A Haymarket publication SETTING THE STANDARI Winter 1985 £1.50 PACKAGES Toshiba v Amstrad in big fight HACKING the do’s and donts MSX2 what’s it all about? LISTINGS getting started Sanyo’s MSX may be fun, but it’s far from frivolous. Our MPC 100 is the kind of quality machine only one of the world’s leading manufacturers of business micros could produce. You’ll revel in its 64K memory, superb 16 colour graphics, and 3 channel/8 octave sound, operable by light pen or joystick options. You can rely on Sanyo back-up as well. We’ve a factory entirely devoted to computer production. Other MSX manufacturers haven’t So even if you do just want an MSX for playing games, you could end up a loser if you don’t first see Sanyo, then decide. ^ SANYO When it comes to M SX. we’re not just playing games Winter 1985 Volume 1 Number 4 EDITORIAL Editor: Hazel James Assistant Editors: Sally Wood Julia Alexander Art Editor: Richard Grill Secretary: Pat Rees . Photography: Mick Rock, Matthew Barnes Publisher: Gareth Renowden Publishing Director: Eric Verdon-Roe ADVERTISING Advertisement Manager: Neil Alldritt Sales Executive: Jo Murray Advertising Production: Julia Cox Production Assistant: Ivor Game SUBSCRIPTIONS: UK £7 Europe £10 Overseas £10 Airmail-Middle East £15 Airmail-North America, Africa, India £18 Airmail-Aust., NZ, Japan £20 Back numbers and subscriptions: obtainable by post from the Book Sales Department, 12-14 Ansdell Street, London W8 5TR. Telephone: 01-937 7288. Please allow two weeks for delivery. news 5 All the latest MSX news, including price cuts from the leading MSX manufacturers, the latest software releases and details of an MSX programming course. COMPETITION 36 Toshiba. Enter our competition and you could win yourself a brand new HX-10 micro together with word processing cartridge. ON TRIAL 18 Yamaha v Toshiba. Can Toshiba’s new MSX music keyboard compete with Yamaha's popular CX-5M? We put it to the test. 26 Toshiba v Amstrad. Following swingeing price cuts on its HX-10 kit, can Toshiba compete with Amstrad in the low cost, high performance home micro market? 34 Yamaha. We give Yamaha’s new disk drive a spin. With double density disk capacity, it's a cut above the rest. 38 Soft Spot. Our bumper software section reviews over 30 of the latest arcade, adventure and educational programs, to help you make your Christmas choice. BACKGROUND 12 MSX 2. Just as we're getting used to the MSX standard, they've gone and improved it. We explain what MSX 2 will mean to users when it arrives next year. 15 Hacking. Most of what you've read about 'hacking' is fiction rather than fact. We show just what can and can't be achieved with communications. 66 MSX Review. We take a look at all the MSX computers that have been launched so far in the UK. The editor welcomes any corrections or additions. Prices quoted in editorial and advertisements are correct at press day but may be subject to variation. Every care is taken in compiling the contents of the magazine to ensure they are correct and accurate, but the publisher assumes no responsibility for any effect from errors or omissions. All material published in What MSX? is copyright and reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden, except by permission of the publishers. Editorial, advertising and circulation departments: Haymarket Publishing Ltd., 38-42 Hampton Road, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 OJE Telephone: 01-977 8787 Photosetting and litho origination by: Meadway Graphics, Carlisle House, 198 Victoria Road, Romford, Essex RM1 2 NX Printed by: Chase Web Offset, St Austell, Cornwall ®Haymarket Publishing 1985 STARTING OUT 50 Listings lowdown. We save you hours of frustration with some useful tips and words of wisdom on entering program listings. 52 D-l-Y Games. Some simple but fun games listings for you to type into your MSX micro and play — including versions of Frogger, Invaders and Pacman. ADD-ONS 22 Controllers. Joysticks are only one way of manipulating graphics without the computer keyboard. We look at a few versatile alternatives. 30 Printers: Stop here if you're looking for an efficient, low cost printer. We review three value-for-money models. 46 Data recorders. We test three data recorders, each of which have that little bit extra — including price! BUYERS GUIDE 84 The only comprehensive guide to all MSX computers, joysticks, monitors, printers and software. If you want to know what’s available, you’ll find it here. Can Toshiba compete? — p. 26 A cut above the rest — p. 34 Good deals in printers — p. 30 Bumper software section — p. 38 Yamaha and Toshiba — p. 1 8 Flash loaders — p. 46 3 All MSX computers are built to the same standard. That’s what ma kes our first one different. At Pioneer we’ve never believed in following the :rowd. We prefer them to be one step behind us. And with our innovative reputation in Hi-Fi and In-Car Entertainment, people tend to demand rather special flings from us. Our new PX-7 home computer is just that It has all the benefits you’d expect from a standard ASX home computer, but with a few added talents. No other home computer enables you to create your )wn art and animation like the PX-7. Up to 16 different colours are available and by using he optional PX-TB7 graphics tablet you can create ite- rations, shapes and various backgrounds. Then store up o eight of these shapes with their respective animation irogrammes in the computer memory. Moving Pictures. Use the PX-7 in conjunction with a video or LaserDisc* player to superimpose your graphics, creations or titles onto a moving video picture. The PX-7 can also produce stereo sound with three different voice patterns over eight octaves and superimpose them over other sound sources. Video control. When used in conjunction with our SD-26 component television and LD-700 LaserDisc* player, the PXt 7 has the added versatility of being able to understand and control the complete system. So if you’re looking for a home computer that’s versatile, talented and one step ahead of the crowd, remember there’s only one. The Pioneer PX-7. Phone 01-200 0200 for your nearest PX-7 dealer. The future of sound and vision *LGSCrt$!SS is a trademark of Pioneer Electronic Corporation. M JHT The LaserVision trademark M certifies compatibility with other laser optical video LaserVision products bearing the mark. TOSHIBA’S CUT PRICE COMPUTER KIT Toshiba’s £99 computing kit contains all the basic equipment BACK TO BASICS WITH JVC’S MICRO COURS ES If you've just forked out for an MSX micro and still haven’t fathomed out how to connect a data recorder let alone prog- ram, don’t despair, help is at hand. JVC is now running MSX computer programming courses specifically for the uninitiated at its Audio, Video and Computer Centre (AVC) in London’s Piccadilly. The course, which lasts for an entire day and runs once a month, costs £135. It is run by Larry Shado, who tells us that it is designed to familiarise us- ers with their computers and peripherals. He says, The classes will be kept small, no more than eight people, so that we can cater for any individuals’ needs. At the end of the day, they should be able to write simple BASIC programs’. The AVC centre will also be running courses covering video camera operation and video editing techniques. Further information on the courses can be obtained by ringing the centre direct and talking to either Larry Shadoo or Mike Whyman on 01-491 3909. You can also get more in- formation by writing to JVC's head office at Eldonwall Trad- ing Estate, Staples Corner, 6-8 Priestley Way, London NW2 7AF. Competition between the ma- jor MSX manufacturers is hot- ting up and T oshi ba’s response over the last six months has been to drastical ly cutthe price of its HX-10. First it was reduced from £279 to £239, then to £139. In the last few weeks the machine has been slashed even further, to £79! In addition to these hefty price drops Toshiba has intro- duced a £99 starter pack kit incorporating a 64K HX-10 micro, HX-C810data recorder, three software titles, a step- by-step guide to MSX comput- ing, a blank cassette, plugs, fuses and even a screwdriver. Toshiba's spokesman tells us, ‘We’ve packaged the HX-10 so that first time buyers can start computing at an afford- able price’. The company has also laun- ched a £2 million television advertising campaign to prom- ote the HX-10 micro through- out November and December, YAMAHA’S MUSICAL BARGAINS Yamaha is joining in the MSX price war currently being fought between the major MSX manufacturers, by cutting the price of its 32K CX-5M music computer from £449 to £299 with the YK-10 mini keyboard thrown in. With the larger YK-10 standard keyboard, the package will cost just £349. Sounds like a bargain to us as the keyboards alone origin-, ally sold for £85 and £165 whoseaim, accordingtoToshi- ba's Steve Skuce, is to ‘boost greater awareness of our pro- ducts’. The cut price HX-10 micros and starter kits will be avail- able from all Toshiba retail dealers throughout the UK respectively. However no soft- ware is included in the pack- ages. The offer won’t last for ever' , says Yamaha's product spe- cialist, Ken Cambell, ‘I believe before Christmas. If you want more details on this or any other Toshiba pro- ducts, contact Toshiba on (0276) 62222 or write to them at Toshiba House, Frimley Road, Frimley, Camberley, Surrey. we are selling our MSX pro- ducts very fast and they will probably be finished by Christmas'. Yamaha can be contacted on (0908) 71771. Musicians will love the Yamaha CX-5M and keyboard combination. JVC has joined the price cutting band wagon with the HC-7GB COMPETITION FORCES JVC TO LOWER PRICES In a bid to boost sa les and keep up with the other MSX manu- facturers, JVC has drastically cut the price of its micro. The HC-7GB, originally £279, is now being offered at the incredibly low price of £99.99. JVC's John Seneschal I tells us that price cutting by other manufacturers has been so drastic that JVC was forced to lower its prices. He adds, ‘When you are stuck with stock, you’re left with no option but to either sit on it, burn it or sell it at knock down prices'. Toshiba recently reduced its HX-10 micro down to £79.99, and the Goldstar FC-200 is selling for £139. JVC is planning to release MSX II early next year. A prototype has already arrived in the UK but no details have been released. It’s hinted that in Japan research is already underway for an MSX III. 5 Looking a bit like a credit card, the soft card Is a low cost cartridge alternative BRIGHT ALTERNATIVE TO CARTRIDGES INTO ACTION Anirog Software has four ac- tion packed sporting titles lined up for MSX users in the next few weeks. The first title to be released will be Jump Jet, written by an ex-jet pilot and claimed to be a realistic flight and combat simulator. It will retail at £9.95. Five-a-side is the second release, a one-or two player option soccer game for £5.95 followed by Slapshot, a fast action ice hockey game at £8.95. All these titles will be re- leased throughout November and in December Anirog is launching an arcade game caWed Jump Machine, which is expected to cost £7. 