The ATARr Resource

MAY 1985 VOLUME 4, NUMBER 1

The New Super Atans

U.S.A. $3.50 CANADA $4.00

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10^1

74470"12728

05

68000— Mighty 51 2K Atari "Brain" GEM— New "Color Mac" Atari Power

state-of-the-art word processor!

Inside: 10 Type-In programs

Simulator n

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. ,ourself in the pilot's seat of a Piper 181 Cherokee Archer|di- an awe-inspiring flight over realistic scener from New York to Los Angeles. High speed color-filled 3D graphics will give you a beautiful panoramic viei as you practice takeoffs, landings, and aerobatics. Complete documentation will get you airborne quickly even if you've never flown before. When you think you're ready, you can play the World War I Ace aerial battle game. Flight Simulator II features include ■ animated color 3D graphics ■ day, dusk, and night flying mode ■ over 80 airports in four scenery areas: New York, bhicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, with additional scenery areas available ■ user-variable weather, from clear blue skies to grey cloudy conditions ■ complete flight ) instrumentation ■ VOR, ILS, ADF= and DME radio equipped ■ navigation facilities and course plotting ■ World | War I Ace aerial battle game ■ complete information manual and flight handbook.

See your dealer . . .

or write or call for more Information. For direct orders please add $1 .50 for shipping and specify UPS or first class mall delivery. American Express, Diner's Club, MasterCard, and Visa accepted.

Order Line: 800/637-4983

ODfeUOGIC

Oorporation

713 Edgebrook Drive Champaign IL 61820

(217) 359-8482Telex: 206995

INCLUDED SET OUT TO DESIGN THE VERY BEST WORD PROCESSOR FOR AMR f COMPUTERS. . . THEY FOUND THEY ALREADY HAD IT

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Few word processors have allowed Atari users to tap the full resources of their computer until Atari Paper Clip. . .

Atari Paper Clip is an extremely powerful, fully featured word processor that will allow your Atari to operate to the limits of its potential, with an ease of operation and speed you've never thought possible.

PAPER CLIP FOR ATARI®AND COMMODORE^OWNERS WHO WANT THE VERY BEST IN WORD PROCESSING.

186 Queen St. West Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1Z1 Canada (416)596-1405

INCLUDED

>

7 78 75 Sky Park North,

Suite P, Irvine, California

USA 92714

"The Energized Software Company!"

FOR A FULL COLOR BROCHURE SEND A STAMPED SELF-ADDRESSED #10 ENVELOPE TO BATTERIES INCLUDED. ® © 19S4 Batteries Included. All rights reserved. A tari and Commodore are registered trademarks respectively of Atari, Inc. and Commodore Business Macliines, Inc.

SURVIVAL OF

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Here are just a few of many screens.

JR THE HOUXE, STAR IMBS. UHAT PUttET 2S

Till: iioncmiRtii or pKirtcCsB lcia*'

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THE CHALLENGE.

Over 2000 stimulating trivia/fact questions will send you rummaging through your personal memory banks. Answer correctly and advance in your quest while adding more gold to your treasure. Fail and you lose ground.

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THE ACTION.

You may have to face and battle a ferocious dragon. If you prevail, the dragon's cache of gold will be added to your treasure. If you fail, your journey will be slowed while you heal your wounds.

THE STRATEGY

Each questing party consists of three characters, a Knight, Prince and Page. Each has disti nelly different physical characteristics, and alJ must complete the Quest, You must decide when to send them on to the next challenge.

Atari is a trademark of Atari, Inc.

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exciting new ^"""^^BH^^K" ^'^'^^'^■^'f/

concept in computer

entertainment will keep you

and your friends involved for hours and

hours. This is probably the best party-game

ever developed, and new question disks will be available.

Optional: Utility disk which allows you to create unlimited trivia questions

and answers for educational or entertainment. The utility disk also includes

over 1000 additional questions. Utility disk $24.95.

"Software fit for a king!"

2160 W. 11th • Eugene, OR 97402 • (503) 683-5361

Ask for Trivia Quest at your favorite Atari Computer Store or order directly from Royal Software. Use your Master- Card, Visa, American Express, or send check or Money Order Including $2.90 shipping and handling.

The ATARI Resource

MAY 1985, VOLUME 4, NUMBER 1

FEATURES

Latest reviews of Logo and graphics . . 16

ANTIC BOOKSHELF by Charles Jackson New graphics and Logo books!		16
HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Jack Powell and Michael Ciraolo Infocom's newest (and wildest) adventure		19
GEM OF ATARI by Charles Cherry "Color Mac" power arrives		20
PAPER CLIP by Michael Ciraolo and Nat Friedland State-of-the-art Atari word processing		24
MEET THE 68000 by Jack Powell Brain of the 16-bit 51 2K Atari		28
MANIPULATING STRINGS by Brian Weiss More power and speed from BASIC	TVPE-IN SOFTWARE	32
LAZY LOADER by Frank Walters Ultra-convenient menu program	TYPE-IN SOFTWARE	35
MODE MIXER by Dr. Karl Weigers Multiple graphics modes on one screen	TYPE-IN SOFTWARE	38
BEER PARTY ATARI by Dr. John C. Ferguson Computer brew ratings	TYPE-IN SOFTWARE	43
SON OF INFOBITS by Andy Barton Save and edit your Infobits files	TYPE-IN SOFTWARE	45

DEPARTMENTS

Thumbs up for Hitchhikers 19

COMMUNICATIONS

o TSCOPE AUTODIALER by Charles Jackson

o o o

o o

Automatic 1030 Log-ons

TYPE-IN SOFTWARE 13

o o o o ° GAME OF THE MONTH

o o o - o o

o

o .^"""""^A X o

o

° „ ° ARENA RACER by J. Sutherland 15 Levels of Laser death

o

TYPE-IN SOFTWARE 49

o TOOLBOX

° HANDY USR ROUTINES by Ernie Negus More power from BASIC

52

BONUS GAME

AMAZING by David Plotkin In speedy ACTION!

TYPE-IN SOFTWARE 55

ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE

FADER II by Patrick Dell'Era Friendlier dot-by-dot dissolves

TYPE-IN SOFTWARE 57

SOFT WA RE LIBRARY

Atari judges the battle of the brews . . 43

TYPE-IN LISTINGS SECTION

59

EDITORIAL	A	SHOPPER-S GUIDE	8.5
I/O BOARD	10	ATARI SERVICE CENTERS	8<S
PRODUCT REVIEWS	81	NEW PRODUCTS	90

Publisher

James Capp:irell

Editorial Department Nat Friedland, Editor; Jack Powell, Technical 1-ditor; Michael Ciraolo, Associate Editor; Charles Jackson, I*rogram Editor; Ron Luks, On-Line Editor.

Contributing Editors Carl Evans, Ken Harms. Jerry White, Suzi Subeck, Anita Malnig.

Art Department

Marni Tapscott, Art Director; Diane Lindley, Production Supervisor; Linda Tapscott, Ad Production Coordinator; Ritricia Foslar, Pro- duction Assistant.

Cover Photograph Erik Weber

Cover Illustration

Kathy Riethmeier

Circulation Department LesTorok, Manager; Hun-sik Kim, Shipping; Monica Burrell. Subscriptions; live Gowdey, Dealer Sales; Doug Millison, Dealer Sales; Bmndt/KIingle. Circulation Consultants.

Accounting Department V.J. Briggs, Manager; B a; nda Oliver, Accounts Receivable; Lorcne Kaatz, Credit Manager; Andrew Pope. Customer Service, Reniilers.

Marketing Gar>' Yost, Manager, Marketing Services; Steve Randall, Advertising Sales Director; Harvey Bernstein, Advertising Sales ; Garland As- sociates, East Coast Representative.

Maria E. Chavez, Receptionist

General Offices (-415) 95^-0886

Advertising Sales (-ilS) 661-3400

Credit Card Suhscripticms

outside Califoniia (800) 22~-!6n ext. /J.J

inside California (800) ^^2:i5-i5 ext. IJ3

Subscription Problems (-US) 39^-1881

May !9K5. Volume 4. NiimlKT 1. Antic— ^riie Atari Resource is published twelve times per year by Antic Publishing. Utiitorial offices are located at 52-i Second Street, San Francisco. CA 9410"'. ISSN 0745-2527. Second Class Postage paid at San Francisco, California and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address ch:ingc to Antic, 524 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94107.

Fditorial submissions sbould include prognim listing on disk or cassette, and text file on media and paper if text was prepared with a word processor. Media will be returned if self-addressed stamped mailer is supplied. Antic assumes no responsibility for un- solicited editorial material.

\o pan of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by ;iny means, electronic, mechanicai. photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Antic is an independent periodical not affiliated in any way with Atitri Corp. ATARI is a tnidemark of Atari Corp, All references to Atari products are trade- marked and should be so noted.

Antic is a registered trademark of Antic Publishing, Inc.

editorial

0O(?O(?

Top row, left to risht: Andrew Pope, Hun-sik Kim, Lorene Kaatz, Diane Lindley, Dous Millison; Second row from top, left to right: Maria Chavez, Gary Yost, Michael Ciraolo, Brenda Oliver, Marni Tapscott, James Capparell; Second row from bot- tom, left to right: VJ. Briggs, Jack Powell, Linda Tapscott, Charles Jackson; Bottom row, left to right: Les Torok, Steve Randall, Nat Friedland, HaPv/ey Bernstein. Not pictured: Eve Gowdey, Patricia Fostar, Monica Burrell.

m

th this issue of Antic, the magazine starts its fourth year of publica- tion.

The early issues were put out from the kitchen table of a former NASA programmer who had founded ABACUS, the San Francisco Atari Users Group. And the magazine rocketed to continued on page 8

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

J^ ^^^^

THE COMPUTER GAME BY DAVID CRANE

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ING ON A COMPUTER N'

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DON'T MISS IT!

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A C T I V I S I O N ^s^^.''lr.'^A':°':-'^°'' "f" ^^'?'

. Availabl#pn/disk^

HOME COMPUTER SOFTWARE

(800) 633-4263,anytime ofi weekends. „ In California, call (415) 940^6044.

PICTURES INDUSTRIES INC ALL FLIGHTS RESERVED APPLE II IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF APPLE COMPUIFR ATARI' IS A IRADFMARK OF ATARI, INCC 1965 ACTIVI5ION INC

EDITORIAL

continued from page 6

a 120-page monthly with over 100,000 circulation — almost before we had time to stop keeping our records on scraps of paper stuffed into shoeboxes.

In many ways, 1984 was Antic's most challenging year. The micro- computer shakeout hit the market hard. Suddenly many computer stores wouldn't accept Atari products and a number of our steadiest advertisers went out of business. Some of the best-est:iblished computer magazines went under during 1984. Frankly, there were computer business "ex- perts" who wouldn't have been sur- prised to see Antic call it quits too . . .

But the Antic staff is just too inno- vative and dedicated to ever give in to a downturn. We simply tightened our belts and looked for more ways

to work smarter. And now we've come through stronger than ever — as the turnaround of the past few months vindicated all those who believed in the Auiri as the best 8-bit personal computer ever made.

New subscriptions have been pour- ing into Antic at the rate of nearly 1,000 a week. More and more third- party manufacturers who'd turned their backs on Atari are now coming back to show their support in the pages of this magazine. Even more im- portant, Antic has lived up to the pledge wc made to our readers last autumn — to find new ways to fill the vacuum in Atari information and services. . .

You can now read full details of the latest Atari news just hours after it hap- pens, in the ANTIC ONLINE edition on CompuServe. And in only a few short months, the Antic Arcade

catalog has become one of the most important outlets for top-quality Atari books and software — including many of the previously out-of-print APX software classics.

These are only two of the new ser- vices Antic began providing this year; there's also the national directory of authorized Atari service centers, the Worldwide Users Group Network (WUN). . .and more!

So the Antic Third Anniversary arrives right in the middle of our most productive and exciting period ever. Thanks for coming along with us. Antic will have even bigger and bet- ter surprises for you during the rest of 1985!

And you can bet that the best coverage of the new Atari XE and ST computer models will continue to be found right here in these pages!

. . «and we won't take it anymore!

Dear Antic

Attached is a copy of the letter I sent to Broderbund Software expressing my disappointment in their decision not to publish an Atari edition of Cliampionship Loderunner.

I think all Atari owners should unite and start writing letters to software companies to let them know how many of us are out there.

Timothy E Hitchings Staten Island, NY

Mr. Timothy E Hitchings is absolutely right . . . and Antic has received many letters similar to the one above. It's time for Atari owners to demand first- class citizenship in the personal com- puter software world!

Now is the time to take action, be- cause there is no longer the slightest excuse for major software companies to avoid bringing out their hit prod- ucts for the Atari.

Just about half a million Atari

BOOXLs were sold during the 1984 holiday season. In many stores, Atari 1050 disk drives moved out just as fast — as previous owners upgraded to disk.

Fahrenheit 451

Add this to nearly a million previ- ously-sold compatible Atari com- puters and you have a vast user base that does not have to take second place anywhere in the personal com- puter market.

So when YOU see a piece of soft- ware you'd like to buy, and you learn it isn't being released for the Atari,

your next step should be to write a letter to the president of the software company explaining what a big mis- take they are making.

You can usually find the company's address on the software package or on the advertisement for the product. You don't need to look up the name of the person who heads the com- pany—just write PRESIDENT on the envelope above the company name and address. Feel free to enclose a photocopy of this editorial along with your letter, in order to add a second voice to your argument.

On my desk at Antic as I write this, there's a pile of superbly packaged color-graphics adventure software from Spinnaker — all for the Apple and Commodore computers.

Spinnaker's Teralium line (origi- nally called Trillium) features graphic adventure software adapted from famous science fiction books in- cluding Ray Bradbury's Parenheit451, continued on page 10

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

LOTSABYTES CONTINUES THE WAR !

WAR on high prices ! We're going to put an end to the software price 'ripoff . And YOU can help ' Just keep those orders coming while you continue to enjoy the quality, quantity, selection and low prices that you deserve. Our National Public Domain Copy Service will save you time, tedious work, and money. And our exclusive distribution of stiarply discounted commercial programs will bring you some of the finest programs for the lowest possible price, usually 50% and more off retail! You continue to get FREE BONUSES with each purchase of three or more disks.

