Vol. 1 No. 9

November 1986

Atari

User

Revealed: The easy way to save screens to disc

Reported: Leonard Tramiel answers your questions

Reviewed: Deep Space, Arena, Back-Pack, Fast ST Basic

AUTHORITATIVE • DEFINITIVE • COMPREHENSIVE

Books and Software for the

A ATARI st

Anatomy of the
ATARI ST

£12.95

The definitive
guidetotheSI
Important
hardware and
programming
information.
Valuable to both
the professional

programmer and the ST novice
olike.

The world's
standard
database.
Powerful, easy
and with all the
documentation
and applications
you could ever
wish to buy.

dBASE II
ATARI ST

£119

,fl

ATARI ST

Graphics

and Sound

£12.95

Learn how to
create graphics
and use the
built-in sound
facilities of your
Atari ST.
Examples are
written in BASIC,

C, LOGO, and Modula 2.

Packed with

ATARI ST

dozens of hints

Tricks and Tips

and applications

for all ST owners.

£12.95

Learn how to

make brilliant

graphics; refine

your BASIC,

assembler and C programs.
Advanced programming
techniques.

An interactive,
computer aided
design tool to
automate the
planning and
design of printed
circuit boards
layouts.

PC Board
Designer

£299

ATARI ST

Machine
Language

£12.95

Introduction to
highspeed
world of 66000
machine
language on
Atari ST. Includes
step-by-step
programming
and solutions to typical problems.

FIRST PUBLISHING LTD

Unit 20B, Horseshoe Road, Horseshoe Park, Pangbourne,
Berkshire RG8 7SW Tel: 07357 5244 Tx: 848854

Please send me

copies
copies
copies

TOTAL
□ Cheque D Fbstal Order D Credit Card
Name

Address .

ft>st Code

Tel no.

Access/Visa Card No.
Expiry Date

AV1l-'86

The GEM

Programmer's
Reference
presents
detailed
information on
GEM, with
examples written

in both C and 68000 assembly
language

GEM

on the

ATARI ST

£12.95

Using compre-
hensive and
valuable 'tips
and tricks'
anyone, from an
Atari first-timer
to an experi-
enced ST
Graphics user,
will be able to make use of the
fantastic graphics available on
the ST,

ATARI SI

Graphic
Applications

£12.95

dBASE II
Tricks and Tips

£14.95

Written to
supplement, not
replace, the
dBASE II manual.
Information
invaluabtetofhe
dBASE novice
and experienced

programmer alike. Packed with
sam pies and suggestions for al
types of usage

Data Becker Books and SoUware 'rom

FIRST PUBLISHINE LTD

FIRST SOFTWARE LTD.

VISA

AST

Figures, figures
-and statistics

FIGURES seem to feature high in the minds of
Atari's UK management at thes time of the year.
Perhaps this has something to do with the
sudden departure of Max Bambridge and Rob
Harding — we'll never know. But with Atari going
public with 4.5 million shares at $12 a throw, the
income from the share sate will go a long way
towards paying off Warners, plus a few major
creditors. And still leave something to add to the
£20 million Atari has left in the kitty worldwide.

What Jack Tramiel and family have done with
Atari in the past 18 months is little short of
amazing. They've taken the name and the 1984
series of machines - one video games machine
and two computers that reputedly cost twice as
much to manufacture as they sold for - and
brought out a whote new range of 68000
machines. On top of that, they've redesigned the
2600 game machine, the 400/800 series (now
seen as the 65XE and 130XE) and made money
on all their systems.

Since launching the 520ST tast July and the
1 040ST in March of this year. Atari has shipped
1 50,000 ST units worldwide. As a rough guide,
60,000 of them went to the US, 25,000 went to
West Germany and the other 65,000 were sold
to the rest of the world - which includes Britain.

That figure isn't too disappointing - despite
Atari UK's initial target figures of 50,000 a
month for Britain alone - especially when
compared with Commodore's Amiga sales of
less than 100,000 worldwide.

But remember we're talking about worldwide
sales of the ST here. The widespread distribution
of STs makes it a tough market for software
publishers. It's hard to even identify good
distribution, much less promote products
efficiently. But it's just good enough to take the
ST seriously as a viable format, pa rticularly given
Atari's vague future product plans.

Remember that everybody was writing off
Trarmel's Commodore in 1 982 and 1 983 when it
was selling most of its computers in Europe. It's a
safe bet that Tramiel will use Europe to build up
his overseas sales so that Atari will be strong
enough to take on the US mass merchandisers in
earnest.

** *

A TARI hasn 't been sitting stillin the new-product
area. Last month the company introduced a two
and four megabyte version of its S T computers at

the PCW Show in London, upsetting a fair
number of its US enthusiasts as it did so. Maybe
Tramiel unvefled the new machines in London as
an indicator of the prestige he places in European
sales. From what we hear from the US r these
machines are stifi under development at Atari's
research labs-.

The company has great plans for the ST,
Coming up at Comdex in the States will be
several new ST-based packages, which is
probably when we'll get our first peek at the
higher-memory machines in their full glory.

Real show-stoppers will of course be the so
called TT units - 3T stood for Sixteen/Thrrty two
bits, now TT stan ds for fuJI Thirty two/Thirty two
bits. According to the latest Jeaks and rumours
from the States, the TT module will come in the
form of a two inch high box with built-in 3.5in
disc drive, an integral psu, a bracket for a
half-height hard disc, detached keyboard and
sJngle in-line memory modules, a la Apple
Macintosh.

As yet it's unclear whether the company will
have an additional ST with on-board blitter chip,
or whether the new ST series will include the
chip as standard.

Atari is also working on a Unix box, packaged
in the same case as above, that will turn the ST
68000 processor into a dedicated graphics unit
and unload the logic into fts own 68020 (or even
68030) processor. Pricing? That's anyone's
g uess, but I 'II wager that the Unix box will set you
back around the €800 mark, to which must be
added £1,200 for a 2Mb ST plus the cost of a
sensible monochrome display unit. When that
system becomes available (early 1987 maybe?).

Atari will turn into a pretty competitive
workstation manufacturer.

• •*

DON'T take any of the above as a guarantee of
what's upcoming in the real Atari world. While
most of these machines have been seen in
prototype form, either by the show-going public
or by US software houses, you never know what
can happen with Jack Tramiel at the helm. By the
way, don't expect Sig Hartmann to be pushing
the new ST/TT machines — inside word from
Atari is that he's calling major companies and
urging them to buy existing ST packages on
corporate accounts,' rather than promoting the-
new machines. •

Steve '

Gold

reporting

-—November 1 986 Atari ST User-

SOFTWARE

EXPRESmill

Come and see vs at
THE ATARI USER SHOW

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NOVEMBER 28th~3Q In

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514-516 Alum Rock Road, Alum Rock, Birmingham Tel.: 021-328 3585

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20 MEG. HARD DISK, 520 STM, 520 STM + (1 MEG), 1040 ST, CUMANA 1 MEG. DRIVES (SINGLE &
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CABLES, DISKS AND DISK BOXES.

WEARENOWDEALERS FOR CASIO CZ230SSYNTHESISER -BUILTIN RHYTHM UNIT- 100
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ST SOFTWARE

SILENT SERVICE

£24.95 PAINTWORKS

£34.95

LEADER BOARD

£24.95 ANIMATOR

£29.95

FLIGHT SIM.ll

PHONE ALTERNATIVE

£29,95

WINTER GAMES

£24.95 MACRO MANAGER

£39.95

PHANTASIE(SSI)

£39.95 K-SWITCH

£29.95

CAD-3D

£49.95 K-MINSTREL

£29.95

ARENA

£29.95 K-RESOURCE

£39.95

DEEP SPACE

£34.95 TREESOFT RECORDER

£79.95

THUNDER

£39.9f

STAR GLIDER

£24.95

COMING SOON!

%

XL/XE

520 STM/ 1040 ST

PLANETARIUM

PLANETARIUM

i

HARDBALL

STAR RAIDERS

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TO CHECK OUR LA

TEST

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c

DEALER ENQUIRIES 1

ALL PRICES INCLUDE V A

9 ""*"' ~ November 1986 A

I own an XL/XE/520/1O40/NONE

tore ST User

AST

*

THE tremendous interest in the new blitter
for the ST has been reflected in my mailbag
this month. A lot of you want to know
exactly what the Line-A routines that the
blitter's supposed to speed up actually do.

Well when the Atari software engineers were
designing the ST they realised that before they
could start work on Gem itsslf they would have
to develop a set of very basic but powerful
routines to do such simple things as plot a point,
draw a line or fill a shape,

These routines were named the Line-A
routines after the machine code instruction that
calls thorn.

Every screen operation on the ST uses them.
When Gem opens a window or 1st Word scrolls
the screen the Line-A routines are being used. So
with a blitter installed you will find a marked
increase in speed of nearly all screen operations
in software that uses these routines.

For only £69 the blitter represents a
significant step forward in the ST's specification
and shows that Atari isn't going to sit back
without developing "the ST further.

* * *

Another common question from readers
concerns the advent of the ST 2080 and 41 60 -
should they trade in their old models or is there
an upgrade?

By the time you read this Advanced Systems
and Techniques (AST) will have memory boards
available that increase the memory of your 520
1o 2Mb and your 1040 to 4Mb, These will have
to be fitted by AST and should cost no more than
the difference between the price of your current
machine and the new models.

The only significant omission from an
upgraded machine will be the lack of a blitter
socket This simply means that instead of buying
the plug-in version of the blitter you will buy the
solder-in one. In fact AST should be able to fit a
blitter chip at the same time as the upgrade.

* -k *

Jon Bradbury from Sheffield asks three
questions that have become ST "standards".

ST Fi\je»liners

My apologies to Cameron Rattray whose
name was omitted from fit's excellent Line
Pattern ST five-liner in the September issue of
Atari ST User.

White on the subject keep sending in your
five-liners, problems and hints. They make
fascinating reading.

Don 't forget that as well as writing to me at
the usual address I can he contacted through
Prestef box number 614568383 and at box
72.-MAGQQ1 on Telecom Gold or MicroLink.

It's much

faster

with a
blitter

Here are the definitive answers after which, as
editors say, correspondence on this subject is
closed.

Firstly Jon asks if it is possible to connect both
monochrome and colour monitors to the ST at
once? The problem is not simple. If you wish to
have bolh monitors turned on, and thereby
switch among all three screen modes at leisure,
the answer is no.

When the ST is turned on it looks to see if a
monochrome monitor is connected. If it is, it
ignores the colour monitor and will only operate
in high resolution mode.

You could have both monitors connected at
once via a Y-socket connector and then turn on
the one you wish to use at the time. This might
work, but I find that it is probably simpler just to
plug in the monitor you require and leave the
other unconnected.

Next on Jon's list is a question relating to the
Alt+Help method of producing screen dumps.
For the best results the pixels/line setting on the
Install Printer desk accessory should be set to
960 dots,

Finally he asks if it is possible to connect a
modulator to the ST models without one so you
can use a TV. Although Atari will not offer this
service I know of at least one company working
on a solution. The cost is likely to be about £70 to
£90, I'll keep you informed of progress.

* * *

Jeff Cuckson from Northern Ireland asks if
you can run IBM software on an ST. There are in
fact two ways.

Firstly it is possible to buy a 5.25in disc drive
from AST which allows you to read and write
IBM format discs. This means you can load data
into an ST program created on your IBM.

