CAIN Newsletter: 24-Jun-94 #0104
From: Atari SIG (xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 06/25/94-11:54:51 AM Z
From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Subject: CAIN Newsletter: 24-Jun-94 #0104
Date: Sat Jun 25 11:54:51 1994
-
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
___________/ \__________
\ /
\ Jun 24, 1994 Vol.I No.4 /
\ /
________________________________________________|______________
/_________________ CAIN ________-_____________/
/___|_|_|__________ Monthly Newsletter _______| |___________/
/____|_|_|__________ ______| |_________/
/____/__|__\_________ Central Atari ______| |________/
/____/___|___\________ Information Network ____| | | |_____/
/______________________________________________________________/
/ / \ \
/ / \ \
/ / \ \
The Official Online Newsletter of the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG
_________________________________________________________________________
The Cleveland Free-Net Community Computer System is accessible worldwide!
_________________________________________________________________________
telnet freenet-in-{a,b,c}.cwru.edu (129.22.8.32 or 129.22.8.51)
_________________________________________________________________________
216/368-3888 | 300-14400 bps | type 'go atari' at any menu
_________________________________________________________________________
Covering:
7800/XE/XL/800/400,FALCON030/ST/TT/ST(e),PORTFOLIO,LYNX,JAGUAR
CAIN Online Newsletter Published and Copyright (c) 1994
by Cain Publishing
Publisher/Editor
Voting/Conferences.........Mark Leair aa338@cleveland.freenet.edu
Assistant Editor
SIG Manager/Jaguar Area....Len Stys aa399@cleveland.freenet.edu
8-Bit Support Area..........Michael Current aa700@cleveland.freenet.edu
8-Bit Technical Forum.......Craig Lisowski aa853@cleveland.freenet.edu
16/32-Bit Support Area......Bruce D. Nelson aa789@cleveland.freenet.edu
Atari Classic Gaming Corner/
Portfolio Support Area......Fred Horvat ap748@cleveland.freenet.edu
Lynx Support Area...........Barry W. Cantin aa852@cleveland.freenet.edu
Contributor.................Dag Johansen Esq. dagj@netcom.com
_________________________________________________________________________
Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG Internet E-Mail: xx004@cleveland.freenet.edu
_________________________________________________________________________
Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG, P.O. Box 364, Mentor, OH U.S.A. 44061-0364
_________________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
>From the Editor..........................................The CAIN Newsletter
-Mark Leair
>From the SIG Manager......................The Cleveland Free-Net & Atari SIG
-Len Stys
Free-Net News....................................................New FTP Site
CAIN Atari Fun Fest 94
Correction: Login process for Next Users
-Atari SIG
Atari News..........................................Summer CES Press Releases
-Atari Corp.
CatScan BBS Update
-Don Thomas
8-Bit Computers Support Area..........................8-bit Support Area News
8-bit Product News
April AC: In the Mail!
Programmers Wanted...
D.G.S. Summer Special
Atari Classics Letter
8-bit Bulletin Board Messages of Interest
-Michael Current
16/32-Bit Computers Support Area..............C-Lab gets Falcon030 technology
New files in the archive
-Atari SIG
Portfolio Support Area .............................Portfolio Tips and Tricks
-Fred Horvat
Atari Classic Gaming Corner..............................Atari 32-1 Cartridge
-Fred Horvat
Lynx Support Area.............................................Lynx Commentary
-Barry W. Cantin
Jaguar Support Area..................................Jaguar Support Area News
Jaguar News
Jaguar Commentary
-Len Stys
Atari Annual Meeting Report
-Dag Johansen Esq.
Upcoming Atari Shows......................................Atari Show Calendar
-Mark Leair
Voting Issues and Results............Reader and User Opinion Poll Information
Last Month's Poll Results
-Mark Leair
Online Atari Conferences.....................Conferencing with the Atari SIG
Conference with Jeff Minter Transcript
Upcoming Conference with Fred Horvat
-Mark Leair
General Information of Need........................How to Contribute to CAIN
Article Requests
-Mark Leair
>From the Editor
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
June has arrived! ...along with the hot weather, barbecues, and family
vacations, more Atari news from CAIN has arrived! Stay tuned to CAIN
throughout the summer for the hottest Atari news! This month there's a
special treat for Jaguar fans. Check out the conference section for a
transcript of a conference the Atari SIG had with Jeff Minter, programmer of
Jaguar's Tempest 2000. CAIN would like to again thank Jeff for attending last
month's conference despite the time difference (he's 5 hours ahead of us) and
him having the flu.
Next, don't forget about the CAIN Atari Fun Fest 94. This is the first
Cleveland-area Atari Show in years. The show will be held Sunday August 7th,
1994. Furthermore, a show information conference has been scheduled for
Sunday June 26, 1994. Please consult the Free-Net News and the Online
Conferences sections for more details.
Finally, I want to personally apologize to those Next Workstation users who
were not able to use the login procedure published last month. A correction
has been printed in the Free-Net News section. Please follow this procedure
as soon as possible since, like last month's process, it is subject to change
without prior notice.
Keep those letters coming in!
-Mark Leair
CAIN Editor/Publisher
>From the SIG Manager
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This CAIN Newsletter issue is a little bit late mainly because I've been
holding it up. I've been real busy the last couple of weeks. First there was
finals and then there was graduation and then everything that follows
graduation. I also had a few hardware problems that I had to take care of
before I could contribute my part to this newsletter. And no, I didn't plan
for this issue to be released on my Birthday, it just happened that way. :)
Apple Computer is launching a new on-line service called eWorld. This is
how eWorld is described by Walter S. Mossberg in the June 23rd issue of
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: "The effect is to reduce the sense that this is a
typical computer environment, and to give users the feeling of a friendly
electronic community." Mr. Mossberg continues to describe eWorld: "In the
same vein, navigation is done intelligently. The opening screen depicts the
eWorld service as a town, with cartoon-like buildings representing key
offerings within the service. You click with your mouse on a building and
immediately jump to the part of the service that it represents. Click on a
library, for example, and you get to an on-line version of Grolier's
Encyclopedia. Electronic mail is found by clicking on a post office." And
finally, Mr. Mossberg explains what this system offers: "The service has a
decent, if mostly unremarkable, selection of content for a startup: news from
Reuters and USA Today, stock quotes, e-mail that connects to the Internet,
bulletin boards, shareware programs you can download, reference materials."
Apple is charging $8.95 a month for eWorld and gives two free hours of
connect time. If you want to use it beyond that, it is $7.90 an hour during
business hours and $4.95 an hour on evenings and weekends.
The eWorld electronic city (community feeling) format is definitely
original... NOT! The Cleveland Free-Net has had this format since the
beginning of its existence. And it is for free! I don't know who at Apple
thought of this idea, but I wonder if he/she had ever visited Free-Net???
Apple Computer has done it. There are so many services that are now offered
for free that once had a price-tag. Apple has made a service that is
presently being offered for free and is charging people for it. I suggest the
name eWorld be changed to "Pay-Net." What do you think?
OK... on to other news. In the Jaguar Support Area part of CAIN Newsletter,
you will find a letter writing campaign. This letter writing campaign will
insure the success of Jaguar if you participate. If you remember, there was
a movement sometime ago called "Operation: A.C.T. Now" or Atari Community
Together Now. This movement never died, it continues through these letter
writing campaigns. Check it out.
Finally, there is an Atari SIG being established on the new Columbus Free-Net
by Atari activist Jeff Poling. I hope to provide more information on this
Atari SIG in future issues of CAIN Newsletter.
"Go Indians!"
Len Stys, SIG Manager
CFN Atari SIG
Free-Net News
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
New FTP Site
------------
As CAIN reported last month, all issues of CAIN are now available on the Atari
Archive FTP Site at the University of Michigan. They are located under the
"/Magazines" directory. To get to this archive FTP to
"atari.archive.umich.edu".
Next, another FTP site has informed CAIN that it will carry the CAIN
newsletter. This site is "micros.hensa.ac.uk" and the directory is
"micros/atari/tos/n/n153".
CAIN Atari Fun Fest 94
----------------------
Central Atari Information Network
Presents
C.A.I.N. Atari Fun Fest 94
August 7, 1994 / 10:00AM to 5:00PM
Knights of Columbus Hall
7637 Chardon Road
Kirtland, OH 44094
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
* THE FIRST CLEVELAND-AREA ATARI SHOW IN YEARS!!! *
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Free Admission!
What to See and Do!
The New Jaguar Game System!
The LYNX handheld game unit
Bring your LYNX and games to COMLYNX with other players!
The Falcon Multimedia computer
Gemulator (IBM emulator running Atari ST Software)
8-bit computers and products
16/32-bit computers and products
Portfolio palmtop computer
Meet the editors of C.A.I.N.
Classic game systems 2600/5200/7800 and games
Catalogs and brochures for Atari line of products
Atari products for sale / Plus Much More!
Table pricing per 8 foot table
$10.00 per table no electricity
$15.00 per table with one outlet
For more show or lodging info contact
Fred Horvat
P.O. Box 493
Chesterland, OH 44026-0493
216-729-0761
Internet ID : ap748@cleveland.freenet.edu
Correction: Login Process for Next Users
-----------------------------------------
Last month CAIN reported that users of Next Workstations are having trouble
telnet'ing into the Cleveland Free-Net. A step-by-step login process was
published for those Next Users who wished to obtain an account on the
Cleveland Free-Net. Unfortunately, the process failed to work after CAIN was
released. Below is a process that is working as of 05/15/94:
To login as a Visitor:
At the "login:" prompt enter "fnguest".
This will log you into the Free-Net as a guest. Guests can go anywhere on the
Free-Net and read about 90% of the message boards. However, to gain access to
electronic mail, posting of messages on all the message boards, real-time
chatting, etc. one needs to obtain an account on Free-Net. Below is the
correct process for obtaining an account as a Next User.
After logging into the Cleveland Free-Net as a visitor (using the above
process), do the following:
1. Enter "go tower" at any "Your Choice ==>" system prompt.
2. Select option number 7 for "Other Free-Nets".
3. Select option number 1 for "Free-nets in USA".
4. Select option number 10 for the "Rio Grande (El Paso, TX)" Free-Net.
5. Select option number 2 to login to the Rio Grande Free-Net.
6. Enter "visitor" at the "login:" prompt.
After logging in and reading any "Messages from the Administration", you
will see the main menu.
7. Select option number 6 for "teleport".
8. Select option number 6 for "Gopher Services from University of Minnesota"
9. Select option number 8 for "Other Gopher and Information Servers"
10. Select option number 2 inorder to "Search titles in Gopherspace using
Veronica".
11. Select option number 13 to "Search Gopherspace by title word(s)
(via PSINET) <?>".
12. Type in "Cleveland Free-Net" and press Return or Enter.
13. Select option number 28 for "Cleveland Free-Net <TEL>" or
Select option number 31 for "Cleveland Free-Net <TEL>".
Once you logon to the Cleveland Free-Net you will receive the following
prompt:
Are you a:
1. Registered User
2. Visitor
14. Select option number 2.
You will then be asked whether you wish to apply for an account, explore
the system, or logoff.
15. Choose option number 1 "Apply for an account".
From here, it's a matter of answering Free-Net's questions.
The above process is subject to change. Please apply for an account as soon
as possible. If you have any further questions you may contact CAIN by
Internet mail at "xx004@cleveland.freenet.edu".
Atari News
-=-=-=-=-=
For more information, contact:
Bill Rehbock, Atari Corporation (408)745-2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JAGUAR(TM) CD-ROM UNDER $200
Atari(R) reveals CD-ROM and outstanding CD software
CHICAGO, Il. -- June 23, 1994 -- Consumer Electronics Show -- Atari
Corporation (ASE:ATC) announced today plans to ship the anticipated
CD-ROM to stores in ample time for Christmas shopping. The CD-ROM is a
hardware peripheral compatible with any Jaguar 64-bit system and will
sell for $199.95 (MSRP). It enables the Jaguar to play a new
generation of impeccable CD-based video games and play audio compact
discs. ROM-based software in the CD-ROM allows the user to easily
manipulate audio tracks and numerous custom selections when playing
audio compact discs. The module includes state-of-the-art technology
to play the audio and video portions of CD+G encoded discs. It also
provides its own cartridge port so some applications may use the
cartridge and CD at the same time.
Mr. Richard Miller, Vice President of Engineering for Atari
Corporation, observed, "Compact Discs offer well over 700 Megabytes of
raw data storage and many times that number when the data is
compressed. The massive storage capacity of a CD provides enough data
space to incorporate complex digitized images, full motion video
sequences and CD-quality audio soundtracks into games. These things
are far from being fully utilized on home platforms and the Jaguar is
the perfect system to do just that."
Such complex images, sound and color are integrated parts of the
numerous CD software projects currently underway. Blue Lightning(TM),
scheduled for Christmas release, is a realistic high speed aerial
combat experience aboard your own fighter jet. It features high
quality sequenced graphics of landscapes and enemies within 36
separate levels. Using an optional cartridge, game players may save
and retrieve statistics such as mission status, high scores and
character information for their Blue Lightning missions. Similar
information for other CD software titles may also be saved on the same
cartridge.