	PiiRi ir.	DOMAIN SOFTWARE #3 #4 1
#1 ]	#2	#5
GAMES	UTILITIES	AMS MUSIC	GAMES	EDUCATION
Two full disk	25 powerful	25 Advanced	All different <	Loaded with
sides packed	programs to	Musicsystem	14 more	28 programs
with over	help you get	files including	better games	on 2 disk sides
25 games	the most out of	a new Player	on 2 disk	Fun learning
including some	your Atari	program	sides. Some	for the whole
Arcade quality.	computer.	2 sides.	Arcade types.	family.
$7.95	$7.95	$7.95	$7.95	$7.95
#6	#7	#8	#9	#10
AMS MUSIC	GAMES	UTILITIES	GAMES	UTILITIES
25 all-time	Two disk sides	17 more	Two full sides	A new
favorites	packed with	power-packed	filled with	assortment
with a	14 more	utilities to	17 of the	of 17 great
Player	great games.	help unleash	best and	and powerful
program.	Some	full potential	most recent.	programs
Two sides.	Arcade types.	of your Atari.	Some Arcade.	Don't miss it !
S7.95	$7.95	$7.95	$7.95	$7.95
#11	#12	#13	#14	#15
GAMES	ADVENTURES	EDUCATION	AMS MUSIC	UTILITIES
NEW	NEW!	NEW	WE IV,'	NEW!
Our newest.	2 full disk	2 disk sides	2 sides	Another
2 sides	sides	filled with	filled with	assortment
filled with	filled with	something	great music	of fine
great games	text	for	and a player	programs.
	adventures.	everyone.	program.	Not to be missed.
S7.95	$7.95	$7.95	$7.95	$7.95
	LotsaBytes	EXCLUSIVES

ADVANCED MUSICSYSTEM II

by LEE ACTOR Allows you to create music wilh your Atari computer! All new machine code. ' Control over pitch

duration, envelope

dynamic level, meter,

tempo and key

* 4 independent voices

* S'/jioctaves per voice

■ Save up to 8200 notes

* Custom DOS

* FULL instructions

* 24K disk Originally $29.95 Only $14.95

ORIGINAL ADVENTURE

by Bob Howell For all Atari computers. The Original Colossal Cave Adventure faithfully reproduced from the mam-frames'. This IS the one that launched the whole Adventure craze o( today

* Two mazes ' 130 rooms

* Deadly Dragons

■ Nasty Dwarves

■ Tenacious Troll

* The Pirate & Ivlore!

* 86 coded hints

* SAVE RESUME

* 40K disk or 32K tape Originally S24 95 Only $14.95

QUALITY WORD PROCESSING

ESI WRITER ! At last a brand-new Word Processor that has more features and is easier to use than anything else available for the Atari. Easy for the beginner to use, it asks questions and remembers the answers, ESI WRITER is so sophisticated that it has many more features we don't even have room to mention ! Works with ANY Atari.

* Reads any text file * Built in Help screen " Very fast ! " Works with ANY printer

* Instant top, bottom or text location

without scrolling! * Every printer feature * DISK ONLY (Any Atari)

* Search and replace * Block move text "Page eject/start * Set margins/lines etc,

'Full )ustification * Print headers etc.

* Block delete etc. * Change video color

* Over 50 pages of docs and tutorials TRUST US ON THIS ONE! YOU WILL LOVE IT! Originally S49.95 LotsaBytes price $19.95

* * FREE BONUSES * '

Now for each 3 disks ordered you may choose any 1 of the following disks

FREE!! ... buy 3 - get 1, buy 6 - get 2, buy 9 get 3 ...

a. The Atari XL TRANSLATOR DISK that enables XL owners to use most 400/800 software. FREE!!

— or —

b. An all different AMS MUSIC disk with Player. FREE!!

—or —

c. Your choice of one of the P.D. disks -- Kl. b2, (f3, #4. #5. #6, #7, #8, «9. or ((10 (specify one) FREE!!

MUSIC MAJOR!

Learn the basics of music with this light- hearted but very thorough approach. Covering such topics as note recognition, key signatures, note counting, and much more, it is designed for use by both the individual student and music class. This program includes a thoroughly illustrated manual and offers a QUIZ MASTER utility that allows the teacher or the self-taught student to create their own A-B-C-D type tests, with a sample quiz included. Originally $39.95 Only $14.95

GREAT GAMES!

SPACE GAMES: Three games for one low price!. In Aliens you can't get them all and the pace keeps getting faster. When you do get rid of most of them, you are left in a space quadrant peppered with mines. Will you Survive? If you do, you must penetrate the alien's spaceship, survive a Robot Attack, and get back your stolen 'cloaking' device! Interested? S24.95 list LotsaBytes price: $9.95

THE BEAN MACHINE by Steve Robinson IS an Award Winning Arcade game that will drive you crazy balancing a series of beams while trying to get all the beans to roll down, without touching, all the while avoiding strange creatures' who drop in to steal the beans. It's addicting! 524,95 list LotsaBytes price: $9.95

DIGGERBONK, another Award Winning game by Steve Robinson, challenges you to find your way through a continuously scrolling maze while avoiding some really strange creatures. Along the way you will need to Bonk some of them, but watch out for the bombs. S24.95 list LotsaBytes price: $9.95

GUESS WHAT'S COMING TO DINNER

lets you try to manuever a snake through 7 levels if you can keep it from starving or being electrocuted. Lots of surprises! One or two players. S24.95 list LotsaBytes price: $9.95

CREATIVE LEARNING ADVENTURES

Ages 4 to 10 — Disk only

1. Hours of educational fun playing 3 exciting creative adventures with a friendly alien learning about our planet Earth. Hand/eye co-ordination, drawing, and music skills are emphasized. $24.95 list LotsaBytes price: $12.95

2. Four challenging learning games that are the favorites of our friendly alien. Helps your child to develop logical reasoning ability.

$24.94 list LotsaBytes price: $12.95

3. These 3 Fun-Day learning games will help with intellectual development, hand.'eye co-ordination, logic, spatial, and analytical abilities.

$24.95 list LotsaBytes price: $12.95

LotsaBytes

Full 100". ReplacomenI guaranlee.Any disk found to be iJereclive will be replaced free and we will also relund your return postage. All orders shipped by First Class U.S. Mail. Add SI .95 s flipping and handling for 1 to 5 disks. Add S2.95 for 6 to 12 disks. California residents add 6' n sales lax. Outside of U.S.A. and Canada add 15".. U.S. Funds only. We accept checks or Money Orders. Sorry, no COD or Charge Cards. Allow three weeks for personal checks to Clear.

15445 Ventura Blvd., Suite 10G, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413

Aliiii 13 ihu iL-yisleted Uademriik o( Alnn, Coip

ly^y ^9^9cllQ ^Qfl!^^^H

EDITORIAL

continued from page 8

Amazon Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama and Michael Crichton's Amazon.

The Windham Classics line from Spinnaker presents interactive graphic software adaptations of some of the best-known children's books. In this series are Swiss Fatnily Robinson, Treasure Island, Alice In Wonder- land and Below The Root.

But at this writing, Spinnaker says it won't release any of these products for the Atari.

If this makes YOU a little angry, then it would be a good idea to write a letter to:

William H. Bowman

Spinnaker Software

One Kendall Square

Cambridge, MA 02139

Antic will continue to report on this situation until all import;int soft- ware companies stop short-changing Atari owners.

Please feel free to send Antic copies of your letters to software companies — and let us know about an}- responses you get from the com- panies. This will help us keep everybody informed about the latest victories and opposition in this on- going struggle.

James Capparell Publisher

MODIFICATIONS AND KUDOS FOR TYPO II

Congratulations on your error checking program, TYPO II. It is short, fast and a great help in accurately typing your listings.

Here are a couple of modifications. For those of us with BASIC XL or an auto- numbering program, typing in the line numbers is not considered a life enriching experience. The following changes let you step through each program line by typing an asterisk and [RETURN] .

Tliis causes each succeeding program line to be listed and automatically checked, making it possible to type the program with an auto-numbering routine, and then check it without ever typing in a line number

Even if you don't use auto-numbering, these changes will make it a lot pleasanter for you to step through the lines of a previously t>ped jirogram that you're modif)'ing.

Line 32210 is changed to make the two- letter codes appear in white, as they do in the magazine. HG 32025 K=PEEKC1363+PE

EKtl375»256 FM 32065 IF LIMES = "'»" T HEN GOSUB 32230 :POSI TIOM 2. 4: LIST B : POKE 764, 12: GOTO 32068 FY 32218 POSITION 0,16: ? CHHS tHCODE+128J ;CH HSCLCODE+128) EI 32238 B=PEEKCKJ ♦PEEK CH-^1J»256: IF B = 32000 THEN POP :GOTO B Fft 32240 H=K+PEEK(K+2J : RETURN

Patrick Dell'Era Fairfax, CA

HELP FOR PROGRAMS

How can I incorporate the "help" key on ni)' Atari into my utility programs? Greg Lyies Rosemead, CA To clear the HELP key, POKE 732,0. To read that key, PEEK (732). A 17 represents the HELP key, an 81 represents SHIFT- HELP, ami a 145 means CONTROL-HELP. -ANTIC ED

TRAK REPAIRS

When my Trak disk drive went on the blink, I was somewhat upset to find that the company had gone out of business. But after a call to Computer Palace in Oregon — where I bought my drive through an Antic mail-order ad — I found I could get my Trak repaired by Electronic Connexion, 424 E. Stroop Road, Ketter- ing, Ohio 45429. You can phone them between 11-3 eastern time at (513) 294-0212.

Please print this information in your great magazine as a service to other Trak owners.

■William R. Goslin Grand Isle, LA

BEATING THOSE FOOTBALL BLUES

A February, 1985 I/O letter asked about football handicapping programs. Several football statistical and prediction programs can be found in "BASIC Betting: the Micro- computer Edge," by James Jasper ($9.95, St. Martin's Press, NY). It covers baseball, basketball, football, and horseracing. It was intended for the Apple originally, but it should be possible to rewrite these pro- grams for the Atari.

L. Allen Hummer Fa)'etteville, PA

SEARS MONITOR GHOST

When Antic reviewed the Sears $349.99 Proformance TV/Monitor in our

December 1985 Buyer's Guide, we wrote that it had a distracting color ghost when used as an At;iri monitor At the time, local Sears spokesmen assured us that the prob- lem was a unique glitch in the unit we had borrowed for review.

As a result of monitoring the Compu- Serve Atari SIG, Antic has now discovered that the problem is far more widespread. One electronically oriented SIG member wrote that when he looked inside his Sears TV/Monitor he felt that its composite video mode circuitry (needed by the Atari) seemed like a quick add-on x.o what was essentially an RGB monitor intended for IBM-type computers. —ANTIC ED

10

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

^ I/O board

WRONG NUMBER

One of the BBS numbers Antic downloaded from the Boise Users' Group and reprinted unchanged in the February 1985 issue was incorrect. Please do NOT call the (601) 388-3940 number in Missis- sippi— it does not belong to a bulletin board. -ANTIC ED

JOYSTrCK SPRAYPAINTER

I found "Spraypainter" (Antic, October, 1984) a little slow, so I converted it to AC- TION! and installed an on/off routine with the joystick to make it more usable. Here

it is:

BYTE y.s.i.yl,

eliw= C25] ,

of5=[5] CARD x.xl

PROC InittJ

Graphics t8 + 1.6J

Sexc o 1 or C2 * O , 03 color = l

Plot £180, 108J

x=108 y=188 RETURN

PROC JoystickCJ s = St:icl< C83 IF 5<8 AND x<313

THEN x=x+l FI IF s>8 AND S015 AND x>6

THEN x=x-l FI IF Cs/4J»4=s-l AND y<183

THEN y=y*l FI IF ts/2J*t2 = s AND y>6

THEN y=y-l FI IF S-trigtaj>8 THEN

Plottx.yj color=:0

plotcx,y3 color=l

RETURN FI

FOR i=l -to 4 DO

>;l = x*Peek 1537783 /di v-o fs

yl = y + Peel< 1537783 /diw-ofs

Plot txl,yl3 OD RETURN

PROC Spray t3

Inir t3

DO

joystick t3

OD RETURN

William Bennett San Antonio, TX

EXPANDED CPU? NO.

Is it possible to put a CPU expander bus into my 1200XL?

Greg Metallmos

Winnipeg, MB We checked ivith Bill Wilkinson, who tells us that putting a bus expander on the 1200XL is out of the question for all but the most experienced electronics techni- cian. Even if you could, it wouldn 't he cn>n[)atible with any other model without some very expensive conversion hard- ware and difficult-to-write software, says Bill, adding "Forget if. "-ANTIC ED.

TWO-FACED FLOPPIES

Can you notch a single-sided disk and use the other side? If so, will it cause any harm?

Ra)'mond Moody Fort Ord, CA /. Yes . . . Notching a disk is easy — you can just use a regular hole punch. To he sure of putting the notch in the right spot, bold an already-notched disk behind the disk you 're punching.

2. Possibly . . . You run a slight risk in using the floppy sflip side. A disk drive's read/write head presses the bottom of a disk against a felt pad. Pieces of dirt or metal could get stuck in the pad and scratch the "A" side of your disk if you 're recording on the second side. However, at Antic we routinely use both sides of disks all the time and haven 't lost any files yet. It's up to you if you 're willing to take even a tiny risk tvith your disk data.

-ANTIC ED

CHIPS, CHIPS,

EVERYWHERE CHIPS

What can you tell me about the Western Design Center's OXl-CMOS W65SC802 CPU or related chips? It is supposedly a 16-bit processor compatible with existing 6502 applications. The chip is compatible, pin for pin, with the 6502 used in Ataris. Mike Rutledge El Segundo, CA We checked with Charles Cheiry, of Technical Support in Daly City, ivho sup-

plied the following information and short history of the .Atari 6 502. -ANTIC ED

The Atari 400 and 800 use the 6502B, a faster version of the original 6502 inicro- processor The 6OOXL and 8()0XL use the 6502c, a substantially different chip that incorporates support functions that, in the days of the 6502A, were contained on separate chips. A further consolidation of support chips led to the 6510, which may be used in the new XK C(jmputers.

There are three other interesting chips in the 6502 family.

The 65C02 (a plug-in replacement in the Atari 400 and 800) offers the increased reliability, decreased power consumption and heat generation, and better heat im- munity of CMOS. It also has new machine language instructions and addressing modes, which are supported b)' the MAC/65 assembler cartridge from O.S.S.

The other two chips are 8-bit and 16-bit processors based on the 6502. The 8-bit W65SC8()2 has new instructions and ad- dressing modes. It appears to ha\'e the same new capabilities as the 65C()2, and may work with MAC/65.

The 16-bit W65SC8I6 chip probably won't work with the Atari because of the pin arrangement. Q

help! h

ADVENT X-5 AGAIN

We have found that even with the miss- ing line (8020 RUN) included, readers are having problems with ADVF^NT X-5. Take a close look at line 1005: the third inverse P in the second line is lower-case, and the thirteenth character in the second line (just before the inverse f) is a C;rRl.-B. -ANTIC ED

PENCILS ON DISK

Antic omitted to put "Pencils" onto the March disk, as we had promised on the microscreens pages. So the nifty GTIA image by Gregg Tavares will appear on the disk for the next issue. —ANTIC ED Q

May 1985

11

* * • • ••

*•*•**

* • * • *,.^c

• * • ^-^"

^^l

\u~

MEN, aVa rlBIItEH-HaMIEIIS.

tfLnven SEm sneeitdaB iHB

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w

iw "mxr eEHEMTior of snunGV siMuunoHS. THIS TIME YOU ARE IN COMMAND!

Are you a Great Strategist like Eisenhower, Patton, or Montgomery?? Or couid YOU hove done better?? Now you can find out by stepping intoltiettiriii and excitement ot some of history's greatest events! I "Crusade in Europe" and "Decision In ttie Deserf', from MicroProse, take you there — from D-Doy to the "Baffle of the Bulge", to El Aiomei n. All flie "Command Series" products provide challenge and excitement in historically accurate and easy to play strategic simulations. And, Best of All, you'll be in the ttiick of the action in minutes even if you hove never played a sti'afeglc simulation before!!