95. EARLY BIRD At last Level 9 is set to release its latest graphics adventure. Called The Worm in Para- dise, it has been under de- velopment for the last 12 months, and will be the first of Level 9's adventures to in- corporate multi-tasking. The actual adventure is based on Level 9’s view of the future and the idea is that you have to find a way out of paradise. It’s available on cassette for £9.95 and is available from most computer dealers or direct from Level 9. Three of Electric Software’s games titles will be released on Astron soft cards before Christmas. The soft card, a credit card sized alternative to cartridges, contains 16K of masked ROM. It plugs into the cartridge port of your MSX micro by means of a special adaptor. Electric is launching a prom- otional campaign throughout November and will be offering Le Mans on soft card, along with an adaptor for £19.95. The adaptor alone retails for £7.95 and the game £15.95. In the run-up to Christmas, Electric will be selling a duo pack for £29.95 containing Sweet Acorn, Choro Q and an adaptor. The company has also just released a cassette-based game called Barnstormer which features the antics of a bi-plane pilot called Barnie and costs £8.95. Two more titles, Eros and Pinkie, will be released next month for £8. 95 each. All Electric’s titles are avail- able through two of the major MSX distributor networks; Nemesis, who can be con- tacted on 01-846 9701 and Lightning which is on 01-969 5255. QUALITY UTILITY PACKAGES FROM HISOFT SOFTWARE THE SE CRET DIARY OF ADRIANMOLE Sue Townsend’s best selling book The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3 A has not only been televised but will also be available as a computer game for MSX computers in De- cember. It's an illustrated text game which has been programmed by Level 9, a software house well known for producing value for money adventures, and is being retailed by Mosaic pub- lishing. The game will sell for £9.95 but there’s also a £12.95 gift pack which includes a 1986 Adrian Mole diary. Mosaic is also developing a MSX game based on the popu- Now you’ve read the book and seen the TV series, get hold of the computer game — due out soon for MSX lar BBC TV seies Yes Minister, but you’ll have to wait until March next year of its release. HiSoft has released two new MSX utilities; C++, a CP/M C compiler on disk costing £39.95, and Font MSX, a sprite editor for £9.95 on cassette. C++ is a Kernighan — Ritchie implementation of C, the computer language, and HiSoft claims that it is one of the fastest CP/M C compilers available. Accompanying C++ is ED80, a WordStar compatible full screen editor. These are well integrated and, in the event of a compilation error, a programmer may transfer directlyfrom compilertoeditor to get to the source file where the error occurred. Features include an exten- sive function library providing Unix-style stream-based input and output with random access abilities on files. It also has advanced data types such as structures and unions and a number of useful composite operators. C++ is available on a 3.5 inch disk together with a 175 page manual. Hi Soft also plans to convert its existing utility titles, Pascal Compiler and Dev pack Assembler/Debugger to the CP/M 2.2 operator system for use with MSX-DOS. More information about these products can be obtained from HiSoft on (0582) 696421, or contact them at 180 H igh Street North, Dunstable, Beds LU6 1AT. 6 GETTING TO KNOW THE UTTLE PEOPLE CLEAN UP Little people really do live in computers — at least David Crane, Activision's top desig- ner, thinks they do. He and his research team at Activision have designed a system which introduces these tiny bei ngs to prove it. By constructing a 2 . 5 storey house on his computer, Crane found that the little people moved in and made them- selves at home very quickly indeed. By keeping them supplied with food, water and a few luxury items I i ke d isco records, Crane found it possible to ‘establish relationships with these little people’. On screen, a dolls house- like view ofthe building can be seen and inside a little man and his dog are in residence. The house is furnished with all the conveniences of modern day living — a fire, record KONAMI The silly season is upon us and Konami is the latest company to jump on the price cutting band-wagon. The company’s cartridges will nowcost£14.95 instead of £17.40, which isgood news for gamesters. Luther de Gale, Konami's marketing manager, tells us, ‘For some time we've felt that the cost of our cartridges was too high, but now that we are selling greater quantities we can pass on the benefits to the consumer.' The company is also plan- ning to release three more of its excellent games titles. The first, Hyper Sports III, is a run up to the popular Hyper- Sports I and II. The other two titles are Soccer and Ping Pong, and all should be well worth looking out for. Activision helps you discover who’s living In your micro player, piano and so on. All you have to do is ask him to do things, such as play the piano, or dance. The idea is to monitor his daily living, ask him to do things and, as Crane suggests, ‘just get to know your little Bank Street Writer, an easy to use word processor, is now available on cartridge from Toshiba for £49.95. According to Toshiba it in- corporates a number of fea- tures you would expect to find on a more expensive word processing system. It has a number of useful features in- cluding automatic word wrap; adding, moving, inserting and computer person'. An MSX version is still in the research stages, but for sheer originality and entertainment, Activision's idea is hard to beat. Activision can be contacted on (0628) 75171. erasing blocks of texts; search and replace routines; word centering and indentation and text highlighting. The product will store and retrieve text from both disks and cassette storage systems. Bank Street was originally used on the IBM and Apple computer systems, but was developed by Toshiba in Japan for MSX micros. Cleaning tape heads in data recorders used to be a job for a dealer or a technical genius, but thanks to Robcom's align- ment kit you can easily do it yourself. The kit costs £4.95 and includes a cleaning tape, alignment tape and the all important screwdriver. All you have to do is run the tape through your data recor- der. Full instructions are in- cluded should you need to adjust the azimuth screw. But take a tip from us — if you’re not sure what you're doing or your tapes still won't load, seek the advice of your dealer. Further details can be obtained from Robcom on 01- 209 0118. NEMESIS Nemesis, one ofthe major MSX software distributors set up to cope with the increasing de- mands made for MSX games and utilities, has just changed its number to 01-846 9701. Dealers and consumers were so fed up with trying and failing to get through to the former number, Nemesis de- cided to install four telephone lines on its new number! The company is still at the same address — Nemesis, 2 Iffley Road, Hammersmith, London W6 OP A. BANK STREET WRITER GET YOUR T-SHIRTS HERE Free T-shirts and sports bags are on offer throughout the Autumn to buyers of Elephant floppy disks. Al I you have to do is obtain an application form from your local dealer and return it to Dennison Manufacturing with the appropriate number of box tops. In return for the tops of three boxes of 10 disks, you can have a sportsbag. Two box tops will get you an Elephant cap, and for just one box top you can get a free Elephant T-Shirt. The offer lasts until the end of December 1985. You’ve got till the end of the year to collect your box tops 7 Epson’s low cost thermal printer Is so compact A LIGHTWEIGHT PRINTER THE SPIDER AND THE FLY Keeping your computer and its peripherals secure can be a problem, especially if we are to believe Product Innovation’s claim that a burglary or snatch theft is committed every 60 seconds. So its newest anti- theft devices — Spider and the Fly, costing £34.95 and £24.95 respectively — might be the answer to your security problems. Designed to protect clusters of equipment such as compu- ter systems, hi-fi systems, TVs and monitors, the Spider webbs everything together. It comprises a central alarm unit with four tentacles made from 4-core wire. Each of the wire ends is fitted with special sensor attachments. These devices fit to equipment using sticky pads and a 98 decibal pitch hooter sounds if anybody tries to remove them . The Fly consists of an alarm unit and also fits to objects using sticky pads. It detects the slightest movement and emits the same sounds as the Spider. Both alarms last for two to three and half hours, although the Fly's alarm resets if it remains still for five seconds. For more information con- tact Product Innovation Ltd, 7, Berners Mews, London W1P 3DG. Tel: 01-580 7636. If you’re after a low-cost ther- mal dot matrix for your MSX then Epson's P-40 might fit the bill. Although the model has been available for nearly ayear it could formerly only be purch- ased through Epson’s own dealers. The company now wants to attract home users and is makingthe P-40 available on a nationwide basis through An improved version of British M i cro's Graf pad is set to h it the high streets in time for Christmas. British Micro developed a protype Graf pad earlier in the year but the project was Boots’ computer departments and most major computer dealers. The P-40, which costs £59.95, weighs only 0.7Kg, has a printing speed of 45cps and a full 96 character ASCII character set. Further details can be obtained from Epson UK at its offices in Dorland House, 388 High Road, Wembley, Mid- dlesex. shelved because the software wasn't of a high enough stan- dard. The new model, known as Grafpad II, has been totally redesigned and is expected to cost around the £70 mark. A NEW IMPROVED GRAFPAD LIGHTNING