic k

O n lin e T h o r re s o u rc e sT h e re is a s u p p o r t m a ilin g lis t, send a m a il t o m a jo rd o m o @ th u le .n o w i th 's u b s c r ib e th o r -m l" in th e b o d y o f th e m essage.T h e T h o r w e b s ite is a t h t tp : / /w w w . th u le .n o / th o r .P ro g ra m u p d a te s a re a va ila b le f ro m th e w e b s ite o r b y f t p fro m

f tp : / / f tp . th u le .n o /p u b /a m ig a a nd th e c o m m /th o r d ire c to ry o f any A m in e t s ite .

M s c QJ | M a l( Z ) | News (3 )1 Am net (4 ) |

M allserver [mailu-net.com

SMTP Server |sendJn«ll.u-neLcom

Lcglrnam e |wfrenet

Password [ PC P P ort f

1 v | Delete mall from POP server

| _ | Use ’Mallserver'

| _ | G el from EMail Address

I _ J A sk every tine

~ T T o |\ | J U s e A P O P

A Setting up E-mail parameters during installation.



http://www.thule.no/thor

ftp://ftp.thule.no/pub/amiga

OSound Labkrjjjy Processing Techniques iur AudioWhat... use an image processor to add effects to your

audio samples? Well, anything's possible you know.

0R equ ires : SOX and P la y 16 (n o t in c lu d e d ) + e v e ry th in g in th e S ongC lips , S o u n d s a n d S o u n d s-P rocessed d ire c to r ie s (inc lu d e d ).

Last m o n th w e in tro d u ce d the unusual te ch n iq u e o f using

im age p rocess ing so ftw a re as a to o l to m an ipu la te audio data. N ow . w e w ill fu rth e r

app ly th e te c h n iq u e to crea te som e in te re s tin g e ffe c ts . W e 'll a lso take a look a t u s in g th e im age p rocesso r to g ene ra te n e w so u n d s fro m scratch

To hear th e p o ten tia l o f th is un iq u e m e th o d o f sound processing, lis te n to th e song c lip s in c lu d e d in th e S ongC lips/ sub-d irecto ry .First, a q u ick recap o f th e p rocess ing m e th o d covered last m on th :

STEP 1: Preparing th e aud io file

To load a sound fi le in to im age p ro ce ss in g s o ftw a re w e f irs t need to conve rt it to a fo rm a t co m m o n to bo th aud io and im age data: Raw

This can be d o n e s im p ly w ith a p ro gram like SOX:

S O X P i a n o . i f f P i a n o . r a w

STEP 2 : Loading th e aud io file

I f th e im age p rocess ing so ftw a re d o e s n o t con ta in a RAW loader m odu le , th e S cu lp t m o d u le can be used. For 8 -b it aud io file s use S cu lp t

Grey.The loader w ill p ro m p t y o u for

th e w id th and h e ig h t to use fo r the im age. U se d im ens ions th a t are la rge e nough to a cco m m o d a te the

en tire aud io fileW ID TH • HEIGHT - R A W BYTES. STEP 3: Processing th e loaded data P erfo rm w h a te ve r im age processing fu n c tio n s you like on the loaded sound.STEP 4: Saving th e data If p rov ided , save us ing a Raw saver m odu le , o th e rw ise use a S cu lp t module.STEP 5 : L is ten ing to th e m od ified sound.To hear th e raw sound, use a program such as Play16 and ind icate th e fre q u e n cy to play back the sound at:

P l a y l 6 F R E Q - 1 6 7 8 0 P i a n o . r a w

C o l o r E f f e c t s

ES&gzpEf l n g l v i 2

H u y Q n g le

- 9 0 D e g r e e s

N / V

T u to ria l - P a rt 2For th e fo llo w in g tu to ria l, w e w ill again use Im ageFX 1.52 fro m the

coverd isk o f CU-Am iga - Ju n e 1995 to d o the da ta m anipulation.

However, the m e th o d s described here can be eas ily app lied to m o s t im age p rocess ing prog ram s. For aud io playback and aud io fo rm a t co nve rs ion w e have inc luded Play 16

and SOX. respective ly, in the SoundLab d ire c to ry

A lso m th e S o u n d s / sub -d irec to ry w e have inc luded s o m e sounds to expe rim en t w ith . In the Sounds- P rocessed/ d ire c to ry you w ill find

s o m e exam p les o f these sounds a fte r having been p rocessed w ith ImageFX u s in g th e m e th o d s tha t are

described here.

S o la rizeA s w ith m o s t o f these p rocesses, th e e ffe c ts o f th e data m an ipu la tion can b e ve ry d iffe re n t w ith d iffe re n t sounds. The so larize im age e ffe c t is a g o o d e xam p le o f a p rocess that can have very d iffe re n t results.

Load th e S ounds/P iano .raw sound us ing a w id th o f 3 00 and h e ig h t of 2 89 From th e to o lb o x , se le c t Color and th e n Solarize (F igure 1). Th is is a p re se t fu n c tio n so it d o e s n o t have any o p tio n s . Then save th e sound as P iano-Solarize.raw and lis te n to it w ith :

Pl a y l 6 F R E Q - 1 6 7 8 0 P iano- S o l a r i z e .raw

The e ffe c t is n o t d ra s tic b u t m akes

th e p iano sound like it is sw arm ing w ith n o isy bees. C om pare it to the o rig ina l P iano.ra w sound

P l a y l 6 F R E Q - 1 6 7 8 0 S o u n d s / P i a n o .raw

Load th e S ounds/Thunder.raw sound us ing a w id th o f 250 and h e igh t of 281 P erfo rm th e sam e solarize fu n c

t io n and save th e resu lt as Thunder- Solarize ra w L is ten and co m p a re it to th e o rig ina l:

Pl a y l 6 F R E Q - 1 6 7 8 0 T h u n d e r - S o l a r i z e . r a w Pl a y l 6 F R E Q - 1 6 7 8 0 S o u n d s / T h u n d e r .r a w

The e ffe c t here is ve ry m uch like a lo w e nd aud io filte r. To hear a m ore ob v io u s e xam p le o f th is filte ring e ffe c t, pe rfo rm th e so larize functio n on the S ounds/S ine .raw sound. Load it us ing a w id th o f 256 and he igh t o f 256.

Perform the so larize and save it as Sine-Solarize.raw . The lo w end filte ring is ve ry obv ious w ith th is sound. L is ten and co m p a re w ith :

P l a y l 6 F R E Q - 9 6 0 0 Sin e - S o l a r i z e . r a w P l a y l 6 F R E Q - 9 6 0 0 S o u n d s /S i n e .r a w

Im age p rocess ing fu n c tio n s can have a ve ry in te res ting e ffe c t o n vocal sam ples. L is ten to th e S o u n d s /Y M M in d .ra w sound to hear a no rm a l vo ice speaking:

P l a y l 6 F R E Q - 9 6 0 0 S o u n d s / Y M M i n d . r a w

N ow , t ry th e so larize fu n c tio n w ith th e S o unds /Y M M ind .raw sound.

Load i t us ing a w id th o f 200 and h e ig h t o f 141. solarize, save it as Y M M ind-S o la rize .raw and lis te n w ith : P l a y l 6 F R E Q - 9 6 0 0 YM M i n d -


Iyave leng th : I 30 1

C enter r § m i

C enter V- 1 " 3 |Qngle: 1 0 1

Dampening:

1 -

1 0 l

Cancel I

S o l a r i z e . r a w

T h is e ffe c t w il l m ake th e vo ice s ound ve ry nasal and cheesy. A d d a p o cke t p ro te c to r a nd a pair o f g lasse s w ith som e w h ite ta p e o n the n o se bracket and w e have g o t a real n erd here!

It 's easy to see th a t i t is im p o rtan t to exp e rim e n t w ith a n e ffe c t on several d if fe re n t k inds o f sounds. Or

e lse, y o u m ay never kn o w the p o te n tia lly g re a t su rp rises tha t

yo u 've m issed.

R o ta teThe ro ta te im age e ffe c t can have s o m e ve ry in te res ting and ve ry d rast ic results.

Load th e S o u nds /Y M M ind .raw

sound us ing a w id th o f 200 and h e igh t o f 141. From th e too lbox , se le c t Rotate, se t th e ang le to +28 d e g rees a nd se le c t A n y A ng le (F igure 2) to s ta rt th e process.Save it a s Y M M in d -R o ta te + 2 8 .ra w

and lis te n w ith :

P l a y l 6 F R E Q - 9 6 0 0 YM M i n d - R o t a t e + 2 8 .raw

This is a very d ras tic change, b u t no t

th a t use fu l, un less you like raunchy so u n d s like th is.

Reload the o rig ina l sound, o r use Im ageFX's undo fu n c tio n and try the R ota te e ffe c t w ith an ang le o f -90 d egrees (F igure 2). Save i t as Y M M ind -R o ta te -90 .raw and listen:

P l a y l 6 F R E Q - 9 6 0 0 Y M M i n d - R o t a t « - 9 0 .r aw

This is s till a d rastic change fro m th e orig ina l speaking vo ice , bu t the change in ro ta tion

ang le g ives a m uch n icer re su lt fo r th is

sound.If you needed a g o o d e lec tric ity

sound th e n it co u ld b e a very usefu lone to use.

T he L a se r-C o p te rS o far. w e have on ly used th e im age p rocess ing so ftw a re to pe rfo rm e ffe c ts on a lready e x is ting sounds. W e can a lso use it to genera te new so u n d s fro m scratch.

To begin, w e need to crea te a b u ffe r to s to re th e im age th a t w e are go ing to create. From th e to o lbox, se le c t B u ffe r and then Create Buffer. S e t th e w id th to 1060. h e igh t to 226 and m ake it a Greyscale b u ffe r (Figure 3). The w id th and h e ig h t va lues g iven here de te rm in e th e leng th o f th e sound file , so 1060 x 226 = 239560 bytes. A t a playback

ra te o f 16780. tha t w ill g iv e us 14.28 seconds o f sound.

N o w th a t w e have o u r bu ffe r ready, le ts crea te s o m e th in g to pu t in it. From th e to o lb o x , se le c t A lpha

and th e n Create. From th e Create A lpha Channel requ e s te r select W ave G enerator. S e t th e W ave length to 30, Center X to 530 , C enter Y to 113. A n g le to 0 and D am pen ing to 0 (F igure 4).

T h is fu n c tio n genera tes th e wave, in an alpha channel bu ffe r, so w hen th e fu n c tio n is co m p le te w e need to co p y it to o u r im age b u ffe r so w e can see it. To d o th is , fro m the to o lb ox se le c t A lpha a nd th e n Copy From A lpha (F igure 5). Save the re su lt a s LaserC opter30 .raw b u t do

n o t lis te n to it ju s t yet.You can a lte r th e p itc h o f the

s ound by chang ing th e W ave leng th va lue o f th e W ave Generator requester. S e tting it to a h igher va lue w ill gene ra te a sound w ith a lo w e r p itch ; w h ile a lo w e r value w ill resu lt in a h igher p itch e d sound.

Try th e p rocess again w ith a W ave leng th o f 5 and save it as LaserC opter5.raw . You can also change the p itch by us ing Play16‘s Freq param eter, b u t th is w o u ld change th e length o f th e sound also.

S ig n e d vs u n s ig n e dA n o th e r th in g to understand is tha t im age p ro cess ing so ftw a re w orks

w ith its da ta as unsigned values.That m eans th a t a ll va lues are

grea ter than zero. T h is is genera lly th e w a y tha t all im age da ta is sto red , regard less o f th e so ftw a re be ing used . However, th is is no t

necessarily the case fo r aud io data. O n p la tfo rm s such as th e A m iga and

SGI. aud io da ta is s to re d a s signed w ith p o s itive and negative values.

W h ile on th e M ac. PC and ST, da ta is s to re d as unsigned values. It is im p o rta n t to keep th is in m ind w h e n p lay ing back so u n d s a s they can sound ve ry d iffe re n t if th e y 're p layed w rong.

The Laser-C opter sound tha t w e ju s t genera ted d e m onstra tes th is very w e ll. The im age processing so ftw a re w ill c re a te th e im age w ith all p o s itive va lues. But. s ince the A m iga u ses th e s igned data fo rm a t fo r audio. P lay 16 w ill use th a t by d e fa u lt w h e n p lay ing back the

sound. For th is exam p le , tha t a ssu m p tio n w o u ld b e w ro n g . Try it:

P l a y l 6 F R E Q - 1 6 7 8 0 L a s e r C o p t e r 3 0 .r aw

P i a y 16 F R E Q - 1 6 7 8 0 L a s a r C o p t e r 3 0 .r a w U N S I G N E D

I f you com pare th e a u d io w a ve fo rm s in F igures 6 and 7 w ith th e im age in F igure 5 you can see tha t Figure 7 is th e c lo se r rep resen ta tion . Instead of

u s ing th e U nsigned o p tio n o f Play16 you cou ld firs t use SOX to conve rt th e file .

SOX - u - b - r lO O O

L a s e r C o p t e r 3 0 . r a w - s

L a s e r C o p t e r 3 0 - 2 . r a w

w ill d o th e convers ion .T h e -u ind ica tes th e source fi le is

in unsigned fo rm a t, -b ind ica tes tha t the sou rce is in 8 -b it by te fo rm a t, -s ind ica tes th e d e s tin a tio n file shou ld b e in s igned fo rm a t.

N o te th a t SOX requ ires th a t a ra te (-r) be g iven fo r th e source file . For Raw data th is va lue is no t used, so i t d o e s n o t m a tte r w h a t va lue you use here. Refer to th e SOX do cu m e n ta tion fo r m o re d e ta ils . Having conve rted th e fo rm a t a lready, it is no lo n g e r necessary to spec ify the U nsigned o p tio n . So, th is w ill now w o rk :

P l a y l 6 F R E Q - 1 6 7 8 0 L a s e r C o p t e r 3 0 - 2 .r a w

To hear th e sound properly, i t is necessary to te ll Play16 th a t th e data fo rm a t in th e raw file is unsigned and shou ld be p layed back as such:

T he B ig f in is hThese un ique p rocesses can prod u ce s o m e ve ry use fu l resu lts . But like any g rea t expe rim en ta l tech n ique, i t d o e s takes t im e to ge t g o o d results.

In m any cases, it m ay be necessary to c lean u p th e c rea ted sounds b y us ing aud io w a ve fo rm e d iting

so ftw a re to f i lte r unw an ted no ise or c u t bad sections.

S om etim es , even a sm all se c tion

o f a p rocessed sound is e nough to m ake a te rr if ic pe rcuss ion sound or

som e s trange in s tru m e n t. ■ D h o m a s T renn


n th e fro n t cove r o f last m o n th s CU A m iga , you w e re g iven a tru ly w o n d e rfu l fre e b ie in th e fo rm o f D raw S tud io Lite . To ce le

b ra te th a t fa c t w h ile co n tin u in g w ith

o u r tu to ria ls on us ing Professional Page, in th is m o n th 's w o rksh o p . I w a n t to sh o w you h o w you can cre a te g rea t look ing CD covers.

The cove r is tw o s ided and fits o n an A 4 p o rtra it page. The to p side o f th e co ve r w ill con ta in an eye c a tch in g im age w h ic h w e ’ll crea te in D raw S tud io L ite and o n th e back s id e o f th e cove r som e te x t p ro d uced in ProPage

S ta r t hereYour firs t jo b is to cre a te in ProPage a te m p la te fo r th e tw o s ides o f the cove r Run ProPage. crea te an A4 page m aking sure tha t you have no M arg ins and tw o C olum ns.

W h a t th is does is to g ive you a v e rtica l ce n tre line p ro v id in g you

have "S h o w C o lum ns" o n in Layout Tools. The line is used fo r a lign ing y o u r boxes so they a re ce n tre d on the page.

O nce th e page is crea ted , save the d o cu m e n t to d isk g iv in g it an a p p rop ria te nam e The basis fo r the

Desktop PublishingProfessional Page 4.1

A Choose “ P iyeC ieate b o n D a li. lt Is

make as M pa |e w ith so n a i f io i ash two

colsmns

A Use the Boa tool to croote a ho ne and

doohle c lick os It. Chosje Ike H I M sod

Height to 12cm aod d ic k OK

A Use the line tool to add crop marks to the

bos foe poor CO co m . Hold dews the Alt key

os yoe drag the mouse to keep straight liaes.

A To move a group of objects, hold down

S h ill drag ooe of the objects ia the grasp a id

a ll the elements w ill meve a t the same time.

A This is how the esample CO cover looks whes eiported bom DrawStudio V2 ia 24-bit

th e p a g e to lin e it a ll up.The o n ly th in g y o u need to d o to

c lean u p th is lit t le lo t is d e le te a cou

p le o f c ro p lines w h ic h w ill overlap b e tw e e n covers. T h is d ocum en t s hou ld th e n b e saved to d isk under a n e w nam e a s a m a s te r tem pla te .To avo id o ve r w r it in g th is d ocu m e n t, save th e file again g iv in g it a name a p p rop ria te fo r th is cover.

M o re te m p la te sThe page y o u have ju s t c rea ted w ill be fo r th e fro n t cover. You n o w need

a page fo r th e unders ide o f the cove r and th is is c rea ted by firs t c h oos ing "M a k e Tem plate/Even” fro m th e Page m enu. N o w choose

"C reate fro m Tem plate" a nd choose Even as th e basis fo r th e page You n o w have tw o pages w ith th e boxes in th e sam e p lace so w h e n y o u p rin t back to back, e ve ry th ing w ill lin e up sw eetly. Save yo u r w o rk so far.

D ra w S tu d io L iteN o w w e tu rn o u r a tte n tio n to

D raw S tud io L ite and the c rea tion o f an im age fo r th e fro n t cover. The w a y s o f g o in g abou t th is are in fin ite b u t here ’s a s im p le m e thod to ge t us s ta rted . C hoose th e Rectangle too l, ho ld d o w n th e S h ift key and d ra w a box app rox im a te ly th e s ize o f a CD cove r It d o e sn 't need to be exac tly 120m m but you shou ld have

Larry Hickmott kills two

birds w ith one slightly

used pen as he works

through a tutorial on using

DrawStudio Lite and ProPage to

create an eye-catching CD cover.

cove r is a box 120m m b y 120m m . so use th e Box to o l to cre a te a fra m e any size, do u b le c lick on it and th e n e n te r th e s ize in th e W id th and H e igh t gadgets . To p o s itio n the box w h e re w e w a n t, take the cen tre hand les o f th e box and lin e th e m up over th e d o tte d ce n tre line running do w n th e page

To fin is h up, c re a te so m e crop m arks o n each co rn e r o f th e box These can be any leng th bu t shou ld s to p short o f th e e dges o f th e box. A tr ic k here is to tu rn o f f "Box O u tlin e s " (C trl-B to g g le s th is ) and th e n g ive th e m am box a tem pora ry ou tlin e b y m aking sure its active and press ing Ctrl-F This crea tes a less c lu tte re d screen on w h ic h to w o rk To tu rn o f f th e box fram e, p ress Ctrl-F again.

To save pap e r w a s tage , w e need to crea te a second cove r fo r th is shee t o f paper a nd th is is d o n e by firs t us ing th e G roup to o l to g ro u p a ll th e e le m e n ts (box and crop m arks) a nd then p ress Shift-K (dup lica tes the a c tive g roup). Press and ho ld d o w n th e S h ift ke y and then use th e m o u se to d rag th e group underneath th e o th e r cover.

