COMMODORE woOR
THE NEWS MAGAZINE FOR| COMMODORE 64 & 128 USERS,
JORDAN
Whether you're passing for the game- winning touchdown, jumping through oncoming traffic, or dodging SAM missiles over North Vietnam, you are sure to enjoy these AAA rated games. Each of these packages represent some of the finest games within their class. They won't last long, so order yours now!
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C O N T
ISSUE 14
APRIL 1996
Features 16 Cross PLatForn Fite TRANSFERS by Doug Cotton Exchange data with other computer type
19 HTML ano tHe Wort Wine Wee by Katherine Nelson Concluding article to our series on HTML.
20 User Group CONNECTION complied by Charles A. Christianson and Jenifer Exile It’s time for The Really Big List of known (and MIA) User Groups.
COMMODORE
WORLD
‘THE MEWS MAGAZINE FOR COMMODORE 64 & 120 USERS
Genera Manacer Charles R. Christianson Y ° Epiror Doug Cotton Sd Assistant Eoitor Jenifer Exile Sd Aoverrisinc Saves Charles A. Christianson
Reviews 30 Haroware: THe CMD RAMLINK by Jim Brain A critique of CMD's versatile RAM based storage device.
32 Sortware: Ineweut Systens LIGHT PEN by Jason Compton Find out if a lightpen is your kind of input.
25, vas ee 36 GAMES by Sherry Freedline Flumi's World, Gangster, Time Traveller, and Final Assault, ProroGrarHy Wayne Wrubel ° Grapnic Arts Doug Cotton Cocumns Jenifer Esile 10 dust For STARTERS by Jason Compton o Your best bet for selecting input devices Etectronic Pre-Press & PRINTING 12 Foreign ExcHaNnGe by Andrew Fisher
Mansir/Holden, Inc. Some overseas tips for game playing success. ro 14 Grapnic INTERPRETATION by Steve Vander Ark Cover Design by Jenifer Esile Making GEOS applications without a progamming language. 40. Tht SySop's Corner by Max Courell Selecting and setting up modems for BBS
Carrier DETECT by Gaelyne R, Moranee Questions, answers and comments about surfing the Net.
Commodore" and tho respective Commodore product namos aro tradomarks oF rogistored tradomarks of Escom GmbH ‘Commodore World Is in no way alfiliated with Escom GmbH. wnor af the Commodore fogo and tochnology. Commodore 42 Worlds published 8 times annually by Creative Micro Designs, Inc., 15 Benton Drive, East Longmoadow MA 01028-0646,
Socond-Class Postage Paid at East Longmeadow MA. Annual 45 GeoProcrammist by Maurice Randall ‘subscription rato is US$29.95 for U.S, addresses, US$35,95 nas ratio Hac hichire, ; for Ganada or Moxico, US$45,95 for all EC Countries, and Shedding some light on VLIR file structure,
US$57.95 to all othor addrossos worldwido, All subscription 46 paymonts must be provided in U.S. Dollars, Mail subscriptions to CW Subscriptions, c/o Creative Micro Designs, Inc,, P.O. Box 646, East Longmeadow MA 01028-0646, 48
Basic INSTINCTS by David Pankhurst BASIC coverage of an assortment of sorting algorithms,
PERIPHERAL VISION by Jim Butterfield
Entire contents copyright © 1995 by Creative Micro Your computer, joysticks, paddles and mice. Designs, Inc., unless otherwise noted. No part of this ‘
publication may be printed ar ethorwiso reproduced by any 52° Assenpiy LINE by Jim Butterfield
means without prior written consent from the publisher. All Getting input in machine language.
programs published in this publication are for the personal use
‘of the reador, and may not be copied or in any way distributed
Allrights resorvod. Programming examples and routines in this
issue which aro prosented for educational purposes may be
tied nthe croation o programe by tha purchase of eo ths magazine, rovdoderdt forthe roulmesiscoary presented | LIEPARTMENTS =sou nen In ether the propram Gocumertaion ofthe program heel fee Our
Creative Micro Designs, Inc., assumes no responsibility tor 2 Fron tHe Eoror 8 ON The Horizon
errors of omissions in editorial, program listings or advertising 4 BackTak 56 Ctassirieo Aos CHECKSUM
content. Creative Micro Designs, Inc. assumes no liability for advertisers claims of reliability
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: CW Address ‘Changes, c/o Creative Micro Designs, Inc., P.O. Box 648, East Longmeadow MA 01028-0646,
6 Commopore Tria
56 Aoverriser’s INvex
Utility On Page 54
From THe Epiror
AND NOW FOR THE NEWS...
tthe risk of starting out this issue on a bad note, I've got some news to pass on to you that we didn’t have room to include in our regular news section, CMD. been running into some glitches in getting the SuperCPU 64 ready to become a SuperCPU 128... and this has caused additional delays. The good news, though, is that the problems have been overcome at the time of this writing,
1S
and the project is now moving forward at the fastest pace possible,
What kind of glitches? Well, there are certain sigr the computer that have to be controlled in special wi make something like the SuperCPU work in the best possible manner. CMD overcame how to deal with these signals long ago on the C-64 (and on the 128 in 64 mode); but the 128 in 128 mode isa different beastie altogether, and things must be done quite differently. Given that CMD is striving toward using the same board for both versions of the SuperCPU, these differences had to be signals required for the 128 version (but not for the 64 version) would be readily
examined thoroughly so t
accessible. Ofcourse, when problems like this crop up in the latter part ofa design cycle, then time is lost not only in cheeking out the problem itself, but also in implementing solutions into previously completed parts of the design. Thankfully, the problems have been overcome, and the design layouts are completed, By the time you read this, production prototypes will be in final testing, and full production should begin at the end of May. Thatbit ofnew othernewsitem that!'m sure will be of value to all of our readers: We've just begun our second Subscription Sweepstakes! And yes, renewals qualify right along with new subscriptions. Naturally, the Sweepstakes always means that there are some nice priz
aside, here’
COMMODORE WORLD 2
on the line, and this time is no exception. As usual, the Grand Prize winner will get a choice between two items... but what we think is unique about the choice this time around is that one of them is a rare piece of Commodore history—one of theapproximately 200 Commodore C-65 computers! Of course, we didn't want the choice to be an easy one for the winner, so the other prize that the winner can pick is a SuperCPU equipped with the optional SuperRAMCard and 1 MB of memory.
In addition, two lucky Second Place winners will also get SuperCPU accelerators, but without the RAMCard and extra RAM. And if the Grand Prize or Second Place winners have already bought a SuperCPU, they can optto get a refund in place of their prize. To round things out, we'll also have a dozen CMD gift certificates to hand out to our Third Place winners. For all the details, be sure to see the CW Subscription Ad in this issue, And get your renewal in early to beat the crowd!
Bo
Doug Cotton Editor
Issue 14
‘every month news, ‘are written by the best home- rAR toam of Fender Tucker!
W NEW Gams Disk! The Compleat Jon: 11 canes! te whole gamut of gaming is covered hore: atl inteligence,
ola-playing, mazes, fantasy, scence fiction, education and
levert non-violence (which was a radical concept in ts tro)
These eloven games are among the best ever published on
LOADSTAR. Listed on the menu in chronological order, 30]
you can se0 how Jon’ siyie changed as the years rolled by
1581 eisk 002103 $20. 1581 disk #003808 $20
WV NeW Puree disid The Compleat Crossword. every
crossword puzzle publishod in Puzzlo Pago in ane huge cotaction 220 puzzos it ugos Barbara Sehulak's CRUCIVERBALST program to prosont tho }puzzios and allows you to "mark" a puzzio whon it's solved so that you know which you've solved and which you havon't yet, Each 1541 disk contains 110 puzzles, 1581 Disk #002003 $20: Disk 1 (154%) #003005 $10.0isk 7 (1541) 9003705 S10
IW New cole Productivity! The Compleat Lee O: six oi Leo O. Clinton's best serious programs tor the C-128 80- column mode. Finance, auto] jexpense, kitchen helper, genealogy, resume writing, mutual funds! One 1541 disk #0032D5. | [One 1561 disk #001703 10.00,
CAVED] Word Search! Super Star Search 1: 200 onginal word) [search puzzles by Steven Thomas and Art Dudley, presented by John Soratino's modem point] |and click program. One 1541 disk #0011D5 One 1581 disk 3 $20.00
IW ew Story disk! The Compleat Prosequest '9: NEW!!! A 1541 disk with all of the entries in tho 1995 short story writing contest on it, including} tno too grand winnars. One 1541 disk #00355 One 1561 disk #001903 $5.00
Tools! Tutorials! The Compleat
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25-inch disks item #0009d5. Vol. 2 (graphics from past LS issues): C-64/128 Item #0002d3. 5.25-inch disks item #00105.
get C= Hacking MAG #000603 (on 3.5-inch ‘complete
GEOS Clipart TOADSTAR prosonis the bagest Geos pecton Sap At BS Ton ver Choad ta ie All ine Goos an ats ever appears os RORDSTAA 9s wellas some great his Wo a anats Oat Euat sro avcioals on teen Pater asisor og as ncn gue Meno yout GeoPain Goowate ane wecbaent Badamonts of conver is FOM win FOAM ties
iPpropriato graphic ~- evory timol Prices are $20 for any two 3.5 inch disks, of any tive 5.25 inch]
redit card. Or sond chock or money order and} pecity (by LG number) which disks you want.
| 5.29-INCH DISKS | Disk 01 - RAILS: Railroad art trom Europe] and the USA #0012D5.
(Disk 02 - VEHICLES/TAROT: Anwork of ol and new autos, excellent gooPaint drawings of the} aot card set #0013D5
Disk 03 - CLIP ART: Includes converted JacPaint files that have never before been} lavallable in Commodore tormat #0014D5,
Disk 04 - OTTOWA/PRIME CLIPS: Artwork Jo! tho main landmarks of Ottowa, plus high quality public domain clip art #001SD5,
[Disk 05 - FONTS: More than 30 fonts trom past issues of LOADSTAR, plus articles (in geoWnite format) on creating fonts, Also two ready-made} yeaders for use with your own documents, one a
picture of a mail truck: the other reading FROM| HE DESK OF #0016D5,
Disk 06, Disk 07, and Disk 08 - gooPaint and Photo Album files with the great clip artwork featured on past LOADSTAR: jeoCurmudgoon, Anamalia | and I als, Valonting art and many more #001705, #00185, #001905
Disk 09 - GOODYKOONTZ FILES - Jasper joodykoontz, born in Indiana. joodykoontz's Perpetual C:
Reterence Manual (A Book for the Millions). This isk includes scans from tho book of a wide array pf subjects -- Gestures and Attitudes, Poultry,
raniology, and moro, #002005,
(Disk 10 - OLD WEST: Scannod Artwork trom)
Dick Estor's FAD Software - mostly woodcut style art of the old west, gold rush days and pioneer
Distiulla Card
The Compleat Mauric:
[scanned into geoPaint format, ide 2 is a collection of scanned lartwork of animals from FRO
Disk 12 - HOLIDAY: Anwork for Now St, Patrick's Day, HHallowoen, Thanksgiving and Christmas
and faces from FRD Sottware #0024D5,
Disk 14 - FRD CLASSICS: Dick's choice of he best of the FAD collection #0025D5
Disk 15 - DINOS/CLASSICS: Dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts, as woll as more first oice artwork trom FRO. #OO26DS
Disk 17 - OFFICE AND SCHOOL: Ciips to} joo used at work and around the house #0028D5
Disk 18 -MUSIC & MORE SCHOO! CLIPS #0029D5,
(Disk 19 - SEASONAL AND HOLIDAYS: A tip for any occasion #OOSODS:
Disk 20 - SEASONAL AND HOLIDAYS: ip for any occasion #0031D5
N
alt 5.25" disks,
Equals disks 1,2, 4B #000903 Equals disks 3, 6, 7A #001003 Equals disks 5, 8, 7B #0011D3 Equals 9, 10, 11A #0012D3 Disk 5: Equals 12, 13, 11B #001303 Disk 6: Equivalent of Disks 14, 15ang
For your convenience, GeoViewer is included on each volume. GEOS 2.0 is| suggested.
compilation of 26
solitaire card games written by Maurice Jones, the acknowledged master of card game simulations for the C-64/128. There's even a brand new. never before published game called Boomerang, Two 5.25| Inch disks #0007D5 or one 3.5 inch disk #000703, $20.00 postage paid!
Oodles OF
ning Art! Tutor!
5! The Compleat Walt:
‘During LOADSTAR's frst ten years we have published 24 of Walt Harnod's slideshows and multimedia| ‘events. Now wo've gathered thom into one huge collection: seven 5.25 inch disks or three 3.5 inch! disks! There aro over 250 pictures, including some that have nover boon published. Tho greatest ono: ‘man collection of art on any computer platform, §.25-inch disks order #070425 3,5-Inch disks order’
#070423. $20.00 postage paid!
Loadstar Order form = 1-800-594-3370
QTy Description Item # Price ea. Total
Use extra shoot of paper for large order
April 1996
State
Total Enclosed:
Postal Code
QO Check/money order made payable to "Loadstar” in US Funds
QO MasterCard) Visa Card # Exp Date ___/
Questio:
3
C1 American E
press) Discover
Authorized signature: Subscribers: I prefer 15,25-inch diskettes O) 3 LOADSTAR P.O. Box 30008, Shreveport, LA 71130-0008 1-318-221-8718 Fax 1-318-221-8870
COMMODORE WORLD
CWM046
@ACKTALK
LETTERS AND QUESTIONS FROM OUR READERS
Searching for a User Group...
I received a letter from a young lady in Fredric, WI (printed on a 1525 or MPS 801) who had recently purchased a 64/128 computer. She desires assistance in finding information and software, also newsletters from user groups.
I searched all of the CW issues fora user group near her location, but could find none listed. Fredric is about 60 miles northeast of the Twin ‘ities, Doyou know ofany Commodore group or user in the Twin Cities vicinity that I could refer her to? Thave no idea why she would write to me in California for assistance. I found the CW reference to a correspondence group in Texas,
Thanks,
Wayne Waters
Sorry, Wayne, but no, we don’t have any groups registered from that area. However, we have put together our largest group listing to date in this issue, and thereareseveral unverified groups listed elsewhere in Wisconsin... perhaps one of these is close enough and stillexists. You might forward those addresses to the woman and tell her to try writing to them. Meanwhile, if anyone else is aware of a group in the requested area, let us know so we can pass that info along to Wayne and out other readers.
Overseas Review
1 live in Germany. At the beginning: Your magazine is fantastic! You publish many helpful courses and tips for programmers. My favourite column is “Basic Instinets”. | hope David Pankhurst will write just as understandable like Gene Barker.
Thave some suggestions for you. The German 64'er-Magazine organized until 1994 severa programming competitions like the “2K-Byter™ orthe"20-Zeiler” (a BASIC program with only 20 lines but with big uses). I think that was a great idea. | hope you will integrate such competitions like these in your magazine!
Yourcolumn “Foreign Exchange” isvery small. 1 know that in Germany many new programs (especially for GEOS)are published that you never report. For example I never had read something about the version 2.5 of GEOS.
So, I hope my English spelling is understandable, I'm gladly waiting for your answer.
COMMODORE WORLD
First, Ud like to thank you for your compliments and fortakingtime to write us, Whilewehaveonly asmall number of readers outside of the United States, we'd like to hear more from those readers, 1 believe that David Pankhurst is off to a great start, and will prove to be one of our best columnists. This particular type of assignment isn't exactly new to him—he previously wrote a similar column for Compute, though he had only a short tour with them since they folded their publication not long after he started. With respect to programming contests, this is something that we have considered, but hearin mind
that our subscriber base is small compared to that of
64 er, and that users in the US (which make up the majority of our subscribers) are less likey to be programmersthan their German counterparts. Based
on this, we're not certain we would get enough of a response. As we grow, though, I can forsee a point where we should at least give the idea a try.
Your observations concerning our Foreign Exchange are quitecorrect—itis but onesmall column, and can't hope to cover everything that is going on in the foreign markets. However, when we get foreign product information (or products themselves) which we feel will interest our readers, we're glad to make room for them elsewhere in our publication (geoKEYS and Riddles & Stones are a couple of examples). It's difficult for us to justify devoting a lot of time and space to products that are only applicable to our subscribers outside of the US, but we would like to see more article subm
jons from readers overseas to help round out the coverage in our Foreign as well as in our reviews.
Addressing your comment on G. specifically didn't cover this for a reason. First, this isn't really a new version of GEOS at all, but simply abundlingof GEOS 2.0 with some additional utilities from the GEOS User Club (GUC) in Germany, We feltthatcalling this package GEOS 2.5 was extremely misleading, and to the best of our knowledge, the package really didn't contain anything that could be considered new.
Program Listing Problems
Your program Intelligence Quest as published in Lucky Issue 13 will not work as written. Your readers will have to renumber some of the line numbers.
Talso could not get your checksum program to work properly. Whenever I type in a program I add two lines atthe beginning to save what I have typed so far. This is where I had a problem with
your checksum. Every time Il typed RUN2I would get a SYNTAX ERROR and couldn't save what | had typed.
1 am also having a problem getting your CHK-LIST program to work. When I load it and type RUN the program displays the word WORKING followed by about 7-1/2 lines ofdots, When the word DONE appears I type NEW as per your instructions and nothing seems to happen.
Your instructions state that “Whenever you want to check a program, the appropriate command must be typed in”, but when I type SYS49152all | get isa blank screen with the word READY in the upper left corner.
Also, the program appearing in BASIC INSTINCTS in your Nov/Decissue will not work in the pure BASIC mode. Every time trieditI got an ILLEGAL QUANTITY ERROR IN 1095. Ihave checked this line over and over and can’t find any mistake in the typing.
Thank You
James Vorraso
Gads! That's a bunch of problems! Okay, the 1Q program and the CheckSum program in Issue 13 were indeed flawed. Corrections for these can be found on page 9 of this issue,
Concerning CHK-L ‘you aren't sure how it is supposed to work. Once you have run it, it doesn't display any values while you're typing ina program. It should, however, give a list of values for any BASIC program lines that are currently in memory. The idea is you run the utility, ype NEW, start entering BASIC program lines, then type the SYS command whenever you want to check your work.
Finally, the BASIC INSTINCTS program you mention is, so faras | know, without errors. The kind oferror message you're getting, though, indicates that one of the variables used in line 1095 contains a bad value, To see which one, print the two variables (x1 and x2) and see ifone of them contains a value of less than 0 or greater than 255. If so, you probably have an error in another line of the program that works with that particular variable.
9)
Issue 14
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April 1996
COMMODORE WORLD
COMMODORE TRIVIA
dy Jim Brain
Welcome to another edition of Commodore ‘Trivia. As many of you may know, these trivia questions and answers have been donated by me to the Commodore community at large. Unlike other articles in Commodore World, these trivia questions have been placed in the public domain. 1 ask only that the trivia questions remain intact and unchanged, and
that my name and address appear somewhere So users can contact me. The trivi fora contest I run on the Internet; contact meat the included address for more information. Because curiosity has the best of me, I always welcome a note or postcard detailing where the trivia goes, I also weleome new questions—
s also used
Jim Brain Brain Innovations, Inc.
provided they come with the answers. Enjoy!
602 North Lemen Fenton, MI 48430 brain @mail.msen.com
COMMODORE TRIVIA #13 QUESTIONS
On the Commodore user port connector, how many edge contacts
logical BASIC screen line can contain up to 80 characters. On what Commodore computer(s) is
Ifa file is saved to a Commodore Disk Drive with the following chr$(65);chr$(160);chr$(66), what will the directory
$0CO The early 1541 drives used a mechanism developed by 2 $0C8
(Name the company.) are there? $0C1_— Onlatermodels, Commodoresubsequently changedmanufacturers $0C9_—_ On most Commodore computers,
for the 1541 drive mechanism. Name the new manufacturer.
this not true? $0C2_— What is/are the most obvious difference(s)? SOCA
$0C3 On Commodore BASIC V2.0, what answer does the following characte
give: PRINT (SQR(9)=3) entry look like? $0C4 In Commodore BASIC (any version) what does B equal after the $OCB
$0C7
$0B0
following runs: C=0:B=C=0
InCommodoreBASIC (any version), whathappensifthe following program is run:
30 PRINT “J<>0” 40 PRINT “J=0”
In question $068, we learned how Jack Tramiel first happened upon thename"COMMODORE", According to the story, in what
country was he in when he first saw it?
‘The BASICinterpreter hasa bug in it that shows up while interpreting this question's statement. The interpreter leaves two bytes on the CPU stack prior to returning from a subroutines call, On the C64, the two bytesare both zeros, Since subroutines put the return address on the stack, the return retrieves the two bytes left on the stack and attemptstoseethatasthereturnaddress. So, dependingon what code it executes after the return, it can do a number of things.
Most of the time after the bug occurs, the interpreter limps along, forawhileuntilithitsa BRK instruction, $00. Then, thatinstruction causes the system to execute an interrupt. On the C64, the system vectors through $316-$317 (BRK vector) and does a warm start. On the C128 and PETs with Monitors, the system dumps into the internal machine language monitor, If the machine under use did not do something with the BRK vector, the machine will hang.
Note that the above is not the only result, Since the interpreter is executing code from the wrong location, any result from no
COMMODORE WORLD
socD
SOCF
$0B1
SOB2
What is the maximum length (characters) of a CBM datasette filename?
How many keys are on a stock Commodore 64 keyboard? Commodore BASIC uses keyword “tokens” to save program
space. Token 129 becomes “FOR”. What two tokens expand to include a left parenthesis as well as a BASIC keyword?
‘There are 6 wires in the Commodore serial bus, Name the 6 wires.