TAKES OVER STAR’S P RINTERS Lightning, already known for its fast firing range of joys- ticks, has clinched a deal for the distribution rights of Star Micronics’ range of printers. Star only started up its UK operations in March this year and has spent the last few months looking for a distri- butor. The initial range of printers being handled by Lightning includes the SG10 dot matrix series with prices ranging from £194 to £352. All of the printers have Cen- tronic interfaces and can be used with most home micros including MSX. Deta i Is can be obtai ned from Lightning, 841 Harrow Road, Harlesden, London NW10 Lightning has clinched Star’s distribution rights 5NH. NO MORE POWER CUTS Power cuts can be disastrous for computer users but Richardson Computers seems to have come up with a solu- tion. For £199 you can buy one of its battery powered support units known as Reserve, which automatically cuts in when your mains power fails. According to managing director John Richardson, the unit can support a home micro plus printer for at least six hours. If you store a lot of data which you can’t afford to lose, this could be a product worth investing in. Further details from John Richardson Computers, Unit 337, Walton Summit, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancashire PR5 8AR. DAISYWHEEL The popular Juki 6100 daisy- wheel printer has been super- ceded by an improved version known as the 6200. Micro Peripherals, which distributesthe Juki range, says that the Juki 6200, although more expensive at £499, is a much faster printer with a speed of up to 32 cps and a 3K buffer. In addition, it can handle up to 197 characters per line. The 6200 has a standard Centronics interface which makes it suitable for use with any MSX micro, and is ideal for the small business user. De- tails can be obtained from Micro Peripherals, Hassocks Wood, Wade Road, Basing- stoke, Hampshire. EPSON CABLE Epson, the well known printer manufacturer, has plans to produce a printer interface cable specifically for MSX. This cable will enable prin- ters such as its new GX-80, which incorporates a printer interface cartridge/cable assembly instead of a parallel orRS232C port, to print out the whole MSX character set. Costing £50, the cable should be available by the middle of January, an Epson spokesman tells us. 8 HOW DO YOU MAKE A COMPUTER SHARPER - ******** * 3 =ir6^K«5‘5rJ JiSpSf ' : ;:^-Y?,, - .-. .»t lt iv -sr -»• 13 ggigp^ ^ • gM ■iMi ^Vi •;.•••’ ... | iHBra . •*■•' ‘ ;V.V^ -.iriVVir*- .-> . - • :. - -' Y" . r -c V.’ V--' •* T' •* •- u •^•v;" - '.. • •'•V.A^'^X C-- :.. ; V--.S- --^-,r.;.---r- PLUG rr INTO A PHIT IPS PERSONAL MONITOR A Philips personal monitor gets the very best out of your computer. It makes using your computer more rewarding as the definition and resolution gives the clear display you need. Philips offers you a complete range of both colour and monochrome monitors. One of them is exactly right for your computer. With over 50 years in screen technology Philips know howto give you the right image. Philips personal monitors are suitable for virtually all personal and home computers. Just complete the coupon and well send you full information. Post this to: Stephen Paul, Marketing Manager, Computer Monitors. Philips Electronics, City House, 420/430 London Road, Croydon, Surrey CR9 3QR PHIUPS NAME Tick if trade enquiry □ ADDRESS POSTCODE: PHILIPS. TAKE A LOOK AT OUR IMAGE. PHILIPS YOUR No P DAZZLING DAZZLING y.y/V DAZZLING □UT DF THIS WORLD PRICES ! ONLY IvirVy MITSUBISHI MLF 80 SANYO MPC 100 JVC HC-7 HE RE NOW! Revolutionary Soft-Card by ‘Electric’ Si «m&5 MMm ORDER SEE OPPOSITE PAGE FOR PRICES TOTAL All prices include VAT and post and packing. All items include a full year guarantee. Products are stocked and usually despatched within two days. Overseas customers add £4 post and packing. Cheques (with cheque card number)/Postal Order, etc., payable to TAVISTOCK HI-FI LTD. Telephone orders (0234) 56323. Please debit my Access/Barclaycard Card Number Signature Name Address _ 2 1 The Broadway, Bedford MK40 2TL Telephone: Bedford (0234) 56323 What MSX?/Winter ■ YOUR No I I I ■ ■■ ■ ■ a ■■■ ■■■ ■ ■ i MSX SOFTWARE by return despatch KONAMI Super Cobra £14.95 Comic Bakery £14.95 Track and Field 1 £14.95 Hyper Sports 1 £14.95 Antarctic Adventure £14.95 Tennis £14.95 Mopi Ranger £14.95 Sky Jaguar £1 4.95 Golf £14.95 Circus Charlie £14.95 Time Pilot £14.95 Track and Field 2 £14.95 Athletic Land £14.95 Monkey Academy ...£14.95 Hyper Sports 2 £1 4.95 Yie Ar Kung-Fu £14.95 Kings Valley £14.95 Road Fighter £14.95 Hyper Shot £1 5.85 KUMA Cribbage £5.95 Super Chess ....£8.95 Ninja £6.95 Wdpro Word Processor £29.95 Database £1 9.95 Kubus £6.95 Fruity Frank £6.95 Shnax £6.95 PSS Les Flics £7.95 MEGACYCAL Gumshoe Logic £9.20 Revise Physics £8.50 Gods of the Tomb £9.20 ARTIC Mr Wongs Loopy Laundry LIAMOSOFT Psychedelia .. £6.95 MST MST-CALC £14.95 MST-Home Accounts £1 2.95 MST-Database £1 2.95 PANASONIC Break Out £14.45 Pairs £14.45 Sasa £14.45 lllegus £14.45 Turmoil £14.45 Golf £14.45 TERMINAL Lazy Jones. £8.95 ACTIVISION Beam Rider £11.99 Pitfall 1 1 £11.99 Ghostbusters £1 1 .99 Decathlon £11.99 River Raid £1 1 .99 Hero £11.99 ORPHEUS Boulderdash £6.95 MSX Board Games 1 £4.95 GST/ELECTRIC Zaxxon £11.95 Le Mans £9.95 Buck Rodgers £11.95 The Wreck £14.95 Barnstormer £8.95 MTBase £49.95 LEVEL 9 COMPUTING Colossal Adventure £9.95 HAL LABORATORY Mr Ching £14.95 Rollerball £14.95 Hole in One £14.95 Step Up £14.95 Super Billiards £14.95 Super Snake £14.95 STATESOFT Icicle £7.95 OCEAN Hunchback £6.90 DK TRONICS Minder £9.95 A+F Chuckie Egg £6.90 SHIELD Chemistry O-Level Ex- aminer £9.95 Physics O-Level Examiner £9.95 Maths O-Level Examiner £9.95 SOFTWARE PROJECTS Jet Set Willy £7.95 ManicMiner £7.95 Jet Set Willy 2 £7.95 AMPALSOFT Challenge My Bluff ....£9.95 Lets Go MSX £9.95 Kriss Kross Quiz £9.95 Fun Words £9.95 SOFT CARD MSX Softcard Adaptor £7.95 AdaptorandLemans2 £19.95 Barnstormer £15.95 Chack'N'Pop £14.95 Xyzolog £14.95 Backgammon £15.95 Lemans2 £17.95 The Wreck £19.95 Sweet Acorn £1 4.95 Chord Q £14.95 Shark Hunter £15.95 LTD 2 1 The Broadway, Bedford MK40 2TL Telephone: Bedford (0234) 56323 MOREWOOD SOFTWARE Reflexes £9.95 Intro to Numbers £9.95 Calculation 2 £9.95 Patience £6.95 ELECTRIC STUDIO Graphic designer £14.95 Sprite Editor £6.95 TASMAN Tasword.. £13.90 MIRRORSOFT -*737 Flight Simulator £9.95 Star Seeker £9.95 First Steps with the Mr Men £8.95 RITTOR MUSIC Odyssey K £1 1 .95 PSG Musiwriter £24.95 VIRGIN GAMES Sorcery £8.95 DOMARK A View to a Kill £10.99 COMPUTER MATES Cards Filing System £39.95 Mailshot £69.95 Spreadsheet £39.95 Wordprocessor £39.95 Cash Accounts £99.95 MELBOURNE HOUSE The Hobbit £14.95 Classic Adventure £6.95 ANIROG Flightpath 737 £8.95 ALIGATA Contract Bridge £9.95 Disc Warrior £7.95 Blagger £7.95 BOOKS Starting with MSX £5.95 Starting Machine Code with MSX £7195 Behind the Screens of MSX £8.95 Useful Utilities for MSX £2.99 Practical MSX Machine Code £4.95 MSX Exposed £7.95 MSX Games Book £6.95 Getting More From MSX £7.95 Introducing MSX Basic £6.95 MSX Prog’s Ref Guide £14.95 Ideas for MSX £6.95 CDS French is Fun £7.95 \ MARTECH Eddie Kidd Jump Chal- lenge £7.95 SONY Battlecross £1 7.95 Mouseo £17.95 Juno First £17.95 Crazy Train £17.95 Doroden £17.95 Home Writer £24.95 ASK Number Painter £8.95 STELL Maths Invaders £7.95 HISOFT Pascal £29.95 Devpac £1 9.95 PERIPHERALS Sanyo DR-202 Data Rec £44.95 Sanyo Lightpen £89.95 Sony JS-55 JoystickEI 9.95 MSX Printer Cable £1 4.95 Toshiba Plot/Prin Pens £4.50 Toshiba RS-232 £99.95 RS-232 Cable £14.95 Toshiba Extra Cart/Slot £29.95 Toshiba Joystick £9.99 Toshiba Plotter Printer £199.95 Toshiba Dot/Mat Printer £249.95 JVC HC-105 Data Rec £89.95 Micro P Dot/Mat Printer £229.95 Thorn Modem £225.95 Wigmore Mouse. ...£69.95 ■ ■ ■ i ■ I ■ I ■ BUY FROM THE EXPERTS CONFIDENCE WITH SOFTWARE ORDER [ TOTAL £ All prices include VAT and post and packing. All items a full year guarantee. I Products are stocked and usually despatched within two days. Overseas Ll customers add £4 post and packing. Cheques (with cheque card number)/Post Order, etc., payable to TAVISTOCK HI-FI LTD. Telephone orders (0234) 56323. Please debit my Access/Barclay card Card Number Signature Name Address What MSX?/Winter An improved MSX standard is waitinginthe wings. Here’s a short preview S ince the MSX standard was first announced Just over two years ago, over one million MSX computers have been sold worldwide. Not con- tent to rest on their laurels, the various manufacturers in- volved In the project have been working on Improvements to the original MSXspecIfication. If you were lucky enough to attend the recent Personal Computer World Show you might have seen some of the latest MSX development work. A number of surprising new peripherals were displayed. Along with the everyday disk drives and printers, there were acouple of music-based items being put through their paces. There were even one or two new MSX computers — Toshiba's HX-22 model for example. But what really made the show interesting was the formal announcement of the first ma- jor enhancements to the MSX standard, otherwise known as MSX 2.0. Usually, an announcement of this nature would send cold shivers down the spine of the dedicated micro user. All too often, the term ‘upgrade' im- plies ‘starting from scratch'. Considerable investments in both hardware and software can be lost overnight if a user wants to take advantage of an enhanced machine. Sinclair devotees will be very familiar with this 'upgrade syndrome'. Fortunately, MSX owners have nothing to fear. The total software compatibility phi- losophy embodied in the cur- rent generation of MSX sys- tems also extends to the next generation. Software in all forms (disk, cartridge and cas- sette) will run without mod- ification, and future MSX sys- tems will happily accommo- date the current range of peripherals such as printers and joysticks. So what wi 1 1 or won't the next generation of MSX micros offer us?The first surprise isthatthe central processing unit has not been upgraded in any way whatsoever. There has been no move towards 16-bit proces- sing: the Zilog Z80 is stil the chip that pumps life through the system. This reluctance to improve the number crunching and memory addressing capability of the processor may merely be a question of economics. The present 16-bit processors are nowhere near as cheap as their older 8-bit counterparts. Chips like the Intel 8088and Motorola 68008 could have been