"Command Series" simulations require both careful strategic thinking and fast responses to rapidly changing battlefield conditions. These simulations occur in accel- erated real time, with action taking place continuously— just like real bottles!! No slow plodding action here!! These outstanding simulations featijre coiorlui animated graphics, great sound effects, and a new, quick and easy-to-use command system to enter commands using a joystick or ttie keyboard. "Command Series" simulations allow solo play from eittier side's perspective or exciting direct competition between two opposing Generals. The computer handles all ttie rules, provides play balancing, and even ttie ability to change sides in ttie middle of ttie game! Ottier feotijres include multiple scenarios ft'om a single screen mission to an in-deptti campaign using a ten-screen scrolling map, sfrategic maps, gome save, and a unique "flashback" ftjncflon.

"Crusade in Europe: D-Day tottie Battle of the Bulge" and "Decision in flie Desert: Norfli Africa 1 940-1 942" establish a new standard of quality ond playability in sfrategic simulation design. At a suggested retoi I price of $39.95, tiiey are an exfraordinary vdlueaswell!

SEE YOUR LOCAL RETAILER for "Crusade in Europe" and

"Decision in ttie Desert". Available for Commodore-64, Apple, Atari, and IBM computers. For more information on all MicroProse products call or write.

Experience the reality of

theee oti-ier grea-fc simulations

from MicroProse:

MicroProse Software

The Action is Simulated — the Excitement is REAL!! 301-667-1151

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As close to Itie Real

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Challenging and Exciting

Air Combat from the Modern Electronic Cockpit! I

Exciting Speech and Graphic AirTrafflc Control Action!!

Oonnmodore-64, Atari, IBM, and Apple are registered trademarle of Commodore Business Machines, Inc., Atari Inc., Intemational Business Machines Inc., and Apple Computer Inc., respectively.

■H

!W«i

communications

TSCOPE AUTODIALER

Automatic los-on program

by CHARLES JACKSON, Antic Program Editor

TSCOPE, by Joe Miller is a well- known public domain program. It enables owners of the Atari 1030 or 835 modem — or most modems that work with the Atari 850 interface — to upload and download either binary or ASCII files on the CompuServe SIG Atari.

(TSCOPE is available on the An- tic 1030/835 Telecommunications Disk, PD025 in the Antic Catalog. -ANTIC ED)

TSCOPE Autodialer is a fast and foolproof way to log onto Compu- Serve automatically. You just boot your TSCOPE disk and sit back while TSCOPE Autodialer types in your CompuServe phone number, your User ID and your password.

When TSCOPE starts, it looks for a file named AUTODIAL.SYS which contains a simple set of log-on in- structions. AUTODIAL.SYS is optional and doesn't come included with most versions of the TSCOPE program. You must create your own.

GETTING STARTED

TSCOPE Autodialer will create an

A short, iiiitoniiitic loi^-on /)n)i^ra}n for TSCOPT. the l)o[>iilar public do- main telvcoDiiniiniaitioiis l)rogmni. It will run on any Atari coni/)utcr tvith a disk drive. Works icilli any TSCOPE compatible nnxlciii. in- cluding the Atari I030 & 835.

AUTODIAL.SYS file for you. Type in Listing 1, checking it with TYPO II, and SAVE a copy to disk.

Wlien you RUN the program, it will ask you for the phone number to dial, your access number (User ID), and your password. When you've entered this information, place your TSCOPE disk into the drive and press [START] to write the file. If you haven't already renamed your TSCOPE.OBJ file AUTORUN.SYS, the program will re- mind you to do so.

TSCOPE Autodialer creates an AUTODIAL.SYS file which might look something like:

555-1234

AC]:98765.4321

]: SECRET PASSWORD

The first line contains the phone number to be dialed. Hyphens, paren- theses and blank spaces are ignored by TSCOPE.

The second line begins with A C — the code for [CONTROL] [C], The right-bracket symbol "]" after the "C" stands for "wait". This tells the autodialer to wait for a prompt before continuing.

With our sample AUTODIAL.SYS file, TSCOPE would dial 555-1234 (ignoring the hyphen) and wait for a connection. Then your autodialer would issue a [CONTROL] [C] code and wait for the colon [:] at the end of the User ID: prompt. When the autodialer receives this colon, it enters your access number.

The colon on the last line of the AUTODIAL.SYS file tells the autodialer to wait for the next colon — the one at the end of the Password: prompt. It then enters your password.

continued on next pase

May 1985

13

communications

MAKING CHANGES

There are many ways to modify your autodialer. If you wanted to automatically visit the ANTIC ONLINE service, for instance, you would add this line to your AUTODIAL.SYS file:

a]!GO ANTIC

This instruction tells the autodialer to wait for an exclamation point prompt, then type the GO ANTIC command.

PASSWORD PROTECTION

Though TSCOPE Autodialer is the quickest way to log-on to Com- puServe, it lacks some security. Anyone who can load a disk and turn on a modem could gain access to your CompuServe account. So always keep your autodialing TSCOPE disk in a safe place. Listing on pase 80.

In April, type GO AN'l'IC as soon as you log onto CompuSciTe. You'll be able to read Antic's immediate on- the-spot coverage of Atari news from the 1985 West Coast Computer Faire, which took place from March 30 to April 2.

ANTIC ONUNE will also give you a full prc\'iew of the stories and pro- grams in the next Antic Magazine — the June Computer Arts issue.

You'll even see a major excerpt from the upcoming issue's featured article. This time it's a look at two breakthrough music products — an Atari MIDI controller that emulates a l6-track digital recording studio, and a real-time music generator that

lets >ou impro\ise four-part compo- sitions at the Atari keyboard.

Each month ANTIC ONLINE brings \-ou the very latest At:iri in- formation long before it can appear in any magazine. Erom most areas there are no long distiince chiirges for this service, so it does not cost you anything more than the stiin- dard (x)mpuServe onUne time charge

The ANTIC ONLINE special bul- letins may be downloaded for re- printing in newsletters of users groups affiliateti with the Antic Worldwide 1 sers Network. Officers of Atari users groups may write to Antic for details about WUN affiliatit)!!.

Next Month in

■■^!'i|||F IIP'!

The ATARI" Resource

JUNE COMPUTER ARTS ISSUE

HIGH-POWERED ARTS PROGRAMS^ INCLUDING:

• Graphics Utility Package Super-fast BASIC drawing commands

• 3-D ACTION! Rotate your 3-D picture in speedy ACTION!

• The Musician

Type-In "Music Construction"

Tlirn Your Atari® Into A BANJO • WEAVING LOOM • PIANO • COLOR PALETTE • GUITAR

• MIDI Meets The Atari

Using the Atari to control a 16-track digital recording studio

• Mr. SIG* ATARI

Ron Lul<s, sysop of the largest Atari BBS

':^-(:ir^?^;-.^^^'^^r:r.:r^^^'^^:r^<]^:'y^'c::^^<:^i:^%^!c^^

14

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

»>

^o

/I WORD PROCESSING PROGRAM \ AN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT program:

A TELECOMMUNICATIONS program:

ALL THREE PROGRAMS, ON ONE DISKETTE!, FOR ONLY $49.95 *!

"Quite simply the best! The highest rating possible. . . the package should be part of every (computer) library."— analog computing

"Russ Wetmore has done an EXCELLENT job! The program is flexible, powerful and very easy to use. $49.95 buys a heck of a lot of program."— review by arthur leyenberger

"Performance: ir • • ir (Excellent) Value :ir • • ir (Excellent) This three-in-one package is a bargain . . . one of the finest values on the market. "

*V

HOMETEXT word processor.

HOMEFIND INFORMATION MANAGER.

HOMETERM telecommunications

Together they are HotnePak: the three most important and most useful home computer applica- tions in one integrated system — on one diskette!

The reviewers are unanimous: any one of these programs alone is well worth the price. So you're getting three times the computing power, with this exceptionally easy to use package:

• all commands in simple English; no complex

computer jargon, no obscure instructions •all key commands are immediately available on the screen menu; additional commands can be called up for the more experienced user •to help you, system status is displayed right

on the screen And it's easy to use the three programs together. For example, in the ''Merge" mode, you can take data stored in HOMEFIND and print letters and labels using HOMETEXT. Or, use HOMETEXT to write reports based on information you've called up via HOMETERM.

FAMILY COMPUTING

BATreRies

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BATTERIES '^ INCLUDED

m ^

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WRITE FOR A FULL COLOR BROCHURE

•MANUFACTURERS SUGGESTED U.S. LIST PRfCE

EACH COMPUTER SYSTEM MAV REQUIRE ACCESSORY DEVICES SUCH AS MODEMS. PRINTERS OR CARDS TO UTILIZE SPECIFIC FEATURES OF HOMEPAK, SEE YOUR DEALER FOR DETAILS 1 19B4 BATTERIES INCLUDED. ATARI, APPLE. COMMODORE AND IBM ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF ATARI CORP, APPLE INC., COMMODORE BUSINESS MACHINES AND IBM BUSINESS MACHINES INC., RESPECTIVELY

ANTIC BOOKSHELF

Reviewed by CHARLES JACKSON and MICHAEL CIRAOLO

Book of Adventure Games

by Kim Schuette

$19.95

344 pages, paperbound

Cheating is expensive. In this case, it will cost you about $20 to obtain maps and cheat sheets for most ex- isting adventure games.

Of course, it might well be worth $20 to avoid those sleepless hours, as you pull out your hair and wonder how to get past that bear or enter those massive doors in your favorite adventure game.

Whether you want to use such a cheat book is your business. But if you do, you'll find this an excellent guide.

Maps and solutions reflect actual gaming experience and include ap- propriate editorial comments. The maps are well drawn and clearly presented. However, in our random sampling of game clues, some maps contained minor, but frustrating in- accuracies. Clues are provided as needed, in the form of numbered notes. These clues are in a separate section at the end of the book, so it is possible to just peek at that one answer you absolutely cannot figure out.

Each game also comes with publisher information, suggested retail price, description and brief review, necessary menus and character charts.

The Book of Adventure Games covers over 75 titles, most of which were designed for the Apple. But 42 are available for the Atari, including all Infocoms except the very latest, the Ultima series, the Adventure Inter- national catalog, Gruds in Space, Ulysses, Wizard and the Princess, and most other favorites.

This book is published by Arrays, Inc., 11223 South Hindry Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90045.

Atari Graphics & Arcade Game Design

by Jeffrey Sumton with Dan Pinal

$16.95

479 pages paperbound

Atari Graphics and Arcade Game Design

z

Atari Graphics & Arcade Game Design was written for intermediate BASIC programmers ready to master the Atari at a higher level.

This is not a book for beginners who think a "Sprite" is something that goes well with a hot dog and a "redefined character" is a fellow who's had a spiritual experience.

The early chapters deal with display lists, character set graphics and ANTIC and GTIA gi-iphics modes. Several short BASIC program listings are included to illustrate key points in the text.

In a gentle introduction to Assembly Language, a BASIC version of a "Breakout " game is taken apart and its subroutines are explained. En- suing chapters compare each sub- routine to equivalent assembly lan- guage macros. By the time you're through, you should be a lot closer to designing and writing your own machine language arcade games.

Although the assembler listings are written in S)'nassembler, the book has a comparison table to help you trans- late the Synassembler code to Atari Assembler Editor, MAC/65, Atari Macro Assembler or Eastern House.

(This book is available by mail from the Antic Catalog bound into this issue of the magazine.)

16

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

Atari Color Graphics

by Joseph W. Collins

S12.95

202 pages paperbound

Atari Color Graphics: A Begin- ner's Workbook is a useful introduc- tion to 14 Atari BASIC graphics modes. These include the three GTIA modes and two modes (Graphics 14 and Graphics 15) unique to XL computers.

If you're a beginning programmer, you'll want to keep your BASIC reference manual close at hand, since the workbook only describes BASIC graphics commands.

Each workbook chapter introduces a different style of computer graphics, including high, low and medium resolution modes; single and multi- color modes; the GTIA modes and three text modes.

The book contains many illustra- tions and dozens of short type-in pro- grams that demonstrate key points in each chapter New BASIC program- mers ready to add interesting graphics routines to their programs should start with this book.

(This book is available by maO from the Antic Catalog bound into this issue of the magazine.)

Both graphics books reviewed here are published by Arrays, Inc./The Book Division, 11223 South Hindry Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90045.

1, 2, 3, My Computer & Me! A Logo Funbook For Kids (Atari version)

by Jim Muller and the staff of the

Young Peoples' Logo Association.

$12.95

111 pages paperbound

Here is one of the finest Logo workbooks available for children. Armed with this book, young people unfamiliar with Logo will quickly have turtles dancing on their screen. Later chapters explore recursion, music, writing and editing procedures and using the Logo shape editor.

Children will enjoy this lively and instructive book. It is filled with dozens of colorful and enjoyable Logo procedures to try. Parents and teachers will appreciate 1, 2, 3 because every lesson encourages children to use ex- perimentation, imagination and intui- tion to solve programming puzzles.

Logo Fun

by Pat Parker and Teresa Kennedy.

$5.95

112 pages paperbound

This Logo tutorial simultaneously describes versions of the language for Atari, Texas Instruments, and two Apple variants. Consequently, you must be familiar with the Atari Logo user's guide before you read Logo Fun. Without this knowledge, de- bugging your Logo procedures soon becomes a frustrating nightmare.

Logo Fun contains a wide assort- ment of tiny procedures which draw attractive patterns on the screen. Several of these designs are presented in an eight-page color section in the middle of the book.

The authors invite you to use their book like an encyclopedia — to "flip back and forth, or check the index to find what you need." Unfortunately there is no index, and "flipping back and forth" soon becomes a time- consuming chore.

Both Logo books reviewed above are from Reston Publishing Company, 11480 Sunset Hills Road, Reston, VA 22090. (800) 336-0338.

n

LOOKING FOR STRATEGY

FOR YOUR ATARIl

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NATO DEFENSE

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REFORGER'88

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GALACTIC ADVENTURES

mm-

YOU'VE JUST FOUND SIX OF THE BEST

OBJECTIVE: KURSK~ is the grand-tactical simulation of the southern half of the Bat- te of Kursk - the largest tank battle of World War II. Consider its scope: 12 Gennan divisions and 9 Soviet corps - a sum total of more than 4000 tanks! It is the first com- puter game ever to resolve such a massive battle down to every tank, every gun, every infantry squad! $39.95.

REFORGER '88". Once every year, NATO embarks on "Reforger," a military exercise that tests its ability to transport American reinforcements from the U.S. to Frankfurt during a simulated Soviet strike of West Germany Now, REFORGER '88 makes the" simulation available to every ardent war- gamer The Fulda Gap is chosen as the focal point of the Russian attack in this grand-tactical wargame. $59.95.

All sames are on 4SK disk except for 50 MISSION

CRUSH (40K disk).

ATARI*' is a registered trademark of Atari, Inc.

COMPUTER AMBUSH" Is a gut-wrenching simulation of man-to-man combat in the middle of a half-ruined French town during World War II. You play a squad sergeant (U.S. or German) in command of nine other infantrymen. Each man has a name, indi- vidual combat skills, even a personal back- ground! The fighting is so fast, so real and intense, you'll experience the sweat and death of war! $59.95.

COMPUTER BASEBALL". Voted "1982 BEST COMPUTER SPORTS GAME" by Electronic Games Magazine, Computer Baseball " lets you manage any NL or AL team of past and present. All the options of a real manager are at your disposal. You can even make up your own imaginary teams! $39.95.

STRATEGIC SIMULATIONS INC

50 MISSION CRUSH- As the pilot of a Worid War II B-17 bomber in this role- playing game, can you survive 50 danger- ous but exciting raids over France and Germany to earn the crushed cap of a true veteran? Find out as you travel back to 1942 as part of the 8th Air Force Bomb- er Group. $39.95.

