Z*Magazine: 22-Nov-86 #2.8

Article #30 (214 is last):
From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.product.8bit.zmag
Subject: Z*Magazine: 22-Nov-86 #2.8
Reply-To: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Date: Mon Jul 5 09:42:29 1993


___________________________________
Zmagazine November
___________________________________
November 22, 1986 Issue 2.8
___________________________________
Publisher,Editor in Chief:Ron Kovacs
___________________________________
Zmag Staff:

Assistant Publisher:Ken Kirchner
Copy Editor:Alan Kloza
Software Reviewer: Eric Plent
Coordinator: Larry Mihalik
___________________________________
Zmag Headquarters (New Jersey)

The Syndicate BBS
Post Office Box 74
Middlesex, NJ 08846-0074

(201) 968-8148 300/1200 24 Hours
___________________________________
Xx Zmag 11/22/86

This week...........


<*> Fall Comdex Closes in Vegas--
Atari Puts Its Cards on the Table!!

<*> Visiting SIX--Sweden's Entry into
the ZMAG Network!!


<*> Antic-Analog Blues--Jack Lee's
Rebuttal!!

<*> Software Reviews

<*> Star Raiders II

<*> More Ram for Your Atari 8-bit

<*> The Editor Speaks

<*> Next week in Zmag

<*> Zmag Systems List updated

and more......

________________________________
Xx Fall Comdex--Atari Shows New
Products....................
________________________________

We've got 2 reports on COMDEX, the
computer trade show, that just closed
in Las Vegas. The first report comes
to us from Online Today, while the
second is from Antic's Online
edition.

The reports include highlights from
the show--what's upcoming in the
Atari 8-bit world and new ST products
and developements. Finally, there's
a general overview of Fall Comdex '86.



Online Today OLT-3730

ATARI HOSTS SOFTWARE BOOTH
(Nov. 14)

LAS VEGAS -- Atari moved its software
vendors booth to the main Comdex show
floor this year and, like last year,
became the most crowded display in the
hall.

Standing-room-only cubicles offered
software ranging from games to desktop
publishing packages at bargain prices
that would make any high-end business
user jealous.

While desktop publishing programs for
the Apple Macintosh and IBM sell for
$695 or more, those in the Atari booth
seldom pushed the $200 mark.
Publishing Partner from SoftLogik
Corp., for instance, provides a $150
package that supports point sizes up t
144, several different fonts and type
styles, word processing functions,
internal graphics manipulation, and in
addition to dot matrix printers, the
Apple LaserWriter and
Postscript-driven printers.
Several computer design packages
were offered for Atari systems with
features similar to those of the more
expensive packages. Here, too, the
software was much less expensive -- of
the 5 programs on display, prices ran
from $49.95 to $199.95.

For the game players, there were
several cubicles ranging from airplane
simulations to chess games. About 30
booths were set up, with 1 vendor per
space. The most "vocal" also was the
largest. It featured a professional
sound system and software for MIDI
interface devices. Several keyboards
were set up to demonstrate applic-
ations for studio musicians.
--Cheryl Peterson

___________________________________


ANTIC ONLINE ANT-2603

Permission to reprint or excerpt is
granted only if the following
line appears at the top of the article:
ANTIC PUBLISHING INC., COPYRIGHT
1986. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION.

LAS VEGAS - NOV 10, 1986

Atari Corp. set up its crowded
COMDEX exhibit near the
entrance to the main hall of the Las
Vegas Convention Center.
Atari occupied a rectangular island
measuring about 30 by 75
feet. In that area it crammed not only
its own products but
those of 65 selected third-party
developers. Things got so
crowded that some of Atari's exhibitors
had to take turns
using the display space at one of the
40 miniboooths.
The resulting crush drew even more
attention from gawkers.

Casual eavesdropping often caught
the two letters "ST"
floating on the COMDEX air. People are
again excited about
Atari, and this time it's about
computers, not game machines.

ATARI HARDWARE
===============

In the hardware line Atari showed
its new 1200 baud,
Hayes-compatible modem, the SH212, and
the new 80-column
card, XEP80, for the XL/XE 8-bit
computers. The long-awaited
ST blitter chip was demonstrating
some sensational graphics.
It is to be released early in
1987 as a $120
upgrade, piggybacking on new ROM chips
The SH212 modem is another
price/performance breathrough
for Atari. This fully Hayes-compatible
300/1200 baud
external modem retails for $99.95. It
has an industry
standard RS-232 interface port, making
it plug-compatible
with virtually all computers. Other
features include
internal speaker, autodial via pulse or
tone, auto-answer,
and full Bell 212A compatibility.
Expect to see it in the
stores around the 1st quarter of 1987.