On the Commodore datasette connector, how many logical connections are there?
effect to hung machine ble. Also note that this normal behavior. The system should report an error while interpreting the above statement,
‘The screen color RAM was changed to value 1 when the sereen was cleared. Thus, when a byte was poked into screen RAM, the resulting character was white on the screen, The white contrasted nicely with the normal blue background.
Commodore found that this practice sometimes caused “light flashes” during screen scrolls, Iwas going to leave this foranother time, but here goes: the change was to make the color RAM equal tobackground color register #0. This got rid of the “light flashes”, but then poking values to screen RAM caused invisible characters, since the foreground color of the character was the same as the background color of the screen,
Issue 14
S0B3
SOB4
$OB5
SOB
SOB7
This broke a number of older programs that did not properly initialize the color RAM. Also, Commodore fixed the problem with the VIC-II that had caused these “light flashes” So, Commodore changed the KERNAL a third time. Since the above change caused invisible characters, Commodore madea third revision that changed the color RAM to the value in location 646 (the current cursor foreground color).
‘The text is actually “?ILLEGAL QUANTITY ERROR", Notice the two spaces between “QUANTITY” and “ERROR”. John West supplies the explanation:
“The vector at $0300 points to a routine at $A43A, which is the general error message printing routine. Load .X with the number of the error, and it prints it. It looks up the address of the error text from a table, then prints the text, which does not have any trailing spaces. It then prints ERROR’, with *2* spaces. It does this for all errors.”
Historically, this effect is caused by the VIC-20, which only had 22 columns. When the VIC-20 BASIC was being ported from the PET BASIC code, someone noticed that the some of the error strings would span two VIC-20 lines. So, the BASIC error messages were changed a little, so that they all printed neatly on two lines: The PET error string:
ILLEGAL QUANTITY ERROR (one space) became: ILLEGAL QUANTITY ERROR (carriage return plus one space).
When the C64 BASIC was being ported from the VIC-20, the carriage return was replaced with a space character. | admit that this caught me by surprise. I have used Commodore computers for years, and never noticed that “SYNTAX ERROR” had 2 spaces in it.
Since OS/9 was a real-time operating system for the 6809 microprocessor, itwasavailableon only one Commodore machine, which had two different names: The Commodore SuperPET. The machine was sold as the “MMF (Micro MainFrame) 9000 in Germany, and its model number was SP9000.
‘There were a number of answers to this question, and there may be more:
1) The Commodore C16. Commodore decided to cut out telecommunications, and thus designed the user port out of the computer, as the modem is the only use Commodore ever made of the user port. This also includes the C116, a version of the C16 with a chicklet keyboard.
2) The Commodore Ultimax/MAX machine. This was theill-fated game console produced in the early 80s. It was basically a stripped down Commodore 64.
3) The 64 GS (Game System). This machine was another flop produced in the late 80s.
6.
No# Name Description oO) accumulator asl a
02) immediate Ida $00 03) zero page Ida $00
04) zero page,X Ida $00,X
April 1996
SOB.
SOB9 SOBA SOBB SOBC
SOBD
SOBE
SOBF
05) zero page,Y Ida $00,Y 06) absolute Ida $1000 07) absolute,X Ida $1000,X 08) absolute,Y Ida $1000,Y 09) implied cle
10) relative bne
11) (indirect,X) Ida ($00,X) 12) (indirect),Y Ida ($00), 13) (absolute indirect) jmp ($1000)
According to the 8050 User Manual, a sequential file could be 521208 bytes in size.
16 characters.
40 pins.
24 pins.
Not Ready For Data.
$f8, SEt Decimal mode. Sets the D flag in the status flags byte. Although used rarely, this opcode switches on Binary Coded Decimal mode. In BCD mode, the byte $10 is treated as 10, not 16. The add and subtract instructions are the only legal ones affected by this mode, although some undocumented/illegal opcodes are also affected. For example, in this mode, adding the byte $15 (21) to the byte $25 (37) yields $40 (64) not $3a (58). remember that, in this mode, $40 = 40, not 64.
Most differing series of Commodore computers had different places for the start of BASIC programs. For instance, on the C64, $0801 (2049) is the start of BASIC memory, but most PET computers start BASIC memory at $0401 (1025). This wouldn't matter, except BASIC programsare stored on tape and disk with the start address, and the line links in a BASIC program have absolute addresses in them, To fix these problems, the Commodore VIC-20 and newer computers came out with a “relocatable load”, Here are the two choices:
1) Save the program on the PET as: save “name”,X (X is device). Then you could load the program into the non-| hine by using a relocatable load: load “name”,X. This would load the
program in at start of BASIC memory and refigure the line links.
2) Redefine start of BASIC memory on non-PET machine. A couple of pokes to relevant BASIC pointers, and the start of BASIC was moved. Then, load the program non-relocatable.
From the above discussion, it looks like option 1 is the simplest route, except for one detail: earlier PET computers saved the BASIC program from $0400, not $0401 as is expected. The effect: loading relocatable on a non-PET would have a zero byte as the first byte of the program. The quick fix: change BASIC pointer to itself-1, load PET program, reset BASIC pointer. Commodore didn’t make it easy!
Since the earlier PET computers did not have a “relocatable load”, the only way to load a program from, say, a C64 into a 2001 was to use option #2 above and move the start of BASIC memory to $0801
D
COMMODORE WORLD
COMMODORE AND COMPUTER INDUSTRY NEwS
New Game from Creative Pixels Creative Pixels announces the release ofanew game for the Commodore 64 entitled The GhostofGer and arcade action, in which a time portal sends the ghost of Khan back to his castle. A present day scientist, Dr. Helga Smith (a parapsychologist investigating the incident), is kidnapped by Khan. One or two pl assume the role(s) of Keeper(s) of the Time and try to re: send Khan back in time where he belong The Ghost of Genghis Khan is the fifth game for the C-64 to be released by Creative Pixels, Creative Pixels Ltd., P.O, Box 592, Library, PA 15129.
ghis Khan, The new gameisa mixture of storytelling
vers,
cue Dr. Smith and
Commodore Power User Newsletter Sweepstakes Commodore Power User, or CPU for short, has recently announced a subscription drivein which they will award several prizes. CPUisa quarterly newsletter aimed at all levels of Commodore 64 and 128 users. The sweepstakes will close on July 1, 1996, and the prizes to be awarded include aCMDSuperCPU (Grand Prize), three CMD SmartTrack trackballs (Second Place), and eleven GEOS ScanART disks (Third Place). All prizes will be awarded, and CPU has placed advanced orders with CMD for the Grand to be shipped directly from CMD to the winners. Subscription prices for six issues of CPU are $15.00 (US), $21.00 (Canada and Mexico) and $27,00 (overseas). For additional details, see the CPU ad in this issue. CPU, P.O, Box 1817, Shelton, WA 98584.
and Second Place pri
Underground Expanding The Underground is getting bigger. As of the March/April 1996 issue, our format has expanded from the small size of 8-1/2 x 6-1/2" page to a full 8-1/2 x 11" page which would be equi more space for articles, as well as present a professional format. Content will be the same quality you have come to expect in past issues, and there will be more of it.
Due to the larger size, more pages, and new source of reproduction, prices have risen slightly. Effective May 1, a U,
issue will regularly run 20 of these larger pages, lent to 40 of the smaller size. This move is to provide
ubscription will be $ for six issues per year, with sampleissues for $2.50. For Canadaand Mexico the new price is $15.75 per year, samples being $2.75. Subscriptions for International readersis $22.25. Prices for back issues All checks or money orders should be in U.S. funds.
We feel these new prices will allow us to produce a quality product,
ill remain the same.
remain competitive, and continue to be an important voice in the
COMMODORE WORLD
Commodore community. Thanks for your continued support. Contact: Scott Eggleston, Editor. the Underground, 4574 Via Santa Maria, Santa Maria, CA 93455, E-mail: underground@tef.com.
Changes at Threshold
Threshold Productions is now known as Threshold Productions International. The extension on the name is for legal reasons, there is other company using the same name which handles graphi imations for various TV show: Our message number has also changed. The new number is .206)706-2231, Our previously listed phone number is now for privateand non-business related calls only.
Wewill be shipping our first catalog very soon, and unlike other catalogs it will be disk based with playable preview versions of our titles. When requestinga catalog please include US $1.00forshipping purposes. Contact: Jonathan Mines, Threshold Productions International, 17730 15th NE, Suite #229, Seattle, WA 98155, Phone: (206)706-2231, E-mail:tpinfo@eskimo.com.
and
Loadstar Compleats More
Loadstar has recently announce several more additions to their Compleat series, a line of software products that bring together programs and files common theme or author. New additions include The Compleat Lee O., The Compleat Crossword, and The Compleat Jon.
The Compleat Lee O. isa collection of six productivity programs by Lee O. Clinton for the Commodore 128: FUND ANALYZER, RESUME WRIT! PEDIGREE 128, AUTO EXPENSE, COOK'S HELPER and FIDUCIARY. The disk costs $20.00, and is available in both 1541 (#0032D5) and 1581 (#0017D3) formats
The Compleat Crossword brings together a collection of 220 crossword puzzles that have been published in Loadstar over the last eight years, and also featuresa new crossword presenter. Using the presenter, you can scroll through all of the available selections, mark puzzles which you have solved, and play one of nine songs in the background. The package is available on a 1581 disk (#0020D3, 520.00) or on two 1541 disks containing 110 puzzles each (Comp Crossword 1, #0036D5, $10.00; Comp Crossword 2, #0037D5, $10.00). aastly, The Compleat Jon incorporates eleven games from Loadstar's ‘renaissance years’ (1987—1990) written by Jon Mattson. The games have been updated to work on modern disk drives, and span a wide variety of categories, including role-playing, mazes, fantasy, and more. Price of the
Issue 14
Maurice Randall's ‘CMD Chrysler ARCA race car—you can hank on it
package is $20.00, and it is available in both 1541 (#0038D5) and 1581 (#0021D3) disk formats.
For more information on Loadstar's Compleat series, call or write: Loadstar, P.O, Box 30008, Shreveport, LA 71104, Phone: (318)221-8718. Orders: (800)594-3370.
The CMD Chrysler On Display Alocal branch of the First Of America Bank on Mt. Hope Road in Lansing, Michigan held a special promotion on a recent Friday while everyone was ‘racing’ to the bank to deposit their paychecks. The promotion was dubbed ‘Race Day,’ and on display out front was Maurice Randall's ARCA stock car. Race Day was designed to promote the bank's direct deposit service for its customers. The slogan of the day was, “Why race to the bank when you can direct deposit?” Posing along with the car (above) in front of the bank are the branch's employees, Other racing paraphernalia could also be seen inside the bank, Maurice also had the car on display at the recent annual Lansing Area Computer Club EXPO, and indicated that he plans to campaign the car at selected ARCA races in 1996.
ViScorp to Acquire Amiga Technologies from ESCOM Heppenheim, Germany and Chicago, IL, April 12, 1996—ESCOM AG, a German computer manufacturer and reseller and Visual Information Services Corp. (Nasdaq: VICP, Bulletin Board), a developer of interactive TV (ITV) set-top-boxes to enhance television use and viewing by providing Internet access and electronic communications function, today jointly announced thata binding letter of understanding has been signed between the companies.
‘The letter states that Chicago-based VIScorp would acquire Amiga Technologies, including the intellectual properties of the former Commodore Business Machines, excepted Commodore trademarks. The transaction valueisapproximately US $40 million. Termswere not disclosed, and the pending acquisition would be subject to approval by both companies’ boards of directors,
“This intended acquisition is part of VIScorp’s strategy to build market leadership in the fast-growing field of ITV", said William Buck, Chief
April 1996
Executive Officer." Asaresult, we would own Amiga intellectual properties, including several that are currently used in our set top-box, Electronic Device (ED). We would also have control over the supplied chip sets used in ED as well as Amiga inventories and access to the company’s current sales and distribution channels.”
Commenting the proposed acquisition, Helmut Jost, chief executive of ESCOM AG
clear vision of the Amiga technology potential for ITV applications. We are eager to support and work together over the term of the letter of understanding to ensure a smooth transition between the two companies. VIScorp anticipates the support of ongoing European sales of popular models such as the AQT and the A1200 as well as the current developments and future releases of Amiga Technologies.
Petro Tyschtschenko, president of Amiga Technologies st looking forward to being able to take advantage of the res development support potential that an Amiga-related company Ii can provide.”
Commenting that the primary objective of the proposed acquisition is to give VIScorp full access to the Amiga technology to support development ofits ITV device, Mr, Buck noted; “Our intention is to rapidly develop and begin manufacturing TV set-top interactive boxes—products that give home users capabilities such as telephone reception and dial up capabilities, facsimile, video games, pay-per-view options, electronic mail, and access to on-line services, including the Internet.”
Product names mentioned herein may be trademarksand/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Contact: Gilles Bourdin, Amiga Technologies, Berliner Ring 89, D-64625 Bensheim, Germany. Tel +49- ax +49-6252-709-520,
ed “Lam arch and eVIScorp
%)
Er Ro R CORRECTION
Low IQ
Leading the errors in ‘Lucky Issue 13! was an incorrect numbering of linesin the BASIC program INTELLIGENCE QUEST. Welater discovered that the version we ported over for publication was corrupt, causing the incorrect line numbers. The range affected showed up as lines 3328 through 3578, These lines should be numbered 2560 through 2810, numbered in steps of 10 (2560, 2570, 2580, etc.), With the corrected line numbers, however, the CheckSum values given for these lines will no longer match. If you enter the lines initially with the published line numbers, you can check the CheckSum value, then edit the line number and delete the incorrectly numbered line.
Bad CheckSum
As if the problem with our IQ program weren't bad enough, we a managed to allow an error to creep into the only part of our Chee! program that doesn’t check itself, The final POKE command in line 250 should have read: pokesa+26,165. We've corrected this in the version that appears in this issue.
COMMODORE WORLD
Just For Starters
‘The primary tool for interacting with your
Commodore is the one that sits out in front of
you: the keyboard. While the keyboard has yet to be matched for such tasks as entering programs and inputting text, for many other applications such as games and navigating complex interfaces, it falls far short ofthe mark. A selection of alternative input devices are at your disposal to make these jobs e all ed equal, and some get tasks accomplished better than others,
sier, but not
ire cre
Joysticks
Seems obvious, doesn't it? Joysticks are by far the most popt input device for the Commodore. In part because of the virtually full compatibility between the Commodore, Atari 8-bitand VCS, and Amiga joystick specification, and in part because of the large proliferation of games for the machine, there are countless different models of joysticks floating around out there.
Commodore joysticks are di devices, with 8 directions anda single fire button. The digital nature of Commodore joysticks means that there is only one degree of each direction that can be detected by the computer. Whether you push up firmly or softly, the signal sent by the joystick is exactly the same. Other computers, such as Apple machines and PC clones, useanalogjoysticks, wherejoysticks have a much greater range of movement and the
ital input
computer recognizes the difference between pushing “a little to the left” as opposed to “strongly to the left.”
COMMODORE WORLD
by Jason Compton
INPUT DEVICES
——= -—
The advantage of the digital Commodore standard islargely seen in certain types of games. On the whole, where fast action is required, a digital joystick’s response is preferable to an analog. Games such as flight and automobile simulations, however, usually feel more lifelike d realistic with jog systems, where small corrections can be'made e:
Mice
While many people believe that the mouse emerged with Apple's Macintosh in 1984, the truth is the device was some two decades older, invented in the 1960's, Usually, mice are used in graphical user interfaces (GUIs) such as GEOS, but are supported by other utility inte: well as by the oc In GUIs, mice are used to move a pointer ross the screen, and its buttons are used for highlighting text, selecting options, and moving data around. The user moves the mouse across
jonal game.
10
a flat surface, as representation of where they want the pointer to go. Mice come with one, two, or three buttons; more usually being better, or at least more flexible, While under the most popular GUI, GEOS, only one button has any direct use (for selecting menus and menu items as well as interacting with data), the remaining buttons can be programmed for other purposes,
Just as joysticks come in two styles, so do mice. The first mouse to appear for the Commodore was the 1350. This was a digital mouse, which actually behaves exactly like a joystick. Instead of offering true proportional movement in 360 degrees, the 1350 merely sends the same eight directional signals that joysticks use. This means that while the device inyour hand is different, the overall usefulness is the same. Then came the 1351, which introduced analog, or truly proportional, input. This allows, for example, the drawing of freehand curves in paint programs. Navigating GU ignificantly easier when movement is not limited to eight directions.
Some time later came the SmartMouse. as the Commodore is concerned, it behaves a 1351 does, but includes a battery-backed Real- ime Clock (something the computeritselflacks) and sports three buttons—one for conventional use, the second fora “double-click” action (leons in GEOS must be clicked on twice in order for them to execute programs), and the third to increase the speed of the pointer across the
screen. In addition, the SmartMouse can be switched into a joystick mode similar to the 1350. The Real.
ime Clock option can come in
Issue 14
handy if you tire of manually correcting the GEOS clock, or you want to have an accurate date-stamp on your files and projects.
Using a mouse as a joystick can be effective if
you are particularly comfortable with mice, but it can also be a serious hindrance. Mice are usually best suited for games where they are directly supported, like the Breakout-style Arkanoid. Mice are more productive in GUI roles, so you're better off tracking down a true proportional mouse such as the 1351 or SmartMouse ifyou're going to get serious about GEOS use.
Trackballs
Trackballs and mice are mechanically quite similar. A mouse works by movinga small plastic package, which containsasmall rubber or plastic ball on its underside, across flat surface, which spins the ball. This movement is read by the mouse’s circuitry, translated into directional information, and sent along to the computer.
Trackballs, on the other hand, put the ball on the top. The trackball casing does not move, the user pushes the trackball itself in the direction id that movement is interpreted and read by the computer. They come in digital and analog forms just like their mouse cousins.
As you might expect, digital trackballs function exactly like joysticks. Since trackballs were never wildly popular on the Commodore, the most memorable examples come from coin- operated arcade games such as Crystal Castles, Missile Command, and the classic head-to-head Football table game.
The only presently marketed trackball is the analog SmartTrack. The specifications on the SmartTrack match the SmartMouse exactly, from the real-time clock to the three buttons and their assignments to the joystick emulation
option, but the trackball version is somewhat more
acertain adi and joysticks. Unli can have proportional input. Unlike a mouse, you can never run out of room on your mouse pad or table, which happens more often than mouse users would like,
ntage joystick, you
over mic
Touchpads
Touchpads are quite different in operation. Except for a button or two, there are no moving parts. Instead, the user presses on a sensitive pad with thei The pad sends out a signal indicating the point of pressure, and that signal is interpreted as a location on the screen,
ir finger or a with a special stylus,
For obvious reasons, touchpads are often used for drawing applications, Overall, touchpads never played a major role on the Commodore, but one touchpad manufacturer left a mark. The KoalaPad did quite well on a number of computer platforms, and KoalaPaint was one of the first high-quality drawing programs for the 64,
The KoalaPad is a device about the size of an average hardcover book, with an angled top. There are two large buttons used for selecting options, andasmallish square in the center ofthe pad about the size of a floppy disk, This is the touch sensitive area, where you actually “draw” whatitisyouintend to capture on the screen. The KoalaPaint format established its own standard image format that is still used to this day.
Touchpads can be great as drawing tools; after all, you can actually trace a real picture. The area lable to you is not that large, and some detail ‘ou draw. As general input devices, we virtually no acceptance. Consider
av can get lostas touchpads them a special-purpose device.
ail
ChAD Service Center
Light Pens As classes of input devices go, light pens are far more similar to touch pads than they are to joysticks or mice. Light pens have no moving parts and intend to simulate how people accomplish tasks on paper rather than requiring new techniques,
Light pens are used by pointing them directly at the screen. The tip ofa light pen hasa special photosensor which detects the position of the monitor's scanning beam. By keeping track of this beam, the computer knows exactly where the user is pointing the pen,
Also like the touchpad, light pens are first and foremost designed for and supported by drawing programs, But the GEOS 2.0 driver for the Inkwell Systems Light Pen (reviewed in this issue) is excellent, and in my opinion is the best implementation of GUI interaction I've ev encountered, Drawing directly on the screen is enjoyable and useful enough, but the GEC interface with a light pen is infinitely more comfortable with a pen than with a joystick.
Like joysticks, light pens are well documented in the Commodore's hardw.
HF and are quite easy to support in programs. Unfortunately, aside from GEOS and specialized software, very few programs actually allow for light pen input.
It's a foregone conclusion that just about . Aside from
everyone needs at le ying games, plenty of programs allow the use nterface, which can be easier than ata keyboard, If you're going to get serious about painting or using a GUI such sEOS, however, you may want to take a look at the options outlined here. Odds are, you will be able to find an input solution that you can be quite comfortable and happy with.
stone joystic
AFFORDABLE ¢« FAST » DEPENDABLE
April 1996
Call Today 1-800-638-3263
Our Team of Technicians are Among the Most Qualified in the Industry Why Settle for Anything Less Than the Best?
We repair the following equipment: Commodore C-64, 64C, SX-64, C-128 and C128-D computers; 1541, 1541C, 1571 and 1581 Disk Drives plus CMD Devices. JiffyDOS Installations a specialty. All repairs warranted for 30 days. Minimum charge $35.00 plus parts and return shipping. You must contact CMD for authorization before sending any equipment. Creative Micro Designs, Inc. P.O. Box 646 E. Longmeadow, MA 01028
Don’t forget to COMMODORE WORLD!
Please call or write with your change of address 6 to 8 weeks prior to your move so that you won't miss a single issue!
CW Address Change, P.O. Box 646,
E. Longmeadow, MA 01028
413-525-0023
an
COMMODORE WORLD
Foreion Exchange
Ay many of the current crop of games hail from Europe, we thought it would be interesting to get some game tips from one of the UK's top commodore game players. Andrew Fisher, reviewer and technical consultant for many magazines in the UK, reveals his tips to give you the advantage!