possible contenders, as they both utilise an 8-bit data bus. This would allow a more powerful computer system to be built without the consider- able production costs required for a full-blown 16-bit system. The MSX manufacturers seem agreed that leaping into the 16-bit home computer field isa little impetuous, and would rather wait until the relatively recent 16-bit market becomes more settled. Most of the current MSX systems have fine keyboards, and in combination with a disk drive, can be ideally suited to business applications. Their main disadvantage to date has been the lack of an 80 column displaymode. For serious word processing this facility is a. must, and for most applica- tions, the more information presented on screen at once, the better. Your only current route to better business computing is to purchase Spectravideo's 80 column adapter, or the Spec- travideo X'Press micro, which has an 80 column mode built- in. With the announcement of MSX 2.0, this feature is now standard. Graphics This new screen mode is achieved courtesy of a marvel- lous new video chip which admirablyaddressesthe critic- isms levelled at the current device. The present video de- vice, the Texas 9918, is begin- ning to looka bit dated interms of the range of features it offers and has been super- ceded by the new V/9938. This chip was not designed byTexas Instruments, but is nonethe- less totally software compati- ble. The V9938 was custom built for MSX 2.0 by Microsoft, and it offers not four, but 10 graphics modes. The h i ghesta va i I a b I e screen resolution is 512x424 pixels, and the colour palette (the total number of colours avail- able) has been increased from the adequate 16 to a stagger- ing 256 colours. The sprite display has been modified to accommodate eight instead of four sprites on a single hori- zontal line. Also, sprites may now be composed of more than one colour. By alternating the colours of each line of the sprite’s definition, multi-hued sprites may be created. All the additional sprite and colour information needs to be stored somewhere. In present MSX systems, a 16K block of memory is dedicated to the video display. For the purposes of MSX 2.0, this has been upgraded to a massive 128K. The advantage of having separate RAM to store the various screen tables, is that none of the main RAM used to store your programs and data need be sacrificed for graphics. The new video chip may also Mitsubishi’s prototype MSX 2 (above) and digitiser (below) interface with video signals input from an external source, such as VCRs and video camer- as. Mitsubishi has utilised this latter feature in its remark- able new MSX 2.0 system. Mitsubishi Adevice known as a d igitiser may be attached to the compu- ter. This is used to 'grab' a video image and display it using one of the MSX 2.0 graphics modes. Once present in the computer’s video mem- ory, the picture can be manipu- lated using an item of software called Artpaper. Art paper is a ROM-based artist's program with a differ- ence. You can draw pictures with it just as you can with the Sanyo I ight pen’s bund led soft- ware, but its main purpose is to allow editing of digitised pic- tures. The package's menu is com- prised of an array of ‘icons’. These are simply pictorial rep- resentations of the commands available to you. On most systems, you would select a command using a joy sti ck to move thecursorover the command icon and press- ing the trigger button. The Mitsubishi system uses another means of moving the cursor. A two button ‘mouse’ can be used. The movement of the mouse across a desktop is mirrored by the cursor on the screen. The mouse device has been specified as a standard optional extension within the MSX 2.0 standard. From the icon menu, a wide range of drawing instruments can be selected. There are the usual paint brushes, pencils, eraser, aerosol and paint-fill options you would expect. Lines, boxes, circles and ovals can all be produced with a twitch of the mouse’s tail. A picture may also be annotated by add ing text from the compu- ter keyboard. All of this is fairly standard. Where the system comes into its own is when you start to use the editing func- tions. The software equivalent of a pair of scissors and a tube of glue can be used to cut pieces out of your picture, move them around the screen and paste them into a new position. Using this technique, numerous duplicates of a sma 1 1 section of the screen can be created and laid out over the entire screen, or stacked on top of each other like a deck of cards. Another option allows you to stretch or shrink an area of the screen. You can also ‘flip’ this area around, so allowing the viewing plane of an imageto be altered. At the very least, you can mirror an image; at other times you can subject the image to some strange distor- tion effects. The higher resolution screen is used to display captured video images when subject detail is more important. The disadvantage of this screen modeisthat it mayonly display a maximum of 16 colours at one time. Obviously, the lower screen resolution will not give you as sharp a screen image, but a picture will be shown using the full range of 256 colours. This resolution is par- ticularly useful for dramatic abstract effects. You can, of course, save and load your efforts to tape. In due course you will also be able to print- out digitised images. With the MSX 2.0 video chip, a superimpose feature allows you to mix both static, compu- ter generated material and ‘live’ action from a video camera or recorder. This fea- ture could be used to produce an edited videotape, complete with a title sequence and subtitles. Unfortunately, the system is notyetavailable in Europe, nor is it likely to be for a good numberof months. It is likely to be too expensive as a novelty purchase for most users — around £800 for digitiser and computer — but it clearly demonstrates the major adv- ances that have been made in MSX graphics over a relatively short period of time. Sound As far as sound is con- cerned, the basic three-voice sound chip is still the basic requirement of any MSX 2.0 system. As with the mouse, a superior sound chip is an optional, yet sti 1 1 standardised addition to the MSX specifica- tion. This seems very likely to be of the type used by Yamaha in its CX-5M computer, and by Toshiba in its new add-on Music System. The chip will use the FM synthesis technique for pro- ducing sound. A number of waveforms are combined and interact with each other to produce a very rich and quite complex range of sounds. Any- thing from a church organ to a koto can be produced with a high degree of realism and clarity. Another useful feature is that the sound is of a high enough quality to warrant play- ing through a hi-fi system. Stereo sound is also possible with such a sound chip. Instead of three voices — or sound channels — the MSX 2.0 sound chip offers nine. Full polyphonic, multi-partmusic is easily achievable with such a system. Another welcome addition is a battery-backed-up RAM. This is a small amount of memory in which personalised system in- formation may be stored. When the system is turned on, the start-up screen colours, mode and width can be set automatica I ly . A greeting mes- sage can also be provided. For the business user, the date and time can now be provided from the system clock. As the RAM is backed up by battery, the system will always remember the current date and time. In this security conscious world, Microsoft has provided password security. This means that the system is useless to you unless you know the pass- word. Without it, you won't get any further with the system than turning it on. The day of the truly personal, personal computer has arrived in the home. Basic All the new hardware fea- tures are complemented by additional BASIC commands. The current 32K BASIC ROM in the MSX 1.0 systems has been beefed up to 48K. Further extensions incorpo- rated in MSX 2.0 are a basic 64Kof RAM, Centronics printer port and two joystick ports. These are nearly all standard on the current range of MSX computers available in Europe. In Japan, a numberof minimum specification with only 16K of memory and one joystick port are available, but, quite wisely, these systems never made the trip to our shores. Although the Z80 processor can only access 64K of mem- ory, a technique known as ‘bank switching' allows MSX systems to address a total of 1 Megabyte. MSX 2.0 has im- proved the memory addressing still further so that a massive 4MB of RAM can be placed at thefingertipsofan MSX owner. The MSX 2.0 systems are just emerging in Japan, so, going by past experience, we won't be seeing them here for at least a year. They have emerged as very credible busi- ness systems, and yet still manage to improve their appeal to games players. If the Mitsubishi system is anything to go by, we should see anumberof i nnovative new systems with a wide range of applications. And best of all, MSX 2.0 will still offer H total compatibility. 