A ga in , use th e ce n tre line dow n


Tile eed the dpi lo 1210. DiawStedio allows

yoo to ase the oae bitmap in different ways

liom filling an object whole or tiling i t at many

different resolutions

an idea n o w o f h o w b ig th e box sh ou ld b e o n th e A 4 page fro m th e w o rk w e have ju s t done in ProPage.

You n o w need a b itm a p fo r th e box. p re fe ra b ly o n e a round 640 p ix e ls w id e and square in shape. M ake su re yo u r box is se lec ted and then ch o o se O b je c t/A ttr ib u te s . C lick on B itm ap a nd th e n o n E d it. In th e B itm ap lis t, c lic k o n E d it a nd in the "E d it B itm ap" requester, choose N e w to load a b itm a p a nd th e n give th e b itm a p fill a name.

N o w ch o o se th e R ectang le too l and c re a te a box ove r th e p ic tu re and f ill th a t w ith a transparen t colour. T h is is done by choosing O b je c t/A ttr ib u te s , c lick ing o n Solid, th e n o n E d it, a nd in th e C o lour lis t, c lic k on N ew /E d it. In th e "E d it C o lo u r" requester, crea te a w h ite co lou r i f o n e d o e sn 't a lready ex is t (255. 255. 2551 and th e n change O p ac ity to 70% . C lick OK, OK and OK again. A s you can see, th e box is p a rtly tra nspa ren t w h ic h is a use fu l tr ic k to kn o w w h e n you w a n t to p lace s o m e th in g like te x t ove r an

im age w ith o u t it g e ttin g lo s t in th e background.

There is h o w e ve r a f ly in th e o in t

m e n t to th e above s teps . Later on . w e w ill b e e xp o rtin g th is im age and th e transpa rency w ill b e lo s t if you ch o o se 8>bit c o lo u r because transparency requ ires e ithe r 2 4 -b it exp o rt (available in vers ion 2 o f D ra w S tu d io l o r 8 -b it g reysca le (availab le in O raw S tud io Lite). T h is also e ffe c ts p rin ting .

M B i m E i m n r ________

From Pafl» H To P a S ' ^ H I

[ ] A u to m a tic a lly L in k Coltouns

$ l l s e Even Tem plate

Q l ls e Odd Tem plate

Q d s e Page Humber

B l o c k Boxes

I OK I 1 C ancel |

A You con now create o page from the iron

template so you l in e two identical pages in

your project.

▲ Ton con o iport year imago m a variety of

formats which is very useful i f yoo ora osmg

different types of computers

A This esemple is Ike 8-bit celonr image imported into a bos

in ProPage. Notice hew the background has dropped out to

white. This is because troaspsrency is los t when esported os

l -h i t colour. I f yon want transparency retoioed. choose 8-bit

grey or got DrawStudio V2 which has 24-hit support

M o v in g o n ...N o w add som e te x t in a rea lly bold fo n t. T h is te x t shou ld be th e name o f th e CD o r part th e re o f. For e xam p le . I've ca lled th is sam ple. "F ishy P ix" and used th e w o rd s F ishy and Pix in d iffe re n t w ays. The b itm a p fill fo r th e te x t is th e sa m e a s th e m ain

fill b u t th is tim e , tiled w ith a h igh .. DPI se ttin g . This is an exam ple o f us ing the sam e b itm a p fill b u t in d iffe re n t ways.

N o w c lo n e (R ight Am iga-T) the te x t and c re a te a b lack (o r o the r co lou r) sh a d o w w h ic h is placed s lig h tly o ffs e t to the le f t and above o f th e orig ina l Fo llow th is w ith a se co n d shadow , th is t im e in w h ite , s lig h tly to th e r ig h t and b e lo w the m a in text

A se co n d p iece o f te x t is crea ted w h ic h ru n s d o w n th e le f t o f th e box o n th e part no t cove red b y th e transp aren t w h ite box T h is second p iece o f te x t has been ro ta ted 9 0 degrees. L ike be fo re . I have fille d th e text w ith th e o rig ina l b itm a p tiled , as w e ll as add ing a b lack (o r o the r co lou r) and w h ite sh a d o w to crea te a 3 D e ffect.

To fin ish o f f th e cover, add som e inse t p ic tu re s and lo g o s to m ake it look u ltra p ro fess iona l. In th e sam p le here, th e inse t p ic tu re s a re crea ted by ta k in g a rectang le , w a rp in g it. f illin g it w ith a n e w im age a nd th e n c rea ting a c lo n e and fillin g th a t w ith y e t an the r n e w image.

To conse rve m em ory , use fo r th e inse t p ic tu res , im ages n o m ore than

320 p ixe ls w ide.

The fin is h e d a r t ic leO nce th e im age fo r the CD c c v e t is fin ished, se le c t a ll th e o b jec ts and choose E xpo rt/B itm ap Iro m the P ro ject m enu. The size o l th e b itm a p expo rted can b e a n y th ing from 600 to 8 00 p ixe ls w id e fo r exce llen t rep roductio n o n m o s t desk top ink-jets.

You ce rta in ly sh ou ld n 't see any jagg ies o r any p ixe lisa tion a t tha t reso lu tion . If you do. th e n you shou ld try se ttin g a h igher reso lution.

The im age can n o w b e expo rted in 8 -b it c o lo u r o r 8 -b it G reyscale R em em ber w h a t I said ea rlie r about h o w us ing 8 -b it c o lo u r w ill re su lt in y o u los ing th e transpa rency o f th e w h ite cove r o ve r p a rt o f y o u r im age. I f you w a n t m o re co lo u rs and an tia lias ing you need vers ion 2 o f D raw S tud io availab le fro m LH Publish ing.

W ith th e im age expo rted and saved to d is k , y o u are n o w ready to im p o rt i t in to ProPage a s th e basis fo r th e f ro n t cover. D o n 't w o rry if the co lo u rs don’t a ll sh o w in th e 256 c o lo u r sc reen -m ode a s th e y w ill p r in t f ine . Personally, I leave ProPage in th e B lack a nd W h ite screen m ode

a nd a lth o u g h th e im age doesn 't look g re a t on-screen, i t does p r in t fine a nd I a lso f in d ProPage z ips a long a lo t q u icke r th a n w h e n in co lou r

m ode.I'll leave th e fina l to u ch e s u p to

y o u b u t d o n 't fo rg e t to fill in the in s tru c tio n s fo r yo u r CD on page tw o a nd add any te x t to th e im age th a t is requ ired . W h e n ready, p rin t page o n e , tu rn th e paper over and th e n p rin t tw o .

That’s a b o u t it th e n fo r th is m o n th . In th e nex t issue , w e 're g o in g t o b e lo ok ing a t using D raw S tud io L ite to cre a te som e tit le s fo r use in ProPage o r fo r those n e t freaks th a t a re a m o n g you . on yo u r W EB pages

L a rry H ic k m o tt

M

A To o iport a finished imago horn DrawStudio

Lite, chooie Project/liport/Bitmap. Options; li

b it colour or 8-bit grey. 8-bit colour loses any

transparency applied to objects. V2 allows 24-

b it o iport so transparency is retained.

A To creole a template of that page, cboose

Moke Templalefven from the Page menu.

A The regnosten yen'll sea when filling ynnr

h o i w ith a bitmap ia DrawStudio l i to . Notice

how " f i l l Type" is set to "FiN to Object'.

A To create a transparent colour in

DrawStudio Lite. It 's only useful i l o iporting or

printing the image in 8-bit greyscale

A Here is oer finished imago All the ele

ments are now ready to be grouped and

eipnrted so they can be placed ontn the pago

in Prnfessinnal Page.


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Name..............................................................................................................................block

Address ....................................................................................... capitals

..................................... PLEASE

................ ......... P o s tc o d e ..............................................(A stam p fo r rep ly apprecia ted) ^

t.4 EMULATORFREEPOST A PACK

PLATFORM GAMESJ (01 MAD COW NOT 13 J 1330 CAPTAM 0CWUS □ 1*45 10 C.W. GAMES J 1553 LANCE-O-LOT J 1*62 CHLRUE COOL J1BWA12 DANGER DOG J 1878 JUMPMAN C€LUXE J 2008 At? KICK m

J 20*2 A12CC GONNY-S J 20*3 STAR-BOY J 2096 F-SPLATT 2 J911SO.OASSAU.T J 906 06UTERAT0R J *98 THE LAST REFUGE J 1*3* SPACE BLASTER J 1706 THE ASTRO KID J 18S5A12 SPEED6REAK J 190* CREEPY CRAWLIE J 1921 WITNESS J 188S BLASTEO J 2003 AI2 BANANA ISlE

ARCAOE GAMES J 2093 A1200 GEEME J 2085 FISHING FUV J 273 KELLOGS EXPRESS J 1366 ALIENS FF□ 1338 STRIKE COWAND J 1500UPD 2* GAMESJ >807 A12 8EASTES 2 J 1880 A12 SLIPSTREAM J 1908 FLY TIGERS□ 19*8 ANTS- ANTS-ANTS

□ CCS HUNTER PLUS J8'5 LEMMINGS PACK□ 023 PICK DANGERCUS□ 1*57 T FIGHTERS□ 022 THE GODS JOJ6ROBCCOPV2□ 17WSW.0 SWOON□ 1778 PINBALL FANTASY

COMBAT GAMES□ 9*1 FATAL 8LOWS J 938 MARTIAL SPIRIT□ 290 FIGHT WARRIORSJ 1238 WEAPON MASTERS JU28CYBEPGAMES 3DSK□ 15*8 FIGHT A1200□ 1720 A12CC SAMURAI

CLASSIC GAMES□ 011 ASTEROIDS□ 683 MISSILE CCWMANO□ 778 OVE ANDER□ 692 SPACE INVADERS□ 8*1 CCOKIE□ K6 DONKEY KONG

□ 951 FLAWING ENGWES□ *69 TV€ ROAD TO FCll J 1*17 MANS FENDERS V2□ 1*66 A12 KNOCK OUT J 16*2 A1200 EX RACN3□ 1705A12 AER RACERS□ 07* F1 EDITOR 967

TITHIS-COLUMNS J294KLACKTR1SCOLMS J 107 TWW-TRIS TETT9S J 293 DR MARO COLMS J 102 SUPER FCXA. EGG□ 1827 PIL-MANIA J 195**1200 PLUBZJ 2(03 A12 WORMTRIS

PAC-MANGAMES□ 1931 A12 PLAY PAC□ 1956 JACKMAN□ 1096 PUC MAN□ 1138 A12 CYBER MAN□ 16*8 A12 0C6S LEMON□ 230 SLRER PAC-MAN

BREAK-OUT I PONG□ 003 MEGA8AU V J *58 MEGABALL V2□ 1*59 CYBERSPHERE J 568 MEGABALL V3□ 170* BORIS BALL□ 1924 OUTSIDE BREAK J2CC1 BRKFIGHTER

□ 205 AMIGA PUNTER□ 1210 LOTTO LINAT»C J 1*38 A-GENE V5□ 159* LOTTERY SYSTEM J 1682 THE PHYSICIAN

J 20*5 ETEFNAL 2 OlSK J 2C83 O SPCE 2 DISK J 2053 TERMNATOR DISK□ 1270 DOOM RAVEJ 1220 AMIGA JAWIN J 1165 VENTHATCR J 1685 2 D<SK JAC€□ 1725 CREAM WITH ME

□ 1527 ICE MNE P«0 J 1*86 NEW MINES□ 1568 BUG MINES□ I 572 UNDER MAES J 1573 GOLD MINESJ 1577 EMERALD HEAD J 1565 EXPERT Mhf S J 1562 CENMARK MINES J1583 STYX WINES J 1892 SPACE MINES□ 2013 WCWCCR MINES

PUB<LUB GAMES J 2069 BILLYS DARTS□ 2032 PRO POKERJ 1930 A12 DOMINOES j 1929 AI203 YATZEE□ 130* CHECKERS V2 J 222 FRUIT MACHINE□ 375 CARDS SCLITARE j 12*6 AMIGA CR0BA6E□ 1362 PUB OARIS TOUR J 563 WORLD DARTS□ 1*50 SAT SNOOKER□ 1112 A1200X CARDS

BOARD GAMES□ 2033 SCRAZZLEJ 910 NEW MONOPOLY STAT□ 631 SCRABBLE□ 476 CHESS GAMES□ 1*33 LET & LADDER

ADVOrrURf GAMES□ 116 STAR TREK 2 DISK□ 297 NEIGHBOURS 2 01SK J 1671 BREED 1996J 1753 A1203GL0CM J 188* TIME RUNNER J 1925 DUNGEONS

STRATEGY GAMES□ 876 GLOBAL NUKE WAR J 826IND-ESP1C64AGE□ 1182 A12 NIGHTMARE□ 1170 A12 LORDS 2 DSK□ 1*31 UFO UNCLOTHED□ 1547 SOLO STAR TREK

PUZZLER GAMES J 953 CHANEQUE 2 DSK□ 859 10 PUZZLERS□ 1550 PUZZLER PITS□ •5*6 EXPERT BALLS J 1633 THE WOOGLIES J 1765 BRAIN BALLS□ 176* BRIDGE BALLS

MANAGER GAMES□ 878 SCOTTISH LEAGUE□ 321 AIRPORTJ #*3 SLAM BALL□ 817 BLOCO BALLJ 1*29 ULTI MANAGER□ 1689 PREMIER PICS J 1763 AIR TRAFFIC□ 1771 MICRO MART 3

QUO GAMES□ 1031 TREK TRW 5 DISK□ 716 POP MUSIC QUIZ□ *62 WHEEL CE FORTUNE□ 1597 QUIZ 555J 1683 HOLLYWOOD TRW□ 1670 A12 DEATH RON

LOGIC GAMES J 1960 BLOCK BLANKS□ 1037 MARBLES GAVE J 119 DRAGONS TITLES□ 112 DRAGONS CAVE J 1*77 BOMB MANIACS□ 1*76 MAR8EL-LOUS□ 1687 TILE MANIA□ 1922 LOGICS

□ 2053 SHED TEARS 20SK J *60 TEKNO RAVE□ 1015 2DSK TAZ CUEEN J 110* 209( OXYQENE J 1785 TEO**0 TRACKS□ 1816 BATMAN 2 DISK J1965CCLCCR CYCLE

A1200 SUM SNOWS J 7*0 * DISK MANGA□ 1271 PIXEL STCRMS□ 1193 LEMMNGTONS□ 1646 MISS MANGAJ 1610 STAR FLEET 3DSK

AMIGA SLIDE SHOWS J206*A12PATHF6C€R J 20*8 FAN-GUIDE 20SK J 70* REVELATIONS J 061 PAT NAOaS GIRLS J 936 AVIATICW HSTORY J 10B3 50SK UON KING J 1498 NGEl MANSELLS□ 1472YABADABACO

□ 423 2 DISK SPECTRUM□ 889 PC EM 2 DISK□ 327 ACTCN REPLAY J 965 DOWN TO A500□ 3‘3 UP TO A500 PLUS J * i* UP TO A'203

J2CC2 COPY A CRACK V*□ 727 MULTI TASK |MT)□ 156 X.COPY PRO□ 325 LOCX PICKER V2

HARD DRIVES□ 2089 GAME INSTALL 12□ 779 W'B 3 fZSTALL□ 780 We 2 NSTALLJ 490 8 CBSK MAGIC W.B□ 1692 A BACKUP VS□ 1674CDATAP1□ 1775 2 DSK MU 3.6□ 1770 2 DSK ERROR TALK

PRINTING□ 2*3 AWARD MAKER * OlSK JC65 AMIGA FONT 7 DISKJ ICO PRNTEP DRIVERS□ 048 PRINTING STUDIO□ 3*5 BANNER MAKER□ 057 TEXT ENGWEV*J 394 INVOICE PRINT□ 7*9 FORM PRINTER□ 1658 CARD AND LABa J 18*2 PRINTMASTER□ 2012 FONT EWTOR

J 1932 DOCCLE PAJNT□ 063 ULTRAPANT J349SPECTRACOLOUR J 748 ILLUSION PAINTJ 1*60 A-Z PANT PAD J 1565 CARTOON STUDIO J 1707 PERFECT PANT J 1760 J>R PICASSO

ARTWORK PROGRAMS□ 2056 ASCI ART PRO J1298A12MAGNFCAD□ 071 GRAPHICS CCN KIT□ 070 GRAPHIC UTILS□ 133 PRAC LAND BUILD□ 1026 PICTURE LAB

J 06* PUGGS N SPACE□ 651 FAJRLIGHT 2*2□ 831 RED DWARF□ 463 MR POTATO HEAD□ 3*7 NEWTEK V3 2 DISK□ 187 ANIMATION STUDIO

AIRGA VIDEO J 329 VKXO NSCRIPT J 790 V10EOTRACKER 5 DISK□ 148 S-MOOVIE

MUSIC MAKERS□ 1971 SAMPLE MAKER J 220 FIP* KEYBOARDS J*3i RAVE KEYBOARDS□ 202 MED V3.2□ 729 CfLAI MACMNE J 787 SCBRC CRUM KIT J 738 OCTAMED V2□ I 36 THE ART OF MEO□ 192 THE COM»C«ER J 818 MJSIC DATABASE□ 981 AUDIO ENGINEER□ 1881 PROTRACKER 35 J 1791 OCTATUTCR V5

CLASSIC-POP□ 201 PIANO CLASSICS J 234 VWALDI2 DISKJ 3*2 AMIGA-OEUS J 213 WO CONCERT V2□ 620 BAGPIPE MUSC□ 2*8 EXPRESSION V2□ 1357 2 MEG DACO V□ 1759 GUTAR BLUES□ 1757FCAVY METAL J1KO TEKNO MAGE 96 J1B68BEATLE MANIA

SAMPLES • MOOS□ 2095 TAZ APKKESFX□ 2095 TAZ SASH SFXJ 880 KOBG 01W 8 CXSK□ 6*7 SOUND FX 3 C«SK□ 819 DRUMS 2 DISK□ 1886 URBAN 6 DISK J 1588 DANCE 5 DISK□ 1258 MOVE SAMPLES□ 1861 MONTY PYTHONS j 1860 ANSWER BACKJ 1828 NEW WORMS SFX

J 2033 H-MANAGER 20SK J 832 DATABASES 2 DISK□ 092 ACCOUNT MASTER J*70 LITTLE OFFICE□ 24* SPREADSHEET□ 535 UK STD CODES□ 146* DIARY 2000 J 1368 AMIBASE V*J 1758 DALY LIVING□ 1978 NOTEBOOK

COLOUR CUPART j 637 6 DISK CO-BRUSH□ 633 7 DISK CLIP APT□ 931 9 DISK WORLD MAR

MONO CUP ART□ 172 15 DISK PORTFOLIO□ 558 7 CXSK CUP ART

AMIGA MODEM□ 2087 A EMAL VI * J702COMMS TUTCFOAL JA13NCOMMSV3□ 1032 MAX B8S PROG

□ 926 HELICOPTER□ 332 SEAL ANCESUB□ 333 BATTLE CARS V2 J 1273 AI2 TRAIN DRIVER

SPORT GAMES□ I0M CRAZY GOLF□ 630 TEN PIN BOWING□ 1171 2 D5KCRS-ANGLER J 1373 ICE HOCKEY J1317AI2GON FISHING J1465A12 2DSK TENNIS J 1251 TENNIS TCLR J 1630 INTER CRICKET□ 1700 GOLF 9 HOLES

HUTS I CHEATS J *18 1000 CHEATS J 931 BACKDOOR V3 J 821 PASSWORD MANA□ 813 GAME TAMEPV4.S□ 820 MEGA CHEATS□ 681 SIERRA SOLUTIONS□ • 356 GAME SOLUTIONS J 1653 SOLUTIONS V3 J 1651 SOLVES 6 DISK

OYER I I GAMES□ 907 2 DSK ADVENT VI J 1001 2 DSK ADVENT V2 J 101 TERROR LINER VI J 1061 ADULT TETRIS□ 1248 STRIP POKER J 11*5 A12 NPABERS VI□ 1335 ADULT DROIDS j 1533 ORAGONS BALL□ 1517 ADULT BOVBER□ 1654 LEGO BREAKOUT□ 1768* DSK A12 AOVENT□ 19* BIND DATE

DISK COST C150 EACH. NO MINIMUM ORDER. ALL VIRUS FREE AND USER FRIENDLY.AH games are on I disk and run on all Amiga's unless otherwise staled

PICK AN EXTRA DISK FOR FREE WITH EVERY EIGHT DISKS YOU PURCHASE

UNDERGROUND PD. 54 CARMANIA CLOSE. SHOEBURYNESS. ESSEX SS3 9YZ. TEL: 01702 295887

Name: ...............................................................Amiga Model: ...................................................