The other solution is to wait for the IBM
emulator box which Atari is now developing.
This will allow most I B M prog ram s to run happily
on an ST. Atari has yet to set a release date or
price for the emulator, but my guess Is that it will
be released next spring for between £250 and
£500.

Send your
Atari ST
queries to:
ANDREW
BENNETT,
Atari ST User,
Europa House,
68 Chester Road,
Hazel Grove,
Stockport
SK7 5IMY.

November 1986 Atari ST User ■

1

Reviewed En ATARI User, September 1986 by Peter Knowles and Roger WIer.
"You get a complete development system — everything necessary to produce
commercial quality software is provided . . . Clearly, Megamax C compiles faster
and produces much smaller files- These are great advantages, and may well prove to
be the overriding consideration to many prospective buyers — together with its

friendly front-end shell and complete manuals"

■ Full K &R implementation.

■ Grapnic shell.

■ Extensive library, float, single and double
precision.

■ Easy access to all GEM resources such as
DIALOGUE BOXES, ICONS, drop-down
MENUS, GEMDOS, AES and VDI.

■ Labour saving single command MAKE to
compile, link and run.

■ Compiler, code improver, linker, librarian.

■ Disassembler and Editor.

■ Up to 6 times faster than other C compilers.

■ Easy to use.

■ Source Disc available.

Recommended Retail Price £157.55 inc.

Official bodies and volume discount available.
European dealer enquiries welcome.

AS & T1 MEGABYTE DRIVES

AS & T Disc Drives are 80 track, double sided disc
drives, offering 720k of storage capacity (one
Megabyte unformatted). The drives are daisy
chained to the standard ATARI drive, sharing the
same PSU.

3.5 inch drive (1MB) £ 99

Twin 3.5 inch drives (2MB), free plinth £199

5y 4 inch drive (1MB) £124

SH204. 20MB Winchester £660

SF354, 500k drive £138

SF314, 1MB drive £175

ST COMPUTERS WITH 1, 2 AND 4
MEGABYTES OF RAM

Why buy an ordinary 520 or 1040 ST when for a
little extra, you can get right now ST computers
with 1 , 2 or 4 Megabytes of R A M?

AS & T specialises i n professional support for the
ST range, We are a registered Service Centre and
can provide you with efficient backup.
TWO MEGABYTE 520 STM £730

FOUR MEGABYTE 1040 STF

..£1440

Upgrading existin.
for details.

STs is possible. Please ring

MAKE IT MOVE

By Avila Associates

TRUE ANIMATION of your NEO and DEGAS

PICTURES. (Fade, Zoom, Wipe, Move etc.)
Ideal for creating moving cartoons, point of sale
demonstrations.

ONLY £39.95

Advanced Systems and Teehniq ues (AS&T) Ltd, 87 Bournemouth Park Road,Souihend-on-

Sea, EMexSS25JJ. W^'

ST Computers:

All ST Computers come with a (fee software package comprisi ng
GEM, TOS, First Word. BASIC. LOGO. NEOCHROME.

HI mi

System 1 : 520 STM (51 2K RAM)

High resolution monochrome monitor. SF354 (500K) drive C5S0

System 2: 520 STM (51 2K RAM)

Phi Hips Medium resolution Colour monitor. SF354 (500K) drive .£740

System 3; 1040 STF ( 1 024K RAM)

High resolution monochrome monitor, Built-in 1MB drive £790

System 4: 1040 STF (1024K RAM)

Medium f&Solution Colour monitor, Built-in 1MB drive £949

System 5: 520 STM TWO MB (2048K RAM)

High resolution monochrome monitor, SF354 (500K) drive £958

System 6: 520 STM TWO MB (2048K RAM)

Medium resolution Colour monitor, Twin drives (2MB), plinth ..£1149

System 7: 1040 STF FOUR MB (4096K RAM)

Philips Medium resolution Colour monitor, Built-in 1MB drive ,.£1749
System 8: 1040 STF FOUR MB <4096K RAM)

High resolution Colour monitor. High resolution monochrome
monitor, Built-in 1MB floppy drive, SH204 20MB Winchester ....£2700

5 20 STW
N0V / only

£330

PLYNTHS

1. CASED ATARI DRIVES

2. UNCASED 3'4" DRIVES

NOW AVAILABLE SYNSOFPS

GENERAL LEDGER Module 1 .1

User defined password protection* Up to 50 Departments insist «

company allowed • 8O00t active account numbers • 500 active cheque

payment accounts* Database size limited oy disc space only 'Supports

the hard cisk • Several databases on one disc possible •

Printouts inciude>

Balanceaheet. Income statement, Trial Balance clc.

Supplied in a ring fender wallet.

Software updates ana upgrade to sales, purcnaso and general ledger

version tor registered usors (1st quarter 19871.

ONLY £59.95

520STM+(1 MEG RAM) £415

520STM & AST1 000 £415

Monitors:

SM125 monochrome high res £135

Philips CM8533 Colour

Medium resolution £299

Atari Colour H

High resolution £399

Plinths

Plinth for two SF drives £23

Printers

Atari SM 804. 80 cps , £199 _

MP165.160CPS,NLQ £229 ™

Juki 5510. 160 cps NLO £289

Star NL1 160 Cps. NLQ £259 .

Star NB-15. 136 col. 300 cps drall

Letter Quality 100 cps £1099

Juki 6i00daisy wheel £285

Printerload ..... £15

Software

Major titles irom Kuma, Melacomco.
Microdeal. Atari, Cashlink. Haba, Silica'
Distribution. Please allow 7 days (or
items not In stock.

Books & Consumables

A range of books on the ST. diskeltes,
printer paper, sticky labels etc.. .are
always available in our shop.

How to Order:

All our prices include VAT at 15^.

Vou can pay (or any hem listed above by cheque, bankers draft,

postal orders MAO£ PAYABLE TO AS&T. orcredit cards (Access

and Visa).

System Package price on other combinations is possible. We can

source virtually any hardware and software (or your ST. Please let us

give you a quote.

If you order by phone, please ring:

SOUTHEND-ON-SEA (0702) 618 201 (5 lines)
AUTHORISED ATARI DEALERS

ORDER FORM

■- • ■*•""?

Name: ...

Address:

-- ,....,„.,.„,. .......

Items:

Total

Please add carriage £2.50exceptdriue£5.

bulky items £7 (printer, computer etc)

Our shop is open to the public
Monday to Friday 9 am (Sat. 1 1 am) to 5.30 pm
We reserve me right to change prices and speculations
without notice.

Send to:

Advanced Systems and Techniques <A54T) Ltd

87 Boumemoutfi Parte Rood

Southcnd-on-Sea

Essex SSB51I

WW YOU CM WRITE

4

EXPEMT SYSTEMS 0/V THTST

The complete Artificial Intelligence
development environment for the ST

Cambridge LISP is unique and perhaps the most powerful lan-
guage yet to become available for she ST. It combines an interpreter
and compiler providingacompleteenvironmentforlearning and using
LISP, the language of Artificial Intelligence.

The interpreter makes it easy for you to learn LISP and to lest
and debug your progra ms as you go along. Once debugged, the com-
piler makes your programs run efficiently and quickly.

Cambridge Lisp Features

Integrated interpreter and compiler ► 16 Megabyte address
space ► Rational Arithmetic ► Trig lunctions ► Integers of any
size ► Floating point arithmetic ► Vectors ► Full Tracing
► Large numbers of built-in functions ► Will run on a 520 ST but
we recommend the use of 1 Mbyte of RAM

Cambridge LISP has the computing power of very much larger and expensive systems. It comes
complete with a full interface to GEM functions, example programs and a comprehensive, step-by step
manual, all for £149.95

— THECCOMPILER' —
THE PROFESSIONALS M

I BM Compatible C Compiler
>-.--.. for the ST

Because GEM and TOS routines are written in C, using the C
language is important to programmers who wish to use all the fea-
tures and power of the ST Lattice C is compatible with Lattice C
compilers on the IBM-PC and other micros, this means structured,
powerful and portable programming.

Lattice C is a full Kernighan and Ritchie implementation
with floating point arithmetic, macros, powerful datatypes, separ-
ate compilation and a number of optimizations to produce fast and
compact code.

Lattice C includes a complete interface to GEM VDI and AES
functions and comes with comprehensive libraries of UNIX and
utility functions. All the features of the ST - icons, windows, gra-
phics etc. can be used. Modules written in assembler or other high
level languages can be linked into Lattice C programs.

Lattice C includes Menu +, screen editor and a comprehen-
sive user manual, all for £98.95.

LATTICE C

"I felt most comfortable
with the completeness
and speed of Lattice C."

Atari ST User July 1986.

rcETRconco

26 PORTLAND SQUARE, BRISTOL BS28RZ, UK.
TELEPHONE: BRISTOL (0272) 428781

5353E Scolts Vaffey Drive. California 95066. USA. Tel: 1-800-252-6382

Lattice is a traflemaiH ol IAHICE INC. GEN MS Isa tedenurhol DIGITAL SESEARCH INC. UNIX is 3 ifademarkol AT<T Hell Uboratoffes. IBM isa iraOematkoi InifimaitoiBl Business Marinas.

■WAember 1 585 Atari ST User-

AST

Program: Deep Space

Price: £23.99

Supplier: Psygnosis, Port of Liverpool Building,

Pier Head, Liverpool L3 1BY. Tel: 05T-647

8120

CALLING all Trekkies. While you're waiting
for Elite to arrive, you might like to try your
hand as a -freelance intergalactic bounty
hunter. In your instrument-rich Strlx
fighter, you too could boldly go whore no
player hes gone before.

Action starts in the Al-Nair system, the least
dangerous of five hostile star systems. Entry to
each of the other progressively more perilous
systems is gained by flying through the
appropriate stargate — if you can find it.

The idea is to roam through space, earning
credits by blasting enemy craft and taking

prisoners.

The full-screen view is from the cockpit of
your fighter which is controlled by a combination
of mouse and joystick or keyboard. The easiest
way is to use the joystick for steering and firing
and the mouse for everything else.

The cockpit is lavish enough to make Captain
Kirk bite his phaser in envy. Among the
technological paraphernalia at the top of the
screen are a clock, energy readout, alert indicator
and a small status display for system messages.

An array of controls is Said out along the
bottom of the screen. In the middle is the console
which has two moving parts - a speed lever for
velocity and a control column for direction.

To the left is the ship's multi-purpose
computer, which, when switched on, causes a
green display screen to appear. Information is
shown on this when any of the six options
have been selected - long range map. auto
scoop, navigation computer, drones, communi-
cations and battle damage report.

The communications facility gives a more
detailed version of any status messages. The
drone option lets you order fuel, repairs and
quark bombs from travelling drones provided you
have enough credits.

Scoop shows the position of the ship's auto
scoop — for capturing aliens — in relation to
nearby objects. The damage report is self-
explanatory.

The long range map is a split-screen display,
showing the view from above and behind your
fighter. Various coloured dots indicate the
position and identity of alien ships, drones,
planets, stargates, and so on. A small cross on
each of the split displays can be moved to set the
course.

The navigation computer displays the
distance to a set destination and a picture best
described as a series of nested squares which
must be kept lined up to stay on course.

Over to the right is a function pod. This lets
you move the viewing window without
disturbing the course, look aft, change weaponry.