Another of the planned CD releases for Christmas is Battlemorph(TM); a
true 3-dimensional experience in over 50 all-new virtual worlds.
Player chooses at will between fighter, tank or submarine with
complete 3D movement. The many features include texture mapped enemies
and structures. Play inside caves, underwater, on land and in the sky.
Work with the resistance to bring down the Pernitia Empire.
Anyone who enjoys a round of golf will love Jack Nicklaus Cyber
Golf(TM). This CD package includes True Color photos of Murfield Golf
Course with access to CD quality voice to help with each hole. Study
Jack Nicklaus' golf swing to improve your own game with full motion
video of him and other golfers. Also look for the CD titles;
Highlander(TM), Creature Shock(TM), Demolition Man(TM) and an assortment of
third party products that will begin shipping fourth quarter 1994.
Thanks to the many talents of Mr. Jeff Minter; author of the
award-winning Tempest 2000(TM), Atari's new CD-ROM includes the Virtual
Light Machine(TM) (VLM). No other game system has VLM. VLM literally
looks at audio compact discs as they are played and spontanteously
produces a spectrum analysis of every incoming sound. This information
is assembled in a frequency map of the music and assigned complex
visual equivalents. Advanced 64-bit data processing makes it possible
for the translation to take place almost faster than the ear can hear
it so images are in perfect tune with the sound as it is played. The
result is a stunning light show. VLM is perfect for parties and every
other listening environment where audio compact discs are enjoyed.
Jaguar owners will enjoy VideoCD full-motion movies with an optional
MPEG video cartridge. No other home system offers simultaneous access
to cartridges, compact discs and a 64-bit multimedia platform.
The ability to do so much more is another key reason major developers
are turning to the Jaguar. Mr. William Rehbock, Vice President of
Third Party Development, states, "Our success to attract more than 150
Jaguar licensees is due, in large part, to the tools we are able to
provide them. There are basic development tools and there are
peripheral options. Developers are drawn to these elements. CD is
another option for them that enables them to choose the best media to
distribute each product. Ultimately this gives the consumer more
choices too."
"We have spent a lot of time to make certain we have packed the CD-ROM
full of technologies that our developers can grow into while keeping
the platform affordable for the consumer," affirms Mr. Sam Tramiel,
President and CEO of Atari Corporation. "It was important to keep the
price as low as possible. It was important to include all the features
of CD-ROM that developers need most to please their customers.
Finally, it was important to remain faithful to our 'Made In America '
foundation. The Jaguar is manufactured by IBM in the U.S. The CD-ROM
will be manufactured in the United States by Philips.
"Based on feedback we have had so far, consumers want to support an
advanced gaming company that makes what it sells at home, " concludes
Mr. Tramiel. "We're going to give them what they want."
The Atari Jaguar is the world's first 64-bit interactive multimedia
home entertainment system. The Atari Jaguar and compatible software
titles have been awarded multiple awards for technical achievement,
design and innovation.
Jaguar is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered
trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products named may be trademarks
or registered trademarks of their owning companies.
------------------------------------------------------------
For more information, contact:
Bill Rehbock, Atari Corporation (408)745-2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JAGUAR(TM) CD-ROM UNDER $200
CHICAGO, Il. -- June 23, 1994 -- Consumer Electronics Show -- Atari
Corporation (ASE:ATC) announced today plans to ship CD-ROM to stores
in ample time for Christmas shopping. The CD-ROM is a hardware
peripheral compatible with any Jaguar 64-bit system and will sell for
$199.95 (MSRP). It enables the Jaguar to play a new generation of
impeccable CD-based video games and play audio compact discs. The
module includes CD+G technology and it provides its own cartridge port
for applications that may use both cartridge and CD at the same time.
Look for the CD titles; Blue Lightning(TM), Battlemorph(TM), Jack
Nicklaus Cyber Golf(TM), Highlander(TM), Creature Shock(TM), Demolition
Man(TM) and more that will begin shipping fourth quarter 1994.
Atari's new CD-ROM includes the Virtual Light Machine(TM) (VLM). VLM
literally looks at audio compact discs as they are played and
spontanteously produces a spectrum analysis of every incoming sound.
The result is a stunning light show. An optional MPEG video cartridge
will allow access to MPEG full motion video.
"We have packed the CD-ROM full of technologies that our developers
can grow into while keeping the platform affordable for the consumer,"
affirms Mr. Sam Tramiel, President and CEO of Atari Corporation. "It
was important to remain faithful to our 'Made In America ' foundation
too. The CD-ROM will be manufactured in the United States by Philips.
"Based on feedback we have had so far, consumers want to support an
advanced gaming company that makes what it sells at home, " concludes
Mr. Tramiel. "We're going to give them what they want."
# # # #
Jaguar is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered
trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products named may be trademarks
or registered trademarks of their owning companies.
------------------------------------------------------------
For more information, contact:
Sandy LaBrec, Atari Corporation (408)745-2000
Bill Nicholson, Phylon Communications, Inc. (510)656-2606
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GAMERS PLAY JAGUAR(TM) ON THE TELEPHONE
New System Based on Simultaneous
Voice & Data Communications Technology
CHICAGO, Il. -- June 23, 1994 -- Consumer Electronics Show -- Atari
Corporation (ASE:ATC) announced today that playing Jaguar games with
opponents over a single telephone line will be a reality in the 4th
quarter of 1994. New technology, developed by Phylon Communications,
Inc.; leaders in advanced fax/modem/voice technology, permits two
users to play Atari Jaguar video games against each other. Utilizing
the same phone line, they may speak to each other as they play. The
game experience is truely shared by the two gamers although they may
be miles apart from each other.
The Jaguar Voice/Data Communicator uses headsets for the players to
hear each other speak as well as listen to the stereo benefits of the
game being played. Users will also have call waiting indications, both
at local and remote ends, to pause and resume a game due to an
interrupting call in the middle of a game. Thus, this product can be
enjoyed by the players without being a nuisance to others in the home.
"By offering our voice-plus-data technology to leading OEMs and
systems manufacturers, like Atari, Phylon is pioneering multimedia
communications technology on the dial-up network," noted Dr. Hamdi
El-Sassi, President and CEO of Phylon.
The first games planned to exploit the features of the Jaguar
Voice/Data Communicator are Doom(TM), Club Drive(TM) and Iron
Soldier(TM).
"Reports I have been receiving from Jaguar owners is that they are
ready for this technology. We have it and we are going to offer it
this Christmas," announced Mr. Sam Tramiel, President and CEO of Atari
Corporation. "By reviewing each game we have in development, we have
been able to make certain each one integrates every bit of power we
can put into it."
The Jaguar Voice/Data Communicator is compatible with Atari Jaguar;
the world's first and only 64-bit interactive multimedia home
entertainment system. The Atari Jaguar and compatible software titles
have been awarded multiple awards for technical achievement, design
and innovation worldwide. The Jaguar Voice/Data Communicator is packed
complete with stereo headset and is engineered for user friendly, plug
'n' go operation. Future software options will enable the Jaguar
Voice/Data Communicator to access existing and upcoming online
services on the Information SuperHighway.
# # # #
Jaguar is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered
trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products named may be trademarks
or registered trademarks of their owning companies.
------------------------------------------------------------
For more information, contact:
James Grunke, Atari Corporation (408)745-2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TEMPEST 2000(TM) SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE ON CD
Atari(R) Announces Audio Compact Disc of Cartridge Soundtrack
CHICAGO, Il. -- June 23, 1994 -- Consumer Electronics Show -- Atari
Corporation (ASE:ATC) announced today that the popular soundtrack of
Tempest 2000 has been remastered for a new special edition audio
compact disc to be made available in the third quarter of 1994.
"A lot of people ask if Atari would ever consider releasing the
incredible soundtrack from Tempest 2000," states Mr. James Grunke,
Director of Music and Audio for Atari Corporation. "The music has wide
appeal to the large dance and rave audiences who love the techno style
of the Tempest 2000 music."
Although some of the specifications are being retained for the formal
release in a few months, Tempest 2000 Soundtrack will include new
versions of the music used in the actual game cartridge PLUS bonus
tracks of previously unreleased material. Tempest 2000 is Atari's
blockbuster 64-bit video game title compatible with the Atari Jaguar
game system.
Tempest 2000 Soundtrack will be available through Atari retailers,
select music stores, or directly from Atari's own Customer Service
Department. For more information, contact Atari by writing: Tempest
2000 Soundtrack, Atari Corporation, P.O. Box 61657, Sunnyvale, CA
94089-1657. Tempest 2000 Soundtrack will be priced under $15.
The Atari Jaguar is the world's first 64-bit interactive multimedia
home entertainment system. The Jaguar and compatible game titles have
been awarded multiple awards for technical achievement, design and
innovation.
# # # #
Jaguar is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered
trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products named may be
trademarks or registered trademarks of their owning companies.
------------------------------------------------------------
For more information, contact:
Sandy LaBrec, Atari Corporation (408)745-2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JAGUAR(TM) MANIA INSPIRES NETWORK GAMING
Atari(R) Announces Networking Games Available 3rd Quarter '94
CHICAGO, Il. -- June 23, 1994 -- Consumer Electronics Show -- Atari
Corporation (ASE:ATC) announced today that Jaguar owners will be
connecting their systems together and playing networked games within
the next 4 months. The network technology on the Jaguar can support up
to 32 simultaneous game players depending on the software. Networking
and Atari's new Voice/Modem for the Jaguar are two innovative ways
Jaguar owners can play complex games against each other with multiple
systems by Christmas '94.
"We are extremely excited about all of this," said Mr. Richard Miller,
Vice President of Engineering for Atari Corporation. "Now 64-bit
gaming can be an exciting multi-player experience as well as an
individual pleasure."
The Jaguar networking package enables network compatible Jaguar games
to be played on different systems up to 300 feet apart from each
other. The system uses standard RJ11 phone line cable and implements
reliable differential-pair technology. The first network game
published by Atari will be Doom(TM). Many other titles will be announced
soon thereafter.
The Atari Jaguar is the world's first and only 64-bit interactive
multimedia home entertainment system. The Atari Jaguar and compatible
software titles have been awarded multiple awards for technical
achievement, design and innovation worldwide.
# # # #
Jaguar is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered
trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products named may be
trademarks or registered trademarks of their owning companies.
------------------------------------------------------------
For more information, contact:
Greg LaBrec, Atari Corporation (408)745-2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JAGUAR(TM) HITS ROAD WITH E.G.M. SuperTour '94!
Atari(R) Wows Serious Gamers With 64-Bit Energy!
CHICAGO, Il. -- June 23, 1994 -- Consumer Electronics Show -- Atari
Corporation (ASE:ATC) announced today that it has hit the road with a
summer long exhibition of the Atari Jaguar in many popular shopping
malls across America. The SuperTour '94 is the second annual tour
co-sponsored by Electronic Gaming Monthly (E.G.M.); an excellent
source of information covering the explosive world of video games. The
show tour is also sponsored by Hero Illustrated; the number one name
in comic guides.
SuperTour '94 offers an opportunity for merchants and enthusastic game
players to see, feel and hear the newest innovations in gaming
entertainment including the Atari Jaguar; the world's first and only
64-bit interactive multimedia home entertainment system. The Jaguar
and compatible game titles have been awarded multiple awards for
technical achievement, design and innovation worldwide.
"We want gamers to compare our system with others," states Mr. Sam
Tramiel, President and CEO of Atari Corporation. "The E.G.M. SuperTour
encourages those comparisons with side-by-side competitions and
demonstrations. Comparisons always sell more machines for Atari."
The E.G.M. SuperTour '94 is scheduled through September in shopping
malls from Charlotte and Orlando to Los Angeles and Seattle; with
cities like Chicago and Denver along the way. The show attracts gamers
and comic collectors with a wide variety of contests, games and prizes
including a full-size professional pinball machine.
"We are getting flooded with calls," notes Mr. Donald Thomas, Director
of Customer Service for Atari Corporation. "Gamers want us to know
that they saw the Jaguar at some of the preseason shows and their
nearest store sold out already. They want to know where to find more."
The SuperTour '94 show schedule may be found in the most current issue
of Electronic Gaming Monthly. The announced tour stops include the
following cities:
June 24 - 26 Lincolnwood Town Center Lincolnwood, IL
July 1 - 3 Rosemont Convention Center Chicago, IL
July 8 - 10 Northlake Atlanta, GA
July 15 - 17 Atlanta Hilton and Towers Atlanta, GA
July 22 - 24 Aurora Mall Denver, CO
July 29 - 31 Plaza Bonita San Diego, CA
August 3 - 7 San Diego Convention Center San Diego, CA
August 12 - 14 Del Amo Fashion Los Angeles, CA
August 19 - 21 Glendale Galleria Los Angeles, CA
August 26 - 28 Vallco Fashion Center Cupertino, CA
September 2 - 4 Eastridge San Jose, CA
September 9 - 11 Southcenter Seattle, WA
Jaguar is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered
trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products named may be trademarks
or registered trademarks of their owning companies.
