SPACE Newsletter - September 1988

September 1988

•

AUGUST • 1988

SPACE Meeting Friday, September 9th at 7:30pm MAST Meeting Friday, September 16th at 7:30pm At the Falcon Heights Community Center 2077 Larpenteu.r Avenue West

MAST+ Prog-rarnrners Meeting Tuesday, September 20th at 7 :30pm At First Minnesota Bank Building - second floor Lexington and Larpenteur, in back of building

Minnesota Atari ST

DISCLAIMER

Published by the St. Paul ATARI Computer Enthusiasts (SPACE), and Minnesota ST (MAST) group, an independent organization with no business affiliation with A.,. Corporation. Permission is granted to any similar organization with which SPACEft,1 exchanges newsletters to reprint material from this newsletter. We do, however, asf credit be given to the authors and to SPACE/MAST. Opinions expressed are th~ the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SPACE/MAST, club offic.n. club members or ATARI Corporation.

SPACE/MAST BULLETIN BOABDS SPACE/MAST East (XE)· BBS Phone: (612)-n4-0135

Sysop: Bruce Haug (Home Phone: 774--6226) SPACE/MAST West (ST)· BBS Phone: (612)-560-9254

Sysop: Steve Pauley (Home Phone: 560-2917)

President Larrry Vanden Plas 636-2415 Vice President 699-2422 John Novotny Secretary Ernie Costello 455-6515 Treasurer {SPACE/MAST) Bob Siede 489-3982 Disk Librarian Joe Danko 777-9500 Greg Peasley 473-6510 Paper Librarian Jim Scheib 721-4185 Newsletter Editor (SPACE/MAST) Steve Pauley 560-2917

President Jim Schulz Vice President Phil Seifert Secretary Dan Stubbs Disk Librarian Jim Schulz Paper Librarian Neil Palosaari Membership Chair Allen Frink Demo Coordinator Phil Seifert

533-419:: 545-676:. 433-370~ 533-419.: 646-127, 482-791" 545-6765

NEWSLETTER ADVEBTISING BATES: 1/2 page - 4' vertically x 5 1/8' horizontally-$ 15/mo., $140/yr_ Full page - 8' vertically X 5 1/8' horizontally - $25/mo., $240/yr. Club members classified - 50¢ per 40 characters, $2.50 minimum per ad. Send to: Steve Pauley• 2547 - 83rd Court N. • Brooklyn Park, MN 55444

AU GU ST • 198 8

Al BYTES fro m SPACE PR ES '41P theLarry Vand en Plas

by e the Thanks to all of you that help ed mak inter and ve mati infor so ting mee Aug ust her anot had esting. Joe Dan ko not only er to a hot DOM, but had foun d the answ er low cost repla cem ent for 800X L pow inhad on Nels Don ys alwa supp lies. As tle, teresting new s abou t SPACE in Seat chilger youn have you If OR. Portland, on dren be sure to look at the club disk It Joe. man Cave and t The Noisy Gian t. The cam e from SPACE on the wes t coas I wire obje ct rotation was also interesting. was sadd ened to learn that Use r Friendly had clos ed its doors. As part of our re-enrollment as a user grou p grou p with Atari we are to take a and photo, so plan to atten d the mee ting we p grou large a t wha i help us show Atar do have. Elections for offic ers will be in Noting vember. Duri ng the Sep temb er mee e. mitte com ng inati nom a we will set up y of Give som e thou ght to the poss ibilit been bein g an offic er of SPACE. It has d on said you get out of som ethin g base of true inly certa is That it. into wha t you put the SPACE. Offic ers get to inter act with new s mem bers more, often hear abou t ideas, first, get to impl eme nt more of their have have more oppo rtuni ties to learn, fits. more fun and expe rienc e othe r bene if on inati nom in e nam your Feel free to put you inate nom not does else eone som grea t ~rst. Antic has been publ ishin g so les artic d aine cont ust Aug late. of s issue rolcont e hom a to on conn ectin g an Atari the XE ler (X-10) and the inner secr ets of e had issu er temb Gam e System. The Sep maanni an are softw hic grap of ws a revie an artion draw ing toolkits. Octo ber has 8-bit ticle on the hard disk for the 8-bit, an and imag e scanner, 80 colu mn grap hics addi ire requ not does that disk g a talkin tional hard ware .

I wou ld like to hear abou t idea s for are future mee tings . Som e poss ibilit ies data word proc essi ng, spre adsh eets , be a base, or mod em use. This coul d meetwou p that mee ts after the regu lar ing.

e It looks like there is alwa ys som ts wan eone som that ware hard software or urag e to sell or buy. Threfore we will enco ting. mee the to prior ting a swa p mee plus Please bring wha t you have to sell for. like are you t you list of wha s Till Sep temb er 9th, whe n the door g. putin com y happ open abou t 7:00

A Aft er La st Nig ht the VP ) V (fr omNovo tny

oy John 1. Who was that task ed man (that to the brou ght the Wire Frames prog ram get a even 't didn I ting) mee CE SPA July e, asid ing Kidd him! chan ce to than k d to faile I that s ogie apol my and you k than itto be gety ourn ame . Your dem o show ed both be can that ram prog while h wort a fun and useful. 2. Those DOM librarians sure profor vide d quite a "sell ectio n· of pl'bg rams that les artic r othe for Look th. mon us last ings. talk briefly abou t a coup le of the offer ic publ of es logu cata free for e wrot 3.1 two n gotte have dom ain prog rams , and to say resp onse s already; just wou ld like quite is ry libra that our SPACE DOM e thes to d pare com n whe ve impr essi . ings offer ain dom "com merc ial" publ ic ting. mee ust Aug the at this More on t4. This item has no subs tanc e wha ent pres to cial artifi ed seem it soever, but Actu exac tly three items, so here is four. you ask to ty rtuni oppo this take ally, let me and mem bers to com e to the mee tings rishare your ATARI appl icati ons or expe give s ences. This ~spe ct of a users grou p y lead birth to new idea s, whic h eventuall emto new prod ucts for all of us. Till Sept ber then ...