Space graphics

are out

of this world

set shields and fire retro rockets.

Finally, over to the far right is the short range
scanner which slides up and can display the
relative positions of any objects up to five
magnitudes away.

There are a number of competent sound
effects - engin es, weapons, alarm signals a nd so
on. What impressed me most about Deep Space
were the spectacular solid 3D graphics, which
are both colourful and fast.

Watching a chunky alien ship coming straight
at you or flying around a planet and its moon
really takes some beating for visual excitement.

While the game is certainly graphically
stunning, it is also quite difficult to play mostly
because of the implementation of the long range
map. Trying to distinguish one particular dot of a
particular colour from among the many swirling
around on the small map screen makes course
setting and navigation a bit of a nightmare.

And unlike most flight simulators, the joystick
control has been implemented upside down.
When you push forward on the stick the ship
goes up instead of down - that takes some
getting used to.

If you can master the navigational elements,
Deep Space will provide thrills and challenge for
a good while to come. And those graphics really
are out of this world.

Sound 8

Graphics 10

Payability ... ...,« „. 7

Value for money ......»..•.••.•«•—••••- « •■■• 8

Overall 1 8

Reviewed
by Bob
Chappell

November 198$ Atari ST Usar.

AST

Animation excels
in the Arena

Reviewed
by Bob
Chappell

Program: Arena

Price: £24.99

Supplier: Psygnosis, Port of Liverpool Buifd/ng.

Pier Head, Liverpool, L3 1BY. Tel: 051-647

8120

THE usual drawback with athletics simul-
ation programs is that the animation of the
athletes often bears little resemblance to
the real thing.

Not so with Arena - the graphics and
animation are astounding, the most realistic
you're likely to see this side of the Olympic
Games. The detail and accuracy of the
movements has to be seen to be believed- And
the participants are no miniature representations
either — these athletes are large size,

Arena features six different track and field
events which may be played in any Order- 100
metres, long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put
and javelin. Up to four players can take part —
there are no computer controlled contestants,

The competition takes place against the
background of a well-filled stadium. Flags ripple
in the breeze and an occasional tracksuit-clad
figure can be seen warming up in the distance.
One or more smartly dressed officials adorn the
middle ground while the athlete stands ready in
the foreground.

All events move from left to light over several
screens - there is no scrolling. When the athlete
or object, a javelin for example, reaches the right

pis L'J:,i .

hand side of the screen the picture is instantly
replaced by another showing entry from the left.
While horizontal scrolling would have been more
effective, this method works well enough.

Control of the athlete is accomplished by
keyboard pounding - what a shame there's no
joystick option. The keyboard is I ikely to take a lot
of hammering and if there's too much frenzied
play, replacing the ST keyboard is going to be a
lot more expensive than buying another joystick.
Any one key from each of two different groups
at either end of the keyboard must be hit
alternately and quickly to build up the athlete's
speed. Hitting the spacebar at a crucial moment
causes a further action, such as releasing the
javelin.

In every event, points are scored for
performance and only one player is ever on the
track at a time. The player signals his readiness to
start by clicking the mouse button.

In the 1 m etres. th e clock begins when the
starter fires his pistol. Break too early and he fires
again to signal a false start.

In the high jump and pole vault, the bar can be
raised or lowered to any height within reason.
Any foul ups during the approach cause the red
flag to be waved.

One unusual feature of this simulation is the
use of speech bubbles. If the athlete is kept
hanging around at the starting line, he will pass a
com ment. At the end of each attempt, the ath lete
and an odd-looking adjudicator who pops up
both swap sarcastic remarks. Though these
comments are fun at first, they eventually
become wearisome. I'd have preferred an option
to suppress them.

There are one or two small bugs. A ghost
i mage of the pointer occasionally remains at the
point where you last left it and there are spelling
mistakes in the bubbles (for example "appathy"
and "conceed"). The vaulter's pole seems to
have shrunk in the wash, tool

There are few sound effects but you'll hardly
notice that. What will make you sit up is the
excellence of the animation. Arena is good fun.
especially if there are a few people playing.

Sound 7

Graphics ., , ;... fO

P/ayabfJ/ty , . , „..„S

Value for money ,.■.......,,...„„„.„„„„„„ 7

Overall „...„ Q

THE BASIC INTERPRETER FOR THE

ATARI ST

A new and very fast BASIC interpreter ROM cartridge for the Atari
ST computers. This 128K program has been written specifically
for the Atari ST computers and so makes full use of (and gives the
programmer full access to) all the special features of this machine.

Based around BBC BASIC, but considerably extended. FAST BASIC is
a modern structured programming Language. It is the ideal
environment for those who want to experiment with the ST and to
find out about GEM and 68000 assembly etc.

SPEED

With an average PCW benchmark speed of

1.8 seconds. ("Is is the fastest BASIC

available ffastcr than any other PCW have

tested) and compares with 14 for a

normal BBC. See table for other

comparisons.

EDITOR

Full GEM based scrolling editor Is
included. Supports search and replace,
cut, copy, paste and very fast scrolling
speeds. "Multiple programs may be held in
memory at once, and each program can
have Its own editing window and
associated icon.

PROGRAM SIZE

There Is no limit to program size, odier
than available memory, and there is no
speed degradation for running large
programs as there Is on many other
interpreters. Strings may be up to 64K
long, arrays may be over 64K.

ASSEMBLER

Similar in concept to BBC BASIC, this
allows mixing of assembly language and
BASIC together. The assembler can
assemble at over 50,000 lines per minute
making; it one of the fastest available.
Macro and condiUonal assembly facilities
combined with one of the best editors
around make this a superior altemaUve to

many dedicated assemblers.

STRU CTURED
Fast BASIC supports
REPEAT.. UNIT L. WHILE..

WEND and multiline IF..

THEN. .ELSE constructs. Also

named procedures and

functions and memuiy indirection^;;

ensure that FAST BAS'C supports \

many of the best icatures of

languages like PASCAL or C. bul without

the drawbacks.

GEM

Direct and full access Is given to tne ST
(graphics such as circle, arc. pic. area
filling etc. In addition there are a range of
keywords for contolllng the menus, icons
and windows. It Is possible to write
programs that present the user with a
perfectly standard OEM type Interface.

t:OMR\RISONS

MACHINE

TIME

IBM AT

"...it positively flies."
"Students of structured
ramming will be well
pleased.."
"Perhaps the most
staggering advantage of
Fast BASIC over the official
lingo concerns using the
various facilities offered by
GEM."

"...it's a vast improvement on
Atari BASIC."

Papular Computing Weekly

IBM PC

BBCB

AMSTRAD

SINCLAIR QL

COMMODORE 128

SPECTRUM

FAST BASIC

FAST BASIC INCLUDES:

•ROM Cartridge it uses no RAM. does not

have to be loaded from RAM and offers

instant start-up.

•Example disc containing a range of

example programs from simple loops la

complete GEM examples,

•Comprehensive spiral bound manual-

Compatible with all 520 and 1040ST

computers

6.8

16.8

14.8

14.7

15.6

4-0.1

54.8

1.8

'The Fast BASIC package

'provides a complete system
for the home programmer:
the language is beautifully
structured."

"The cartridge spans the
gap between high level and
low level programming
languages and combines
Some excellent high level
structures. ..It seems to have

the advantages of languages
like C and Pascal, without
the restrictions. 1 '
"Bear in mind the fact that

the cheapest assembler for

the ST costs £39.95. this
can only leave you to
conclude that Fast BASIC
really is phenomenal value
for money."

i
ST User magazine

Price £89.90 Inc. VAT and postage.

Available from all good Atari dealers or
directly from Computer Concepts.

EXPRESS ORDERS

m

[\

rjealcrenquiricavvelcoined. fc COITipUter CODCGptS

Goddesden Pface-Hemel Hempitead,Herts,HP2 6EX,England. Telephone <0 442 ) ( 63937

November 1986 Atari ST User—

Paul Woakes

AST

i___^^^^ HH

Product: Back-Peck

Price: €89.90

Supplier: Computer Concepts, Gdddesden Place,

Heme! Hempstead, Herts HP2 6EX. Tel: 0442

63933

O N E of the most useful features of the Atari
ST's desktop is its ability to access
accessory programs — from simple clocks to
complete spreadsheets — from the desk
menu.

There are two main constraints on their use.
Firstly, only six can be on the desk menu at once.
Secondly, memory can become in short supply if
you use some of the more hungry accessories,
especially in 520STs and STMs.

Back-Pack is a new desk accessory from
Computer Concepts, which sets out to solve both
of these problems while supplying the user with
nine accessories. Back-Pack is supplied on a
cartridge which simply plugs into the rom port on
the side of the ST.

A. small program which initialises the cartridge
must be placed on your boot disc. Thereafter
choosing the Back-Pack option from the desk
menu brings up a list of the nine accessories.
Click on one of these and you're in that program.

The Calculator can operate in two modes.
The scientific mode gives a full range of features
from sin, cos and tan to factorial and reciprocal.
In programmer mode, the calculator offers
logical operations and bit shifting as well as the
facility to look up the Gem code of the next key

The Large Clock offers time, date, dual time
and up to four alarms with digital or analog
display. The times and alarms are set by simply
clicking on arrows which change the hours and

More
on your

deskt

• •

minutes. When an alarm goes off. a bell sounds
and a relevant dialog is displayed. A press of the
Escape key and the alarm turns off.

Another, simpler clock is also available, The
Mini Clock appears as a small window which
you can move to any position on the screen.

When you select the Diary, the current month
is displayed In calendar format You then select
the day that you wish to examine and click on it
The diary window will now show your chosen
day. The times for the day are shown as half
hourly intervals. You can type in the various
appointments for that day and then save them to
disc for later reference. Twelve small icons at the
side of the display represent various categories
that a particular day might include such as
important letters, a birthday or a journey.

The Notepad can store up to 3 1 pages of
text, which you can easily flip through and edit
using a combination of mouse a:nd keyboard. It
can be stored on your boot disc, so that it is. there

Bach-Pack: The
desktop in use

Reviewed

by'

Andrew
Bennett

-

— rVffWnfrffr '936 Atari ST User-

AST

when you next use your ST.

The Typewriter allows you to send Escape
and oiher special codes direct to the printer, or
assign thern to the 10 function keys. You can
also position the printer's head using a slider that
you control with the mouse. Using the typewriter
can bypass the short comings of some of the
word processors that are available for the ST.

Choosing the Printer Buffer option allows
you to set up a buffer of any size, up to the full
amount of free memory. It works by intercepting
text sent to the printer and storing it in the block
of memory you set aside. Instead of long delays
while you wait for the printer to print text, it is
simply moved into the block and you can resume
working almost straight away. Back-Pack then
sends the text to the printer while you work on
something else.

The Address Book window consists of a list
of the letters of the alphabet down one side, just
like an address book. Clicking on one of these
causes The window to display the first entry
beginning with that letter. A display consists of
information such as name, address, telephone
number and a small area for notes. You use the
find option to search the address book for the
entries. You can then view the records that
contain that information or print them out using

the report option.

The Ram Disc allows you to set aside a part
of memory as a super fast disc drive. It can be any
one of eight sizes ranging from 1 28k to 3072k if
you have a 4160ST. You have the choice of
which drive tfie ram disc will be a nd which files to
load automatically when the ST is booted.