GALACTIC ADVENTURES", a science-fiction role-playing, tactical combat, adventure game, will transport you literally out of this world — to a spaceport of a strange planet. You must acquire cqmbat exper- ience and advanced skills before you can fly off to different worlds in search of treasures and to do battle against alien monsters. You can even create yourvery own adventures. $59.95.

Look for these games at your local com- puter/software or game store today!

If there are no convenient stores near you, VISA & M/C holders can order direct by calling 800-227-161 7, ext 335 toll free. (800-772-3545, ext. 335 In California.) To order by mail, send your check to; Strategic Simulations Inc, 883

Stierlin Road, BIdg. A-200, Mountain View, CA 94043. Please include $2.00 for shipping & handling. (California residents, add 6.5% sales tax.) All SSI games carry a 14-day "satisfaction or your money back" guarantee.

FOR ALL SSI GAMES, WRITE FOR YOUR FREE COPY OF OUR COLOR CATALOG.

a

4jy

the \< <

^

Guide

^ \^ <■ '" 0 ^

to the

^L ^^ ^ e know how to get the

% J^ # Babel Fish. But don't

^^^^ ask us. We won't tell y y you. And Don't Panic, the clue is right there in the game.

We're talking about Infocom's new text adventure, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, based upon the first of that insanely funny series of books by British author and ex- bodyguard Douglas Adams. If you haven't read the book, please do. It will definitely help you in the game.

For those culturally deprived mem- bers of our audience, the game gener- ally follows the cult-classic book although Adams did write extensive (and very funny) new material for the adventure.

The excitement opens as you awake to a hangover in your bed in Cotting- ton, England. Playing the part of Arthur Dent, hapless earthling, you must quickly come to terms with existence . . .

Your house is about to be demol- ished to make way for a highway bypass. No matter, really. The earth is about to be destroyed by a Vogon Constructor Fleet to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

But wait! There's more! Infocom takes YOU, the feckless adventurer, to

May 1985

Reviewed by JACK POWELL and MICHAEL CIRAOLO O

worlds beyond imagination: "Welfare planets ruled by dry-cleaning estab- lishments, where even the most basic of human necessities are provided a day late and with too much starch." And so on.

Face it — this is not your run-of-the- mill text adventure. If you're going to survive, you'll need your trusty Hitch- hikers Guide (built into the game) and a towel! Be warned: Despite its "stan- dard level" rating, this is the most challenging game we've seen from Infocom. (Have YOU gotten the Babel Fish or bested the Ravenous Bug- Blatter Beast of Traal?)

The puzzles are tough, but they follow a certain capricious, twisted in- ternal logic. As we played, we en- countered repeated dead ends. When we finally discovered the answers, we found the solution was logical and often accompanied by previous clues.

In fact, if you stumble around enough in certain problem areas, the computer will eventually throw in a hint.

The best way to understand this British whimsy is to read and enjoy Adams' books or possibly the works of Lewis Carroll.

This extraordinary game is the result of an unusual partnership.

Adams, who is a long-time fan of Info- com games, approached the company with the possibility of doing a game based on his book. He teamed up with Steven Meretzky, the award- winning author of Infocom's Sorcerer and Planetfall.

The result is a step forward from Infocom's safe, established approach to game design. It is a break from the tradition of event-specific mysteries and plotless underground dungeons. The style of writing is distinct and tangible — really the first stylistic departure since the classic Zork trilogy.

Tips for novices: play the game with a grizzled Infocom adventurer OR a crazed Hitchhikers fan.

And now, we now have a confes- sion to make. We had planned on get- ting this review into print at least a month ago, but we hoped to finish the game first. Alas, we simply haven't been able to get past the Screening Door So, if anyone out there has a clue. . .

This text adventure is available from Infocom, Inc., 55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, phone (617) 492-1031. $34.95, 48K-disk. wm

19

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GEM of ATARI

More than pretty icons/

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hen Jack Tramiel an- nounced that the new l6-bit STs would use the GEM operating environ- ment, he joined Atari to one of the most innovative lines of research in computer history.

During the 1970s a group of digital visionaries gathered at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) to ex- plore how computers should relate to people. They wanted to teach "people literacy" to computers instead of com- puter literacy to people.

It is already hard to remember how difficult it used to be to operate com- puters. You literally needed a com- puter science degree to use them. But video screens and electronic key-

boards replaced punch cards and teletypewriters in the '70s. And in those new video terminals, the PARC dreamers saw the future ... A video screen could show anything, and a picture could replace a thousand words.

IDEA PICTURES

The icon was born, a picture of an idea. Like international traffic signs, an icon can communicate more quickly and more vividly than words. A file cabinet represents a database, a piece of paper stands for a word pro- cessor, a disk means DOS. Since icons can be small and simple, many can be put on the screen without confusion. You can see all of the available options

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simulaneously. All you need to do is select among them.

But how do you select an icon? The gang at PARC tried everything, key- boards, touch tablets, light pens, joysticks and finally a mouse. The mouse was their choice — simple, natural and intuitive.

There was one more element to in- vent, a visual metaphor for the way you use a program. As you do various things in a program the entire screen keeps changing. For instance, if you want to change the skill level of the game you are playing, the playfield disappears and the option screen ap- pears.

But the PARC researchers thought this was wrong. You should not have to jump around in a program, the pro- gram should come to you. Hence the idea of windows. A portion of the playfield would open up and reveal enough information for you to make your choice, while the rest of the game is still visible behind the choices.

PARC TO MAC

These visions led Xerox to build the dream machine called Star It was wonderful and elegant and over $20,000 — much too expensive for the 1981 market.

Steve Jobs of Apple got access to look around inside PARC and a year later Apple's Lisa came out. Priced

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around $10,000, it did not sell very well either. But it attracted lots of attention. Then Apple tried again with the Macintosh, which was originaUy priced at $2,495. The PARC vision was finally within reach of the general public.

In the above three computers, both software and hardware systems were custom designed as one complex unit. But underneath the spectacular screens were ordinary computers. The hardware had the same input and output requirements, the same memory management problems. The PARC graphics environment was simply an overlay — which in theory could work with any operating system on any computer.

The challenge of creating a single graphics environment overlay which would be compatible with many dif- ferent computers was taken up by Digital Research, Inc. of Monterey, continued on next page

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INSIDE GEM

GEM works by setting up an imagi- nary all-purpose input-output graphics device, called a Virtual Device Interface (VDI). All graphics I/O is sent through it. This will sound familiar to programmers who have used the Atari CIO. The GEM VDI and IBM both follow the emerging American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard of a memory location grid 32K wide and 32K high.

Real-world devices, such as monitor screens, touch tablets, graphics printers, plotters, and mice are usually much smaller. The ANSI stiindard requires the necessary scal- ing be done by the application pro- gram or the device handler (they call them device drivers), guaranteeing compatability over a wide variety of actual devices. GEM calls this the Nor- malized Device Coordinates mode.

GEM supports another VDI mode called Raster Coordinates (RC). This allows you to map the actual device coordinates over a portion of the VDI. It was designed with monitor screens in mind and permits addressing pix- els directly, just like bit-mapped graphics. RC allows multiple screens to be created within the 32K by 32K VDI grid. You can then switch be- tween them.

The GEM VDI supports over 50 functions. These are like the XIO functions and the AUXl and AUX2 bytes in the Atari CIO. They handle setup of devices with defaults, graphic primitives like lines, polygons, ellipses, arcs, and others. They con- trol color registers, Une style, character fonts and cursor forms. They also sup- port bit block transfers (which per-

California. DRI had developed the first microcomputer operating system, CP/M. Now they produced the Graphics Environment Manager, GEM.

Although it may well run on other operating systems in the future, GEM is currently available for IBM PC-DOS, and for the closely related MS-DOS and Concurrent DOS.

GEM MEETS ATARI

GEM has now also been chosen for the upcoming Atari ST computers. It will work with the new TOS operating system, which is a close relative of DRI's CP/M.

In the Atari STs, the GEM overlay, the TOS operating system, and the device drivers including hard disk, floppy disk, Centronics parallel, and RS232C serial are all to be contained in 192K of ROM . That means when you turn on your ST it is ready to work immediately and none of your RAM has disappeared.

GEM does more than make com- puters easy to understand and use, with flashy icons and drop-down menus. It also supports multi-tasking. That means that you can run several programs at the same time and easily pass information between them. It is what we all thought computers could do before we got one.

GEM's powerful graphic capabili- ties are available to application soft- ware, so terrific drawing programs and spectacular games should be the order of the day. In the multiple win- dows you could run your word pro- cessor and your spreadsheet at the same time. Programs that we never

dreamed possible will be!

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form logic operations on bytes before moving them) and access to special device capabilities.

BUILT-IN LIBRARY

GEM includes a package of subroutine libraries in the Application Environ- ment Services (AES). These libraries handle the program's interface with GEM, taking care of icon manipula- tion, drop-down menus, windowing, information transfer between applica- tions, and a host of other details. This makes the GEM magic much easier to program. Digital Research also has just finished a GEM Programmer's Toolkit manual to aid in commercial program development.

Because GEM runs on many machines, most notably the IBM, pro- grams are easily moved between operating systems. Consequently, it is believed that high quality IBM pro- grams running under GEM will soon be available on the Atari. But this can work the other way, too. Atari pro- grammers will be able to sell their creations in the IBM market. Finally, Atari owners will get some practical large-scale business programs and IBM owners will get some decent games.

The user interface in computers has come a long way in a very short time. We Atari users have had one of the best all along. GEM will be another giant leap forward.

Charles Cherry is a theatre techni- cian who uses his Atari to generate images for industrial slide shoivs, as a moving message center, as a tele- prompter and as a business machine.

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22

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by MICHA

In case you weren't aware of this, it's a matter of honor at Antic to use only Atari computers in our office. And since we are a publi- cation, word processing software is used around here a lot.

We've noticed there are two schools of thought about word pro- cessing software for the Atari. Atari users who haven't had experience with other makes of computer are reasonably satisfied. But other Atari users who've had some exposure to machines with more of a "business computer" image unfortunately know better. . .

Antic had been using LJK's Letter Perfect as our in-house word proc- essor— although without any great enthusiasm for it.

We'd found Letter Perfect to be rather more powerful and fuller- featured than AtariWriter or Text Wizard, the only other established "serious" Atari WP software.

Probably just as important to us was that only Letter Perfect would work with the 80-column cards we had at a couple of workstations. This advan- tage tended to make up for the pro- gram's files requiring a tedious con- version process anytime we needed to transfer in or out of standard Atari DOS.

ENTER PAPERCLIP

But tiir irL(i rrtir bfn_.t!iiL '^opy o^

PapexQuiLaccu^jfr^nJiatteries Included in Ibronto, the Antic Editorial Department cheerfully retired our Letter Perfect.

Every once in a while, a piece of software or hardware shows up here that is so clearly superior in its category to anything else available for the Atari that Antic starts using it in- house immediately. The previous ex- ample of this was "DISKIO" (January, 1985) that at once began replacing DUP.SYS on our program disks.

Simply, Paperclip is by far the best word processor ever available for the Atari. It boasts a line-up of advanced features that would be hard to match on even the biggest-name word pro- cessing software costing $300 or more.

Paperclip makes your Atari the word processing equal of just about any computer on the market. Yet it is not hard to learn and sells for only »59.95.

Some nuts and bolts information: Paperclip runs on aU Atari computers with 48K. It comes on a disk that you can back up. But the program is pro- tected by a special key that plugs into joystick port 2.

A few technical notes: As we've

:ed, it is based on

nd written in 1

!ge, so it's fc

ifferent fr^

ion written ror^the

4.) The preliminary

anual thaf^'ve got is

written. Xnd the screen

previously

ACTION!

machine 1;

really qu^

Paperclip

Commoi

draft of

pretty cl

gives yo^M»fg, sharp letft:l^l*ith true

descenders, because the program uses

ANTIC Mode 3 and i^d^ned

characters.

UNIQUE FEATURES

To justify our enthusiasm for Paperclip, here are some of its most distinctive features:

• DUAL WINDOWS— You can display two text files onscreen at the same time. And you can easi- ly move blocks of text between file windows.

• ONE-KEY MACROS— You can easily set up for one keytouch while pressing [START] to type in an entire word, phrase or paragraph that you regularly use in your writing.

• PREVIEW MODE— Paperclip is easier to use in 40-colurnn screen format than any word processor we've ever seen. In the preview

24

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

word

mode you can scroll horizontal ly or vertically to see exactly how your words will fit on the Even in the normal mode, mark at the end of i^hows exactly where the^^^wG wtap is. (And Paper- clip wuSgjjpport Batteries In- cluded forthcoming plug-in 80-column card, which is later this spring.)

this significant Atari word cessor. The Antic editors did find some

• HIGH-POWER CO

There's actually no Aiding be- tween mode menus. Saving and loading files, disk formatting, editing, text entry, disk direc- tories and help menus are all available from the same screen with the touch of very few keys. Some really unique and useful commands includ<^!'*SwtDmatic save, transposing words, or converting c^ ters and lower-case letters and forth.

MINOR QUIBBLES

It is not the normal thing for a com- puter magazine to be able to review beta test software prior to its finaliza- tion for market. However, Batteries Included unconditionally agreed to let us rush a review of our beta copy

minor Batteries most of fixed in gram t

e free

|ns with Paperclip. But ded promised us that ugs had already been Inal version of the pro- es on sale in April, concern was the size of buffer. The latest version with had only enough ory to h^jadle a single- over six ages double-

spaced documg

pages

spacs

Basert^ Included said the final ver- sion would hold files of about 20 pages double-spaced. The buffer in XL models will contain about 28K memory, 24K in the 800 model.

To set the print format commands for boldface, underline and italics, you must specify whether it is the inning or the end of the format- ection. We found this cumber- some, especially when so many of the other commands are so convenient.

There are still a few things that Let- ter Perfect does which we wish Paperclip would also do. For exam- ple Paperclip does not have a com- mand deleting an entire word, foward or backward.

Although this word processor

comes withlan unpreceSeiMKd num- ber of optiotubjOpr some reason it does not let you turn off the keyclick in the 800 models, which have no indepen- dent volume control.

eSY POWER :ourse, in PaperClip you will also find all the standard features you'd ex- pect from a competitive word pro-

jicejBor today. There's global search afil replace, underlining, italics,

iboJdface, headers and footers, onscreen help files, pitch control, page length setting, nearly 30 dif- ferent printer drivers plus a configura- tion menu, and on and on. . .

Yet for all the power it offers. Paperclip is surprisingly easy to learn. This is unusual, because the more powerful editors are usually harder to master. But PaperClip is virtually as easy to use as Bank Street Writer so there is no reason why it shouldn't be your first word processor.

Many of the editing functions are accomplished by holding down the [CONTROL] and [SHIFT] keys together plus a third key. With very little practice, this becomes second nature. And it also makes for an effi- cient command structure.

continued on next page

May 1985

25

For instance, [DELETE] removes the character to the left of the cursor, [CONTROL] [DELETE] removes the character beneath the cursor [SHIFT] [DELETE] removes the entire cursor line. [CONTROL] [SHIFT] [DELETE] gives you a choice of deleting to the [E]nd or [T]op of the file.

AND STILL MORE...