------------------------------------------------------------
For more information, contact:
Bill Rehbock, Atari Corporation (408)745-2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ATARI(R) CELEBRATES 150+ JAGUAR(TM) LICENSEES
Expanded List Includes Prominent New Names
CHICAGO, Il. -- June 23, 1994 -- Consumer Electronics Show -- Atari
Corporation (ASE:ATC) announced today that the number of signed
licensed developers for the Atari Jaguar has surpassed 150. According
to Mr. William Rehbock, Vice President of Third Party Development for
Atari Corporation, "Each signature represents another developer that
is serious about the desire to develop Jaguar compatible peripherals
or software. Although a few may be focused on highly specialized
applications, the majority are in the business of dazzling video game
players.
"The newest list," adds Mr. Rehbock, "includes names such as 20th
Century Fox Interactive, JVC Musical Industries, Inc., Time-Warner
Interactive and Electro Brain Corp. These are exciting names to have
shown support in the way that they have. We welcome them and look
forward to accommodating their needs as they intensify their Jaguar
development interests with us."
Names found among the recently inked pages include:
20th Centrury Fox Interactive Acid Software
Alfaro Corporation Limited B.S.A.
Bando Svenska AB Beris
BitMotion Software Bizzare Computing
Brandlewood Computers Ltd. Cannonball Software
Celebrity Systems Inc. Condor Software
Cross Products Ltd. DAP Developments
Data Design Denton Designs Ltd.
Diskimage Electro Brain Corp.
Electrom Extreme
Factor 5 Flair Software Ltd.
Frankenstein Software Funcom Productions a/s
Human Soft Ltd. i-SPACE
iTHINK Inc. JVC Musical Industries Inc.
Kungariket Multimedia Lost in Time Software
Malibu Interactive Media Technology Scandinavia
Merit Industries Inc. Michton Inc.
Miracle Designs Nebulous Games
Neon-Buttner Network 23 Software
NMS Software Ltd. Odyssey Software Inc.
Orion Technologies Inc. Phoyx
Rage Software Ltd. Rainmaker Software Inc.
Riedel Software Prod. Scangames Interactive
Selgus Limited Shadowsoft Inc.
Sigma Designs Silmarils
Sinister Development Soft Enterprises
Softgold Gmbh Software 2000
Software Development Systems Spaceball Technologies Inc.
Steinberg Soft-und Hardware Gmbh
Tantalus Entertainment Tantalus Incorporated
Twilight Time-Warner Interactive
Visual Sciences Ltd. Wave Quest Inc.
"Once again," observes Mr. Sam Tramiel, President and CEO of Atari
Corporation, "as I check with our developer support people I find that
they are assembling more batches of Jaguar development packages. It is
an extremely promising sight because these systems represent a lot
more consumer products in the months ahead. All of these people are
working hard and they sure are busy...
"...as they should be," adds a smiling Mr. Tramiel.
The Atari Jaguar is the world's first 64-bit interactive multimedia
home entertainment system. The Atari Jaguar and compatible software
titles have been awarded multiple awards for technical achievement,
design and innovation.
Jaguar is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari is a registered
trademark of Atari Corporation. Other products named may be trademarks
or registered trademarks of their owning companies.
------------------------------------------------------------
For more information, contact:
Greg LaBrec, Atari Corporation (408)745-2015
Scott Stern, Norscot Group, Inc. (414)241-3313
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JAG-WARE(TM) DEBUTS FOR JAGUARTM AFICIONADOS Norscot Group, Inc.
releases Atari(R) Jaguar(TM) specialty catalog.
CHICAGO, Il. -- June 23, 1994 -- Consumer Electronics Show -- Atari
Corporation (ASE:ATC) announced today a new full-line gift catalog
especially for Atari Jaguar gamers. The catalog, shown publicly for
the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Chicago,
features nearly 20 popular consumer items fashionably adorned with the
licensed Jaguar logo. The Atari Jaguar is the world's first 64-bit
interactive multimedia home entertainment system and is the only
system of its kind manufactured in the United States. The Jaguar has
been awarded multiple awards for technical achievement, design and
innovation.
Effective July 1, 1994, consumers throughout the world may order
products exclusive to the new Jag-Ware collection. Items range in
price as low as $2.95, but no item is more than $100 and include
watches, T-Shirts, waist packs, caps and more.
"We have been bombarded by Jaguar users asking for items they can wear
or give as gifts with the Jaguar logo on it," explains Mr. Greg
LaBrec, Director of Creative Services for Atari Corporation. "The
traditional and new Atari consumer has fallen in love with the Jaguar
and wants to show everyone that they've already moved up to the world
of 64-bit entertainment technology."
Offering apparel and gift items is new for Atari and is a reflection
of the growing popularity of the Jaguar system and Atari's commitment
behind it. The items selected in the 8-page, full-color catalog have
been carefully chosen by Atari with the advice of Norscot Group, Inc.;
suppliers of Corporate namesake specialty catalogs for nearly a
quarter century. Each item was chosen on merits of popularity,
durability and practical application. All items are protected by a
100% satisfaction guarantee and typically shipped within 48 hours as
long as they are in stock.
The Jag-Ware catalog will be mailed to existing Jaguar owners
registered with Atari Corporation within the next 120 days. Those
wishing to obtain a copy sooner may request one by mail by writing:
"JAG-WARE Catalog", Atari Corporation, P.O. Box 61657, Sunnyvale, CA
94089-1657. Catalogs will also be supplied with new Jaguar systems.
Additionally, modem users will find text based copies of the catalog
distributed in publications such as Atari Explorer Online and Silicon
Times Report.
Those wishing to place orders may call 1(800) 653-3313 toll free.
International orders accepted by calling (414) 241-3313. Faxed orders
accepted by dialing (414) 241-4904. Orders may be mailed to: Norscot
Group, Inc., 10510 North Port Washington Road, Mequon, WI 53092.
Money Orders, MasterCard, Visa and American Express accepted. Dealers
and Distributors should place their fall orders now.
Jaguar and Jag-Ware are trademarks of Atari Corporation. Atari is a
registered trademark of Atari Corporation.
------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Bill Rehbock
Atari Corporation
(408) 745-2000
ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY
9700 South Cass Avenue/Bldg. 900
Argonne, Illinois 60439-4832
Office: (708) 252-5765
FAX: (708) 252-5128
For Immediate Release
ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY EVALUATES JAGUAR FOR PROJECT
Argonne National Laboratory, a Laboratory funded by the Department of
Energy (DOE), is evaluating the use of Atari's 64-bit multimedia
Jaguar technology as part of its work in the AMTEX program's Demand
Activated Manufacturing Architecture (DAMA) project. The AMTEX
program, the American Textile Partnership, brings together the entire
industry involved in textile products, from fiber to retail, with the
National Laboratory system. It is a technology transfer program
intended to increase industrial competitiveness. Argonne is tasked
with evaluating technologies in the broad area of Information Access
Tools.
Argonne's exploratory studies of multimedia technology are a direct
response to the need to provide better and broader access to computer
generated information. Manufacturers such as Atari have been
particularly successful in providing visual interfaces to computer
interactions. These interface technologies can provide alternative
methods for accessing the information highway, even displacing the
traditional computer keyboard. Retailers and small manufacturers have
little time to learn complex computer systems. The DAMA project needs
to find new ways for these companies to take advantage of the
electronic market information being generated by the larger companies.
Using this information American companies' can use agile manufacturing
and fast response as the key to regaining a competitive edge in the
marketplace.
The Jaguar technology's ability to recreate realistic visual images
combined with its price performance make it a natural vehicle to
explore new interfacing concepts. The same 64-bit technology that
renders images at high speed can display high-fidelity renderings of
fashion lines at slower speeds. One application area is business
product marketing, where small retailers can view the work of American
designers, accessing it via home entertainment equipment. Another area
being explored is a FAX-based interface to DAMA for small businesses.
The goal is to eliminate the keyboard interface.
Technology transfer is very active at Argonne, "we are looking for
ways to utilize the research performed at Argonne by combining it with
the work done by industry" said Peter Korp, Assistant Scientist at
Argonne.
____ ____ ________
/ __ \ / \| | Atari Jaguar Infosystem
| | |__| __ |__ __|____ ____ ____ __ ___ TM
| | __| |__| | | | / ____|/ ____|/ __ \| |__ \
| |__| | __ | | ||____ | |___| |__| | / \ |
\ ____ /|__| |__| |__||_____/ \_____|\____|__|__| |__|
===========================================================
CATscan BBS Trademark 1994, Artisan Software
===========================================================
Thanks to the assistance Mr. Dana Jacobsen, CATscan has
just been upgraded with new software. I am in the process
of converting the files from the earlier version and I am
nearly finished. The dealer referal software has been
rewritten and I hope to have the product descriptions back
up as early as tonight (6/5/94). Additional features will
be included soon such as T-shirt lotteries and online
ordering at full retail prices direct through Atari.
(It is still better to buy through dealers!)
CATscan(tm) BBS has been established as a Jaguar and Lynx
clearinghouse of information. Callers are instantly
registered and there are NO fees to join. CATscan supports
over multiple Special Interest Groups and already has
dozens of active users in just the first couple of weeks
of operation.
GEnie, CIS, Delphi, Cleveland Freenet users are best
served on their services and, other than the message bases,
will NOT find information or files exclusive to CATscan.
In fact free ads (provided by Atari Explorer Online and the
Cleveland Freenet) for GEnie, CompuServe, Delphi and the
Cleveland Freenet have been integrated into the CATscan
online environment.
Here are the SIGs found on CATscan:
1 scratching post...welcome all 2 CATnips..tidbits of news/info
3 CATraps........PRs and awards 4 CATacombs...game tips/secrets
5 CATerwaul...online mags/zines 6 CATcalls.........game reviews
7 3rd party animals...licensees 8 CATscans......graphics & pics
9 CATalog...buy/sell/rent/trade 10 adoption agency..dealer lists
11 CAThouse...developer exchange 12 CAT's meow..........shareware
13 litterbox....order from Atari 14 CAT fights.......debate arena
15 top CATs 1......private arena 16 top CATs 2......private arena
(Note: SIGs are named for anticipated interest and may
not all be active at this time.)
To get a Jaguar dealer in any state, sign on to CATscan,
use the S command from the main menu to change SIGs,
type 10 for the "adoption agency" (see above), then
press I and follow the prompts.
Currrent copies of Atari Explorer Online and STReport
are provided as well as other appropriate downloads.
Messages are censored! This BBS is NOT endorsed by
Atari Corporation.
To check out CATscan for yourself, dial 209/239-1552 with
your computer modem.
Special thanks to Tal Funke-Bilu, Travis Guy,
Dana Jacobsen and Len Stys... all of whom have helped
supply CATscan with up-to-date tips and information.
--Don Thomas
Atari Corporation
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
| CLEVELAND FREE-NET WILL PRESENT __FREE__ COMPLIMENTARY USAGE TIME |
| to the readers of: |
| |
| CAIN Newsletter |
| |
| New Users Sign Today! Connect by modem: 216/368-3888 or |
| Telnet to: freenet-in-a.cwru.edu, 129.22.8.32 |
| |
| You can log on as a visitor to explore the system. At the opening |
| menu ("Please enter 1 or 2:"), enter "2" to log in as a visitor. At |
| the next menu, enter "2" again to explore the system. You will then |
| read an opening disclaimer and a login bulletin, then be sent to the |
| main Free-Net menu. Once inside, type "go atari". Follow the menus |
| to read Atari-related discussions, reviews, news, and information. |
| In order to post messages, send e-mail, vote, chat online, and sign |
| a user directory, you need a Free-Net account. Apply for a Free-Net |
| account by entering "1" at the second menu instead of "2". |
| |
| All new registered users receive "free" accounts which will not |
| require payment for the usage of the system. |
| |
| The Cleveland Free-Net has an Atari SIG comparable to other systems. |
| The Atari SIG carries _ALL_ Z*Magazine issues. Z*Net & ST Report |
| from 1989. All Atari Explorer Online issues. The latest and |
| greatest Atari news. "Support Areas" for all Atari users. Multi- |
| User Chat, Voting Booth, Wanted & For Sale, User Directories, and |
| even direct access to Atari related Usenet newsgroups. |
| |
| No charge for registration or usage of this system! Register today! |
| | -
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=
8-Bit Computers Support Area
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Michael Current
8-Bit Support Area News
-----------------------
Recently I revamped the 8-Bit Reference Desk so that the menu choices
more directly reflect their contents. I also made the Help-Line (Q &
A) board available here, so 8-bit users can post questions for Craig
and myself without leaving the 8-Bit Computers Support Area. Here's
what the 8-Bit Reference Desk looks like now:
<<< 8-BIT REFERENCE DESK >>>
1 Frequently Asked Questions List
2 Vendors and Developers List
3 Atari Classics Vendor List
4 Atari Classics User Group Listing
5 Atari Classics Atari Bulletin Board System Listing
6 Help-Line (Q & A)
------------------------------------------------
8-Bit Product News
------------------
AC Refunds
From: poehland%phvax.dnet@sb.com
Date: 27 May 1994 00:00:16 -0500
I thought folks might be interested to know I just completed calculating the
refunds for the first 100 AC subscribers who qualify under the policy
announced
in the April AC & have mailed the first list to Unicorn Publications. They
will write the checks & send them back to me in bulk, & I will mail them out
to individual subscribers with a cover letter.