Parameters such as ram disc size and
information such as the diary and address book
contents are saved to disc so that they don't have
1o be altered even/time that you turn on your ST.
The documentation cannot be faulted. The 20
page manual supplied with Back-Pack is
excellent and provides everything you would
wish to know about the cartridge.

My only criticisms of Back-Pack are that it
doesn't have a built-in battery for the clock,
■which must be reset every time the ST is reset
and that the cartridge port is not duplicated
which means that a clock card cannot be plugged
in at the same time as Back-Pack.

Is Back-Pack good value for money? Well
there are some ram discs on the market which
alone cost £29.95 and printer buffers which cost
£19-95. At £49.95 Back-Pack includes both and
offers seven other very useful accessories.
Overall it's an excellent product which promises
to give its money's worth.

NEXUS EPROM DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM

Tne Ngxus EPROM Development system is an EPH0W
simulator/programmer (or the Atari ST range of computer;. It plugs imp
tne cartriflge port and will allow you lr>:

o Develop ST cartridge software without ever having to program an

EPROM.
o Use your ST es a professional 68000 hardware development system.
O Blow EPHOWs 16 bits wide or B bits wide (depending on target system

architecture).

~ Manipulate data between its 64K of EPROM simulation RAM and the

ST's dish drive(sj and serial port in binary and a variety ot hex
fofmals.

Ot far higher specification than probably any available dedicated EPROM
program mcr/simuiatcr. amongst tne system's features are:

internal (ST) and external (target system) EPROM simulation with 64k of
static RAM. the first ever true 16 bit slmulator/programm or, LS and MS
EPROMs programmed simultaneously in two 2IP sockets, automatic
iransoarent 'spilt and shuttle', intelligent programming of all EPROMs 8k
and aoovo. SlO style GEM window on simulation RAM or EPROM(s>
including slider, icon manipulation etc. E<flt, Locate a Value, Block Move.
Fill/Clear. Checksums, Blank check. Program Check. Automatic or
Manual Verify. External EPROM Simulation autonomous Jrom ST
operation, on-board Vpp generation etc.

In the Atari tradition o( "Power without the Price" th« total coal Of Ihe
complete system, with professional GEM software and user guide is only
£175.00,

Far Mvrfy ol yod Him EPROM DnabpmaM SylIM hf nnrn
of poR. uod ch.OM.P0 In E20U5 I* ntiudt VAT. P&P to:

Nexus Technical Services Limited

38 Melrose Avenue, Reading RQ6 2BN

Tel: (0734) 664559

Alio aiailaSie:

Sockets ST cartfrtf* boeids to laVe tour EPROMs 8k ot abort fefl. 4 < 27256 = 128k) -

ukoa eat all tannine pan &jgna!s.

£14.75 inc. VAT, P&P
28 pin OIL plug to 28 pin OIL ptog EPROM simulation \raii llwo rtqvsind lo> ruemsl IB
bit simulation).

£11.50 Inc. VAT, PSP

SERIOUS BUSINESS
or SERIOUS HOBBY

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BUR SERVICE 00ESN1 STOP AT JUST GMNG COMPETITIVE PRICES ANO A

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VAT RECISTPATBON NO. 427 0353 73 TELEX 895II82QE COMS

m-

Navofnijer 1.986 Aiari ST User-

AST

HAVE you ever wished to dump a screen on
to disc? This would allow you to save and
edit screens from other people's programs.
Here's a program to do just that. You can
now capture to disc any screen and than use
an editing utility to alter all or part of it to
your satisfaction.

One of the nice features of the operating
system of the Atari ST is the ability to dump the
screen to a p rinter. For th ose of you who may not
have seen this facility, pressing the Alt and Help
keys simultaneously will cause the computer to
temporarily stop its current program and print a
replica of the screen on an attached dot matrix
printer.

It would be very useful to have the same
facility to save screens to disc. In fact this utility
replaces the in-built routines to dump to printer
with ones that dump the screen to a disc file
compatible with Degas. For those of you not
interested in the actual process involved. Listing I
is a Basse program that creates the appropriate
machine code program on disc when run. Simply
type it in - save it before running to be sure -
then place a formatted disc with some room on it
in drive A and run the program. A few seconds
later you will have a file called DUMPIT.PRG on
your disc.

Simply run DUMPIT.PRG like any other
application, by double clicking on its icon. When
you have been returned to the desktop run the
application you wish to get your picture from.
Then press Alt+Help when you want the picture
dumped. If you want another picture later press
Alt+Help again and another picture will be
dumped. They will be titled DUMPA. DUMPB.
DUMPC and so on.

As written, Listing II is the source 68000
assembly language code for the routine. It will
always dump your picture out to drive B. If you
prefer Drive A simply change the B : in the last
line to A:. In the basic listing, however, the
picture will always be sent to drive A. If you
change the 41 in line 1 190 to 42 it will always
save to disc B.

The file written is in Degas format, For those
of you who do not have this excellent graphics
program, a baste utility to convert Degas pictures
to Neochrome was primed in the May 1986
issu e of A l&ri S T User.

The original routine to dump to a printer runs
in the "vertical blank" period of the operating
system. If you're pressing Alt+Help it jumps to a
routine to send a bit-image of the screen to a dot
matrix printer. Meanwhile, the application that
was running will be "frozen" until it is finished or
until Alt+Help is pressed again. Jt will then
restart from where it left off. The application that
is running should therefore continue undis-
turbed.

The first problem to be overcome was that of
where to put the routine. On an ST most
programs are relocatable. That is. they can be put
into any memory location when loaded. The
operating system decides exactly where

Dump a
screen

on to disc

depending on memory configuration, other
programs already in memory - such as desktop
accessories — and reserved memory, for such
things as ram discs and printer buffers.

Therefore no site in memory can be
considered as completely safe. However, the
graphics screen bit-mapped memory resides at
the top of ram and leaves a few pages just above
it untouched which seem to be relatively safe.
They are, for 8 bit users, the ST equivalent of
page 6. Listing I moves the routine up above the
screen. Asset up it's correct on a 520STorSTM.
If you have a 1 Mb machine you should make the
changes mentioned at the start of Listing I.

Basically the program is divided into two
parts. When run the first part puts the second
part (which is the heart of the utility) into its
proper location above screen memory. It also
moves the filename to be used to a location
above this, hooks the routine up to the vertical
blank and returns you to the desktop. It first puts
the processor into supervisor mode as we are
going to mess about with addresses illegal in
user mode. It saves the stack pointer in a register

IB

Keith

Watterson
shows
you how

» REM

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Listing I
Novembcf 199$ Atari ST User.

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ATARI S

affitf*

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ANCO SOFTWARE. 4 WEST GATE HOUS E. S PITAL STREET, DARTFORD, KENT DA1 2EH. Telephone: 0322 925 13/92518
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1

AST

to be safe. Then a loop follows which moves the
dump routine to just above screen memory-
It then finds the address of the queue of
Vertical Blank Routines waiting to be done
between each display of the screen (50
times/second), which is stored in location $456.
This address is then replaced with that of the
routine. Finally the processor is put back into
user mode, the pointer to the old stack is restored
and a call to return to the desktop with trap#1 is
made.

The routine itself is now being called every
1/50th of a second in every vertical blank. It
starts by looking for iheAlt+Help combination. If
not present then it exits immediately from the
vertical blank and the application running will not
be affected. However, if it does detect Alt+Help
it then continues and begins by tell ing t he system
the screen dump is finished so that it will not
continually repeat dumping screens one after
another. To be on the safe side again, the
processor registers are saved on the stack just in
case they are used by the application.

The screen resolution is read from $ff8260
and stored in d 1 (it is AN £>ed with 3 to tidy it up).
The screen location is stored in a4. in case the

application is not using the normal $78000 for
its display, then the screen resol ution is put in the
last figure of the filename. The resolution is then
stored 34 bytes before the screen. The colour
registers are tidied up - to correct for the
difference between the Gem and the operating
system's registers - and stored in the 32 bytes
(one word per colour) below screen memory.

The filename is now read and a file created in
this name, the memory from 34 bytes before the
screen and the screen itseif is then dumped to
that file and the file closed. Thus a file compatible
with Degas pictures in the correct mode is
created- The seventh letter in the filename is
incremented so the next dump will be saved in a
different file, the registers are restored from the
stack and the routine exited. Voila! You should
now have a Degas screen clump on disc and the
original program should still be running
untouched.

The utility should work with the vast majority
of programs. However, if the main program
disables the keyboard, or if the vertical blanks are
used in some way it may not work or even
occasionally crash the machine, forcing you to
reboot. So be warned!

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November 1386 Aran ST User-

Andre

Willey

reviews

Computer

Concepts'

Fast ST

and Basic

acclaims

it as a

winner

Fast Basic lives
up to its name

Program: Fast ST Basic
Pace: £89.99

Supplier: Computer Concepts, Gaddesden Pface,
Hemel Hempstead, Herts HP2 6EX.

IF you ask any now ST owner what their
main complaint about the machine is, the
chances are that they will say it is the Basic
Ata ri provided. Not that the specification on
pap er is all that bad, but for a machine of this
power most people wero expecting] some-
thing a little better. Add the fact that it is
riddled with bugs and perhaps the
complaint is justified.

Atari has made various promises about an
improved version of its Basic, but I suspect that
the ground has been cut from under it by the
release of Computer Concepts' incredible Fast
ST Basic.

Rather than attempting to follow Atari's
strategy and model its Basic on the
long-in-the-tooth Microsoft implementation.
Computer Concepts has opted to base its new
language on the latest structured Basics and has
supplemented this with complete access to the
Gem functions previously only available via
PEEKs and POKES.

The first thing you notice when opening the
box is that Fast Basic comes in cartridge form
instead of on disc. This has many advantages,
not the least of which are that it loads instantly, is
more reliable and leaves much more available
memory for your programs.

The cartridge appears as a special icon on the
desktop - you can call up Fast Basic in the same
way as you would a file from a disc.

Once Fast Basic is loaded you are confronted
with the main display. This differs from Atari
Basic in that there are only two main windows,
for the editor and the output.

All your programs are composed via the
editor, which features full mouse or cursor key
control plus cut, copy, paste, search, replace and
a whole host of other text manipulation and
deletion commands.

The editor still falls into the same trap as Atari
Basic - that of having long lines hidden under the
right hand scroll bar. Perhaps it would have been
better to have opted for a word processor type
window where long lines wrap at the edge of the
window rather than at the 80 column mark-

Text and graphics will normally be displayed in
the output window, although you can specify a
working area anywhere on the screen - even

outside of the window or over the menu bar.

There is. in fact, one other window you can
use — invoked only if you call it from a pull-down
menu - which allows you to enter direct
commands, This method is quite a change from
standard Basic where even program lines are
entered in immediate mode, but you can quickly
adapt to it. It is certainly a lot faster and more
efficient to work with than the constant window
opening and closing you will be used to if you've
tried to do anything serious with Atari Basic.

Since the cartridge format leaves so much
free memory, Fast Basic makes the most of it by
allowing you to have up to 1 programs resident
at one time. These each have their own
redefinable icon on the desktop and may be
called at will.

The default allocation is 32k per segment, but
you may increase or decrease that to suit each
program in turn. You can thus allocate a large
workspace to a small program that needs a lot of
data, and still not be wasteful with a large
program that uses very little external data.

All this information, including the icon, is
stored with the program when you save it to disc.