Heavenbound
I bet this was the first time you had ever seen a pink elephant when you were sober! This vertically-scrolling platform game features great graphics and infuriating gameplay. Every time ouscem togetalittle further. There are afew simple tricks to master in order to help the lovable T-Fant, the pink elephant with a yearning for adventure, to reach the pearly gates.
When certain enemies are killed, they leave behind bonus coins. “B” gives you hihi, or improved jumps, while “S” gives you more shot power (which gradually reduces again as you lose lives). Most important of all is the “T" time bonus. You start with 60 seconds and g another 99 whenever you pick up a T. Coins will n in place until you collect them, so play ly and leave a T coin behind until you really need it,
in
Learn How to “Jump-shoot” ‘Thisinvolvesjumpingand then shooting two or three times as you reach the top of your jump. This enables you to reach the clouds and platforms above, clearing all of the bad guys out of your way. The platform layout isvery complex, but there is one simple rule: when you fall, hold left or right until T-Fant hits the edge of the screen. Youshould fall safely onto the nearest platforms at the screen's edge. If you are an expert, learn where the clouds ead.
re and fall onto them ins
COMMODORE WORLD
By Andreu Fisher
GAME T
PS FROM THE U.K,
You don't need to complete the game in one life. As you climb higher, you will re-start when you die at the nearest set of platforms (not on clouds), However, when you lose all your lives, it’s back to the beginning.
Ata couple of points along the way, you'll encounter big gray guys sitting on platforms and firing big lasers at you. Always use the “jump- shoot” technique, and make sure you stay out of their line of fire!
Watch out for the flame-breath of the little
green demons, and the worms that pop up out of
the ground, It’s worth wasting a few seconds every time a new platform appears and watching where the enemies are.
And finally, there are several pairs of fas moving clouds that can really catch the inexperienced player off guard. The movement of the cloud act ides nt along, often ending in an undignified fall from the edge. Practice makes perfect, so try jumping with the motion of the cloud. Some clouds don't move between two points; they might have a circular pattern, or give access to more than one platform,
Lions of the Universe
This fast-paced, shoot-em-up has got the lot; big enemies, lots of weapon upgrades, plus mind- blowing sound and graphics. Crucial to your success in this game is learning how to upgrade
12
your weapons. Shooting the weapons pod will advance the symbol as follows:
blank shield (lasts about 5 seconds)
arrow right forward fire
arrow left rear fire (get at least 2 upgrades)
double dots vertical fire
parallelogram diagonal fire (very important, I kid you not!)
double arrow “spread” fire (builds into a wall of bullets)
upgrades mega-laser
circle adds a circling drone with extra firepower (maximum of 2, but youcancollectmore—when you die, you'll keep them)
‘The cycle then repeats with a blank pod (shield) again. Recommended choice of weapons (from the four pods at the start) area forward fire, rear fire, diagonal fire and spread fire. Then get another rear fire, an “x” to upgrade the mega- laser (see below) and more spread and vertical fire. Note that in the two-playermode the “circle” icon does not appear.
‘The mega-laser is crucial for destroying large formations, andis particularly effective against
the big monsters. You have enough power for about 6-8 shotsinitially, and then it takes about 3-4 seconds to recharge each shot. The mega- laser is upgraded by collecting “x” weapon icons, going from a single bar to 3 bars to 5
Issue 14
bars, with each extra x makingit more powerful. Practice taking out complete waves with the mega-laser.
As well as the weapons pods, there are two “super” blocksin the first level. The first typeisan arrow and appears in the middle of a wave of enemies. Shoot the enemy in front and pick up the block. You'll get a shield and a speed-up which lasts 20-25 seconds. After the first big enemy, you'll come across another block which takes youinto theasteroid bonus level. Youwon't die here because you get a shield. Shoot all the asteroids and you can earn up to 18,000 points, enough to give you at least one extra life.
The biggest threat is from aliens that attack from the rear. There are several waves on the first level, so get used to where they are and position yourself to deal with them effectively. With drones, you havea little more breathing spac their firepower can take out the ships as they approach from behind.
Dealing with the first big pincer monster is straightforward. It fires three bullets; green ones from the outside guns, and then a red one from the center. To destroy it youneed to keep firing at the middle gun (it flashes on screen to help you). Watch the movement of the pincer monster up and down, and line yourself up to hit the center without being hit. The quicker you can deal with this monster, the better!
Further onin the level, you'll comeacross more formidable enemies. You can work out what is vulnerable by shooting and watching to see if it flashes to indicate damage is being done.
The big monster in the middle of the level requires you to hit in the following order: top gun, bottom gun, mid-section. While you shoot at the outer guns, they fire back, as does the middle gun, and you also have to watch out for the big bullets chucked out of the enemy's center (there is a definite pattern; look for the safe spots between the outer guns and the middle).
If you make it into the “crucial” zone and survive the narrow corridors, watch out for the twin caterpillars (only one is vulnerable) before thebig bad guy is loaded in. Thisisa dragon, but you can’t attack it straight away. Use the mega- laser wisely to clear the gray troops equipped with missile launchers that run along the top and bottom of the screen (it’s best to wait until two or three are visible on one surface, and aim to destroy them at once). When the missile launchers are dead, you attack the dragon by shooting its mouth, It retaliates with a fast- moving bulletthat travels horizontally, and with four fireballs, so watch out! The fireballs home in on you, so try moving down and then quickly up again to avoid contact. Use the mega-laser
8
April 1996
and your ordinary firepower to hit the mouth, and you'll be greeted with a triumphant tune and a big explosion!
Skate or Die!
It’s time to slam and jam with Ele amazing skateboarding game. Hei quick tips for each event.
Half pipe: to get the highest possible score (approximately 22,000) you need to perform every maneuver once without falling. Do ollie airs and 720s over the channel (left hand side), railslide and plants on the right.
High jump: if you really want to beat this event, tryusinga gamepad rather than ajoystick. If you want to show off, practice “tweaking” (pressing the fire button) just before the height readout stops moving, and you should gain an extra few inches.
Downhill race: for maximum points, try approaching the big pipe on the left and ducking all the way through. Go for some radical jumps onto and off the clubhouse steps, and if you're feeling brave, try jumping onto the islands in the middle of the pond.
Downhill jam: sneaky tactic #1 isto bash your opponent over and then accelerate away so he has to catch up. and punch every can and bottle within your reach, and avoid going down the back garden (with its laundry lines). Finally, can you set off the police car's sirens?
Pool joust: beat up poseur Eddie a few times before you try taking on Lester. Better still, grab a friend and knock them around together! The is lining up for a pass; a swift rail slide or moving up and down while airborne is essential. Ifyouropponenthas the boffing bar, go forspeed! Lots of 720s and then slow up with a rail slide to confuse him, And never press fire until the last possible moment when carrying the bar, It's far too easy to think you have your opponent in your sights and to miss because you were too eager.
ronic Arts
re some
Laser Squad Futuristic strategy at its best. Here are some general tips and then help on specific missions. Always get at least grade 1 armor. In most scenarios, give your privates grade 2 and your corporals grade 3. Ifyou are running out ofammo, don't forget that you can loot dead bodies (human bodies, of course) for extra weapons and ammo.
Justmakesureyouchangeorreloadasappropriate. Your troops tire very quickly and enemies can creep up on you. Always leave at least halfofyour force on “opportunity fire” by spending no more than half their action points each turn. Borrow some tactics from real-life marines! Appoint a heavily-armed and armored rear-end
13
Charlie to cover the back, and at the point (the front) of your formation, make sure you have a weapon capable of automatic fire to get extra hits on the enemies as you encounter them.
Assassination (scenario 1)isbest tackled from the deployment zone to the left of the “front door” of the main building. Tool up your corporals with lasers (or heavy | nda spare battery, give two privates marsec autoguns or m4000's, and take a rocket launcher with an extra rocket, You can wait until an enemy droid pops its head out of the door and then (with your troopsat least 8 squares away) blast it with the rocket launcher.
Rescue From the Mines (scenario 3) isa tense, atmospheric fight through hostile conditions. Split your force between the top corners of the map, and carry at least 3 packs of explosiv Make sure you change, prime for at least 3 turns. and then drop explosives right next to the door,
(You can move the prisoners into the far corner of their cells to protect them), When you have rescued them, rush for the middle or creep back up the edges of the map to the lifts. No bonus points are awarded for blowing up bits of the map or killing enemy fore
Sword of Honor
When the going gets tough, the tough get out their ninja swords and fight their way through! Combining the best elements of classic beat ‘em-up games like the Last Ninja series and Barbari Sword of Honor is very tough to complete. The object is to reclaim the sword (and the royal families honor) from the ruler of northern Japan, who stole it from the ruler of southern Japan. Here are a few pointers.
Nearly every character in the game will attempt to speak to you, so read the text before you attack! There will be a verbal clue to an object youneed to drop or trade in that location, Asan example, get the fan from the house at the back of the first sereen on level 1 and give it to the samurai outside the temple. He's too hot, so the fan will cool him down.
Toexit level 1, you need to collect two buddha statues from the praying monks. Level 2 features anasty fire-breathing dragon. There is a pattern to his flames. The sequence is 3 flames, 1 flame, 1 flame, 2flames, 1 flame, 1 flame, 2 flames, 1 flame and thenalong gap. Use the forward roll to either get through the doorway or pick up the object under the statue. You'll need to find and open trapdoors on levels 3 and 4. Objects you have in
your possession may need to be left behind. We hope these tips have helped assist you in your quest for success. Happy gaming!
COMMODORE WORLD
Graphic Interpretation
by, Stoue Vander Ark
DO-IT-YOURSELF APPLICATIONS
Approximately a year ago, someone posted a note in the bulletin board section of the Geoworks RoundTable on Genie which stuck with me, That RoundTable is devoted to the version of GEOS which runs on IBM-compatible computers. The IBMversionoftheGEOS operatingsystem, referred to generally as PC-GEOS, is almost as orphaned as Commodore GEOS. By that mean that while there are still plenty of folks using the system, there are few new programs being written for it.
Essentially, the message in the Geoworks. RoundTable said was that in response to the lack ofnew applications for PC-GEOS, thatotherusers who were very familiar with the GEOS software, should create “templates” for those existing programs which would function almost as new applications. What that person suggested was that new and powerful programs with exciting capabilitiesdidn’t have to becreated from scratch. Many such programs could instead be created using the tools provided with geoFile, geoCale, and so on. That message was really the impetus for the column | wrote last issue in which I described a new “pseudo application” | cr forGEOS using geoFileanda few deskaccessories. This time around, I'm going to expand on that idea a little, and hopefully spark some ideas from all you GEOS users out there who wish for new software which isn't materializing.
First, let me remind you of the process I went through last issue, so that if you missed that column, you'll know I'm talking about. | was faced with the need for a program for GEOS which would function as a scheduler and time manager, as well asa place to collect information.
ted
COMMODORE WORLD
This type of program is extremely helpful for anyone who needs to keep track of things like phone numbers and lists of things to do at their desk. There is no software available for GEOS to handle this task directly, so I set about creating what I needed using geoFile. I created a screen- sized form which provided me with spaces for my schedule, space for" Things to-do” lists, and other information. The sorting capabilities of geoFile allowed me to create a new form for each day to schedule in advance for projects. I added the calendarand the notepad desk accessories, along. with geoDex to handle actually making calls. 1 mentioned that | used geoWizard to quickly task switch between geoWrite, which is where I spend most of my actual working time in GEOS, and my new “pseudo application.”
This issue, let’s step back and look at what actually happened there. Therewasnoapplication
14
to satisfy the need I had, so I created one of my own, The “authoring tool” lused wasn't geoBASIC or geoProgrammer, Instead, | used the power of the existing programs, in this case geoFile, Calendar, geoDex, geoWizard, and the NotePad. The functionality of my new “program” was borrowed from the capabilities ofthose programs. Intheend, [had the application Ineeded, custom designed for my own needs, Did it do everything I wanted? Unfortunately not. I didn’t have quite all the power I needed. A “real,” full-powered scheduler would still be a great new application for some GEOS programming whiz to work on. But my “pseudo application” certainly satisfied my basic requirements.
I can imagine other “pseudo applications,” or pseudo-apps. Here's an example: I have a friend who has constructed an ingenious spreadsheet with which to create characters for role player games. There are other ways to use spreadsheets. How about a money management program? There isn't a GEOS version of the Sylvia Porter financial software Timeworks used to sell, but couldn't someone create a powerful geoCale spreadsheet that would make tracking your finances alot easier? Sections of the grid could be filled in with explanatory text, making the form easy for anyone to use. In much the same way, geoFile templates could be specially designed for things like home inventory or geoWrite templates for business forms. Folks who are proficient at using these basic programs could create pseudo-apps that would fill some of the gaps in available GEOS programs.
Issue 14
Wait a second, you say. That isn’t anything special. You're just talking about using geoCale and geoWrite and geoFile in the way they were intended. There's nothing so unique about this idea. Creating a spreadsheet fo managing a checkingaccountisn’tradical; that's what geoCale is for, for Pete's sake!
Okay, Ihearyou. Socall them templatesinstead of pseudo-apps. Maybe you have been doing this all along. The point is in what you do with them after you create them. While you might have no trouble creatinga checking account register using geoCalc, alotofother users (includingme) would find that task a formidable one. They wouldn't care to wrestle with the details or put in the time necessary to makea geoCalc file that worked well. And that’s where someone's nifty geoCale template, when shared with the rest of the GEOS community, becomes a lot more than just a template. It becomes almost a new application for other users: a pseudo-app.
Thope that a light is dawning. Maybe you've spentalot oftime creating various business forms using geoWrite or maybe you have designed a schedule planner like the one I talked about earlier. [would love to see some of these pseudo- apps being uploaded to places like Genie. I dida quick check and found a couple of them already in Genie's libraries. There were geoCalctemplates for tracking expenses and for baseball statistics. ForgeoFile, [ foundtemplates for genealogy work and for keeping track ofa videolibrary. Those are great, but there could be a lot more. Just think of the power even those few templatesadd to GEO! They turn the basic programs into specialized software; pseudo-apps to replace independent applications which are probably never going to be written. With the creative possibilities of geoWrite, geoPublish, geoCale, geoFile, and geoPaint, anyone can design a new and powerful tool for other GEOS users to enjoy.
While we're on the subject of creative uses of GEOS programs, let me toss another idea out to you. This came to me when I was at a meeting of third grade teachers from my area. As we talked, everyone handed out copies of their school curriculum guides for third grade. A curriculum guide, as you might imagine from the name, is a list of what teachers are expected to teach at each grade level. It would be unfortunate if a teacher preparedawholeunit about weather, forexample, only to find out that the kids spent three weeks learning about weather the year before. At some point, someone has to sort out all this kind of thing. This kind of organization is essential and pretty much basic for a school system.
At my meeting, just about everyone's curriculum guide looked the same. Each had
April 1996
apparently been typed on a word processor in outline form and laser printed. A couple of them were laid out as a chart, with something of a standard form from page to page; each subject {a section for text books, for field trips, literature tie-ins, and so on. These forms were also created on a word processor. But one of the guides was very different. It was a chart
constructed in the form of a grid, with details typed into the spaces. It had been created using a spreadsheet.
If you're like me, when you think of spreadsheets you think ofnumbers. A curriculum guide involves absolutely no number crunching atall. But once I looked over this particular guide, I could easily see why someone had chosen to use a spreadsheet instea makeit. Afterall, curriculum guideisessentially a big chart, with headings for various subject areasand sub-headings for things like books used and topics covered; down the side ofthe chartare the grade levels. And a spreadsheet is like a big, blank chart, ready to be filled in.
15
So you can make charts with geoPaint or geoPublish, and youcan simulate one pretty easily in geoWrite. By printing geoFile records packed onapage, youcouldevencreatesomething similar with your database. But a geoCale spreadsheet has the advantage in this case. With its built-in grid of lines and the fact that you can type text into any of the spaces as easily as numbers, the spreadsheet has most of the formatting already upandrunning when youstart. Youdon't have to make a bunch of horizontal and vertical lines or try to line up text boxes inside of the spaces, The lines are there and you can't put text anywhere except in the spaces in a spreadsheet, Also, like a database form, you can use it as a template to make new or specialized versions of the form.
Overthelast fewyears, Ihavespentalot oftime trying to make forms for my classroom with geoPublish. I've also made lists and outlines with geoWrite, using tabsand other things to organize things. Now, when I think about it, lean see that if would have just fired up geoCale, I could have saved myself a lot of time and effort. I didn’t consider geoCale at all, of course, because I was stuck with the traditional, narrow concept of what a spreadsheet was for. Now that I've stretched my thinking and let myself see new ways ofusingold tools, GEOS hasbecomea much more powerful and exciting world in which to work, ww you can probably see where all this is heading. I'mcoming backaround to what I started with; that little scheduler I created in my last column. That was another example of the same kind of new, expanded thinking about old tools. In the case of my scheduler pseudo-app, I had let go of my limited view that a database was for collections of phone numbers or personal data, to be stored away and searched every so often, Instead, I used the database sereen as a blank form to be shaped into anything I wanted. In the same way, when I use geoCale to create a curriculum guide for my third grade, I look at that grid as a blank form to be shaped into whatever type of chart or table or form I need.
I can use any application for creating charts, tables, and pseudo-applications of the kind we've been looking at. The only difference is in the inherent capabilities of each basic application: thedatabasegivesmesearchand sort capabilities; the spreadsheet offers an easy to use, pre- constructed grid; the word processor offers enhanced text capabilities; and the graphics programs have graphics tools to knock your socks off. Each one, however, can be used to create new and exciting GEOS tools, tools which will each expand the GEOS universe a little more.
COMMODORE WORLD
7 Tl at
2 < ~I Pas
. *
> ¢NULL-MODEM © | - o TRANSFERS .
9 PARTIONES ° ‘
For several years now I've commonly transferred files between systems on a daily basis, to the point that it seems almost second-nature to do so. For those ofyou who are less familiar with the concept, “cross-platform file transfers” areexactly what that phrase purports them to be: themoving of files between computers of different types. For many users this probably seems like some strange and magical rite, reserved only for those with the ability to recite the correct incantations, Tcan assure you, this isn’t the case, and nearly anyone can learn to successfully transfer their files, given the proper equipmentand knowledge. Now, for those of you who are wondering just why anyone would want to bother with taking files from their Commodoretoanother computer system (or vice versa), consider any ofa number of scenari
* you have a Commodore at home, and you need access to some of your files from work where you use a different platform
* you have a Commodore at home, and you want to print some files on a laser printer at your office or other remote location
* youhavebothaCommodoreandsomeother platform machine at home, and you want to swap files between the twototakeadvantage of specific capabilities you use on each
And there are a great many more possibilities. Butregardless ofthe reason, what you really want to know is how to go about getting the files transferred, Hopefully, by the time you finish reading this article, you'll know what's necessary to transfer files successfully.
What we need to consider first are the various methods used for file transfers, and how each of these apply to differing needs and equipment. So we'll begin by taking a closer look at these.
Null-Modem Transfers
Now, before you misunderstand thisfirstmethod, don't read too much into the heading aboy won't need a modem of any type to perform this kind of transfer.
What you will need is a special cable, called a null-modem cable, and you'll also need some kind of RS-232 interface for your Commodore. Before we get into the details of the hardware, though, let’s try to get a general understanding of this method of transfers.
Null-modem transfers involve using a cable to directly connect two computerstogether. In order todo this, the two computers involved need to be within a reasonable proximity of each other. I've
April 1996
personally used this method with computers that * have been up to 40 feet from each other, but I've talked to others who have had even longer runs. Once you've connected the two computers together, somewhat mimics using actual modems to
you have a configuration which
connect computers (more on that later), but without connecting them through telephone lines.
And just like a true modem connection, you'll need to use terminal software to get the computers to actually talk to each other, One of themain features ofa terminal program istosend characters typed into one machine to the other machine. Once there, thecharactersare displayed on the screen. But more importantly, terminal programsalso contain file transfer functions that let you send or receive files directly from one machine to the other. Thus, by creating a direct null-modem connection between computer: by using terminal programs on each, you can easily transfer files between the two.
Now that you've got the general picture ofhow these transfers are done, let’s look at what you actually need to make it happen.
First off, both computers must be equipped with an RS-232 (serial) port. These are common on most computers—except the Commodore! So you'll need an RS-232 interface to make this much recommend
d
work. In this case, I very
makes this device, so I must be biased, right? But frankl iftLinkisthe most common! ble RS-232 interface around, offers high speed, and comes supplied with some decent terminal programs for both the C-64 and C-128.
Next, you'll need a null-modem cable. These are available from almost any computer dealer, even Radio Shack has them (but don’t let some less-than knowledgeablesalesman sell youa cable that doesn’t specifically state on the package that it is a null-modem cable!). Be careful in picking this out—you'll need to study the connector on your RS-232 interface and that of the serial port on your ‘other’ computer so that the cable you get will match up properly.
Now you need terminal software. My recommendations are Novaterm 9.5 for the 64, and Dialogue 128 for the 128, but others will work. | do, however, recommend these particular programs because both support hardware flow control, which can make high- speed transfers more reliable. Novaterm comes with SwiftLink, though it is shareware, and you should definitely pay the author his shareware fee if you plan to use it; Dialogue 128, though, is a commercial program, so you'll need to buy that separately.
17
Don’t forget your ‘other’ machine: it needs a terminal program as well. If you're using an MS-DOS machine without Windows™, your best betisprobably ProComm. It'salittle convoluted, butit’s widely supported. Windows comes witha terminal program, called Terminal (how original!). It's a bit mundane, and not very f but the price is right. For Macintosh users, I'd suggest Zterm; it’s a very complete shareware program with a decent user interface. Amiga folks... well, the last Amiga terminal | used was Baud Bandit, and | didn’t care for it much, but it worked, There are probably better choi though, so check with other users.