As usual in a situation where the business operations are split between 2
locations hundreds of miles apart, the logistics of this are awful. Mailing
delays between me & Unicorn alone are estimated to consume 8 weeks. The
processing of refunds will take all summer. I suggest no one hold their
breath
waiting for their check!
With the final issue of AC now being delivered, the operation of AC under my
management is coming to a close. Jim Hood & people from SLCC have definitely
committed themselves to continuing the publication. Rumor has it they are
planning a July issue, but I haven't confirmed that. Whether they continue
to publish after that will probably depend on how much support they receive in
the form of subscriptions. The new subscription form was printed on the back
of the April issue of AC for those wishing to subscribe.
Interested parties may write to:
Jim Hood
Managing Editor
Atari Classics Magazine
5507 Langford Court
Concord CA 94521 USA
for further information on the "new" Atari classics. You can also try
him on GEnie: J.HOOD9 [Internet: j.hood9@genie.geis.com] but my
experience has been that he's not exactly a network denizen so
probably a snailmail letter will be more effective in reaching him.
I've been working behind the scenes for the past 4 months with Jim & with
Bob Woolley to make the management transition as smooth as possible & to
assist those fellows in the startup of their venture. These arrangements
are purely on a personal level & are not connected in any way with the actual
business operations of either the present AC or the "new" AC. The present
publication is definitely ceasing existence as a business entity, & the
effort by the people in California is an entirely new & independent operation.
This is confusing to many people. The easiest way to envision what's
happening
is to look at it as if the present body of AC has died, but the spirit of it
is being preserved & transferred to another vessel (sounds like an episode
from
Star Trek!) where hopefully it will live again.
Some portion of the present Staff may transfer over to the new management, &
I've offered my services to them as a Consultant. Bob Woolley, who was a
Reviewer on the Staff of the "old" AC, has taken an active role in the "new"
AC, tho in exactly what capacity remains to be seen. Both Jim & Bob have
expressed a strong desire to preserve as much continuity between the old
& new publications as possible, & I'm doing all I can at my end to assist
that effort.
I sincerely hope that all of you will subscribe to the new Atari Classics &
give Jim Hood as support as you can. You all know our market & our user
base have continued to decline. I honestly feel that if the California effort
fails, the last vestige of the Atari 8-bit community & market in the USA will
go down the drain. Really people, this is our last chance. Think about it.
- Ben Poehland
Managing Editor
ATARI CLASSICS Magazine
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Fine Tooned Engineering unveils MARS 8 Project
4/28/94
PRESS RELEASE
Fine Tooned Engineering
unveils MARS 8 Project.
FTe will be introducing a "new"
product for the Atari 6502-based
800XL's that is simply "out of
this world". The MARS 8 has been
described as an all-in-one "wonder-
board", that has had well over two
years of R&D invested in it's making.
Once installed, you won't ever need
to peek "under the hood" of your
800XL again. This enhancement will
allow your Atari 8-Bit to have more
memory than a Mega4! The memory has
an option for battery backup and may
be used with 256K, 1MB, or 4MB SIMMS.
We even threw in SpartaDOS X, The
R-Time 8, MAC/65, Action!, Basic XL,
and Basic XE, just so you can show
your friends the "raw power" that
these machines are capable of!
The price structure and availability
is as follows.
The MARS 8 Project
(for 800XL's only)
Level Options Avail
"Galaxy The MARS8 board May 94
Plus" w/ SpartaDOS X
R-Time 8
$139.95 Basic XL w/TK&RT
& 256K (exp to 4mb)
"Cosmic MAC/65 w/TK Jun 94
OSS" Action! w/TK&RT
Basic XE
& Toon-a-Matic (c)
add $69.95 Option
"Stellar X-press! Jul 94
Sysop" D-Ram Battery Bkup
& Toon-a-Matic (c)
Option
add $79.95
"Twilight All of the above!
Zone" complete with Aug 94
easter eggs...
$249.95 (everything)
Order a "Galaxy Plus" before
5/31/94 & recieve a "Cosmic
OSS" upgrade voucher towards
the "Twilight Zone" model.
(which will be released 8/94)
The $139.95 for the Galaxy Plus
is an introductory offer. We
have "working" prototypes, and
these little beasties are "costly"
to manufacture. Due to the unique
nature of the MARS 8 Project we
have decided to release it early,
without any idea of how many of
them to produce. We are commited
to this price until 6/1/94. This
is a very "cool" product, and we
hope that the Atari Community feels
the same. We will offer a 30 day
money-back guarantee on this first
run of boards, knowing that once
you plug it in, you won't want to
take it back out! It would have
been nice to have this product
"reviewed" by a magazine such as
Current Notes, but we will be
shipping the first boards at the
end of May. (which means July issue)
All prices and features are subject
to change, as we have REALLY gone
out on a limb to let everyone know
what's happening...
As far as the SpartaDOS 3.2f
SHAREWARE is concerned, people have
been at two extremes. One side
which is complaining about "no code"
being modified and/or SpartaDOS
ownership conflicts. While the
other side has balanced out all
the "bad vibes" from the first group.
FTe is commited to doing everything
that we can to keep the end-user
as happy as possible. It should be
obvious that a tremendous amount of
energy has been placed with getting
the MARS 8 Project off the ground.
We are simply going to get this
Project finished and out-the-door
before any significant amount of
time will be spent on SpartaDOS 3.2f
Hopefully, it will do well enough
so that a few more people can be
put on staff, to get even more
"cool" products out so that we can
put a few more people...
(I think you get the idea!)<grin>
On that note, I hope everyone enjoys
this "no code modified except for
copyrights" SHAREWARE release of
DiskRX version 1.9
Mike
"Just your normal?
8-Bit kinda guy"
Fine Tooned Engineering
PO Box 66109
Scotts Valley, CA 95067
(408)Get-REAL
(438-7325)
or
(800)For-6502
(367-6502)
(orders only)
P.S. A few "personal" messages that
need to be included...
His "Electronic Highness" will have
the Express Pro! BBS set up by the
second week of May.
Greetings to ABBUC... (A PAL is on
the way)
Additional greetings to NWPAC & DACE.
All mail has been read, and yes, our
new brochure will be sent out REAL
soon...
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
April AC: In The Mail!
From: poehland%phvax.dnet@sb.com
Date: 18 May 1994 16:40:33 -0500
Hello peoples. I just received word from our publisher that the April issue
of AC was mailed out yesterday. A little late, but it's on the way at last.
As usual, our European & Pacific readers with Airmail service will get their
issues first, probably the end of this week or beginning next.
The rest of us in the USA/Canada will have to wait till the post
office has fed & rested their tired old pack mules. I'm guessing it
should begin to appear in mailboxes around Memorial Day (provided the
mules are in a good mood).
This final issue of AC will contain a new subscription form, so those who
wish to continue receiving the mag under our new management will be able to
re-up. You'll also find all the gory <boring> details on policies for
subscription refunds. Unlike some other mags which withered slowly &
then died miserably on the vine, this final issue of AC under the present
management will go out with a touch of flash & sparkle. For those of you
who felt the December issue focused too much on hardware, you'll find
the wide diversity of topics in the April AC a refreshing change of pace.
We are publishing 36 pages instead of the usual 32, & there's a special
4-page insert containing material submitted by the new management. So you'll
get a chance to sample the flavor of what those SLCC guys intend to print.
Back issues of AC mag & disk are still mostly available for those who
missed out, although one isue is sold out & some others are running low. The
good news is that our publisher is providing a few more back issue copies of
the April issue than I anticipated, so those are temprorily plentiful even
tho many have already been spoken for.
Back issues of mag & disk are $5 per item postpaid anywhere in the world.
The following stock is still available:
Mags: Dec'92, Apr'93, June'93, Aug'93, Oct'93, Dec'93, Feb'94, Apr'94
Disks: Feb'93, June'93, Oct'93, Feb'94.
Cash or check to: Ben Poehland
Managing Editor
Atari Classics Magazine
179 Sproul Road/Rt. 352
Frazer PA 19355
Be sure your check is made out to me & not to the magazine.
If the "new" AC achieves success it is possible the remaining stock of
back issues will be transferred to the new management at some
unspecified future time. For at least the next few months however,
the back issue stock will remain with me. I recommend interested
parties should purchase back isues now while they're still available,
as our future is now in a very fluid state & nobody can predict what
the rest of this year holds for us.
Hmmm... it occurs to me this is the last time I'll be making an announcement
about an upcoming issue of the magazine. *sigh* Can't help feeling a little
somber, like something is passing out of my life or whatever. Oh well,
there's
just no swimming against the tide......
- Ben Poehland
Once An Alchemist
Once a Magazine Editor....
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Programmers Wanted ....
From: mbitdc9306@newi.ac.uk (David Davies)
Date: 12 May 1994 12:05:14 -0500
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
SOFTWARE, PROGRAMMERS AND IDEAS WANTED!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Authors:
Have you written a program that you would like to sell commercially but don't
have the resources to do a decent job of it?
Have you written a program with the potential to be a commercial success but
don't know quite what to add to it?
Do you need to improve the graphics or music for a game in preperation for
commercial release?
Have you already had a program released commercially in the past and still
have the copyright (or bought it back from the original publisher)?
In short, do you want to make some extra money out of your hobby?
Then why not talk to us? The Atari Classic Programmer's Club was devised to
help programmers of all experience levels develop their skills and realise
their full potential. We offer good royalty rates and help with all parts
of programming a utility or game.
We are also short on advanced programmers to work on projects that are waiting
to be started. All services are available free to those who take on a project.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any questions or have anything you think we might be interested in
then you can e-mail me at:
MBITDC9306@newi.ac.uk
or write to:
The Atari Classic Programmer's Club
Pen-Tyddyn
Capel Coch
LLangefni
Anglesey
Gwynedd LL77 7UR
WALES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
D.G.S Summer Specials!
From: dx107@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Dean Garraghty)
Date: 7 May 1994 05:25:42 -0500
D.G.S SUMMER SPECIALS!
========================
Dear All Atari Classic Users,
It's time for some good offers again! First up is a special offer on our
own magazine, the Atari 8-bit News-Paper. We have now produced 3 issues of
this, with the fourth currently in production. We have about 45 sets of these
back issues left, which we would like to clear out of the way to make room
for stocks of later issues. Three issues would usually cost you about $15,
but you can get all 3 back issues now for just ** $8 ** the set! That price
INCLUDES Air Mail shipping from the U.K to the U.S.
Next offer. We have found 2 brand new copies of Atari Macro Assembler on
disk. These are brand new and still shrink wrapped. We need them out of the
way. They can be yours for just $10 each, which INCLUDES surface mail
shipping from the U.K to the U.S. Bargain! E-Mail us first to reserve one.
Next offer. We would like to promote some of our less popular (but
excellent of course!) software. Here's the offer: get Digi-Studio (our
digitized sounds and music system on 2 DS disks with a 44 page manual),
along with Print-Filer (a great utility for printer users which allows you
to capture text/graphics, etc. from your favourite packages and save them
to disk rather than print them, and then later mix them together to produce
a single file which will print independently of the original packages),
along with the last 3 issues of our magazine (as described above) for
the bargain price of just ** $25 ** INCLUDING Air Mail from the U.K to the
U.S. The previous separate selling price of these products was $38. That's
a saving of $13!
There should be a bargain here for everyone! Here's how to order:
Send CASH in US$ along with your order (don't forget your name and address!).
Also send your E-Mail address so that we can confirm your order arrived.
You must reserve a copy of Macro Assembler by E-Mail first and wait for us
to confirm it before you send your money. For the other products just send
your order. We have plenty in stock! It costs 50 cents to mail a letter from
the US to the UK. Other countries: Canada - The 3 back issues cost 5 UK
pounds, Macro Assembler is 7 UK pounds, the Digi-Studio/ Print-filer/
News-Paper offer is 15 UK pounds. Pay by Canadian Money Order drawn in UK
pounds (you can get these from your post office). Other countries: enquire
prices by E-Mail.
Our details:
D.G.S
62 THOMSON AVE
BALBY
DONCASTER
DN4 0NU
ENGLAND
E-Mail: dx107@cleveland.freenet.edu
Note: I can only read/send E-Mail at weekends. Don't worry if it takes
a few days for me to reply!
Phone: +44-302-855-026
Dean Garraghty.
1 May 1994.
--
Dean Garraghty Software (D.G.S.) - dx107@cleveland.freenet.edu
D.G.S., 62 Thomson Ave, Balby, Doncaster, DN4 0NU, ENGLAND.
Phone (in UK): (0302) 855026 / International: +44-302-855-026
D.G.S -- Supporting the Atari 8-bit!!