Any segment may call another, and you can
copy between segments with ease via the
clipboard icon. The only limitation is that the
segments cannot multitask - that is, only one
segment can be running at a time.

Moving on to the language itself, the most
obvious thing is that the majority of Fast Basic
programs do not have line numbers.

if you think about it, line numbers were
introduced in the days before decent on-screen
editors were available. Once you have full cut
and paste editing they become a hindrance
rather than an asset. You can use them but they
will act more like labels than the sequenced line
numbers you are used to.

Your programs can be extremely well
structured. There are procedures with full
parameter passing and local variables, WHILE
...WEND loops, SWITCH ... CASE. ..
ENDSWITCH structures. IF ...THEN ... ELSE
. . . END.IF constructs and many others. Indeed,
the whole language syntax is based around the
very popular BBC Basic used in many schools
around the country.

Variables may be of a wide variety of types -
8, 16 or 32 bit integer, single precision decimal,
double precision decimal, string, or arrays of any
of the basic types.

You may also use indirect addressing instead

November 1986 Atari ST User-

AST

of variables - removing the need for such
commands as PEEK and POKE. Simply enclose
an address or formula in curly brackets and it
becomes a pointer to a memory location, which
may be given or returned in any of the standard
numeric formats.

Operators are equally well provided for, with
all the normal maths functions covered, plus bit
shifting, bit logic. Boolean logic, integer division
and MOD calculation.

Full double precision equivalents of functions
such as LOG, SIN, COS, SQR and so on are
provided, making double precision a much more
useful mathematical "tool.

However, any computer language is much
more than this, and it's hard to know where to
begin when describing the features in detail. The
manual devotes over 320 of its 400-odd pages
to the various commands, and I couldn't hope to
cover them all here.

Needless to say, just about every command
you could ever ask for is supplied, plus a good
many others besides. There are commands for
cursor movement, for drawing boxes, circles,
ellipses, arcs and polygons and for fill and line
patterns.

Others handle text font type, size, colour and
direction setting as well as blit functions which
will transfer any portion of memory or screen
data to anywhere else, even altering the format
of the data,

Timing functions such as date (US and UK
format), time (12 or 24 hour clocks), real-time
counters (in 200th of a second intervals) are
offered, as are commands for disc directory,
active drive count and folder creation.

Other commands cover file handling -random
or serial byte or record access — including size
and free disc space checking, string handling
functions such MID$. LEFTS, RIGHTS,
FORMATS (a more powerfuf version of the old
PRINT USING command), mouse control and
detection operations ... the list goes on and on.

0* particular interest are some of the
psue do-variables used. These act like variables
to your program, but control much wider aspects
of the machine.

They include PHYSBASE and LOGBASE
which allow you to read or change the address
used to generate the screen display and
SYSDATE- the current system date. SCREEN-
WIDTH and SCREENHEIGHT tell you the current
screen coordinate range, and hence the current
resolution.

There is also a set of commands to control the
Gem functions. With a little practice and
knowledge of the workings of the Gem interface,
you can create and manipulate pull-down menus
and dialog boxes from Basic which will return
their results directly to your program, to be dealt
with accordingly.

Many examples of these functions are on the
disc provided with the package. This is probably
j ust as well , beca use the manual does n't really go
into much detail in these areas.

The manual's biggest failing is probably the

No.

Atari

8 bit

CBM
64

Spec-
trum

BBC
128k

ST

Basic

Fast ST
Basic

Normal

OSS

t

2.02

1.06

1.4

4.5

0.5

0.91

0.145

2

6.5S

2.02

10.5

8.1

2.3

3.08

0.5B

3

18.88

7.52

19.2

20.1

5.7

5.98

1.305

4

22.1:4

7.84

20.0

19.5

5-8

7.6

1.46

5

25.74

8.6

21-0

22.9

6.4

8.81

1.51

6

39.74

15.52

32.2

52.6

10.3

14.9

2.535

7

60.38

23.8

51.6

71.0

16.2

21.75

4.13

8

421.1

55.14

116.0

240.0

28.2

1 1.44

2.735

Avg

74.57

15.18

34.0

54.8

9.4

9.31

1.806

Figure J: Benchmark timings af various Basic languages (in seconds)

la ck of explanation of object trees, without which
many of the Gem commands are almost useless.
It tells us; "While the subject is not complicated,
a thorough treatment of object trees is beyond
the scope of this manual."

However, a good look through the Neo file
converter program on the demo disc will
certainly help, since it is entirely controlled by a
re-defined menu bar and the mouse, complete
with file selector boxes.

While graphics were more than amply taken
care of, I was a little disappointed with the sound
control - the DOSOUND command is a joke
when compared to the rest of the language.

It requires only one parameter— the address of
a block of memory containing sound data which
will be played as a background task.

The manual gives no documentation at all as
to what each reqister does and there are no

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direct commands for ADSR setting of the quality
of the sound, though there is a BEEP and single
note play command.

Following the BBC Basic tradition once again.
Computer Concepts has also included a full
68000 assembler. Basic variables and procedure
calls can both be used with assembler and a
number of psuedo-ops are available. These
include space reservation, include files and full
control of output format and listing type. While
not quite a macroassembler, it fulfils its function
very well indeed. Once again the manual is
lacking at this point and if you want to use this

Aovo/nher 1986 Atori ST User-

m

AST

w---_ I ..-

feature you'll certainly have to buy yourself a
book ort 68000 machine code.

However, features aside, the best is still to
come. Fast ST Basic was called that for a reason
— the execution speed is something that has to be
seen to be believed. For example, a FOR. ..NEXT
loopi from 1 to 1000 will execute in just over a
tenth of a second.

Atari's ST Basic takes almost one full second
lo do the same job, and the 8 bit machine takes
more than two seconds. In comparison, a

Spectrum takes four and a half seconds. '

Figure I gives a complete rundown of the
performances of different machines and Basics
against that of Fast Basic, and as you will see it
beats everything else by a factor of five.

For interest, I have also included the
benchmark times for the 8 bit Atari running
OSS's Basic XE, which, as you can see, improves
its performance considerably.

In conclusion, if you own an ST — even if you
are mainly a C or machine code programmer -
you should have a copy of Fast ST Basic. Even
the advanced users will appreciate the
usefulness of being able to drop into a
straightforward fast and reliable language for
working out quick routines and manipulating
data.

In fact, I don't know of a Basic on any other
machine which is so feature packed and yet still
so easy to use. There didn't appear to be any
bugs to speak of, but the language is so vast and
complex that only time will tell.

It did crash once while opening a window with
the mouse, but that could have been due to my
not having the cartridge inserted properly.

Computer Concepts has a real winner here -
but wouldn't it have been so much better if Atari
had provided us with something similar in the
first place?

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November 1386 Atari ST User-

WHICH is best. Atari or Commodore?
That's the prime topic on many
American bulletin boards at the
moment, with both 8 and 16 bit
machines under the spotlight.

Firstly I should declare my interest:
I'm a ggmes programmer with long
time experience on the Commodore
64 and more recently the Atari 8 bit
and ST, and frankly the Commodore
64 is not a superior machine to the
Atari 800. as most salesmen would
have you believe.

I used to try to persuade people
considering a computer to buy a
Commodore 64 instead of an Atari
800 because J believed the Com-
modore was a superior machine, but
since that time I have become very
familiar with the 8 bit Ataris and have
found that for many applications they
are far better than the C64.

If you need proof just go to the
software department at your nearest
computer shop and compare the
products available for both machines.
80 to 90 per cent of the time the Atari
version will be much better then the
Commodore.

Even if the latter has room for
improvement, the C64 version could
not be as good as the Atari version
due to the C64's in-built limitations.

On the 16 bit side Atari also has
the edge. After nearly a year of sales
for the ST and slightly less time for
the Amiga, we are seeing the ST
leading the field despite the fact that,

at first glance, the Amiga is a better
machine.

While the Amiga is a ■wonderful
machine, and, in certain departments,
superior to the ST (Shush, you
heretics at the back I), it cannot match
the ST in terms of sheer value for

money.

This one factor dominates the
comparison and means that while the
ST has sold and sold in the US, the
Amiga has never quite shifted from
the esoteric hobbyist and vertical
computer markets.

Don't take my word for it, take the
recently issued report from Consumer
Reports, the US equivalent of
Which?, the Consumers Association
magazine. Consumer Reports has
tested the Commodore Amiga and
the Atari 520ST and found both
machines to be "easy to use and
graphically dazzling".

But which machine is best?
Consumer Reports gives a slight edge

to the ST for home and business
users. The magazine notes that when
compared to the Amiga, the ST is
cheaper, has a colour display that is
more-suited for text work and comes
bundled with a better set of software
packages.

On the other hand. Consumer
Reports claims that the Amiga's more
impressive technical attributes (extra
colours, better animation, additional
sound channels and higher speed)
may make the computer more
attractive to hobbyists. This isn't a
view that I share, but only time will
tell.

Now that we're all convinced that
the ST is the best, let's have a look
what's in store for us all in the upper
echelons of the ST range. Most
people's eyes are firmly focused on
November of this year, when Atari is
rumoured to be launching the
long-awaited TT range of 68O00
machines.

The TT is based around the 68020
cpu which will perform tasks that the

68000 processor will, but very much
faster. Contrary co what many people
think, the TT will be a co-processor
unit which will fit into the 1040
machines.

In providing a dual-processor
environment for the ST, Atari has in
many ways countered several ad-
vantages that the Amiga held.
Coupled with the $100 blitter
upgrade, which will run ST graphic
applications up to five times faster
than a non-blittered ST, the TT
co-processor unit will put the ST into
the Amiga league - but at a much
more sensible price.

This brings us to another interest-
ing point- What about all those
people who bought 520ST mach-
ines? Sad to say, the word is that
they're getting left behind. The
520ST, as well as being the first ST to
hit the streets, is being viewed simply
as a base machine for the ST series.
As such it was a non-expandable unit
(or not as easily expanded as later
models in the range).

It is possible to expand the
520ST's memory with third party

memory upgrades, but this leaves
very little room inside the caseforany
further extras that Atari has up its
corporate sleeves-

There-fore I'd advise those 520ST
owners who wish to expand their
machines with extra memory and the
blitter to consider upgrading to at
least the 1 040ST as soon as possible,
before the second-hand value of the
520 drops too much.

And with that happy thought for all
you Atari 52 OST owners, I shall leave
you for this month.

November !986 Atsri ST Oser-

m

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IstMail £29.95

1st Mail™ Irom GST is a mail merge program which is compatible with all versions of
1st Ward™, Jt wB allow you to combine your wort processor with all of the
popular database programs currently available on the Atari ST. With 1st Mail you
tar produce multiple copies of any 1st Word document Its only limit will be your
imagination! Written by GST.

C Compiler £5995

This C Compiler offers unbeatable value lor money (or GEM software development
The package includes an editor, subset C compiler, assembter, Sifter end full GEM
libraries.. Written by GST.

Macro Assembler £39.95

Tins Macro Assembler is the lines! M68O00 assembler avafeble on any PC. The
package consists ol an editor, macro assembler, linker and a library ol structured
macros. Written by GST.

Now improved with a comprehensive demonstration program.
Fractal Generator £19.95

Fractal Generator explores trie intmtafy compter, and Tieautrhil fractal geometry ol the
Mandelbrot Set Full CSTC and assembler source code is included for Ae enthusiast.
Written by GST.