Okay, so now you have everything you need to tieyourcomputers together and start transferring, files. So, where to start?
Get the hardware hooked up... RS-232 interfa plugged into your Commodore, then attach the null-modem cable to that with the other end connected to your other computer, Now start up the terminal programs for both machines (you can do either one first, the order doesn’t really matter here).
Once you have the terminal programs up and running, you need to get them configured with thesameparametersbefore th other successfully. This means you'll need to become at least familiar enough with those program to be able to find the various configuration sections. The things you'll need to match up right away are the baud rate, parity, stop bits, flow control (handshaking), and terminal emulation.
Tostart off, select a baud rate. If you're using a slow RS-232 interface on the user port of your Commodore, you won't be able to go above 2400 baud on the 64, 4800 or 9600 on the 128, dependingon theterminal program you're using. Td just start with 1200 at first, just to make sure that everything works—you can kick it up later. Set both terminal programs for this baud rate, Also, set the data bits to 8, parity to none (no and stop bits to 1.
Now you need to set the flow control, or handshaking, If' you're using a user port RS-232 interface, it may not support hardware handshaking, and your best bet is to set this for XON/XOFF. If you're using a SwiftLink and the terminal programs you're using both support hardware or RTS/CTS (or CTS/RTS) handshaking, then this is the better choice.
Finally, you need to set the terminal type, or terminal emulation me programs call it. Most terminal programs will havean ASCII mode, or alternately, a VT-100 or VT-102 mode. You cangenerally mixand match these specificmodes without problems. You should also try to locate
parity
COMMODORE WORLD
the setting for Echo or Local Echo. Turn this option on—without it, you normally won't be able to see what you type.
Now that you have everything set up, the first thing you need to do is put both of the terminal programsintotheirmain terminal mode, then type something on the keyboard of one of the two computers. Provided you did everything else correctly, what you type should show up on the screen oftheothercomputer. Ifthisdoesn'thappen, then go over all the connections and program settings to sce if you can isolate the problem.
Assuming thatyou've got things working, enter some text from the other computer to make sure
that everything works okay in both directions. Once you've determined that both machines are transmittingand receiving correctly, youcan step the baud rate up. In most cases, you'll want to use the fastest rate possible with your particular hardware and software to reduce the amount of time it takes to transfer files.
Now you're ready to transfer a file. To do this, you'll need to select a file to send, and a protocol to use for sending it. This is done by going to the upload (or send file) section on the sending computer—you'll need to experiment or study the terminal program documentation to find out the specifics. Likewise, you need to select the
same protocol from the download (or receive file) section on the receiving computer. I'd suggest using Ymodem Batch (or Ymodem 1K) protocol foryourtransfers, because thisallows youtosend several files, and will usually take care of sending. the file names as well. Also, when sending PETASCII files to some other computer, or when receiving standard ASCII files on your Commodore, you'll probably want to enable the ASCII translation function of your terminal program (provided it has that function).
Well, I'm definitely out of room for this issue, but we'll continue next time with a look at some
§)
of the other transfer methods.
Tools for Transfers
LOCATION
Both computers in the same location
HARDWARE
Null-modem cable, RS-232 interface
SOFTWARE
Terminal software on both computers
64NET cable 64NET Computers are in same C64S cable C64S Emulator or different locations A64 cable A64 Emulator
x1541 cable, 1541 drive
1571, 1581 or CMD FD
Computers are in different locations
COMMODORE WORLD
Modem
Special utility program running on MS-DOS PC (TRANS64, THE STAR COMMANDER, etc.)
BIG BLUE READER LITTLE RED READER
Terminal Software
18
NOTES
Computers are interconnected via null-modem cable, transfer files with terminal programs using xmodem, ymodem, or text buffer capture. Can transfer between any computer types.
Computers are connected via special cable to create a network. Special software is operated on both computers to achieve transfers. Only for MS-DOS/Commodore transfers.
Connects 1541 drive to MS-DOS computer via special cable. Transfer using utility included with C64S or other utilities such as TRANS64.
Connects 1541 drive to Amiga computer via special cable. Transfer using utility included with A64.
Connects 1541 drive to MS-DOS computer via special cable. Transfer using special utilities such as TRANS64.
Directly read or write MS-DOS diskettes with Commodore 64/128 using one of the supported drives.
Computers are connected through
modems via standard telephone lines.
Transfer files with terminal programs
using xmodem, ymodem, or text buffer
capture. Can transfer between any computer types.
Issue 14
andthe
PART III
By Katherine Nolion of Ainiga Report Magazine
This is the last in our three part series on HTML documents and Web authoring. This issue, we finish up with an overview of CGl and using CGI with forms, and then list a couple of places to visit on the net for when you are just visiting, rather than writing HTML,
A CGI Overview CGI, which stands for Common Gateway Interface, allows you to attach just about any data or program to your home page. These CGI programs can be written in two different ways. The first is by writing a script in perl, shell scripting language, or anything else amenable to your server. This tends to be the preferred method because it tends to be easier to learn scripting, and easier to debug. For more complicated CGI programs (or just for personal preference), yourmay instead use C, C++, or other programming language as well. This type of CGI program must be compiled first into an executable, whileis an extra step beyond the scripts that are executed as-is. In general, if your server is set up well, there should be several CGI programs available to you already in the “cgi-bin” directory on th hine. This directory should be aliased to allow you access from the main directory. Ifyou wish to add your own prog) high access on the server, or a good relationship with someone who does, Ifyour server has a “webmaster”, then that is the person to go to with your home-brewed CGI programs, or for advice on establishing your page with complex CGI applications.
server
‘ams, youneed either very
CGI and Forms
CGI programs can add interactive aspects to your forms. You form as a front-end for a search program for a datal CGI to manage a survey you conduct ona web page, or whatever else you can think of,
In order to use the data in a form, the CGI program must decode the information sent toit. Fora form sent by the GET method, an environment variable called QUERY_STRING contains the information in name=value pairs that are separated by ampersands. Also, spaces have been converted
use a
or you can use
to'+ signs, and special charactershave been converted to their hexadecimal code values. If you feel a bit squeamish (or lazy) about decoding this information, there are several scripts available that will do this for you. Check your favorite archive or use a search utility such as Lycos or Yahoo to find one that suits you,
Decoding forms submitted with the method POS’ complicated, but again, there are utilities available to do it for you. QUERY_STRING no longer holds the query data, and is now is a null value instead. The environment variable CONTENT_LENGTH now holds the length in bytes of the query information, which is now located in the standard input. This data is then accessed like any other standard input
is a bit more
April 1996
19
(which will vary depending on the language you are writing the CGI program in). Once you have the data, you will have to further decode it in the same manner you decode a QUERY_STRING above. The name=value pairs need to be separated and the spaces and special characters converted.
If you are not sure which method will be used to send data to your program, you can check the environment variable REQUEST_METHOD, which will hold the value GET or POST.
In order to send information back to the client program, you simply send each line of the document through standard output (for example, many scripting languages use the command ‘echo’). The document must be preceded, however, by some header information. Most of the header is optional, but one line that must be included is the content type. This header is sent to the client the same way the rest of the document is. The actual header itself that must be sent is ‘Content- TYPE: text/html’, Use quote marks only if the language you are using requires them. A blank line should be sent immediately after. Then the rest of the document can follow, and it may contain any HTML tags you desire, as long as they are sent properly.
Internet Sites to Visit Now that you know how to create a respectable home page, it is time to arch, Here are a few
http: / saltavista.digital.com/ het .com/ ‘om/ tp: awler .com
Now for some Commodore 64 specific sites, try:
1. com/emd/cwhome . html
brain/cbmh html
2/~A93 sac.at
alo/c64/links. html
~2942
These should be enough to get you started, Thes Commodore 64 pages out there. There area ton more! But these are pretty
eby no means the only
good starting points,
Armed with the knowledge from the past few months, you should be reasonably well prepared to stake your own claim on a little corner of the Web. Creating a basic web page is the start of establishing electronic immortality, and it all starts with some free time and a good text editor. $)
Get to work, and enjoy surfing!
COMMODORE WORLD
Group Conneetion
Looking for a Commodore user group in your area? User groups can help you solve problems, keep you informed of new products and events that might be of interest, and give you a chance to share your computing experiences with others who enjoy Commodore computing. The following are confirmed groups and verified addresses, registered with Commodore
World.
C ALABAMA )
¢ COLORADO D)
Birmingham Commodore Club, P.O. Box 59564, Birmingham, AL 35259 -9564 H.A.C.K.S., P.O. Box 14356, Huntsville, AL 35815-4356
@ ALASKA ) Anchorage Commodore User's Group, P.O, Box 104615, Anchorage, AK 99510-4615
Sitka Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 2204, Sitka, AK 99835-2204
« ARIZONA B)
FC C3, 1713 Valley Forge Ave., Ft. Collins, CO 80526 Front Range Commodore Club, P.O. Box 272, Niwot, CO, 80544-0272
Western Slope Commodore User Group, P.O. Box 81, Mack, CO 81525-0081
G CONNECTICUT. ) Capital Region Commodore Computer Club, P.O. Box 2372, Vernon, CT 06066
Fairfiled County C.U.G., P.O. Box 212, Danbury, CT 06813
Arizona Commodore Users Group, P.O, Box 27201, Tempe, AZ 85285-7201
Busy-Bee User Group, 3 Paseo Cuacha de Toro, Arivaca, AZ 85601
Catalina Commodore Computer Club, Inc., P.O. Box 32548, Tucson AZ 85751-2548
C ARKANSAS. ) Northwest Arkansas C.U.G., P.O. Box 2925, Fayetteville, AR 72702-2925
@ CALIFORNIA D C-128 West User’s Group, 17047 Devanah St., Covina, CA 91722 Club 64, P.O. Box 514, Patton, CA 92369
Commodore Technical User’s Group, 2231 E. Trenton Ave., Orange, CA 92667
Central Coast Commodore User's Group, 3896 Berwyn Dr., Santa Maria, CA 93455
Diablo Valley Commodore User’s Group, 1896-D Lynnwood Rd., Concord, CA 94520
The Fresno Sixty-Fourum, P.O. Box 16098, Fresno, CA 93755 FUNHUG, 814 Valley Run, Hercules, CA 94547-1440 Haywood C.U.G., 4586 Glenn St., Freemont, CA 94536 Hub Area Commodore Club, 7127 Arrowhead Trail, Browns Valley, CA 95918-9630
Lake County Computer Users, 7827 Evergreen Dr., Kelseyville, CA 95451
Orange County Commodore Club, c/o 439-102 Fair Dr., Costa Mesa, CA 92626
South Bay Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 1176, Redondo Beach, CA 90278
Southern California C.U.G., 2059 Cedar Ave., #11, Long Beach, CA 90806-4616
Southeast San Diego C-64 User's Group, 258 Euclid Ave. #B, San Diego, CA 92114-3640
COMMODORE WORLD
20
C DELEWARE ) First State Commodore Club, P.O. Box 1313, Dover, DE 19903
ic FLORIDA 0] Commodore Computer Club of Jacksonville, 141 Mango Court, Middleburg, FL 32068
Commodore User's Group of Venice, P.O. Box 3325, Venice, FL 34293
Comm. U. G. of South West Florida, P.O. Box 7692, Ft. Myers, FL 33911
El-Shift-Oh, Inc., P.O. Box 361348, Melbourne, FL 32936-1348 Gainesville Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 90212, Gainesville, FL 32607
Lakeland C.C.C., 111 Eau Claire, Auburndale, FL 33823 M.I.C.E., 11110 Bird Road, Miami, FL 33165-4417 Manasota Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 698, Oneco, FL 34264 -6618
Naples AreaC.U.G., 10701 Rogers Ln., Bonita Springs, FL33923 Polk Area C.C.C., 4845 Fleetwood St., Lake Wales, FL33853 Port Orange Commodore User's Group, 52 Windward Crt., Port Orange, FL 32127
Stuart Area Commodore, P.O. Box 1446, Port Salerno, FL33492 Tampa Commodore User's Group, 5002 Halifax Dr., Tampa FL 33615-4628
Titusville Commodore Club, 890 Alford St., Titusville, FL32796
Ic HAWAII Commodore Hawaii User's Group, c/o M.N. Daniels, 46-329 Kumoo Loop, Kaneohe, HI 96744-3532
C IOWA ») Commo-Hawk Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 2724, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-2724
Commodore User’s Group, Ames Region, P.O. Box 2302, Ames, |A 50010-2302
Issue 14
C ILLINOIS )
C MISSOURI
Blooming-Normal CUG, P.O. Box 1058, Bloomington, IL 61702-1058
Champaign-Urbana C.U.G., 2010 W. William, Champaign, IL 61821
East Side Computer Club, P.O. Box 276, Godfrey, IL 62035 Fox Valley 64 User's Group, P.O. Box 28, North Aurora, IL 60542 Illinois Commodore Users, 1108 W. Violet Dr., McHenry, IL 60050-8061
Sandwich Computer User Group, P.O. Box 23, Sandwich, IL 60548-002
S.W.R.A.P. User's Group, P.O. Box 528232, Chicago, IL 60652-8232
SouthEastern Illinois C.C., 818 East Main St., Olney, IL62450
( INDIANA ) Midwest Computer Users Group, P.O. Box 9311, Highland, IN 46322
C KANSAS ) Commodore Users of Wichita, 6606 Cottonwood, Wichita, KS 67207
Topeka Commodore C.U.G., P.O. Box 8439, Topeka, KS 66608
C KENTUCKY. D) Gold City Computer Users Group, P.O. Box 257, Fort Knox, KY 40121
Louisville Users of Commodore of Kentucky, P.O. Box 9551, Louisville, KY 40209-0551
@ LOUISIANA ) Acadiana Commodore Computer Club, 416 Dale St., Lafeyette, LA 70501
New Orleans Commodore Klub-64/128, P.O. Box 1997, Metaire, LA 70004-1997
ic MARYLAND )
=) Computers North Users Group, P.O. Box 34534, North Kansas City, MO 64116-0934 Commodore User’s Group of Kansas City, P.O. Box 36034, Kansas City, MO 64111 CUGSL, P.O. Box 837, Bridgeton, MO 63044 MDC/RCC-Commodore SIG, P.O. Box 34088, St. Louis, MO 63134-4088
C NEVADA ) Clark County Commodore Computer Club, P.O. Box 28136, Las Vegas, NV 89102
C NEW HAMPSHIRE ) Concord-Manchester CUG, c/o W. Beers, 174 Liberty Hill Rd., Bedford, NH 03110
C NEW JERSEY ) C.E.B.U.G, P.O. Box 314, East Brunswick, NJ 08816
Info 64 Users Group, c/o 186 Delmar Avenue, Glen Rock, NU 07452
¢ NEW YORK ) Brentwood Commodore Computer Club, c/o Public Library, 2nd & 4th St., Brentwood, NY 11711
Bronx User's Group, P.O. Box 523, Bronx, NY 10475 Hudson Valley Commodore Club, c/o 620 Plainfield St., Kingston, NY 12401
Mohawk Valley C.U.G., P.O. Box 343, Tribes Hill, NY 12177-0343
Northern NY Commodore Home Users Group, c/o6 Garden St., Pottsdam, NY 13662
Queens Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 129, Queens, NY 11417
Tri-City Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 12742, Albany, NY 12212
ABCUG, P.O. Box 179, Glen Burnie, MD 21060-0179 A.C.U.G., P.O. Box 3358, Annapolis, MD 21403
G MASSACHUSETTS. ) Boston Computer Society Commodore SIG, 101 First Ave., Suite 2, Waltham, MA 02154
Commodore Computer Club Of The Berkshires, 38 Walden Lane, Pittsfield, MA 01201
Pioneer Valley Commodore Club, 6 Laurel Terrace, Westfield, MA 01085
¢ MICHIGAN ) Down River Commodore Group, P.O. Box 1277, Southgate, MI 48195
Lansing Area Commodore Club, P.O. Box 1065, E. Lansing, MI 48826
Michigan Commodore User’s Group, 800 Lloyd, Madison Heights, MI 48071-1915
Muskegon AreaC.U.G., P.O. Box 4496, Muskegon Hts., MI 49444 Saginaw Area C.U.G., P.O. Box 2393, Saginaw, Ml 48605- 2393
April 1996
21
@ OHIO. B) Ashtabula County Commodore User's Group, c/o 1527 Elmwood Dr., Ashtabula, OH 44004
Basic Bits Commodore Group, P.O. Box 81886, Cleveland, OH 44181-0886
Central Ohio C.U.G., P.O. Box 28229, Columbus, OH 43228-8229
Cincinnati Commodore Computer Club, 5575 Pleasant Hill Rd., Milford, OH 45150
Commodore Computer Club of Toledo, P.O. Box 13011, Toledo, OH 43613
Dayton Area Commodore User's Group, c/o 1748 Lanbury Dr., Dayton, OH 5439
Erie Bay C.U.G., P.O. Box 1461, Sandusky, OH 44870-1461 Shelby C.U.G., P.O. Box 512, Shelby, OH 44875
C OKLAHOMA =) Commodore User’s Group of Lawton, P.O. Box 3392, Lawton, OK 73502
Commodore Users of Bartlesville, 1920 Santa Fe, Bartlesville, OK 74003
COMMODORE WORLD
Tulsa Area Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 52473, Tulsa, OK 74152-0473
Russell Fork Commodore Club, HC1, Box 790, Birchleaf, VA 24220
C OREGON )
C WASHINGTON 5)
Amiga Commodore User’s Group, 623 29th St., Astoria, OR 97103
Commodore User’s Association, P.O. Box84, Medford, OR 97501 Coos Computer Club, 2175 Everett, North Bend, OR 97459 Lane County Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 11316, Eugene, OR 97440
Milwaukie Community Computer Club, 3902 SE 28th Place, Portland, OR 97202-3512
Vancouver Commodore Users Group, c/o David Erickson, 15859 S.E. Brenda Ave., Milwaukie, OR 97267
C PENNSYLVANIA
Commodore Bellingham User's Group, 3368 N. State Road 20, #15, Oak Harbor, WA 98277
Commodore Users Of Puget Sound, P.O. Box 1806, Silverdal, WA 98383-1806
Spokane Commodore User’s Grp, P.O. Box 474, Mead, WA 99021-0474
Tri-City Commodore Computer Club, P.O. Box 224, Richland, WA 99352-0224
University of Washington CCUG, c/o 12614 6th Ave., NW, Seattle, WA 98177
U.P.C.H.U.G, P.O. Box 11191, Tacoma, WA 98411-1191
) Harrisburg Area Computer Club, 721 S. 29th St., Harrisburg, PA 17111 Lehigh Valley C.U.G., 931 Lawrence Dr., Emmaus, PA 18049 Main Line Commodore User's Group, 1046 General Allen Ln., West Chester, PA 19382 Philadelphia Area Computer Society, c/o LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA 19141 Pittsburgh Commodore Group, P.O. Box 16126, Pittsburgh, PA 15242
C SOUTH DAKOTA ) Sioux Empire Commodore Club, 1932 S. Menlo Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57105-2717
C TENNESEE ) Memphis Commodore User Club, P.O, Box 34095, Memphis, TN 38134
C TEXAS ) Commodore Houston User’s Group, P.O. Box 441252, Houston, TX 77244-1252
Commodore Users of San Antonio Texas, P.O. Box 380732, San Antonio, TX 78280
Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail, Route 7, Box 7614, Palestine, TX 75801
Metroplex Commodore Comp. Grp., P.O. Box 813, Bedford, TX 76095
North Dallas C.U.G., c/o 1522 Bitter Creek, Garland, TX 75040
C UTAH ) Mountain Computer Society, c/o 3898 Cheryl St., Salt Lake City, UT 84119
C VERMONT ) Champlain Valley Commodore User's Group, 6 Mayfair St., S. Burlington, VT 05043
C VIRGINIA ) Fredericksburg Commodore Club, 6803 Teal Court, Spotsylvania, VA 22553
Peninsula Commodore User’s Group, c/o W.L. Philips, P.O. Box 11293, Newport News, VA 23601-9293
COMMODORE WORLD
22
C WEST VIRGINIA ) Commodore Home User’s Group, 81 Lynwood Ave., Wheeling, WV 26003
C WYOMING ) Cheyenne Assoc. of Computer Enthusiasts, P.O. Box 1733, Cheyenne, WY 82003-1733
G AUSTRALIA ) ACTSCC, 1 Kitson Place, Florey, ACT 2615, Australia Albury/Wodonga CUG, P.O. Box 1014, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia
C-64/128 Club of NSW, P.O. Box 244, Warilla, NSW 2528, Australia C-64 Developments, P.O. Box 150, Unanderra NSW 3128, Australia
Hills 64 Group, P.O. Box 537, Cockatoo VIC, 3781, Australia Melbourne CUG, P.O. Box 177, Box Hill, Vic. 3128, Australia Woombug 8-Bit, P.O. Box 213, Woombye, QLD 4559, Australia
é CANADA ) Calgary Commodore User Group, c/o 427 Sth Ave., SE, High River, AB T1V 1H9, Canada
Commodore Users of Edmonton, 9550-83 St., Edmonton, Alberta T6C-3A1, Canada
Hamilton Commodore Users Group, 35-1400 Limeridge Rd., East, Hamilton, Ontario L8W-1L7, Canada
Ottawa Home Computer Club, 1743 Caminiti Cresent, Orleans, Ontario K4A-1M2, Canada
Toronto PET Users Group, 5334 Yonge St., Box 116, Willowdale, Ontario M2N 6M2, Canada
True North 64 Diehards, c/o 2712 Tetrault St., Terrace, BC V8G 2W8, Canada
@ NETHERLANDS. D Crystal Software & Electonics Nederland, c/o A. deVries, Leemveld 158, 9407 GE, ASSEN, The Netherlands
4 NEW ZEALAND. ) Kapiti Commodore Users’ Group, 23 Weggery Dr., Waikanae, New Zealand
%)
Issue 14
The following are known user groups, however, the existence and addresses of the groups were not verified, although attempts were made by Commodore Worldto do so. If you can verify that any of these groups are still in operation, or if you have information on address changes, etc., please help your fellow Commodore users, and send them
to us at CW. Thank you.