SPACE/MAST NEWSLETTER

V, Wire Frames from ANTIC

Some ideas by John Novotny As those attending the August SPACE meeting saw, this program generates graphics images from a point set entered on the screen. The program is from the July 1988 issue. The accompanying article describes the program options, and gives some background information about 3-dimensional plotting besides. This is a BASIC program, which again lets us get into it to see how things work, and lets us make changes. I mention this because, what came to mind as I watched points being set to define the image, it would be nice to have some references on the screen to assist in setting the points. A couple of different approaches can be taken here. One way would be to merely PLOT-DRAWTO a grid onto the screen. Another approach would be to pre-load the screen with a graphics image from a disk file. This requires another program to first generate this file, but allows a much more complex template which could include circles, diagonals, etc. I have tried this, and feel it is a useful enhancement. Another enhancement would be to use a more visable and faster cursor for use in setting points. Perhaps a player/ missle type implementation would be nice. I haven't had a chance to look into this much yet, but it would be a worthwile task for someone. (Hope you beat me to it!). Let's work together to make a good product better!

•

SPACEAugust Meeting Minutes

1. The meeting was called to order August 12, 1988 at 7:30 PM by President Larry Vanden Plas. 2. Treasurers Report: Bob Siede. uly's income was $128, expenses $142, leaving a balance of $295.44. Bob also reported some members are not receiving their newsletters. Please let him know if

you are not getting yours. 3. Vice President's Report: John Novotny. John invited programmers to submit their favorite creations for club use. He is also still trying ti track down various classic software pieces. He asked members for help on how to contact Main Street Software. Anyone know? 4. SPACE/Seattle report. Don Larson attended our meeting and reported on an Atari Trek that attracted 10,000 visitors. It was sponsored by Puget Sound clubs and some as far away as Spokane. It would be nice to have one here. 5. MAST President's report. Jim Schultz said ETA was having the national finals of a contest for high school teams in St. Paul. Atari was getting related publicity by donating hardware prizes. Atari was also back to helping clubs get national advertisers for their newsletters. All we need is astoresponsor, e.g. Wizards Works, and a photo of the club membership. We will try for a club photo at the next meeting. 6. President's Report: Larry Vanden Plas. He is trying to have a GEO (Graphics Operating Environment) demo for the September meeting. 7. Rumors. Larry reported that User Friendly went out of business quite unexpectedly. They announced a great closeout sale via the BBS's. (Have you used your BBS lately?) 8. BBS report. Bruce Haug reported that the BBS survived several power outages without a loss of data! 9. Offers and Deals. Joe Danko asked anyone interested in buying ZMag disks to get in touch with him. Larry brought copies of an ad for the PPL Shop, an electronics surplus store that operates as a non-profit job training center. A map was included. It sounds like they have a lot of good deals. 10. Service Problems. Joe showed how he converted a Coleco 5VDC power supply to an Atari computer power supply for $6. They are sold by Radio Shack. Just swap your old output wires. 11. Disk Library report. Joe Danko described the DOM programs and demoed

AUGUST • 1988 a few. He also explained the features of this month's special disks. 12. The rest of the meeting was devoted to the swap meet.

SPACES-bit Software Library

by Joe Danko Librarians: Joe Danko/Greg Peasley September, 1988 Disk Of the Month.o DOS SYS0375 AUTORUN SYS 001 DUP SYS 001 052 MENU PATTERNSDOC 078 063 TITLE PATTERNSBAS 070 FRACTP BAS 048 FRACTL BAS 044 FRACTC COM 050 SIMON COM 078 003 SHOW PICTURE 062 SIMON DOC 026 VT850A COM 076 HELP DOC 012 006 FREE SECTORS The next four programs are all designed to plot FRACTAL math formula graphics in various ways. All but the last one are written in ATARI BASIC and plot very slowly. If you have TURBO-BASIC XL they will run significantly faster if compiled. The last one is written in ACTION! PATTERNS.BAS:lncludes a DOC file and an opening title screen with the file called TITLE. FRACTP.BAS FRACTL.BAS FRACTC.COM: Compiled, executableACTION! code file.oThey all seem to run with any DOS. SIMON.COM: Machine language implementation of the familiar pattern matching game. It includes a DOC file and a file called SHOW. It also can print an overlay from the grapics dump file called PICTURE to use with an atari tablet to as the game user interface. VT850A: Latest version of the VT ter-

El minal emulator. This one uses the E: handler so it should work ok for 80 columns with an XEP80 adapter. It works fine with 40 columns but i couldn't get my modem out of 300 bits per second with it. I am finishing this 2 days after the deadline and soon after Steve Pauley called my house when I was out. You can bet I'm going to call him after I finish, not before. After that blast of so much software we released in August we are going to back up and retrench a bit until! Christmas. We will concentrate on some better demo's of already released stuff and I am re-writing the last Disk Catalog database program we released to make it more usable. We also plan to release a package from TAIG called CUTE LABELS that uses PRINTSHOP icons. There is also an excellant upgrade to the ARC/ALF software called UNARC II. It is only partially released right now and can only UNARC and UNALF combined in one program. Soon the compression routines will be available and we will release the complete package. Meanwhile, the UNARC II program is available on the SPACE BBS. We have a lot of stuff in the works but what the CLUB really needs right now is monetary income. Our main source other than dues is Software Library sales. If there is anything you members want or can be improved please let us know right away. Don't hesitate to contact us by phone or via EMAIL on the SPACE BBS . ********SUPERDOS********* _The SPACE Software Library is authorized by the distributor of SUPERDOS to sell this advanced DOS 2.5 compatible package. SUPERDOS was originally written in Australia and is one of the most powerful ATARI 8 bit disk operating system short of SPARTADOS with none of the compatibility problems. It can handle all densities but not double-sided. It can also do high-speed 1/0 with Ultr-Speed formatted disks on USDOUBLER 1050's. It will automatically configure and use RAMBO XL-style ramdisks as well as AXLON-style. It works equally well with

SPACE/MAST NEWSLETTER

my 288K-RAM 800 and my 256K-RAM 800XL. SPACE will be selling it for $20 and purchasers will be registered with TECHNICAL SUPPORT, the U.S.distributor, for continuing upgrades and support.