We are proud to ha associated with Antic Publishing, well known in the U.S. for its high quality and innovative ranqe of
software for the Atari.

CAD -3D £49,95

Design 3D solid w wire frame objects wilh your GEM mouse

compatible! Written by: Tom Hudson Uccnsud by Antic
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Flash £39.35

Complete GFM based telecommunications. Programmable.

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Generate Maps and SateSte views ol the Earth. Select tram
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Create detafed astrological charts using nine different iHuie
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C.O.Lfl. Gbject Editor £24,95

Graphic design and software sprite editor for programmers using

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Red Alert cig.cs

Defend against MRVfi iCBMs and subfeunthed msstes. An
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AST

AMONG the many prominent Atari
figures visiting the recent PCW show

was Leonard Tramie), vice president in
charge of software development.
Andrew Sennet took the opportunity to
get authoritative answers to the ques-
tions our readers have been asking.

Q One of the most exciting developments for
the ST range has been the advent of the blitter.
f-fow exactly does it work?

A The Witter works by automatically speeding
up the ST's Line-A routines by a factor of
between three and five times. This means thai ail
programs that use these routines, either directly
or indirectly, will have faster graphics. A program
can also check to see if there is a blitter installed
in the ST and use it to move memory around
much faster than is otherwise possible.

Q, On the Amiga, the blitter can only move
graphics memory. Is there any such limit on the
A tari blitter?

A Mo. There is no special graphics memory in
the ST, therefore the blitter can operate on all
memory whether it is being used for graphics or
not. Theoretically it can move up to 16mb of
memory at any one time. The ST's upper limit of
4Mb of ram is the restriction.

Q How will the blitter be packaged?

A It will come in two forms. There's a version
that will simply plug into the newer 1 040 and the
2080 and 4160. It also comes ready to be
soldered on to the back of one of the chips inside
the older 1 040s and the. 520. A n ew set of roms
will be included in the price of around £70. Either
W3y. fitting will have to be carried out by dealers.

Q There are rumours of a graphics chip in the
works. What can you telJ us about that?

A The graphics chip will offer extra graphics
modes which will have a greatly increased colour
range and offer higher resolutions. Like the blitter
chip, it will be offered as a dealer-fittable
upgrade.

Q How accurate is the talk of 1024 by 1024
resolution?

N

X

A Tramiel
software...

A To talk of 1024 by 1024 is unrealistic. Any
new graphics chip will offer resolutions in
roughly the same x and y proportions as at
present. The chip will supply new graphics
modes on top of those already available.
Programs will simply be able to check if the new
chip is there and then use the new modes where
applicable,

Q. What can you say about Amy - the
rumoured music! synthesiser chip for the ST?

A Amy is a sound synthesiser chip which has
ca pabilities as yet unseen on one chip. It was the
first end user project started by the old Atari (pre-
Tramiel) after the 800XL Atari set out to develop
a custom chip of great complexity but had limited
resources and poor development tools. The
achite cture was brilliant but th e ea rly versions of
the chips simply didn't work. When we took over
Atari we saw Amy as an excellent potential
product. We have sold the design to a company
that I cannot name just yet and they are hoping
to have the final working chips ready soon.

Q. What form will the 32 bit workstation take?

A It will be a co-processor unit which will
simply attach to the ST. Its greater processing
speeds will allow existing programs to operate
much faster.

Q. The 20Mb hard disc unit for the ST Is now
available. Origins fly ft w&s supposed to be a
WMb unit for around £500 - what happened?

— Wovemaei 1986 Atari ST Vw

m

AST

A It simply wasn't possibl
that end user pric?-

to build a unit for

Q At one time. Atari was rumoured to be
buying faulty 20Mb units and writing software to
allow them to be used as 10Mb drives. What
happened to that idea?

A It simply didn't prove practical. We believe
that £850 is a reasonable price to pay for a 20Mb
drive.

Q What is the current state of the CD-ROM
player for the ST?

A We still intend to sell a CD-ROM unit for the
ST which will include an encyclopedia in the
future when the end-user price is low enough,
about $500.

Q. Atari appears to be selling STs across the
entire globe, /s any one area doing better than
the others?

A I haven't got the exact figures, but probably
our best sales are in Germany.

Q. To clear up a point of much argument whai
does ST actuafly stand for?

A It doesn't and never has stood for Sarn
Tramiel. It stands for Sixteen/Thirty two. It
derives its name from the 68000 which is a
1 6/32 bit processor.

Q Is the new black and white monitor on the
swivel stand, the SM125. the new standard?

A Yes. The SM 1 24 wi II no longer be made.

Q Do you intend to drop the 520ST, as Apple
did with the 128k Macintosh?

A We have no intention to do so. We believe
that 51 2k of memory is a good amount for a base
machine.

Q. Do you intend to include a modulator inside
the 1040ST?

A We are constantly listening to the market
place. If enough people want a modulator then
we will strongly considerit, ■

CALL US TODAY

5G- AND WE'RE ON OUR WAY

YOUR ST MAN IN HIS BIG WHITE VAN

We prefer to personally deliver and install

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The best of both worlds

Mail order convenience with personal service. You are investing

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PRINTER LABELS
1000 90 x 36mm 1 across £5,70
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'2' High Resolution
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ATARI SOFTWARE

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How to Order.

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MIDDX UB2 4ND

Tel: 01-574 5271 01-571 5938

Telex: 25247TelexG,attoTIL

m

November 1366Atdri ST User

AST

•

Smiles all round
for schools ST

THE Atari 520ST is an ideal computer for
use with young children in primary school.
Its power and open architecture have
already made an impression in university
departments but the ease of use and the
friendliness of its programs make it a
natural choice for schools,

The iconic environment is easy to understand
and operate and even the most inexperienced
child can load programs, copy discs and
generally manage the computer environment
with virtually no help. The confidence they
display reflects their new opinion of themselves
as competent operators — they run the computer
not the other way around. The computer
becomes a tool to think and work with. Even
playing with the colours on the control panel
teaches them about the primary and comple-
mentary colour combinations. The mouse is vital
for young children. Its physical movement across
the table helps them interact with the computer
both physically and conceptually.

One school where Atari STs are in regular
classroom use is Southmead Primary School in
Wimbledon. Here the children are already
familiar with computers and each classroom has
a micro of its own as part of the basic equipment.
The school is in a project set up by the Inner
London Education Authority to explore th e effect
of computers on children's learning.

The children are familiar with the normal
educational computers such as the BBC Micro
with its non-standard operating system and the
RML 480Z which uses CP/M. The latter is a good
operating system but it has serious drawbacks
for children as the commands are not easy to
explain. Pressing B to boot the machine is easy
enough but if anything goes wrong the error
messages resemble Ancient Greek. The children
are continually asking what to do next or what
went wrong. The better programs are menu

<$>

s ! \

UiJ

1

__■: '■:'.'

v^W/

driven. These give the children the feeling they
are in control of the computer but still the teacher
is found leaning over the computer pressing a
key to solve a problem that the children could not
be expected to understand.

The delivery of an Atari 520ST changed the
children's attitudes towards computers
overnight. The first response was a physical one.
The teacher would still lean over the group of
children working on the computer, but now arms
gently rose to prevent him intervening. The
children had expectations and these included the
possibility that they would be able to solve the
problems without the teacher's help.

This independence was exactly what we had
expected, but fatted to get, with the early
computers in school. With the ST, instead of
asking their teachers for help, the children
actively discouraged adult involvement, prefer-
ring to find solutions to the problems they
encountered themselves. They soon began to
use it to undertake all the normal tasks of
copying files, running programs and erasing
unwanted information. Using the Gem environ-
ment made it possible to involve more children,
so these taks were not reserved for the
computer-literate few.

The computer curriculum in primary school is
already well defined. Programming in Logo, word
processing and databases form the basis of the
work in the classroom. Specific educational
programs do lead to topics, and also serve to
reinforce concepts, but their use is declining.
More and more schools are using the computer
as a tool to extend the children's ability rather
than to instill facts.

Included with the ST is a fine version of Logo.
The children were disappointed when they
discovered the screen was only black and white

Alan Coode
describes
how the
ST is well
suited to
primary
education

Self pprtraints by Degas: Now the children cart produce exciting computer imeges

. ^Novembei 1980 Atari ST User —

m

BYTE BACK

ATARI ST SOFTWARE SPECIALIST!

GAMES
Sofgitder

Mercenary
Rogue

Winter Games
Leader Board
Deep Space
A/ena
Joust
Brataccas

Hadver

Hacker II
Little Comp-.
Electronic Pool
f^ajorMoton
Time Bandit
Lands ol Havoc
Phanias*©
& Sera Service
ST Karate
Spaed Sta&dn
Sundog

Mean 18

Hippo Backgammon

Word Irx Word

Colourspace

Univftrso2ST

ADVENTURES

Ultima 2

Pawn

Leather Goddesses

Trinity

Hitch Hikers Guide

M.F. Voyaging

2wfcl.llortll

Doaoiina

Batyhoo
Enchanter
Sorcerer
Spe?breaker
Kings Quest II
Temple ot A pshai
Borrowed Time
MindsJiadow
BlackCauldron
Winnie the Pooh

UTILITIES

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Lattice C
Macro Assembler

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htocom

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HOTTEST SELLING ST PRODUCT IN THE USA

l

I
l

Jtl REAL TIME CLOCK CARTRIDGE

[Constantly keeps time and date accurate to the second. Plugs info
cartridge port. Software included to set system clock and calendar.
Never lose track of files again. £49.95

ATARI ST TOOLKIT

ROBTEK TOOLKIT eonsisls of 6 utilities that use the GEM
environment. They will help you inavery simple way toget more
speed and power from .your St co mputer.

# PRINTER SPOOLER: This utility makes it possible to use your
computer while you are printing.

# RAM DISK: This utility will speed up your file operations, saving
you hours oFtime.

# DISK COPY: Is a utility that helps you make backups and formal
disks at a much easier and faster speed than normal
O DISK UTILITIES Are a set of three programs that will help you to
control and organise your disk directories. Is is nov; ve ry easy to keep
an accurate library of all your disks. £ 29.95

P

IATARIST-KEY
Marvelously versatile GEM Desk Accessory for Function-key
I macros. Customize 20 function keys (normal and shift) for up lo 2000
keystrokes from wfouian/applicatton. Save and load settings
£24.93

I THE 8 TRACK PROFESSIONAL MIDI SEQUENCER
Equal to a professional recording studio. Includes step-time
I recording, auto-coirect, edit phrases, filter, auto punch-tn for track
editing, MIDI set. includesm]l and easy to use tutorial hints and tips.
£149.95

I ATARI MACRO MANAGER
Gives you the ULTIMATE personal time management tool for your
I daily work environment. Nov/ you can incorporate true desktop
organization, information mgmt., time accounting and auto dialing to
your Atari ST computer system . . . and do it all in coniunction with
I most other ST programs
Robtek's version of sidekick £39.95

I ATARI COLOR WRITER
GEM-based. fu!! featured, word processor. Also includes multicolor
screen text, and high-lighting capability. Multiple ways to select a
[screen block. Unique inservteplace mode. Search Colorfeature and
much more. £29.95

i ATARI DB-CALC

An excellent easy lo use database with, built In calculating facili lies
specially designed to take full advantage of the Gem Environment
and ether elegam features built into your ST computer. "Best
I data base- programme of the year in Holland and Belgium". £49.95.