( ALASKA ) Commodore/Amiga User’s Group, 2597 Boulder Ave., North Pole, AK 99705
C ALABAMA Chattanooga Commodore User’s Group Inc., P.O. Box 271, Bryant, AL 35958-0271
iC ARIZONA ) Commodore Club South, P.O. Box 324, Pinson, AZ 85126 C.0.U.G.A.R., P.O. Box 21291, Phoenix, AZ 85036-1291 Havasu Commodore User’s Group, 61 Keywester Dr., Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403
Prescott Area Commodore Club, P.O. Box 4019, Prescott, AZ 86301-4019
Thunder Mountain User’s Group, P.O. Box 1796, Sierra Vista, AZ 85636-1796
Valley 128 User’s Group, P.O. Box 21063, Phoenix, AZ 85036-1063
Valley One Twenty Eight User Group, P.O. Box 9641, Scottsdale, AZ 85252-9641
C ARKANSAS. ) Hot Springs Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 3692, Hot Springs, AR 71914-3692
Program Commodore Computer Club, P.O. Box 6000, Fort Smith, AR 72906-6000
Triple-D 64, P.O. Box 301, Reyno, AR 72462-0301
t CALIFORNIA ) A.B.A.C.U.S., P.O. Box 40334, Bakersfield, CA 93384 A.S.C.1. , 6160 Malvern Ave., Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91701
Barstow Commodore User Group, 1733 Sunset St., Barstow, CA 92311
C West Bay Area Commodore/Amiga User Group, 1564 Waller #B, San Francisco, CA 94117
C.A.C.T.U.S., 1626 N. Wilson Ave., Upland, CA 91786 Civic 64/128, P.O. Box 2442, Oxnard, CA 93034-2442 Coastline Commodore Club, 20311 Ravenwood Ln., Huntington Beach, CA 92646
Commodore Connection Users Group, P.O. Box 2851, Antioch, CA 94509-2851
April 1996
23
Commodore Commodore Hayward User Group, P.O. Box 2072, San Leandro, CA 94577
Commodore Helpers of Long Beach, 3736 Myrtle Ave., Long Beach, CA 90807
_) Commodore System User Network, C/O 3894 Jupiter Ave.,
Lompoc, CA 93436-1904
Fairfield Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 2778, Fairfield, CA 94533-2778
FOG International User’s Group, P.O. Box 3474, Daly City, CA 94015-3474
Hughes Aircraft Company Commodore User's Club, Bldg. S-12, Mail stop 322, P.O. Box 92919, Los Angeles, CA 90009 Humboldt Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 6502, Eureka, CA 95502-6502
Los Angeles County Commodore Club, 5947 Reno Ave., Temple City, CA 91780
Monterey Bay Commodore User's Group, 921 Tower Place, Santa Cruz, CA 95062-4118
Mother Lode, P.O. Box 1286, San Andreas, CA 95249-1286 Nappa Vally Computer Club, P.O. Box 2324, Napa, CA 94558-2324
North Bay User’s Group, P.O. Box 7156, Vallejo, CA 94590-7156
North Orange County Computer Club, P.O. Box 3616, Orange, CA 92665
Oceana-64 Commodore User Group, 1004 Plover Way, Oceanside, CA 92057
Petcetera-On The Air, 525 Crestlake Dr., San Francisco, CA 94132
Plus/4 User’s Group, P.O, Box 1001, Monterey, CA93942- 1001
Santa Rosa Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 5830, Santa Rosa, CA 95402-5830
S.0.C.K., 25401 Champlain Rd., Laguna Hills, CA 92653 The Software Palace, 8978 Megan Ave., West Hills, CA 91304
South Bay Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 1899, Chula Vista, CA 92012-1899
Stockton Commodore User’s Group, 714 East Oak St., Stockton, CA 95202
64/More, P.O. Box 612794, San Jose, CA 95161-2794 Valley CC Newsletter, P.O. Box 310, Denair, CA 95316- 0310
COMMODORE WORLD
(@ COLORADO ) Colorado Commodore Computer Club, 1192 S. Nome, Aurora, CO 80012 Softwords Commodore Club, P.O. Box 25851, Colorado Springs, CO 80936
( CONNECTICUT ) Hartford County Commodore User Group, 182-J Homestead St., Manchester, CT 06040-3042
Stamford Area Commodore Society, P.O. Box 2122, Stamford, CT 06906
C DELEWARE ) Lower Delaware Computer Club, Box 5344, Nassau, DE 19969
@ FLORIDA p} Clearwater Commodore Club, P.O, Box 11211, Clearwater, FL 34616-1211
Commodore Computer Club, 6956 Maudin Ln., Jacksonville, FL 32244
Commodore Country Club, 9125 US 19 North, Pinellas Park, FL 34666
Commodore User’s Group of Pensacola, P.O. Box 36367, Pensacola, FL 32516-6367
Dinosaur 64, C/O Robin Tate, P.O. Box 9202, Masaryktown, FL 34609-9202
Lake/Sumter User's Group, P.O. Box 416, Leesburg, FL34749 New Users, 3013 S.W. 11th St., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312
id GEORGIA ) Albany Commordore Amateur Computerists User Group, P.O. Box 5461, Albany, GA 31706-5461
@ IOWA -) CCUGI of Des Moines, P.O. Box 35502, Des Moines, IA 50315-5502
Cedar Valley Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 2254, Waterloo, IA 50704-2254
Northeast lowa Amiga User's Group, P.O. Box 241, Cedar Falls, IA 50613-0241
Plymouth County Commodore User’s Group, 508 First St. SW, LeMars, IA 51031
Product Engineering Center Commodore Users, 319 Ivanhoe Rd., Waterloo, 1A 50701
TSCUG, P.O. Box 546, Dubuque, IA 52001-0546
QCCCC, P.O. Box 3994, Davenport, IA 52808-3994
C IDAHO ) Banana Belt Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 1272, Lewiston, ID 83501-1272
Boise Area Commodore User’s Group, 3213 N. Kelly Way, Boise, ID 83704
PFP 64/Amiga Software Exchange, 860 Sherwood #306, Boise, ID 83202
Commodore Byte, 3871 Leeward Ln., Hanover Park, IL 60103
Commodore Club of Rockford, P.O. Box 10022, Rockford, IL 61131-0022
Commodore Computer Connection, Box 82, Richview, |L62877 Decatur Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 2752, Decatur, IL 62526-2752
Fox Valley Commodore User’s Group, 833 Prospect, Elgin, IL 60120
Jacksonville Area Commodore Users, 4 Purcell St., P.O. Box 135, Murrayville, IL 62668-0135
Kankakee River Vally Computer Users Group, Attn: Ronald Green, RR1 Box 29, Piper City, IL 60959
Knox Commodore Club, P.O. Box 494, Galesburg, IL 61402-0494
McHenry County Commodore Computer Club, 227 East Terra Cotta Ave., Crystal Lake, IL 60014
McHenry County Commodore Computer Club, c/o Lyle Giese, 913 West Ave., Woodstock, IL 60098
Micro-Bytes, 2548 S. Kenilworth, Berwyn, IL 60402
Peoria Area Commodore User's Group, 2508 N. Rockwood Rd. , Peoria, IL 61604
Peoria Area Commodore User's Group, 3330 W. Farmington Rd., Peoria, IL 61604
Sandwich Computer User’s Group, P.O. Box345, Sandwich, IL 60548
S.P.U.G. Computer Club, P.O. Box 9035, Springfield, |L62791 Suburban Commodore User’s Group, Box 40, Westmont, IL 60559-0040
Survivors Of The Sixty-Four Users Group, P.O. Box 6108, Macomb, IL 61455-6108
U.N.C.L.E., 533 N. 4th Ave., DesPlaines, IL 60016 Western Illinois Programmers, RR5, Box 75, Quincy, IL 62301
C INDIANA ) Anderson Computer User’s Group, 830 Harold St., Anderson, IN 46013
Commodore Computer Club of Evansville, 819 Treelone Dr., Newburgh, IN 47630
Com-Net, P.O. Box 161, Vevay, IN 47043-0161 Logansport Computer Club, P.O. Box 1161, Logansport, IN 47043-1161
Richmond Area Computer User’s Group, P.O. Box 1332, Richmond, IN 47375-1332
C KENTUCKY ) Bowling Green Commodore Users Group, c/o 1052 Castle Heights Rd., Bowling Green, KY 42103
Commodore Owners of Owensboro KY, 3807 Krystal Ln., Owensboro, KY 42303
C LOUISIANA ) B.R.A.C.E., P.O. Box 1422, Baton Rouge, LA 70821
C ILLINOIS )
C MASSACHUSETTS. )
Canton Area Commodore Users Group, P.O. Box 61, Canton, IL 61520-0061
COMMODORE WORLD
24
Northeast Computer User’s Group, 24 Pineneedle St., Chelmsford, MA 01824
Issue 14
Worcester Area Com-Rades, 35 Hilltop Ave., Jefferson, MA
C MARYLAND _) semamodore Users Group, 505 Marcia Ln., Rockville, MD Hagerstown User’s Group, 953 W. Washington St., Hagerstown, MD 21740
NIST Commodore User’s Group , 8 Cross Ridge Court, Germantown, MD 20874
Westinghouse Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 8756, Baltimore, MD 21240-8756
WICOMICO Commodore User’s Group, 11423 Back Creek Rad., Bishopville, MD 21813
Greater Omaha Commodore User’s Group, P.O
, P.O. Br 241155, Omaha, NE 68124 ia Kearney Area Commodore Computer Klub, P.O. Box 161 vf Kearney, NE 68848-1611 LincoIn Commodore User’s Group, 5742 Saylor, Li NE 68506 Z bat Mid-Nebraska Users of Commodores, 1920 North Huston Ave., Grand Island, NE 68803 Micro Guerrilla News, 1006 W. 2nd St., McCook, NE 69001
C NORTH DAKOTA ) The Computer Club, P.O. Box 5521, Bismarck, ND 58502- 5521
C MAINE
DC
NORTH CAROLINA
Commodore Users Group of Coastal Maine, RT 2 Box 3254, Bowdoinham, ME 04008
Commodore Users Society of Penobscot, University of Maine at Orono, 101 Crosby Hall, Orono, ME 04469
Your Users Group, P.O. Box 1924, N. Windham, ME 04062
CTUGINC, 321 Hooker Rd., Lot #2, Wilmington, NC 28401 Sandhills Computer Club, 250 Oakmont Cir., Pinehurst, NC 28374
Triad Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 10833, Greensboro, NC 27404-0833
C MICHIGAN
NEW HAMPSHIRE D)
) Bay de Noc Geos User's Group, c/o Tom Fairchild, 916 Minneapolis Ave., Gladstone, Ml 49837 Commodore Operators of Marysville Pt. Huron, 4579 Lake Shore Rd., Pt. Huron, MI 48060 Commodore User’s Group of Michiana, 1525 Clarendon St., Niles, MI 49120 Lenawee Commodore User’s Group, 210 Chestnut St., Adrian, Ml 49221 Midland Computer Club, 4702 Jefferson Ave., Midland, Ml 48640 Traverse Area Commodore Club, P.O. Box 1, Rodney, MI49342
C MISSOURI ) Columbia Commodore Users, P.O. Box 7633, Columbia, MO 65205
Commodore User's Group of Springfield, P.O, Box 607, Springfield, MO 65801-0607
Hartland Users Group, P.O. Box 281, Cape Giraudeau, MO 63702-0281
The Southeast Missouri Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 615, Farmington, MO 63640-0615
C MISSISSIPPI -) Coastline Commodore Computer Club, P.O. Box 114, Biloxi, MS 39533-0114
U
C MONTANA Miles City 64/128 User’s Group, 700 South Prairie, Miles Gity, MT 59301
Missoula Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 3331, Missoula, MT 59806-3331
@ NEBRASKA ) Alliance Commodore Computer Club, 607 Toluca, Alliance, NE 69301
April 1996
25
C
The Chain Gang, 11 Park Rd., Tilton, NH 03276 Commodore Help And Information Network, P.O. Box 654, Laconia, NH 03247-0654
Seacoast Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box511, Durham, NH 03824-0511
C NEW MEXICO. ) Commodore User’s Group of Roswell, 1619 N. Kansas Ave., Roswell, NM 88201
Deming Commodore User’s Group, 1400 Mallery St., Deming, NM 88030
New Mexico Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 37127, Albuquerque, NM 87176-7127
Southern NM Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 4437, University Park, NM 88003-4437
C OHIO ) Akron Area Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 9293, Akron, OH 44305-9293
Canton/Alliance/Massilon User’s Group, P.O. Box 2423, North Canton, OH 44720-2423
COM-NET, P.O. Box 390, Woodsfield, OH 43793-0390 Mahoning Valley Commodore Club, P.O. Box 1180, Youngstown, OH 44501-1180
? Syntax Error, 2040 Turnbull Rd., Dayton, OH 45431 Trumbull Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box8632, Warren, OH 44484-8632
C OKLAHOMA ) Commodore User's Group of Altus, P.O. Box 701, Altus, OK 73522-0701
Midcontinent Mail Group, 10309 Caton Place, Midwest City, OK 73130
Stillwater Computer Society, 3124 N. Lincoln, Stillwater, OK 74075
COMMODORE WORLD
C OREGON ) CRASH-64, P.O. Box 241, Salem, OR 97308
NEW JERSEY )
Tri-State Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 8971,
Amarillo, TX 79114-8971 US of Amiga, 6609 Joliet Dr., Lubbock, TX 79413
C m9 Garden State User’s Group, 89 Stratford Rd., Tinton Falls,
NJ 07724 D.E.B.U.G., 713 2nd St., Dunellen, NJ 08812
C UTAH ) Wasatch Commodore User’s Group, PO Box 281, Roy, UT 84067-0281
@ NEW YORK ) €
VIRGINIA D)
Brooklyn Commodore User’s Group, 1735 E. 13th St., Apt 7N, Brooklyn, NY 11229
C.U.G.O.R, P.O. Box 23463, Rochester, NY 14692-3463 Folklife Terminal Club, Box 555, Coop City Station, Bronx, NY 10475
Morrisonville Commodore User’s Group, Rt.1, Box 61, Morrisonville, NY 12962
¢ PENNSYLVANIA Blue Juniata Commodore User's Group, 28 Oakland Ave., Lewiston, PA 17044
Buxmont Computer User’s Group, 1206 Cowpath Rd., Hatfield, PA 19440
Capital Area Commodore Club, P.O. Box 309, Grantville, PA 17028-0309
Centre Area C.C.C., 1104 S. Atherton St., State College, PA 16801
Commodore Users of Lebanon County, P.O. Box 511, Richland, PA 17087-0511
EPA Commodore User’s Group, 1712 Aidenn Laire Rd., Dresher, PA 19025
Lower Bucks User’s Group, P.O. Box 397, Croydon, PA 19020-0397
North Coast Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 6117, Erie, PA 16512-6117
West Branch Commodore User's Group, 1111 Franklin St., Williamsport, PA 17701
C SOUTH DAKOTA Port 64, P.O. Box 1191, Rapid City, SD 57709-1191
C TENNESEE ) Chattanooga Commodore Users, 1406 Blackwell Dr., Chattanooga, TN 37412
Clarksville Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 2171, Clarksville, TN 37042-2171
C TEXAS. ) Abilene Cursor Control, P.O. Box 6261, Abilene, TX 79608-6261
Commodore Users of Texas, 7007 Memphis Ave., Lubbock, TX 79413,
CVCUG, P.O.Box 2661, San Angelo, TX 76902-2661 Longview Computer User's Group, P.O. Box 9284, Longview, TX 75608-9284
Midessa Commodore User's Group, 2601 North A, Apt #182, Midland, TX 79705
SITCOM-Mail Link, 74 Laura Lane, Brownsville, TX 78521
COMMODORE WORLD
26
Middle Peninsula Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 391, Gloucester, VA 23061-0391 , Piedmont User’s Group, 149 Marshall Terr., Danville, VA 24541
Portsmouth Commodore User’s Group, P.O. Box 6561, Portsmouth, VA 23703-6561
C VERMONT. )
_) Green Mountain Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box
6087, Rutland, VT 05702-6087 Springfield Area Computer Club, RFD 2, Box 123, Melody Ln., Springfield, VT 05156
C WISCONSIN. ) Club Commodore, P.O. Box 085682, Racine, WI! 53408- 5682
Madison Area Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 1305, Madison, WI 53701-1305
Milwaukee Area Commodore Enthusiasts, P.O. Box 26216, Milwaukee, WI 53226-6261
Wisconsin Association of VIC/Commodore Enthusiasts, 5926 West Appleton Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53210
t WEST VIRGINIA
Blue Mountain Commodore User's Group, 550 S. 2nd Ave., Walla Walla, WA 99362
Mid Ohio Valley Commodore Club, P.O.Box 2222, Parkersburg, WV 26102-2222
-) Northwest Commodore User's Group, 2565 Dexter N.,
#203, Seattle, WA 98109 Olympic Peninsula User's Group, P.O. Box 1894, Port Angeles, WA 98362-1894
Petcetera-on-the-Air, P.O. Box 228, Seattle, WA 98062- 0228
C WYOMING p Commodore Owners Group of Sheridan, c/o Rick Coleman, P.O. Box 44, Sheridan, WY 82801-0044
The Final Horizon, 1409 Mill St., Laramie, WY 82070
C NEW ZEALAND. ) Christchurch Commodore User's Group, P.O. Box 4665, Christchurch, New Zealand
§)
Issue 14
y
“User Groups!
Register your group with Commodore World
Please send us your group’s name, contact person and phone number; when you meet, number of users, and an address where users can contact you to:
CW UG Connection c/o Creative Micro Designs P.O. Box 646 East Longmeadow, MA 01028-0646
¥% Click Here Software’s
¢ SEND & RECEIVE FAXES to/from any fax machine or computer running a fax modem
* User-friendly and easy to operate ° Auto-answer mode for unattended operation
* Manual send/receive mode lets you share phone line
* Built-in functions convert faxes to geoPaint files * geoPaint files may be faxed without conversion
* Built-in printing functions for printing fax documents and geoPaint files
Printer drivers may be selected directly from within the program
* Full-page scanning into geoPaint is possible using a standard fax machine as a scanner
* Built-in simple terminal program lets you browse telecommunications services
Information on the whereabouts of the following:
WANTED!
Commodore 64 West Users Group, CA Sacremento Commodore Computer Club, CA Capitol Complex Commodore Computer, 1A Diskoveries PD Library Club, IL Computer Users of Lexington, MI HUG-64, OH Scranton Commodore User's Group, PA River Rats User Group, SC Capitol Area Commodore Enthusiasts, VA Washington Area Commodore User's Group, VA
Connection Box 6416 neadow, MA O1026
* Commodore C-64, * GEOS 64 or GEOS 128 version 2.0 * SwiftLink RS-232 cartridge
* Group Ill, Class 2 fax modem
¢ GEOS compatible disk drive (large capacity drive or RAM disk recommended but not required)
System Requirements C-64C, C-128, 128-D computer
geoFAX. SwiftLink ....00 $39.95
BOCA 14.4 Fax Modem .. $129.95 Modem.
geoFAX, SwiftLink & BOCA 14.4 Fax $195
Creative Micro Designs
April 1996
See our main ad in this Issue for complete ordering information.
27
1-800-638-3263
COMMODORE WORLD
HD/Senes scsi! Hard Disk Daves
HD-40, 40 MB (Limited Supply)... . 170 MB (Special Edition} HD-500, 500+ MB (Special Edition) HD-1000, 1 GB (Spocial Edition) HD-2000, 2 GB (Special Edition)
B= J6" Floppy Disk Drives)
FD-2000 (800K and 1.6 MB) FD Real-Time-Clock Option Kit Box of 10, High Density Disks (1,6MB) Box of 10, Enhanced Density Disks (3.2 MB)
(Specity computer sorial number and drive model)
JilfyDOS C6A/SX-64 System ‘itlyDOS C-128/128-D System ‘Additional Drive ROMs
Miscoilnnoous Hardware
80-column Monitors (Rolurb) Action-Replay Cartridge Aprotok 3-Way User Port Expander Aprotek User Port Extonsion Cable 6-64 Computer (Refurb, wiJD) €-64C Computer (Refurb, wiJD) C-64, C-64C Power Supply (Repairabio) €-64, C-64C HD Powor Supply (Repairabie) 6-128 Computer (Refurb, WiJD) sn
€-128 Computer (Rofurb, widD, no PS €-128 Power Supply (Repairable) ... Gannon BUC-4100 Color Bubblo Jot Printor ‘Commodore 1541 Disk Drives (Refurb, w/dD) .. Gommodoro 1541-11 Disk Drive (Refurt, wiJD) Commodore 1571 Disk Drive (Refurb, w/ JD) .. ‘Commodore 1702 40-column Monitor (Refurb) Commodore 1802 40-column Monitor (Refurb)
Commodore Sx-64 Computer (Refurb, wiJD) ... $199.00 Pockot Plannor 2 ar Pocket Filer 2 (Digital Sol.)