According to Atari president Sam
Tramiel, Atari is
bringing its philosophy of "Power
Without the Price" to the
wider peripheral market. That punchy
motto may be on its way
out though -- one Atari press release
says the new tag line
is "Technology So Advanced It's
Affordable." Perhaps those
words are only for the business market,
to which Atari has assigned
long-time Tramiel associate Sig
Hartmann.

The XEP80 is an 80-column board for
the Atari XL and XE
8-bit computers. It costs $79.95 (a
dollar a column, says
Atari's John Skruch, Associate Director
for Computer
Software). The XEP80 plugs into a
joystick port and requires
a monochrome monitor or black-and-white
TV. Although no
major word-processor programs now
support 80-column format
for the 8-bits, Skruch says that
PaperClip, by Batteries
Included, and AtariWriter Plus, by
Atari, are being adapted
for that purpose.


ICD 8-BIT POWER
================

Another 80-column board for the
8-bit XL/XE computers
was introduced here by ICD, Inc. of
Rockford, Illinois.
This board costs $99.95 and can only
work as a piggy-back
add-on to the company's Multi I/O
external interface box for
the XL/XEs. However, this card
operates in 16 selectable
colors (or monochrome) and requires no
RAM from the computer.
Multi I/O itself provides five
valuable functions:
RAMdisk (256K or 1 megabyte), parallel
printer interface that
accepts standard 850 cables, a serial
printer/modem interface
with the 850 handler built-in, a
spooler, and a hard disk
interface that supports up to 8 SASI
or SCSI controllers
simultaneously -- using either 5
1/4-inch or 3.5-inch hard
drives. Multi I/O costs $199.95 in the
256K configuration
and $349.95 for 1 meg.


MICROSOFT WRITE
===============

On the software side, Atari showed
and announced its
word processor for the ST called
Microsoft Write. This
package, to be shipped late this year,
is a direct port by
Microsoft of its Macintosh Word, V.
1.05. It makes full use
of type fonts, including
proportionally-spaced fonts, and
many special features pointing towards
desktop publishing
with a laser printer. Insiders expect
Atari to offer an
affordable laser printer in 1987.
Microsoft Write will
retail for $129.95 when it ships late
this year.


___________________________________
Xx Other Comdex Highlights
___________________________________

Online Today OLT-3736

COMDEX/FALL '86 ENDS WEEK'S RUN
(Nov. 14)


LAS VEGAS -- After what appears to
have been a most successful week,
Comdex/Fall '86 closed this afternoon,
with attendance figures likely to run
as high as last year's.

Occupying the Las Vegas Convention
Center and several area hotels, Comdex
has been the second largest trade show
held in Vegas for the past few years.

Surpassed only by the annual Winter
Consumer Electronics Show, it was
expected to bring 85,000 people to Las
Vegas.

Comdex drew crowds despite the
fact that several large vendors,
including Apple Computers, chose not
to exhibit. Ashton-Tate, Commodore and
Software Publishing also stayed away.


CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only
Memory)
is a technology that is available, but
few vendors offered information or
programs of great usefulness on the
disks, there seems to be little demand
so far from users.

Unquestionably, the talk of the show
was desktop publishing and
Computer-Aided Design. All-day semin-
ars yesterday left the show floor
empty by comparison with days earlier
in the week. While discussions were
held on other topics ranging from
projected software hits of '87 to
direct-marketing by phone, the semin-
ars on these subjects drew the best
attendance. The preponderance of
hardware over software vendors was
notable.

Comdex/Fall typically is a show with
both hardware and software developers
about equal in numbers. Last year's
show had fewer software than hardware
vendors, but the percentages seemed
about 60/40. This year it seems closer
to 75/25.

While there may be a slump in the
computer industry, it was certainly
not evident here. How many of the
companies showing this year will
return for next year's show is any-
one's guess. But it's been said that
every booth for next year's show has
been sold and sponsor Interface Group
is looking at expanding again.

--Cheryl Peterson
___________________________________

___________________________________
Xx Swedish BBS Picks Up ZMAG
___________________________________

After several correspondences via
Compuserve, ZMAG Editor-in-Chief Ron
Kovacs, has gone online with the
latest and only overseas member of
the ZMAG Network--The Sorman Infor-
mation Exchange (SIX).

As reported in last week's edition
of ZMAG, the Swedish BBS will display
our online magazine for their
country's computer enthusiasts.

This past week SIX was visited by
Kovacs, who found the BBS quite easy
to access despite the differences
between telecommunication systems in
the U.S. and Sweden.