This review is based on the ex- periences of the four Antic editors during this first first month when we prepared an issue of the magazine en- tirely with Paperclip.

We wanted to tell you about this product as soon as possible. But the fact is that PaperClip even has a lot of other powerful features we simply haven't had a chance to work with yet. Plus there's one or two we've been told about that are still in development.

So at this time all we can do is list the most important extra features (We don't even have room for all of them) and promise to cover these extras in a later article or articles. . .

• TWO COLUMN PRINTOUT

• BUILT-IN MATH CALCULATOR

• MAILMERGEWITHSYNFILE-t- — Both programs are by the same authors, Steve Ahlstrom and Dan Moore, althougliSYNFILE-f was written in FORTH.

• MULTIPLE DISK FILE GLOBAL SEARCH — Up to 6 simultaneous search and replace operations throughout all linked disk files in as many as 4 separate drives. Truly amazing.

• ATVRIWRITER-PAPERCLIP FILE CONVERSION— Antic Con- tributing Editor Jerry White is writing this one.

• MIXED TEXT/GRAPHICS SCREEN DUMP— This integrated screen dump will enable you to mix text and high-resolution Atari graphics (modes 7. 5 and 8) on a single printed page. It's compatible with Micro Il- lustrator and most other graphics software files.

OUR RECOiylMENDATION

To sum up, if you do any exten- sive amount of Atari word proces- sing— whether it be as a student, business person or professional — you should get PaperClip right away. If it's not in your local stores yet, buy it by mail from Batteries Included. (You don't weerf PaperClip if you only write occasional short letters at home. For that minimal level of use you should probably look first at Batteries Included's 849.95 Home- Pak which was reviewed in the March, 1985 Antic.)

PAPERCLIP

Batteries Included 186 Queen St. West Toronto, Ontario M5V 1Z1 Canada (416) 881-9941

□

TECH TIPS

From the ABCs of Atari Computers

by David Mentley

SPEAKER — The console SPEAKER is controlled by register SDOIF (53279) decimal. This is the same location as for the console keys. To start the SPEAKER clicking, POKE in a number between 0 and 7. The continuous loop

I POKE 53279,0: GOTO 1 will generate a continuous humming noise. In the XL series, the SPEAKER noise is routed to the television SPEAKER.

Infrequently Used BASIC Commands

STR$ — In BASIC, the STR» com- mand converts a number or numeric variable to a STRing. You will also need a string variable name to place the string into if you want to use it somewhere else. ONE23$ = STR$(123) will assign the string "123" to the string variable ONE23$. VAL — In BASIC, VAL performs the opposite function as STRS. VAL con- verts a string which is made of nu- meric characters to a numerical variable or value. X=VAL(Y$) will assign the value of 123 to the variable X if Y$ were a string called "123". If Y$ is an alphabetic character, an error will result. f^

From ABCs of Atari Computers by David Mentley (available througin the Antic Catalog in this issue). Reprinted by permis- sion of Datamost, Inc.

26

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

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^k ^k ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^p here's a new kid on the block. He's bigger, brighter, K^M^ ^Hi HH H H ^ok sophisticated, and a whole lot faster. His name

S^^^^ ^^^" ^^^' H I ^^ 68000 and he speaks in new tongues. There are

• T " ^HV ^^^V B IP those who say he could be death to assembly

language and BASIC.

The new Atari ST computers will contain the Motorola MC68000 microprocessor chip. Introduced in 1979, it was the first l6-bit microprocessor to have 32-bit internal archi- tecture with 16-byte, non-segmented direct memory ad- dressing, which means you can potentially access 16,777,216 bytes. That's over 5,500 pages of single-spaced typing. For programmers used to Atari's old 6502 chip, it's a whole new ball game.

THE 68000

Will the ST

16-bit chip

l<ill BASIC

and

assembler?

by JACK POWELL Antic Technical Editor

BASIC BABEL

Most Atari programmers started with the BASIC that came with their machines. Many grew tired of its limitations, and evolved to the powerful, highly precise world of machine language.

Some argue this pattern will change with the new STs.

Jeffrey Gortatowsky, writing on the CompuServe Atari SIG, says the pattern of this evolution was caused by the design and memory limitations of the 6502. If you want to write effective speedy software for a computer that has only 64k memory available, you must use assembly lan- guage. The code produced by high-level language takes up too much memory and, on the 6502, is usually not fast enough.

HIGH-LEVEL FUTURE

Gortatowsky then argues that, in the 68000, we will see the beginnings of change. The chip architecture is so flex- ible and fast, and the addressable memory so vast, that high-level language will become the practical choice of software manufacturers because time-consuming, costly assembly language will no longer be necessary. In addi- tion, private owners may find that any form of BASIC which takes advantage of this chip's power is going to be cumbersome and difficult.

This theory is echoed in the fme reference book, 68000 Assembly Language Programming, by Kane, Hawkins

'<?•.

^<i;V;

i'M:i^i^

^m

am

>i^m

m^

w

w«:<;.'

m

:'^<^ti

& Leventhal (Osborne/McGraw-Hill, Berkeley, CA, 1981). 'We expect the future wiU tiavor high-level languages."

As chips and hardware become cheaper and more powerful, the theory goes, the cost of programming labor is rising. This helps explain the shift to efficient high-level languages for program development. These languages can also permit standardization of software development be- tween machines.

A case can also be made that successful research in high- level structured languages is lagging behind hardware breakthroughs — which means that dramatic improve- ments in features such as ease of use are somewhat over- due and might be expected to happen reasonably soon.

Until then, it is not surprising that professional program developers are specifically being told by Atari to use C or Pascal on the STs.

There are two forms of C currently available for the Atari. Deep Blue C, which can be ordered from the Antic catalog, and C/65which you can get from Optimized Systems Software. Because of the Atari computers' cur- rent memory limitations, neither of these C versions are full implementations of the language. They should, however, serve as good training for those who wish to learn C.

The new ACTION! language, also from O.S.S. is a cross between C and Pascal. It's fun to program with and would also be an excellent training ground for those interested in learning structured programming.

In the computer world outside Atari, C is rapidly becoming more and more popular among home program- mers. Does this mean BASIC is on the ropes? Not really.

A choice of BASIC or Logo — in versions designed by Digital Research who created the GEM operating environ- ment used by the ST— will be bundled with the first ST machines. And there is such an established, wide base of BASIC programmers, it's doubtful the language will disappear

New BASICS are likely to appear which will take advan- tage of extra memory and aU sorts of easily-used new com- mands will be added. The original structure of the language, however, probably will remain the same.

MEMORY LIMITATIONS

And what about assembly language? We think memory- efficient AL will be as necessary and popular on the STs as on the earlier Ataris. Unlimited memory is not really available. The 68000 microprocessor may be capable of addressing 16 mega-bytes of memory, but, of the two an- nounced ST models, the 130ST (S399) will contain only 128K of RAM and the top-line 520ST ($599) will have 512K.

On the IBM PC the highly touted Symphony, written in a high-level language, requires 340K just for starters. Framework, also written in a high-level language, will operate (barely) in 256K on the IBM PC— but its tutorial disk will not!

Atari says the new STs have non- expandable memory. We suspect it won't be long before some imaginative third- party manufacturer figures out a way to plug more memory into the "non-expandable" STs. But meanwhile if a software developer wants to market a program that will run on both ST models, assembly language may be the only viable solution.

HACKER'S PLEASURE

A consideration not taken into account in all this is the pure satisfaction that assembly language programmers get from programming at the nitty gritty level. We're no longer talking about the practical, economic business approach, but the home hacker who wants to roll up his sleeves and get to know every board, chip and register in that machine. He does not want to be limited by someone else's idea of what the processor can do. If he wants a high-level language, he writes a high-level language.

For those 6502 hackers, we offer the following preview to whet your ST appetite. And this is simply an hors d'oeuvre. Further details and definitions must be saved for later articles. If you can't wait, we recommend you pick up the previously mentioned 68000 Assembly Language Programming, or The 68000: Principles and Programming, by Leo J. Scanlon, Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc.

continued on next page „-

^^1

68000 OVERVIEW

There are two operating modes in the 68000: User and Supervisor. Certain instructions in supervisor mode are not available in user mode. The supervisor mode is a pro- tection against operator misuse, in sophisticated, multi- tasking systems. It should be interesting to see what Atari does with the supervisor mode.

Other niceties include built-in debugging aids, traps against illegal addressing and illegal instructions, a one- step trace mode, and seven levels of vectored interrupts. Most of these are only available from the supervisory mode.

DATA TYPES

Although the 68000 has a l6-bit data bus, meaning that 2 bytes of information can be accessed in one machine cycle, internally it can operate on five different types of data: bits, 4-bit binary coded decimal (BCD), 8-bit bytes (B), l6-bit words (W), and 32-bit long words (L). Because of this, byte data may be addressed at even or odd ad- dresses, but words and long words must be addressed at even addresses. For example, three bytes in a row could fall at addresses S0004, $0005 and $0006, three words at S0004, S0006, $0008, and three long words at $0004, S0008, $000C.

The 68000 has 56 instructions and 14 addressing modes. This is very similar to the 6502. But there are 17 general-purpose 32-bit registers. Eight are considered data registers, seven are address registers, one is the stack pointer and the last is the program counter.

THE REGISTERS

All of the data registers are general purpose and can be used as index registers or counters. They can handle bytes, words, and long words. The address registers are primarily designed to hold addresses, but can be used as index registers. Unlike the data registers, they cannot handle 8-bit bytes.

The stack pointer can also be used as a general purpose address register. It is actually two registers and will con- tain different data depending upon whether you are in supervisor or user operating mode.

The last 32-bit register is the program counter and, although it is a 32-bit register, only 23 of the bits are used. Since instructions consist of words instead of bytes, the counter can access a range of 8M words, or 16,777,216 bytes. 6502 programmers will feel like a gnat in the Houston Astrodome.

STATUS REGISTER

The last register in the 68000 is the l6-bit status register, which is divided into two 8-bit bytes. The lower 8 bits are for the user mode and the upper 8 for the supervisor Not all available bits are used. The user flag bits are:

BIT

2 3

4

5-7

SYMBOL

Z

N

X

(Unused)

CONDITION

Zero

Negative

Extend

BIT	SYMBOL	CONDITION
0	C	Carry
1	V	Overflow

Supervisor status flag bits 8 through 9 are used in various combinations to signal interrupt priority for the seven levels of interrupt. The 13th bit switches the modes be- tween supervisor and user, and the 15th bit places the 68000 in trace mode. Bits 11,12 and 14 are unused.

ADDRESSING MODES

As stated above, there are fourteen addressing modes:

1. Data register direct

2. Address register direct

3. Register indirect

4. Register indirect with post-increment

5. Register indirect with pre-decrement

6. Register indirect with displacement

7. Register indirect with index

8. Absolute short

9. Absolute long

10. PC relative with displacement

11. PC relative with index

12. Immediate

13- Quick Immediate 14. Implied register

Given the number of registers and data types, the flex- ibility of register use, and the amount of indirection in- dicated in the address modes, there is incredible power available in the 68000.

MC68000 INSTRUCTIONS

Table 7 is a chart of the 68000 instruction set mnemonics with brief definitions.

Some instructions will be familiar to 6502 programmers, but many will be completely alien. There are no LDAs or STAs for example, because the 68000 is not accumulator bound. There is the remarkable MOVE which will move anything from anywhere to anywhere else.

Programming syntax for the 68000 on currently avail- able assemblers is identical to popular 6502 assemblers, in that each line consists of:

Line number (Label) Mnemonic (Operand) (Comment)

The mnemonic field, however, may contain a three, four or five letter mnemonic, and instructions can occupy from one to five words in memory.

30

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

O BRAVE NEW WORLD

We hope this article has generated more questions than answers. Atari owners have been waiting a long time for The New Machine. It's here at last. I, for one, can't wait to get my hands on it.

68000 Assembly Language Programmins

by Kane, Hawkins & Leventhal

Osborne/McGraw-Hill

2600 Tenth Street

Berkeley, CA 94710

(415)548-2805

$18.95

The 68000: Principles and Programming

by Leo J. Scanlon Howard W. Sams & Co. 4300 West 62nd Street Indianapolis, IN 46268 (317)298-5400 $15.95

Table 1

Instruction Mnemonics

Mnemonic Description

ABCD Add Decimal with Extend

ADD Add

AND Logical AND

ASL Arithmetic Shift Left

ASR Arithmetic Shift Right

Bcc Branch Conditionally

BCHG Bit Test and Change

BCLR Bit Test and Clear

BRA Branch Always

BSET Bit Test and Set

BSR Branch to Subroutine

BTST Bit Test

CHK Check Register Against Bounds

CLR Clear Operand

CMP Compare

DBcc Test Cond, Decrement and Branch

DIVS Signed Divide

DIVU Unsigned Divide

EOR Exclusive OR

EXG Exchange Registers

EXT Sign Extend

JMP Jump

JSR Jump to Subroutine

LEA Load Effective Address

LINK Link Stack

LSL Logical Shift Left

LSR Logical Shift Right

MOVE Move

MOVEM Move Multiple Registers

MOVER Move Peripheral Data

MULS Signed Multiply

MULU

NBCD

NEG

NOP

NOT

OR

PEA

RESET

ROL

ROR

ROXL

ROXR

RTE

RTR

RTS

SBCD

Sec

STOP

SUB

SWAP

TAS

TRAP

TRAPV

TST

UNLK

Unsigned Multiply

Negate Decimal with Extend

Negate

No Operation

One's Complement

Logical OR

Push Effective Address

Reset External Devices

Rotate Left without Extend

Rotate Right without Extend

Rotate Left with Extend

Rotate Right with Extend

Return from Exception

Return and Restore

Return from Subroutine

Subtract Decimal with Extend

Set Conditional

Stop

Subtract

Swap Data Register Halves

Test and Set Operand

Trap

Trap on Overflow

Test

Unlink

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May 1985

31

MANIPULATING STRINGS , J

More power and speed from BASIC

'*'C3,

by BRIAN WEISS

C»*

«7

I.earn how to nianil}tilate the Variahh' Ncinie 'liihle and Van'dljle Value Table in }X)ur BASIC programs. Professional pn)grammers use these powerftil techniques to add speed and i:ariety to their code. The BASIC listings work with all Atari com- puters of any memory size.

If you program in BASIC, you've almost certainly used string vari- ables to store and manipulate character strings. In this article, we'll see how Atari BASIC handles string variables. Then we'll show you how to use this information to harness the impressive power and speed of string manipulation in Atari BASIC.

These techniques come in handy

whenever you have to move or modify a large area of memory. Some possible applications are: redefining character sets, changing display lists, manipulating machine language pro- grams from BASIC, moving players in Player/Missile graphics, and changing screen memory for animation or page flipping.

VAmABLE TABLES

Atari BASIC uses two tables to keep track of the variables in your program: the Variable Name Table and the Variable Value Table.

The Variable Name Table holds the names of all the variables used in your program. It also tells the computer if a variable contains a string, a number, or a numeric array.

The Variable Value Table records

the size and contents of each variable.

Whenever you use a new variable, wheth- er it's in a program or a direct command, the computer updates both tables. Moreover, when you SAVE a program to disk or cassette, the tables are saved as well. Both tables will remain in memory until you LOAD an- other program, issue a NEW com mand, or turn off the computer.