Address............................................................................................................................................ ^

......................................................................Postcode:

J 288 A-BASIC TUTCR J 306 UNDERSTAND AMOS□ 1067 AGA DATATYPES□ 1681 NORTH C□ 1754 AMIGA DOS FRAU

DO IT YOURSELF□ 2026 PD MANUALS 2DSK□ 238 SUM SHOW MAKER JK« MAKE A DISK□ 2*2 MENU MAKER□ 115* HEOLEYGOOE A12 J 1933 MAKE A DISK V2

VIRUS CONTROL□ 2097 VIRUS Z VI .39 J 506 A12CO VIRJSJ 160 UVK PLUS

AINGAUTLfmS J 1030 A12DONC TOOLS J 612* DISK TOOL KIT J 1629 UN-ARCHVER J 1983 CRUNCHERS

DISK I SYSTEM J 166 SYSTEM TESTER J *67 FILE UNMLETE□ 19* OlSK OPTIMISE□ 356 ENGINEERS KIT□ 2*5 FIX OlSK□ 168 HARDWARE MAWMl□ 1861 HARDWARE MOOS

AIRGA EDUCATION□ 766 GEOGRAPHY□ 532 MATHS 5 DISKS J 64* ENGLISH * DISK□ 486 LANGUAGES *C*SK□ 270 PLANETS 8 DISK J 30* ENGNES 5 DISK□ 059 AMIGA TUTORIAL J 1289 DPANT 4 TUTOR J 937 A1200.’600 TUTOR□ 1381 2 DISK INTERNET J 1360 AMIGA GUDEJ 1918 KUNGON TUTOR J 1982 DYNAMIC SXYS


C O M MS.A.E. In It

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CALL: 0 1 922 710985EX SOFTWARE HOUSE NEWQUANTITY PR IC ES QUANTITY P R IC E S10 DISKS £4.00 10 DISKS £5.0025 DISKS £7.50 25 DISKS £ 1 0 0 050 DISKS £14.00 50 DISKS £16.00100 DISKS £25.00 100 DISKS £28.00500 DISKS £80.00 500 DISKS £100 001000 DISKS CALL 1000 DISKS CALL

ALL DISKS SUPPLIED WITH LABELSDisk labels available at £2.50 per 100

or £10.00 per 1000 including p+p

A500 USERS ONLYNOW THERE IS A PD LIBRARY THAT CATERS FOR YOU

CATALOGUE DISK FEATURING 1 ,000'S OF TITLES INCLUDING ADULT, GAMES. UTILITIES, SLIDESHOWS,

MUSIC. DEMOS. CLIP ART AND MORE. ALL OF WHICH RUN ON A 1MB A500 WITH KICKSTART 1.3

A ll disks cost £1.00 each and p+p is charged at 50p per order. To receive the cat disk send either £1.00

or a SAE to the address below.

FREESTYLE PD108 W OODSIDE WAY, SHORT HEATH.

WILLENHALL. W EST M IDLANDS, WV12 5NH

P L E A S E M A K E C H E Q U E S P A Y A B L E TO: F R E E S T Y L E P D

B U Y 10 D ISK S PICK 1 D IS K FREE FOR A N Y ORDER PLEASE A D D 7 5 P p+p

FMMM C A TA LO G U E F MF r e e b ie s s e n l ou t w ith a l l f i r s t tii

I £4 .99 each plus £1 p ip• Gloom AGA• Naughty Ones• Club & Country

I • Watchtower AGA• Colossus Chess £7 .99 each plus £1 p&p• Skidmarks• Approach Trainer• Legends• Fears AGA

£9 .99 each plus £1 p&p• Brian Lara 96• Touring Challenge• Virtual Karting• Super Skidmarks• Super League Manager• Minskies

• Euro League Manager• Exile

• Super Tennis Champ• StarLord• Special Forces • D o ^ g h ,

• Impossible Mission• Road Rash• Desert Strike• PGA Tour Golt• Wing Commander £14.99 each plus £1 p&p• Manyk Mayhem AGA• PGA Tour G olf.• Fita Soccer• A ir Bus II• Rail Road Tycoon

• C olonization• 817 Flying Fortress• Fields o f Glory •UFO• F19• F15 II• M icroprose Grand Prix - Civilistation• Gunship 2000• Silent Service II• Theme Park A500/600• Theme Park AGA• Acid Attack AGA• Arcade Action• Championship Challenge• Sporting Spectacular

£19.99 each plus £1 p&p• Mini Office• Blitz Basic

MOUSE M A T S " ' . MUL T I C OL OUR L A B E L Sonly £1.75 me p&p; o k X Y d L A U Iv IV IIL a t; £2.50 per 100 mcp&p

HEAD C LE A N E R S ! only £10.99 inc p&p I £6.99 per 500 inc p&p| £2.99 inc p&p £10-99 per 1000 inc p&p

| SPENO £10 or more on PD not Inc p*p (this otter doas not include accessories tor Commercial games) and pick ONE o l the following FREE. Headdeaner. 100 Labels, or a Mousemat for only 50p This olter only applies lo NEW customers ordering from this ADVERT. This AMAZING otter closes 31st Dec 97

• w sunt to m roR A tort o rn r whir makirc tour fvrchasis' or miss outii

PLEASE MAKE CHEQUES? 0 * PAYABLE TO R. HOYO FOR ORDERS OF TWO POUNDS OR BELOW. WE ACCEPT STAMPS

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‘This year, January comes before Christmas!” Hit the January Sale at Golden Im age N O W

Replacem ent M ice ...................M egaM ouse 4 0 0 M cgaM ousc Plus (3 Button)New Black M ouse ...................Pen M ou se.......................£ 1 2 .9 5I ideal lor C A D )

* * ■ 9 * £ 4 .9 5 * 4 4 4 * £ 9 .4 5 £ 14.0 5 4 9 .9 5 . . * 9 4 * £ 7 .9 5

R A M C A R D S A 12 0 0A 1 2 0 0 with clock and 4 M b ; wt ut*nd(aU<\ ........................... £ 4 9A 1 2 0 0 with clock 33M H z FP U and 4M l> 4 * 4 £ 5 9A1200 with clock and 8 M b .............................................................£ 6 5A 1200 with clock, 33M H z FPU and 8M b .......................£ 8 9 £ 7 53 3 M H z FP U in c. crystal ............................................................. £ 1 5Free D irectory opus V 4 .12 and Chaos pack (4 games on disks) with every Ram card

C atw easel f o r A 1 2 0 0 - allows you to connect H igh Density D isk Drive fits on to clock adapter leaving ID E interface freefor o u r 4 wav buffered in ter fa ce ...................Catweasel fi>r A 4 0 0 0 ...........................................Buddha ID E Controller for A 1 5 0 0 /2 0 0 0 / 4 0 0 0 ...............................................................AT-Bus 20 0 8 ID E controller ..........................Catweasel plus Buddha for A 1 5 0 0 /2 0 0 0 / 4 0 0 0 ..........................£ 7 9 .0 0O ktagon 2 0 0 8 / 4 0 0 8 SCSIC ontroller ........................... £ 9 9 .0 0M ultifacc I I I serial and parallelI / O card ................................ £ 7 9 .0 0T D - 1 2 0 0 PC M C IA controller for ID E C D RO M D rive £ 6 9 0 0

Buffered interface for A 12 0 0 with lull ID E F IX ’9 7 software allows you to connect 4 ATAPI devices to A 1 2 0 0 O n n c s w ith tw o 4 0 pin ID E cables and one 4 4 pin ID E cable ................................... £ 5 9 .9 5

W a r n i n g s

mm c mSpecially made hardware and software.Allows 4 ATAPI devices, ic , 2 ID E lurddisk & 2 ID E C D R om to Amiga 4 0 0 0 internal ID Econtroller ....................................................................................£ 5 9 .0 0

Amiga Joysticks Amiga Joypads..

External Floppy' Drive for all Am igas.................. £ 3 9 .9 5

Internal Floppy Drive A 5 0 0 / 5 0 0 * ... Internal Floppy Drive A 6 0 0 / 1 20 0 Internal Floppy Drive A 15 0 0 / 2 0 0 0 . . Internal Floppy Drive for Tow er user with face plate

W iiu jy j ' os C ' j J ’J Pofjin si A'j'/sii'J li] A rrJJ'J':! P O n s i l l S P o h s 'A l l s 'J J ' J t X /

Best pricing on CD ROM Drives & Hard Drives.We cen eupply CD ROM eolutlone tor ALL A m lg u from ASOO lo A40M . Four top HUee tree: Nld< Feldo'e C ham plonih lp Golf; Syndicate; P inball Fantasies & The Chaos Engine,

A ll ou r External IDE CD ROM Drives have bu ilt in power supplies (they do not d raw power from your Amiga)D ifferent options to connect CD ROM drives to A600 o r AT 200

a) Use Internal IDE port w ith A lfaDuo if you have 2.5* Hard Drive tw ill be w ith fu ll IDEFlX software)

b) Use Internal IDE port w ith Atfa-Quatro interface if you have 3.5’ Hard Drive (w ill be w ith fu ll IDEFlX software)

c) PCMCIA externa l interface option available

A ll CD ROM drives have play CD facility.

Quad speed CD ROM for Eight speed CD ROM for 12 Speed CD ROM for 16 Speed CD ROM for

ExternalA600/A1200

m e £i39.oot w o © £159.00 tW O © £169 00 ©+©©©©£179 00

Internal A1500/A2000 CUgOQ £109.00 ©44*©© £129.00 t+ 4 *© 0 £139.00 £169 00 £169.00

External*A500/A500-f£129.00 £119.00©+**©© £139.00N/AN/A

InternalA6000

£109.00 £99.00 0+4*00 £119.00 £+4*00 £129.00 £+49-00 £139.00

•(for A500/A500+ Altapower hard dnve IDE controller & software A6000 supplied

Hard Dnve is required). A1500/A2000 supplied with AUaQuatro interface & Full IDEFlX software.

£ 3 8 m £ 2 5 .0 0 £ 3 8 0 0 £ 2 5 .0 0 4 8 * 0 0 £ 2 8 .0 0

.4 8 * 0 0 £ 2 8 .0 0

( S E » __ _ _ _ _ _All 2 . 5 ' Hard drives conic form atted and installed with W orkbench, including ID E ( 'ab le , screws, software and instructions supplied. (p lease check f o r availa b ility )60Mb .4 8 0 £ 4 9 80M b ............................................. 4 6 0 £ 3 9120Mb..........................4 8 0 £ 6 9 170M b 4 K £ 6 9 S ta H « y250M b.......................... 4 8 0 £ 8 5 340Mb..................... 4 * 0 0 £ 9 9420M b......................4 + 4 0 £ 1 0 9 540Mb....................£ 4 4 0 £ 1 1 9810M b........4 * 4 9 £129 Starbuy

1 .2 0 * ......................4 * 8 4 £1 10 1.7Gig............2 .1 G ig ......................4 + 8 8 £1 3 9 - 3.2G ig 4 3 0 0 £ 1793.8G ig......................4 3 8 0 £ 1 9 9 *5.0Gig .. 4 8 3 0 £ 2 7 9

We will partition and form at Hard drives and install W orkbench. *5 .0 G ig will fit and work on .Amiga Com puters contrary to warnings given(Amiga Form at Gold Award w inner August 1 9 9 7 ) j

_________________________4 M b Sim m s 4 3 0 £ 1 5 8 M b Simms 4 8 0 £ 2 51 6 M b S im m s 4 6 8 £ 5 5 32 M b Sim m s < 143 £1 1 5

Zip Ram sfrm w W f f o r A 3 0 0 0 , A lfa p ow er A t-B us 2 0 0 8 C~O ktaflons) every 2 M b ............................................................. £ 4 0 .0 0

V iper M K V 1 2 3 0 50 M H z plus S C S I interfacewith 4 M b .............................................................................. 4 1 5 9 0 0with 8M b ............................................................................... 4 1 7 9 .0 0with 16M b ............................................................................... 4 1 9 9 .0 0Viper MK1V 42M H z - 4M b (not up^adabt, 4 8 0 0 0 £ 7 0 .0 0 Free Am iga b lack m ouse w ith every accelerator

—

m u

H a rd D rives plus B u d dh a I D E C on troller1 .2 G ig ..............................................- 4 * 8 * 0 © £ 1 6 9 .0 0 1H a rd D rives plus B u d dh a ID EC o n troller 2 .1 G ig ......................- 4 3 8 0 0 © £ 1 8 9 .0 0 Starbuy

Viper A 630 40M H z * 4M b(not u&radabl<> ................................. £110.00Viper A 630 40M H z - 8M b(not upgradable) ....................................4 1 2 0 .0 0free FP U with above

44pin 3 connector cable ...................................................... £ 5 .0 044pin 2 connector cable ......................................................£ 3 .0 040pin 3 connector cable 9 0 c m ................................................£ 5 .0 0.AltaD uo 44pin to 40p in Interface & ID F. cab les £ 2 0 .0 0AlfaQuatro 3\40pin Interface 8c ID E cables .............£ 3 9 .9 5D D floppy disks (5 0 )tuc lu d in a m u ltico loured d isk la b e ls ..................................... £ 1 3 .0 0D D floppy disks (1 0 0 )in clu d in g m u ltico loured d isk la b e ls .................................... 4 2 5 .0 03 .5 - Hard Drive Kit for A 6 0 0 /1 2 0 0. In sta l l so ftw are ......................................................................4 1 5 .0 0Diskbox to hold lO d iscs .........................................................£ 1 .0 0.Animal Jungle design and Dinosaur d esign .......................£ 2 .0 0O ptical M ouse M at ..................................................................£ 5 .0 02 in 1 Scann cr/M o use PadC a n be used a s a m em o p a d ....................................................£ 3 .0 0A m iga P o w er Supplv 4 .5 a m p ...................... 4 3 * 0 5 £ 1 5 .0 0Plain W ristrcst ............................ £ 2 .0 0GI-Q uatro buffered interface with cablesbut n o softw are............................................................................£ 3 9 .0 0A 5 0 0 * 1M b ram c a r d ............................................................. £ 2 0 .0 0A 6 00+ 1M b ram card ............................................................. £ 2 0 .0 0RO M Chip for ASOO o r A 600 V 2 .0 5 ............................£ 1 9 .0 0C D R O M D rives (B a re ) F o r in tern al fittin g .Requires interface and softwareID F. 4spced ................................................................................ £ 4 9 .0 0ID E Sspced .................................................................................£ 5 9 .0 0ID E 12spccd ................................................................................ £ 7 9 .0 0ID E 16specd.................................................................................£ 7 9 .0 0

Super value So ftw are pack:D raintIV * Digjta W ordworth3 and Print manager* Dennis and O scar G am es ...................................................4 1 5 .0 0C h a o s pack A G A : 4 great games (o n disks) l Ih e Chaos Engine. Syndicate, Pinball Fantasies, and NickFaldos G o lf). All Amiga Format G old winners.................. £ 5 .0 0Weird Science 3 D Im ages o n C D ..................................... £ 5 .0 0Weird Science 1 0 7 8 W tird Im ages on C D ....................£ 5 .0 0L S D com pendium v d u m e 3 <nrr 600m b o f P D on C D £ 5 .0 0A udio C ables fo r C D R O M sStereo jack (3 .5m m ) p lug to 2 x RC A phonoplugs 1.2 m eter lo n g ..................................................................£ 5 .0 0Audio mixer 2 x RC A phono plugs to 2 x RCAphono plu gs/sockets 1 .8 m eter long .................................£6 .0 02x R C A phono plugs to 2x RC A phonoplugs 1 .2 m eter lo n g ..................................................................£ 5 .0 0M ultipass O C R Softw aresuitable for all scanners and direct scanningsupport for hand scanners bv M i graph,Golden Im age, AlfaData and Power ...............£ 4 0 .0 0 £ 1 0 .0 0

1 p r£ 8 . 0 0 P & P f o r S c a n n e r s , S p e a k e r s & H a r d D r i v e s , £ 1 0 . 0 0 c o u r i e r f o r n e x t d a y . T a x F r e e E x p o r t O r d e r s W e lc o m e .

Golden Image accepts Mastercard. Visa, Switch. Cheques & Postal Orders. E&OE. Prices subject to change without notice. Goods subject to availability. Specifications subject to change without notice.

G olden Im age (U K ) L tdU n i t 6 5 , H a l l m a r k T r a d in g E s ta te

Sales H otline N o: 0181F o u r t h W a y , W e m b le y , M i d d x H A 9 O L B

900 9291 Fax: 0181 90 0 9281

VISA

h t t p : / / w w w . r c s c r v e . c o . u k / g o l d T a l k i n g P a g e s : 0 8 0 0 6 0 0 9 0 0O u r s tandard te rm * and c o n d it io n * a p p ly - ava ila b le on request. We do n o t s u p p ly on a t r ia l basis.


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L ogosM y s te r ie s a nd m e a n in g s ...

IS

S o lu tio n s to th o s e e ve ryd a y t ro u b le s w i th y o u r W o rkb e n ch .

A ll y o u r In te rn e t

a n d g ene ra l c o m m s p ro b le m s s w if t ly s o lve d .

T ro u b le m a k in g y o u r A m ig a s ing? W e 've g o t th e a n sw e rs here.

T echn ica l m a tte rs b e y o n d th e scope o f p lu g - in s a nd p lu g -o n s .

A n s w e rs t o q u e r ie s on p a r t ic u la r p ieces o f s o ftw a re .

G enera l que ries w h ic h ju s t d o n 't seem to f i t in a n y w h e re e lse.

S p e c ific he lp w i th C D -RO M s o lu tio n s a nd d r iv e r p ro b le m s .

P ro b le m s w ith a r t a nd des ign? H e lp and adv ice is a t hand.

P rin te rs , m o n ito rs , w e 'l l so lv e y o u r p e rip h e ra l b lu e s fo r you .