Surprisingly, most of the text on SIX
is written in English. Consequently,
there's not much difference between
the Swedish BBS and one you might find
here in the U.S..

What follows are some excerpts from
the overseas "visit" paid via the
modem to SIX:

Your last name? kovacs
Searching userlog...
Ron Kovacs, is that correct (Y or N)?y


Where are you calling from? middlesex,nj

Now enter a password you would like
to use:
REMEMBER THIS PASSWORD!


Type it again to be sure I've got it
correct-> ******


Hello World

Welcome, Ron Kovacs, from middlesex,nj!
Connected on 11/17/86 at 04:06:19


No messages addressed to you.



New User Information
====================

Welcome to SIX!

BBSs all around the world and large
multi-user systems like CompuServe
and BYTE Information Exchange are
checked regularly. This means we can
keep you up to date with the latest
computer news - worldwide.

Our Special Interest Groups, SIGs,
provide you with public domain
software,
reviews, news etc. related to your
computer. Of course each SIG has its
own
conference (or message base if you
like).

Poor software will never be offered.
Every piece of software is checked to
be
of good value to our users. You don't
want to spend download-time on
garbage, do you? We are pleased to
have you here. Have fun and enjoy!

SYSOP



SIX Presentation
================
Sorman Information AB decided to open
Sorman Information eXchange in the
fall of -86. Sorman Information AB, or
Sorman Info for short, is a company
specialized in technical communication.


SORMAN INFORMATION EXCHANGE - SIX

SIX runs on a Macintosh PLUS with 1Mb
RAM, and a standard Hard Disk 20
from Apple. The host software we run
is "Red Ryder Host" by Scott Watson.
It's a very good host system for use
on a Macintosh. (You will find details
on Red Ryder Host under the "ed
Ryder Host Information" menu item".)

SIX contains normal BBS sections as
private mail, a general bulletin
board,
and chat with Sysop. In addition SIX
contains a SIG area with open and
restricted SIGs. All users have full
access to all OPEN SIGs.

SIX currently supports the following
OPEN SIGs:

Electronic Publishing
Macintosh
8-bit Atari

Atari ST
Telecommunications

Enjoy your stay and please return
soon!


Lennart Olsson er Johansson Sysops)

= SIX Main Menu =

ew user information
<*> Sorman online report
nformation on this system
ser specific variables
isplay all users
rivate mail
ulletin board
omputer news
pecial Interest Groups, SIGs
ell for chat with sysop
oodbye for this time

(50 minutes left) Command

== Special Interest Groups, SIGs ==


resentation of the SIG area
lectronic publishing SIG
acintosh SIG
tari ST SIG
<8>-bit Atari SIG
elecommunications SIG
uit to main menu


=== 8-bit Atari SIG ===

onference messages

rograms, documents, and news
uit to SIG area

(49 minutes left) Command (C,P,Q) ? P


==== 8-bit Atari Conference ====
Moderator: sysop*Lennart

heck for correct address
rite conference message
ead conference message
ew messages since last call
can all conference messages
ptional read while scanning
uit to 8-bit Atari SIG

(C,W,R,N,S,O,Q) ? N


Msg. #51 in **8-bit Atari Conference**
Posted on 11/04/86 at 00:09:52
To: ALL From: SYSTEM OPERATOR
Subject: Welcome!
Hi all Atarians!

This section (Atari8) will contain
messages, programs, documents, and
news pertaining the Atari community.
Programs for download will be briefly
described in this message area.

PLEASE write a small description of
programs or documents you upload!!!



Msg. #112 in **Bulletin Board** Posted
on 11/17/86 at 04:10:41
To: SYSTEM OPERATOR From: RON KOVACS
Subject: Reply To 'FIRST caller'
Hello Sweden, Lines look good and
and there isnt very much noise! I
am calling you direct from New Jersey
USA. Read ZMAG and let us know what
is happening around here!
Take care and hope to call again
soon!
Ron Kovacs
Syndicate BBS
"201" 968-8148 300/1200 24 hours



__________________________________
Xx Antic Analog Blues Part 5
__________________________________

BY:Jack H. Lee

This article is to reply to an
article Ken White had written in
response to my commentaries about
Antic in a previous issue of Zmag.

I read Mr. White's article with
surprise and amusement. First
of all, I felt that he totally
missed the point I was making about
Antic. He attacked me as though I
had killed a kitten. First of all,
I was not criticizing Antic for
coverage of the ST computers, as
Mr. White might have thought. I
was writing about my observations
about Antic as it changed
throughout the years. Part of the
criticism was that Antic sometimes
insulted the readers intelligence.