FINDING TABLES

The location of these tables in C memory depends upon the length of | your program. To find them, we g check the contents of four special 3

32

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

memory locations which point to the

start of the tables. These are:

VNTP = PEEK (130) + PEEK (131) *

256

WTP = PEEK(134) + PEEK (135) *

256

VNTP is the starting address of the Variable Name Table and VVTP is the starting address of the Variable Value Table,

The Variable Name Table stores the names of all variables in the order they appear in your program listing. It also stores the type of each variable (string, numeric, or numeric array).

Listing 1 displays the contents of the Variable Name Table in a readable format. The subroutine in lines 1000 through 2005 can be appended to any BASIC program for a listing of the variables used. Type in Listing 1, check it with TYPO II and SAVE a copy.

INTERPRETING TABLES

The Variable Value Table tells the com- puter where to find the contents of each variable. It also contains the size of each variable. It uses eight bytes per variable to store this information. We'll refer to these bytes as byte one, byte two, etc.

Byte one determines whether the variable represents a string or a number (A 129 in this location would denote a string variable.)

Byte two is a reference number (0 through 127) assigned to that variable. This is the number which the com- puter uses to identify each variable.

Byte three and byte four tell the computer where it can find the con- tents of the variable.

Byte five and byte six contain the length of the variable, and byte seven and byte eight contain the maximum size of the variable. In the case of string variables, this value is equal to its dimensioned length. For example, consider the BASIC line:

10 DIM AJ!(12):AS = ' ABC"

In this case, AS is three characters long, but its maximum size is 12.

Interpreting bytes three through eight requires an understanding of how the computer stores numbers in memory locations. A single memory

location can only store numbers be- tween 0 and 255. The computer breaks up larger numbers into two parts and uses two memory locations to store them.

The first location contains the number of 256's in the number Pro- grammers refer to this as the "high byte" of a number. The second loca- tion, the "low byte," contains the rest of the number

To calculate the size of a string variable, we multiply byte five by 256 and add byte six. We used the same method to calculate the starting ad- dresses of the Variable Name Table (VNTP) and the Variable Value Table (WTP) at the beginning of this article.

Finding the location of a variable in memory is slightly more compli- cated. Strings and arrays are stored in the String and Array Table. Byte three and byte four contain a pointer, or "offset value" used to locate a variable in this table.

First, multiply byte three by 256, and add byte four to determine this offset value. Now, add this to the start- ing address of the String and Array Table. This address can be found with the equation :STARP= PEEK (140) + PEEK (141) * 256. The final value is the actual address of the string. You could also find this address with BASIC'S ADR function.

The location of the String and Array Table varies with the size of your BASIC program. For this reason, references to this table should only be done under program control, not through direct commands.

Listing 2 will display the values of byte one through byte eight for each string variable in the Variable Value Table.

Listing 3 takes the same informa- tion and interprets it for you, printing the actual size and location of each string variable in the program. Both of these listings should be checked with TYPO II and SAVEd before you RUN them,

LOCATING VARIABLES

Searching through the variable tables for information about a particular variable is a complicated, error-prone, and often unnecessary procedure. We

can easily design and build our own variable tables, if we follow one simple rule: The order of variables in the tables must be the same as the physical order of the variables in your program. Consider the following program:

10 DIM A$(3):A$ = "ABC"

20 GOSUB900

30 DIMBS(3):B$ = "DEF"

40 END

900 DIMC$(3):CS = "GHI"

910 RETURN

In this program, AS will be the first variable in the variable tables because it's the first variable in the program. BS will be the second, and CS will be the third. (Note that the computer builds the variable tables according to the physical order of variables in your program, NOT the logical order)

If you want to manipulate a variable through the variable tables, it's wise to declare that variable in the first line of your program. This places it at the top of your variable tables.

Remember to type NEW before typing in your program to assure that no information is left in the tables from earlier programs or direct commands.

If you forgot to do this, you can LIST the programs to disk or cassette, type NEW, and ENTER the program again. Do not use SAVE and LOAD since these commands save the variable tables along with the program.

CHANGING VARIABLES

Both variable tables are in RAM which means that their contents can be changed using BASIC'S POKE statement.

For example, suppose we wanted to change the name of the first variable used in Listing 1 from AS to BS . Since AS is the first variable used, it will be at the beginning of the table and its name will be in location VNTP. LOAD in Listing 1 and then type:

POKE VNTP, ASC ("B")

Now LIST the program. All refer- ences to AS are now BS.

continued on next page

May 1985

33

VALUE TABLE CHANGES

More powerful effects can be achieved b)' changing the Value Table. By changing a string variable's entry in tliis table, we can position it anywhere in memory. We can also change its size.

If we place our string variable in a region of memory used for other pur- poses, we can use it to change those memory' locations. For eximple, if we relocate a string variable to an area reserved for Player/Missile graphics, we can control the players with several well-placed POKEs to the variable tables.

To do this, of course, you'd need a working knowledge of Player/Mis- sile graphics, and that's beyond the scope of this article. Instead, we'll relocate a string variable to screen memory. In this way, we'll change what's on the screen by changing the appropriate entries in the Variable Value Table.

Recall that the Variable Value Table contains information about the loca- tion of string variables. This informa- tion is kept in bytes three and four in the table. In Listing 3, AS is the first variable dimensioned. Since its byte one value is in memory location ■WTP, its byte three value can be found by PEEKing (WTP + 2), and its byte four value is in (WTP -i- 3).

SLIDING STRINGS

Let's move A I to screen memory. The address of the beginning of screen memory is calculated in line 100 of listing 3, and stored in the variable SCRN.

Next, we use SCRN to calculate AS's new byte three and byte four values for the Variable Value table. Use the following formulas:

Offset = (new location)- (PEEK(140)-PEEK (141) *256)

Byte four = INT (Offset/256)

Byte three Bvte four

= Offset- 256

Lines 150-170 perform these calculations. These new values are POKEd into the Variable Value table

in line 200. These POKEs slide the contents of the string variable into screen memory.

Lines 250-290 change the vari- able's size by altering the values for bytes five and six in the Variable Value Table. We can calculate the new values with these formulas:

Byte sbc = INT (size/256)

Byte five = size-byte six * 256

In this example, we use a size of 400 bytes. This allows us to control the top ten lines of the Graphics 0 display screen.

MODIFYING MEMORY

Once relocated, a string variable can be used to modify the area of memory it occupies. Manipulating the string contents alters the contents of the memory locations. An example is the line:

A$ = 'ABCD "

This will put a 65 in memory loca- tion SCRN, 66 in SCRN + 1, 67 in SCRN -H 2, and so on. Since we are dealing directly with the screen, we must use internal character codes rather than ATASCIl. In line 400 of Listing 3, AS is completely filled with CHR$(0), the ATASCIl "heart" character This puts a 0 in the first 400 locations of the screen memory area, and 10 blank lines are on the screen.

Line 420 puts the word "HELLO" on the second line of the screen by placing the characters "(%,,/" into AS, and then sliding AS to screen memory. In this example, when a 40 (ATASCIl code for a left parenthesis) is POKEd into screen memory, the let- ter "H " appears on the screen.

The speed you can achieve with this "string sliding" is rivaled only by machine language. Imagine the graphics effects possible!

FOUR STEPS

Four basic steps are needed for posi- tioning string variables in memory:

1. Dimension the variable in the beginning of your program.

2. Calculate WTP, the starting ad- dress of the Variable Value Table, from locations 134 and 135-

3. Select a new memory location for your string variable, break the address into low and high bytes, and POKE these new values into the Variable Value table at byte three and byte four.

4 . Calculate the new size of the string variable and place these values into byte five and byte six. Byte seven will contain the new value you need for byte five, and byte eight will contain the value you need for byte six.

Once the string variable is posi- tioned, characters in the string will correspond to numbers in the memory locations. This method can be used to place numbers in memory by placing characters in the string. You can also to read numbers from memory by reading the string.

A string can even be positioned in the area of memory where a program is stored — resulting in a program that can write other programs! As you learn more advanced programming techniques, you'll discover many more uses for relocating string variables.

Brian Weiss is a computer science majorat the University of Maryland and has been programming ivith the Atari for four years.

Listins on page 66. uJ

34

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

by FRANK WALTERS

This utility /)reseiits you with ii menu of your BASIC, l^ro'fiiYims. One- touch com>uaiuis/>cnuit Rl. Suing of SAVEd programs or HX'/'IiRiug of LISTeii programs. \\ orl.'.s on all Atari computers uilh 2 JK tuenioiy BASIC, and a disk drive.

hen you're wallowing in dozens of floppy ' disks, it's comforting to to immediately determine what programs lie on each disk and run them, without switching between BASIC and a DOS menu.

What you need is a menu program. What?", you say, "Another menu pro- gram?"

Ah — hut Lazy Loader is different. It allows you to enter LISTed BASIC pro- grams, reads up to four disk drives, and displays up to 51 files with horizontal scrolling.

USING THE PROGRAM

Type in Listing 1 and check it with TYPO II. SAVE it to a disk under the file name LAZYLOAD.BAS.

You can RUN the program right nt)w and see all the BASIC files on yoLir disk. Or, \'ou can have the menu automatically boot with the disk by including an AUTORUN.SYS file. (See accompanying article for more infor- mation about AUTORUN.SYS files.

May 1985

Extra-convenient

menu prosram

The file names will appear in a col- umn in center screen. If you have more than 17 files, the column will scroll to the left one line at a time as a second column appears.

Because Lazy Loader is designed to handle BASIC programs, it will not display files with the extenders .SYS, .OBJ, .EXE, or .DAT.

Each file name is displayed with a letter, from capital A to Z, then lower case a to z.

To run a program, strike the cor- responding letter. When choosing a file with a lower case letter, be sure that you are in lower case mode. This status will be displayed in the upper left corner.

If you want to see the file names of a different drive, choose the ap- propriate dri\'e number (1-4).

ENTER OR RUN

In addition to RUNning tokenized or SAVEd programs. Lazy Ix)ader EN- TERS untokenized, LISTed files. Again, just press the key corresponding to the program you want. You don't need to press [RETURN].

If an error should occur, its number appears in the upper right corner. Press [RETLIRN] and the program will continue.

To read a new disk in the same drive, swap disks and press [RE- TURN]. To run DOS from drive 1,

press [CTRL D].

Frank Walters, a retired Air Force fighter pilot, is a one-and-a-half year veteran of the Atari computer. He has also been a practicing amateur mag- ician for J 5 years. ^istins on page 68.

ALL ABOUT AUTORUN.SYS

There's not much point to using a menu program like Lazy Ix)ader wilhoul an /\rTORl\.,S>S file— which will AUTOmaiicalh Kl'X another j^rognim wiicn s(jiir.\iari is turned on. Here are ilic details of how it \vt)rks and iiow lo make one for Lazy lx)ader.

When y(ju lurn on \our com- puter, it aiilomaticalK goes through an initialization process called "co!dst:u"t". This is a byte-b\ -Inte checking procedure thai sets \ arious statuses and values in the com- puter's central processor and other chips.

This overall j-jrocess. called "hoot- ing" or "hooting up' u)ur com puier, checks how mucli i{A\i is available, what peripherals are at- tached and turned (mi, and so on.

If a disk dri\'e is on when you ]50wer up, the con)putc;r boots whatever disk is in the dri\e. If that disk cont;iins the .-Vtari Disk Operat- ing System (DOS), it will he booted conunued on next page

35

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into the Atari's memory from drive 1.

As pan of its regular procedures, the DOS prognini looks for a binary file named Al'IOlUN-SYS. If .'VUrORl'N.SYS is present, it is loaded into memory and RUN. Otherwise, DOS coiuinues with other operations such as running the DUP.SYS file.

CREATING AUTORUN

The AUTORl'N.SYS file must be a machine language program, but we can use a BASK '. program which will create an AIJTCMU N-S^ S file. In this issue's Listing Section and on the monthly Antic Disk. \ou '11 find such a program, calletl .\RSMAKER.BAS, (for ALCrORUN.SYS MAKER), We found ARSMAKER.BAS in David Mentley's invaluable ABCs of Atari Computers (available from the Antic ("atalog) and it is reprinted by permission of the publisher, Datamost.

'I)|)c in Listing 2. clieck it with lYPO I( and SAM-: a copy

ARSMAKE.R.BAS creates an AirrORUN.SYS file that automati- cally runs any program of your choice. When you RUN ARSMAKER .BAS, the program will ask you to "Enter filename to auto run." At the ? prompt, type the file name, in this ca.sc the name you've given Ltzy Loailer. followed by a [RETURN]. (Dont t)pe device code 1):). \bu'll need to do this only the lirst time you RUN ARSMAKER.BAS on a given disk.

You now have a disk with DOS 2. OS, Lazy Loader, and a file named AUTORUN.SYS. When you boot this disk, the Atari automatically loads the I")()S program, which automati- cally loacU the .U'TORUN.SYS file, which automaticaUy runs Lazy I^)ader.

If u)u have an Antic Public Domain Disk or a monthly Antic Disk, here's a shortcut. Use DOS to change the name Laz>' Loader or ;uiy other fUe to MENTJ. You can use the AUTORUN.SYS program that's in- cluded on each disk, since it will run any program named .Ml'.NU. — M.C. Listing on page 69. f^

36

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

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Multiple graphics modes on one screen

Mode Mixer rs a utility program for easily creating custom display screens that use multiple graphics modes, ami then saving thcnt to disk foi lat-'r use in ) our own [jro^rufns Writ Icti in BASIC, M' r ret/ in res a disk

drive and will run on all Ala -lens with 32K,

depending on screen /ise.

DISPLAY LIST

The Atari's video display is created by a special microprocessor chip called ANTIC. (Yes, as in the title of your favorite magazine.) ANTIC can present information in 14 different graphics modes, six for text and eight for plotted graphics.

Only nine of these modes are available directly from BASIC on the old Atari 400 and 800 computers, but 13 of them can be accessed in BASIC with the XL models. The graphics modes differ in their horizontal and vertical resolution, number of colors shown, and amount of memory consumed {Table 1).

The program which tells ANTIC what kind of display to show is called a "display list". A nice introduction to display lists and mixed-mode principles is found in "Display Lists Simplified" (Antic, Feb/Mar 1983). "Unlock- ing the 56 Graphics Modes" (Antic, Sept. 1984) illustrates all these modes and provides more information about the Atari's video display.

A BASIC graphics call will only give you a screen of one mode (with the exception of windows). To construct a mixed-mode display, you must create a display list to tell ANTIC how many "mode lines " of each desired graphics mode to show. The resulting screen is made up of several horizontal bands or segments, one band for each block of lines in a particular graphics mode.

The display list also contains some other information, and a few tricks have to be played to print or plot cor- rectly in the different segments. For each graphics mode, one mode line consists of a specific number of horizon- tal TV "scan lines", ranging from 1 for ANTIC mode 15 (GRAPHICS 8) to 16 for ANTIC mode 7 (GRAPHICS 2). A complete screen must contain 192 scan lines. Keep these numbers in mind as you use Mode Mixer.

38

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

USING MODE MIXER

Type in Listing 1, check it with TYPO II, and SAVE a couple of backup copies. RUNning the program shows you a menu. Just press a number key to choose a menu selec- tion; it is not necessary to press [RETURN]:

1. Create a New Display: Begin with this option. "Vbu will see a screen which prompts you to enter the ANTIC graphics mode (2-15) for the first segment. Then you can specify the number of mode lines for that segment. Con- tinue this process for all the segments in your display. The table at the top of the screen keeps a running description of your display as you compose it. Keep an eye on the number of scan lines remaining, which goes down each time you describe a new segment. The goal is for this number to be zero when your display is complete.