A V

Audiofor PACStories

by John Novotny Even though 2-year olds live only as memories in our house now, the story book disk form SPACE last month got my interest up. First of all, Joe would only show us one of the stories, so how else was I to see the other one? Besides, the stories have such great graphics besides being presented so nicely. Again, they are done in BASIC, and have some really neat control provided from DATA statements; lots to learn and fun to apply for future endeavors for more budding programmers let's hope. My second motive for getting the stories was to see if audio could be added using a program recorder. I remember seeing language lessons on cassette for the ATARI quite some time ago, and assumed that they must have voice somewhere with the programs. Besides, my 1010 recorder has been in its carton almost as long as I have had it, and needed an excuse to bring it out again. Well, the task has not been broughtto completion, but the feasability study is done and here are the findings. First of all, it was nice to find out that you can initiate tape motion with playback without having to access data on the cassette. Its as simple as pressing PLAY on the recorder, and then POKE54018,52 to start audio playback, and POKE 54018,60 to stop it. Now the only problem remaining was to coordinate the program to the voice. To do this, I generated a sample voice track of several paragraphs with approx 10 second pauses between. After this, I used a simple utility that started the playback, then entered a loop that counted the number of passes until detecting a keypress. This was done

about 5 seconds after each paragraph. On the keypress, the utility would stop the playback and display the counter, then wait for another keypress to do likewise for the next paragraph. These counter values were now put into DATA statements, and used by the counter loop to declare when playback must be stopped. By using the same statements in both counter loops, the times can be held fairly close. A loop counter looks like this: 1 lnit counter (I) and start playback 2 lnit Keypress buffer (KEYBUF=255) 3I=I+1:IF l=ENDVAL THEN 6 4 IF PEEK(KEYBUF)<>255 THEN 6 5GOTO 3 6 Stop playback (and save counter) When generating the counter values, ENDVAL is set high so that the keypress ends the loop. When running the loop for controlling playback, use an address like $600 for KEYBUF so the loop ends when the counter (I) reaches ENDVAL. To put this into a storybook program, add such code to the place where it waits for "Next page", and you can then listen to each page, and you still can turn the pages at your leisure. Now if we could only get Mr. Rogers to do our recordings... or someone who has demonstrated to be equally capable ... (are you listening, Larry?). So let's dig out those recorders and play back!

•

Short Commentary

l41, onPAD13 by John Novotny

One of the programs available from the SPACE DOM library (as of last month) is Pixel Artist Deluxe (Version 1.3) by Art Horan. This appears to be another good paint program with its own set of strengths and special features. Some of its features which go beyond the Koala program (which is somewhat of a standard for comparison) are: 1) Ability to use RAMdisk D8 2) Spray brush 3) Bend lines

AUGUST• 1988 '

4) Elipses (as well as circles) 5) Paint using Pad or Joystick 6) Menu selection from pad-joystick or keyboard 7) Save up to 10 setups to CONFIG files 8)Undo 9) Zoom (enlarge) with true proportions, of the area surrounding the cursor. Quite impressive. I don't know how all this stacks up to the RAMbrandt program from ANTIC, or even the ATARI paint program for that matter. Which brings me to think we should devote one meeting to this category of programs. Let's talk about this at the September meeting and see about setting up some demos.

•

8BitXtra

With Comments by Jim Schulz So you say that there isn't anything new going on in the 8 bit world. Here is some news for the 8 bit world from ANTIC and Compuserve. Check out what is coming in the months to come. Also, if you live in St. Paul, check out the new Software Boutique in Maplewood Mall. They have a full rack of 8 bit software with a number of different titles. I didn't get a chance to check their prices, but they did have one of the best selections around for 8 bit software. Until next time, happy computing Date: 16-Aug-88 HOT NEWS, 40/80 Word Processing 8-bit HOT NEWS, 8bitWord Processing, XF551 Bugs-WHAT BUGS?, and the XEP80 - a box screaming for support (ANTIC delivers!) HOT NEWS from the land of Atari, for all you 8bit heads (like ME) out there: DOS-XE is nearing completion. John Skruch hopes to have it to MANUFACTURING by September 1. If all goes well, we will see it in October - but don't wager any large sums of money on its showing up before Christmas. I expect there will be an affordable upgrade polocy for all current owners of the Atari XF551, but no decisions have been made.

Atariwriter 80 is very near FINAL. Atari expects a final this week, a week or two of beta test (that is a bit optimistic), and move it into manufacturing sometime in September. There will be no UPGRADE policy for Atariwriter or Atariwriter Plus owners. Atariwriter 80 is a whole new package, rewritten from the ground up. It will work ONLY in 80 column mode, requiring the XEP80. Expect to see this software bundled with the XEP80 as a nice "gift set" around Christmas time. Silent Butler 80 is nearly complete. There will be an affordable upgrade for all current owners of Silent Butler. (Did ANYONE ever buy that?) By Christmas expect to see Crime Busters, a HOT new Light Gun video game from Atari and Jim Zalewski, the guy who brought us Barnyard Blaster. Crossbow, a port of a popular arcade game by the same name from Exidy, is nearing completion too. Karateka, the cartridge, is nearly finished for the 8bit Atari. It has been modified to support a TWO PLAYER mode, a significant improvement. Summer Games is nearly done (yawn). Mario Brothers is coming soon. Atari licensed this from Nintendo, and I'm told the Atari version is BETTER than the original version BY Nintendo for their own game machine! Choplifter is going into a cartridge, and is getting a graphical face lift in the process. Also going into game carts are Desert Falcon, Ace of Aces, Eagle's Nest and Airball (with 150 rooms!). It looks like Christmas will be a boffo blitz of beautiferous video games, along with some pretty decent applications software. I want an ATARI-PC. We can't get them. RAM prices are lower and availability is higher in Europe and Canada, so they get 'em. The US won't see Atari PCs until early 1989, at the soonest. I already have requests in with Atari and Antic to do reviews on the Atari PC line as soon as AMERICANLYpossible. <grin> Will keep you posted.