The following letter was posted in hardcopy to the DGS News-Paper on
June 13, 1994:
Dean Garraghty, Editor
D.G.S. News-Paper
62 Thomson Avenue
Balby, Doncaster
ENGLAND DN4 0NU
Sir:
In the editorial on page 3 of issue 18 of the News-Paper it is stated that
Atari Classics magazine "has been offered to a user group based in California.
... Offering it to a user group is, in my opinion, not a good idea." The
impressions created by these statements are not indicative of the facts.
Please permit me to set the record straight.
Atari Classics was founded upon the results of a worldwide user-sponsored
mail campaign which was organized in late 1991 and completed in the spring of
1992. The publication was intended as a serious effort which required a
minimum of 500 subscribers to be financially viable, a fact which campaign
respondents were informed of. About 1700 direct mailings were made, from which
615 positive responses were received. It was on the basis of those 615
positive responses (115 in excess of the campaign committee's goal), that I
was asked by the committee's chairman to undertake the business foundation of
the magazine. Under my management AC published nine issues (including four
software disks), eight of which were undersubscribed.
AC was in effect a contract between the campaign committee and the user
community which was clearly spelled out in the campaign literature, of which
the essence was "Give us your support and we'll give you a magazine". The
committee delivered on virtually all of its promises, but the community failed
to honor its end of the bargain. It was on the basis of declining support
from the very community which spawned the publication that the decision was
made in early 1994 to shut it down. (This is not meant as criticism of the
community, it is merely a statement of fact. It is my opinion that the
abandonment of the 8bit platform was already in a fatal accelerating tailspin
even during the period when AC was starting up, and that process merely
continued-- with devastating effects even among the ranks of people who
participated in the mail campaign and initially supported the magazine.
Correspondence from former subscribers in response to mailouts of renewal
forms clearly shows a pattern of migration to other platforms, mainly the PC.)
In stating that AC was "offered" to other parties you imply that the
essential elements of any serious publication, i.e. its subscriber list and
treasury, were hawked to the highest bidder. No such thing ever occurred.
Because I view the failure of AC as a breach of the contract between the
campaign committee and the community, it was always my feeling that the
resources of the enterprise should be dissolved and dispersed back to the
community. During the chaotic early months of 1994 I was approached by no
fewer than three parties, all with strong ties to commercial interests, who
expressed interest in acquiring the resources of Atari Classics. I was
appalled at the cavalier manner in which these interests viewed AC, with utter
disregard for the uniqueness of its origin. I informed all these parties, in
no uncertain terms, that the demise of AC was not going to be an opportunity
for a feast by commercial vultures at the expense of the magazine's paid-up
subscribers.
During that same period I was approached by Mr. Bob Woolley, of the San
Leandro Computer Club (SLCC) in California. Mr. Woolley strongly supported
the mail campaign in 1992 and continued supporting the magazine in 1993-94 as
a member of its Staff. Like me, he was distraught by the prospect of AC's
impending demise and wanted to explore ways of saving it. From those
discussions there emerged two realities with conflicting elements: 1.) the
original concept of AC as formulated in 1991 and delivered in 1992 is
untenable and should be dissolved; 2.) enough support might still exist to
make it desirable to conduct a referendum on continuing the AC idea, albeit
under a more modest/compact business environment. The present policies of AC
are aimed at satisfying both of these objectives.
The following items represent the true facts concerning AC:
1.) The publication called Atari Classics ceased publication as of May 1994.
2.) The operational organization (staff) of the magazine have been dismissed.
3.) The financial resources of the magazine are in process of being dispersed
back to the community (first batch of refund checks mailed out 6/12/94).
4.) The primary resources of the publication (its treasury and subscriber
list) have not been offered or transferred to anyone.
5.) An entirely independent effort, led by Mr. Jim Hood of the SLCC group
in California, is underway to revive the AC concept in the form of
another magazine. The new publication may, or may not, be called
Atari Classics (it probably will be, though).
6.) In addition to being current president of SLCC, Mr. Hood is also a
professional graphic artist who operates a hobby magazine with an
established base of 6,000 subscribers. Publishing being his livelihood,
AC will not be either an amateur effort or a part-time concern for him
(as it was with me).
7.) The final (April) issue of AC assisted Mr. Hood's effort by publishing a
new subscription form and unedited material submitted by him as a sample
of the flavor of his proposed new publication. The response he receives
will constitute the desired referendum to loyal readers on the AC concept.
8.) Permission has been granted for the new publication to use as much of
the intangible assets (magazine name, logo, features, policies, etc.) of
the old magazine as it deems appropriate. This request was granted in
response to expressions of desire on the part of Bob Woolley and Jim Hood
that the "new" AC should maintain as much identity and continuity with the
"old" AC as possible.
9.) It will be up to the new magazine's management to assemble a staff, build
their own subscriber list, and manage their own treasury. I am serving
in an advisory capacity to that effort but am not actively participating
in it.
10.) During its existence AC derived 90% of its support from readers in the
US and Canada. While the UK/European market may equal the US/Canadian
market in number of users, the proportion of those users able/willing
to buy a subscription is significantly lower. Insofar as my activities
stem directly from a mandate by the community of loyal AC supporters,
I take very seriously my obligations to that community, to act in their
behalf. To offer the resources of AC to any party in the UK/Europe,
especially one with obvious commercial interests, was simply unthinkable.
11.) In an editorial in issue 17 of the News-Paper, it was stated that "We
are now the only Atari publication that offers some form of payment for
submissions." It should be pointed out that AC always paid a $25 cash
stipend to authors of major feature articles (the last author payment was
mailed in May) and gave a 2-issue extension to subscriptions of readers
who submitted minor articles. This policy will be continued by Jim Hood
in the "new" Atari Classics.
12.) Alan Hitchen's reference (on page 10 of issue 18 of the News-Paper) to
"The sad news about the demise of Atari Classics..." is premature. AC
*the magazine* may be defunct, but AC *the concept* is not. Let us first
see how many subscription orders are received by Jim Hood before we plan
the funeral. Rather bad form, to be already digging the grave while
the corpse is still warm and twitching.
Respectfully submitted,
Benjamin L. Poehland
Managing Editor
ATARI CLASSICS Magazine
******************************************************************************
8-Bit Bulletin Board Messages of Interest
-----------------------------------------
Article #1146 (1170 is last):
From: cd827@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey J. McWilliams)
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.spec.8bit
Subject: Textpro 5.12
Reply-To: cd827@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey J. McWilliams)
Date: Fri May 20 01:14:18 1994
Anyone who likes Textpro, or has a 130XE or XE compatible should
check out the new 5.12 version of Textpro at the archive.
It comes shipped ready to use 5 banks total, each 16K in size, on
a 130XE. It can be configured to use up to 64 banks, i.e. 1024K
worth of editing space in the word processor.
There is abug in this release pertaining to useing the BANKUTIL.ADN
module or the TPTOOLS addon module. It has been fixed, and a
new version of each will be uploaded soon.
I've just finished figuring out which banks SpartaDOS-X leaves
alone on a 1088K Newell 800XL, when you are using the following:
USE BANKED
DEVICE SPARTA BANKED
DEVICE RAMDISK 55,8
Now that I know which banks are left along, I'll be configuring
Textpro for 8 extended banks, plus the main bank. That's 144K,
not too bad.
With all the permutations and combinations of memory upgrades and sizes,
ramdisk handlers, and possible Textpro configurations, I can see the
need for some sort of memory diagnostic utility which can figure out
which banks are available and not used by the Ramdisk handler so that
Textpro can use them. With luck, I might get working on something that
would even load as a Textpro module and do all this for you.
The question is.. is anyone interested?
4 weeks ago I posted to the net a complete and ready to use
set of routines for Action! that let any programmer read mouse values
from a plugged in st compatible mouse. No one even batted an eyelash.
The signal/noise ratio at comp.sys.atari.8bit has really decreased
lately, and I might refocus my attention here instead. What say
you all?
Jeff McWilliams
--
Article #1148 (1170 is last):
From: aa700@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael Current)
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.spec.8bit
Subject: Maze Of AGDAgon first impressions
Reply-To: aa700@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael Current)
Date: Fri May 20 11:10:43 1994
I just purchased this game direct from DataQue, along with a three-way
GameLink II cable. I thought I only paid for a two-way cable, so right
away, a good deal!
First you boot the disk (there's also a cart. version) on the host machine.
Then you unplug the drive from the SIO bus and attach the host end of the
GameLink cable. Now you attach the other end to a slave machine, and when
you boot that machine it loads the program in from the host machine. When
the software is up on all machines, you're ready to play.
Basically, each player moves around in a maze attempting to kill each other
with grenades which may be picked up at random locations. Each player sees
a first-person view on his/her monitor. Gameplay is very good, but the
graphics aren't spectacular. Well, the actual moving around in the maze
looks very good, but aspects like grenades, opponents, and explosions
aren't as visually impressive.
My suggestion: buy this game! It's fun!
--
Article #1154 (1170 is last):
From: cd827@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey J. McWilliams)
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.spec.8bit
Subject: Tom Hunt's SFX
Reply-To: cd827@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey J. McWilliams)
Date: Sat May 21 10:47:27 1994
I downloaded cth_sfx.sfx from the Fte directoy at the archive.
It's Tom Hunt's self extracting archive maker. It actually works!
You download it, execute it, and the darn thing extracts itself!
The archive maker requires spartaDOS to work, due to its accepting
its paramteres at the command line, but hey, with 3.2f as shareware
and the complete manuals costing $20.00, that's not bad at all.
Jeff McWilliams
--
Article #1157 (1170 is last):
From: aa700@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael Current)
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.spec.8bit
Subject: FTe buys out Newell!
Reply-To: aa700@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael Current)
Date: Sun May 22 17:37:30 1994
I've just heard that Newell Industries no longer supports the 8-bit Atari,
but that the Newell product line was bought out by Fine Tooned Engineering.
This from a normally reliable source!
--
Article #1158 (1170 is last):
From: cd827@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey J. McWilliams)
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.spec.8bit
Subject: Re: FTe buys out Newell!
Reply-To: cd827@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey J. McWilliams)
Date: Tue May 24 12:04:38 1994
In a previous article, aa700@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael Current) says:
>
>I've just heard that Newell Industries no longer supports the 8-bit Atari,
>but that the Newell product line was bought out by Fine Tooned Engineering.
>
>This from a normally reliable source!
yes, I can corroborate that. Besides, Mike just mentioned buying out
Newell on c.s.a.8. By purchasing Newell Industries, he gets to see how
Wes Newell did the 1088K upgrade and transfer that technology, with
improvements, into the Mars-8 design. By purchasing the rights to the
OSNXl with Omnimon, Mike now legally has his own Atari operating system
clone, free and clear of Atari troubles, which he can modify to his
heart's content. Grin!!
Jeff
--
Article #1160 (1170 is last):
From: bz284@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Mike W. Todd)
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.spec.8bit
Subject: Re: FTe buys out Newell!
Reply-To: bz284@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Mike W. Todd)
Date: Wed May 25 01:35:24 1994
In a previous article, cd827@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey J. McWilliams)
says:
>OSNXl with Omnimon, Mike now legally has his own Atari operating system
>clone, free and clear of Atari troubles, which he can modify to his
>heart's content. Grin!!
If I recall correctly, OSNXL doesn't support the PBI. Now, its been a while
since I had my 130 with OSNXL/OmniMon out so I might be wrong. Still,
when I get back to the house I'll have to hook that system up and see how
it works with an extra MIO. Still, shouldn't be to hard for Mike to add
PBI support, maybe even 816 support? I'm just glad he stepped in and
saved all the old Newell products - Never did get an OmniView, maybe I'll
put that next on my list of things to get...should work well with my ATR
in CPM mode.
--
Article #1163 (1170 is last):
From: cd827@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey J. McWilliams)
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.spec.8bit
Subject: Re: FTe buys out Newell!
Reply-To: cd827@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeffrey J. McWilliams)
Date: Wed May 25 06:28:05 1994
In a previous article, bz284@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Mike W. Todd) says:
>
>If I recall correctly, OSNXL doesn't support the PBI. Now, its been a while
>since I had my 130 with OSNXL/OmniMon out so I might be wrong. Still,
>when I get back to the house I'll have to hook that system up and see how
>it works with an extra MIO. Still, shouldn't be to hard for Mike to add
>PBI support, maybe even 816 support? I'm just glad he stepped in and
>saved all the old Newell products - Never did get an OmniView, maybe I'll
>put that next on my list of things to get...should work well with my ATR
>in CPM mode.
That is correct. I used to own an MIO,and it wouldn't work with either
the Omniview 256 or OSNXL chips, due to lack of PBI code. Of course,
like you said, we can openly speculate about how PBI code and
816 support could be added to the OS, as well as upgrade OMNIMON
for the 816 as well.
Jeff
--
Article #1168 (1170 is last):
From: cr198@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (James E. King)
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.spec.8bit
Subject: Re: FTe buys out Newell!
Date: Wed May 25 10:17:20 1994
That's correct.. In speaking with Mike Hohman of FTE, FTE has
indeed purchased all of Newell Industries rights..