You can enter up to 16 segments per display, combin- ing the available graphics modes any way you like. When prompted for a graphics mode, enter the ANTIC mode number from Table 1, not the usual BASIC graphics mode number To cancel an entry, enter zero for the number of mode lines. When you have completed the descrip- tion of your display, and wish to return to the menu, enter zero for the next mode number.

Notice that selecting option 1 at the menu erases forever any display already in memory.

2. Change the Current Display: Use this option to modify the display currently in memory, whether you just created it or loaded it from the disk. You will be prompted for the segment number to modify, and then for the new graphics mode and number of lines.

If the number of scan lines remaining is greater than zero and the number of segments in the display is less than 16, then you can add new segments to the bottom of the display. When prompted for the segment number, just enter the number one greater than the last segment number already in the display. Also, you can erase a seg- ment by setting the number of mode lines for that segment to zero.

When you have finished editing the display, enter zero for the segment number to change. You will return to the menu.

3. See the Current Display: This function actually generates the display list from your description of the mixed-mode screen. The TV screen will be black briefly while the calculations are done, and you will hear a tune reminiscent of Woody Woodpecker when the computer is done. At that point, you will see the mixed-mode display. Admittedly, it isn't very interesting: just bands of blue (for ANTIC modes 2, 3, and 15) and black (for all other modes). In fact, you may not see anything at all. Rest assured that all is well, however. After you hear the tune, press any key to return to the menu.

4. Save Current Display on Disk: This part of Mode Mixer writes a program for you and stores it on the disk.

First you will be asked to supply a file name. Use any legal Atari disk file name, without extender Unless otherwise specified. Mode Mixer assumes you mean disk drive one, and it assigns an extension of ".DSP" to the file name you give. If you try to save the display before you viewed it with menu option 3, you will go through step 3 anyway. The resultant file will be a BASIC program, stored in LISTed form. We will talk later about how to use this program.

5. Load a Display from Disk: Here you can retrieve a display from the disk for further editing. MODE MIXER shows you a list of all the files with extension ".DSP" and you type the name of the file you wish to load. Enter a zero if you decide not to load anything after all.

It takes several seconds for the program to read the file and reconstruct the display description. When this pro- cess is complete, you will be at the "Change the Current Display" screen. Notice that using option 5 replaces any existing display in memory with the one you load from the disk.

6. Done With This Program: Choose option 6 to leave Mode Mixer and return to BASIC.

STORED DISPLAYS

To use a stored display, type NEW to clear out any pro- gram already in the computer's memory, then type ENTER "D:filename.DSP". You can now RUN this program to recreate the display as you described it to MODE MIXER. This program consists of several parts:

1. Line 10, which calls a subroutine at line 30000.

2. Several statements which set up the various segments in your display. Each begins with a POKE 87,n command, where n is a BASIC graphics mode number.

3. An END statement at line 29999.

4. A block of statements beginning at line 30000 which set up the display list needed by your mixed-mode screen.

5. A subroutine beginning at line 31000 which con- trols memory allocation for each display segment.

The point of all this work so far is to help you get some fancy displays on the screen. You accomplish this by think- ing of each segment as a separate little screen. Following each of the POKE 87, n statements you can insert any ap- propriate text or graphics display commands. For text modes (ANTIC 2-5) use POSITION and PRINT *6; statements.

In the graphics segments (ANTIC 6-15), use PLOT and DRAWTO commands. The upper left corner of each screen segment is location 0,0. Be sure not to plot or print outside the allowable horizontal and vertical boundaries

continued on next page

May 1985

39

of a segment, based on the number of mode lines you have in each segment.

You can easily combine a program written by Mode Mixer with any other BASIC program. Use the ENTER command to retrieve the display program file from disk and merge it with another program already in memory. Remember that line numbers from an ENTERed file replace any statements with the same line numbers in the existing program when you do a merge operation.

AH EXAMPLE

Listing 2 is a sample program written by Mode Mixer. The display specified has six segments: 4 lines of ANTIC mode 6; 4 lines of ANTIC 2; 20 lines of ANTIC I4; 4 lines of ANTIC 5; 20 lines of ANTIC 15; and 6 lines of ANTIC 10. Type in Listing 2 and LIST it to disk. Next, type in listing 3 and SAVE it. With listing 3 in memory, ENTER Listing 2 to merge the two programs, then RUN it to see a nice demonstration of the kind of complex displays you can produce using Mode Mixer and a bit of your own creativi- ty NOTE: Press [SYSTEM RESET] after running any pro- gram created using Mode Mixer.

OTHER TIPS

You can change the color registers as usual in a program with a mixed-mode display. (Atari Color Graphics or Atari Graphics and Arcade Game Design, available from the Antic Catalog, fully describe what the different color registers do in each BASIC graphics mode.) Using display list interrupts (see "More Interrupting" in Antic, Dec. 1983) to get different colors in different segments will help create truly dazzling displays.

To get a uniform background color for displays in which ANTIC modes 2, 3, or 15 are mixed with the other modes, use a SETCOLOR 2,H,L statement, where H and L are the hue and luminance of the desired background color (0,0 is the default). Unfortunately, this also makes any graphics which use a COLOR 3 statement invisible.

I haven't forgotten about the three GTIA graphics modes, BASIC modes 9, 10, and 11. These all use the same display list as ANTIC 15, so just create a segment with mode 15 with Mode Mixer. Then change the POKE 87,8 statement for that segment to a POKE 87,9 (or 10 or II, depending on the (iTIA mode you want). You will need to use display list interrupts to alter the GTIA location at SDOIB for only the appropriate segments.

The XL computers ha\'e a BASIC mode number for all ANTIC modes except 3- Programs written with Mode Mixer will work fine on the XL computers. However, you ma)' wish to change the "n" in the POKE 87, n statements for segments of ANTIC 4, 5, 12, and 14 to the appropriate BASIC mode from Table 1.

Line 15 of Listing 3 (POKE 752,1) prevents stray cur- sors from appearing when printing in text segments of a mixed mode display.

Table 1

Atari Graphics Modes

NTIC	BASIC	Scan Lines/	Mode Lines/
		Mode Line	Screen
2	0	8	24
3	NONE	10	about 19
4	12 (XL)	8	24
5	13 (XL)	16	12
6	1	8	24
7	2	16	12
8	3	8	24
9	4	4	48
10	5	4	48
11	6	2	96
12	14 (XL)	1	192
13	7	2	96
14	15 (XL)	1	192
15	8	1	192

Table 2

Variables Used in Mode Mixer

INC — increment counter fornumber of bytes per

segment MODE — ANTIC mode for each segment LINES — number of mode lines for each segment SLPER — number of scan lines per mode line in each

ANTIC mode BRER — number of bytes per mode line in each

ANTIC mode BAS — BASIC graphics mode number to use for

each ANTIC mode B$ — general use string variable

A$ — general use string variable

FNAME$ — filename for loading or storing display BL$ — string of blank characters

OFF — value to disable a TRAP statement

NO — line number of subroutine to make error

sound MEMORY — line number of a subroutine to set screen

memory locations for a segment LOGS — line number of a subroutine to calculate

location of screen memory and display list SPACE — line number of a subroutine to wait for

space bar to be pressed DL — starting location of display list

MEM — starting location for screen memory LMEM — lov>/ byte of starting location of screen

memory HMEM — high byte of starting location of screen

memory

40

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

BYTE

CH

NSEG

GRA

NUM

LEFT

A

CT

OSMODE

MAX

FOURK

y, l,J

LN

number of bytes of screen memory in a

segment

general input variable

number of segments in a display

ANTIC mode of current segment

number of mode lines in a current segment

number of scan lines left in this display

general input variable

counter for number of bytes in display list

mode number of a segment as read from

disk

BASIC graphics mode number of segment

in the display with the greatest screen

memory requirement

next 4K boundary after beginning of

screen memory

variables for loops, offsets, temporary

calculations

line number of statement in file being

saved to disk

5999-6050 see the current display routine starts

here 6100-6140 figure out maximum memory require- ments mode 6145-6290 create display list in page 6 6320-6360 show display, play tune, wait for

keypress 6370-6380 branch based on whether user wants to

store display 6999-7000 save display on disk routine starts here 7010-7080 get filename and open file 7100-7420 write statements to file which will

recreate display 7500-7520 error handling for bad file open

Karl Wiegers is a frequent contributor to the pages of Antic. His most recent work was "Touch Tablet Cursor" seen in our January 1985 issue

Listing on page 63. ul3

Table 3

Mode Mixer Program Take-Apart

Line Numbers Function

1-99 initialize variables and arrays

100-230 menu

500-520 subroutine to make error sound

550-560 subroutine to set new screen memory

locations 600-61 0 subroutine to calculate screen memory

locations 625-635 subroutine to pause until space bar is

pressed 900-970 subroutine to set up display create/

change screen 999-1070 create a new display; define mode for

a segment 1080-1100 define number of mode lines for a

segment 1110-1140 calculate number of scan lines left,

update table 1999-2005 change current display routine starts

here 2010-2040 show current display description 2050-2165 input segment number to change and

make changes 2170-2190 update table describing display 2999-3080 load display from disk; show displays on

disk 3090-3170 get file to load, open file 3180-3290 figure out no. of segments & display list

bytes 3300-3400 figure out no. of mode lines per segment

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by DR. JOHN C. FERGUSON

"The Atari is just a game machine." Do those words set your blood aboil? Well, the staff at Antic is tired of them too, and spends a good portion of its time diligently combing the in- coming submissions for practical applications programs. We receive a lot of disk directory programs, recipe file storers, mini word-processors, and other rehashed versions of old ideas. But now ive'd like to award Lh: John C. Ferguson the Honorary Antic Unprecedented Application Program of the Year Award for his fine Beer Party Atari. A program whose time has come. —ANTIC ED

My wife and I decided to have a party one even- ing for a fairly large \ number of workplace acquaintances. The trouble with such social gatherings is that "shop talk" tends to predominate and guests don't really get to relax and have fun. Our answer to this concern was to orga- nize the party around the distraction of a "beer sampling" — to determine which brand of beer is best. The Atari provided an ideal tool to focus the group's attention towards finding an

May 1985

This useful applications program will keep track of the best brew in a beer tastingparty. The programming makes good use of custom display lists and character sets. So non beer- drinkers might wish to type it in and change the name to Rootbeer Party Atari. It is written in BASIC and will run on all Atari comptders with 16K. A disk drive is recommended, but the article explains how to run the pro- gram without one.

unbiased corporate answer to this im- portant question.

We set up a table with five pitchers containing different beers. These were kept filled, out of sight, from cans of popular brands kept on ice. Wliile the guests knew which brands of beer were involved, the pitchers were on- ly labeled as "A", 'B", "C", "D", or "E". The guests thus had to taste from each pitcher and give the mystery beer a rating. They could jot notes on a piece of paper to help themselves remember

After sampling and rating each of the five beers, they then typed their evaluations into the Atari. The pro- gram I developed for this purpose made it easy for even the most computer-phobic in the crowd.

SOBERING INFLUENCE

The program provided a prompt for entering the rating of each beer, and then a chance to verify that all five were keyed in correctly. It then calculated the average accumulated score for each beer, saved the data to disk, and quickly showed a graphic display of how the different beer brands stacked up in the opinion of the judges.

A lot of guests were very surprised to see how swiftly the scores changed as more and more people entered their choices. It became almost like a horse race! If things got close, the numerical values of the average scores could be displayed by pressing [S] while the graph was onscreen.

VALUABLE DATA

Saving the data to disk after each set of entries was a feature added to the program to make sure that an accident didn't happen to spoil the accumu- lated results. It was fortunate that this precaution was included, because a power glitch did occur in the middle of my party and wipe out the pro- gram. However, I was able to quickly reload it, recall the accumulated data, continued on next page

43

and continue on as if nothing had happened.

All in all, my beer party was a tremendous success. Everybody had a good time, and work worries were kept well out of mind.

THE PROGRAM

Type in the program, check it with TYPO II and SAVE a copy. Much of the program is internally documented with REM statements. When you RUN it, the computer will first ask you if you want to add to a previous file — that is, do you want to start with data saved from a previous run of the pro- gram. The first time your answer should be [N]. Note that if this choice is taken, any previous file of BEER- DATA will be deleted and replaced with a brand new one. If you answer [Y] you are given a chance to insert the particular BEERDATA file disk you want to add onto before the program continues.

WITHOUT DRIVES

If you do not have a disk drive, you can still use the program without this

feature. You should type REM after line numbers 110 -160 and 1450. This will update your scores in memory without SAVEing them. It also preserves the code for possible future use when you do have access to a drive.

MODIFIED CHARACTERS AND DISPLAY LIST

Several programing "tricks" were used to produce the varied and in- teresting screen displays. Eirst, some characters of the normal Atari font were modified to produce graphic representations of a beer stein and pilsner glasses. (See lines 10000- 10200.)

Next, a customized Graphics 0 screen was produced by modifying the display list to show several lines of Graphics 1 and Graphics 2 (j^ro- gram lines 1030-1055). Now, when the altered characters, the normal text, and the special Atari control charac- ters are all put together, in any of the the three sizes provided by the modi- fied screen, the result is a really

sophisticated display. This was pro- duced with remarkably little code — Ah, the beauty of Atari!

NAME YOUR BRAND

When you use the program, you will want to select your own five brands of beer to compare. These should be reprogramed into hnes 1550-1630. Note which beer corresponds to each code letter— you don't want to have these mismatched. For my first party I invested in a case of pilsner glasses and a sufficient quantity of five middle-line popular beers. Next year I think I will do it again with an in- ternational flavor— rating beers from five different countries.

Dr. John C. Ferguson is a Professor of Biology in the Department of Natural Sciences at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg Florida. Dr Ferguson has taught at Eckerd since 1963 and specializes in Marine Biology and Oceanographic Sciences. p«

Listins on pase 62

Mercurial Angry, Sad, Noisy, Friendly, Musical, Rakish, Flirtatious, Laid-Back %imsical, Unpredictable

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■ Comes complete with the PERSONALITY EDITOR"' and sample BASIC program on disk. Control Andy with the PERSONALITY EDITOR or from BASIC, LOGO, ACTION, FORTH, etc.

Andy's PERSONALITY EDITOR allows you and . your family to explore the robotics world using simple English words. Once you get used to piloting Andy around tme couuiiand at a tmie, you can group words together for more sophistication

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44

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

by ANDY BARTON

This enhancement (fffhe reniarkably simple and /Mpular file program from the December. 1 91^ i Antic pro- vides an easy way to save, retrieve, edit and delete short notes and data. Writteti in BASIC] (heall-neiv version is complete in this issue and ivill run on any Atari conrputer ivith a disk drive.

In the December, 1984 Antic we ran a program called "Info Bits" by Andy Barton, author of TYPO II. Published primarily to demonstrate how much can be accomplished with a small amount of programming, we described Info Bits as the "Simplest database ever.'". We received many letters from readers who loved the program but wanted it just a little less simple.

