December 2020
•SPECIAL 2020 HOLIDAYS EDITION•
SECRETARY’S REPORT By Steven Peck HELLO WORLD!
Happy Holidays again! It is almost the end of 2020. My, how time flies! We had a great virtual meeting in November, but because of the fact that we didn’t have enough members in the meeting, there was no Election. But, we had a great chat, anyway, talking about the latest technologies and goings-on in everybody’s lives. It was a time of great camaraderie and it was great to have the people that were present there. It was a lot of fun and great fellowship. It was definitely an enjoyable experience. Our SPACE President, Michael Current, was there, I was there, our DOM librarian, Glen, was there, and Brian our VP was there. There was also a guest attendee there as well. With that, I will close this Secretary’s Report. In the words of the late, great Stan Lee… EXCELSIOR!
TECH TALK
I will score the game accordingly
By Steven Peck
SCORE:
Today in Tech Talk, we are going to discuss the Koala Pad, an early drawing pad for the Atari, Apple and Commodore 8-bit computers. It’s quite a piece of technology, too. You can use a stylus pen or even your finger to draw with it. Despite the fact that it is early technology, it is amazingly tactile and accurate. I like the interface. The Koala Pad comes with KoalaIllustrator, a cartridge-based program packed with the pad. You can make shapes and draw freehand with it. You can make impressive works of art with the KoalaPad as well. I remember when I was a boy when KS95 had a contest to draw their sun mascot on KoalaPads. I didn’t win, but it was fun trying. I think I was upset I lost. Such is life. As I said, you can draw with the included stylus or even your finger. It is even easier to use than a modern drawing pad with an electronic stylus pen.It does not take much to draw with it. The pen, for instance is just a piece of plastic. Pens nowadays require more electronics for advnced levels of pressure. The KoalaPad may not have all those levels like a modern system, but it is quite capable for what it does. Quite a unit, actually. It’s very enjoyable to work with. This concludes the Tech Talk. I will be back in the New Year 2021 with another edition of Tech Talk. Thanks for reading. See you soon! ATARI MULTI-PLATFORM GAME REVIEW In this edition, we will discuss the games “Dragon’s Lair” and “Space Ace,”for the Atari Jaguar CD. A double game review, if you will.
TRIVIA TIME! The word laser is actually an acronym, standing for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.” The first laser was invented in 1960 at Hughes Research Laboratories.
These are interesting games, in the fact that you do not control the actions of the player’s characters. Instead, you control their reactions to the game. Actually, the games are movies that are already fixed in their paths. You have to control how the movies play out so they complete the winning way to play the games. These were originnaly on LaserDisc. But, they were squeezed into CDs for the Jaguar thanks in part to Cinepak video compression technology. In “Dragon’s Lair,” Dirk the Daring has to save the fair (albeit ditzy) Princess Daphne from Singe the Dragon in a dilapidated castle that belongs to an evil wizard. He has enchanted the castle with monsters and obstacles. The object: destroy Singe the dragon and save the Princess. Then, you win the game. It isn’t as easy as it sounds. It can be very hard to get the pattern correct to win the game, as there are Giddy Goons, the Lizard King, and other things in your way. Watch out for the Crypt Creeps, too!
Message from Captain Irata: “Jingle Bells! Atari’s swell! The games will blow you away! They’re really cool and they’ll make you drool all throughout the day!” HOO-RAH!
In Space Ace, you, Dexter, and your girlfriend, Kimberly, have to stop the alien, Borf, from turning the people of Earth into babies using the Infanto Ray. It is a funny game, but tough! You have to go to different planets and fight in space battles to stop Borf. Once he is defeated, you won. However, you have a small problem. You must energize to become Ace, or fight as a weakling Dexter. There can be different outcomes.
Dragon’s Lair: Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Sound:
10 10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
40/40
Space Ace: Graphics: Gameplay: Animation: Sound:
10 10 10 10
TOTAL SCORE:
40/40
I will see you in 2021 with another review. Until then, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! See you soon!
The next SPACE meeting will commence on Friday, December 11, 2020 at 7:30 PM. This will be a virtual meeting, and we will make sure you can get the link online to be there! We hope to see you there! Thanks!
A Special N otice A bout DOM Mailing : I have been creating the DOM each month and was just looking at the supply building up. T hen I got to thinking about how many DOM s I will have by next J anuary or later. I t could be a year or twelve months and that would be twelve DOM s at $3.00 each or $36.00 for twelve and some might be reluctant to pay that for yearold DOM s in addition to their past-due memberships . S o, I was thinking about mailing . I have about two dozen empty 3M disk boxes, and they had ten disks each but could easily hold eighteen . I put twelve disks plus some bubble wrap and brought it to the Post Office as a test, and it came to $4.60. I then asked how much for just the empty box she said $3.80. S o, that comes to just 6.7 cents per disk . T he exact amount might vary depending on how many disks, but it would be close to $3.80 plus 7 cents per disk, so eight DOM s would be $28.36, or $3.00 per DOM plus $4.36 postage. E ach Member would have to email me as to which DOMs they would want and their current mailing address . A lso, a personal check for your calculated amount should be sent to G regory Leitner, then he could email me to acknowledge payment and I could mail the DOM s . For any difference in the actual mailing cost and your calculated amount could be carried on a ledger by G regory to be resolved at a later actual meeting . Sincerely, G len Kirschenmann DOM Librarian and Membership C hairman S aint Paul Atari C omputer E nthusiasts (SPACE) P.S. To pay for DOMs and membership renewals, you can send your personal check to this address: SPACE c/o G regory Leitner 3407 78th Street E. I nver G rove H eights, MN 55076-3037 T hanks ! buy a DOM, renew your memberships, and support SPACE! See you soon !
SPACE COMICS SECTION! The Misadventures of A-Man and C.D. By Steve Peck
Angel, Bandit, and Their Ferret Fracas By Steve Peck
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