--
8-Bit Commentary
----------------
The 8-bit Atari community is indeed alive! With the purchase of the Newell
Industries products, to go with the ICD/OSS products plus new items like
the MARS 8 expansion device, Fine Tooned Engineering is quickly becoming
one of the premiere 8-bit Atari developers. Computer Software Services will
soon be releasing their new R:P: interface, which will allow transmission
speeds up til now only available on the expensive Multi I/O or Black Box
devices. What, your communications software doesn't support transmission
speeds beyond 9600 bps? Remember the names "ICE-T" and "FlickerTerm" --
each in active development, each ready to become the new standard in terminal
emulation on the 8-bit.
Lastly, Atari Classics magazine lives! In case you missed it above, here's
the new publisher's address for the only all 8-bit Atari print magazine:
Jim Hood
Managing Editor
Atari Classics Magazine
5507 Langford Court
Concord CA 94521 USA
Subscription prices are the same as before, but you must resubscribe to
continue receiving the magazine. Basic rates are $25 for one year, plus
$9 for a disk subscription. Subscribe today!
8-Bit Information of Need
-------------------------
Does anyone have a list of all the third-party peripherals Atari put their
brand on? This information becomes more important as replacement parts need
to be purchased. If you have such information, please let us know!
Michael Current, Keeper of the 8-Bit Atari FAQ & Vendor/Developer Lists
Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIGOp: aa700 / mailto::mcurrent@carleton.edu
16/32-bit Support Area
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
16/32-Bit Computer SIGOps Wanted!
---------------------------------
The Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG is looking for additional Atari 16/32-bit
computer SIGOps! If you are knowledgable about the Atari ST/TT/Falcon030
computers and love helping others, this position might be for you.
Send e-mail to the Atari SIG at xx004@cleveland.freenet.edu if you are
interested.
Falcon030 Technology Licensed to C-LAB!
---------------------------------------
From: hutch@ilmen.a5-ilmen (John Hutchinson)
Subject: Atari & C-LAB GmbH agreement
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 13:52:39 GMT
Here's a note from James Grunke, Director of Atari Music and AUdio that
some of you might find of interest:
============
Last Friday (June 17) at the Atari annual stockholders meeting, Sam Tramiel
announced that Atari is licensing Falcon030 technology to C-LAB GmbH of
Germany in order to have continued development of a pro-audio/music
multimedia workstation. We are confident that the proprietary Falcon030
technology can be competitively developed with dedicated hardware and
software to support the growing needs of pro-audio, broadcast, and
multimedia production. C-LAB GmbH has extensive experience in developing and
marketing multimedia software and pro-audio hardware. Product details and
specifications will be released at a later date.
Atari will continue to manufacture and support the Falcon030 in its current
configurations as the market demands. Atari is considering further computer
products based on the Jaguar chip set, the worlds first and only 64-bit
interactive multimedia home entertainment system.
Thank you for your support.
James Grunke Director, Atari Music and Audio
=============
New Files at atari.archive.umich.edu
------------------------------------
From: boyd@gauss.math.fsu.edu (Mickey Boyd)
Subject: Button Fixer
Date: 22 Jun 1994 21:55:55 GMT
The Button Fixer acc is now available from atari.archive.umich.edu. It was
written by Charles Johnson (of Codehead fame), and it fixes the incredibly
annoying "single click produces a double click" bug in all TOS versions
>= 1.4. The acc is tiny (390 bytes) and works as advertised. It's sooooo
nice to have reliable scrollbars again!!! It is in Utilities/Tosfixes.
From: boyd@gauss.math.fsu.edu (Mickey Boyd)
Subject: Mouse-Ka-Mania II
Date: 22 Jun 1994 21:50:20 GMT
This file has been on atari.archive for awhile, but I just got a chance to
look at it. I have not seen any comments about it, so I thought I would
mention something....
This is cool stuff! It allows you to replace any of the standard 8 system
mouse pointers with other static shapes, or nifty animated ones. For
example, the "busy bee" can now flap its wings. There are a bunch of
static and animated pointers included, and you can also create your own with
the included editor. This is a desk accessory, but you also have the ability
to create a stand-alone auto folder program that installs the mouse pointers
of your choice at bootup (this is good, as the first Mouse Ka Mania did not
have this, and the acc was not well liked by some of my other applications).
The latter method also reduces memory usage significantly.
Mouse Ka Mania II is shareware ($15), not hamstrung in any way, and a 1994
Codehead production.
Mydraw Update
-------------
Mydraw is a powerful vector drawing program for the Atari ST and TT,
b/w and color.
Version 1.10' , date 12.11.93 . Shareware, no restrictions.
Features:
- supports SpeedoGDOS, Speedo Fonts can be rotated freely.
- Textfile-Import. Textformatting with justification.
- Businessgrafic module with Data-Import: Line plot, pie chart, map from
"The world digizized" data.
- Smoothing and editing of polylines.
Author:
Helmut Neumann
Im Appensee 4
64287 Darmstadt
Germany RFA
Portfolio Support Area
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Fred Horvat
This month's installment I pulled a message from the "Tips &
Tricks" section of the Portfolio Support Area on the Freenet
to give you an idea of the types of tips that we have to offer.
Also it happens to be a tip I uploaded last year.
<<< PORTFOLIO SUPPORT AREA >>>
1 About this Support Area
2 The Portfolio Computer
3 Portfolio News
4 Bulletin Board
5 Usenet: comp.sys.palmtops
6 Product Summaries
7 Product Reviews
------>8 Tips & Tricks
9 Portable Addiction Magazine
10 Portfolio User Directory...
Have you ever needed to print a report to a file on the
Portfolio? Why would you want to you may ask? There are times
when you may need to print a report to a file. One example for
me was when I had a spread sheet that printed about 200
characters wide and I only have a narrow carriage printer 80
characters normal 120 condensed. Well what I did was go into
the Portfolio setup and selected Printer. Off the Printer
option you get a new menu with three options Parallel, Serial,
and File. Select File and press enter. A dialog box will pop
up and will ask you the path and name of the file that you wish
to create. Example C:\TEST.PRN is what I keyed in you, can call
it anything you wish. I chose an extension of PRN, you could
use TXT, DOC or what ever you wish. When I went to print from
the worksheet the output went to a file instead of a printer
attached to the parallel port. I then transferred the file to
my desktop PC. I used a shareware program called "SIDEWAYS"
that prints a ASCII file landscaped (sideways). It is a slow
process but after the four pages printed I cut them and taped
them together to get my big spreadsheet. It may not be quick or
pretty but it was the only way I could get the report printed.
Since the report was 200 characters wide a wide carriage printer
would not have worked anyway.
What else is printing to a file good for? Well if you need
to send someone a spread sheet via modem and they do not have a
Lotus compatible program, print it to a file first and then send
them the ASCII file. Then all they have to do is print a ASCII
file out. You could even fax the file from you desktop PC. You
can even crunch the file to almost nothing since it's text and
save a large amount of long distance connect time. You could
upload the report to their E-mail. In other words the
possibilities are almost endless!
The Work sheet is not the only application that can print to
a file. All applications built into the Portfolio can print to
a file. Once you set the destination to a file whenever
you choose to print it will go to the file that you specified.
This brings up a unique problem. What if you print a spread
sheet and then a memo from the Editor? Well the Portfolio will
keep adding to the file that you specified in setup. This may
or may not cause a problem. It is a bonus if you need to send a
few reports. But you may end up with a mess of reports in one
file. In other words be aware of what's going on and to delete
the file when your done and you should be happy. This is just a
quick overview on what you could do by printing to a file. Give
it a try you just might like it.
Atari Classic Gaming Corner
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Fred Horvat
Unfortunately for those of us living in the States we missed out
on Atari's latest offerings on the Atari 2600 that came out late in
it's life cycle. One of these is the Atari 31-1 cartridge. Yes it
has 32 games on a single cartridge! The cartridge is only available
as a package deal when you buy a 2600JR unit. I picked up a 2600JR
while I was in Austria last summer. Also packaged with the 2600JR
was the 7800 joypads which are not available in the States either.
These controllers are best described as being similar to Nintendo
controllers but with a raised round thumb pad. These are very nice
controllers, also too bad we can't get these in the States.
The 32-1 cart number is CX26163P. The "P" I assume stands for
PAL, which is the TV broadcasting signal in Europe. Here in the
States we have NTSC. The only problem with switching TV formats is
that the TV screen scrolls vertically while playing the games and the
colors are off slightly but not too bad. To play PAL games you need
an older TV with vertical adjustment, most newer TV's are no longer
adjustable. The copyright date is 1988 on the cart and 1989 on the
instructions. The instructions that I have are in German. There is
no box for the game since it came as a package deal with the 2600JR.
The method to switch between games is a little different than
pressing the "SELECT" key on the console. That selects different
versions of a game, not a different game. What you need to do is
turn the unit on and off very quickly. This some how switches to
another game. It's a strange method but works just fine. The games
are mostly old Atari and Activision games. The games are kind of
stripped down. What I mean by that is the title screens and some
other extras are removed from the games. This is obviously to save
space on the chip. The actual game play was not modified so, the
real stuff is still there. Here is a list of the games that are on
this cartridge. The names on some games have changed from what they
were when they were first released as individual games.
Atari 32-1 Cart
1 - Freeway Chicken 2 - Tennis 3 - Combat
4 - Slot Machine 5 - Skiing 6 - Stampede
7 - Outlaw 8 - Fishing Derby 9 - Sky Diver
10 - Laser Blast 11 - Basketball 12 - Ant Party
13 - Bowling 14 - Horrorrun 15 - UFO
16 - Human Cannon Ball 17 - Fun With Numbers 18 - 3D Tic Tac Toe
19 - Flag Capture 20 - Reversi 21 - Golf
22 - Surround 23 - Checkers 24 - Blackjack
25 - Freeway Rabbit 26 - Miniature Golf 27 - Football
28 - Slot Racers 29 - Fishing 30 - Space Star
31 - Boxing 32 - Air-Sea Battle
Lynx Support Area
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Barry W. Cantin
Lynx Commentary
---------------
Things are pretty slow these days, Lynx-wise -- we haven't had anything
new to put in the "Lynx News" area of the Cleveland Freenet Lynx SIG's
news dept. in a while. The recent price drops on Lynx games is about
the only thing that comes to mind.
So what's happening out there? In a word - JAGUAR. Yep, I've said it before,
the Lynx is riding completely on the Jag's success.
SO what does this mean in the meantime for Lynx owners? Well, don't feel
too badly... there are 68 titles available presently for the Lynx, and
most are available for less than $20 from Atari (1-800-GO-ATARI). I don't
own a Jaguar (yet) and have spent some time catching up on some of those
old games. I always wanted to finish Chip's Challenge, now's a good time
(still stuck on Level 141, "Pentagram"). Always meant to complete
Scrapyard Dog and reunite Louie and "his poor pooch" - I can use a
couple of the cheats to get further, probably.
And so on. I don't have a complete library of Lynx titles in my possession,
so I can catch up a bit right now, and enjoy more completely s few of
those titles that have been sitting idle in my game wallets for some
time.
What about Lynx development? Well, Several individuals at Atari have
indicated that a number of titles (between 6 and 10) are complete and
are awaiting production. There are a few other titles that are on hold
development-wise. Other developers such as Rob Nicholson (Hand Made
Software) have indicated that there is interest in doing more Lynx titles
as well, and I'd be surprised if Beyond Games Lynx catalogue consisted
of one title ("BattleWheels").
It's all on hold right now. No need to go sell the Lynx for another
portable out of panic. It will be interesting to see if Atari has
anything at SCES for the Lynx... we'll see!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Barry Cantin, aa852@cleveland.freenet.edu
Atari Lynx SIGop, Cleveland Freenet
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Jaguar Support Area
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Len Stys
Jaguar News
-----------
As of Monday, June 20th, Wolfenstein-3D for the Jaguar has entered
production. This title should be available sometime before the end of July.
Atari Corp. and id Software arrange to make DOOM multi-player with the
possibility of having 4-players play simultaneously. Atari Corp. is also
working with id Software to make DOOM playable through the company's
new "voice modem" which will allow players to to talk with their friends
via headset that is packed with the modem while playing the game on the
same phone line.
The Jaguar II is already in development and will be 100% downward compatible
with the original Jaguar. The Jaguar II will not be released until at least
1996 so owners of the original Jaguar should relax.
Jaguar Letter Writing Campaign -- JUNE/JULY OBJECTIVE
-----------------------------------------------------
CAIN Newsletter is organizing a Jaguar Letter Writing Campaign. During
the months of June and July, the campaign will have four objectives.
1) The first object is to inform Williams that we are interested in
Mortal Kombat II for the Jaguar. Mortal Kombat II rated the highest
demanded game for the Jaguar in CAIN Newsletter's "Most Wanted Games for
Jaguar" vote. As of now, MKII is _NOT_ being produced since Acclaim is
not a signed Jaguar developer. But, Acclaim will not have the rights to
Mortal Kombat next year. This means that Williams will be able to release
it next year under their name or under a company owned by Williams.