CMD EX2+1 3-Port Cartridge Port Expander CMD EX3 3-Port Cartrdge Port Expander CMD Gamopad/Joystick Controller
CMO GeoCabie Il Print Cable tt/15h. CMD SmartMouso (1351 Compatible Mouse) CMD SmartTrack (1351 Compatible Trackball) Inkwell Light Pen Modol 170C
Monitor Cablos
Mouse Pad
MW-350 Printer interlace (OK/BK Butter) $49,00/$60.00 TWS 64 w/Spelier (Busy Bee)
Panasonic KXP-1150 3-pin Panter Panasonic KXP-2023 24-pin Printor Panasonic KXP-2195 24-pin Color Printer
Big Blue Reader V4. 10 (SOGWAP) a CMD Utlitios .. iti JityMON-64 (ML Monitar
‘Tho Compression Kit ‘94 (Mad Man)
Collette Uniitios (Handy Geos Unites) Desk Pack Plus Dweezils Greatest Hits New odsd Samp Labeit28)
FONTPACK Plus son setvaclen $25.00
agateWay 64 or 128 (Speciy Version $20.05 Cup oo ees 200 ba ‘geo ” A =~. $20.00 SwiftLink RS-232 Cartndge (Up to 38.4K baud) - geoCale 64/128 ‘$40.00'845.00 D
Seochart : $29.00 ‘SwiftLink Modem Cable (D89-DB25) QOOFAX ...., $39.95,
geoFile 64/128 $40.00/$45.00 Atomino.
geoMakeBoot (Makes Bootable copies) $12.95 Balistix
geoProgrammer $45.00 Blood Money
geoPublish ‘$40.00 Chomp!
GEOS 64 v2.0 $44.00 Day in the Life of Prehistoric Man
GEOS 128 v2.0 $49.00 Escape Route
geoSHELL V2.2 (CLI for GEOS)
International FONTPACK " Porfect Print LQ for GEOS (Laser-like output) RUN GEOS Companon
RUN GEOS Power Pak | or li (Specity)
Anatomy of tho 1541
C-64 Science & Enginooring
6128 Computer Aided Design
C128 BASIC Training Guide Commodore 64 Tricks and Tips GEOS Programmars Reference Guide Graphics Book for the C-64 Hitchhikors Guide to GEOS
Ideas for Use on Your C-64
Printer Book for the C64
Mapping the C64
Simplo int
Handyscannor Paget... Video Digitizer Videotox
WE ACCEPT ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS
Cre
$29,00/$34.00 SEC Chock Registor 128
+» $35.00 The President Is Missing!
RAMUnic Power Backed RAMIDIsK
nnnen CALL RAMLink Base Modol (OMB, No RAMCard) ..... $149.00 "$319.00 RAMLink w/t MB RAMCard (Special!) $199.00 "$399.00 RAMLInk w/4 MB RAMCard (Special! $239.00 $499.00 RAMCard RTC OptiowKit '$10.00$19.00 $899.00 RAMLink Battery Back-up (Optional) $24.95 Parallel Cable (RAMLink to HD) $14.95 MIDI & Sound
$179.95 '$20'00/$29.00 Digimaster $34.95 $14.95 SID Symphony Stereo Cartridge $44.95 $29.00 Sonus 64 Sequencer, MIDI intertace, Cables... $99.00 Sonus 128 Sequencer, MIDI Interface, Cables ... $99.00
nnguages & Compilers: 4
$49.95 BASIC 64 Compiler (Abacus) $17.00 $59.95 BASIC 128 Compiler (Abacus) $25.00 $24.98 Bitz! 64 Compiler (Skyles) $30.00 Blitz! 128 Compiler (Skyles) $30.00
= Buddy 64/128 Assembler $39.00
CALL Cobol 64 (Abacus) $17.00 we $59.95 Fortran 64 (Abacus) $17.00 $30.00 Pascal 64 (Abacus) $17.00 $19.00 Power C 64 (Spinnaker) 514.00 atiees | Productivity : $39.00 Cadpak 64 (Abacus) $22.00 56.95 Cadpak 128 (Abacus) $25.00 $178.00 Chartpak 64 (Abacus) $17.00 $129.00 Charipak 126 (Abacus) » $25,00 $56.95 Data Managor 64 (Timoworks) $16.00 $399.00 | Paint v1.5 (126, 80-col , 64K VDC) (Living Proof) . $29.00 1 $89.00 | Port v1'58 (128, €0-col. 64K VOC) (Living Prof). $29.00 “$109.00 Personal Portoio Manager (Abacus) $16.00 $119.00 Pocket Writer 1 (64) Digtal Sol.) $35.00
$6500 $70.00 $35.00 $15.00
$109.00 Pockot Writer 2 (64/128) (Digital Sol) $139.00 Pocket Writor 3 (64 or 128) (Digital Sol)
$34.95 RUN Productivity Pak | Il or ill (Spocity) $29.95 RUN Super Starter Pak 1541 or 1587 $2495 RUN Works
$49.95 SuperScript 64 (Precision)
$69.95 SuperScript 128 (Precision)
$75.00 Suberbaso 64 Version 3.01 (Precision) CALL Suporbase 128 Version 3.01 (Precision) $2.95 SwitiCalc 64 (Timaworks)
$169.00 TWS 128 wiSpelier (Busy Bea) $229.00 TWS Modules (HD/RUIustrator)
sstc.00 peommunications
Aprotek MiniModem C-24 (C= ready, 2400 baud) $69.00 ‘$39.00 Aprotek MiniModem C (C= ready, 1200 baud) .... $50,00 $24.95 Aprotek Com-Modem Adapter (for ext. modem) .. $19.00 $19.95 Aprotek Com-Modem Adapter Cable $39.00 BOCA 2400 Baud Modem: BOCA 2400 w/SwiftLink and Cable BOCA 14.4K bps FaxModom $19.95 BOCA 14,4K w/SwittLink & Cablo $29.00 BOCA V.34 28.8K bps FaxModem $30.00 BOCA V.34 w/SwiftLink & Cable
Ht Feensts $25.00 Island of the Dragon $49.95 Laser Squad $20.00 Lazer Duel $20.00 Lions of the Universe $12.00 Rings of Medusa $12.00 RUN C128 Funpak $12.00 RUN C64 Gamepak $12.00 Skate or Die
Slaterman ‘$12.00 The Amazing Spider-Man
$12.00 The Three Stooges HE a i ‘Break Tennis
otal Eclipso $16.95 UtimaV
Waikere Wings ot Circo
$253.00 Wizardry 5: Hoar af tho Mavisirom
ged CMD Repairs Computers & Drives!
ee,
CAD
ive Micro Designs, Inc.
P.O. Box 646 East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Info: (413) 525-0023 Fax: (413) 525-0147
SOFTWARE» GMD
JiffyDOS
’ Increase Speed Up to 1500% while retaining 100% compatibility
Saving, Verifying, Formatting and Reading/ Writing of Program, Sequential, User and Relative files unlike cartridges which only speed up Loading and Saving of PRG files
* Built-in DOS Wedge plus 17 additional features including file copier, text dump, printer toggle, and redefinable function keys make using your computer easier and more convenient
. ROM upgrade installs easily into most computers and disk drives. Supports C-64, 64C, SX-64, C-128, 128-D, 1541, 1541C, 1541-11,1571, 1581 and more.
EDSeries
1.6 MB 3.5" Floppy Drives
The FD-2000 disk drives utilize today’s latest 3.5 inch disk drive technology. FD-2000's support 800K (1581 style) and 1.6 MB (High Density) formats. Fast and reliable, they support 1541, 1571 and 1581 style partitions, Native Mode partitioning and can actually read and write 1581 disks. FD's feature built-in JiffyDOS, SWAP button and optional Real Time Clock. High capacity, speed and compatibility make the FD right for
every application, including GEOS.
Power-Backed Expandable REU
The fastest possible form of storage, RAMLink provides instant access to files and retains data while your computer is turned off. Easy to use and expandable up to 16 MB, RAMLink utilizes the same powerful operating system found in CMD Hard Drives. Unlike Commodore REU's which are compatible with less than 1% of commercial software, RAMLink Supports more than 80% of the commercial titles, RAMLink also offers built-in JiffyOOS Kernal, SWAP feature, reset button, enable/ disable switch, pass-thru port and RAM port for REU/GEORAM use. RAMLink offers maximum speed, expandability and compatibility with all types of software and hardware including GEOS.
SCSI Hard Drive for the C-64/128 HD Series Hard Drives are available in capacities up to 1 GB, are fully partitionable, and can emulate 1541, 1571, & 1581 disks while Native partitions utilize MS-DOS-style ‘subdirectories. HD's connect easily to the serial bus or parallel via RAMLink. Includes built-in JiffyDOS, SWAP feature and RTC. HD's offer superior compatibility with most commercial software including BBS, Productivity and GEOS. And with new pricing, HD Series drives offer the lowest cost per megabyte of any C64/128 storage device.
Shipping and Handling Charges
‘Use the chart below to malch your onder subtotal with your shipping 2one-and metho
* Speeds up Loading,
Continental United States
| urs || 2nd | Next [AK | Ground | Day | Day | HILPA | Canada
S450 | $1300 | CALL | $15.00 | $5.00
5.60 | $17.00 CALL CALL
Order Subtotat $0.01 to $19.99 {$20.00 to $29.99 $20.00 to $59.99 1340.00 10 $140.99 5150.00 to $299.99
$300.00 to $799.99 {$800.00 and up
Fete ~ CALL siren ion [ ORC ‘519.00 | $9.00 | CALL $1200 | CALL coc $40.00 | $25.00 “CALL ‘ss0.00 | $30.60 | CALL
$650 | $1900
s10.00 | 315.00 $20.00
CALL
Policies: CMO accepts: Major Credit Cards, Money Orders, COD and Personal Chocks. Personal Chocks are held 3 wooks. Customer Is responsible for shipping charges on refusals, Most items are stock, contact CMD for firm delivery. Returns for merchandise credit only within 30 days with prior autherization. Crodits ate less shipping. handling, taxes, customs, duties, and a 10% restocking charge. No retunds or cradits on opened software. All prices and specifications aro subject to change without notico.
Don’t Miss the LOWEST Price Ever on CMD’s Most Popular Storage Devices
to Son™ cf?! os Starting) at 199°°
RAMLink w/ 1MB RAMCard $199°° RAMLink w/ 4MB RAMCard $299°° RAMLink w/ 1MB, RTC, Battery $224°° RAMLink w/ 4MB, RTC, Battery $324°°
Prices do not include shipping and handling: See our main advertisement on the opposite page for shipping prices and policies,
disk h nal HD-200 back in 1990. If you've ever
0 low 1 just adding a CMD HD Series hard drive to your
uldn't refuse. Additionally, we system, now is the time to doit! These outstanding prices
were offered some superb will only last as long as our supply of these specially priced
pricing on the larger Hard drives. So don't hesitate—add the power and flexibility of a Drives; so low, in fact, CMD hard drive to your system today!
CMD) HD:40) JUS:
HDIS0) HDA OLD) HDEZUU)
IN REVIEW RAMLink
Imagine a device that can provide battery backup for your Commodore 17XX REU, GEORam, or CMD RAMDrive. Further imagine the same deviceprovidingup toan additional 16 megabytes of expansion RAM storage. Collectively, you can utilize all that RAM just like a Commodore REU ora GEORam device, or load and save files to the memory as ifit were a large disk drive. To do the latter, youneednot mess with loading RAMDOS. In addition, the device provides its own copy of Creative Micro Designs famed JiffyDOS disk enhancement system. Add in a real time clock, GEOS support, and a pass-through expansion port to round out the sketch. If you can imagine that much, you are beginning to envision a CMD RAMLink expansion system. I call it that because it is not simply a RAM expander. The unit's RAM expansion capabilities are but a small part of its features.
Now, with the image of this unit still fresh in your mind, le me warn you that you haven't got the full picture yet; you are far from picturing the complete power ofthe CMDRAMLink. tis best todescribe the features of the RAMLink from the simplest to the most complex. With that in mind, we shall begin,
The RAMLink unit is a metal encased printed circuit board that plugs into the expansion port of a C64, C64C, C128, or C128D, The unit is slightly widerthan a CommodoreREU, andabout the same depth. The case stands about 2 inches tall, and is color matched to the C64C/C128 case color. The top of the unit contains two expansion ports. Oneis labeled RAM PORT, while the other is labeled PASS-THRU PORT. Switches includea master reset switch, an enable/disable switch, SWAP8 and SWAP9 switches, and a NORMAL/
COMMODORE WORLD
DIRECT switch. The last switch is used to determine the behavior of the RAM cartridge in the RAMPORT, Indicatorsincludean error LED, an access LI ty LED, and two SWAP LEDs. The back of the unit sports an HD parallel port, a power supply connector, and a battery connector.
To use the unit, 64 users and some 128 users must installa small jumper inside their computer and plug that jumper into the RAMLink. Insert the unit into the expansion port, plug any RAM
cartridge into the RAM-PORT, flip the switches to ENABLE and NORMAL and power up the computer. After a short wait, the familiar startup screen will come up. Initially, the RAMLink is assigned device 16, but can be changed to any number from 8 to 29, Using the RAMLink is as simple as using any other disk drive, However, a definite speed improvement will be seen,
The simplest use of the RAMLink is to turn your Commodore 17XX series REU or GEORam cartridge intonon-volatile device (keeps data after power is removed). In fact, that in itselfis a good
30
use fora RAMLink, usually referred to as an RL. However, with your REU or GEORam installed into the RL, the units can be accessed as regular drives with regular CBM DOS commands, Lea your copy of RAMDOS sitting in the disk box. RL has its own RAM DOS code, and the RL DOS doesn't have to be loaded before it can be used.
To move a step up, an RL allows the user to install an internal daughtercard, called a RAMCard, with up to 16 megabytes of RAM. The RAM can be either 1 MB or 4MB SIMMs (Single Inline Memory Modules), the type of memory used in newer IBM PC clone systems. The RAMCard accepts either 8 or 9 bit SIMMs, so theuserneednotworry aboutwhich kind to buy. SIMMs can either be installed by CMD or by the user, Thisadded memory can bea d likeexpansion RAM (ala CBMREU) or as one or more RAM floppy drives, In addition, this memory is battery backed as well, making it look just like a large REU or
customary for CMD the RL has an option to providea real time clock. Ifyouown a CMD hard drive, the RL contains aspecial parallel port to allow faster aceess to the CMD HD. Ifyou are familiar with either a CMD floppy drive or hard drive, rest assured thatall the DOS commandsareincluded. The RL supports subdirectories, time and date stamping, and can create 1541, 71, and 1581 emulation style partitions for those programs nga particular drivelayout. Compatibility xcellent, asthe DOS contains thesame routines found in CMD's popular JiffyDOS system, The unit contains botha port to insert youradditional RAM unit (REU, GEORam, RAMDrive), as well as a pass-through port for cartridges like
Issue 14
SwiftLink, CMD'sinnovative SWAP switches are present on the unit, allowing the user an easy way toexchange the RL with either device 8 or 9. This, allows use of programs that will only save data files on those devi
The ability to utilize both cartridge and RAMCard RAM as a non-volatile disk drive is a great boon to users who require fast access to dataand programs. Thereisnoneed to determine the optimal settings for RAMDOS, and the RL can already take advantage of suitably modified expanded RAM cartridges. So, your 1 MB REU will be fully utilized within RAMLink. Describing the various disk operations available is not possible in this review, but some of the most useful include subdirectory support and time stamping of files, The sheer speed of the unit in retrieving files rivals that of RAMDOS on a REU, and compatibility with programs is better than RAMDOS, Asanadded bonus, the RL contains the ability to autoboot programs. There’s nothing like powering on your machine and having it go directly to your favorite program, 3EOS users will particularly appreciate the usefulness ofthe RL. The disk based operating system environment gains significantly speed when using the RL for temporary swap spaceand program overlays. Navigation through data files stored onthe RLunder GEOS is also many times faster. In fact, no serious GEOS user shouldbe without the RL, as the main complaint about GEOS has always been speed, and the RL solves much of this problem,
Asis customary, I cracked the unit open for a good look-see. As usual, CMD produces a clean board design with minimal revisions, All of the ICs are labeled, and the RAMCard sits snugly atop a connector and a standoff. The switches and LEDs are mounted on a separate board attached tothe top half ofthe enclosure. In short, CMD did not disappoint me with this design.
As stated before, general compatibility as disk drive is a bit better than RAMDOS or other approaches, Even if it wasn’t, the ability to access files immediately upon boot-up has its advantages. Those looking for an REU should continue looking, because the RL cannot emulate an REU. For those programs that require an REU for expanded memory, only an REU or REU clone (like the 1750 Clone) will work, Thankfully, such programs are rare, and theRL doesallowaccess ofthe REU directly while it is inserted into the RL. This allows the user to both utilize programs requiring the
Commodore
April 1996
REU and utilize the REU asa disk drive when in other applications.
There's little to dislike with the RAMLink. As usual, the CMD unit packs in a lot of features and that can make navigation a bit hard. If you feela bit overwhelmed by the options available, don’t worry, CMD has included a set of utilities, that will help you get things up and running with the least amount of hassle, Some options are used infrequently, so users can learn those as they are needed.
Youcan call meanitpickerifyou want, but Ido have a few issues with the RL. I'll let you decide whether they are worthy of mention or not. The battery tops my listofeoncernsabout the product, Very littlemention ismade about the battery unit and its potential hazards. Sure, most people
understand batteries supply power and can be a hazard, but this battery is much larger than your average 1.5 yoltpentiet and contains substantially more chemicals and such inside. There are some directions written on the battery itself, but I feel mention should be made of where and how the battery should be placed in the midst of the user's, computer equipment, Also of concern are the battery terminals, which are only partially covered by insulating terminals, Again, yourmay think me paranoid, but computer engineers know what a bit of electricity can do, Also, you can never over- estimate where those batteries will be placed. Although Ithinka battery enclosure would bethe best solution, it is also the most expensive. So, maybe a warning and a bit more diligence in insulating those terminals would suffice,
While we're on the subject of the manual, let me state that I found the information very thorough and easy to read, However, those requiring technical assistance might have a time of it, as CMD suggests Q-Link, a now defunct
31
online service, as one way to contact them. Although much of the RL manual is timeless, a quick change to remove QLink will probably save at least a few new users some grief,
In the more esoteric department, [ found that inexercising the SWAP8 and SWAP9 buttons on the RL, I had to TURN OFF SWAPS and then TURN ON SWAPS tochange the de i 9. Moving from 9 to 8 requires similar work. While not a major concern, it can be annoying, andit seems bit non-intuitive to get from 8 or 9, or 9 to 8. Many people may never use thos switches, but [actually found this out while in a real-world scenario.
Asauser whoworks ona computer desk where the keyboard can be pushed under the monitor, the top-mounted ports of the RL make life a bit tough. While the RL itself doesn’t rise above the height of the C64 keyboard, inserting an REU increases the height significantly. | now stare at my computer screen over the top of the REU. 1 can’t help but wonder why a back port wasn’t created. In fact, moving one of the top ports tothe back and allowing users to select which port was used for what would have allowed the most flexibility. Users with expansion port expanders could put the REU in the top and the expander in the back, while REU users with just one cartridge or those with height constraints could put the REUVin back. As I can’t believe CMD didn’t think of this, I suppose cost prevented such a design, Those with cartridge expanders will have to experiment.
My final concern doesn't really involve the RL, but ratherits use. Although the RL can be used by many, some programmers need access to the RL as expansion RAM. Although CMD goes into some detail on how to use the RL in this manner, T would like to see CMD create and detail a memory allocation system for programmers to use or sanction an existing one, like the one in Craig Bruce's ACE, With the upcoming release of the SuperCPU, more applications will be looking forexpansion memory, and creatinga framework for the programmers would be a great help.
All nitpicking aside, I see the RAMLink as a ted earlier,
very useful product, As GEOS users should definitely get one, and programmers will find their work much e with one present. As with all products, it has its “quirks” (a word | found in the RL manual, no less) and isn't compatible with everything, but it doesnot disappointin either regard. While Ihave nming and the
a few concerns about progra battery, l'dstillrecommend that the Commodore enthusiast at least look into the RL’s features.
- Jim Brain
COMMODORE WORLD
ON REVIEW
Inkwell Systems’ Light Pen and companion graphics software programs
Volumes could be written about the astounding foresight of the Commodore hardware designers. Among the many nice considerations built into the C-64 lie the registers devoted to keeping track ofa light pen.
Prophecies such as leaving a couple of light pen registers lying about tend to be self- fulfilling, and it didn’t take long for someone to build a device to suit the purpose. For over ten years, Inkwell Systems has built and
COMMODORE WORLD
improved upon the concept of the light pen as an input device for the C-64, and a number of important applications have followed suit
Without overcomplicating the issue, here abriefexplanation of the principles behind the light pen: Video displays are accomplished by a beam which sweeps across the screen line by line; sixty times per second in North America or fifty in Europe. The 64 keeps track of the exact pixel location of the beam at all times. The light pen picks up this beam as it crosses the “eye” (the photoelectric sensor) and relays a signal through the joystick port to the 64. The 64 reads this signal and makes a note of the position of the beam at the time the light pen. Implemented in software, this allows you to use the light pen as a flexible and versatile input device; for painting, for selecting items ina menu, or for navigating a GUI such as GEOS,
The Light Pen 170 is a fairly nondescript device, resembling an oversized pencil ona short cord. The tip of the aluminum pen is actually a large switch, toggled by pressing the pen into the screen. Inside the tip is photoelectricsensor. The Light Pen its comes witha single floppy andamanual. The manual documents the basic principle and operation of the pen, and includes developer documentation for those who want to integrate light pen support into their programs. The disk contains some basic examples of this support in practice, including a “Follow Me!” program based on the old Simon
32
electronic game, and a couple of interesting music-generation programs. Nothing stunning or incredibly useful, but they at least provide a simple way to verify that your pen works, and allowsyou to get comfortable with the pen itself.