SPACE/MAST NEWSLETTER II L1 RIBBON RE-INKING Jim Scheib721-4185 The club can re-ink most printer ribbons (black) for a small fee. There is no longer a reason to use a faded ribbon! Ribbons that can be re-inked are: $1.00/ribbon Spool to spool (all types) - Epson MX-80 and compatibles - Epson LX-80 and compatibles - C. ltoh Prowriter and compatibles (NEC 8023NC)- Citizen 120 D Panasonic - small ones that turn counterclockwise: $2.00/ribbon - Epson MX-100 and compatibles. Other ribbons can be attempted, too. But if you prefer, you can buy an adapter ($8.50 + $3.50 shipping and handling) for the club and receive half that amount in credit towards reinkings. See Jim Scheib at the SPACE meeting, or Jim Schulz at the MAST meeting. Please pay in advance & be sure to have your ribbon(s) in a plastic bag.

!ill Notes from 1!11 theEditor

by Steve Pauley Thanks to everyone for writing stuff for the newsletter. Keep up the good work, but remember the deadline!

October Newsletter Deadline for Articles and Ads - October 2nd If you would like to write something for the October newsletter, you must upload it to the SPACE or MAST bbs by October 2nd. If you don't have a modem maybe someone else can upload it for you. You can also mail your articles to me on a disk. I can read Atari ST, IBM and Mac disks, but not Atari 8 bit. Give me a call at 560-2917 evenings if you need more info. Ads should be accompanied with your check for payment. Check inside front cover of this newsletter for rates and sizes.

Meeting L1 MAST Minutes, August '88

by Dan Stubos MAST meeting minutes are back this month, after 3 months of conflicts with canoeing, family vacation, and business trips. Phil Seifert opened the meeting this month which was dedicated to games on the Atari ST. It was announced that the Programmer's meeting for September would be held on the Tuesday following the regular MAST meeting because of a scheduling conflict at the meeting site. In news reported by Chuck Purcell, ETA recently held a contest for the nation's high schools. The winners of the contest got 2 years' use of an ETA supercomputer and 20 Mega 11 ST's for use as terminals. In other news and rumors, Atari is reported to be shipping beta versions of the new ST operating system to developers. David Small is said to be working on a 128k version of the MAC emulator for the ST. The 'Accelerator board' is supposed to be '99%' finished and will work only on the color monitor. Supra has developed an internal hard drive for the MEGA ST's. Recent software releases include 'Captain Blood', 'Moon Patrol', 'Jet', 'Typhoon Thompson', and 'Starglider II'. Jim reported on the contents of the DOM's, and demonstrated some of the Public Domain software available in the MAST DOM's for August. After the regular meeting people settled down to serious game playing or serious game watching. MAST members brought 6 ST's which were set up in the back of the meeting room. At various times people could be seen playing JET, OIDS, PENGY, GAUNTLET 11, ROADRUNNER and other games. Jim brought out a special environment disk for OIDS

, AUGUST• 1988 players, so that the showdown between a certain MAST VP and newsletter editor could be played on turf unfamiliar to all. Unexpectedly, two younger members left these two MAST officers far behind in OIDS points. I'm sure the embarrassed, but venerable duo have already started to practice for next year's game night. Next month's meeting is MAST's SWAP MEET; if you missed the game night you can redeem yourself by attending the SWAP MEET, you may walk away with a great bargain!

.A Newsfrom V thePres

By Jim Schulz It's September and school is about ready tostartagain .... Yes, it's time to head back to MAST again after a long summer away from your computer. We have alot in store for the months ahead so stay tuned for the details!!! So let's get going ..... First, last month .... Last month, we had our first game fest... Lots of games and five or six computers. Yes, Steve did beat Phil!!! at Oids. But Phil is getting readyfornexttime. I would like to thank all who brought their computers along and showed off their wares. A number of members were somewhat surprised at what games were avai Iable for the ST. We also had our user group picture taken as well for Atari. I hope they like our mug. All in all, it was another good MAST meeting. The following Monday, we also showed off the new Atari operating system which will be available by yearend. Lots of interesting features and something to look forward to for all. This is not a minor update like the roms in the MEGAs. This is a major change for the user and for the better. So what's in store for this month .... Lots a~ always .... This month, we are holding the second MAST swap meet. This is time to bring along your old or new used hardware and software to sell or trade. All so~are should be original disk with original documentation. Be prepared

for some good bargains. Also this month, we begin the annual election season with the selection of two representatives to come up with a slate of officers for the November election. Remember, if you are a picker, then you don't have to have to be a pickee. If you are worried about being volunteered to find candidates, don't worry!!! We probably have two volunteers already. Also, in addition to the swap meet, we will have the normal dose of news, rumors, and DOMs, and a hearty dose of demos this month as well. The demos this month include Captain Blood, Gold of the Realm, Starglider 11, Typhoon Thompson, Quantrum Paint, Black Lamp, and Orion's Run. Also, we will be showing the new version of TOS in the back during the meeting. A full blown demo session on new features and operating hints will be done at a meeting closer to the release of roms. Probably January as things look right now ... Also, if that wasn't enough, we will be celebrating the 300th DOM this month with some special disk prices on old disks as well. Read this month's DOM article for more details. As always, a lot is planned and more yet to come as well. Oh, don't forget the MAST+ meeting on the following Tuesday, yes Tuesday, for the month of September. This month, we will be showing off the new GOOS replacement program, G-PLUS, and GFA BASIC V3.0. In addition, we will have the latest from Chuck, Dale, Todd, John, and Dave. All sorts of good conversation followed by pizza as well after the meeting. More is being scheduled as well so stay tuned to the MAST BBS for more details. So what's in store for the months ahead .... October is telecommunications month. That's a mouthful. Namely, we will be showing off the latest in modem-type software. Demos currently planned include Shadow, the background downloader, XPress, the cable news service, and ST-Talk Professional. Also, I have a number of new public domain terminal programs which have just appeared as well for the DOMs. Also scheduled is a demo of ZMODEM with the MAST BBS.