The attention and address of Williams is:
Williams/Bally/Midway
Attn: Console Software Development
3401 North California Ave.
Chicago, IL 60618-5889
Remember that you get a better response if you write as professionally
as possible.
2) The second objective is to inform Electronic Arts that we are
interested in the company developing for the Jaguar. Electronic Arts
is known very well for their games and has been around since the
8-bit Atari days. Right now, EA is making games for the 3DO in which
the company has a stake in. But the company is reported to be showing
interest in the Jaguar. EA produces John Madden Football and other
high-quality sporting games.
The address of Electronic Arts is:
Electronic Arts, Inc.
Attn: Production Teams
P.O. Box 7578
San Mateo, CA 94403-7578
3) The third objective is to inform Capcom that we are interested in
seeing Street Fighter II for the Jaguar. SFII is the second highest
rated game that is in demand for the Jaguar. The company is not
developing for the Jaguar that we are aware of.
The address of Capcom is:
Capcom USA Inc.
Attn: Mr. Corey Tresidder
475 Oakmead Parkway
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
4) The fourth objective is to inform Atari Corp. that we are interested in
seeing games like Kasumi Ninja and other two-player games that are NOT
first person perspective games to make use of the Jaguar voice modem as
well. Sure, Kasumi Ninja is being made so that a friend sitting next to
you can play along with you. But why does he/she have to be sitting next
to you? Why can't he/she fight along with you even though they are miles
away from you?
The address of Atari Corp is:
Atari Corp.
Attn: Sandy LaBrec
1196 Borregas Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
It is imperative that you do write. After you are done reading CAIN
Newsletter, sit down and write these companies a letter. If you do not,
you may not see these two popular fighting games or high quality sporting
games by Electronic Arts or true modem games.
Even if you do not care for these popular fighting games or for games made
by Electronic Arts, you are still encouraged to write. This is because
these games are essential to the success of the Jaguar. If the Jaguar has
these games, the Jaguar will most likely be very successful. And this will
mean more games will follow (perhaps games that you enjoy playing).
So take the time to write these four companies!
Atari Annual Shareholders Meeting Report
----------------------------------------
Complete coverage of the recent Atari Annual Shareholders Meeting has been
provided by Dag Johansen Esq. at dagj@netcom.com:
*** PART I ***
Just for kicks, I thought I'd drop in on the Atari Annual meeting that
was held June 17th, 1994. (It is a 5 minute drive from my workplace.)
The business part of meeting consisted of the Tramiels electing
themselves back onto the board. Big deal, they own a controlling
block of the stock so there was no surprise there.
The rest of the meeting focused on the Jag. Right now, there are
supposedly ~25 titles in development by Atari that will be delivered
by Xmas and ~25 titles by 3rd parties that will be delivered by
Xmas. To be conservative, they acknowledge that not all of those
titles will be ready by then. They said that there should be between
30 and 50 titles by Xmas though.
In the initial NYC/SF rollout, all 20K Jags produced sold quickly.
The rough estimates for total 94 sales will be between 250K and 300K
units sold.
Time-Warner recently upped their stake in Atari from ~22% to
27%. This was about $12.7 million in capital.
20 Titles will be demoed at Summer CES.
They confirmed that they were working on Jag 2, but they said that
it would be backward compatible. They also said that they have
some network games in development. Up to 32 Jags can be networked
together.
The Jag demo consisted of showing several games and some Cinepack
compressed video. I thought the Cinepak was OK, but who cares.
It is not good enough for Movies, and I don't really care about it in
games. For quality video, they are going to produce a MPEG cart
that will retail for between $129 and $149.
The Jag games demoed:
Wolfenstein 3D - Pretty cool. I looked fun, the best thing about
it is that it is supposed to be available *soon*. Today or tomorrow
Gary Tramiel said . . . however, it is only available at BlockBuster
first. They have a small initial run of carts that can be rented.
They wanted to get as much exposure as fast as possible.
AvP - Real Cool. The game has a way to go, but it looks pretty good.
They showed the marine shooting down aliens.
Doom - This one looked real good. Here is my favorite part: it
will support a voice modem for 2 player games (I don't know about
multi-player though). The voice modem transmits both the users
voices and the game data. (They must really compress the voice
or transmit very little data.) The supposed release date is "late August".
(Yeah, right).
Checkered Flag - The car was drving around the track. You could
crash into the walls and the car flipped over. Bill Reboch made
sure to emphasize that you can drive the wrong way around the track if you
want to. I wasn't too impressed by CF . . . but that is probably
because I played the Virtua racing arcade game the night before at a bar.
Kasumi Ninja - It looked like a pretty good fighting game. Other
than that I can't say much, I don't really like those games. They
demonstrated one fatality move where the winner stuck a bomb in
the mouth of the downed guy and his head exploded. This caused
some woman stockholder to say that she would not have bought the
stock if she knew they were writing such violent games. Personally,
I would not have bought stock if they were not developing violent
games. That's what the market wants. The goal is profit. The Tramiels
said the audience that Atari supports the video game rating system.
He also said that there would be a code for locking out the fatalities.
and that the parents could set the code so the kids couldn't get at em.
A stockholder asked if a Jag Mortal Kombat was planned. They
said that they have not been able to sign on Acclaim, but that
williams who owns the right to MK is a developer. The exclusive
home rights deal between Acclaim & Willieams expires in 95 such that
maybe the Jag can start getting such games then.
The CD is now planned for October. $199 price tag.
I hope that report helps you info starved Jag-heads. :-)
*** PART II ***
Readysoft is porting Dragon's Lair for the JagCD.
The Tramiels said that just about all current efforts were focused on
creating more Jag software. "Software, software, software" he said.
They do have store display units, and the units are in several stores.
They plan to get more display units into stores as the stores give them
space.
The JagCD comes with a VLM program (Virtual Light Machine). It is one of
those dancing light programs that runs when you play a normal audio CD in
the JagCD player. It is written by Jeff Mitner.
He said that EA is not a licensee, but that there is an underground movement
at EA to start working on Jag software. EA currently has 3 Jag development
systems. But again, EA is *not* a licensee.
--Dag
Jaguar Commentary
-----------------
SUCCESS. Thank you everyone that wrote Atari Corp. to express their concerns
about id Software's troubles in getting networking cables and modem support for
Jaguar DOOM. The letters worked. DOOM will now have networking capabilities
and modem play. Last month, id Software received little support concerning
networking and modem play from Atari Corp. This month, id Software seems to be
receiving a lot of support.
This proves that: LETTERS DO WORK!
Len Stys, Jaguar Support Area
Upcoming Atari Shows
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
<< Computer Shows >>
Updated: 06/15/94
To include shows (preferably shows that include Atari products),
for the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG's Show list and the CAIN newsletter,
send the show's name, date, location, and any additional information to
xx004@po.cwru.edu. Please address the e-mail with the subject
"Computer Show". The following information is correct to the best of our
knowledge. However, we cannot guarantee its accuracy. Corrections and
cancellations are therefore requested.
+-----------------+
|Shows at a Glance|
+-----------------+--------------+--------------------------+----------+
| Name | Location | Date |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------+----------|
|1. MIST AtariFest IV |Indianapolis, IN |07/23/94 |
|2. C.A.I.N. Atari Fun Fest '94 |Kirtland, OH |08/07/94 |
|3. Connecticut Atarifest '94 |Windsor Locks, CT |08/27/94 |
|4. Atari Leistungsschau |Freiburg, Germany |09/22/94 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
For more information on these shows, please consult the Atari SIG on the
Cleveland Free-Net (telnet to freenet-in-a.cwru.edu or Nextsun.ins.cwru.edu)
Once connected to the Free-Net type 'Go Atari' to get to the Atari SIG.
In addition to show information, the CAIN newsletter would like to print
any reports, summaries, or reviews of these and other recent shows. Please
send any of these articles to 'aa338@po.cwru.edu'
Thank-you...
Vote Issues and Results
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
<< Voting Booth >>
One exciting feature of the Atari SIG is its voting booth. Here, users can
create their own opinion polls. The voting booth is accessible from the main
menu of the Atari SIG on the Cleveland Free-net (CFN). Select option '11'
from this main menu to enter the voting booth.
last month's poll results:
POLL #22
____________________________________________________________________________
Which compression format do you prefer CAIN to use?
You may add a type that's not listed with the 'a' option.
Vote Options:
There were 54 votes for this issue
1. ARC 1 (1.9%)
2. ARJ 0 (0.0%)
3. LZH 12 (22.2%)
4. Super ARC for Atari 8 bit 5 (9.3%)
5. Unix compress Z 7 (13.0%)
6. Zip PKWare etc 25 (46.3%)
7. gzip GNU Zip for Unix 4 (7.4%)
____________________________________________________________________________
Online Atari Conferences
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The Cleveland Free-Net (CFN) has the facilities to provide Real-Time Online
Conferencing. It is hoped that the Atari SIG can sponsor Atari conferences
in the future. The conferences would be held on CFN's chat system called the
"IRC". IRC stands for "Internet Relay Chat." This is a special program that
allows real-time conferencing through the internet network. However, CFN's
IRC is local, or accessible only by CFN users. If you are interested in
these conferences, or would like to be a guest-speaker on one of these
conferences, please send internet e-mail to "aa338@freenet.cleveland.edu".
Finally, stay tuned to this newsletter for transcripts from these conferences.
Conference with Jeff Minter Transcript
On Sunday, May 29th, 1994 at 7pm EDT members of the Atari SIG had the
opportunity to speak with Jeff Minter, programmer of the Jaguar's Tempest
2000. Below is a transcript of the conference:
<yak> aah, isn't the new Floyd album great <g>
<Atari_SIG> I haven't heard it yet...however, floyd was in cleveland a few
nights ago
<yak> ooh.. i am going to see them in rotterdam in september
<Atari_SIG> yak: any chance are you a fan of techno as well?
<yak> hehe well you heard the soundtrack for t2k <g>
<Atari_SIG> yak: yes, but I also have played Hardcore :)
<yak> haha! btw, a version of hardcore *may* appear as a hidden game in a
future Williams coin-op!
<Atari_SIG> c00l! Hardcore is great...I first played it when I was heavy into
the rave scene...of course I appreciated it! :)
<yak> yeah, shame I never got to finish it. It was just at the time that Atari
US started to take an interest...
<Atari_SIG> Well, will it be finished for the Williams coin-op?
<yak> I guess so...
<yak> (not by me though)
<Atari_SIG> Will the sound effects be similiar?
<yak> I really don't know. I'm meeting the guy who would be doing it at CES.
I get to have lunch on Williams, a tour of the place, and to have a beer with
Eugene Jarvis, Great God!!
<Atari_SIG> yak: great god is right...things seem to be paying off for you
now! :)
<yak> well, just to meet EJ... to buy a beer for the man who created Smart
Bombs and Mutants and *the* most wicked games in history... *sigh*
<Atari_SIG> ok...
<Atari_SIG> welcome fred...
<Atari_SIG> ok.
<Atari_SIG> So, how long have you been programming Jeff?
<yak> aha, that's OK. I started coding around 1979, on a Commodore PET..
<Atari_SIG> what was your first game? (or first attempt at a game)?
<yak> Well, I used to write a lot of games for the guys at college. I guess
the first
<yak> game I ever wrote was a kind of 'move around an arena shooting at the
bad guys'
<yak> kind of affair, a bit like a primitive Robotron I guess. Not commercial
though!
<Atari_SIG> was it graphic based? and which machien did it run on?
<yak> Like I said, on a Commodore PET, so it wasn't spectacularly graphic
based, as the PET had no decent graphics!
<Atari_SIG> great...when did you enter the "Atari World" ?
<yak> well, my first contact was when I bought my VCS when I was at Uni.
<yak> Subsequently, and after I had got into the vidgame biz myself, I used
some
<yak> of my first earnings to buy an Atari 400 and a copy of Star Raiders...
deep joy!
<yak> Then I really started in earnest when the Amiga came out.. Commodore had
a really shitty attitude to game people, and Atari didn't, so I got into the
ST..
<Atari_SIG> What was your first ST game?
<yak> First thing I did was a lightsynth called Colourspace. The first *game*
was Super Gridrunner.
<Atari_SIG> Hmmm, I'm afraid I haven't seen that game...was it released in
sharewae or commerical?
<yak> We released it commercial at first, although now we include it as a
shareware registration goodie for Llamatron or Revenge register-ees...
<Atari_SIG> what inspired and/or influenced llamatron (besides robotron ;-)
<yak> That man again... EJ.. the totally manic, hectic paced gameplay..
<yak> and, of course, my love of beasties<g>
<Atari_SIG> when did this "love" of beasties happen? :)
<yak> oooh, I've been notorious for it since I was 14, at school...
<Atari_SIG> heh heh...well, llamatron is truly a bizarre and unique game at
that... :)
<yak> hey, I'm glad you like it. I would *really* like to do a Jaguar version
of that game, I think it's just as playable as t2k, and with decent graphics
and Jag power..
<Atari_SIG> Not to mention awesome sound capabilities of the jag!
<yak> absolutely! Loads of excellent beastie samples, *and* some more killer
techno... lovely!