Flexidraw 5.5 Flexidraw, sold separately, is the companion paint program to the Light Pen. While it allows you to use a mouse, joystick, or touchpad as alternative inputdevices, it rly was igned for the pen. Most options are selected by touching the pen directly to the text on the screen, and the rest are largely done through function key commands, for which there is an overlay for both the 64 and 128.
Flexidraw’s multitude of features include: multiple line widths for freehand drawing, rubberbanding and point-point lines; auto shapes; ten fonts in three sizes; Undo; two separate work screens, which allow split screen for large work; s outline; rotate, flip; and copy/paste. It offers a wide array of printer support including dot matrix, color and plotters, and has a library of symbols to include in schematics, floor plans or math and scientific equations.
Issue 14
Flexidraw actually consists of two major portions; Flexidraw and Pen Palette, Flexidraw creates high resolution pictures, In the program, you simply draw black on a light gray background, After you have finished yourimage, you save it and re-load it into Pen Palette, Flexidraw allows you to draw in three different pen thickness and has a very basic spray tool. In addition, lines, boxes, and curves (including circles andellipses) can bedrawn automa ly. Flexidraw actually draws on a “virtual canvas” that is larger than the screen, You can scroll across this canvas, or flip to another page to work on individual portions ofa picture to be clipped and pasted later.
Flexidraw is very responsive and accurate when drawing in the single-pixel width pen tool. However, when you select a thicker pen, you will have to exercise caution and patience while sketching or you may wind up with extremely jagged turns rather than the smooth curve you were drawing. A Zoom tool is provided for close-quarters work, in order to get your picture just right.
Once complete, you can save off your image. Butyou'lljusthavea boring black-on-gray picture, ‘That's fine ifyou’re going touse itas clip art or the like later on, but what ifyou created a woodlands scene ora portrait and aren’t very happy with its bland appearance?
Once again, the 64's clever hardware comes tothe rescue. Higher resolution alway the cost of color. While Flexidraw itself only creates pictures in two colors; a background of light gray and a foreground of black, the true restriction on Commodore 64 high-resolution is that no more than two colors may occupy the same8 pixel by8 pixel space. This 8x8 restriction isthesame that applies to standard Commodore character sets, where each letter and symbol is made up of 64 pixels and the entire character spaceis 40 acrosslong by 25 down. Thisis where Pen Palette comes in.
Pen Palette allows you to load any Flexidraw high-res picture and colorize it. You can assign up to 23 different combinations for color foreground and background. Then, when you take the light pen to the screen, you “color in” the 8x8 grid location you touched,
‘Thus, you could create a blueprint where the have a blue
actual plans and schemati background and a white foreground, but the scale can be made tostand outin aneye-catching purple on black. In this way, you can actually get all 16 colors on screen at once, so long as you
April 1996
confine yourselfto the 23 combinationsallotted. Pen Palette is not a drawing program. However, for emergencies, azoom-
Ait tool is provided in case you need to do a last-minute touchup and don’t feel like exiting and re-loading Flexidraw.
The whole concept of coloring in grid sections may seem uncomfortable and difficult to prepare for. But Flexidraw makes it as easy as possible. With the touch ofa function key, a gridappearson thescreen, showing you exactly how the 8x8 pixel areas are distributed. Armed with that knowledge, you can make sure that, for example, your green tree doesn't extend into the same space as your brown bear, so
your tree doesn’t suddenly turn brown or your bear grows a green patch.
w also supports a range of printers, in case you want to take your work with you. There is provision to use Flexidraw as a rudimentary terminal program, to send your picture to someone else, but you will likely find that a dedicated terminal program does the job more conveniently and efficiently.
Flexid
The Graphics Integrator 2
Another great stand-alone package, The Graphics Integrator, allowsyoutoconvertyourentirelibrary of pictures between a variety of graphical formats, lexidraw project over to
so that you can take Blazing Paddles or GeoPaint and vice versa,
The Graphics Integrator is a great tool for the graphics enthusiast. Itoffers three main features: Graphics conversion to and from Flexidraw, Doodle!, Koala, GEOS, PrintShop, Newsroom and more, Slide show creator features shutter,
33
sparkle and open door formats, as well as three presentation formats. ‘The picture conversion feature allows you to convert pictures for use in any word processors with external file capabilities.
‘GT's primary goal, other than allowing the sharing of pictures between specific applications, is to convert high-resolution pictures to multicolor and back, Multicolor mode on the 64 gives you the ability to use four colorsin a8x8 pixel grid instead of two, However, you lose half of your horizontal resolution, meaning that each pixel you draw is actually twice as wide as it is in high-res. It is largely a question of artistic license and personal preference
s Lo Which you find more attractive,
Most popular formats, such as Flexidraw, Doodle!, Blazing Paddles, and Koala pictures are one-step conversions, As the picture loads and is converted, the final product is displayed, so you get a feel for what the difference between the formats is if you switch from high-res to
multicolor or back. The one major exception is GeoPaint’s high-res pictures, which can only be exchanged directly with Doodle! format. From the Doodle! picture, you can then convert toany of the other popular packages.
For packages such as Print Shop, TGTlets you save off “graphic” formats from pictures, which are actually smaller sections of a larger image. Of course, you are free to convert out of the graphic format as well. You can also convert images into Paperclip format, for integration into your documents. TGI also has a slideshow presentation system which allows you to cycle through a pre-set order of Doodle! images on one ortwo drives. The basic transitions between pictures gives the setup a sense of style.
Of all of the PenWare products, TGI has the mostattractiveand well-conceivedinterface, finally putting the light pen to good use. The keyboard is youcanselectfiles from directories
rarelyneeded, a by simply touching the pen to them.
A color printer driver, for certain Diablo, d Canon printers, is provided, You in
Epson, a can also print to conventional black printe one of six different configurations and orientations. TGI's responsiveness and speed of onisconsiderable, and [find the package 'y useful tool,
convers tobeavi
FlexiFont
Rounding out the available PenWare is Flexifont. In short, FlexiFont lets you design your own character sets for use in your own
COMMODORE WORLD
programs, or for adding text through paint programs such as FlexiDraw.
Flexifont will let you create patterns, symbols and letters for use with Flexidraw. It includes 33 font styles, font capture program and file mover torelocate fonts, You are given the ability to edit the entire range of characters, including all reverse, shifted, and Commodore-key symbols. Quick rotate and flip commands, as well as the ability to cut and paste characters, can make fleshing out a new look go fairly quickly
FlexiFont also lets you tackle “Flexi” which are 16 pixels by 16 pixels rather than the standard 8x8. These are often called "2x2" fonts, reflecting that they are two character spaces wideand tall. ‘complished by employing the lower , upper-case, lower reverse and upper-reverse version ofa regular font to build a new, larger font. The down side is that you can’t define as many overall symbols, since each symbol you use takes up four characters.
‘Theinterfaceadjusts accordingly to“normal” or “Flexi” mode, allowing you to edit the entire letter in question by turning each pixel of the character into a single screen block. A grid of 8x8 (or 16x16) blocks appears, changing whenever you choose to work onanew character, A number of different fonts are included, both as proof of concept (such as the mathematical font) and as practice tools.
This concept is nothing new, and several freelance 64 programmers have taken advantage of fonts far larger than 2x2, I have even seen a character set in which each letter took up the entire visible screen, but such techniques beyond FlexiFont’s scope,
Still, the interface is well suited to the light pen andis worth a look. The included “Font Capture” program may be worth a look in itself, It allows you to quit orreseta program that containsafont
are
COMMODORE WORLD
you would like to have, and scan memory identifiable. Ifyou can find it, you and touch it up to your own purposes.
Graphics Galleria 1 and 2
Each Graphics Galleria consists of four 1541 disks. Each disk contains the same images on front and back, but the front is in Flexidraw format while the back is in Doodle! format, A printed insert is included with pictures of each disk’s artwork. Graphics Galleria 1 contains themes ofBordersand Signs, Maps ofthe World, Holidays, and Clipart Potpourri, The borders and signs are actually quite good, and the monograms (large, fancy letters) on the
potpourri disk are the real standouts here, although having the time zone breakdown of the United States on the Maps disk has to come in handy for somebody out there.
Galleria 2 gives you Animals, The Office, Futuristic Encounters, and Potpourri Il. Animals isa decent collection, while the office is pretty shaky quality. The futuristic images areanice mix, yet all very cartoonish. Potpourri has a few choice images, such as Honest Abe and Uncle Sam.
A very straightforward application of these packages is to use them s self-tutorials in Pen Palette, so that you are able to familiarize yourself with the colorization process and the ways in which you can optimize the way color fits into those little cells.
nd obvious
The Light
Pen as a GEOS Device
Now we've reached the point where the pen REALLY shines. Forget everything you know about GEOS, especially if you're still using a joystick, There simplyisn'ta more libe tousea GUI than witha light pen. It gives “point 1 Lotally new meaning,
GEOS 2.0 has an excellent driver for the Inkwell light pen. Unlike most ofthe PenWare offerings, it uses the pen to its full potential. The PenWare software, except for The Graphics Integrator, treats the light pen as only “active” when you physically press the screen, But in reality, the light pen reads the screen and sends outa signal to the computer whenever it can “see” the screen with enough
and cl
34
clarity, which usually starts at about 3 to 4 inches from the tube.
GEOStreatsthisasitwouldtreat the movement ofamouse ora joystick. The pointer follows your pen as you aim it at the screen. To click, as you would click the mouse or your joystick, you press the pen onto the screen, as you have been doing: with the other software. The great advantage of this method of input is that unless you're doing a click-drag, you have a great deal of freedom of movement with the pen.
As GeoPaint is in most respects a superior paint program to FlexiDraw, I quickly became enamored with GeoPaint and the light pen together. Unlike Flexidraw, you can SEE your pen on the screen without actually pressing physically on the tube, For general desktop navigation, setting preferences, or playing a round of blackjack, the penis without adoubtin my mind the best way to interact with a GUL
‘There is a caveat to all of this; make sure you are seated comfortably with respect to your monitor. It's not hard to do, but ifyou're sitting ina twisted fashion, you will feel it in your back in short order. The pen is lightweight enough that you shouldn't cramp up under regular usage. This goes for GEOS as well as any other program wherethe pen will beyourinput device. Another drawback is the pen’s relatively short cord. Being a standard joystick-style device, it ily be extended, but the fact that it is ary at all is worth a complaint.
can
nec
In Conclusion. The PenWare software isa mixed bag. Flexidraw isactually more useful for its Pen Palette feature than it is for the Flexidraw portion of the program. The Graphics Integrator i image processing package for those without the means to run IPort, the programming, apparently in the custom load routines, of most PenWare software was incompatible with the Action Replay 5 cartridge. Simply disabling the cartridge clears up the problem,
Atabout $75, the Light Pen is more expensive than theeonventional methods of gettingaround a program, But for a price comparable to a Super'T'rack, itis definitely worth consideration, Irecommend it, particularly ifyou doa great deal of painting, image processing, or GEOS work.
~ Jason Compton
$)
an excellent
upset to discover that
All Inkwell Systems products mentioned in this review are available through Creative Micro Designs, Inc.
Issue 14
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COMMODORE WORLD
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1 HITS
Shoot ‘Em Up Threshold Productions Available from CMD
Somebody pinchme! AmI dreaming? Perhaps not, but) Threshold Productions has me fooled. They've announced so many new games. recentlythat!'velost count. And from what I hear straight from Threshold Productions themselves, there's plenty more to come.
The Shoot ‘Em Up Pack contains four new games: Gangster, Time ‘Traveler, ArmyDays,andGhostTown, Even better, the package retails for approximately $14.95. Allofthegames focus on satisfying those of us with a trigger happy finger, Unfortunately, 1 only got to test my skills on two of the fourgames; Gangster & Time Traveler.
Gangster Gangster hires you for a job fit only for the most fearless of marksmen.
COMMODORE WORLD
14 ESCAPED
It seems that all “you knowwhat" has broken loose at the Statesville Prison. There's been a riot and the prisoners are rapidly fleeing the penitentiary. The goal of the first round is to shoot twenty inmates before they escape. You will need keen eyes and quick fingers to complete just the first level of Gangster.
‘The difficulty is in the location of
the prison’s two exits; one at the frontand theotheron the side. They are far enough away from each other to make it difficult to quickly move from side to side. I have yet to master the ability to shoot two escaping inmates simultaneously, But the game doesn’t require you to shoot every inmate. You only have to shoot twenty before they run in order to become a winner. I can’t tell you what happens on su velevels because not only did Tnever manage to complete the first round, the game doesn’t come with any documentation, and there isn’t any included on the disk, either. However, the game is so easy to play that you don’t really need them. But out of curiosity, I'd like know what to expect on consecutive levels.as wellas how many levels the game contains.
Gangster’s graphics and sound effects aregood, but not outstanding.
an
It’sonly real lure is the challenge ofa good shoot ‘em up game, With Gangster, Threshold Productions has excelled at keeping the player more than adequately challenged.
Time Traveler In Time Traveler, the goal is to overcome the planet's three world wars to change the balance of power ofyour planet in the future.
‘This game is my favorite, basically because ier! It still presents you with an enjoyable challenge; but one that occasionally lets you enjoy the fruits of success. In addition, | found the graphics more appealing.
1 can proudly say | was able to survive two of the world wars, and although commendably fought, 1 didn’t survive the third. The battles take place ina variety oflandscapes. ‘The three 1 encountered consisted of shooting overhead spacecraft from land by day and night and then again from sea. The variety keeps the game interesting. As the game progresses, the spacecraft comeat you fasterand become more numerous.
As in Gangster, the game lacks documentation, which I've always felt helps to set the atmosphere for a game, and helps explain what you'll be seeing; giving you a sense of when you are making headway and when you aren't. In Time Traveler, I found it difficult to
36
tell how well [ was playing. The only way to determine if you had a good game is whether or not you were allowed to enter your name into the ‘Top Ten Scoreboard. However, the game is very easy to play straight from the box. Time Traveler is great for those occasions when you're looking to relieve a little stress, but are short on time,
‘The package | received contained both programs on one disk. An easy to use menu allows you to pick and load your desired game, At approximately $14.95, The Shoot ‘Em Up Pack isa great value. Many games retail for more than that, but here you get four great games for one low price,
I'm anxiously anticipating more games from Threshold Productions. It's great to see people still devoted to providing Commodore fans with quality entertainment. A huge thank yougoesouttothefolksat Threshold Productions from perhapsone ofthe world’s biggest Commodore fans.
- Sherry Freedline
Issue 14
Flummi’s World Threshold Productions Available from CMD
Flummi’s World, a brandnew game for the Commodore 64 from Threshold Productions, will not only impress you, it will give your brain the work out ofa lifetime.
Flummi's World is packaged in a plastic bag containing screen shots from the game, the program disk, and a 4.5" by 2.5" quick reference card. That's it! I looked high and low, but was unsuccessful in finding any documentation. After studying the screen shots, 1 figured that Flummi’s World must be an easy-to-play arcade game. And from the screen shots, the graphics looked promising. Eager to see how the actual game compared to the sereen shots, I turned on my Commodore and loaded the game.
My first thought upon viewing the title screens, was “WOW!” ‘There is no question that Flummi’s World is new! This game easily stacks up against those played on newer and more expensive machines. The silliest item was the thing that impressed me the most; the appearance of the blue 3.5"
April 1996
Flummi diskette announcing that my Commodore was busy loading. This technique iscommonly used on PC games. | think the only reason it impressed me because it made me stop and think how long the Commodore has been around and how it has now boldly dived into the Ninet
Flummi’s World begins with a menu page, where four options are available: View Best Flummi’s(the High Score Hall of Fame), First Aid (a very well-done help screen), Enter Password (allowing you to start at your level of choice, providing you jotted down the password), and finally, the option to start your adventure. Here, you can tell how much thought went into the creation of Flummi’s World. The First Aid option provides you with a page showing the extras: bonus objects, doors and transporters you'll encounter along your adventure. My favorite option is the password feature. This allows you to start the game at the last level you mastered. A lot of games force you to start the game at the beginning upon the loss of your last life. But Flummi’s authors were considerate enough to provide this option saving players from hours of unwanted repetition. (Thank you!) The game
object of the game. Flummi’s World transforms you into a lovable, purple slug-like creature, (a Flummi) lacking arms and legs. You've been selected to save Flummi Land from darkness, doom, and the loss of it’s magical i Land depends on a magical bowl for life-giving power, although the bowl more closely resembles a ball. Flummis maneuver by sliding and jumping from place to place. They also possess the ability to create blocks at will, enabling them to climb to heaven if they so desire. A press of the joystick button creates a block almost anywhere on the screen. These blocks are used to create stairways to various locations. Flummi’s World contains 30 levels. Each level presents a puzzle for you to solve. The object is to safely find your way to the bowl, usually in an out of the way location, by creating blocks to impede enemies, fill potholes, and climb to the bow!'s location. Once you've reached the bowl, you must clear its path to the door or transporter. Accomplish this feat and you're whisked away to the next level. It sounds easy enough, but in actuality, it’s quite a challenge. There are plenty of opponents and obstacles along your path. The enemies will eat away your life power, ntually
brainstorm regarding the game's documentation. A lot of the newer PC games no longer come equipped with hard copy documentation. Instead the docs areincluded on the disk/CD Flummi's World isa modern g I decided to check the disk directory. There they were; and very nicely done, I might add. Like the game, the documentation is well-presented in the form of a demo, complete with music! Not only is it easy to access, where I'll never lose it, they've also helped the environment and saved some trees! However, a note indicating their inclusion on the disk would be helpful and time-saving.
In closing, if you love brain boggling puzzle games, | urge you to try Flummi’s World. I have played hundreds of games on my Commodore, soit takes quite a bit to knock my socks off. With it’s colorful graphics, entertaining music, modern presentation, and challenging puzzles, Flummi’s World has certainly grabbed this game player's attention, I'm looking forward to more fantastic creations from Threshold Productions.
» Sherry Freedline
alsoincludesa secret shoot‘emup _ resultingin your death. level, providing youcan figureout Fortunately, each game the secret password. provides you with three Also found along the bottom of | Flummi’s. rat vA ; the menu pageisalineofscrolling Near the end of the orient te Faitidkbal KURLRGhAG text. It ishere that you'll find the game, | had a [iiiesdaeideeiedleteeeedieetaiete 37 COMMODORE WORLD
GAMES. GAMES- GAMES -GAMES-GAMES- GAMES
fo} A/\/ LNA
Final Assault Epyx Available from SSI
Final Assault, by Epyx, is definitely a welcome relief from the ever popular arc you won't find any aliens to shoot, clocks to beat (except perhaps your own best times), or puzzles to solve, What you will find are mountains; the majestic Alps, just waiting to be topped. The main villain of Final Assault is none other than Mother Nature herself,
Asusual, my firstinstinets coerced meintoimmediately feeding thedisk intomyinsatiabledisk drive, Itdidn't take long for me to realize (perhaps aminute) that reading the manual was a necessity, Without doing so, I'd never have a understanding the game.
So I sat down to read, and after roughly thirty minutes ofstudying, | was ready to climb my first mountain. Unless you are already familiar with the terms of mountaineering, you'll need tolearn the purpose of a variety of tools. Fortunately, the manual is well
-style games, Here
COMMODORE WORLD
chance of
NIMES
“GAMES. GAMES.-
TANI LMA NESS)
written and includes a very nice glossary of
mountain climbing terms, tools, ete. The firstscreen, after the title screen, provides training and your choice of a trek containing one to three routes. time player: definitely need to spend some time training. During your lesson, you'll experience the joy of safely crossing glaciers and scaling cliffs of ice and rock. Since it takes awhile to learn the route requirements in respect to the number and type oftools, foods, clothing, and so forth for success, the training mode provides a pre- packed rucksack. On-screen promptsimproveskillsby providing hints foreach situation encountered. And best of all, there are no fatal falls, giving you plenty of time to try different techniques.
Once you feel confident that you've mastered the equipment and controls, it’stime tobegin your"real” venture; scaling theawesome Alps of Europe. Final Assault provides plenty of options. First, decide the number of routes to be included in your trek. Themoreroutesinvolved, the more time required for completion and success. Next, a
selection of seven routes varying in difficulty appears. With names such as“Edge of Fright", “Footloose” and ider Me Gone” you can see there's quite a selection to keep you busy as your skills progress.
° Gla WRAIE: 65 )
° G/N
ALES
GAMES 5 GAMES - GAMES
Supplies play a huge role in the success of your climb. You are offered a rucksack packed with basic provisionsand climbing gear. However, once you've tackled a few routes, you'll find the basieselection inadequate. Fortunately, you have the option of packing your own backpack. Decisions such as the quantity of food and tools are vital; simply forgetting a rope can lead to a fatal fall from a cliff.
After you've decided departure time and the season (summer or winter), it’s finally time for the ascent to begin. A joystick is used to poke, walk, jump, and scale. Maneuvering takes someadjusting. For instance, to simply walk from one end of the screen to the other
the
requires moving the joystick steadily from side to side. For me, climbing the cliffs was the most difficult move to master. To climb, you must decide which limb to move where in order to boost yourself up the cliff. It’s definitely the kind of game to play when you have lots of time to spare.
Now that the terms and moves are mastered, Mother Nature tosses in her two cents, For example, the snow covered path ahead may appear safe, but all is not as it seems. Final Assault always furnishes an ax, which is best thought of as your seeing eye dog. Frequently poking at the ground will become a lifesaving habit. At times the snow may give way, revealing a hidden crevasse. Forget just one single stab and you may find yourself taking a fatal fall through and downa crevasse. With quick reflexes you may be able to stop the plunge. And other times
38
[\IKA\LESS ©
you may find yourself popping up daisies. Three fatal falls are permitted on the easy routes, and only one on the hard trails.