SPACE/MAST NEWSLETTER

Steve said that he would work on it and hope that ZMODEM would be available for October. November is election month. This year's elections could prove interesting. We already have three members running for Vice President. Must be a good job to have .... Let me repeat this, one more time. Please don't stay away from MAST during these election months. As in the past, MAST has a goodly number of volunteers so you don't have to worry about being the only one at the election meeting and getting elected. If you want to volunteer, we can use you, too. Also, a couple of other goodies are planned for the month of November as well so stay tuned ..... December is again MidiMaze month, that time of the year to bring your computer to the meeting and have it out with your fellow MAST members to see who can end up with a happy face. So MAST is moving ahead in the months to come so don't be left behind!!! Disk sales ..... Blank disk sales were again slow last month ... Disks are still in short supply and according to my disk supplier, supplies won't increase until the first of next year. Prices will be going up over the next few months. Yes, I still have disks!!! Roughly, 200 double-sided disks still remain at the old price. Once these are gone, the price wil I go up to $1.25 each as my price has also risen. But you can still buy them for $1.15 each until the well runs dry. Also, I still have the pin-feed 3.5" over-the-top disk labels for $2.00 per 100. Also, I have tons of blank disk labels and some empty disk boxes as well for the taking. If you want them, please take them!!! Once they are gone, I don't have to carry them anymore. Newsletter.... Last month's newsletter was about the thinnest to date. We have a few new authors coming online soon, but we can always use more. If you can't write every month, write once every three or four months. We can use anything ST related for the newsletter. Also, remember, we are still in need of a newsletter editor. Come November, Steve will be moving on to bigger and better things. If

you are interested, please see Phil or me for more details. BBS ..... Yes, the BBS is going strong. Lots of programming talk and beginning user questions as well. Keep checking the MAST BBS for the latest news on Atari and MAST news as well. Also check it for special user group deals as well. Steve is still working on making the BBS better. If you have any questions or comments on the BBS, please feel free to ask Steve or me. I am on the BBS at least once a day so I am always available for questions. Miscellaneous stuff.. .. The ST Applications group deal is still on. We now have enough commitments for a group price of $30.00ayear. lfyou were waiting, now is the time to sign up. I will mail in the subscriptions after the meeting. ST Applications is one of the best ST magazines around and now with ST Business inside, it is even better yet!!! I will bring a few sample issues to the next meeting for your inspection. Volunteers ..... We again have a new volunteer to add to the MAST list of helpers. Steve Murphy has volunteered to start writing a column for the newsletter starting this month or next. Also Steve will be demoing some new software at the next meeting as well. Steve is now reviewing software for the newly resurrected STXPress magazine. So look for his name on reviews in the months to come. DeskJet service ... Kent Schumacher is currently taking options and comments about MAST buying a HP DeskJet printer and offering a printing service for members. The current cost discussed is $1.00 per page. For more information on this future service or to offer your comments, please talk to Kent at the next meeting or drop Kent a line on the MAST BBS where the discussion has already started. MAST will not be making a decision on this purchase until a need among the members is shown. Group deals .... Last month, I talked about Word Perfect. Well, this month, in addition to Word Perfect, we also have a special deal on Supra2400 baud modems for$139.95

AUGUST • 1988

plus shipping. If you would like more information on this special deal or the Word Perfect special for $155.00, please check the MAST BBS. If you can't get on the MAST BBS, please feel free to give me a call or drop me a note in the mail for more information. Stores in town .... Last month, we mourned the loss of User Friendly. This month, we have a new software-only dealer in town called the Software Boutique. It is located in Maplewood Mall and has a good selection of ST game software at fairly reasonable prices. They also have a goodly selection of Atari 8 bit software as well. Congrats to Phil .... I would like to congratulate Phil, our MAST court jester, on his brand new job at a local computer software dealer. I will leave the location of Phil's new job up to Phil. Phil, it's good to see you again among the working class again. TASTE .... TASTE??? TASTE stands for the Thunder Bay Atari ST Enthusiasts. Last weekend, their president, Neville Denetto, was in town and I had a chance to exchange some newsletters, disks, and a number of comments about the ST as well. Neville is looking for help with GFA and constructing his own hard drive. If any member can help him, please see me at the next meeting. It was nice talking with Neville and hearing what Atari is like north of the border. Magazines .... Each month, I try to bring some of my countless new issues of the latest ST magazines to the meeting. If I have no objections at the next meeting, I will start subscriptions for MAST with all of the major ST magazines for our book library for checkout after the end of the meeting browse session. I think this another great way for all members to keep up and look back on the world of the

ST. Well, that's about it for September. Always something new and exciting going on ... The envelope .... It looks a little dusty this month... The rip and what's inside???? This month's selection has to be Captain Blood. This is one game which I can not put down. I have to keep coming

back to it and it is always new and different as well. Also, G-Plus. This new GOOS replacement has made something bad from Atari usable again. Lots of GDOScompatiblesoftwarewill now be looked at again with this new faster and more feature-laden version of GOOS. Finally, GFA BASIC V3.0. With the old version of GFA, you thought that they couldn't make it faster or better. Butnowwithover300, yes 300, new commands and a new editor and faster BASIC programs, it is now the premier BASIC for the ST by far. The envelope is now closing fast so it's time to go. The envelope is opening slightly to let me tell you one more thing. Stay away from ST-Talk Professional and Publishing Partner Professional for the next few months. Both are currently full of bugs, but both show great promise for the future. Stay tuned for more in the months to come ... As the envelope again closes ..... I hope to see you all at the September MAST meeting and the September MAST+ programmers meeting as well as on the MAST BBS. Happy computing!!!

.Ab, Children

qr' WillPlay By Phil Seifert Ho hum. This must be summertime, right? Why else would I not be seeing as many of you at the meetings as during the rest of the year. We did have a fairly interesting time. There were a few new game programs that were seen for the first time. Of course, if you weren't there, you don't know what you missed. One of the more interesting programs that I saw that night was Gauntlet 11. This sequel to the original was brought to the meeting by Cory Johnson. I must admit, it is much better than the original. No more slow speed with many objects on the screen. And what intriqued me most of all was that there is an optional cable to plug into the parallel port on your ST. This cable allows you to play two additional players on top of the normal two. That is much more like the arcade version of