<Atari_SIG> techno seems like the perfect form of music for fast paced video
games!
<yak> absolutely, that or some really thrashy metal... gotta match that
adrenaline-rush in the gameplay!
<Atari_SIG> Well, I have loads of questions from the other users.... :)
<Atari_SIG> [Russ] asks: What's required for Jaguare developement, machine,
lang.s.
<yak> Well, I use a TT but you can also run off a PC. The software tools are
the same; you need an assembler/debugger on the dev system, and you need an
Alpine board (a romulator) and a Jag with a special ROM chip with a debugger
stub.
<yak> The language is basically 68K or RISC assembler.
<Atari_SIG> [em190] asks: So, how long would development take, for Major
Havoc? 8 months?
<yak> Well, Tempest took me about that time all told, so I guess about the
same.
<yak> But I think I will want to add a lot of new stuff to MH if I do that
game.
<Atari_SIG> Well, I think most of us hope you do that game... :) Did you know
that you were the most requested programmer in a recent survey by CAIN ?
<Atari_SIG> The survey asked jag users which games they would like to see for
the Jag...many said that they would like to see you do them... :)
<yak> I saw that! Mind you, there aren't that many games out yet, I am sure
that when other people start releasing their games it may not be like that <g>
<Atari_SIG> modest you are... :)
<Atari_SIG> [cb541] asks:
<Atari_SIG> [Len] asks: How long did Tempest 2000 take to program?
<yak> realistc more like... t2k took about eight months, all told
<yak> although I had 'traditional' tempest basically sorted in about three
weeks, oncve I had written my vector routines :)
<Atari_SIG> [Len] asks: What inspired you to place the original version
of Tempest in Tempest 2000? Will there be more classics made more modern?
<yak> Well, I thought it would be cool.. I did the same thing with Defender
II, which contained Defender and Stargate.
<yak> Atari have a couple of other 2000 games in the pipe, and I think it's a
good thing
<yak> because those old game designs are often really excellent.
<Atari_SIG> [almo] asks: Is 68k Assempler anything like 6502 assembler?
<yak> Well, it's a lot richer in the instruction set, and it's a godsend not
to have to split everything up into one-byte operations.
<yak> on the 68K you actually get some registers!!
<Atari_SIG> [RussG] asks: Could you explain some tech info about the
Jaguar? Say, will a cd rom allow a game with gigabytes of graphics?
<yak> The capacity of the cdrom is of the order of 600 MB.
<yak> Of course, one can use compression techniques to get more out of it..
<Atari_SIG> [RussG] asks: Is the risc chip in Jaguar Atari proprietary or
made/sold by someone else?
<yak> The Jag RISCs are proprietary devices.
<Atari_SIG> [almo] asks: Do you think developers will abandon the Cartridge
format?
<yak> Not immediately. Maybe when CDROM has been around a bit longer... CDROM
does make a lot of sense, as it's cheap to produce and holds a ton of data.
<yak> However, I reckon it's a good thing that Jag developers are working
within the constraints of a cartridge at the moment.
<yak> It means you can't pad out a thin game with a lot of flashy FMV like
they do on 3Do.
<Atari_SIG> Is it safe to say that the PC card for the Jag will only run CD
ROM based Jag games?
<Atari_SIG> or the Jag PC card... :)
<yak> I am not sure, I don't know Atari policy on that, but I suspect it would
be true, as I don't think they would like the idea of being able to copy the
cartridge games onto HD..
<yak> for obvious reasons!
<Atari_SIG> true... :) with that in mind, could cartridges eventually be
phased out for the Jaguar?
<yak> Maybe. Again, I can't speak for Atari, but maybe Jag II will have a
built in CDROM.
<yak> It would still have a cart port though - remember the backwards
compatibility!
<Atari_SIG> yes...very interesting...I guess we'll just have to wait and
see...
<Atari_SIG> [RussG] asks: How big is the Jag. cart. able to be?
<yak> AIUI third parties can make carts any size they want, but Atari ones are
2MB.
<yak> Bigger carts cost quite a bit more. ROMs are expensive!
<Atari_SIG> [almo] asks: will some CD R M games retain the flavor of stuff
like t2k? i mean, most CD ROM stuff I've seen tends to be more adventure
oriented.
<yak> I am sure there will be some pure arcade games on CDROM - you could use
the storage for a ton of levels, killer backdrops, awesome tunes...
<yak> I find a lot of these 'deep' CDROM adventures get old real soon.
<yak> Mind you, I'm a twitch-game-junkie <g>
<Atari_SIG> hence the techno sound tracks... :)
<yak> yeah, blast/trance..
<Atari_SIG> [Len] asks: Will there be any wait while Jaguar loads graphics
from the CD like on other CD-ROMs?
<yak> the best games should be able to buffer the loading of game information
so it appears to be seamless..
<yak> but of course there *will* still be access delays. The thing to do is
to hide them by keeping some action or animation going onscreen while you load
in your data.
<Atari_SIG> [RussG] asks: What's fmv?
<Atari_SIG> ok...everyone...please submit your last questions for Jeff...
<yak> FMV = Full Motion Video. Basically, spooling pre-rendered images off
the CDROM.
<yak> This looks impressive, but just playing back stuff is hardly interactive
gaming.
<Atari_SIG> [Fred] asks: I heard of a device that allows you to run Jag
carts on an
<Atari_SIG> that is probably on an IBM
<yak> Oh, well, that's news to me.
<Atari_SIG> me too...o'ell... :)
<Atari_SIG> [Len] asks: Will there be comlinking and modem games for the
Jaguar in the near future? I'd love to play against friends through the phone
lines.
<yak> I am fairly certain that the possibility of a Jagmodem is being
considered.
<yak> Certainly, comlynx-ing of Jags will be a feature of future Jag games..
<Atari_SIG> what is going on with multi-player abillity on the jaguar? How
many simulataneous players?
<Atari_SIG> ...and how long do we need to wait befoe there will be multi-
player games?
<yak> Depends on the game. I have heard up to 14 players on Comlynx, but I
may be wrong. I haven't studied that part of Jag yet, as I haven't needed it.
<yak> I believe DOOM will be at least 2player capable..
<yak> and if I ever get to do Llamatron I want to make it 4-player
comlynxable.
<Atari_SIG> ...of course most of us prey doom will offer more than 2 player
capabilities...the 4 player death match mode is incredible... :)
<yak> I have never played it, although everyone I know who *has* sez it's
awesome!
<Atari_SIG> ...hey, how 'bout hooking up with ID Software and offer a "Beastie
DOOM" game... :)
<Atari_SIG> ha ha ha
<yak> Even 2 players would be a lot more fun than 1...
<Atari_SIG> true.
<yak> beastie doom! I like it!
<yak> you could be this well 'ard llama..
<yak> mega spit powerups... hehe
<Atari_SIG> heh heh...sounds great... :)
<Atari_SIG> [RussG] asks: What's your 'feeling' of the Jag. Is it fun
to develop?
<yak> Yeah, the Jag's a lot of fun. If you are used to an ST or Amiga, and
you go to the Jag, it's amazing.
<yak> Just so *much* power. And those RISCs really kick.
<yak> Best of all, it's not too difficult to learn. I got up on Jag in three
days from cold.
<Atari_SIG> wow!
<Atari_SIG> [Len] asks: Are you almost done with your current project (light
show for music CDs?) and if so is there any confirmation on your next project?
<yak> I should be finishing lightsynth in the next month.
<yak> I'll be going to Sunnyvale in a week, and I'll talk with my producer
about the next game then.
<yak> - after I get to play Major Havoc at last...
<Atari_SIG> wow...that'll be a long trip... U.K. to CA!
<Atari_SIG> [Len] asks: My last comment! If you do make Llamatron for the
Jaguar and it is 4-player comlynxable, please consider modem as well! I'm
glad to see you interested in comlynxable Jaguar games!
<yak> airline food! bleagh..
<Atari_SIG> maybe the film will be good
<yak> yeah, if there's a modem peripheral at that time and it's fast enough..
<Atari_SIG> [Len] asks: Thank you for joining us Jeff! We really appreciate
it. We understand that you haven't been feeling well and particiapted in the
conference despite it. THANKS!
<yak> No problem. I'm feeling a lot better now.
<yak> I finally kicked that damn virus :)
<Atari_SIG> ...again...thank-you for joining us jeff...are there any closing
remarks you'd like to make? (on anything) :)
<yak> well.. only that I reckon that very soon now the Jaguar trickle of games
will turn into a FLOOD...
<yak> and a lot of those games are going to kick serious butt..
<Atari_SIG> ...how's the jag availability in britain?
<yak> and then Jagstorm will begin in earnest!
*** Mode change "-m" on channel #Atari by Atari_SIG
<yak> Jags are *just* starting to come in officially, although there are a lot
of grey imports.
<Len> I cannot wait until more Jaguar games are available! I love the Jaguar.
One thing about Tempest 2000 now is that all the other games you make have to
be just as good or better! :)
<Atari_SIG> grey imports???? Wow...I'm shocked to hear that!
<yak> I still worry about that... oh well, I'll just have to try hard to top
t2k..
<yak> LLAMATRON!
<yak> Anyway, I better go before my comms bill goes sky high!
<Len> Ok, thanks Jeff again!
<Atari_SIG> no problem, yak! Thanks again!
<yak> No worries... goodnight all!
<Atari_SIG> goodnight (morning for you ;-)
* * *
Upcoming Conference with Fred Horvat
The next conference will be held Sunday, June 26, 1994 at 7pm EDT. Our guest
speaker will be Fred Horvat, CAIN's Portfolio and Classic Gaming Editor. This
year Fred has single-handedly brought Atari shows back to the Cleveland area!
Fred will be discussing the upcoming CAIN Atari Fun Fest 94. This Atari show
will be held in the Knights of Columbus Hall in Kirtland, OH. For more
information on this show see the show announcement in the Free-Net News
section.
* * *
Don't miss this upcoming conference! Get your Cleveland Free-Net IDs today!
To get to the I.R.C. chat system type "go IRC" from any system prompt.
General Information of Need
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
How to Contribute to CAIN
-------------------------
For full details on contributing to CAIN, please check out the "CAIN Online
Newsroom," option 13 from the Atari SIG's main menu. In summary, we can
use articles, tutorials, and reviews on Atari products. The format is simple
--ASCII format with 80 characters per line. The text should be sent via
internet electronic mail to "xx004@freenet.cleveland.edu". All submissions
to CAIN become the property of CAIN, unless otherwise agreed upon.
Article Requests
----------------
Below are some suggestions of articles we would like to see in future
issues of CAIN. For a complete list of newsletter needs, please consult the
discussion board under the CAIN Online Newsroom (option 13 from the Atari
SIG's main menu).
Newsletter Needs
----------------
Communications: Any articles that fits into the area of communications (ie:
reviews, summaries, articles, tutorials on BBS systems, term or BBS
software, services, etc for any Atari computer) may be submitted to this
section. When submitting to this section, please address this article with
the subject "Communications."
File Archives: Any type of summary, review, or list of new files that
are on any Atari ftp archive will benefit our readers. Please address this
article with the subject "ftp archives."
Tutorials: CAIN is actively seeking any project, "how-to," and tutorial
articles for future issues of CAIN. These articles can be for any type of
Atari product. Please address this article with the subject "Tutorial
Submission."
Atari Shows: Not only can we use information on upcoming Atari Shows, but we
also can use reviews and summaries of recent Atari shows. Please address this
article with the subject "Atari Show Information."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
THOUGHT OF THE MONTH: Cleveland Indians & Atari... both winners this year??!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[C]entral [A]tari [I]nformation [N]etwork Newsletter June 24, 1994
Copyright (c) 1994 All Rights Reserved No.004
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Central Atari Information Network (CAIN) Newsletter is produced by Cain
Publishing and is no way affiliated with Atari Corporation. CAIN Newsletter
editors/staff produce this publication on a volunteer basis strictly to
benefit users of Atari products. Views, and opinions expressed herein are
those of the article's author(s) and not necessarily those of the editors/
staff of CAIN Newsletter, the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG, or its
affilitates. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless
otherwise noted. Reprints must include: Name of article, author's name, name
of publication, date, and issue number. CAIN Newsletter may not be edited
in any way without prior written permission. CAIN Newsletter is believed
to be reasonably accurate. If any inaccurate information is found within,
please contact the editor of CAIN Newsletter and a correction will be made in
the next issue.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Atari, ST, Mega ST, STE, Mega STE, TT030, Atari Falcon030, TOS, MultiTOS,
NewDesk, BLiTTER, Atari Lynx, ComLynx, Atari Jaguar, Atari Portfolio,
Atari 400, 800, XL series, XE series, and the Atari Fuji Symbol are all
trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Corporation. The "Free-Net"
name is a Servicemark (SM) of the National Public Telecomputing Network
(NPTN). The Free-Net "FreePort" software is copyrighted by Case Western
Reserve University. FreePort is a registered trademark of Case Western
Reserve University. All other trademarks and identifying marks mentioned
in this issue belong to their respective owners.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-----------------------------------------
Return to message index