T rashedW o rk b e n c hr ' H I W e recen tly

b o u g h t our

d a u g h te r a second hand

A m ig a A600 w h ich w as w o rk in g fin e un til w e tried to in s ta ll an O ki M ic ro line 3 80 p rin te r th rough the W o rkbench preferences. W h e n w e tr ie d th is w e fo u n d tha t the p re fe rences had been trashed and a s w e looked fu rthe r w e found th a t all the d is c s - W orkbench 2.05.

Extras 2.05 and Fonts 2 .05 - had num erous

trashed f ile s Can you adv ise m e h o w I can ge t a rep la ce m e n t >

M r A . Lom as, M a n ch e s te r

m a d D a u g h te r

i - ' L c T .• . ■ M m E 3 “

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h i '■ - f*U’ ; V. '■ ...£ .

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T h is ju s t g o e s to s h o w h o w im p o r ta n t i t is to m ake b a cku p s o f y o u r W o rk b e n c h A s so o n as y o u g e t y o u r m a ch in e u p and ru n n in g , y o u sh o u ld b ack u p th e se d is k s as y o u r c o m p u te r 's fu l l fu n c t io n a l i ty re lie s o n it.

T h e b e s t b e t fo r re p la ce m e n ts m ig h t b e P o w e r c o m p u t in g (te l:

01234 851500) b u t w e s tro n g ly a d v ise y o u to lo o k in to w h y severa l d is k s seem to have been tra shed . You m a y h a ve a v iru s o n y o u r sys te m , g e t a v iru s ch e cke r f ro m y o u r lo c a l PD h ouse a nd ru n i t o v e r y o u r d is k s . I t is a ls o p o s s ib le th a t y o u r f lo p p y d r iv e m e ch a n ism is s ta r t in g

t o w e a r ou t.

S w in g e ig h tsI have a particu la r in te re s t m us ing m y A m iga fo r m usic (n o t m ods). I use a sequenc ing se t-up w ith a

Yamaha TG100 to n e gen e ra to r and

a n RY10 d rum k it. so I have no im m e d ia te plans to b u ild a Project

XG. H ow eve r I am lo ok ing fo rw a rd s to th e in te re s t p ro je c t XG w ill gen e ra te a nd the re w ill be m any w ho w a n t to a dd XG so u n d s b u t w o n t necessarily b e co n fid e n t a bou t a ssem b ling th e p ro je c t A s a n a lte rnative approach m ay I sugges t som eth ing like th e Yamaha M U 10? T h is c o s ts around C199 and is bas ica lly an XG so u n d b o x w h ic h w o rks via m id i connecto rs .

I n o tice d tha t the PC n o w has a w id e range o f sequencing and n o ta tio n so ftw a re available. W o u ld you d o an a rtic le on m u s ic so ftw a re availab le fo r th e A m ig a 7 It w o u ld appear w e a re bem g le f t behind

A req u ire m e n t I re ce n tly had w as

to b e a b le to w r ite in S w ing E igh ts ', can y o u te ll m e a bou t any A m iga s o ftw a re tha t can c o p e w ith th is?

D ave R o b e rts , W Yorks.

To be h o n e s t, th e re h a v e n 't been th a t m a n y d e v e lo p m e n ts o n th e A m ig a m u s ic h a rd w a re /s o ftw a re scene o v e r th e la s t c o u p le o f years. W e c o u ld say to o u rse lve s "L e t 's d o a m u s ic fe a tu re I " th e n fin d o u t th e re 's n o th in g m uch n e w to say b u t d o i t a n y w a y ( fo r in s ta n ce , in te r v ie w in g p e o p le w h o have n e v e r eve n u se d an A m ig a to m ake m u s ic ). H ow ever, w e fe e l th a t w o u ld n 't be g iv in g y o u th e b e s t s e rv ic e , n o r th e b e s t e co n o m y o f pages.M o s t o f th e d e v e lo p m e n ts a re h a p p e n in g in th e sh a re w a re scene, w i t h th e c o n t in u a l e v o lu t io n o f tra c k e rs and th e v e ry p ro m is in g C a m o u fla g e

M ID I sequence r. T h a t's o ne y o u s h o u ld d e fin ite ly check. W e 're n o t su re if i t ' l l s u ffice fo r y o u r s w in g

e ig h ts , b u t i t 's o d d s on th a t i t w il l.

1 4 3 8 b luesR ecen tly I o rdered a 1438s m o n ito r fro m First

C o m p u te r C entre a nd on d e live ry I experienced a

fe w p ro b le m s If I u se d any o f the h ig h e r scan rates, s trange horizon ta l

lines and d is to rtio n s o f s o m e o f the icons occurred.

I had a lo t o f tro u b le in g e ttin g all o f m y m o n e y back as they assured m e th a t they had te s te d it and the re w a s n o th in g w ro n g w ith th e m o n itor. I am a w are o f th e s tray m agne tic fie ld p ro b le m bu t I d on ’t th ink th is can have been th e cause . First C o m pu te r ce n te r su gges ted there m ay b e a fau lt w ith m y com pu te r. I have an A 1200 w ith 6 M b R AM . an FPU and a hard d rive

I am n o w ve ry cau tious a t the th o u g h t o f try in g a n o the r m onitor.


Q&A

T ech T ip : O v e r-c lo c k in gso co u ld you he lp m e b y suggesting any o the r po ss ib le cause o f the prob lem ?

G a re th H ill, B a rn s ta p le

I t 's d if f ic u lt t o be su re w i th o u t seein g it , b u t i t so u n d s to us lik e you a re s u ffe r in g f ro m a c o m m o n p ro b le m w ith y o u r A 1200. S om e A 1200s ha ve an o b scu re h a rd w a re f la w w h ic h causes in te rfe re n c e on h ig h e r s can ra te sc reens such as M u lt is c a n a n d DBLPAL. T h is u su a lly m a n ife s ts i ts e lf a s w h ite fl ic k e rin g h o r iz o n ta l lines . T h e e as ies t w a y t o te l l w h e th e r y o u a re s u ffe r in g a p ro b le m in th e c o m p u te r 's d is p la y h a rd w a re o r w i th th e m o n it o r is t o o b s e rv e th e b e h a v io u r o f th e in te r fe re n c e w h e n y o u d ra g a screen . I f th e in te rfe re n c e d rags d o w n w ith th e screen th e n th e p ro b le m is w i th y o u r co m p u te r, i f it s ta y s w h e re i t is i t 's p ro b a b ly th e m o n ito r, a lth o u g h d o d g y co n n e c t io n s a nd fa u lty cab les a re a ls o a

suspec t.T h e in te r fe re n c e p ro b le m som e

A m ig a s ha ve w i th th e h ig h e r d is p la y m o d e s u s u a lly g o e s a w a y a fte r th e c o m p u te r has h a d a l i t t le

t im e to w a rm up. The e x a c t causes a re u n c e rta in , b u t w e h a v e heard o f a p o s s ib le h a rd w a re s o lu tio n . A p p a re n tly i t can b e f ix e d b y s h o r tin g o u t th e t in y su rfa ce m o u n t re s is to r m a rke d E127R. T h is can be fo u n d o n th e u n d e rs id e o f th e b o a rd b e n e a th th e c h ip m arked "A lic e ". W e h a v e n 't tr ie d th is o u rse lve s y e t, so d o p ro g re s s w ith ca u tio n !

H o t B lizza rdI recen tly pu rchased a B lizzard 1230-IV acce le ra to r w ith 8 M b o f R A M fo r

m y A 1200. I t g ives o u t a lo t o f hea t m aking th e trapdoo r co ve r hot. I ra ised th e A m ig a a little to a llo w so m e ven tila tion , b u t i t d id n’t help. Then I d rilled so m e holes in to the tra p d o o r cover, b u t s t ill tha t d id n 't cu re th e prob lem .

T herefore. I dec ided to b u y a tiny

c o o ling fan fro m T andy's. It is sm all enough to be squeezed in to th e tra p d o o r co m p a rtm e n t, b u t I am unsure w h a t th e b e s t w a y o f sup p ly in g th e 12V th e fa n needs. D o you have any suggestions?

G a ry C o lv ille , S co tla n d .

68030 a c c e le ra to rs d o g e t h o t, i t 's th e n a tu re o f th e b eas t. J u s t so lo n g as n o th in g is g e tt in g sco rch e d , th is s h o u ld n 't b e a p ro b lem . D oes y o u r c o m p u te r crash a

lo t w i th th e b o a rd in? I f n o t th e n th e C PU is n 't re a lly ru n n in g to o h o t. O f cou rse th e re is n o th in g w ro n g w ith c o o lin g i t , and a fa n is a g o o d w a y o f d o in g so. G e tt in g p o w e r t o th e fa n is n 't t o o ha rd , b u t w i l l re q u ire a l i t t le j ig g e ry poke ry w i th th e w ir in g . CPU fa n s are d e s ig n e d fo r C PUs in cases and te n d to have a c o n n e c to r w h ic h p lu g s o n to o n e o f th e s p a re 3.5" d e v ice p o w e r co n n e c to rs , th e ty p e w h ic h w o u ld n o rm a lly p o w e r a C D -R O M d r iv e o r a 3 .5 " h a rd d isk d r iv e . Y ou can g e t an a d a p to r w h ic h w i l l p lu g in to th e f lo p p y d isk d r iv e p o w e r h e a d e r o n y o u r m o th e rb o a rd f ro m m o s t A m ig a h a rd w a re su p p lie rs .

'0 6 0 fa r to o s lo w !I o w n an A p o llo '060 card a nd re ce n tly purchased

_________ th e CD vers ion o f« w a 'h m J inem a 4 D to ga in fu ll

advantage o f it. W h e n I insta lled the co rre c t FPU vers ion (th e re a re 2 FPU ve rs ions o n th e CD. o ne fo r Phase 5 boa rds and o ne fo r o th e r ‘0 60 cards)I n o tice d tha t th e program , w hen rendering , craw led a long ve ry s low ly and th e m ouse , w h e n m oved, w o u ld ju m p ra ther than m ove sm oo th ly . I ins ta lled th e in tege r vers ion and fo u n d th a t it rendered abou t 10 tim e s fas te r than th e FPU version (indeed b o th FPU versions). I have insta lled th e 680 6 0 -library and 68040.lib ra ry w h ich cam e w ith the board correctly.

I co n ta c te d H iSoft and w a s to ld th a t th is w a s caused b y th e fa c t tha t th e FPU ca lls w e re no t be ing em ula ted o n th e '060. They to ld m e I need ed a p ie ce o f so ftw a re called C yberpa tcher a lth o u g h th e y w e re n 't su re i t w o u ld w o rk o n th e A po llo . W h e n I b o rrow ed a c o p y fro m a fr ie n d . I fo u n d it d id not. I have ju s t read th e re v ie w o f th e A p o llo 1260/66 card and n o tice d w h a t your re v iew er said a b o u t OxyPatcher. W ou ld th is program he lp m e w ith m y 50M H z card? W o u ld it enab le me to run TFX a t a reasonab le speed? C urren tly I'm s tick ing m y o ld ‘030 card back in th e m ach ine to g e t best pe rfo rm ance o u t o f it.

In genera l th e '0 6 0 card has m ade a d e fin ite d iffe re n ce ; v iew ing Jp e g s is a b reeze and Frontier runs in sm o o th ly in m a x im u m deta il se t

tin g b u t Im ag ine 4 .0 su ffe rs the sam e p rob lem as C inem a 4 D w h e n rendering.

I have co n ta c te d E yetech w h o supp lied the card and th e y to o are bem used b y th e prob lem .

G ra h a m S te ve n so n , G lasgow .

It 's a te rm you M probably have heard I f you

have an accelerato r it m ay a lo w you to

Som e

c i tthe

m o d ify i t fo r p e o p le th in k i t I * re p a ir b ills , o th e r is a g re a t w a y to speed o f th e ir m a l cos t. W e don’t th e p ro c e d u re , it 's up t o you to d e c id e th e p ro s and cons, but i f y o u w a n t t o d o i t w e " l te l l you h o w i t 's d o n e and advise you on th e b e s t w a y s to avoid any p o te n t ia l p it fa fe . * you a re n 't re a so n a b ly c o n f id e n t don’t d o it. I t is re a s o n a b ly sale 4 you are sens ib le , b ut you can b lo w up y o u r CPU i f you m ake a m is ta ke , a nd y o u r guarantee w itt be v o id e d b y th e procedure. * i t hap pens, d o n 't blam e us!

T h e principle betund o v e r c lo c k in g is very straightforw ard. W h e n y o u buy an accelerator

w h ic h ru n s a t say 50M H z. i t does n o t ru n a t th is speed because o f s o m e th in g inherent in th e d es ign o f th e CPU. i t rune a t th is speed because of th e d o c k w h ich sends i t a t im in g pulse 5 0 m illion t im e s every second The printed speed is m erely th e one th e m a n u fa c tu re r guarantee rt w orks at. G e tt in g th e C PU to run a t a d if fe re n t speed is a m atte r o f se n d in g i t a d o ck pulse a t a d iffe re n t speed. There are fa irfy t ig h t l im its , b u t i t is qu ite feasible to up th e speed o f your accelerator b y a ro u n d 20%.

O n y o u r accelerator y o u w il l see a sm all square o r re c ta n g u la r s ilv e r chip H a boa. I t w i l l have a w h o le bunch of num bers p r in te d o n it . th e last o f w hich is u su a lly th e d o c k speed m M H z Expect th e re t o be a lo t of d ig its a fte r th e decim al po in t - i f y o u have a 50M H z accelerator i t w i l l say s o m e th in g hke 50 OOOOOOM. T h is is th e d o c k , and a m a z in g ly

re c lo c k in g S H n p fy m eans re p la c in g i t w ith a faster o n e . These can b e bought fo r a fe w p o u n d s fro m m o s t elec tronics re ta ile rs .

I f y o u 're lu c k y y o u 'l l f in d th e c lo c k is m o u n te d in a s o cke t and can s im p ly b e p u tte d o u t. I f y o u a re un lu cky , y o u ’l l f in d th a t i t has been so ld e re d in to p lace , in w h ic h case s te e r d e a r i f you a re n 't a g o o d s o ld e r in g iro n jo c k ey, d e -s o ld e r in g f ro m a n in tr ic a te PCB is v e ry ha rd . I f y o u d o take o n th e ta s k , use a s o ld e r sucke r

o r d e so ld e r in g b ra id a n d re m o ve th e s o ld e r s lo w ly o v e r severa l passes, n o t h o ld in g th e iro n to th e b o a rd to o lo n g a t any one go t o a v o id d a m a g in g th e tracks .

N o tic e o n e o f th e c o rn e rs o f th e c lo c k is e ith e r m a rke d w ith a d o t o r sq u a red o f f o r b o th , th is s h o w s th e c lo c k a lig n m e n t. S tick t o th is w h e n y o u in s e r t y o u r n e x t c lo ck . W h e n th e o ld c h ip is re m o v e d , d ro p th e n e w one in its p la ce a nd a w a y y o u go .

H o w fa s t is sa fe?T here a re v e ry rea l l im its t o h o w m u ch a p ro ce sso r can b e c locked , a lth o u g h i t v a r ie s f ro m c h ip t o c h ip . S o m e p e o p le m a y f in d th a t eve n th e s m a lle s t a m o u n t o f o v e rc lo c k in g w i l l le a d to im m e d ia te s y s te m crashes, o th e rs can g e t a w a y w i t h m u rd e r. I f y o u are u s in g a ch e a p e r a cce le ra to r b o a rd in w h ic h th e p ro ce sso r is a lre a d y c lo cke d , i t 's n o t re a lly a d v isa b le t o t r y it . A s a ve ry ro u g h g u id e :

O r ig in a l P ro c e s s o r N e w c lo c k

0 3 0 /3 3 .............................................. 420 3 0 /5 0 ................................. 500 4 0 /2 5 ................................................330 4 0 /3 3 ................................................400 6 0 /5 0 ................................................64

S o m e p e o p le ha ve s y s te m s ru n n in g fa s te r th a n th is , o th e rs have p ro b le m s g o in g th is fas t.

A n in te re s t in g e xc e p tio n is th e n e w m a sk re v is io n o f th e ' 060,

w h ic h has th e se ria l n u m b e r XC68060RC50A. T h is is th e ch ip

used in th e A p o llo 1260/66M H z b o a rd , and w e have h ad i t ru n n in g a t u p to 8 0 M H z , ju s t a b o u t.

W h a t can g o w ro n g ?A s s u m in g y o u 'v e in s ta lle d p ro p e rly , and y o u h a v e n 't been s il ly w i th th e c lo c k sp e e d , n o t m uch.I f th e c o m p u te r crashes a lo t , you m a y ha ve to g iv e u p a nd re in s ta ll th e o ld c lo c k , b u t o th e r w is e i t s h o u ld b e o k . Y o u 'll be ru n n in g th e c h ip a t i ts l im its , so keep i t c o o l. Ensure g o o d v e n tila t io n t o th e CPU a n d m a ke s u re it has a g o o d fa n o n i t . A n o th e r fa c t o r is RAM speed. S lo w e r S IM M s are p ro b le m a tic , a n d w i th fa s te r c lo c k sp e e d s y o u 'l l need fa s t S IM M s . Even 6 0 n s S IM M s m ay n o t be u p to i t in so m e cases, a lth o u g h th e re a re a ls o s ig n if ica n t b ra n d to b ra n d v a r ia t io n s to m a ke life m o re in te re s tin g .


T h e 060 is a lo t fa s te r, as y o u ha ve n o tic e d w h e n it co m e s to th e jp e g d e co d in g e tc e te ra . 3D re n d e r in g is a l i t t le b it o f a spec ia l case. C e rta in p ro g ra m s su ch as th e se use FPU fu n c tio n s , a nd h e re y o u can ru n in to p ro b lem s. W ith o ld e r p ro g ra m s , th e FPU co d e is w r it te n a ssu m in g a 68881 o r 68882 co -p rocesso r. The '0 4 0 and '0 6 0 h a ve s o m e w h a t d if fe re n t in s tru c t io n s se t a nd a d if fe r e n t w a y o f ca llin g FPU in s tru c tio n s . T h e 68060.l ib ra ry and th e 68040 .l ib ra ry d o e n o u g h b e tw e e n th e m to a llo w th e p ro ce s s o r t o fu n c t io n , b u t th is d o e s n o t m ean th a t a ll th e FPU p ro b le m s a re so lv e d , fa r f ro m it .

C in e m a 4 D has a n in te g e r v e rs io n fo r p e o p le w i t h n o FPU h a rd w a re w h a ts o e v e r, a n d th is is m uch th e s lo w e s t v e rs io n . T h e FPU v e r s io n fu n c t io n s w i th th e 6888x in s tru c t io n se t and is a lso re co m m e n d e d fo r '0 6 0 use rs w i th C yb e rp a tch e r. T h is is th e s o ftw a re p hase 5 s u p p ly w i t h th e ir '060 boa rds . The v e rs io n f o r o th e r '060 bo a rd s is a n o d d o n e . H y o u p ro p e r ly im p le m e n t a t ru e '0 6 0 ve rs io n o f y o u r code , i t o u g h t t o b e m o re o p t im a l th a t 6888x code . I w o u ld a ssu m e th a t th e v e rs io n o f C 4D fo r o th e r '0 6 0 v e rs io n s is w r i t te n w ith '0 60 co d e , in w h ic h case i t o u g h t t o b e b e tte r o n cyb e rp a tch e d bo a rd s to o . A p p a re n tly n o t.