14 Hacking is not just reserved for teenage whizzkids — anyone can do it. We explain how. D eep under the Cheyenne Mountains, near Col- orado Springs, lights flicker to life on the screens of Norad’s early warning sys- tems. Voices became hushed as the realisation dawns that this could mean Just one thing — an attack by the Soviets. Rapidly the armed forces of the USA move to red alert. Meanwhile, in a back bed- room in Rickmansworth, a teenager tracks the same points of light on his home computer. Commands fly from his keyboard, across interna- tional telephone lines, and into Norad’s giant main- frames. Eventually, bored with the game, the teenager types ‘Only kidding', cancels the attack and hangs up the phone. That's one popular image of computer communications — that is, linking computers by telephone. It's an area which achieved notoriety with the film Wargames and publica- tions like The Hacker’s Hand- book. 15 The truth, fortunately, is safer and rather more down to earth than the image. The great popularity which com- munications — or comms to those i n the know — is enjoying among computer enthusiasts owes more to its genuine attraction than any micro fan- tasy. Put simply, hooking into other computers, from micros to mainframes, is one of the most fascinating things you can do with your MSX machine. Before going into detail about the available online systems, let's look at a couple of the terms used. The most common one in communica- tions is baud rate. This is a measure of how fast data travels between computers, and is roughly equal to bits per second. Normal telephone lines aren't the most wonderful data carriers, so the limit is about 1200 baud (around 1200 bits per second) . A large number of systems use split baud rates, the data com i ng to you at 1200 baud, and you sending data at a more reliable, but much slower 75 baud . The reasoning is that you're probably going to be sending comparatively little data, but receiving a lot. Apart from 1200/75 the only other common system is 300/ 300 — sending and receiving at the moderately fast but still reliable 300 baud. Some busi- ness and scientific networks use 1200/1200, but these are of little interest to the average enthusiast. YOUR PHONE BILL No matter what system you're accessing you're going to end up paying a bigger | phone bill | than usual. You can forget those stories about people acces- sing telephone company computers and wiping out their bills — it's extremely difficult and highly illegal. The first rule in comms is 'keep an eye on the time'. When you're wandering around a database the units can clock up at an appalling rate. Most bulletin boards will show you how long you've been online, which is useful, and will probably scare you into hanging up. Fortunately, Prestel can be accessed at local call rates from almost every- where in the country. The most popular of all the systems is Prestel. This online database service is run by an offshoot of British Telecom, and was initially a huge flop. But that was because you needed a special receiver to access it. More recently it became possible to use ex- isting computers, assuming they have the right equipment and software (see box), and suddenly Prestel was opened up to hoardes of home micro enthusiasts. Prestel is what’s known as a viewdata system. It runs at 1200/75 baud and is based on pages of information, with colour and graphics, similarto the teletext information you can get on suitably equipped TVs. Each page is numbered and simple routes are provided between associated pages. In fact, you need only the number keys, and two special com- mand keys (usually function keys on micros) to find any of the third of a million pages. There is the usual weather, business, holiday, sport and entertainment information. But of most interest to micro owners is Prestel Microcom- puting. This is a closed user group (CUG) and can be acces- sed only if you pay the extra subscriptionfee. Butthatgives you access to Micronet 800 and Viewfax 258, as well as other areas of interest to computer enthusiasts. In these sections you'll find information on computer clubs, programming tips, soft- ware reviews, adventure help- lines and the latest news from the computer world. It is also possible to download software — some of it free, the rest at reduced prices. However, there’s no software for MSX micros as yet. The Increasing popularity of computer communications has Inspired several books Once you've forked out your subscription (£6.50 per quar- ter for Prestel alone, plus an additional £10 for Micronet), most of Prestel is free. Each frame shows a charge, but in themajorityofcasesthisisOp. Charges are made, however, for many of the games and business pages, some weath- er reports and the like. There are also online time charges during peak periods — 08.00- 18.00 weekdays, and 08. GO- 13. 00 Saturdays. The other times are free. Prestel As its function is to supply information, Prestel is pretty passive. You spend most of your time just reading pages. But you can send information too. There are bulletin boards for broadcasti ng to the world — including the Gallery section where you can set up your own mini-database. You can also send messages to specific people, simply by knowing their mailbox num- bers. This is what's known as electronic mail. After the mes- sage is sent to someone, the next time he or she logs on to the system a notice flashes on the screen to say that a mes- sage is waiting. Youcanalsobookhotelsand holidays, and order brochures through response frames. That's why a lot of travel agents use Prestel. But on the whole, Prestel is for reading. Information on Prestel A more sophisticated sys- tem is Telecom Gold, which hasasectionde d icated to MSX users, known as MSX-NET. Telecom Gold is designed pri- marily as an electronic mes- saging system. It's sophisti- cated, and can be used to send electronic messages and tel- exes worldwide. As such, it’s of most interest to businesses. However, although it lacks the colour and graphics of Prestel, there are some enter- taining sectionson Gold. There is the facility to chat to other users who are online at the same time. And there aresome interesting games, including an excellent adventure, known as The Pits. The great disadvantage ab- out Telecom Gold is the cost. As well as your membership, you have to pay on I i ne charges and storage charges for any files. Thiscanall workoutquite expensive. Even more expensive are the professional databases. One of the best is World Reporter , which addsthe full text of every issue of the Guardian , the Economist and several other well-known newspapers and news services to its already vast database. The system has a sophisti- cated search facility and is ideal for journalists and other people involved in research. Unfortunately, it costs a pound a minute! You can easily run up a bill for £30 just finding and printing out one article. In contrast, bulletin board systems (BBSs) are absolutely free (if you ignore your phone bill). Just as they sound, BBSs are essentially electronic mail systems, with large public message areas, although some now have games and downloadable software. BBSs a re run by enthusiasts, Prestel offer so much . . . Use It to book tickets CONTACTS AND NUMBERS liiW • >W*5^*XfSi‘ S>Mw;o' sj.'Xv- ^.wNS$».w.w! JwiwX*: SXJwX^X^v v ^\<\^ \*: \\^:‘^>^^ v^ : W^l *Mkk To log onto any of the communication systems, you first need a modem usually on simple micros. Most use a text-only scrolling for- mat. Although they traditional- ly run at 300/300 baud, many are also adopting 1200/75. The main problem with BBSs is that only one person can ac- cess a board at a time, so you’ll usually find the numbers en- gaged — you just have to keep on trying until you get through. On the other hand, these systems are great for being able to contact other like- minded people. You’ll be able to get advice on everything from programming bugs to marriage, simply by putting up a message in the public area. New boards are springing up all the time — and, of course, they close down too. The main reason for a board closing is people calling at the wrong time. Although many boards run 24 hours, others don’t, as the phone line is also used for normal voice calls. The sysops (as the system operators are known) become understand- ably fed up when idiots ring at the wrong times. A board's operating times are usually well-advertised, often on other boards, and they should be respected . Adventures As well as the general mes- sage areas, most bulletin boards also have Special In- terest Groups (SIGs) for mes- sages and information about subjects like computing (sur- prise!), sales, wants and MUD. That last subject has nothing to do with wallowing in wet earth. MUD (Multi User Dungeon) is an online adven- ture game, but with a differ- ence. It is an adventure which can be played by scores of people at the same time. And many of the characters you meet while exploring the locations will be other players. The original MUD is on an Essex University computer, but is difficult to access. Now British Telecom is producing a commercial version which, at the time of writing, was still undergoing tests. Many people will still prefer the original version — not because it’s better but be- cause there is a certain mysti- que surrounding it. Originally intended for university stu- dents, MUD quickly fell prey to hackers. These are people who enjoy logging on to other people’s computers — expecially when they’re not supposed to. In recent months the press has been full of stories about teenagers gaining entry to NASA's mainframes, entering telephone company compu- ters and killing their bills, and soon. Undoubtedly a lot of this high-level hacking does occur. And the James Bond aura surrounding it has been partly responsible for the increased interest in communications generally. Bulletin boards are full of messages from comms new- comers asking, ‘How do I hack For more details on the services mentioned, con- tact: MICRON ET 800/PRESTEL: Micronet 800, 8 Herbal Hill, London EC1R SIB. Tel: 01- 8373699 TELECOM | GOLD: Sales Administration, 60-68 St Thomas Street, London SE1 MSX-NET: 3 The Barracks, Main Gawcott, Bucking- ham MK18 4HR MUD: MUSE Ltd, 6 Albe- marle Way, London EC1V 4JB To get you started, here are a few of the more popular bulletin boards. All are on 24 hour operation and many contain full lists 1 MMMji Dark Crystal 01-964 9847 300/300 iandB 4 onn/7c lIUcOO/llp baud MBBS: Mtthcam 0018 01-648 300/3001 baudf® | and; jj 1200/75 Mlcrollve 2288 300 baud BBS 01-S79 NBBiHIl ilftftfif Al«>00w gS; : . ■SWnFJIJ (0277) 300/3*00 bauclM and 1200/75 TBB|ljyverpoo|§ 051-428 18924 ... Mg j ; m mm 300baud f jj§BBS London 01-348 9400 300 baud computers?’ or, ‘Does anyone know any interesting tele- phone numbers?’