VERSIONS IN FRENCH, GERMAN AND SPANISH

i COMING SOON GAMES COMPENDIUM AND ACCOUNTS
PACKAGE

I

fio&iet ltd.. unit 4. blewtih Business Ce!*ipl<», Si fchns {load, fetarvutfa
Mic*lxTW76NL Tel DIR«74?5?

20a SPRING GARDENS,
NEWARK, NOTTS NG24 4UW

November 1 986 A(*ri ST User -

AST

The story

unfolds in one of the booklets

produced by SovtlWBBd pupils

but they soon perked up when they saw how printoutof a page to collect the raw data, filling in

clear and sharp the images were. A lead was the boxes as they interview or collect. Searching

bought to link the ST to a Microvitec colour the records for patterns is easy. The layout

monitor and Logo leapt into colour. The sheer provides the support young children^ need to
speed of the turtle as it raced around the

screen amazed the children. It made the other
versions of Logo on lesser machines look
positively snail-like. Logo programs were
translated! into DR Logo and tried out on the ST.
The debugging process provided many hours of
problem solving which the children relished.

Along with Logo, the bundled software
included two programs which made the perfect
package for primary aged children - DB Master,
a simple yet powerful database program and 1st
Word, a word processor.

Children are natural collectors -turn out any

1 year old's pockets and you will find a variety

of "useful" objects apparently not conforming to

any predetermined need. Harnessing this

primitive urge to collect and impose order

provides many excellent opportunities for

learning. However, if collecting and entering data

on a computer were as simple as putting bits of

string and conkers into a 10 year old's pocket

little educational benefit would corns from it..

Likewise if sorting the data and planning a

database becomes such an intellectual exercise

that children don't have the motivation to carry

the task through, few children will benefit from

using it.

Unfortunately databases have been either too

simple to be of use to children, or so conceptually

difficult that they have found them daunting

rather than illuminating. What was needed was a

database flexible enough to allow information to

be entered in a child-like way, but powerful

enough to enable the children to find out

worthwhile and relevant information.

DB Master fits this bill perfectly. The children

understand what they are doing as the records

are designed as pages. They can even use a

, ^.,. . *Novemii$r J $86 Ami 5T User

enable them to think in a complex and abstract
way. They can see where to put the information
and, more importantly, what information is
required.

At school there are databases on pond life,
designed and managed by the childen. The
numbers of all their bikes, as marked by the
police, form another child-managed database.
All the books the children read are entered, and a
reading record is presented to both teacher and

child at the end of the year.

The children are now actively looking for what
to record and what they can find out. This never
happened with the database programs available
on the RML or the BBC.

Writing using a computer opens a whole new
horizon for children. It has been common
practice in schools for a considerable time to get
the children to make drafts of their work, starting
with the rough draft of ideas and culminating in a
finished, copied-out piece of work subsequently
"published" or displayed. Although this helps the
children to learn, it is labourious to copy out a
draft of a piece time and again, often for the sake
of one or two mistakes. What is important is the
process of review and this can be done
effectively using the co mputer with out the risk of
making writing an onerous task.

One program has made writing on the Atari
really different from writing on any other
computer. Thunder, from Batteries Included, is a
spell checker which checks the words as they are
entered, It works with any Gem based program
and lets the children use the words they need
without worrying about the spelling. This helps
them improve their written expression while they

AST

1

learn to spell by seeing the correctly spelt words
presented as they make an error. The program is
large and is able to present a range of alternative
words. Selecting the correct one means the
children have to recognise the correct spelling
which helps them learn to spell in the most
effective manner possible.

Desktop publishing is a growth area in
business computing. There is no doubt that it
would fulfill a real and useful purpose in any
school but the drawback is price, Systems can
cost as much as £5000 and this is well outside
the budget of most schools.

Producing newspapers and magazines
provides vital information for parents and gives
children a real reason for writing. The ST with the
addition of a photocopier - laser printers are still
too expensive - gives the children and teachers
at Southmead a simple publishing system. The
writing is u ndertaken using 1 st Word printed out
on a dot matrix printer and the titles added using
Degas. The cue and paste process does depend
on traditional scissors and glue but the finished
effect is quite professional.

The children produce a weekly school
newspaper full of information and local news.
Notes home to the parents are designed and
written by the teachers on the ST. and the head
produces the governors' report and the school
booklet. One group of children wrote and
illustrated stories which were then printed out
and the pictures coloured. They were sold in the
local children's bookshop.

No doubt the future will see laser printers and
more complete software in schools, but the ST
with its high resolution screen offers enormous
advantages over the normal school micros for
publications.

It's only when you see children using
programs such as Degas to produce exciting
artistic designs that you realise the patience they
had when they had only the cursor controlled
drawing programs on the RML 480Z. The
pictures they produce using Degas reflect their
confidence and soon printouts become illustr-
ations mounted on the wall or stuck into books.

- . — * —

pj.l -•> B-e si-vf-j — --.

BUI: t>™ OM 91 1 !■!• ttltp*

m

Mors action from the Southmead pupils

Using the mirrors to reflect the patterns teaches
them more about symmetry than any number of
work cards. Geometric shapes and number
squares are drawn and school notices have been
transformed.

A new program, Make It Move, allows the
children to take pictures from Degas and animate
them - a poor man's Channel 4 graphics system.
Items picked out can be made to zoom, fade or
move acrossthe screen- Make it Move uses icons
to help the children prepare a script. The end
result is remarkable and adds the dimension of
movement to their drawings.

Children are interested in computers.
Teachers recognise this and know that the
curriculum will be radically altered 1 in the near
future by this new technology. The children
starting school today will, when they leave full
tim e education, enter a very differen t world - but
attitudes still need to change. Too much time is
spent using computers in school for trival tasks.
Simple programs which don't extend or stretch
the chiid's imagination or intellect are all too
common.

The proliferation of these programs stems
from two sources. When computers were
introduced teachers were encouraged to think
that they should program the machines
themselves- This was fine up to a poi nt and many
teachers have produced fine simulation-type
programs — but teaching; is a full time occupation.
Many of the programs written by teachers for use
in their own classrooms were snapped up by-
publishers and distributed to an audience for
which they were neither intented or suited.

Also the machines available when the
Government decided to put them into schools were
not as sophisticated as the ST, nor had they
enough memory to allow the programmer to
provide the simple interface vital if the child is to
use the machine effectively. Asa result programs
which were easy to explain and simple to run
were preferred to those which could extend and
educate. These two factors mean that
computers, perhaps the most exciting tool for
education since the book, are being used all too
frequently to reinforce impoverished educational
theories.

In many ways school computing is only just
beginning now the Atari ST is available. The
domination of the BBC Micro and RMLhas led to
a lot of software being developed and this
represents a considerable investment for
schools. Adopting a new machine often means
buying new software. However, a complete BBC
Micro environment has been developed for the
ST This will be attra ctive to schools with a lot of
BBC software. The Atari ST strength is not,
however, as a lookalike. It offers a complete new
experience for children in school but it is also
adaptable enough to incorporate the best of the
previous machines. Just as it took over this year's
( Personal Computer WorJd Show so it will begin
to dominate educational computing and give
children real computer power.

November 1986 Atari ST Cssr-

jJW

1

1 \

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ST NEWSLETTER

8 PAGES OF INFORMATION
TO HELP YOU TO DECIDE

RETURN THE COUPON FOR A FREE COPY,

1040ST-F

To' In-i DuttnotVnwi anQ tn» aon wiIdiji foiw u»o». IBo'lO l».
OTA lUAOST-l- wtift 10MK HAM. TIM C*n bo o>«0 M a UiMfww

("..ii-.i'.-ion 00.0 amnii- ai9.n0 ajviom. or can suwo.1 ■ "itinf'Amo I

fAmpiimr **■■ l*e/nmai In- ia*DST>P k«yboa*0 -fill) ln;eQiai
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!ft4Q Ko.OfO • '''i* >m mwio •wo.i.eo' ~ti9vl-WV: ZCH&MI
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ATARI

REDUCED PRICES

1 Alan'S ST ptuwinl COf<iuMI* lua now (it:,- '_;-;'j!i^*ii_>o bO".n In the OS A

anil Europe Tna mnun attracuo'i of mo ST isno* i! Ihe '**«« 10" inG*i8y
•men tnoa; tompjit-ti iwncnt gtiing 6v»n p'*'«n a^o oui^-oij unn a
po-xcrlulBiecT at a vofy mofl^st pi** Triors vo taw ooiorU ST Baekna«

! niMi.aPtH hpfn Silica *l it (odaoeJ pnee (utt"«' <-n">ancnfl l"o "m Voiao
to* Money- iopuut>or, in aoe-iio« *a »'b j? ,,n 9 •**y * PR£E.5>lc<a "ST
STAHIEHKKt'-vi'nevery52voi t (KO ST pu'CliOIcd At 5Vd<«SMip Thrao

I ai'Ct w^only b*SVBll*blB tc a lirpl"cd D"noo ar<) coevwenco on IKA/Cft.

PC? iv £■« TO fl BUSINESS

Tne tint CeW"* s^owi ao""^ 1 ol mo nowbt.sliiC3iprodi.«l5»ni<tn nnveOwn
recemly laitiofiaa liv the Aib'i ST'ango. Ilgivasan iTiOcatiQo Ot tlto-STi
poicft«itn»oo'neianuyit'»too*lngtOin-iw ■fKnyobH »w-WJl«y»«oin:
CP/M EMULATOR IBM COMPATIBILITY

20MbytQj HARD OISK VT100 fiMULATOB

LOTUS 133" CLONE MICROSOFT WRITE

dBASE III CLONE dBASB IT

Any ST co<r«UMf tvlll pioytQeitt oio' «il» a *(*¥ D"-*u»tul al9«i. iiti!lfc/q
a va»I mnge ot appltmliona, particularty '" '"■ b"^"" *ond. Many
saUtrite cOfnpinicj naic BCl" qtaldi lo iKOQn«o tt lc ils buimen
WiiTiiiAi. am) h»iai pfoOjced prpaisnis toi We ST mMch K*'"«* in*
rottntai. Ir- afld'tit-i. tf^ie ">• ww;l p^^Mal aflfl W*«* HMw»
bNotning available to add toiboSTi 'Pawc For Buiinait'. Softwo now
...jiiati* iiy-tudet OBUin. > dBASE 1H done «*«ll m HftO Baw, *
aBASE II clone, id lad. Rfti Soliwut M-o "ff* ajnefed AiMen Taw't
I c. d >Qi"al OBASc II pisgiam "11 l^« ST. In MiMlen. PC InKrcocvn is a
VTI00 •Smlnter wnlcit aitabloi ycj to 010 any ST »? y wiaf «6 a lamina"
coniiccaKl to a mainfreitie or mini CWiei ptogf«ma 1 delude a po«oili.l
accaun;* paciiaap by Castlini and n ictus l-Z-a 1 * elono ca))M VIP
PiaiaMionai. Mlcioaoli bira announced ITinl !r*" conorlui wend ryocMW
WiertsW y,'ptC -ill iwe M ftvipyb!* »i 7i? ST W*ny paciaMf am
avui'QB'*) lot voiy jF<Ci'<. "*m»t applical'cint cnctucno a pcaeKi.-I CAD
(Can'puiai «io"Bd Ooti^n) proa'am eal*d Eaoy Om-.irem nfcs'*ph. |«
aodltain. in'o re a an onoir«onng tool oatltd PC Bono Designee bj Asuui
Soitwaie whien will onaB'« ih*> uaof 10 ■Tojlgn pnnica elituit ■Maids For
fuftfwr <iHj£a pi Hon inn ST can fidp in yeu'Buiinds. miu»o invcoj^un
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Pff/Cf MATCH PROMISE

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ATARI

El 3JiJU;\3}JDP

LlfJiJ WE ARE THE UK'S NOI ATARI SPECIALISTS

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FREE STARTER Kl

WITH EVERY 520 & 104O ST I
PURCHASED AT SILICA SHOP

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«4l ai i/i Aun ctfropuiBt owner, ot M a «f»n
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* ■ ■ - tV* mil '-- J'.' ir.'-'i hi '■•p > "-i up to data
■•Wi new AtaW atnatfoCMWlHa lit* ol cAaipe . So,
nrlum IIW coupon le€*t "mi Oegln eape^wiUnei
a apeo'au'al Alarl aeo^cc Ilat Ji aecond to noe.