C y b e rp a tc h e r is w r i t te n t o run o n p hase 5 b o a rd s on ly.O x y p a tc h e r do e s a v e ry s im ila r jo b . b u t w i l l ru n f in e o n y o u r A p o llo b o a rd . M y o u g e t i t t r y ru n n in g th e FPU v e rs io n re c o m m e n d ed fo r use w i th cyb e rp a tch e r. you sh o u ld f in d i t c o n s id e ra b ly fa s te r th a n th e in te g e r ve rs io n . A n d yes.

i t w i l l m a ke b o th Im a g in e a nd TFX

A 5 3 0 m u s t g o !I cu rre n tly o w n b o th an A 5 0 0 - a nd a bog s tan dard A 1200. The A 500 has a GVP A 5 3 0 stick ing

o u t th e s ide o f it. I w o u ld like to expand m y A 1200 b u t I lack the fu n d s to add m u ch to it. So. I w as w o n d e rin g if i t w o u ld b e po ss ib le to use th e A 530 w ith m y A 1200 using a squ irre l fo r exam ple? If so w hat exac tly d o I need to use to achieve th is? A lso . w ill, th e A 1200 have access to a ll th e A 530 s functions?

Paul D a lto n , Lancs

T h e in c o m p a t ib il ity b e tw e e n th e A 500 e xp a n s io n s lo t a n d th e A 1200 w a s th e reason fo r a lo t o f pe o p le t o n o t u p g ra d e . T h e re w a s n eve r a c o n v e r te r m a d e , b u t as y o u h a ve s p o tte d , th is d o e s n o t m ean th ro w in g a b s o lu te ly e v e ry th in g o u t. T h e s q u ir re l in te rfa ce p ro v id e s th e A 1200 w i th a SCSI b us . w h ic h is w h a t th e A 5 3 0 has. U n fo r tu n a te ly th is d o e s n o t m ean y o u can ju s t p lu g i t in , th e A500 e xp a n s io n s lo t is a c o m p le x D M A s lo t v e ry s im ila r t o a Z o rro s lo t.

The SCSI b u s is im p le m e n te d in te rn a lly t o th e A 530. T h is m eans th a t th e o n ly th in g y o u 'l l b e ab le t o g e t o u t o f th e A 5 3 0 v ia a s q u irre l is access t o th e h a rd d rive , w h ic h is a SCSI d e v ice Y ou w o u ld h a ve to ru n a ca b le f ro m th e s q u ir re l t o th e in s id e o f th e A 530. There is n o ch a n ce o f g e t t in g th e a cce le ra to r t o ru n o n a n A 1200, and even th e R A M c a n 't be used as i t is

2 x n o t enough?1 run an A 1200 w ith 6M b .

H D a nd an A iw a ACD3002 speed C D-RO M drive v ia a S quirre l in te rface .

Is it po ss ib le to upg rade m y CD to a fas te r speed? In January I b o u g h t a c o p y o f th e Ep ic E ncyclopaedia and a fte rw a rd s fo u n d it required a 4 speed to run properly.

M r J.W . Fry, D o n ca s te r

W h e n s o ftw a re s ta te s th a t i t re q u ire s a 4 x m in im u m , th is is u s u a lly because i t t r ie s t o s p o o l a n im a tio n s fro m th e CD. T h is te c h n iq u e a llo w s y o u to p la y fa r la rg e r a n im a tio n se quences th a t c o u ld c o m fo r ta b ly f i t in m em ory . T h is needs d a ta t o b e s e n t fro m th e CD fa s t e n o u g h to keep up w i th th e a n im a tio n , h ence th e need fo r fa ir ly fa s t d r iv e m echan ism s.

T h e g o o d n e w s is th a t i f you w a n t t o u p g ra d e y o u r d r iv e , i t is ju s t a m a tte r o f b u y in g a fa s te r SCSI C D -R O M d r iv e and p lu g g in g

i t in.

M in i T o w e r M an iaI w a n t to upg rade m y A 1200 b u t have a lo w b u d g e t (£250) I have d e c id e d to buy a hard

d rive a nd C D-RO M d rive and shove th e m in to a m in itow er, b u t I have s o m e q u e s tio n s I’d like answ ered 1 W h a t s ize hard d rive sh ou ld I buy? I gene ra lly o n ly u s e m y A m ig a for p lay ing gam es. I have a round 50 hard d rive insta llab le g a m e s and all

g o a lo t faste r.

G V P 's o w n

b ra n d and w o n 't w o rk

in a n y o th e r processor.

For th e w o rk in v o lv e d i t 's b a re ly

w o r th i t , ch e ck o u t th e p rice o f h a rd d rive s

th e se da ys , y o u m ay f in d th a t th e c o s t o f s t ic k in g a

ha rd d r iv e in a n A 1200 is a lo t ch e a p e r t h a t y o u th o u g h t.

o f yo u r CDs fro m 9 onw ards2 .W ha t speed C D-RO M drive d o I need? W o u ld a 4 o r 8 b e su ffic ie n t or w ill I need faster? G aste iner A dvertise a 100 speed C D -RO M d rive fo r £100. is th is a m isprin t?3. I need a m in itow er, b u t I'm no t su re I w a n t to risk d o in g your DIY pro jec t. Do you kn o w w h e re I can g e t a m in ito w e r w ith all th e cables e tc .. and w ith all the hard w ork a lready done?4 W ill I need s o m e extra RAM? I've cu rre n tly o n ly g o t 2M B a nd I’m no t sure if th a t is enough fo r p laying

m any o f th e n e w ga m e s co m in g ou t.5. W ill I need a b u ffe re d in te rface sp litte r such a s th e a lfaquatro o r the one fro m Eyetech?6 . S hou ld I g e t IDE o r SCSI? W h a t's th e d iffe rence? Thanks fo r answ ering m y ques tions , u p you rs if you haven 't bo the red to p rin t th is.

K e v in C u n n in g h a m , B e lfas t.

1. I t 's d if f ic u lt t o a n sw e r, as th e e x tra space keeps o n g e tt in g cheaper. In th e o ry a 1G b HD sh o u ld be o k , b u t th e n if i t 's o n ly a te n n e r m o re fo r 1 .3M B i t 's s il ly n o t t o ge t th a t . E xce p t th a t i t 's o n ly a n o th e r te n n e r fo r 1 .7M B ... e tc . etc.2 . 4 x w i l l d o f o r m o s t p u rposes , b u t a t le a s t one gam e w e k n o w o f (G o lem , f ro m U n d e rg ro u n d S o ftw a re in Ita ly ) re a lly n eeds a n 8 speed C D -R O M d rive . Faste r is a lu x u ry . T h e 100 speed d r iv e in G a s te in e r 's a d is n o t a m is p r in t, b u t s h o u ld n o t be ta k e n a t face

va lu e . F o r s o m e b iz a rre reason th e PC m a rk e t has d e v e lo p e d a 'm y C D -R O M d r iv e is fa s te r th a n y o u rs ' o b se ss io n , w h ic h has le a d to som e m a n u fa c tu re rs u s in g th e h a rd d r iv e as a b u ffe r fo r g re a te r speed. The G a s te in e r d e v ice is a c tu a lly a 24 speed m e ch a n ism , th e A m ig a b u ffe r in g s o ftw a re s h o u ld b e ready b y th e t im e y o u read th is . W e 'll te ll y o u h o w i t p e rfo rm s w h e n w e g e t o n e in f o r re v iew .3 . R ing u p E ye tech o n 01642 713185 o r ICS o n 01474 335294 T h e y 'l l o f fe r a lte rn a tiv e s o n w h ic h w a y to go , so lis te n to th e m and c h o o s e w h a te v e r s u its y o u best.4. Yes, m o s t n e w g a m e s re q u ire 4- 6 M b o f R AM . S e r io u s ly co n s id e r a c h e a p a cce le ra to r, th e b e s t u p c o m in g ga m e s w a n t o ne o f those .5. O n ly i f y o u in te n d o n h a v in g a 's id e c a r ' s ty le m in i- to w e r m o u n te d on lo n g cab les. F o r s h o r te r le n g th s , b u ffe r in g has s h o w n to be u nnecessary. H y o u e ve r w a n t t o a tta ch m o re th a n 2 d e v ice s th e n a b u ffe re d s p lit te r is id e a l. D e sp ite w a rn in g s y o u m a y h a ve hea rd to


A to ZGood grief, are we up to letter C already! Time

sure does fly when your havin' fun and John

Kennedy is the man who's giving it to you.

th e c o n tra ry , th o u s a n d s o f A m ig a u se rs use 2 d e v ices co nnec ted d ire c t and w e 'v e n o t hea rd o f th is d a m a g in g a c o m p u te r ye t.6. IDE is a cheap b u t useable o p t io n . SC S I in v o lv e s b u y in g a s e p a ra te SCSI a d a p te r, a nd SCSI de v ic e s a re m o re exp e n s ive . The g o o d th in g a b o u t SCSI is th a t y o u can c o n n e c t 7 d e v ices t o a SCSI in te rfa ce q u ite c o m fo rta b ly , w h ile

IDE is p u sh e d a t 4 . A ls o SCSI is fa s te r - u se fu l w h e n d o in g s o m e th in g w ith a lo t o f d a ta th ro u g h p u t l ik e w r it in g t o CD-Rs. In y o u r case I im a g in e IDE w o u ld be b e tte r. O h by th e w ay , up y o u rs to o !

S h r in k in g HDA fte r som e d ifficu ltyins ta lling T hem e ParkAGA to m y 1200 M b

M M & rlW iri hard drive. I found th a t I w a s g e ttin g a ’V o lum e W o rk no t validated* m essage o n b o o tin g up . I backed everyth ing u p and prepared

to re fo rm a t it. b u t I never g o t that far. N ex t t im e I sw itch e d m y Am iga on , it re fused to b o o t u p a t a ll and w h e n I checked th e dev ice lis t there w a s no sign o f DHO: o r DH1

I to o k m y A 1200 to m y local repa ir sh o p and w h e n th e y re tu rned it. th e hard d rive had on ly 4 0 M b o f space on it. T hey sa id they th o u g h t I had fo rm a tte d one o f m y p a rtitio n s w rong ly , b u t th is d id n 't m a tc h up w ith th e s ize o f e ithe r o f m y p a rtitio n s . I checked inside, and yes. i t is th e sam e hard d rive I insta lled.

W h a t's happened to m y hard drive, and can I can g e t m y orig ina l capac ity back? W ill I have to b u y a n e w hard d rive , and if s o is there anyone w h o do e s part exchange?

A le x F u rm a n sk i, L u to n

S o u n d s lik e p a r t o f th e h a rd d rive is c o r ru p t. T ry sca n n in g i t w ith Q u a rte rb a c k to o ls th e n re fo rm a tt in g t o see if i t fre e s u p th a t space, b u t re m e m b e r n o t t o d o a T ow leve l fo rm a t ' as i t w i l l o n ly m ake m a tte rs w o rs e . O u r g u ess , is t h a t a s th e g a m e w a s in s ta lle d th e ha rd d r iv e s u ffe re d a k in d o f g litc h o r p o w e r o u ta g e o r p h ys ica l shock w h ic h d a m a g e d th e hard d isk .

The re p a ir h ouse w o u ld 'v e f ix e d i t b y m a rk in g th e bad b lo cks on th e d is k as o u t o f serv ice , w h ic h m e a n s lo w e r in g th e capac it y o f th e d r iv e . In th is case th e o n ly o p t io n is t o b u y a n e w one.As fo r p a r t e xchange , 4 0 M b is so li t t le n o w a d a y s i t 's b a re ly w o r th a n y th in g . A lo o k a t p rice s sh o u ld chee r y o u u p th o u g h , th e y have d ro p p e d a lo t recen tly .

C is for...CA p rog ram m ing language w h ich s trikes a g o o d ba lance b e tw een speed and hum an readability. Very su itab le fo r p rog ram m ing app lica tio n s o n th e A m iga .

C + +O rig ina lly ca lled "C w ith c lasses". C + + b u ild s on C add ing extra featu re s o f m o s t appeal to O b jec t O rie n ta te d p rog ram m ers . C + + co m p ile rs can a lso d ea l w ith C sou rce program s.

CacheA n area o f m e m o ry des igned to speed up access to so m eth ing s lower. A d isk cache s to res in fo rm a tio n in m em ory, w h ic h is qu icker than read ing it fro m d isk . Even the

CPU a t th e heart o f th e A m ig a has in te rna l caches fo r s to rin g da ta and

addresses.

cdA m igaD O S c o m m a n d fo r changing th e cu rren t d irecto ry , fo r exam ple, “ cd ra m :" m akes th e ram d isk the cu rre n t d irecto ry . A ll subsequent A m igaD O S co m m a n d s w ill a c t on th e cu rren t d ire c to ry un less sp e c ifica lly to ld to use a d if fe re n t path.

ch a n g e ta skp riA n A m igaD O S c o m m a n d to a lter th e p r io r ity o f a cu rre n tly running p rogram . R em em ber th a t the A m ig a is m u ltitask ing , and so dozens o f p rog ram s can be runn ing a t once. To g ive one an advantage over another, use th is com m and.

You w ill need to kn o w th e process n um b e r if you w a n t to a lte r th e prio r ity o f a particu la r task : use s ta tus to fin d it. Then use "changetaskpri

p r io r ity p rocess =

C h ip m e m o ryT he A m ig a has tw o k inds o f m e m o ry: C hip and Fast. C hip m e m o ry is shared b e tw een th e p rocesso r and c u s to m ch ips, and is used to sto re g raph ics, sounds e tc . D ue to the sharing, if an A m ig a on ly has Chip m em ory (re ferred to as "g raphics m e m o ry " o n th e W o rkbench tit le bar) it ru n s m ore s lo w ly than i f it a lso has so m e Fast m em ory. Chip m e m o ry is s tandard in Am igas.

CLIT h e C om m and Line In terface, w h e re you ty p e A m igaD O S c o m m ands. The CLI g re w in to th e Shell, w h ich add e d s o m e extra e d iting functions.

c lic k to fro n tA W o rkbench c o m m o d ity program . W ith c lic k to fro n t runn ing , any pa rtly obscu red w in d o w is b ro u g h t to the fro n t as so o n a s th e m o u se p o in t is c licked o n it.

c lockA 'Real T im e C lock ': rem em bers th e t im e w h e n th e c o m p u te r is sw itch e d o ff. RTCs a re standard on

B ig Box A m igas . b u t need to be ins ta lled o n A 1200s .M o s t a re bu ilt in to acce le ra to r cards.

cm dA bizarre A m igaD O S com m and ,

w h ic h cap tu res o u tp u t m e a n t fo r th e p rin te r o r seria l p o rt and saves

i t to a file.

C o lo u rsThe A m ig a has lo ts o f co lo u rs : o ld fash ioned H A M m ode had 4096. a nd AGA A m ig a 's can p ick fro m pa le ttes o f over 16m illio n co lours.

The n u m b e r o f co lours on -screen at once dep e n d s on th e screen m ode: up to 256 in norm al W orkbench fr ie n d ly m odes , and m any thousand in H A M 8 m o d e . W ith a g raph ics card, m ore co lo u rs can be displayed m o re quickly.

C o m m o d it ie sThe A m ig a W o rkbench tr ie d to cre a te a standard fo r a ll th e lit t le hack p rogram s and u tilities , s o gave th e m a fa n cy nam e and a s tandard w a y o f us ing them . The C o m m od ity Exchange p rog ram o n the

W o rkbench d isk a llo w s ind iv idual u tilit ie s to be exam ined. A great idea, m iss ing on o the r p la tfo rm s.

C o m p ile rA p rogram w h ic h takes source co d e (th e a lm ost-E ng lish e n te red at

th e keyboard by p rog ram m ers) and co nve rts it in to s o m e th in g w h ich th e A m ig a can run. A lo n g th e w a y it

m ay conve rt i t to Assem bly Language, and s o m e system s require link ing as w e ll. C om pile rs

;fo r C. C + + . Pascal a nd Basic are ava ilab le fo r th e A m iga .

C opperA u n iq u e part o f A m iga hardware, th e C opper is th e cop rocessor w h ic h spends its t im e look ing afte r th e screen display. The co p p e r has its o w n program , called a copper lis t, w h ic h is e xe cu te d every tim e th e screen needs to b e refreshed and w h ic h con ta ins m ode and co lo u r in fo rm a tion , a m o n g s t o the r th ings . B y a lte rin g th e co p p e r lis t fro m another p rog ram it 's possib le to ach ieve spec ia l e ffe c ts , such as "plasma*.

copyA n A m igaD O S com m and used to d up lica te a file o r d irec to ry . There 's

a lo t m o re to it th a n y o u m igh t th ink, b u t ‘ copy nam e d e v ice :' is th e m ore basic usage, and it cop ies th e fi le ca lled ’ nam e’ to th e new loca tion .

CPUA t th e heart o f th e A m ig a is the CPU 'th e Centra l P rocessing U n it'. T h is is th e c h ip w h ic h runs the o p e ra tin g sys tem and any app lica tio n s . a nd keeps the res t o f the c o m p u te r go ing . T h e fa s te r the CPU, th e fa s te r th e c o m p u te r overa ll. A m igas use M o to ro la 68000. 68020, 68030. 68040 and 68060 p ro ce sso rs a t various speeds. A cce le ra to r ca rds fea tu ring

M o to ro la ’ s fo llo w up to th e 680x0 ch ips, a p rocesso r ca lled the PowerPC, a re n o w b e co m in g avail

able. These a re b e tw een 3 and 15 tim e s as fa s t a s any earlie r acce le ra to rs . CPU is a lso an A m igaD O S com m a n d , used to co n tro l various asp e c ts o f th e A m ig a 's processor, such a s sw itch caches on and off.

C u s to m ch ip se tA s w e ll as th e CPU, th e A m iga has cu s to m ch ip s (des igned spec ifica lly fo r th e A m iga ) w h ic h look afte r g raph ics a nd sound. A lthough w h e n th e A m iga w a s launched, th e se ch ip s gave it a huge advanta g e in its capab ilities , perversely th e y a re n o w o u t o f d a te and hence ho ld ing back the A m iga in several

areas, n o ta b ly fa s t g raph ics, fast c o m m s and 16 b it sound.


BackchatMake yourself heard. Send your

views and opinions to Backchat,

CU Amiga, 37-39 Millharbour, Isle of

Dogs, London E l4 9TZ, UK. Or

E-mail to [email protected]

M o re fa ilu re s p lease !I am ju s t w r it in g to say tha t the ‘W h a t W e n t W ro n g ' a rtic le in the July ed itio n w a s (in th e w o rd s o f a m ov ie I w a tch e d recently) ‘m o s t e xce lle n t’.

W ill you be runn ing a ny m o re artic le s like th is in fu tu re? For ins tance ; W h o ’s W h o in A m iga? W h a t happened to a ll th e peop le invo lved w ith i t (w e re they all a bso rbed in to the Scala con tinuum ?). B y the way. I rem em ber read ing a book yea rs ago

abou t th e s to ry o f A pp le . Is the re any such b o o k fo r th e A m iga? W ith a s to ry like it has had, the re shou ld be.