. In fact, most hacking is done by obtaining inside informa- tion (such* as passwords) in ways totally unrelated to com- puting — in other words, nor- mal industrial espionage. The story which opened this article is pure fantasy. Even if you find a telephone number withan interestingcomputerat the other end, the chances are you won’t get past the prompt which simply says: Password? Trying all the possible pass- word combinations could take anything up to a few thousand years, even if you get the computer to do it. The most interesting thing you’re likely to see on your screen is the message ‘Access denied’. But even if you can’t launch ICBMs with your MSX micro, communications is still one of the most fascinating areasofcomputing. WHAT YOU NEED Unfortunately, communica- tions Isn’t Just a matter of plugging the phone into your computer. To convert computer signals Into pulses suitable for sending down the telephone line you’ll need a device known as a modem (MOdulator DEModulator). Not all modems can handle all baud rates or systems, but if you plan to get Into comms seriously It’s worth forking out for a multi-standard model, cap- able of handling both 1200/ 75 and 300/300 baud. You’ll also need some software. Like the modem It’s a good idea to go for the most versatile you can get. The Computermates car- tridges are Ideal as they can handle both viewdata and normal scrolling systems, if, on the other hand, It’s Just Prestel you’re in- terested In, then the new cartridge from Micro Tech- nology Is worth a look. Once you’ve got the mod- em and the software all you need is a phone and a healthy bank balance to pay the phone bill! 17 TOSHIBA vs YAMAHA % A lthough the standard sound chip in MSX micros offers the arcade enthusiast a healthy diet of weird and wonderful sound effects, those who strive after the more refined tones of Handel or Bach may be disappointed with the musical output of their machine. There are some very good pieces of software, notably Oddessy-K and PSG Musiwri- ter from Rittor Music, and Music Editor from Morwood, which do wonders with the limited hardware. However, to produce good music, you will need to upgrade the quality of the chip that produces the sound. Yamaha, which is a very well known and respected producer of music synthesizers, did just that when it included an FM synthesis sound chip in its revolutionary CX-5M micro. Other manufacturers have cocked an envious ear in the direction of Yamaha, with the result that one of them, Toshi- ba, has boxed up a sound chip as an add-on for MSX systems. Yamah’s CX-5M is outwardly a standard 32KMSX micro with the addition of one or two non-standard connectors. One of these allows a music keyboard to be attached. This is around 3 V 2 octaves long and is one the popular ‘mini-keyboards’ such as those found on the Yamaha ‘Porta- sound’ and Casio range of portable musical instruments. There are 44 notes in all, ranging from F to C. For an additional £50, the player may wish to opt for the full-sized JK-10 keyboard. The keyboard will do nothing until you go into BASIC, and type CALL “MUSIC ". A menu will appear on screen and the keyboard comes to life. You now have a very sophisticated music synthesizer on your hands. Instead of the rows of knobs and dials you may associate with electronic instruments, the CX-5M chip is totally con- trolled by software. The control panel is split up into five sections. Generally, these determine the instru- ments (or voices) which maybe played using the keyboard, rhythm, bass and chord acom- paniment, modulation effects and finally overall sound ba- lance of the instruments, as well as tuning and transposing of the entire keyboard. The menu is traversed using the function keys, while indi- vidual items are changed using the cursor keys. At the bottom of the screen are a set of commands which may be given by pressing keys on the computer keyboard. Initially, the keyboard is ‘split’ in the middle. The lower part of the keyboard allows more than one note to be played at a time (i.e. polyphony), while the upper The Toshiba music keyboard will Interface with any MSX computer with over 32K RAM section of the keyboard is monophonic, and best suited to solo playing. Effects like portamento may be added to the solo section. The keybord split may be set at any point, and the solo and polyphonic sections may be swapped, i.e. polyonthe upper section and solo on the lower. A different voice may be assigned to each half of the keyboard. There are 46 voices in all. These range from the superb organs, harpsichord and clavichord to odd effects like train whistles and ambu- lance sirens. The sound quality is stun- ning, particularly ifyou linkthe system up to a hi-fi. Normally, the music is directed to the speaker in the TV set. You can add various effects to these instruments: sustain, amplitude and pitch modula- tion. The latter two wi 1 1 give you effects like tremolo and vibra- to. The modulation effects may be altered in both depth and waveform. Applying pitch mod- ulation with a square waveform will sound dramatically diffe- rent if you use a triangle waveform. The terminology may sound boggling, but atthis stage, you can simply experiment until you get the sound you like. You may add an automatic backing section with any com- bination of rhythm, bass line and chord . The rhythms offered are just the standard rock, disco, etc. beloved of organ manufacturers. They are not particularly realistic but are a vast improvement on a metro- nome. Automatic chords (major, minor etc.) maybe produced by playing up to four keys on the lower 14 notes of the keyboard. Various chord in- struments may be used; flute, guitar, horn and brass. A piece of music may be recorded in the CX-5M’s mem- ory. Up to 2000 notes may be stored in 'real-time’ (i.e. exact- ly as you played them), and played back at leisure. For more permanent purposes, the piece may be saved to tape. As it stands, the Yamaha is a fine instrument, with enough facilities to keep you happy for a long while. The dedicated can coax yet more from the synth by using the range of cartridge software available. The FM Voicing program is supplied inthe box. Ifyou tireof the preset sounds on offer, you can build up a library of your own. The best way to begin is to take one of the preset sounds and start to experiment with it. With a great deal of hard work, it is possible to produce abso- lutely incredible voices. Once created, the sound may be stored to tape, and the 'patch’ — the parameters used to create it (of which three are a great number) — may be dumped to a printer. To become competent with the CX-5M voicing capabilities will take many months, but it is a worthy undertaking. The FM Music Composer allows music to be written on a stave on-screen and played back. This is a cumbersome piece of software and can be quite tricky to use. Perserver- ence isa gain required. Multi- part music may be written and edited, with a final printout of the score when you are finished. Some knowledge of musical notation isdefinitelya must. Yet another cartridge, the FM Music Macro, allows you to access the FM sound chip from MSX BASIC. This expands the list of BASIC sound commands available by means of calls to the Macro ROM. MIDI — a universal data exchange protocol for digital keyboards — is another facet of the CX-5M. Using the MIDI interface, the CX-5M may con- trol, or be controlled by, other suitably equipped pieces of musical hardware. MIDI is used by the DX-7 Voicing cartridge. If you have over a grand to spare, you could plump for Yamaha’s popular (count 'em on Top of the Pops) professional synth. By all accounts, programming the beast is a bit awkward, so the CX-5M is often used to set up its big brother’s voices. Yamaha is not the only supplier of software for the CX-5M . Other software houses are taking advantage of the system’s ‘open’ architecture. With the CX-5M, you are purchasing a system which is very flexible, and unbeatable at the price. Musicians who know the ins and outs of synthesizers and MIDI are in the best position to appreciate the features on offer. Very dedicated beginners will find it an easy means of breaking into the digital synthesizer market without having a prior agree- ment with their bank manager. Toshiba In contrast, theToshiba MSX Music System’s obvious appeal lies with people who currently own an MSX system with a memory of 32K or more. It seems most clearly pitched at the absolute beginner, both in terms of the ROM based control software and the facili- ties offered. The main unit is a full-pitch, 49-note ‘professional’ keyboard, spanning four octaves (from C to C). This is plugged into the FM synthesiz- er cartridge, which is in turn slotted into an available car- tridge port. The FM cartridge has two stereo output sockets to allow connection oftheunittoa hi-fi system. Alternatively, these outputs may be used to drive the speaker in a TV monitor. Connection of the music system takes only seconds. After checki ng everyth ing is set up OK, all you have to do isturn the computer on and you are ready to play. The main menu screen shows graphic representa- tions of a keyboard, drum kit, metronome and a computer with monitor. On the 'monitor' screen are displayed the three options available to the user. Two of these are demonstra- tion pieces of music to give you some idea of the system's potential. When a tune starts to play, the drums, cymbals and keyboard on the screen follow the rhythm and melody, and the metronome taps out the tempo. The final and major option available from the main menu is EDIT, which allows you to change the instruments to be played, alter the tempo and rhythm and even record, play- back and save your own com- positions. Options on the EDIT menu are selected using the cursor keys, spacebar and backspace keys. The spacebar usually steps up through a list of values or options, while the backspace key allows you to step down through a list. This makes the system very easy to get to grips with. Any one of 65 voices may be selected. These range from the conventional, such as electric pianos and pipe organs, to an exotic range of Japanese 20 The CX-5M from Toshiba will appeal to musicians and keen beginners instruments and sound effects. The latter encompasses typewriters, a ‘space noise’, and one called TUT, which the manual reliably informs us is a tut. Just the thing you need to voice polyphonic di approval! The voices are generally quite useful, though some of the more percussive instru- ments are rather similar. Sound effects like vibrato and sustain may be added to en- hance the basicsounds. Unlike the CX-5M, you are limited in the amountof control avai lable over these effects. Vibrato is either on or off, with no selec- tion of waveform possible. In common with the CX-5M there is a comprehensive accompaniment feature, whereby the computer allows you to play the usual one-finger chords and automatic bass lines. The computer automati- cally displays the currentchord that is being produced in this mode. An added bonus is that any one of the instrument's 65 voices may be assigned as a bass and accompaniment in- strument. There are far more rhythms available from this system than the Yamaha : a tota I of 20 offer everything from funk to fusion. The sound quality of the drums is rather better than the CX-5M, but again is rather a let-down when judged against the quality of the instrument’s major voices. There is a record feature available, whereby a piece of music is entered into the computer’s memory for later playback. This differs from the CX-5M’s record feature in a number of important respects. The first of