Other than that, I was writing the
article from an 8-bit owner's point
of view, so I can see why Mr. White
attacked me. I have nothing against
the ST. Personally, I think the
520ST and 1040ST are Atari's best
computers since the 400 and the
legendary 800. The ST is a very
strong contender out in the market,
and thanks to the excellent sales
and capabilties of those computers,
the competitors have tried to get a
piece of the action. Apple for
instance, released the Macintosh
Plus computer, with more memory,
storage space, and added features.
With the release of it, Apple
reduced the price of their
Machintosh. Commodore has reduced
the price of the Amiga, and threw
in some coupons that will save
buyers several hundred dollars for
hardware and software. Looks like
1983 all over again.

Getting back the point, I think
Antic is doing a good job with
coverage of the ST, but like I
said, I was not criticizing it. I
was only making observations. I
was not really taking any sides. I
wrote the article so people, like
Mr. White would voice their opinions
about Antic. However, I did not
expect to be attacked personally
for what I wrote. The article was
a generalized view point, so some
people might agree with what I had
said, while others would disagree.

With Antic's disk+magazine, I did
not mind the programs in the
magazine or on the disk at all.
With the case of the disk, I have
always formatted the second side
for my use, unless it was
double-sided with 8-bit programs.

Last of all, Mr. White, I was
poking fun at Antic, NOT the ST. I
criticized it about their contents,
and how it went from great to
so-so. The ST was definitely not
one of the complaints. Sure, it's
a good Atari magazine, but lately
it has been run-of-the-mill. Since
January of this year, Antic has
attempted to portray the 8-bit and ST
computers as serious computers by
having a lot of utility/application
programs and very little games.
Games were what hurt Atari's
image the most. People are turned
off from buying an Atari, just
because they thought all Atari
computers could do was play games.
I commend Antic on their attempt and
hope that it proves to be successful.
Afterall, they were a major factor
in getting manufacturers to produce
software previously not available
for Atari. Now let's see if they
can do the same thing for consumers,
and get them to buy an Atari ST or
8-bit.



__________________________________
Xx Software Review by Eric Plent
__________________________________

STAR RAIDERS II
By Gary Stark and Bruce Poelhman
ATARI Corp.
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
48K Disk $19.99


It's finally here. The long awaited
STAR RAIDERS II, from the new Atari
Corp.

This sequel starts off where STAR
RAIDERS I left off. The story goes
like this: Having crushed the Zylon
empire with your mighty power, you
thought you had heard the last of
them. They promised good behavior
in exchange for you letting them
settle on their home planet. Wrong,
space cadet!. The Zylons are ready
for more in this action packed
game.

Your job is to once again rid your
star system of the nasty Zylon
Warriors. When the game starts, you
are treated to some nice battling
music(if you can call it that), and
a view from the bridge of the
LIBERTY STAR. One thing you will
notice right away are the graphics;
They are the BEST graphics in a
game I have seen in quite a while,
and from Atari no less!. Good work,
Jack!. Second, the game play is
much better than the old STAR
RAIDERS. It scrolls smoothly, and
the Zylon ships look more like
ships, rather then blobs. Speaking
of Zylon ships, the manner in which
they blow up is something to behold.
If you hit the ship dead center, it
will blow up right away. If you hit
a wing, or some other edge of the
ship, it will twist and fall,
throwing up smoke in a long trail.
It may even take a pot shot at you
on the way down!.

You can call up a map of your
galaxy by pressing the SPACE bar.
From that map you can chart a
course to any of the planets with
the pointer line, controlled with
the joystick. If you choose a
planet, you will see a report from
the planet, telling if there are
any Zylon ships, the name of the
planet, and some other information.

There are star bases at points
around the galaxy. If at any time
you need more fuel, a repair to
your ship, or have to defend it
from the Zylons, choose that star
base with the pointer line, and
press the FIRE button. Wooshh!..

If any of the star bases are under
attack, it will be blinking on the
galaxy map. You don't want to lose
any star bases, so I have found it
best to defend them first, the
planets second.

Realism is high in many parts of
the game. For example, if you hold
down th FIRE button for too long,
your cannon will overheat, and it
will start to misfire. Stop firing
for a second, and wait for the
little bars to go down.

The Zylon Star System is another
thing all together. This is where
your skills in battle are put to
the test. When you HyperWarp into
this galaxy, you are put in orbit
around one of the smaller planets.
As soon as you look into orbit, you
will be attacked by a whole squad
of Zylons. I have found it best to
ignore them, because you will spend
most of your time waiting for your
cannon to cool down. Instead, press
the "W" key for your bombing
option. The cannon sights will fade
out, and a single crosshair will
replace it. By pressing the FIRE
button, you can lob bombs on the
Zylon bases. Destroy all the bases
on all the planets, and you have
won the game. Trust me, this is
MUCH harder than it sounds!. I have
not been able to get past the first
planet of the Zylon system, and
that much took me two hours!.