Lance Eduse i, L ive rp o o l

A s fa r as w e k n o w , th e re h a s n 't been a d e f in it iv e 'S to ry o f th e A m ig a ' b o o k . W e c o u ld d o a 'W h e re A re T h e y N o w ? ' k in d o f th in g , a lth o u g h to b e h o n e s t w e 'd ra th e r c o n c e n tra te o n w h a t 's happe n in g n o w , ra th e r th a n d w e llin g to o m u ch o n th e past.

D o n 't g iv e u p on usI w o u ld like to say tha t you have a superb m agazine (sn ip - g o e s on to m ake o ffe r s o m e n ice com p lim en ts ].

N o w to the c o m p la in t: O ver the last fe w m o n th s I have like everybody e lse been w a itin g im p a tie n tly to leg it d o w n to m y local new sagen ts fo r m y copy o f CU (I buy no o the r A m iM a g s - n o t g o o d enough!).

O f co u rse th e C D-RO M is ab so lu te ly superb , b u t th e m agazine has been so re ly d isa p p o in tin g ! N o t. the co n te n t, b u t s im p ly th e size!Each m o n th w h e n I rece ive m y m agaz ine I se ttle d o w n fo r a n ig h t o f in fo rm a tive , in te re s tin g reading. U n fo rtu n a te ly m y ‘ n ig h t’ on ly las ts for

a b o u t an hour o r so! Then I have to w a it fo r ano ther w h o le m on th ! A rg h h h h h h h h h 1!! ! !

In re ce n t issues I have read readers le tte rs su gges ting th in g s like ’E- mail penpa ls ' e tc . W ou ld it co s t you a sm all fo rtu n e to add th in g s such as th is? H o w about m ore le tte rs Q bAs> B H B B Poor FAQ seem s to be fin ish ing !D oes th a t i Jm ean w e ’lllose yet ano ther page?

The hard- I w a re /D IYscene is a I Bw e lco m e a d d itio n fo r m e. as I am unem ployeda nd so th e re fo re m y w a lle t is n o t a bo tto m le ss p it! I re m e m b e r see ing a p ro je c t on A m in e t fo r a Zorro s lo t expansion to e nab le an A 500 to use a g raph ics card - h o w a bou t tha t p ro je c t b u t m o d ifie d fo r an A1200. us ing P icasso96 so ftw a re? O r another sound card p ro je c t th a t e ithe r w o u ld enab le u s to use a PC sound card, o r sa lvage one - th e y a re m uch cheaper than th e Yamaha board you use fo r the Project XG!

O n a "W e said w e d d o it b u t w e haven’t ” n o te I read in one o f m y o lder issues th a t y o u w o u ld be p u ttin g th e en tire Im ag ine 3 tu to ria l on to one o f yo u r e xce lle n t CUCDs - w h en? And th e fu ll H TM L tu to ria l w o u ld be n ice too !

And I am still w a it in g fo r m y A m ig a to w e r s ticke r to p u t o n m y n e w to w e r c ase1 D on ’t g e t me

w ro n g . I'd s t ill b u y yo u r m ag if it de te rio ra ted even further, a s the CD

m akes u p fo r it, bu t d o you n o w see you rse lf as a ‘CD w ith a m ag a ttached ' o r 'T he b es t A m iga M agazine w ith a cove r CD th a t PD houses w o u ld d ie fo r'?

Please, s o rt you rse lves ou t, as it seem s to m e th a t it is ju s t a precurs o r to th e t im e w h e n you , too . w ill abandon yo u r loyal sup p o rte rs ! I w o u ld n o t en joy m y A m ig a ha lf as m u ch if I d id n o t have CU!

I w a s recen tly d iscuss ing th e s itu a tio n o f A m iM a g s c los ing d o w n on IRC, and m y o p in io n w a s th a t how co u ld they a fte r all th e m o n e y th e ir readers have lined th e ir pocke ts w ith ? The opp o s in g a rgum en t w as

the ‘ Bill Gates' s ty le o f response - if y o u s ta rt to

lose m o n e y you pull o u t - bus i

ly ness is bus ily ness. I

w o u ld like M i to th ink tha t

I have in pa rt paid

yo u r w ages - i f fo r a w h ile you

have to s u ffe r a pay c u t. is th a t any reason to change em p loym en t? That is a co p -o u t dec is ion !

I w o u ld ju s t like to fin is h o f f by saying tha t I d o e n jo y yo u r m agazine and w ill buy it un til you , too . dec ide to g ive u p on us.

P oo tle , v ia E -m a il

F irs t, le t ’ s ta c k le th e issue o f size. Y o u 'l l n o tic e th a t th is issue o f CU A m ig a is b ig g e r th a n i t has been fo r s o m e t im e . W e a re n o w a t 116 pages, as o p p o s e d to 108, t h e p re v io u s s ize o f C U A m ig a s ince th e S e p te m b e r 96 issue. T h e s ize o f th e m a g a z in e is lin k e d in to th e v a rio u s in c o m in g re venue and o u tg o in g c o s ts in v o lv e d in p ro d u c in g and d is tr ib u t in g th e m a g a z in e . A s th e A m ig a scene has sh ru n k , th is has h ad a n o b v io u s k n o c k -o n e ffec t.

W ith less m o n e y in th e s y s te m , w e c a n n o t a ffo rd t o p ro d u ce a 200 page m a g a z in e , m u ch as w e w o u ld like to . I f w e d id , w e w o u ld n 't la s t lo n g . A s y o u p o in t o u t , "b u s in e s s is b u s in e ss " a n d n o a m o u n t o f A m ig a e n th u s ia s m is g o in g t o keep a m a g az ine g o in g if i ts fin a n ce s a re n 't p ro p e r ly m anaged.

H o w eve r, th e re c e n t ren e w e d in te re s t a nd s lig h t u p tu rn in in v e s tm e n t in th e A m ig a tra d e has th is m o n th been passed o n to y o u in th e fo rm o f a s l ig h t ly la rg e r issue. You w i l l a ls o f in d th a t w e p ack in a lo t m o re w o rd s , fa c ts , c o m m e n ts and f ig u re s th a n y o u w il l f in d in y o u r ave ra g e m a gaz ine , p a g e fo r page , w h ic h is o n e o f th e w a y s w e t r y t o m ake su re CU A m ig a d e live rs o n th e va lu e fro n t.

A s w e h a ve sa id b e fo re , CU A m ig a M a g a z in e w i l l co n tin u e fo r as lo n g as i t is fin a n c ia lly v ia b le . T h e b i t a b o u t th e A m ig a p ress " l in in g th e ir p o c k e ts " w i th th e ir re a d e rs ' m o n e y s o u n d s a l i t t le harsh , l ik e w e 're a ll ro ll in g a ro u n d in g re a t p o o ls o f c r is p £50 n o te s . I f o n ly ! So lo n g as e n o u g h re a de rs ke e p b u y in g th e m agaz ine , w e 'l l keep o u r end o f th e b a rga in .

F ina lly , y o u s h o u ld f in d th e c o m p le te Im a g in e 3 and 4 tu to r ia ls on th e J a n u a ry issu e C D , w h ic h c o in c ides w ith th e fin a l p a r t o f th e series.

L o p s id e d sp ineJ u s t a q u ick w o rd to le t you kn o w h o w d isg ru n tle d I am w ith CUCD 15. N o t because o f TFX (w h ich w a s good), n o t because o f th e CD conte n t a t all, th a t’s usua lly ve ry good. N o! M y co m p la in t is tha t you have changed th e A m iga ' lo g o o n the sp in e o f th e cove r fro m the le ft hand side to th e r ig h t hand s ide! M y CD stacker n o w lo o ks lo p s ided!

You c o u ld 've w a ite d u n til say 16 issues, th e n changed it a round, it w o u ld then , m aybe, have m ade it easier to fin d w h ic h CD you w an ted .

Tom N e w s o m , v ia E -m a il



BACKCHAT

Letter o f the m onth

G e rm a n TFXH e llo CU TEAM .F irst o f all. THAN K YOU I I I ! fo r b ring ing us TFX. I am a ge rm a n CU reader, en joy ing CU fo r years, b u t th is issue w a s th e b es t e ve r - TFX is ju s t am azing!

M a n y A m iga U sers in G erm any w a n t to p lay it. bu t th e y ca n 't g e t a c o p y o f CU. I 'm a lucky guy. cause I g o t o ne b u t w h a t a bou t th e others? Is the re a chance to o rd e r it? W ill you se ll (thousands o f) th e m in C ologne? Is the re any o th e r w a y to g e t them ?

Please, an sw e r m e qu ick, because a fte r w r it in g in a G erm an

A m ig a In te rne t Forum th a t I am p lay ing TFX, m any pe o p le have

sen t m e E-M ails and ask m e w here

to g e t an issu e - I ca n 't answer.M y second p ro b le m is w ith TFX. I

have n o Idea o f us ing a ir to g round m iss iles . I kn o w h o w to choose th e m , b u t h o w can I lock th e m to th e de s tin a tio n , and fire it?

G u n n a r G e rtz e n , H annover.

C U A m ig a M a g a z in e is d is tr ib u te d in G e rm a n y by S a a rb a ch Press d is tr ib u t io n ,H ans B o ck le r S tra s s e 19.P os tfach 1562 D -50332 H urthI f y o u ha ve a n y p ro b le m s g e tt in g a co p y , c o n ta c t th e m . T h e e as ies t t h in g is , a s a lw a y s , t o subscribe . A s fo r th e C o lo g n e s h o w , w e 'l l

see w h a t w e can do .

D id I m is s s o m e th in g ?I have a qu e s tio n : w h e re have a ll the so ftw a re adve rtisem en ts g o n e from y o u r m ag? There used to b e loads, b u t n o w the re a re on ly sharew are

and h a rdw are ads. I on ly ask because I w o u ld like to buy W o rd w o rth o r Final W riter, b u t I can’t

because no o ne is se lling them !O n a n o the r sub ject. I a m g o in g to

be upg ra d in g m y A m ig a soon , a fte r

th re e yea rs on th e PC Yes I know, a nd w a s w o n d e rin g if y o u c o u ld d o a rev iew on a ll th e acce le ra to r cards o u t there . O r ju s t repnnt th e rev iew s th a t you have d o n e over th e years. Thanks

K. S h irley , v ia E -m ail

S u re ! Te ll y o u w h a t, i f a n yo n e has m is s e d o u t a n y o th e r issu e s (o r 'n o t b o u g h t th e m ' as i t 's o th e rw is e k n o w n ) w h y n o t w r i te t o u s and w e 'l l r e -p r in t a ll th e m in th e ir e n t ire ty ju s t fo r y o u . Yeah, r ig h t ! T h a t's a jo k e by th e w ay . You can o rd e r b ack issu e s o f cou rse , fro m o u r b ack issu e d e p a rtm e n t. S ee th e a d v e r t lu rk in g s o m e w h e re a ro u n d th is b ack p ages fo r d e ta ils .

T F X C o n fig u ra t io nI 'm glad TFX fin a lly m anaged to see th e lig h t o f day. I m u s t thank y o u fo r y o u r e ffo r ts o n th is p ro jec t.

I have been e xpe rim en ting w ith th e TFX CD d is tr ib u tio n to f in d the b es t po ss ib le con fig u ra tio n fo r the

gam e. A s you p ro b a b ly kn o w un til TFX 040 vers ion is p a tched by som eo n e it w o n 't run o n an 060 processor.

I have th e re fo re co m e u p w ith th is c o n fig u ra tio n to g e t th e m o s t o u t o f TFX o n a B lizzard 1260 Accelerator.

1. B oo t w ith no s ta rtup -sequence in NTSC m ode if possib le .2. Have y o u r ROM m a pped in to fas- tram (th e gam e a ppears sm oo the r w ith R O M 3.1 ? d o n 't ask m e w h y though)3. Run S etpa tch (vers ion 43.6) ava ilab le fro m ftp .am iga .de4 Run C yberpa tcher (Phase 5’s 6888x em u la tion program )5. Use This c o n fig u ra tio n in th e con- fig prog:D e ta i l H igh (M e d iu m if it is s t ill to o je rky w ith V is ib ility b e tw een 4 a nd 7) F ligh t M o d e l A rcade (S im p ly appears" to have w a y too m any bugs)S F X : Up to user M u s ic : U p to user H o r iz o n : 32V is ib i l i t y : B e tw een 4 a nd 7 (Any m ore than 7 and th e fra m e rate d rops) u (This o p tio n is critica l to TFX's speed th e h ig h e r you take th is o p tio n the s lo w e r th e gam e w ill run) uT e x tu re : Enabled

G o u ra d e Enabled V ie w S w i t c h : Zoom S h o w W e a p o n s Yesu6 . E xecute th e T F X F P U s c r ip t in y o u r TFX directory.7. H ave Fun ! ! ! :)

T h is c o n fig u ra tio n w a s se tu p o n a M ic ro n ik In fin itiv 1400T Z o rro II C yberV is ion 64 /3D u A m ig a OS 3.1B lizzard 1260 6 6M H z (C locked n' Cooled)A tap i X 4 C D-RO M

3 4 M e g Ram 1.76 M b F loppy 1.2 GIG HDM y c o m p u te r is Pow ered b y Am iga.

L e t's a ll m e e t u p ...M uch co n fu s io n has a risen , as you u n doub ted ly are aware, regard ing th e e ffe c t on co m p u te rs o f th e tra n s ition to th e 21s t century. I t w o u ld

in te res t m e , and like ly m any o thers, if you co u ld g iv e a com parison o f the im p a c t o f year 2000 o n th e opera tion o f th e A m iga . PC a nd M a c . I have seen lit t le on th is su b jec t in CU Am iga. I f it is a non-issue, le t us

kn o w tha t too . b u t all th e n e w s elsew h e re ind ica tes o the rw ise .Thankyou.

M a rk Dekeyser, C anada

W e m ig h t ju s t d o th a t y o u kn ow ...

G a te w a y p la n sI t m ig h t in te re s t you to kn o w th a t ZD N e tw o rk N ew s re ce n tly fe a tu re d a s to ry a bou t G atew ay 2000 's p lans fo r th e fu tu re o f th e A m ig a p la tfo rm .

It m o s tly in c lu d e s s im ila r n ew s to th e in te rv ie w w ith Darreck L is le b y th e A m ig a U sers o f th e H eartland on S ep te m b e r 16 th (check ou t http.7/w w w .cu cu g .o rg /a m in e w .h tm l fo r a co m p le te te x t o f th a t one), bu t a lso inc ludes a fe w o th e r p ieces o f in fo rm ation .

L ike the fa c t th e y have over 400 co m pan ies seek ing A m ig a licenses, o r th e fa c t th a t they p lan to m ake a d e sk to p A m ig a th a t uses standard v id e o cards, and is p riced t o c o m p e te w ith W in te l boxes.

N a m e n o t s u p p lie d .

S p re ch e n s ie ja rg o n ?R egard ing yo u r m o n th ly m ag. I've b u t on ly one real com pla in t.

I t 's ok to exp lo re th e fe a tu re s o f L ig h tw a ve a nd Im ag ine 4 .0 w ith

\ h in ts , b u t if y o u d on ’t have a b loody : c lue w h a t th e y are yo u 're s tu ffe d !!

L e t's have a lit t le m ore in tro fo r the : "Never seen the m ag/A m iga b e fo re ”

quo ta and perhaps a N ov ices page i fo r pe o p le like m e w h o have on ly

o w ned an A m iga fo r five m inu tes. A lso , I have read th a t th e A po llo acce le ra to r is fan tas tic a nd a stea l at

; on ly £300, b u t w h a t th e he ll is i t and : w h y d o I need one?

W h y w h e n I loaded m y fre e disk last m o n th d id it n o t appear o n the screen? A pparen tly because I don ’t have a hard d rive ! W h y can 't you tell m e th a t, a nd w h y th e heck shou ld I

i need one?I th in k you g e t the g is t o f w ha t

I'm try in g to say here, b u t anyw ay keep up th e ded ica tion a nd qua lity above a ll e lse b u t p lease g ive som e cons ide ra tion to us new com ers .

: Thanks.

S te w a r t Faux, v ia E -m ail D e c id in g o n th e le v e l a t w h ic h to

p itc h th e to n e o f th e m a g a z in e is t r ic k y a nd u n d e r c o n s ta n t re v iew .

W e a re u n d e r th e im p re ss io n

th a t th e re a re n 't m a n y to ta l n e w c o m e rs in th e A m ig a scene r ig h t n o w , h ence th e m o re advanced s la n t o n m o s t a sp e c ts o f th e m ag. H o w e ve r, w e ta k e y o u r p o in t. We d o s ta te th e s y s te m re q u ire m e n ts

o f o u r co ve r d is k s , so ta k e ca re to read th e m a nd m ake s u re y o u 'v e g o t s u ff ic ie n t h a rd w a re .

W h y d o y o u need a h a rd d rive? W e ll i f y o u d o n 't m in d sw a p p in g d is k s u n t i l y o u r w r is t lo c k s u p th e n

s ta y as y o u are. F o r th e re co rd , an a c c e le ra to r m akes y o u r s o ftw a re ru n fa s te r.

M in e s f lo p p ieI o w n an A 6 0 0 w ith o u t a CD-ROM d rive and am becom ing annoyed a b o u t th e a ttitu d e o f th o se Am iga o w n e rs w h o are fo rtu n a te e nough to o w n a C D-RO M drive. For exam ple C hris to p h e r A ym ar (O c t '97 issue) w h o asked you to 'g e t r id o f th e flo p p ie d isk vers ion '. Please d o no t! CD-

ROM drives a re expensive and as far as I know , yo u r CD co ve rd isk is not

c o m p a tib le w ith A m iga 600s using C D-RO M drives.

T hough the re 's a lo t m ore in fo rm ation o n CDs I kn o w a lo t o f peop le w h o w o u ld n o t b e a b le to buy CU A m iga i f you s topped p roducing th e flo p p ie ve rs io n s im p ly because th e y d o n 't have a C D -R O M Please keep th e flo p p ie ve rs io n alive and keep u p th e g re a t w ork.

Ross W h ite fo rd , v ia E -m a il

O u r C D s w i l l w o r k w i th y o u r A600. A ll y o u need is a C D -R O M drive .W e su g g e s t a SCSI k it w i th a S q u irre l in te rfa c e as th e e a s ies t s o lu t io n . A lte rn a tiv e ly , and m o re to th e p o in t m o re ch e a p ly , co n n e c t an IDE C D -R O M d r iv e t o y o u r A600 's in te rn a l IDE con n e c to r.

R o ck a n d ro l l!So m uch ta lk a b o u t PC versus Am iga a ll th e tim e . Yes, I d o it too . w ith m y fr ie n d s w h o a ll have PCs o f course. O ne th in g I have asked th e m about is : can you o r have you eve r e d ite d a s ta rtu p -sc rip t on a PC?

Can you o r have you eve r e d ited a sc rip t th a t 's like an A m igaG u ide on a PC? No - they d o n 't even know w h a t I 'm ta lk ing about.

So p lease te ll m e if it 's possib le to w r ite such a s c r ip t on a PC w h ich is s im ila r to an A m igaG uide.