these is that the accompaniment feature and melody track can be recorded and played back independent- ly of one another. The CX-5M records only the notes you play, while the Toshiba keyboard stores both note and voice date. So you could change the melody in- strument from an electric guitar to a harmonica midway through recording. In operation, this is possibly one of the nicest features of the system. As you playback a piece, you can see a 1 1 the voice and chord changes on the screen exactly as you recorded them. Once you have completed a piece of music, you can save it to tape or disk for later recall. One strong potential ap- plication of this system is for education. As the graphic keyboard display mirrors the operation of the real keyboard, a pupil may learn a piece of recorded music in a copycat fashion. Perhaps in the nearfuture we will seeToshiba releasinga set of music 'albums’ for tuition purposes. The last — and most in- teresting — feature of the system is a touch sensitive strip located above the keyboard unit. The strip is called the 'Multi-Sensor' and is an extremely 'friendly' little gadget. Various features may be selected bytouchingoneofthe five zones of the sensitive strip. By default, these zones correspond to the five percus- sion instruments which make up the systems drum kit. You can tap along on the drums, or even program your own rhythm patterns by playing the Multi- Sensor. The Sensor is totally 'soft'; software dictates the function of each of the sensor's zones. By selecting the 'Sensor Mode' option on the menu, the strip can be used to play chords, arpeggios, and select rhythms and voices. An on-screen sta- tus line shows the current layout of the sensor, rather like the standard MSX function key display. The review system was sup- plied with only a simple intro- ductory manual. An additional, more detailed reference manual will be provided for the purchaser. Surprisingly, the ‘beginners’ manual is one of the best examples of its type we've yet encountered. A cute I ittle char- acter, Tommy the Teddy Bear from Toshiba, shows us howto have fun with our Music System. Although blatantly aimed at the young user, after running through the manual you will have a very good working knowledge of the entire sys- tem. The approach is some- times inconsistent, with the odd bit of high tech jargon thrown in for good measure, and the assumption that the user can read music. Verdict The Yamaha andToshiba are not really competitive pro- ducts, so a one to one compari- son of features is not altogether fair. The CX-5M could be classed as the dedicated musician’s micro. It offers more flexibility than theT oshiba system , but it requires much more of the user. Software like the FM Voicing program unleashes the power of the sound chip, but expects a great deal of dedication on the part of the musician. Features like the MIDI inter- face can only really be appreci- ated by those who own addi- tional MIDI equipment like drum computers. In comparison, the Toshiba Music system has a much lower potential for expansion than the CX-5M. It is a ‘closed’ system, and is unlikely to have any software written for it. However, it is much easier to use and has a wider general appeal than the CX-5M. The keyboard unit is excellent and the Multi-Sensor is a novel and useful idea. If you wantto buy a disk drive in the future, you must bear in mind that 32K of memory expansion, and possibly a car- tridge port expander, are re- quired for the CX-5M. In terms of price, the CX-5M ismuchbettervaluefor money, especially when you consider that you are purchasing a highly specified synthesizer and a computer. The Toshiba system is perhaps a little too expensive as an add-on. When bought as part of Toshiba's Music Maker package, in which an HX-10 micro is included, the system offers greater va lue for money. Nonetheless, the Toshiba unit is a very well presented product and worth considering if you have a fledgling mmm interestin music. H Suppliers and Prices Toshiba HX-MU901 Music System Price: £279.99 Toshiba Music Maker Package (Includes the Music System and a 64K HX-10 micro) Price: £369.99 Toshiba (UK) Ltd. Frimley Road, Frlmley Camberiey, Surrey GU16 5JJ Tel: (0276) 62222 Yamaha CX-5M (Includes YK-01 keyboard and YRM-102 Voicing program) Price: £299.99 (£349.99 with full size keyboard) Kemble-Yamaha Music (UK) Mount Avenue Bletchley Milton Keynes MK1UE Tel: (0908) 71771 If you’re not too hot at typing, don’t despair - there’s plenty of alternatives to lend a Spectravldeo’s Joyball may not look like a joystick, but that’s Just what It Is! This Joystick uses a touch sensitive pad Look, no lead — Sony’s Infra-red joystick helping hand Y ou don’t need to be an expert typist to be able to use your MSX micro. By making use of the Joystick ports and plugging In such devices as a mouse or tracker ball you can by-pass the keyboard altogether. So, if you have an aversion to using the keyboard, or are a hopeless typist don’t panic — we’ve rounded up a selection of input devices that are easy to use and can make home com- puting simple and fun. You’re probably already familiar with joysticks as games controllers, but did you know that they can also be used for manipulating text and graphics? With graphics software packages such as Electric Stu- d i o's Eddy II a nd Kuma’s Colour Fantasia, you can forget about fiddling around with the cursor control keys and have more d irect control simply by moving a stick around. Word processing can be made so much more simple too. Although you still have to input text via the 'Qwerty' keyboard, instead of fiddling with the cursor controls to move paragraphs or alter the spacing between words you just move your joystick, press one of the fire buttons and away you go. Joysticks can come in all shapes and sizes and some, like Suncom's Joy Sensor (£19.95), don't even have a ‘stick’ as such but a touch sensitive pad. Others, like Spectravideo's Joyball which costs £19.95, have a rotating ball mounted on a square plastic casing. The beauty of this kind of device is that it offers you multi-direc- tional movement, whereas most joysticks limit you to the eight compass points instead of 16 (which can be very frustrating). Another type of joystick that's easy to use is Sony's 22 Pioneer's art tablet lets you create animated graphics JS-75 infra-red joystick con- troller. Although it is a bit pricey at£64.95 it means that you have complete freedom of movement, since no lead is required between the joystick and computer. Obviously it's great for playinggames but it is also equally at home when used together with a word processing package or for moving sprites across the screen when designing graphics. A more sophisticated and specialised device is a tracker ball. Marconi markets one for MSX micros. It is known as the RB2 and costs £89.95 com- plete with software. It is a simple to use device that can be used for games playing as well as creating computer graphics. All you have to do is plug the tracker ball lead into the joys- tick port of your computer. In a few seconds the menu appears and then, by gently rolling the ball with your fingertips, you can move the cursor over the menu and pick out which colour you want to draw in and the function you wish to use. It is as simple as that. The software provided with the tracker ball gives you a palette of 15 colours from which to choose. You can create just about any shape you like — circles, squares, rectangles, triangles and straight lines are all possible. By using the text mode you can use the keyboard to create characters, and the tracker ball to place them anywhere on the screen — particularly use- ful for technical artists who need to label their drawings. You can magnify specific portions of a graphic design and make modifications pixel by pixel, and if you’re not satisfied with the end result the 'eraser' fac i I ity wi 1 1 r ub it a 1 1 out. The tracker ball isn't the only device with these kinds of capabilities. Wigmore House has brought out a very compact little gadget called the MS2000 mouse. The price of £78.40 includes a cassette- based graphics package cal- led Cheese, or you can pay an extra £5.75 and get the soft- ware on cartridge. A mouse is basically an upside down version of the tracker ball, with the ball placed underneath the casing. It is operated by simply pushing the mouse around on a flat surface. A cursor, or poin- ter, moves in the correspond- ing direction on screen. Cheese’s menu is much lar- ger than that of the tracker ba 1 1 package. For starters you get not only the 15 primary col- ours, but an additional 120 different shades. Graphics can be scrolled up and down the screen as well as backwards and forwards. All the usual shape com- mands are included — squares, circles, ellipses, rec- tangles and triangles, etc. And you can save all your creations to floppy disk or cassette tape. We’ve not heard of any MSX owners using the mouse for The high quality graphics possible with a tracker ball A first effort with Sanyo's light pen The Marconi tracker ball menu Icons Wigmore House’s mouse looks deceptively simple 23 Marconi’s tracker ball was developed for air traffic control systems Toshiba’s MSXJoystlckhas rubber feet, two fire buttons and costs £12.99 Beam stick Infra-red Joystick Is designed to be held In the hand word processing, as yet. However, Microsoft, creator of the MSX standard, sel Is a word processing package called Word bundled together with a mouse for the IBM PC, so maybe it won’t be too long before the appropriate soft- ware appears for MSX users. Another device which bypas- ses the keyboard is the light- pen from Sanyo. It costs £89.50 and comes complete with its own software. Unlike the two devices we've looked at so far, the lightpen can only be used for the input of graphics — not for text. A lightpen is very simple to use. The software is included in the cartridge inter- face. Just plug it in and wait for the menu to appear. Using the lightpen isjust like drawing with a large wax crayon. You create shapes and drawings simply by moving the tip of the pen around your TV screen. Like the tracker ball and mouse it has all the drawing features you'd expect of a graphics tool. There is one problem, though, which is in- herent in its design. After continued use you might develop some cramp in your hand and arm and you wi 1 1 probably find your arm partly obscures your field of vision. Zoom Having said that, the advan- tage of this device is