For the amount of game you get for
the money, STAR RAIDERS II is worth
every penny. The game play is fast,
shoot 'em up action that should
keep you glued to the computer for
many hours. (Not a hard thing to
do!)

What else can I say?. Buy it.

Eric Plent



__________________________________
Xx Hardware Modification
__________________________________


MORERAM
------
This hardware modification should
be attempted only by those who have
had some experience working with
electronic boards and integrated
circuits. If you are not confident
of your abilities, ask for assistance
from your User Group or a good TV/
VCR technician.

The object of this change is to
enable the RAM at location $D600
thru $D7FF that cannot normally be
accessed. The RAM chips are "on"
the buss during each machine cycle
unless the -CI line from pin 16 of
U3 [MMU] is low. This added circuit
forces this line "on" during access
to $D600 thru $D7FF addresses, which
is all that's required to use the
existing memory at that location.

Dis-assemble your 800XL by removing
the six Phillips-head screws from
the bottom of the case. Carefully
lift the right side upwards (with
it still lying on its keyboard) as
if you were opening a book.

Disconnect the keyboard cable and
set the top section aside. Remove
all the screws from the main board
and work it loose from the base.
Take note of the location and
sequence of the shielding while you
are pulling it apart. Now to the
fun part....

Find the trace that connects pin 16
of U3 to pin 10 of U18. At a suitable
location, completely cut thru this
line. Then, use a small piece of
double-sided foam tape to secure a
74HC20 IC to a clear area of the
main board near U2 [74LS138]. Mount
the chip on its back so that the
pins point upward. (make sure you
know which is pin #1!!) Using 30
gauge wire-wrapping wire, connect
pin 7 to the nearest ground (pin 8
of U2 will do) and pin 14 to a
nearby +5v point.(pin 16 of U2...)
Wire pins 1,2,4, and 5 of the HC20
to pin 16 of U3 [MMU]. Solder a wire
from pin 6 (of HC20) to pins 9 and
10 (of HC20). Add a wire from pin
12 (of HC20) to pin 9 of U2 [LS138]
and from pin 13 (HC20) to pin 7 of
U2 [LS138]. Last wire goes from pin
8 (HC20) to pin 10 of U18 [LS08].

ALL DONE!!

Try the board now, before you put
it back together. Just plug in the
power and monitor plugs and boot
Basic. If it shows "READY", it is
OK. Now, you can
put everything back together and
try the memory at $D600-D7FF. You
will have 512 bytes all for your
own use!!!

Bob Woolley [75126,3446]

FOR 1200XL OWNERS: Cut the trace
between pin 16 of U14 and pin 1 of
U11. Mount the HC20 near U16. Pin 16
of U14 goes to pins 1,2,4 and 5.
Pins 12 and 13 of the HC20 go to
pins 9 and 7 of U18. Pin 8 of HC20
goes to pin 1 of U11. All that
really changes are the IC numbers
and one of the pins (pin 10 of U18
becomes pin 1 of U11).

THIS MATERIAL MAY BE FREELY COPIED,
SOLD OR OTHERWISE DISTRIBUTED.




__________________________________
Xx The Editor Speaks
__________________________________


You'll notice a new name on the
masthead of ZMAG this week.

Next to Copy Editor you'll find the
name of Alan Kloza.

Well, let me take a minute to
introduce myself and explain what
I'm doing here on ZMAG.

Currently, I'm the sysop on the Surf
City BBS (which you can find in the
ZMAG Systems Listing) and I plan to
edit each weekly issue of ZMAG. This
week's edition marks my first
attempt at the new job, so bear with
me if you notice a few mistakes here
and there.

As I grow accustomed to the duties
of editing this fine electronic
newsletter, I think you'll find the
changes made are for the better.
I've kept this issue pretty much
intact with its previous look and
format but look for some innovation
in subsequent editions.

We're still trying to sort out the
logistics of the situation.(Ron
lives in Middlesex, while I'm down
in Toms River, NJ) So we're trying
to figure out a way to hook up a
"newsline" between the two systems
that will insure that ZMAG remains
current and fresh.

In any case, I hope you enjoy this
edition of ZMAG and if you have
suggestions or comments, be sure
to let me know. Until next week...

----Al----

WORLDWIDE ZMAGAZINE BBS SYSTEMS