A m igaG u ide appears to b e unique

Continued overleaf ^ ► ►


ftp://ftp.amiga.de

http://www.cucug.org/aminew.html

and I like it ve ry m uch. S om e tim e

ago n o w I w ro te N o rw eg ian p os tco d e s in an A m igaG u ide - o ve r 7000 lines. P hew ! B u t I w o u ld certa in ly like an upg rade o f th e A m igaG u ide its e lf now . A nd I've seen som e too. b u t th e y a re a ll to o over-exposed. Ju s t le t i t be s im p le a s it is now. M aybe a lit t le m ore fo r exam ple co lo u rs o r p o ss ib ly to sh o w a p ic tu re w ith n odes ins ide th e p icture.

Then y o u co u ld m ake so m eth ing look like a real p rogram . There is a lready som e p rog ram s do ing tha t, b u t th e y 're to o com p lica ted .

C arl E Bosen, N o rw a y

Y o u 're r ig h t , th e re is a lre a d y s o m e th in g lik e an ad va n ce d v e rs io n o f A m ig a G u id e , w i t h s u p p o r t fo r p ic tu re s a n d a n im a tio n s to o . I t 's c a lle d H T M L . M o d e rn PCs use th is a s th e ir s ta n d a rd h y p e r te x t sys tem a n d th e re 's n o re a so n w h y y o u c o u ld n 't s w itc h t o i t as w e ll.

S o , 7000 lin e s o f N o rw e g ia n p o s t codes eh? S ham e y o u d id n 't in v ite u s t o th e p a r ty - s o u n d s like

a r ig h t o ld knees up !

P ag ing J u s t in T u ijlO n Page 9 7 o f th e O c to b e r issue a le tte r w a s p rin te d fro m a M r Justin Tuijl w h o lives in N orfo lk , a sm all pa rt o f w h ic h m e n tio n s an apparen t o ffe n s ive le tte r sen t by RBF

Softw are .A s w e d o n o t have a record o f

th is reader’s nam e o r address on o u r database, w e w o u ld , in fa irness to u s and CU Am iga, ask M r Tuijl to send u s a c o p y o f th e o ffens ive le tte r he m e n tio n s (you obv ious ly have ou r address), to enab le m e to investig a te th is m a tte r as I, in tu rn , find th is p u b lic dec la ra tion /accusatio n o f be ing o ffe n s ive v e ry u n fa ir and w o u ld , i f poss ib le , like to g e t th is am icab ly so rte d to b o th pa rtie s satis faction .

Ray B u rt-F ro s t, RBF S o ftw a re

I have a c u n n in g p lanI’v e ju s t heard s o m e n e w s a bou t M ic ro s o ft, w h ic h has le f t m e shocked! W h ile flic k in g th ro u g h a schoo l c o p y o f 'N e w S c ie n tis t’. I cam e across a sh o rt a rtic le a bou t th e n e w W in d o w s ‘9 8 package, w h ic h had s o m e o f th e system re q u ire m e n ts fo r th is n e w ’w o n d e rfu l' o pe ra ting system .

A cco rd in g to th e NS. W 9 8 w ill

requ ire a t leas t 1 2 0 M b o f fre e hard d isk space, w h ic h doesn 't seem un reasonab le fo r a d isk-based OS,

bu t w h a t rea lly shocked m e is tha t

th e n e w W in d o w s w ill need a t least 4 8 M b o f fre e RAM !I ju s t d o n 't see w h y pe o p le can fall fo r th is eve ry tim e Bill Gates de c id e s he w a n ts m o re cash , w hen th e A m ig a is an e x tre m e ly cheap and p o w e rfu l a lternative.

O K. a d m itte d ly re ce n t years has seen lit t le advertis ing fo r th e A m iga , b u t a m ach ine a s b rillian t as th is sh o u ld n 't need adve rtis ing , a s in the

o ld days th e A m iga s o ld s im p ly by w o rd o f m o u th . O n th e o th e r hand. W in 9 8 m ay ju s t be one s tep to o far fo r th e M ic ro s o ft boys, as PC users w o n 't be as happy to upgrade th e ir h igh sp e c m ach ines to these m am m o th levels.

This m eans th e y 'll be lo ok ing fo r a cheap a lte rna tive , w h ic h is w here ou r chum s a t G atew ay/A I co m e in;

if G a tew ay p roduce a n e w A m iga w ith n e w W o rkbench (n o t a 3 .x upgrade, b u t a n e w vers ion 4), be t

te r g raph ics and sound, all the extras peo p le have c o m e to e xpec t - a ll th is fo r a reasonable p rice , they

can a tte m p t to re lease it a t the sam e t im e as W in98.

T h e pe rfe c t ad cam pa ign w o u ld be fo r th e ads to g o o u t th e sam e t im e a s W in 9 8 's , s h o w in g th e new A m ig a 's capab ilities nex t to th a t o f th e n e w W in d o w s . S trange? No. because a t th e e nd o f th e advert it co u ld b e show n tha t th e A m ig a is a cheap a lte rna tive tha t d o e sn 't need upg ra d in g every tim e M ic ro s o ft has sp e n t s o m e m oney, and th a t it a lso has an a lready huge use r base. A ll I can say is g o o d lu ck to Petro

Tysch tschenko and J e ff S ch ind le r's team s. T h e y 'll need it ! Finally, w h e n I spe ll checked th is fi le th e spell checke r in s is ted th a t 'M ic ro s o ft '

shou ld b e spe lt M ic ro c y s t'. A nd they say co m p u te rs ca n 't th in k !

D a n ie l T h o rn to n , v ia E -m a il

N o t a b ad p la n , th a t . T h e tro u b le

is p e o p le w i l l b u y w h a t th e y are t o ld t o buy , h ence y o u r c le v e r m a rk e t in g s tra te g y to te l l p e o p le to b u y A m ig a s o v e r PCs. P eop le have been b lu d g e o n e d in to th e n o tio n th a t y o u need a PC ru n n in g a M ic ro s o ft OS in o rd e r t o d o a n y th in g u s e fu l. T h e w o r ld has been e d u ca te d to a m in d s e t, and ch a n g in g th a t is g o in g to b e an even to u g h e r jo b th a n s e tt in g it w a s in th e f i r s t p lace . Indeed , g o o d lu c k t o P e tro and co.

S h o c k in g 'm is ta k e 'l ‘m a regu la r su bscribe r to CU A m iga a nd I 'm shocked q u ite frankly... Review : S ensi Golf. C orrection : "H ard D rive installable? No” . W R O N G ! T h e g am e is hard d rive insta llab le thanks to w o rk by m yse lf and a M r Jean-Francois Fabre w h o has w r it te n loads o f pa tches fo r A m ig a gam es. V is it h ttp ://w w w .e n s ica .fr/p a tch e s .h tm l

I th in k tha t as an apo logy fo r th is

m is take you sh ou ld pu t a ll h is pa tch e s on a cove r CD so th o se w ith o u t In te rn e t co n nec tion can benefit

th e m too . Please.A n o th e r th in g : R ev iew : Sensi

S occe r 1996/97, sam e m is ta ke bu t th anks to m e and P iotr B ienek... S tick his pa tch (on th e A m in e t) on th e CD too . L e t's n o t see i t happen aga in . Keep up th e g rea t mag...

W e re v ie w ga m e s based o n h o w th e y p e rfo rm o n th e ir o w n . If s o m e o n e has th e sense to m a ke a p a tch , th e n fin e , b u t i t s t i l l s ta n d s th a t o u t o f th e b o x , n e ith e r o f th e se ga m e s w i l l in s ta ll o n to hard d r iv e . Y o u r c o m m e n ts w e re t o ld to th e CD e d ito r b y th e w a y , so lo o k o u t fo r a p a tc h bon a n za soon.

To the Point...H e re 's a n ic e q u ic k ieC an y o u te ll m e . h o w d o I run PC p rog ra m s o n m y Am iga?

L o u is S h anahan . C o u n ty O ffa ly.

U se PC Task t o g e t y o u r A m ig a to e m u la te a PC c o m p a tib le and run h o r r id PC s o ftw a re .

G ive u s a ca rdPlease, p lease - anyone - g ive us A 1200 ow n e rs s o m e th in g w e all despe ra te ly w a n t: a co m p a tib le , a ffo rd a b le g raph ics card - you 'll m ake a k illing

S te v e P o p o n sk i, M e lb o u rn e , Oz.

I t lo o k s like p hase 5 have a n s w e re d y o u r p ra ye rs S te ve ! T h e ir n e w lin e o f P o w e rU p ca rds fo r th e A 1200 ha ve an expans ion s lo t d e s ig n e d to a c c e p t a g ra p h ics ca rd c a lle d th e B V is ion64 .

In te rn e t P leaseH o w abou t hav ing so m e space ded ica ted to th e In te rne t? Perhaps tu to ria ls on h o w to s e t up n e t s o ftw a re . new u pda tes fo r b row se rs ,

u s in g th e so ftw a re etc.

D a v id A n d e rs o n , v ia E -m ail

You d o re a d th e m a g a z in e d o n ’t yo u ? W h a t a b o u t N e t G o d , W ire d W o r ld , S u rf o f th e M o n th , a ll th e co ve ra g e o f c o m m s h a rd w a re and s o ftw a re , th e sp e c ia l In te rn e t fe a tu re s a nd so on?

A f te r TFXH e llo th e re ! F irs t o f a ll le t m e say th a t I w a s as h appy a s a man w h o lives d o w n w in d o f a prozac fa c to ry to s e e TFX cove r m o u n te d on y o u r f in e m ag. I h o p e th a t th is co u ld b e co m e a regu la r ven tu re ra th e r th a n a o n e o ff. I 'm su re the re a re a n u m ber o f A m ig a ga m e s tha t

w e re fin ish e d b u t n eve r released. Pizza Tycoon a nd P u tty S quad are go o d exam ples, tha t you co u ld also co ve r m o u n t. So, h o w a b o u t it?

Paul P a lm e r , v ia E -m a il

TF X w a s a sp e c ia l case. I t w a s a g a m e p e o p le w a n te d v e ry m u ch and w e w e re a b le t o g e t. I t 's n o t o u r b u s in e ss t o p u b lis h gam es, b u t i f s o m e th in g co m e s a lo n g and th e c irc u m s ta n c e s a re ju s t r ig h t...A S ensib le Golf. No. i t is a 't hard drive ins ta llab le. Not as standard anyway.

D o m in ic C re s s w e ll, v ia E -m a il


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Points of ViewCU Amiga's regular soap-box corner never ceases to spark

off a multitude of responses from you readers. Let's see

what happens with this month's bunch of rants...

I t ’s c ru n ch tim e fo r th e Am iga. Sure, i t ’s had q u ite a fe w c ru n ch e s already, b u t it 's n o w a t a po in t w h e re it really is d o o r d ie . The ‘d o ’ o p tio n com es in th e fo rm o f phase 5 's Pow erU p ca rds (see the fro n t end o f th is m agazine fo r a look a t th e f irs t m ode l to appear). A n A 1200 vers ion w ill a rrive very

soon, o ffe rin g a short c u t to s ta te of th e a rt c o m p u tin g th a t w o u ld bring th e A m iga up to scra tch w ith the very bes t and la te s t PCs. T h e ‘d ie ’ op tion is as s im p le as it is obvious, and w ill b e inev itab le if th is m a g n ific e n t o p p o rtu n ity is passed up.

However, fo r once th is is n 't leading to a d ire c t call fo r a ll ex is ting A m iga ow n e rs to buy PowerUp cards. Tha t in its e lf w o n ’t save the scene, o r b ring in any n e w users, a lth o u g h it w il l h e lp encou rage p ro gram m ers to deve lop A m iga PowerPC so ftw a re . If th e fu ll p o te n tia l o f PowerUp is to be realised, w ha t w e need is Pow erUped A m igas on sa le in the high s treet and retail o u tle ts th ro u g h o u t the w o rld . I s till f irm ly be lieve th e w o rld d o e s w a n t an a lte rna tive to PC c o m patib les, and in m any cases th is is s im p ly a m a tte r o f price.

People w a n t a m ore a ffo rdab le en try p o in t in to h om e com pu ting , b u t w h ile a 2 M b 68020 A 1200 is

"With a few concessions to modern expandibility

(SIMM slots for example) a compact but powerful

Amiga could once again rule the amateur roost".

a ffo rdab le , it 's c lea rly yes te rday 's te c h n o lo g y If th e re 's so m eth ing the a verage e le c tro n ics co nsum er has learned over th e past decade, it 's th e lesson o f n o t b e co m in g saddled w ith o u td a te d technology.

W ith a PowerPC p rocesso r on boa rd , an a ffo rd a b le A m ig a cou ld rea lis tica lly h it th e h igh s tre e ts o ffe rin g th e required string o f te c h n o buzzw ords to sw ay th e d iscern ing buyer. W ith a fe w concess ions to m odern expand ib ility (S IM M s lo ts fo r exam ple) a co m p a c t b u t p ow erfu l A m iga co u ld o n ce again ru le the am a teu r roost.

W h e th e r G atew ay w a n ts to pu t

energ ies in to such a p ro jec t, or ins tead channel th e ir resources in to

th e co n s tru c tio n o f a far bigger.

m ore d is ta n t p ro jec t, rem ains to be seen.

If indeed G atew ay d o dec ide th e ir A m iga d iv is io n s have b igger fish to fry, th e re 's s till th e m a tte r o f th e ir open lice n c in g policy, w h ic h o pens th e d o o r to anyone w ith e nough e n te rp rise to make th e ir o w n PowerPC Am igas.

W h ile the re have been som e re ce n t success s to ries w ith th ird party A m ig a m anu fac tu re rs , if the A m iga as a p la tfo rm is to have a ny kind o f a reb irth , i t w il l require a fa r la rger p layer in o rd e r to push i t to th o se m illions o f po ten tia l c u s to m e rs o u ts id e o f th e cu rren t A m iga scene.

■ Tony Horgan is Editor of CU Amiga.

Patience is a virtue

"Now that Apple has cancelled cloning and pur

chased their nearest rival, CHRP is in a

comatose state” .

A s A m iga use rs w e a ll fa ll in the tra p a t so m e po in t. W e 've been w ith it so long tha t w e ’re each ce rta in w e kn o w w h a t is bes t fo r th e Am iga . B e p a tie n t and w a it fo r a u th o rity to te ll us w h a t's go ing on? Hah! W h o is th is Je ff Schindler, anyway?

From read ing CU. a ll you know is th a t he has a boat, right? W hy h a sn 't he g iven u s h is eng ineering plan fo r th e A m iga if he ’s th is g rea t fo rm e r eng ineer? W h y have

w e w a ite d so m any m o n th s s ince G atew ay b o u g h t th e A m iga to hear these th ings? It 's hard to be p a tie n t th rough s itua tions like these . B u t co n s id e r th e a lternative . A lo t o f peo p le have pushed

fo r Am iga . Inc. to c o m m it to PowerPC and CHRP a rch itec tu re (C om m on H ardw are R eference

P la tfo rm , a so rt o f gene ric se t of s tandards fo r crea ting PowerPC

m achines). T h e y 'd have p referred th a t G atew ay c o m m it to th is yesterday - m ore like a m o n th o r tw o afte r buy ing th e A m iga. B u t w h a t w ou ld th a t have m eant fo r us?

First o f all, it w o u ld have m eant th a t m anagem en t w a s m aking an e ng inee ring decree. T here w e re no e ng ineers w o rk in g fo r Am iga . Inc. a t th e tim e . Keep in m in d th a t the A m erican A m iga eng ineering ta len t

fro m C o m m odore has all m oved on.M a n y have good jo b s o r th e ir

o w n com pan ies and aren’t g o in g to ju m p o n board th e firs t t im e som eo ne ca lls them saying th e y o w n the

A m iga. A n d w e a ll re m e m b e r w h a t h appens w h e n m anagem en t m akes e n g inee ring decrees. In fe rio r p ro d

u c ts resu lt. N o t to m e n tio n the

spanner A p p le th re w in to CHRP d e ve lo p m e n t a fe w m o n th s ago w h e n th e y a ll bu t cance lled th e ir c lon ing licenses.

The m arke t m o m e n tu m fo r CHRP

w a s based around th e p re sum ption th a t a t leas t in th e sh o rt run. the m a jo rity o f CHRP m ach ines w o u ld run th e M acO S, u n til o th e r opera ting sys te m s ca u g h t on w ith th e new hardw are. N o w A p p le has cancelled c lon ing a nd purchased th e ir nearest rival, CHRP is in a co m a to se sta te.

Im ag ine the dam age contro l A m ig a Inc. w o u ld be g o in g th rough n o w if th e y 'd m ade such an a rb itrary

dec is ion w ith o u t le ttin g qua lified pe o p le look a t th e s itu a tio n firs t!

The A m ig a 's s o m e th in g spec ia l. if i t w a s n 't w e w o u ld n 't all

s t ill b e here. If it is to b e taken to th e nex t level o f success , i t ’s g o in g to need level heads and co o rd in a te d dec is ions be h in d it.

These th in g s take tim e , so for now . w e a ll need to be pa tien t and le t S ch ind le r g e t h is house in order. (You th o u g h t I w a s g o in g to say ’'l is t" , d id n 't you?)

■ Jason Compton is US Correspondent lor

CU Amiga.


Amiga - the new Apple?

"Motorola, who were producing Mac clones, are

not happy campers and may be less willing to help

Apple in future developments of the PPC chip.”m % u

App le , w h o have seen a drastic cu t in th e ir m arke t share over recent years, recen tly sa w the dep a rtu re o f G il A m e lio . a bus iness m an n o t a visionary.

He w a s rep laced b y S teve Jobs, cons id e re d m o re o f a v is iona ry th a n a bus iness man. This w o u ld have been a b it like Jay M in e r tak ing over fro m M ehd i A li ju s t b e fo re C om m odore w en t so spectacu la rly d o w n th e tubes.

The A p p le advocates a re a ll in heaven a t the co n ce p t th a t Steve Jo b s , th e o rig ina l M r M acin tosh , w ill b e back beh in d th e he lm

stee ring A p p le back fro m th e brink th a t th e e v il M r A m e lio w a s leading i t tow ard.

T h e m o re p ractica lly m inded ou t th e re have been ra is ing a fe w eyeb ro w s a t Jo b s ' a c tiv itie s s ince taking o ve r th e re igns, a lb e it tem porarily .S o fa r he has signed a deal w ith Bill G ates, a fig u re o f h a te fo r A pp le use rs even m ore than fo r Am iga users, and second ly he has to ld all th e M ac c lo n e m anu fac tu re rs that th e g a m e is over and th a t they w ill have to shu t u p shop.

M o to ro la , w h o w e re p roducing M ac c lones , are n o t happy cam pers and m ay b e less w illin g to he lp

A p p le in fu tu re d e ve lo p m e n ts o f the PPC chip. This has been jum ped upon by th e p ro DEC A lpha cam p, w h o say th a t n o w th e A m iga m ust g o A lpha ra ther th a n PPC. bu t the n e w s tha t In te l are b uy ing o u t the A lpha w h ile M o to ro la w ill co n tinue w ith th e PPC has pu t a c rim p in tha t theory.

A p p le 's c la im is tha t they w e re lo s in g an enorm ous a m o u n t o f m o n e y due to th e c lo n e m anufactu rers. and th a t d e ve lop ing th e hardw a re and so ftw a re w a s no t s u ffic ie n t enough, a nd they had to

be se lling th e hardw are too . They say tha t they w e re subs id is ing every

c lo n e so ld to th e tu n e o f $2 00 .It seem s to m e tha t A p p le have

m ade a ra ther la rge error. I can't be lieve th a t th is $ 200 su bs idy is a ny th ing o th e r than a re su lt o f the w a y th a t A p p le re fuse to use anyth in g th e y haven 't d e ve loped th e m selves. G atew ay on th e o th e r hand have la rge resources t ie d in w ith th e ir PC deve lopm en ts .