SPACE/MABT NEWSLETTER

Gauntlet. If you like arcade shoot-em-tilthey-die type games, take a look at this one. The program is around $50 and the extra cable is around $25 or so. Well, I'm glad someone has figured a method of adding more joystick ports to the ST. I wonder how long it will betil there are more four player games. That is the one thing I miss about the old Atari 800 computer. You can'timaginewhatitis like to play M.U.L.E. with a few of your closest cutthroat friends unless you were fortunate to use that computer. Anyone feel like doing some programming? Speaking of programming, I have finally gotten around to purchasing my owncopyofMarkWilliamsC. I notice they have now changed the version number to 3.0.5. The latest I heard was 3.0.4. By the time the M.A.S.T.+ meeting rolls around, I will try to find out was changed (if I can!!). Don't forget, the M.A.S.T.+ meeting has been rescheduled for the Tuesday after the M.A.S.T. meeting instead of Monday. It would not do to have some of you go down and spend a nicP, evening in the bank parking lot, would 1t? It was certainly interesting for me last week to watch my sister and brother-inlaw play Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. They did manage to complete the game with the help of the hint book from Sierra. (I would not help them since I don't believe in cheating. At least not too much) Leisure Suit Larry has to be one of the funniest games going around on computers. Using the King's Quest style animation, it is like playing your own cartoon character. Be warned though, the game is for adults and you WILL have to prove you are an adult. Notice I have not said too much about Oids? I did get to try my hand playing the game at the meeting. Needless to say, I did not fare well. I think I owe the Federation the cost of several ships. My opinions of the game are that it is interesting and difficult to play (at least without reading the manual). But, hey! for

$25 ($35 list ed.) how could you go wrong on a quality game from FTL (they also did Sundog and Dungeon Master). I don't think I will let Jim ever goad me into playing any more games without reading the manual again. Other neat games out now are Deathsword and Captain Blood. Deathsword is a swordfighting game. Two players can now settle their points of honor in the old time honored ways, dueling. Definitely worth checking out. Captain Blood is another one of those outer space games. What separates this one from the others is that it is using fractals to represent things (looks neat) and uses voice synthesis. The French variation is more fun since they did not censor the picture of the lady, but I don't think you can purchase that here. There were some other games I would consider classic ST games at the meeting. Shanghai has some beautiful graphics and is a good Mah Jhong tile game. Another game I saw that brought back some memories was Hex from Mark of the Unicorn. I remember playing that one all the time when it first came out. Hex is kind of like a Q*bert game but with a twist, magic. Definitely a game that you should add intoyourlibrary.Where are the old arcade classic games on the ST? I still have not seen comercial versions of Space Invaders, Centipedes, and PacMan. It is difficult to imagine there might be a time when the young computer ruggie of the future would refer to these as "What were those?". Maybe I am just getting too old, but, I would like to have these programs for the ST. Of course, there are some good ones like Star Raiders, Joust, Megaroids, Crystal Castle, and Missile Command. It would be nice if we old game players had something in common with the newer generation. Next month, I probably would be going through a list of some of the best PD games that are available. And there are some nice ones. So be sure to read about them. I will see you all at the meeting.

AUGUST • 1988 A MASTDisks 11t1 of the Month

By Jim Schulz Yes, it's that time again for more MAST DOMs, but with a big surprise this month. But before we look at what's in store for this month, let's check out last month's rather large selection of disks: #99Little SmallTalk V2.0 (Latest version of programming language) #101 - ST Informer V2.1 (8 bit emulator now with XE support) #235 - Sheet V 1. 71 (Shareware spreadsheet now with turtle graphics) #283 - August DOM #1 (Utilities) #284 -August DOM #2 (Applications) #285 - August DOM #3 (Games) #286 -August DOM #4 (More Games, and GFA and OSS Pascal programs) #287 - Demo Disk #31 (Godspeed Bible display and search program) #288 - Assault and Battery Demo (A salt shaker and battery battle) #289 - Casino Keno Game (Las Vegas Keno game with extras) #290 - Sheet Support Disk (Extra Sheet spreadsheets and support files) #291 - ST Xformer Files #3 (8 bit disks in Xformer format) #292 - Little SmallTalk Source (C source code for Little SmallTalk V2.0) #293 -ANALOG Disk #13 (Files and programs from ST-Log #21 and #22) Well, that was yet another long list of disks for last month. So let's first take a quick look at the DOM news and on to this month's selection ..... Disk problems.... I had one complaint last month of a bad disk. Not bad for four months for good disks. If you have bad disks, please give me a call or drop me a note on the BBS. I can usually diagnose the problem and correct it for next month. If noone speaks, the bad disks are likely to continue. Please help me keep the quality up!!! Thanks for your help. Special!!!!!!..... Yes, this month is special!!!! This month, the MAST library will again reach another milestone by reaching disk #300. I never thought that

m we would make 100 or 200, but now we are at 300. So to celebrate this occasion and the arrival of a new doc disk and a new back issue disk request form, we are going to have some special prices now through December 31st. Here is the deal. All disks #1 through #200 will now be $4.00 each. If you buy 25 or more at one time, they are $3.00 each. Sound simple. This also includes update disks as well. So you can get Uniterm, ST Xformer, or even ST Writer for only $4.00 each. Now since most of these disks will not be in stock, you will need to fill out the new MAST disk request form. Special disk requests and replacement disks usually get lost or buried because they are on a number of pieces of paper. This is no good for you or me. So I am putting together a half sheet form to allow you to order disks by mail, get replacements for old disks, or order disks not currently in stock. The uniformity will help you and me make sure that you get your disks ASAP. With the help of Steve Pauley, these forms should be available at the next meeting. Look through the new doc disk ... Find what you want... Mail me a list... And you will have it by the next meeting(as long as I get it one week before the meeting date). Now a great easier way to get your disks better and faster!!!! Update disks and support disks .... Lately, a number of disks have grown beyond their normal single-sided size into a second disk. When this happens, I don't want to make it a burden to get the complete package. So here is the deal. If you have purchased the first disk and it expands, the second disk is $3.00, halfprice. You will need to bring your first disk to get the special price. If you purchase both at the same time, $9.00 for both disks. When updates come in the future, you can update both disks at the same time for $2.00. This currently only applies to three disks, Uniterm, Sheet, and LISP. So if you have been leery of getting the second disk, now is the time to stay complete!!!! Prices .... All MAST DOMs are $6.00