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ON THE NEW RANGE OF ATARI ST COMPUTERS

M0MnnHK

Aiamz

ir.iliis:

5 U mp<nc:

Postcode;

Do you .-"■.« ■:■ own a . ..■■ •■■>■■ i - <
ilKi,-nt-."dioiHi»^Buonn?

■^S

If anyone says our 104C
there are over 600 way

,"-""~ — - —

The 1Mb 1040STE

This is rhe scare of the art 16/32 bit
technology at an unbeatable price. The American
magazine 'Byte' commented, "for some time to
come the 1040STF will be the clear leader in
price/performance."

As for software, the doubting Thomas should
simply take a look at our latest software catalogue.
And bear in mind too that the 1040STF will also
run software written on several other operating

systems, including CP/M.
The grand total is something over
600 software titles covering all
categories — accounts, programming
languages, word processors, communications,
graphics, CAD/CAM and scores of vertical
applications.

The 1040STF, with Gem, mouse-driven icon
and window presentation, makes the software fast
to use and easy to store. The tides are also
economical to buy.

DSTF lacks software,
is to prove him wrong.

_.

ir^

^&m

up*

■\--.

The 1040STF has a 1024K RAM integral
1Mb double-sided 3 1 /;" disk drive, two-button
mouse and built-in power supply. Basic and Logo
programming languages, graphics programme and
word processor complete the package.

With 12" monochrome monitor, we
recommend it sells for £799 excluding VAT, saving
you at least £1600 against its nearest rival.

The price of our 14" colour system is a
remarkably low £999 excluding VAT.

Prove the sceptics wrong. Find out about the

Atari 1040STF and its software for yourself.
For the name of your nearest dealer, ring Teledata
on O1-200O2O0.

AATARI

Power Without the Price

®

™

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BACKED CLOCK

# Internal Fitting *

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if ordered with any of our Atari ST

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Price £39.95

See our other Advertisement

Hot Line 01-691 0207

RING HOMEVIEW NOW

296 Brockley Road, Brockley. London
SE4 2RA

REQUIRED URGENTLY
ATARI ST

PROGRAMMERS

Please contact:
Mr A.K.GUPTA

ANCO SOFTWARE, 35 WEST HILL, DARTFORD, KENT

Tel: 0322 9251 3/9251 8

BUSY BEE

Arena
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Ka«ei

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We personally guarantee to deliver your goods or money back.

PSiP included. Overseas add £l per item. Most goods

delivered within a week from receipt of order.

Please make cheques/ P.O. {Sterling or\iy) payable to

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Fife KY8 4H J
Telephone (0333) 28935

MPC SOFTWARE

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£17
£21
£21
£36
£26
£26
£21
E2I
E17
El7
£17

CI7

Shuffle l!

£21

£17

£21

Ttva OaWr^a

£17

C17

Batfjnco

£26

SmpPosw

«7

El7

SpacoPloi

£17

WaST

£11.50

STGo«

£17

WaM&;st

Phor-fl

Bra&a

£17

BUSINESS

STtecoynls

£135

Thu-*6sf

£34

K-Gfapri

£34

£25

£76

K-Oaia

MS

Hao^vtiet

£50

K-Wotd

£-12

MtaMV Mai

CtMPavroll

£26
£170

DB'k Datv

£SO

K-S(y««l

C-12

utilities
DEGAS
Fan Basic
Flam
MaCaooinca Lr»

Motacotrco C
Me(acomca Pasta!
Melaco>Tco Aswmbiai
MaUcomai &CPL

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MtftWPfflco Menu*
Mcredoa! H8S

WChtionUiiilioi

R'0S«o

KssM

CiscFtop

CaWrdj/

DOSSlie-l

DovoaoST

PflTsona) Pascal

K-Seka

M-Dak

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Soti-wcot a M-Dtft

£34

e?a

£34
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ees

£77
£43

cas

£<U
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£2S
£26
£43
£17
£Sfl
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£20
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W3
£65
£43
£11.50
£11.53
£17

RAM OixJPnrt Spcolet £21

MANY MORE

HARDWARE

A*i5»ST.MKAtcai0 £W)

AIM BM SI« - SiWh Ae *ve C443

Ataii23Sr.«2Cflcfift«*aMw> Italia KM

Aiaii«5T*(.2(fKa7«ACfW^UwiW f&W

AwiKMOST-F Pro*

Currjna CW3W Strata SI flee Aba t|»

CununaCM3S3DuS?5Tft9e*va £JK

•m^j - S«J» CfiC #W £1650

.»jti->i. r-jjjiip, .-J-.?! tun

ttdi' bckacw oa»> u»a» tc
jfeattjtfti Mdissftos
Epson LXB(rrtM
Ph^rt TVMon*

EfeW<*

S12D
£13

era

CM
C210
£17
El 5
£S

Postage Free on afi orders, All Computers delivered by Tree

coutiof service in UK. All prices Jnciutfe VAT.

SendChequeiPO X>:

MPC SOFTWARE, 72 JULIAN ROAD, WEST BRIDGFORD,

NOTTINGHAM NG2 5AN. Tel: (0602) 820106

All prices corrects* timo of going to pess. ESOE.

ATARI SI.

SOFTWARE AUTHORS

With

You Really Get
The Best Deal

High percentage of GROSS receipts for

royalties.

Your product marketed throughout the world

by Microdeal & their associates —

Michtron — PSL.

High level RR. for your products with press

reviews, exhibitions, WORLDWIDE,

advertising WORLDWIDE.

Technical support from our own authors

both in the U.K. & U.S.A. Why invent the

wheel twice?
* Hardware on loan or at subsidised price

together with copies of ST

magazines/books from around the world.

When considering a publisher for your

Atari products —

remember T^jTllTUU^l' is No 1

on »

ELECTRONIC fUBUSHING

Kitfirf^aS^ ^" ^' ^ vnies Managing Director
SjflSR £ Microdeal Ltd Box 68 St Austell
7 >SWrsV Cornwall PL25 4YB Tel 0726 68020

Ell

m

November 1986 Atari ST tf se ,

£&££

If you've written any useful or
interesting five line programs
in either Basic or Logo, why
not send them in to our five-
liners section for ST owners?
We pay £25 for each one
published. Simply send a copy

AST

on disc along with a clear
listing and good explanatory
notes to:

ST Five -Liners, Atari User,
Furopa House, 68 Chester
Road, Hazel Grove, Stockport
SK7 5NY.

PRIME numbers have had a fasci-
nation for man since before , the firs!

simple abaccus was "W^****
five-liner will ask you for the first

nU rt will then display all of the prime
numbers between two and that
number.

Line Breakdown

10 Requests the maximum number
for primes. ,

20 Sets up the two loops to check
each number to see if it .spnme.

30 Checks for the prime number.
40 Prints out the prime numbers.
50 Loops back to line 20.

IF N/M«INT(N/M) THEN GOTO 50

NEXT M: PRINT N,

NEXT N

Prime

number

generator

from
CHI-YEUNG

CHOY

Floating
point

fixer

from

JIM TAYLOR

THE ST's Basic has several bugs and
inconsistencies, some of which lie in
the area of mathematics. If you have
ever tried to use floating point
mathematics you will have seen the
problem.

Even simple operations such as
addition and subtraction can produce
unexpected results.

This five-liner is a demonstration of
how to work around these difficulties
and how to use floating point maths
successfully to two significant fig-

ures, but using string variables to
store the numbers.

Una Breakdown

1 Inputs a value for l/and converts it
into a string.

20 Separates the decimal from the

integer part of V.
30 Tests for a rounding error and

corrects the problem.
40 Places the decimal part into string

OS.
50 Prints out the corrected number.

10
20
30
40

50

INPUT VsS*^LEFT*(STR*(V)

• - THEN 0=0*10050* = ". B»+MID$<STR*<D> ,2,1)

*>«V-ABS<V).L-INT(V)rD-V-L+.005:L«lNT(L+D)

' .2,3)

V$=S*+L$+l>$ : PR!

NT V

November >966 Alori ST User

®

Following the unprecedented success of Braloccos, Psygnosisare pleased loonnounce ihe bunch of two new
products foflhecdlourversions of the Atari ST ondthe5!2k Amiga.

DEEP
SPAiZ

HSHL3H*

The ultimate interstellor war game. A full 800k of machine code harnessing the raw power of the68000
processor to bring unique 3D solid graphics to the microcomp uter. Become o mercenary of the future in sea rch
for wealth; pilot on awesomefighti ng machine; travel storsysiems-lookingfor adventure . . . the experience of
deep space.

1

«
■

r...'-* ul -

1 • ■ .J--- fit*

I 1 "A *"

A R

N A

The classic sports simulation. Humour, competition and muiti-player rivalry, enhance what can only be
SPjh , S S^Phics of unsurpassed realism. Become on athlete, compete with your friends, only the most
skilled will ultimately win. No other product has mono ged to capture the 68000 processor to achieve this leve
ofgraphlcalsophisticatiors. .

o^.

PLEASE RUSH ME
fOR ATARI St WlTHSm RAM &COLOURT.V. MONITOR
1COPIESOF DEEP SPACE 4ff34.9S INC VAT

rjCOPIESOFARENASCMBSiNCVAT

FOnATARISrWiTH31!knAM4COL0URORB/W
r.COPIESOF BRATACCAS SXW95INCVAT

FOfl AMIGA WITHsiZk Ram

_J COPIES OF DEEP SPACE <&E34 MINC VAT

" ;COPIESOFARENA,0£2»»5!NCVAT

Z: COPIES OF BRATACCAS ^ t34 95INC VAT

FORhUC(NTOSHWITHS1?kRAM
IJCOPlESOFBRATACCASigf^S.gSINC VAT

Su*E«**STCatD
CAfl05AlXS|iME

051-227 4800

TOTAL

|c I

| c

I c

| c

I c

Li 1

f

■c

post coupon nowto: psygnosis, freepost,
li verpool u 3ab united ktngdom.

Tick ihi* box toi turuier tn>ooitaiiim |_J Oversea s customer pioase sod El 50 PS P
lEaCLQSECHeGUtfP.Q.FOflE '

MJ1

n

PLEASE DEBIT MY ACCESS -VISA COele!»asnecOsM<y)
CARD HO

Signal u^e

Namo ■
Add cess