B y us ing a hea lthy m ix tu re o f o ff th e s he lf co m p o n e n ts a nd A m iga spec ific d e ve lopm en ts , they can spec ify a hardw are p la tfo rm w h ich requ ires a lo t less sys tem spec ific

deve lopm en t. W h a t's m o re , if they a re really sharp, they can m ake the c lone m arke t w o rk fo r them .

W ith co m pan ies like Index and M ic ron ik w o rk in g on ve ry in te resting

de ve lo p m e n ts o f th e ir o w n . lice n sin g co u ld eas ily b ecom e a 2 w ay process The fa llo u t fro m th e A pp le bus iness is th a t CHRP is n o lo n g e r a

v iab le a lte rna tive fo r a fu tu re Am iga.

T he C om m on Hardw are R eference P la tfo rm is n o longer g o in g to be availab le to th ird pa rty deve lopers, a n o the r th ing

M o to ro la a re n o t happy about.T he bas ic h a rdw are is very

s tra ig h tfo rw a rd though . M oto ro la have a lo t o f e xp e rtise in th e cons tru c tio n o f PPC hardw are, they have PPC to PCI b rid g e ch ip s , and they have so lid i/o im p lem en ta tions.

I f G atew ay/A m iga Inc. w e re to ju m p in w ith th e r ig h t offer. M o to ro la co u ld b e encouraged to th ink th a t th e re a re serious a lte rna tives to th e M a c in to sh w h e n it c om es to use o f PPC ch ip s in desk top co m p u te rs . W h o know s. M o to ro la m ig h t no t have to c lose d o w n its c lo n e c o m p u te r m aking bus iness a fte r all

■ Andrew Kora is Slafl Writer far CU Amiga

, ^ / i r

Console yourselves?!

W h y w o u ld anyone w a n t to buy a n e w A m iga? I t ’s poss ib le th e end o f th e co n so le b o o m is n igh . It

c o u ld be th e last C hris tm as fo r th e lit t le grey and b lack boxes s itt in g under th e TV. and n ex t year

th e y c o u ld be in th e cupboard w ith th e A tari VCS. w a itin g fo r car

b o o t sales.R em em ber these th in g s g o in

cyc les, and a fte r s h e lling o u t for P laysta tion a nd a N in tendo64 a lot o f pe o p le w o n ’t w a n t a n y new h a rdw are fo r a long , long tim e . It w o u ld he lp if m anufactu rers w o u ld m ake th e ir h a rdw are syste m s c o m p a tib le w ith th e last gene ra tion gam es, b u t th e y don 't.

A lthough a N in tendo64 cou ld run SuperNES gam es if i t w a n te d to . i t w o n ’t. You have y o u b u y all th e ga m e s aga in - because at f if ty to seventy q u id a throw , th a t ’s w h e re th e p ro fit is. The c u rre n t s ta te o f th e PC d o e sn 't help conso les e ithe r - w ith 3 D g ra p h ics cards s ta rting to m ake th e ir p resence fe lt, th e re ’s a real chance th e PC w ill b ecom e the

"This could be the last Christmas for the little grey

and black boxes sitting under the TV, and next year

they could be in the cupboard with the Atari VCS"

d e fin itive g a m in g conso le . PCs are a c tu a lly g e ttin g eas ie r to use. and w ith th e in c re d ib le p o w e r o f a Pentium , the re a re fe w gam es w h ic h w o u ld b e im p o ss ib le to p o rt g iven enough t im e a nd money.

There ’s a chance tha t W in d o w s w ill g ro w so b ig and c leve r th a t it w il l tr ip over itse lf, bu t in general W in d o w s9 8 w ill b e easier to use a nd p o w e rfu l enough to convert a lm o s t a ll W orkbench fana tics . A t th e very le a s t th e exce llen t deve lop m e n t to o ls shou ld lu re aw ay the p rog ra m m e rs So w here d o e s th is leave th e Am iga? G ive m e th irty seco n d s and I’ll te ll you The o n ly p o ss ib le fu tu re o f the A m iga is (d rum ro ll as h e o pens go ld e d enve lope) as a ded ica ted In te rne t term inal. Th ink a bou t th is fo r a w h ile , and then tell m e th a t y o u w o u ld n 't b e in te res ted in b uy ing o ne A n d don’ t th ink you have heard i t be fo re you haven’t - th is is new.

The n e w A m iga hardw are is a sm all box, co nnec ted to the fam ily TV o r a ded ica ted m onitor. The keyboard is in fra red In fac t, update the

CDTV a b it, and th a t’s a ll tha t needs do ing to th e co sm e tics . There are som e b ig d iffe re n ce s in s id e the c ase though. G ive it a fa s t p ro ce s sor. ch unky g raph ics, b u jlt-in hardw a re fo r cap tu ring , com press ing and p lay ing v id e o a nd m ake it a ded ica ted In te rne t-friend ly box w ith id io t p ro o f (i.e. inv is ib le to m o s t users) TCP/IP and W eb and M a il a p p lica tio n s . H ere 's a hard b it. b u t it has to be done because w e need In te rne t E xplorer o r N etscape: Forget A m igaD O S a nd th e W orkbench (sn iff) a nd m ake it run W indow sC E . th e n e w co m p a c t o pe ra ting system

fro m M ic ro so ft.W indow sC E is qu ick. 3 2 b it. fu lly

m u ltitask ing and can tu rn on and o ff instantly. It a lso speaks fluen t In te rne t, is availab le fo r a range o f p rocesso rs and com es w ith a stan

dard W eb browser.N ow , and here 's th e clever

part, bu ild in o n e o f th o se new fo rm a t m o d e m s w h ic h th e p ow er gene ra ting co m pan ies a re p ro m is ing w ill g ive us 3 0 t im e s the speed o f ou r e x is ting m o d e m s

n ex t year. The re su lt is a fast, easy to use v ideo phone and In te rne t te rm ina l w h ic h w o u ld m ake UK th e m o s t techno log ica lly advanced co u n try in th e w orld .

M a il, shopp ing , d ia l u p porn (m o s t im p o rta n t to launch any n e w m ed ia), so ftw a re , gam es. DVD C D -RO M It's a dream com e tru e fo r hom e com pu te r users. And th a t 's m y rec ipe for the fu tu re o f th e Am iga.

■ John Kennedy is a Technical Coasnltant

far CU Amiga


REASONS TO BE CHEERFULIn these interesting times for the Amiga computer, HiSoft would like to express its total commitment to the Amiga and its users. And

what better way than offering you the best software and hardware products at unbeatable prices!

st>virjxiThe Classic Squirrel and the Surf Squirrel have revolutionised the way you use yo u r A 1200 and A 600 com puters, m aking it possible to add u p to 7 SCSI devices such as hard drives, scanners. Z ip drives, CD-RO M s etc. W ith SCSI you get a com plete, easy-to-fit and easy-to-use system that is fast, reliable and e xpandab le . A n d now it's even m ore a ffo rd a b le th a n eve r!

As the deve lopers o f th e fam ous S quirre l SCSI interfaces w e have been able to shave margins to the bone and b rin g some unbeatable C D -R O M deals, lus t look a t w hat you get in each o f ou r Squirrel C D - R O M packs:

✓ Choice o f internal o r external C D -R O M drive. ^✓ Choice o f 2-speed, 4-speed o r 12-speed drives.✓ Choice o f Classic Squirrel o r Surf Squirrel interfaces.✓ Choice o f 3 FREE CD titles to get you started.✓ Power lead and cables w here appropriate.✓ Full m anuals o n how to set up and use your new equipm ent.

✓ Extensive after-sales support, d irect from HiSoft.

A ll you have to d o is p ick u p the phone and call ou r friendly sales staff, free o f charge - w e w ill advise you on the best choice for your system and put together the best Squirrel C D -R O M pack you can buy.

The w o rld famous Blizzard 1230/IV 5 0M H z accelerator board is now available from H iS oft a t a new, even lower price. Trust H iSoft to b ring you th e best Amiga products at tru ly affordable prices and w ith fu ll techn ica l support from Amiga experts.

£99.95SquirrH CD4X m CD2* butwthias/ adspeed c i>« c*c £139.95SquirrH CD12X las CDZX but *«h ukra-Usi I.'-speed CD-HOMt L l 99.95Sort Squirrel O p tion tfw rr SCS pfcn ukra-tau tenal skerlacn -£3 0 .0 0N o Squirrel O p tion a you already own a SC* intenan) -£40.00

•Current CD title* include AGA Experience 2, Aminet 13, Utilities Experience. Golden Games. Grandslam Gamer Gold, Women o< the Web & Personal Suite

£999 5 2-Speed CD-ROM

Classic Squirrel 3 CD Titles

This is the highest pe rfo rm in g 68030 expansion you can buy fo r your A 1 200 and w e can now offe r it w ith a range o f options to gjve you maximum choice - whichever w ay you go, you can be assured o f to p quality, fully warranted p roducts w ith com p le te after-sales service from HiSoft.

5SESBli/Zdld I 2 30-IV (0Mb. SOMHl bSOMI 4 .VIMU i 2 bk fas/ HAM.

expandable up to I28J256Mb) £ 9 9 .9 5Blizzard 12 JO-IV 4MI> n,st 6 0 * S/m m included, fined) £ 1 19 .9 5Blizzard 1230-IV 8M b flau, 6 0 * s/m m included, fittedi £139 .9 5Blizzard 1230-IV 16M b dan 60ns SIMM mduded. fitted) £1 6 9 .9 550M Hz FPU Co-Processor 'when pun W d with 1230-M £2 9 .9 5

Blizzard 123

COLD RACK-IV 8 M b & FPU & Surf Squirrel £229.95!!

This amazing-value printer allows tru ly stunning photo-realistic quality, with no handing, when used w ith the Canon Studio software package.

This pack includes BIC-4200, Amiga p rin te r lead, fu ll version o f Canon Studio and free 250-sheets o f 100gsm Inkjet Paper.

WSdMs S a u .£229 9 5

1 /0 /

M axon MAGIC

D isk MAGIC 2

T W / s f 2 d a ta b a s e

T erm ite Com m s te rm tte rc p

• f . f f

£19.95

£29.95

£69.95

£19.95£29.95

£29.95

N e ts Web 2 Web E xp los ion CD

d in t 7.1 Cr S i

M M BASIC 2 Cam esm lth

S t u d i o 2P roFU qht

S M D -1 0 0 4 4 U ld e o c o s£19.95

£169.95

The revolutionary Z ip d rive from Iomega is one" o f the m ajor technological developm ents o f the 90s, and it works perfectly o n your Amiga w ith ou r ta ilor-m ade Squirrel Z ip kits.

SQUIRRIL ZIPIOO PACK

The com plete Z iplO O pack for any SCSI-aware Amiga computer:

✓ Z ip Drive includ ing 1 cartridge w ith PC/Mac Z ip Tools, 25-way to 25- way SCSI lead, manuals etc.

✓ HiSoft Amiga Z ip Tools software w ith Amiga-specific user manual.

✓ Special 25-way to 50-way converter for use w ith Squirrel SCSI o r o ther SCSI peripherals.

£1499 5

SQUIRREL —ZIPIOO COLD PACK

The Gold Pack contains everything in the standard pack (see left) plus:

✓ 2 extra Z ip 10 0M b cartridges, a to ta l o f 300M b storage in the pack.

✓ SCSI lead o f your choice: 25-way to 50-way, 50-w ay to 50-w ay etc.

£179 9 5


s e tW 6ft ciam m pM ake m y aw n C D s ' N o, lo o expensive. W ell, no* any more w ith th e b rand-new SquirrelCDR system. C om b in ing a b rilliant, 2-speed w rite , 6-speed read CDR drive w ith the exc ellent com m ercial version o f MakeCD, the SquirrelCDR system is unbeatab le - just lo o k a t w ha t you can do:

✓ Bac kup 650M B o f hard disk in under 40 minutes.

✓ W rite up to 1CK) sessions per disc.

✓ Create your ow n m ultim edia discs.

✓ ( r e a le v o u r o w n m usic Him '

✓ Back-up CD-ROMs.

✓ Back-up audio discs.

✓ Back-up console games.

✓ Bac k-up ANY com pact disc!

✓ Create M ac / PC discs on your Amiga.

^ Create m ixed audio / data discs.

✓ Create bootable C D 32 discs-perfect fo r demos!

✓ Play CD-RO M s at 900kB per second.

✓ Play C D 32 discs.

✓ Access all sessions o f a PhotoCD.

Play audio discs.

Ideally suited for the Squirrel SCSI interfaces on the A 1200, the SquirrelCDR w ill also w ork on most SCSI-aware Amigas.

W — it

SquirrpK DR w w o Surt , * ) < h h £469 9SquirrelCDR C I w «>«. D e+> » » SC V r> £ 399.9:SquirrelCDR I r«rmar<**e u & t< o r * 0 <*a. SOrrfacw 0 4 9 .9 :M akeCD <h» u pn. * r u w £39.9(.o ld D isk ttu#, Wtrrtnted. 6S0Wb (apaury/ £6.93 o

tra iB p*T« ic» b u m p m jp p .

✓ U n lim ited n u m b tr c»

✓ Lighting svtfi— glows, reflections, parallel, decreasing a ru tmm

✓ Camera supports depdi a llow fisheye, w ide a n p r t

✓ Internal CyberGraphX✓ Palette sharing o n 256

C INEM A 4 D has a long by graphic studios, architects.N o w its pedigree has been realised In raved about i t (93% - M a cF o rm jt C M .» * » «

£199

WhippetThe W hippe t is a fuBy buffered, ultra high speed serial port capable o f perform ing up to 400% faster than the A12 0 0 * senal port. D ata transfers w ith The W h ip p e t are guaranteed to be much faster, m uch safer and m uch m ore reliable than when using the standard Amiga serial port.

The W h ip p e t really com es in to its ow n w hen surfing th e In te rne t H igh speed drivers a llow the use o f w eb browsers, ftp clients, em ail clients, usenet readers and o the r Internet tools, all at the same tune w ith o u t any loss o f da ta— and w ith fuN multitasking!

COMPATIBLE W ITH• A ll Amiga networking software

• A ll Amiga Internet software.

• A ll Amiga com m unications software.

FEATURES

• I ligh performance serial port, up to 400% faster than the Amiga serial port.

• The W hippe t is fu lly buffered for safer and reliable data transfer.

• U p to 230 ,000 bps data transfer rate.

9 5£ a 9

Confused b y all the hype about the in te rn e t' W e're not surprised. But here « the no m m quickstart pack that contains all you need to connect, to send and receive e m a i. t o M M to access those essential newsgroups and to brows** the w orld w ide web. The branc^nrw C N et& W eb pack is a breeze to install and a jo y to use - here's w hat you get:

ENTERPRISEENTERPRISE NET&WEB PACK

✓ 33.6bps Fax/Voice M odem - cream

✓ M odem & telephone leads

✓ Easy install program

✓ Free 30-day tria l account w ith Dem on Internet

✓ N et& W eb SoftwareFTP W r transfer HiSoft K U .Ienu il /SmMse browser Usenet newveader l i I I i i i i

£999 5

NET&WEB BOLD Everything in the Enterprise N et&W eb

Pack (see left) plus ✓ TermiteTCP,

software that supports ppp for connection to any service prov ider.

The Whippet, the superfast serial port, a real monev-saver.

9 5£159

H iSOFT--------------------------- S Y S T E M S -----

The Ota Scnoa Greenteta Be<*cr3 k*u 5 5C€ ^-r-44 (0) 1525 71Q1B1 • *»> • u (0) 1525 7*3776

.vw w rvsc rtco o* • fH H c r e r r & a c c r -

TO O R D E R OSOO 223 EGO

Ca* tree iW » n the UK) to order *«v r*Sc* ( » u x a mm% m * irvdrldrtot a rd . We accept h • * M X ( M l

Vnencan Itpm s etc. at no e*tra cftarjr O i i f l ■ £J tar o & o t £4 h r TiarxMare (2-3 day service/ or £6 h r goaranaed *M dm,

dettvery (lor goods in stock/ AJI price, mchde UK VAT Caf. tm or emid us h r export pnees We a/so accept cheques. PO» and oAruf

purchase orders 0 M/Sort 1997 lAO f


S K ID M A J j i +

Super Skidmarks was possibly t fL „■ • i Ihe most addictive and lun « ,■ a

game ever. IM S . because now y * !there's Super Skidmarks Plus, :featuring around 50 vehicles,

dozens o t tracks, new music and sound etlects. The tastesl most playable 4 player

racer ever! £14,99. (Amiga CD) D isco ver N ew Techno lo i B uild W o nd ers O l The Mr

l in b 'illHi Quality Version Available on AMIGALAND.COM

(P-8 K argon T e s ta m e n t Cygnus-8 Master A l t • is a vertica l Kargon is a com- When it gets dart, the Construct a large N a h a « > r « ’\q shoot em pletely new chal- living dead begin acata tradmg i a p w M m m W - a— • - mm mm mj r in g 4 way - lenge! Up to 4 play- thaw celebration on n a rich gakazy ol Df a » 1 1 ■■■ ■ =*■scrolling. e rs can com pete in the graveyard. Make planets, or k n o » f a a f h l i B i W • s m

ed m usic, order to tind one your way through Mai and raid space c m w + * meltects and th ing out: Who the swampy tracks and para* M s ? f a mam ■■■ ■» ■ ^ — »g animated greatest magician dart tomb your choice at Mia maram ar% M M rpace-cratt among them is. monuments. sc*-fi swnulabon M d a a a a a m

" is a new g ra p h ic s ad ve n tu re fo r Fasten you r seat belts and be prepared toe m aapa i ■ ■a ss ic Lu casA rta s ty le gam es. The like y o u 'v e never seen before on your l a i p R y u n ^ a « * ^:razy you ng gu y w ho has the a b i l ity he re and It fa kes you to a near dln n oa 1 - h ^ B f l) ir l t o f a sa rca s tic man. A fr ie n d . Gam es. S tep on the gas and race over k tfy I M e M ■de te c tive , p ro f i ts tro m the psych ic a b s o lu te ly crazy tracks , on asphalt an— . he*d p M — a •:ra zy psych ic gu y), by u s in g h is s lip p e ry ice . O n a 68030 Amiga the g a a * *e greo * ■:a rre p ro b lem s o f the r ic h . P la y in g w ith 4 players on a 68060 la ready lo p s a a * 'able on Am iga CD and Diak. £29.99 Raa AGA M M ram w a a a i

Available on Amtga CD a t - Omk O a + f * » m J

;ee /r cheaper, and they have It In stock, we ll match the p rtc f

ic) • BSS House, A rea50, Cheney Manor,f a s t d e l iv e r y . P le a s e a d d a t o t a l o f £1 p e r t i t l e foe P A P w ^ M ^ ^

o r ic e s l i s t e d in c lu d e V A T . E & O E F r e e G a m e s C a f a f a | ^ | a b le to I S L O N A - / s /o n . * i s a p a r t o f t h e Ep i c

!>..<« lo» . .n , A — ..M . | . r n , no lo n q .»


First loo!

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