SPACE/M..ABT NEWSLETTER

each. In addition, the MAST news disk, the ST News disk and the doc disk are $2.00. Updates on old disks are $2.00 with the return of the original disk. Also, through the end of the year, disks #1 through #200 are only $4.00 each and when you purchase 25 or more at one time, they are only $3.00 each. So stock up this month!!!! Doc disks .... Yes, it will arrive this month. I was already last month to go at it and I moved and misplaced some of the disks. Most of the disks are now found so that I can again get all of the disks doc'ed. We also have a new version from Todd of the Diskscan which will now include a comment on what is on each disk. So bring your $2.00 and get a new DOC disk. Look back into the archives and get a good deal on some older MAST disks as well. Please remember, this is not an updatable disk. Thanks. ST News .... Yes, the second half got lost last month again. Well, they will return in full measure this month to complete the set. All 23 disks will be available starting this month. Also Dave is in the process of sending for more so expect another batch of new disks in the months to come as well. If you would like these, your best bet is to use the new disk request form. With 23 different disks, it is a little hard to keep ample supplies always in stock. Also, Dave will demo these this month as well to give you an idea of what you are buying. Oh, the price ... yea... $2.00 each for MAST members. For this price, you can't no afford to pick up a complete set. In the next week, I will also be posting a complete list of what is on each disk to help you in your decision-making process. Volunteer time ..... I need some kind sole to write up in beginner's English how to DEARC files from an archive or come up with a simple way to unARC files. In the months to come, the first set of Grab Bag ARCed disks are coming and I need a good, small interface to get the disks unARCed for the members ..... Stay tuned for more info soon on the first round of Grab Bag disks.

So that's the news for September and now on to the public domain software ... ANALOG - Yes, we are now up to date .... Each month, you are now getting half of the previous month's disk and half of the current month's disk. The demand for these has actually been better than expected. Starting this month, there will be a list of what programs are on the disk as well as copies of both featured issues up front at the desk for your glancing as well. We now have 13 back issue disks to choose from as well. Thanks for purchasing the ANALOG disks!!!! GNU C - This is probably the most complete public domain C package available. This has just been ported to the ST. This package includes a compiler, an assembler, a linker, an archiver, make, a runtime library, and parser generator. I have been collecting this for over a week and still don't have everything. Because of its size, parts, if not all will be distributed on double-sided disks. All source is available. Because of the size of this package, a package price will be available. I will post the description of the GNU C on the MAST BBS in the next few days. Also coming .... C++ and a source debugger as well. This might not be for everyone, but from all appearances, this could be one of the best public domain packages to date!!!! Background Downloader - You have heard of Shadow!!! Now a public domain background downloader with source to boot!!! Yes, download in the background with FLASH and do something else while the computer is busy. This currently only support XMODEM CHK, but more is sure to come as the source is public domain. Other programs this month .... This month's list is just too long again and work and pay awaits me. So here is a quick rundown of some other programs for this month .... DCOPY, this is the official version with all of the known bugs fixed and now the GEM fileselector as well. The best public domain disk utility!!! .... MEMFILE V2.0, this is the latest version of the disk.file, and memory editor desk acces-

AUGUST • 1988 sory. If you are ever wondering what is going on in a program, check this program out... GFA V3.0 demos, the program is out and here are some of the demos and programs from this latest version. Also, the first list of patches as well to modify parameters and patch some little bugs as well .... Two Lamps Demo, if you want to see a funny demo, check this one out. This one is really something special. ... Prospero Pascal, this is the only PASCAL left and they have done a rather complete demo with options for you to experiment as well. If you are looking for a OSS PASCAL replacement, this might be for you. I especially like the symbolic debug-

ger. Well, that's a sample of what we have

for this month with more coming every day. Check out the MAST BBS the week of the meeting of the latest update on this month's DO Ms. As always, I do my best to put out as much good stuff as possible given the time that I have available. This month, my goal is to get a new DOC disk out, all of the ST NEWS disks, and have a brand new disk request form available as well available at the meeting. As always, expect the best from the MAST DOM and celebrate 300. If you can't make the meeting and would still like to get ahold of the DOM or would like to get ahold of the DOC disk, my new address is 5900 65th Avenue North #204 Brooklyn Park, MN 55429 That's it for September. It's time for work so I have to go!! ! Check out the new ST news disks, the doc disks, and the special prices on #1 through #200 as well. All sorts of good stuff coming soon. Requests are always welcome. G DOS Fonts and Clipart are on the way soon. I hope to see you all at this month's MAST meetings and on the MAST BBS.

Did you know you can buy blank& 1/4" and blank 3 1 /2" Disk at both SPACE & MAST Meetings?

Fifi

"12:00am. with ST Murphy"

"Yawwwwnnnn." Once again you sit there, it's the middle of the night, and you're wondering if there's something better you could do with you ST. For some of us, it means having yet another boring session in a database or spreadsheet '-'."ith nothing more than a simple mailing hst or a pageful I of meaningless numbers to show for the effort. It's time for some more iced tea! Crack your fingers, and clean off those spectacles. 12:00am is not th~ dull time, it's the time for creativity, meaning, and thought. Sure you may be on half cycle by then, and the brain often wonders around passing by what may be productive activities for your ST, but don't despair, 'cause I might have the solution. A drawing project that has some practical uses in the physical world, not just the electronic world. A while ago I ran across some plans for a computer desk with a hutch. The original plans came from The Po key Press newsletter and I found them in AD ASTRA VER:1.3 1986. After viewing the plans and then looking at my little desk, with heaps of disks, papers, and game manuals, I went to work building the desk. After building the desk, which took me less than a day, I expanded the plans to include a larger hutch and a printer stand. I then, using D.E.G.A.S. Elite, drew the plans below. Have fun! This project should cost roughly $50, depending on the quality of wood you purchase. I paid $25 for two 3/4' plywood sheets, and a bit more for some nails and glue. If you want to stain your masterpiece, it'll cost a bit more. WHAT YOU NEED: Materials 3/4' plywood (qty=2) Eimers glue( ) 1 1/2' Headless Nails Shelf Holders

SPACE/MAST NEWSLETTER

Tools Pencils Power saw (or hand saw if you like the workout.) Ruler Hammer Sheet #1 desk/hutch

Sheet#2 hutch/printer stand

AUGUST • 1988

Now use the the other hole at the other end to draw the circle with. This is much easier than the string method. If that doesn't work, the distance from the edge of the hole, and the edge of the board is about5inches-goodluck! Nail the top to the sides as shown below, figure 3 & 4. BACK VIEH

-Figure 6 -

_;;;

IF YOO LAY AON THEGRrull ftlD

NAIL THIS SIDE ONLY,

THEN HAIL t: TO IT, IT MILL BE EASIER TO 1-IIIL,

f-w--, -Figures-

-Figure 8 -

STEP FOUR Assemble the hutch as shown below on figure 7 & 8. It is best to decide, before assembling, if you want fixed or removable shelves. If you want removable shelves, drill some wholes as shown below: figure 9, parts (F).