Success is defined by reaching the end of your expedition, A taste of the bubbly is your reward for success (if you packed it). The challenge is first to complete the trails, and ultimately to beat your previous completion times.
Once I got beyond the steep learning curve, I surprisingly found Final Assault relaxing, entertainir and even all encompassing! The manual is so well written that it left me totally in awe of those people possessing the necessary skills to climb such majestic mountains as the Alps in real life. A climber’s notebook is conveniently located at the back of the manual, providing a handy place to jot down notes pertaining to your favorite expeditions. Also conveniently provided is the option to save your game at any time, However, to use this feature you must remember to pack a Save Game Disk in your rucksack,
Naturally, Epyx has stuffed the game with well done graphics as well as appropriate, non-irritating I only recommend Final Assault to those of you possessing the patience and time to master a new world of technology and skills. However, ifparticipatein the world of mountain climbing or perhaps dream ofit, Final Assaultisa fantasy come true, where you can climb yet remain safe, warmand comfortable atall times.
music.
- Sherry Freedline §)
Issue 14
THRESHOLD PRODUCTIONS gmp LT rm iy [| | presents \ | ] Hey \ Walkerz are
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Armed with an unlimited supply of ammo, you set
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humming the catchy tune featured in this game. SlaterMan features five unique screens for each level, passwords for moving to a given level, plus the ability to enable — both music and sound, just music, just effects or silence. SlaterMan is a well designed game promising a great escape from everyday stress; but best of all, you
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The SvsOp's Corner
Feedback, I’ve Had Feedback... Before I get started on my journey through the cyber world offrustration , [should clear up some confusion, , your modem selection should be made with three things in mind:
1. Price 2. Commodore-ability BBS (auto-answer protocols) capabilities,
Second, when | talk about what my system does, orwhatanothersoftwareis supposed todo, don't assume that itis written in stone. Each system is different, and sometimes this varies from computer to computer. | use Does The Job software, and it will not run with a RAMLink on a C64 or a 64C, but will go like the wind on a 128D. If 1 say that Lam able to do something, don’t be frustrated if it doesn't happen for you, Also, I will render whatever assistance I can to new SYSOPs via E-Mailas I can, so feel free toask.
Navigating NVRAM Last column, I mentioned NVRAM when setting up your modem to work with your BBS. NVRAM stands for Non Volatile Random Access Memory, which means that there isa little memory inside your modem that will allow you to set up how a modem will run when you turn it on. A lot of modems have two, three or more ‘templates’ that you can configure in any way you want. My US Robotics (USR) Courier has four of these ‘templates’. They are nothing more than a series of commands that the modem reads when it is turned on, or when you tell it to use a certain template to run from, Some modems have the ability to store passwords so you can have only a few of your friends or customers who are able to get into your system. Since my experience is with my USR Courier, I will use it as the guinea pig. You may recall that in my last column, I discussed some of the pitfalls of modem setups
COMMODORE WORLD
By Max Cottrell
<7,
MORE ON MODEM SET-UP
that you will run into when you are getting your BBS going. Don't panic when you have a problem—thesethingsjust happen. Forexample, the ISP (Internet Service Provider) that I subscribe to runs on a SUN (Unix-based) computer. The banks of modems (12 at 14.4K bps, 6 at 28.8K) use an advanced circuit board to communicate with the main computer. The problem is that the board costs thousands, andit doesn’ tlike to work with a SUN. Which means that this high end system that connects to users who pay up to $50.00 a month, has modems that have to be reset by hand each and every time a user calls in. Imagine being the SYSOP of that system! ’ of you who are regulars on GEnie will be fami with the old ‘disconnected’ routine that ha
plagued the GEIS network that GEnie uses. If
systems like these can have modem problems can you, Users expect it. SYSOPS expect it, So don’t get upset when someone calls youto tell you that your BBS has been down for a few days, Not that anything like that has ever happened tome...
Modem Setup
‘The first thing that you want to dois to take some time and find out what templates your modem has stored in them already, Each modem manufacturer has their own littlecommands that
40
are specific to that brand. Which means that the command AT&BI on one modem might mean something wildly different on another.
Some commands, SO=1 (set the auto-« to pick up on one ring) are universal. This is where your modem manual becomes a SYSOPs Bible. You have to it handy at all times when setting up your BBS. I strongly suggest learning what your modem will do, what it is capable of doing, and what commands are compatible with aCommodore. It’s been my experience that it will take about a month of daily fiddling to get your modem set up the way that you want it.
In my first column, I mentioned that you will need beta-testing-users. Here is where they become worth theirweightin gold. Why? Because, like it or not, a lot of your users will probably be calling from an IBM or a Macintosh. These computers have hundreds ofterminal programs. Each one has it's own little way of throwing sand in the finely meshed electronic gears of your modem. Just when you think that you have your BBS set up and humming along, you'll find that there are a whole group of users who cannot get on for one reason or another, Your beta testers, some of whom will probably have one of these accursed machines, will find problems for you. Some friends, huh? But better them than a user who will never call back.
When you are setting up a NVRAM for a BBS, you will want to see what is stored in them. Load aterminal program like Novaterm and enter the terminal. Keep your serial port speed slow so you can see all the commands as they appear on the screen. | use a serial port rate of 300 baud when doing this. From here, you can enter commands and phone numbers to the modem. Keep in mind that am using USR commands, which might not workon your particularmodem, The USR Courier also has the ability to have a modem installed password, soyoucan have really tight security on your system. Type in AT&VO (which means,
Issue 14
attention modem, show me template one). You will see something like this:
ACTIVE PROFILE: BLELL2 M1 QOT V1 V3 X4 YO &C1 &D2 &GO &LO &MO &O0 &PO &RO &S0 &XO &YO
%AN00 %CL %D1 %LOL0 %PO %SO \A3 \CO \EO \GO \JO \K5 \N6 \Q3 \T000 \WV1
$00:000 $06:002 $07:045 $08:002 S09:006 $10:014 $11:095 $12:050 $14:8BH
S16:1FH S IH $22:76H $23:17H $25:005 $26:001 $27:00H S28:10H
This is a list of what the modem has stored in it’s first memory bank. You can change these commands, and they will bestored in themodem., For instance, if you issue the command, AT&SO=1L&W, the Courier will change the register S0 from 0 to 1, Thisis the auto answer. You have just told the modem to answer on the first ring on the phone. This is a simple command, which is foolproof. Here are some commands you might find universal. The universal commands are as follows: (I know half of you will write and tell me that these won'tworkon your particular modem, but they all work on all six of mine.)
(auto-answer)
AT&Vx (displaythe NVRAMsetup. Nonumber means all of them)
AT&Tx (test the modem. Some modems do not support testing.)
ATSx (these are the ‘S’ registers. These are some of the most important SYSOP controls)
AT&Nx (baud rate variable or fixed. Useful if up/downloading problems happen a lot)
AT&Bx (serial port rate, This is the modem to computer settings. Very important.)
AT&Mx (error control, data compression. You can get in deep trouble with this one)
AT&Kx (data compression switch. ditto)
When looking at modems, make sure that the book that comes with it is well written and has clear explanations of all the commands it uses. This is one of the main reasons I like the USR Courier. I hate to keep coming back to that particular model, but out of the six that I have,
April 1996
thisone works the best. Also, itisoutstanding for customer support and settings.
Why use NVRAM?
By now you're probably asking yourself that question. The answer is: NVRAM will keep a record of the commands that make your system work well. Say you havea power failure, and you lose your software setup or something bad like that. Your modem has the hardest part of your setup stored in it’s little brain. Even if you don’t use the NVRAM setups, they are handy to have.
Writing to NVRAM
To write commands to the NVRAM, you need to tell the modem to store the command in it’s Theextension tothecommandis usually
memory. &W, which means ‘write this to memory’. When doing a lot of NVRAM work, it’s important to remember that you need to check the system often to make sure you haven't done anything terribly wrong. Most modems havea factory template that comes up when the modem is turned on. Don't change this one! Itisa safety mechanism for youto return toifyouneed it. Set up thesecondtemplate, which should be V1 (the templates start at 0, so 0 isone). Changeeach register oneat atime, andt the time to restart the BBS with that command in place. Run whatever tests you do to make sure the system works with that command. If it doesn’t work, start over by changing that command back to what it was. This may mean endless re-booting and restartson your computer, so I suggest you get a routine for this. | use a hard drive and JiffyDOS, so all I have to do is type /emd* and return.
l'llend the modem section with a listing of the commands] useon my BBS. Theseare US Robotics specific, so they may generate error messages with your modem. The key thing with modem setups is that you have to fiddle endlessly. Each modem/computer/software combination hasit’s own little quirks. Ifyour friend, who has the exact same setup, can get it to work, donot assume that you will be able to. Sometimes, modem chipsets (the main chip in the modem, usually a Hayes compatible one) vary from modem to modem of the same model. Here is my setup string:
ATS27=0 ATS28=0 ATS51=0 AT&KO AT&m4 AT&b1 AT&a0 AT&vO
These set up the modem to do things like use the numericresponse codes, errorcontrols, etc. They work for me, and they may work for you, too.
The Fun Stuff of BBS Setups
AsI'vementioned, make reference to my system alot. Tuse DT], which is different from say, Omni
4
128 or Color64, In the future, I'll be trying to write about the other BBS programs for the Commodores, using what other SYSOPs have written for their systems. I'll try and keep this as generic as possible so you can start your system right away. When a user calls your they see is the most impor: isthenormhere. Mysystemasksifthe user wants to use ANSI graphics. I have a little title screen ted with this. lhavethename ofthesystem, what speedsit will work at, and any major quirks, Here is something what that screen looks like:
tem, the first thing ant. A title or graphic
asso
YCIS Welcome to the Ypsilanti Community Information Service
hetatest V3.4 upload speeds to 4800 baud download to 14.4
Would you like to use ANSI graphics? (Y/N)?
As you can see, I have the most important information on thisscreen, along with the speed abilities of the system. I have added these to the general ‘do you want ANSI’ question because this is permanent information on the system. You'll e that I use a centering command that makes the screen look more professional. [know
also
that this goes without saying, but itis important to remember that the majority of users who call youwillbeon ‘highend’ machines whowill simply hang up if they find that out that they are calling a Commodore system. I know, I know... there is nothing wrong with using a Commie to run a BBS. Samespeed, same BPS, same ANSI graphic You can store IBM and Macintosh programs on a Commodore BBS (I know from whence Is I have several); JPEG, GI photographs and you don’t even have to do anything special to store them, just upload them. Usually if you don’t tell them that the computer has CBM written on it, they don’t even know. My if they don’t ask, don't tell.
s, feel free to send me feedback, and ideas to one of my E-Mail
addresses.
E-Mail addre: for Max Cott
mephoto @izzy,net mephoto @genie.com mephoto@hven.org
COMMODORE WORLD
arrier Detect
Ly Gaelyne R. Moranec
ED
“THE WAVE" AND THE NET: Q & A
New and Improved! Old and just as good! Well, not quite; it should actually be older and BETTER, but sometimes us Commodore users get lulled into thinking that the current state of computing for us is here and now and that it isn’t going to change. Stagnating? Static? Not on your life! Anyone believing this hasn't been reading Commodore World! Sometimes it can be areal challenge for me to cover the news and try to deal with users concerns and issues. But in this issue, I'm going to attempt to do both and try to answer some of the many questions I've been asked. Hopefully this will help as many readers as possible find their pot of gold (or cache of Commodore goodies) online and off.
GEO-Surfing Surfing the Nets with S will soon be possible when Maurice Randall introduces his new terminal program, “The WAVE" for GEOS128. Taking advantage of the SwiftLink cartridge and allowing modem speeds up to 28.8k bps, this term program will let i
users share GEOS files seamlessly, because it translates the files during the file transfer. The Wave has the familiar point and click icons and drop menus that GEOS users are accustomed to. Both ANSI and ASCII terminal emulations are supported as well as Xmodem, Ymodem and Zmodem protocols. It sounds as if Randall is going to be giving GEOS users the terminal program they've been begging for. ‘The Wave will have chat facilities that include a scrollable 240 character line buffer, which should be a major plus for users who attend conferences or enjoy chatting online.
COMMODORE WORLD
Additionally, it uses what Randall refers to asa “virtual” buffer for incoming text, saving the text as geoWrite pages. The program allows the user toaccess geoWrite directly, letting the user compose text with geoWrite and return to The Wave when finished. Messages or other text (such as E-Mail addresses or WWW URLs) can be stored in Text Albums and used for sending text back to the terminal, While The wiftLink cartridge, it doesn’t require a RAM expansion device, but one is highly recommended. The
Wave will require the use of
final version will be a commercial product of
Click Here Software, but a public domain version of The Wave will be online very soon. The P.D. version will not allow file transfers but will let the user connect to BBS’s (or the Internet) and explore the new software.
In years past, before the advent of offline mail readers, I used to read the text from messages using geoWrite and save bits | wanted to reply to in Text Albums, and have always
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thought it would be a good medium for telecommunication use. It’s good to see I'm not alone in that line of thought. It wouldn't me if we see a GEOS QWK offline mail reader in the next year, too. After all, if GEOS users can have the terminal program they've always craved, why not have an OLR too?
QWKie 3.1 For One and All
This may be exciting news for some, but announcing this saddens me, as I hate for any good software to lose the support of its author, On November 18, 1995, the author of QWKie v3.1, Arthur Moore, posted a briefmessage in the CBM Fidonet echo announcing that due to business and personal reasons, he hasn't been
able to support the program, and released his QWK Offline Mail Reader forall to use and enjoy. The full featured freeware version of QWKie is available on BBS’s and FTP sites as QWKIEFRE.SPX. It's my hope that someone will pick up where Arthur Moore has left off and continue developing QWK offline reading for the Commodore 64.
From the Mailbag
A majority of the questions I have been asked in the last several months have concerned the Internet, and about accessing it with our computers. Here's a sample of what we have available to us.
Q How do 1 access the Internet? I knew about AOL being inaccessible, but 1 didn't know GEnie and CompuServe were available. I figured they were all off-limits to the C64.
Issue 14
A; GEnie, CompuServe and Delphi are still available services for Commodore users. These services have been undergoing changes geared towards other computer platforms, but none of them have eliminated their text-based services. Additionally, there are other Online Services such as CRS (a Canadian service) and many Bulletin Board Systems that are becoming so intermeshed with other networks, including the Internet, that it’s hard to draw a line between calling them a Bulletin Board, Online Service or Internet Si three r
Accessing the Internet is actually quite e You need a terminal program that uses either ANSI or V'T-100 emulation, For C64 users, this means you need to use Novaterm, and for 128 users, youcan use either Desterm, Dialogue128, or even Bobs Term Pro. You can also use the terminal program in ACE14 (in either C64 orC128 mode) butunless youhavea UNIX account, you won't be able to transfer any files to or from your computer and your Internet provider, because it
e Provider. In many cases, all be combined.
doesn’t yet have any standard protocols,
If you have a working modem and one of these term programs, you can access the Internet. The other requirementis a place to call. Torepeat: youneedaterm program thatuses ANSIor VT-100 emulation and a working modem, That's all you need,
Q: Can you explain how I can access World Wide Web (WWW) pages using Commodore software?
A:For the Web, a text based browser is available on many Internet sites that lets anyone access WWW pages. The most commonly used text browser is called lynx, and it’s a utility that you will find on the Internet service, NOT one that you load on the Commodore. To use lynx, first
make sure your term program is configured using the VT-100 terminal emulation. On the service you use, look for a menu option called “lynx” or “www”. This may also be found in the Gopher menu of some ser elect it, and if prompted, type in the URL (Universal Resource Locator, or the “address”) of the web site you wish to check out. Ifyouare using anon-menued UNIX system, you simply type “lynx <URL>” such as “lynx http://www.msen.com/~brain/ guest/CMD/index.html” and press return. If you want to go to another link, press the
April 1996
and type in the URL of the new Web site you want to visit.
The reason you need to use VT-100 emulation is because portions of the text are highlighted. Most (but not all) of the highlighted areas are links to other sites on the World Wide Web, You simply cursor to the link you want to check out, and when the cursor is on it, press return,
Qe Lean'ttell where my cursor iswhen I'm using Iynx! What can Ido?
A: It may help if you change either the cursor color or the type of cursor you're using from within your term program. For instance, ifyou're
using a blue cursor, change it to yellow, or ifthe cursor is an underline, change it to a block, or make it blink, Any of the above will help you be
able to see which link you are on when accessing the World Wide Web,
Q: What's that little squiggle character Iseein World Wide Web URLs?
A: You mean this ~ character? This is called a tilde. It lets the system know it can skip all the other directories until it finds the one that matches the word that follows it, In the above example, ittells the system to go to the directory
named “brain”.
Q: What key do I press to get the tilde?
A: This depends on which term prog using. In Dialogue, the default is the shi Novaterm it’s the shift and up arrow (the one next to the RESTORE key) pressed at the same time, and in Desterm, it’s the shifted equal key.
ram you're
However, these could be mapped to other keys,
43
we
such as the shift up arrow key in Dialogue, if you're using a different ASCII translation table. In fact, you can change these tables yourself to suit your preferences, If you've printed the documentation for your term program (notably the shareware terms such as Desterm and Novaterm), often for findthatthecaret(*)3 atall, or may appear wrong. Just grab a pen and draw a squiggle where you see the word “tilde” and.an up-arrow where you see the word “caret”,
rious reasons you will
ditilde(~) may not appear
Q:1don'thavelynxavailableon my system, but Lean telnet, Can L access WWW?
A: Yes, you can telnet to someplace that lets anonymous users use the lynx utility on their es is at Cornell ornell.edu, and
service. One of those servi University, Telnet to fatty.1 when the system asks you to login,
type “www” (lower case) and press return,
It’s like a money sponge for an Online Service; while waiting to connect to something, you hear a cash register dinging in the background... so try to find a system where you aren’t charged by time online. This is not to say you should dump your Online Service. ...the support offered by these services to Commodore users is importan need all the support we can find!
Q: L tried that (and it worked before) but this time I got a message stating only 10anonymoususerswereallowed, Does that mean try hack later? Or has the system been changed?
's the equivalent to a
A: It means try back later; cyberspace telephone busy signal.
Q: T have to telnet to lynx, and sometimes its sooo slow! Any advice?
A: Unfortunately this is one of the problems with telneting to use lynx. It's also something that will continue to be a problem, and may even happen for those who are using lynx on their own service. Thisis bec
ause much of the software used on the Internet is multitasking and with thousands of users, everyone is slowed down as the system performs a little bit of each persons job ata time. There are also times when the link you've requested happens to be very large which takes awhile to load. If it’s taking longer than your patience can tolerate, you can abort it by pressing the “z” key and try another link instead. And more on the subject of time and patience, a common complaint from readers about one of the Online Services they ace
ess is:
“It's like a money sponge for an Online Service. Most of time I find myself waiting to connect to something, meanwhile I hear the cash register dinging in the background.”
COMMODORE WORLD
WHILE LOOKING FOR AN INTERNET PROVIDER, TRY TO FIND A SYSTEM WHERE YOU AREN’T CHARGED BY TIME ONLINE.
Thate to tell you this, but many of the Internet systems are like this. The Internet is not a super highway in the sense of speed. In reality, it crawls. It may pay to use the online service during its quieter times, if possible. If you're a night owl, you may find that between the hours a.m. and 6 a.m, the systems have less users and you can accomplish more.
While looking for an Internet provider, try to find a system where you aren't charged by time
betweer
online, This is not to say you should dump the Online Service, though. I firmly believe the support offered by these services to Commodore
users (especially those that have specific Commodore support areas) are important; we need all the support wi find ess the Internet nother provider, but continue to use the Service for its Commodore support, and be there for others too,
More Comments on Online Services...
Qz have found that the only way to send text from my buffer is to set the character speed and line pause down to around 110 baud to guarantee that everything you write is going get where it’s going in .. What else can Lo?
one pice
A: My sympathies! If you're using Dialogue, in the dial directory (or the main configuration menu), try changing the “Stream”, The text will go to the sereen very fast and look horrible, but it ends up right in the
nsmit mode” to
services editor. I've used this to send articles and it works quite well. Ifyou list your message,
you'll see that it formatted okay. If you're using this method on GEnie, you have to be careful about having any lines that begin with a“*", as GEnie's system will interpret anything that follows it as a command. This can actually be
very useful ifyou know what commands to send.
Files Via FTP: Q: How are you able to download files from FTP if ‘you don't have Zmodem protocol? Can you, in fact, download via FTP?
A; On most systems, when you use FTP, the file is transferred from one Internet site to the one that you are on, so you don't directly download the files from an FTP site. When “FTP-ing,” you tell the system what file you want by typing “get <filename>” orifyouare getting a set of files you can use the comr me*>". The files are then copied to your system which depending on many different things can either be lightning fast, or turtle-slow,
Once the files are on your system, if’ a menu, look for an option that says download or file transfers. You should find your files waiting for you, and you download them just as you would a file that’s on a BBS system, using Xmodem, Ymodem or Zmodem.
The tricky part is sometimes the files you've FTP’ed may be ina different directory from the one that the menu looks to. If th when the
and “mget <file
the case,
tem asks for the filename you want
to download, me of
you will need to type the n.
it to find the proper directory. For instance, if the files were in a directory called FTP, you would type: “FTP/filename”, or ~directoryname/filename” This is similar to what is needed with a UNIX shell account. With a UNIX shell account, once you've finished your FTP session, you'll find that the files are in your home directory, or one of your other directories if you had changed before starting FTP. After checking to be sure you're in this same directory as the files, begin your download by typing the