Specifically, they wanted to know how to edit or erase some of the many entries they were putting into their "Info Bits" data files We contacted Andy and received the following up- date -ANTIC ED

INFOBrrS MODIFIED

.1 nfo Bits was originally written as J a hasty last effort, after two M rejections, to get something pub- IP lished. It was purposely kept short, simple and direct, with no frills added. In this spirit, a "Delete Entry" routine was not included. (And, to be honest, I didn't think about it until some time later when I found I had no way to correct a typographical error in one of my entries.)

TYPING THE PROGRAMS

Listing 1 is the new Info Bits. (File- name: INFONEW.BAS.) Those of you who typed in the original program may notice a few matching lines, but there are many changes so you will probably be best served by typing in all of the new listing. Remember to check your typing with TYPO II and SAVE a copy of the program before running it.

continued on next page

May 1985

45

Listing 2 is a brief program which corrects a bug in the original Info Bits program by modifying its INFOBITS. FIL data file. If you have no Info Bit files yet, you can ignore this listing. Those who wish to use their previous INFOBITS. FIL entries with the new Info Bits must use this program to reconfigure their old files.

After typing in Listing 2 with a TYPO II checkup and SAVEing a copy, place the disk with a copy of your INFOBITS.FIL on it. RUN listing 2 and it will remove the leading 10 blank spaces in front of each entry on the file. Note: Listing 2 was kept pur- posely short and contains no error trapping. Make sure your disk con- tains the INFOBITS.FIL before you run the program.

USING THE PROGRAM

Info Bits is a mini data base. You can type in notes and references and then retrieve them by searching for a key word or phrase — which can be anything in your entries.

Before you can use Info Bits, you must create an empty file named INFOBITS.FIL on whichever disk is in drive one. To create the file, type in the following:

OPEN *I,8,0,"D:INFOBITS.FIL': CLOSE *1 [RETURN]

After you've done this, RUN the new INFOBITS and you'll see a menu with three choices: l.)ADDTOFILE, 2.) SEARCH FOR ENTRY, and 3.) DELETE/(EDIT) ENTRY.

ADD TO FILE

Press [1] [RETURN] and type in a couple of entries, pressing [RETURN] to mark the end of each entry. You don't need any special characters to mark off fields, simply type in a space or two. Each entry can be as long as 119 characters.

When finished making entries, press [RETURN] at the "TYPE ENTRY:" prompt and you will return to the menu.

SEARCHING FILES

To search for datii, type [2] [RETURN] from the menu and you will see

SEARCH FOR:. You may type in a word or portion of a word or a com- plete sentence. Enter your search criteria in capital letters and Info Bits will ignore case distinction in the data it searches.

After entering your search criteria, press [RETURN] and Info Bits will display on screen every entry that contains an exact match of your criteria. If there is more than one screen, the program will pause and prompt you to press any key for more. If you wish to see all your entries, enter ALL at the prompt.

DELETING AND EDITING

Type [3] [RETURN] to select DELETE/ (EDIT) ENTRY. The screen is cleared and you are given 3 choices. First type [S] [RETURN] to search for the entry to be deleted. Repeat this step as often as necessary until the entry you wish to delete is the last one displayed.

Type [D] [RETURN] to delete the last entry displayed. The actual entry being deleted will be displayed on the screen. If you are satisfied with the deletion simply press [RETURN] to return to the main menu. If not, press [Y] [RETURN] to edit it. And when you are ready to re-enter it again, press [RETURN].

You are now in the ADD TO FILE routine of the main menu where you may continue adding entries when asked to TYPE ENTRY:. Or simply press [RETURN] on the blank line (an absolutely necessary step to properly close the disk file) and return to the main menu.

The only safe place to exit Info Bits (turn off the computer or load another program) is from the main menu. If you exit in the ADD TO FILE or DELETE/EDIT routines the disk file will not be properly closed and part or all of it could be lost.

UPPER AND LOWER

Included in this version of Info Bits is a short addition to the machine language routine that allows it to ignore the differences between lower and upper case letters. This allows you to type entries in caps and lower case

letters for aesthetic or other reasons and later find them without having to remember which way you entered them. However, your search strings must be in capital letters.

If you prefer the original version which differentiates upper and lower case letters, simply replace the 5th through 10th numbers in DATA line 2002 with 234,234,234,234,234, 234.

Given the infallibility of computers (ha,ha), not to mention that of the operator or programmer, 1 highly recommend that you regularly make a backup copy of your disk file (INFOBITS.FIL).

Many Antic readers owe Andy Barton a vote of thanks for his TYPO II line-by-line proofreading pro- gram, ivhich we've been using with all our BASIC listings since January.

Listins on pase 67.

□

46

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

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Arena Racer is 15 scrolling levels of fiercely challenging maze action. Can YOU fly a speeding Huntercraft through labyrinthian caverns and avoid getting blasted apart by all those Laser Cannons? This unusually fast BASIC program works on all Atari computers of any memory size.

Uh-oh! There's an intei^alactic war on and you got shot down onto a rather nasty planet. The local enemy war- lord gets plenty of entertainment from Elite Fighter Pilots like you — when they're unlucky enough to fall into his hands. (Yes, you are a rocket ace. You only lost that last dogfight because you were so vastly outnumbered.)

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B\l^RTiF SUTHERLAND

ror known as. . .the Arena! This Arena is a vast maze of caverns. On each of the caverns' 15 levels, you must collect four glowing orbs, which have been hidden and protected. But ... as you fly among the twisting walls of the Arena, scores of deadly laser cannons are firing at you.

If you complete the fifteenth level you get to start over again, with even faster action. Your only reward is sur- vival!! For you see, you are operating under a strict time limit. If you do not complete a level in time, your Hunter- craft will disintegrate. HAHAHAHA!! (We told you it was a rather nasty planet.)

INSTRUCTIONS

Type in Listing 1, check it with TYPO

II and SAVE a copy before youRUN it.

When playing, you start with four Huntercraft and win a bonus ship after every five levels you complete. Maneuver in any direction with the joystick, even diagonally. Pick up an orb simply by moving over it.

Your joystick trigger is the Panic Button. As long as you hold it down, your Huntercraft stays motionless and is invulnerable to laser hits. The good thing about the Panic Button is that it never runs out of operating energy, you can always use it.

continued on page 51

May 1985

49

MAXIMIZE STORAGE CAPACITY ON YOUR ATARI 1050^ DISK DRIVE WITH THE HAPPY 1050 MAXIMIZER^'

Now you can store twice as much data on your ATARI 1050 disk drive with this easy to install high quality plug in adapter. Requires no soldering and no permanent modifications. Runs all popular true double density programs, utilities, and operating systems.

SPARE PARTS FOR YOUR ATARI

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You can upgrade your HAPPY 1050 MAXIMIZER to a WARP SPEED HAPPY 1050 ENHANCEMENT".

Improves reading and writing speed 500% and comes with the HAPPY COMPUTERS WARP SPEED SOFTWARE" package. Makes your ATARI 1050 the most powerful disk drive available. Easy plug in installa- tion lets you upgrade your HAPPY 1050 MAXI- MIZER to WARP SPEED at any time.

Take COMMAND with the HAPPY 1050 CONTROLLER"

When used with the ENHANCEMENT or MAXI- MIZER allows writing on the flip side of disks without punching holes. Selects protection from writing on valuable disks. Selection can be made both from software commands and a three position switch. When used with the ENHANCEMENT allows both switch and software control of reading and writing speeds. Plug in installation requires no soldering. May be used without ENHANCEMENT or MAXIMIZER with manual control of write protection.

Discount prices through Dec. 31, 1984;

HAPPY 1050 MAXIMIZER complete $1 24,95

MAXIMIZER to ENHANCEMENT UPGRADE $1 29.95

(You must already have a Happy 1050 Maximizer) HAPPY 1050 MAXIMIZER witti factory installed

MAXIMIZER to ENHANCEMENT upgrade, same as WARP SPEED HAPPY 1050 ENHANCEMENT $249.95

HAPPY 1050 CONTROLLER $49.95

WARP SPEED HAPPY 810 ENHANCEMENT"

for 810 disk drive (supports fiigfi speed

single density) $249,95

Price above include free delivery in the USA, California residents add 6.5% sales tax.

*Note; ATARI 1050 is a trademark of Atari, inc.

HAPPY COMPUTERS, INC.

P.O. Box 1268, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

(408) 779-3830

New

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Replacement Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) w/parts

800 Main $30 400 Main $20 810 side $50

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10K OS $15 810 Power .... $25

Hard to find Integrated Circuits $5. each

On CPU: GTIA, ANTIC, CTIA, CPU 6502, CPU 6511

On 10K OS; Math ROM 399B, OS ROMs 4998 & 599B

On 800/400 Main: Pokey, 6520 PIA

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Field Service Manuals 800/400, 800XL or 810 $25 ea For 1050 or 1200XL $20 ea For 410 or 835 $15. ea Diagnostic Cartridges Computer or Disk $25 ea Happy Upgrades, 800, 800XL, 810, 1050, 1030 $CALL Books, Modems, Monitors, Printers, Joysticks $CALL Aventure International Gold Series $40. Software by SSI, OSS, Synapse, LJK, Atari ETC. Atari 800/400 Technical Reference Notes $20. Pilot, Basic, Microsoft II, Assembler Manuals $5 ea

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ARENA RACER

continued from page 49

The bad thing about the Panic But- ton is that it makes your time limit run out faster. . . Is Arena a hard game to play? All I can say is that I wrote it and I've never gotten higher than 12 of the 15 levels.

PROGRAM TAKE-APART

Initial setup is done in Lines 1000 to 1070. This includes POKEing in the machine language subroutine and character definition.

The major action is found in lines 10 to 70:

10 Produces timer sound and checks for OUT OF TIME

15 Draws current screen and checks for PANIC BUTTON

20 Shuts off timer sound and checks JOYSTICK

30 BOOLEAN LOGIC deter- mines joystick dirction

40 Checks to see if you hit somethins

50-60 If path is clear, lets you move in that direction

70 Go back for more

Lines 80 to 280 check what char- acter your ship has hit. The appropri- ate action is then taken — pick up orb, be destroyed by laser, etc.

CUSTOM SCREEN SETUP

The more adventurous of you can create your own screens. It's not exactly easy, but it can be done after some trial and error.

The Arena is made up of an array of 70 X 70 characters. DATA for the levels is contained in lines 6000 to 6290.

Every second line, beginning at 6000, contains 70 characters arranged in a pattern which makes up the walls, spaces and cannons. Every second line beginning at 6010 contains DATA for placing the four orbs. You may manipulate this DATA as you wish. The only restriction is that first five and the last five characters in each of

the screen DATA statements must each be an 'A."

The screen DATA characters represent:

A Solid line of wall characters

B Solid line of open spaces

C,D,F 3 different patterns of walls

and spaces E,G 2 patterns of walls and

spaces that also include

laser cannons

Placement of the orbs is more diffi- cult. The four orbs must not be in the path of any laser, on or off the small viewscreen, or they will be destroyed. To determine where you want each orb, multiply the vertical coordinate by 70, add the horizontal coordinate, and place the result in the DATA line immediately following the screen DATA line. This should be done with each of the four orbs for each screen.

Below is an example of a custo- mized first screen. Line 6000 is the screen data, and line 6010 is the place- ment data for the four orbs.

6000 DftTfl flftAflflBBBBBBEB

BBBBBBEBBBBBBBEBBBBBEBB

BBBBBEBBBBBBBEBBBBBBBEB

BBBBBBAftflflfl

6O10 DATft 672,1338,2075

,3043

The only way to test your Arena and make sure that everything is working right is to RUN the game. If you want to test a higher level, change L = 0 in line 1070. L is the current level minus one. So L = 7 would start you out at level 8.

Now you should have enough to get started. Have fun creating your own Arenas.

Jamie Sutherland is a high school Junior from Bend, Oregon. His first hands-on computing experience was with the old Sinclair ZX-80 of popular Antic game programmer J.D. Casten. You'll see Jamie's vast scrolling maze game, "Valiant," in Antic soon. Listing on page 76.

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May 1985

51

the toolbox

HANDY USR ROUTINES

Machine language power from BASIC

by ERNIE NEGUS

A collection of short but powerful USR machine language routines that can he usefully plugged into your your BASIC programs for any Atari computer Antic Disk subscrihers l-MI-li 't):(!SHR(:Al!..I.ST" caul follow the instructions in the article.

BASIC'S USR command lets you use speedy, memory- efficient machine language subroutines from the comfort of BASIC. Although these subroutines are tricky to type, they let your BASIC programs access a wider variety of functions, run faster and occupy less memory.

Simply put, machine code is a series of numbers stored in memory. Each number stands for an instruction to the computer Once you have the address of this code, the USR function lets you run it from BASIC.

Machine code can be stored in several ways. Here, the code is stored in character strings. We can now use BASIC'S ADR function to find the beginning address of the character string, and put this value into our USR call.

Since the computer interprets each character as a machine code instruction, a single mistyped character could cause your computer to lock up when you RUN the program.

You must type in each character string exactly as it appears, checking each line with TYPO II. Refer to the Special Atari Character charts in the Antic listings sec- tion if you need additional help.

Also, please note that you only need to type the dot- matrix listing printouts marked with TYPO II codes. The typeset example lines below each listing simply indicate how these listings should be called up in these demonstra- tions or in your own BASIC programs.

All USR calls have the general form: X = USR(z, pi, p2, p3) where z is the decimal address of the machine language routine, and pi, p2 and p3 are input values (parameters) which the machine language routine will use. While some USR calls do not need parameters, others de- mand several. Any parameters you use must be numbers between 0 and 65,535.

Here are some short USR routines which use machine language to manipulate bits, perform multiple PEEKs and POKES, evaluate Boolean expressions, and even play music.

Let's examine our USR routines and see how they work:

15 ANS = USR(BBYT,pl,p2,p3,p4,p5,p6,p7,p8)

This routine converts binary numbers to decimal. In our example, the rtiysterious-looking character string is the machine language subroutine. The ADR function determines the decimal address of the subroutine. This address is stored in the variable BBYT Our final result will be stored in ANS.

We'll use this routine to convert 00001111 to decimal:

First, type in the machine language string as shown in line 10.

52

ANTIC, The Atari Resource

the toolbox

Now, type:

15 ANS = USR(BBYT,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1) 17 PRINT ANS

When you RUN this demonstration, ANS will be equal to 15, the decimal equivalent of 00001111.

USR routines which do not return values to your BASIC program, such as MPOK, must also be equated to a BASIC variable. Programmers often call these "dummy" variables because they aren't used in any calculations, but are re- quired by BASIC syntax rules.

RB 28 DPEK=flDR c"hhnihnGsi«Enaaiosiri*")

25 ANS = USR(DPEK,<address>)

This routine performs a double PEEK at any given decimal address. Its BASIC equivalent is:

ANS = PEEK (<address>) + PEEK (<address+l>) * 256

Please note that items within angle brackets, such as <address>, tell yOu what type of data the USR routine re- quires. If you wanted to perform a double PEEK at address 1536, for example, you would type:

25 ANS = USR(DPEK,1536)

UE 38 MPOK=ftDH fhShTK

♦hhlBGHEH*"3

35 DUMMY=USR(MPOK,<address>,<bytel>, <byte2> . . . )

MPOK will POKE any number of bytes into successive memory locations, beginning at the specified decimal address.

GU 48 DPOK=ftDR t"h52JhnDhauB»h7l'Jhr

45 DUMMY= USR(DPOK,<address>,<wordl>, <word2>. . .)

DPOK works just like MPOK, except DPOK will POKE any number of words into successive memory locations.