■

(F)

-Figure4-

-Figure 1 STEPONE First, nail part (8) onto part (D)

STEP THREE Nail the back board into place under the top of the desk, between the sides. The dots show places to nail if you want. Notice the little shelf? That can be used to store power supplies, strips, etc. A handy item not found on many computer desks!

r-~--m-~------.~ -Figure 9 -

mlHT VIEII

c::={Jl==:J

FRONT VIEII

~[ l

NAIL THIS

SIDE ONLY,

-Figure 2 SIDE VIEII

STEPTWO The circle in SHEET #1 in parts (C) is to be drawn then cut out. The easiest way to do this is to find the center of the line, about 13.5 inches, and tap a small nail in. Then using a standard school ruler, slip the hole at the end of the ruler over the nail.

-Figure 5 Here is what the DESK should look like after completed. It's only part of the desk.but you'll get the idea.

I I

-Figure 7 -

Part (G) is the hutch support. Make sure it's about 1 inch up to let your wires go under.

STEP FIVE Assemble the insides of the printer stand. This structure will hold the paper, on the top shelf (J), and hold anything else on the bottom (L), figure 10. STEP SIX Now it's time to put the sides on the printer stand. The bottom shelf should line up with the top of the circle as shown below on figure 11.

inches (Ll===7 _j_

,tSIOE VIEW

-Figure 10-

T14

SPACE/MAST NEWSLETTER

FRONT VIEH

c-----------

nl:::::======[Jl=== , ,

////////

--t :

~6}: ;////////////;fp i ! : i

'Ill/,

///;

: : THE TOP OF (LI IS FLUSH HITH '////////1, , ; THE CIRCLE,

SIDE VIEW

'(Ll

-Figure 11-

-Figure 13-

STEPSEVEN Some printers have all the wires coming out the back while other have them extending from the sides. If your paper gets caught on these wires, just construct the object below, figure 12, and nail it onto part (H), the top of the printer stand.

c:::::CHI [ (6

Fta«YIEN

lHl~ SIDE vm~ -

Figure 12-

STEP EIGHT Assemble the top as show in figure 13. Make sure there is room for the paper to feed. You should be able to see through the paper feed slot. The finished product. The printer stand should look like this, figure 14, after your finished. That about wraps it up for the desk/hutch/ stand plans. Now let's see, what else can I think up. Hummmmmm ....

---·

c=tJJ

""c=tll

brn1

t£RE IS Tl£MEA~ ClliSEE 11111

;

MHISIS

-Figure 14-

~ Bouncer

lliifl

By the Court Jester Sure, I would have to have a momentary lapse of sanity. I should have never listened to that Dave Meile. He says, "Give me a disk and I will send you on a trip you won't forget.·. How was I to know that he meant it? After some whirring and clanking my disk was prepared.I went home. After all, that is the normal thing to do at 3:30 a.m., isn't it? But how I wished that I never had a streak of curiousity. A regular cat, I am. I turned on my computer not caring how loud it protested and inserted that disk Dave gave me. This was just the start of the most harrying experience of my life. Suddenly, things went blurry! Everything was spinning and I heard this ....... (Tune in next month for the conclusionEd)

AUGUST • 1988 ST. PAUL ATABI COMPUTE B ENTHUSIA STS & MINNESOTA ATABI ST

•

SPACE and MAST are independem user groups of owners of ATARI Home Computers. It has been organ,zeo oy loca owners of ATARI computers for the purpose of mutual self assistance and sha-cig of nformation. It is open to all interested computer enthusiasts Benef1s of memoers" ps n the groups include monthly newsletter mailed to your home, BBS access sofiware oemonstrations, group purchases, public domain disk(s) o' the so'!ware a: ow pnces, reference book library, educational software library 8 y !"I ave· 20 tit.es, personal contacts/1earning, greater information and ~ • ESSon the wora of ATARI, software at discounted prices from dealers, question and answe· session, etc. Come to a meeting to find out more. SPACE8Blt Group The SPACE meetings are devoted primarily to the 8-bitATARI computers such as the 400, 800, 600XL, 800Xl, 65XE and 130XE. There is other ATARI related news and some 16-bit news at the SPACE meetings, as well. The SPACE group meets on the second Friday of each month at the Falcon Heights Community Center, 2077 West larpenteur Avenue, at 7:30pm. Doors open at about 7:10pm. MAST - ST Group The MAST meetings are devoted primarily towards the ATARI 520ST, 1040ST & MEGA computers There will be ATARI related news items covered, but not 8-btt news. The MAST group meets on the third Friday of each month at the Falcon Heights Community Center, 2077 West larpenteur Avenue. at 7:30pm. Doors open at about 7:10pm. MAST+ - Pro9rammlng Language User S ig MAST also has a programmer' s group meeting. This group has a more technical discussion regarding programming the ST computers in a variety of languages. The group meets on the Monday following the MAST meeting at the First Minnesota bank on Lexington Avenue near Larpenteur Avenue. Meeting time is 7:30, with doors opening at about 7:20pm. The entrance is in the back of the building and leads to a stairway to the second floor.

For more information, or to confirm a meeting time and location, call Larry Vanden Plas {SPACE) 636-2415 or Jim Schulz (MAST) 533-4193

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Phone_ _ _ _ _ _ _Equipment/System Used._ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ Areas of lnteres _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ Check one or both: SPACE_ MAST_ Renewal?_ _ Address Change?__ Membership Card Given?_ _ Dues: $15.00 per year - Please enclose with Application. Mail to: SPACE/MAST, P.O. BOX 12016, New Brighton, MN 55112

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55112