that its software allows you to convert your graphics creation into BASIC and run it off as a I isting. Like the tracker ba 1 1 , there’s an enlargement facility whereby you can zoom in on a particular section of your drawing and work on it pixel by pixel . A similar device to Sanyo's lightpen is the Graf pad from British Micro. When our sister magazine, MSX Computing, reviewed it earlier this year, it cost a not inconsiderable £125. However, the company informs us that a new, im- proved version will be in the shops before Christmas for around £70. In terms of design, the Grafpad is probably the most ‘natural’ peripheral for artists to use. It consists of a flat electronic pad covered in graph lines with an electroni- cally sensitive pen attached. Using it is literally like putting pen to paper. You simply draw on the pad with the pen and the design appears on the screen. It is more versatile in use than a lightpen because you are drawing on a flat surface, without having to reach up to the screen. The only obvious drawbacks are that it cannot draw ‘real’ circles — we had to make do with ellipses, and you have to fill in a shape with the same colour as its border, or the colour 'bleeds’ all over the screen. The problem with cir- cles is probably due to the MSX computer, not the Grafpad. At the time of writing, British Micro’s Frank Sketch tells us that the software for the Graf- pad is being re-written and that the new version will have as many features as the I ightpen . Any device that bypasses a keyboard is obviously going to be useful not only for young children (particularlythe hand- icapped) but for anyone who cannot type. Joysticks are cheap and underrated — they could easily be used for manipulating chunks of text in word proces- sing or with spreadsheets. However, they're not used in this way because business users tend to associate them solely with games playing. This doesn't apply to the tracker ball. Marconi originally developed it for the special- ised field of cursor movement control on air traffic control displays. The Ministry of De- fence uses tracker balls with its missile guidance systems, as they offer more direct and tactile control than a keyboard. Verdict Manufacturers are con- stantly looking out for alterna- tive methods of inputting in- formation into micros, in a never-ending bid to make com- puting more ‘user-friendly’ for the end user. In the non-MSX business world there are such devices, such as the Pen Pad which is similar to the Grafpad and is solely for word processing. Al I the devices we've looked at are mainly graphics-orien- tated, but the tracker ball and the mouse can be used for playing games too. The decision as to what peripheral you might need will depend on what you are going to use it for and how much you are prepared to pay. If you are just looking for something to zap aliens with i nstead of juggl ing around with the cursor control keys then a joystick is ideal and within most people's budgets. But if you are interested in computer graphics then you have the mouse, tracker ball, light pen and Grafpad devices to choose from. Whichever device you de- cide upon, try it out at your dealer before handing over the money. Better still, take your computer with you to make absolutely sure you will know what to do with the device ■ ■ onceyougethome. wm IF YOU ARE AN MSX RETAILER PLEASE CONTACT US. PROFIT FROM OUR EXPERIENCE AND OUR 24 HOUR DELIVERY SERVICE WE CARRY A FULL RANGE OF MSX SOFTWARE EXPORT ENQUIRIES WELCOME Telex: 957485 ROB INC. Nemesis Distribution Ltd, 2 Iffffley Road, Hammersmith, London W6 OPA. Tel: 01-846 9701 25 O ne of the accusations levelled against MSX by a number of critics is that the standard represents a case of loo little, too late’. Rather than setting its sights on the latest, more flashy examples of current semi-conductor technology, Microsoft opted for a rather ‘ancient’ set of chips to form the backbone of its standard. The Zilog Z80 CPU, General Instruments’ sound chip, Texas’ video chip and Intel’s peripheral chip have been with us for some time now. They are well-proven, available in large numbers worldwide and also relatively cheap. By combining a sensible and very flexible system design with a powerful and elegant BASIC language, Microsoft provided some of the world’s greatest consumer electronics manufacturers with a true con- sumer-orientated computer. Finally, you had no need to be a decided computer buff to appreciate using MSX. Unusually, it was not only the MSX consumer giants who saw the advantages of using estab- lished technology. The UK’s own popular electronics com- pany, Amstrad, finally entered the micro market with a system using no less than three of the four chips found in MSX com- puters. Electronics impressario Alan Sugar, head of Amstrad, moved into computers after a towering success in hi-fi sys- tems. Being a shrewd and successful man, he waited until the market was right and stepped in with customary gusto. The timing was to prove almost perfect. With no less than four diffe- rent computer systems (one of them a full-blown word proces- sing micro) to its credit in a remarkably short period of time, Amstrad’s watchword of value for money has captured the imagination of the compu- ter buying public. Given that the hardware specification of both the first Amstrad computer, the CPC464, and MSX is very close, it is worth comparing the two systems in some detail to point out the major differ- ences. As the Amstrad CPC464 computer comes complete with a monitor and cassette recorder, we have assembled an equivalent set of MSX units for the comparison. Toshiba has subjected its HX-10 micro to some pretty aggressive price-cutting over the last year. From a launch price of £279.99, the HX-10 has now dropped to an all-time low of £79. 99 — or even less if you are prepared to shop around. Not content with this bar- gain, Toshiba recently announced the availability of a starter kit which we examine here. For the moderate sum of £99.99 you can get: an HX-10 micro, HX-C810 data recorder, three games, a five program demo tape, three manuals, two plugs (British made! — one for the cassette, the other for the micro) and to top it all, a screwdriver to get the lot plumbed into the National Grid. This sort of pricing policy is bound to send shivers coursing up and down even ‘Uncle’ Clive Sinclair’s back. To complement the starter kit, we have chosen a standard 0 ON The Amstrad CPC464 keyboard Is quite slim and carries an extra large ENTER Key. Unusually, It Includes a numeric keypad The expansion facilities could be better — note the low cost edge connectors, exposed to dust and possible damage 14 inch colour TV set, the Toshiba 140E4B, which costs around £189.99. This makes the total cost of our example MSX system £289.98 or less. Amstrad The Amstrad system comes complete with a colour moni- tor, built-in data recorder, a single manual and 10 software packages. This little lot will cost you in the order of £299.99. The same computer is available with a ‘green screen’ monitor for some £100 less. The CPC464 adopts the typical Amstrad ‘one plug’ approach. In its earlier hi-fi systems, the company real- ised that most purchasers dis- liked the ‘heap of spaghetti’ that was found lurking behind most audio systems. Compu- ter owners may also have' noticed that their systems attracts more wiring than there is pasta in Venice. By cutting out the number of connections required in a com- puter system, the cheaper it is to produce, but perhaps more importantly, the easier it is to get to grips with if you are a beginner. Setting up the CPC464 is very simple. First you need to attach the CPU box to the monitor unit. There are two connections required: one for a 5V power supply, the other is the video link between the monitor and computer. Next, you have totakethe mains plug (yes, the only mains plug!), push it into the wall, switch on the computer and your system is fully operational. It is so easy to set up that an onlooker thought that some vital pieces of wiring had been omitted! The hardware itself is not staggeringly attractive to look at. The monitor and computer casing of the CPC-464 are an a I most military shade of green. The initial overall impression is the size of the system. If you go to buy one, take a car ora friend with a packhorse. Much of the bulk may be attributed to the monitor unit. The computer unit itself is a slim affair, with the data recor- der built-in on the right hand side. It makes you wonder how they manage to pack all the electronics into such a re- latively small space. The answer is simple: the power supply is housed in the monitor casing. Transformers are in themselves quite large objects, and the whole supply unit needs room to allow heat dissipation. By separating power unit and computer, you are far less likely to run into overheating problems encoun- tered when the micro is left switched on for long periods of time. The micro's keyboard com- prises the standard alpha- numeric and control keys, a set of cursor control keys and, unusually for a micro in this price range, a numeric keypad. The keyboard is adequate for typing purposes, though it generally feels cheap. An extra large RETURN key is a most definite plus, particularly if you are one of the legion 'hunt and peck’ typists. The data recorder is a fairly straightforward affair. All the standard play, record, rewind, etc. functions you would ex- pect are present, as well as a program tape-counter. Being The bullt-ln ‘datacorder’ ‘hardwired’ into the rest of the system, it is likely to be far more reliable than cassette units linked rather precarious- ly with the usual MIC/EAR/REM set-up. The cassette can save data at two speeds: 1000 baud — the ‘safe’ option, and at the superfast, but less reliable 2000 baud. The only other features worthy of note on this unit are a power switch and a volume control. The volume control alters the output level of the system’s internal speaker. Peripheral expansion on the system is a major sore point. Rather than using standard connectors, Amstrad has adopted the low cost ‘clip on the PCB’ type connections. Although the pri nter port obeys the Centronics standard, you may wel I find that you wi 1 1 have to purchase a specially adapted cable. The same is true of the joystick ports. The system software, incor- porating a dialect of BASIC, occupies 32K of ROM. This is a very powerful, reasonably fast language. Boasting a fine spread of commands and func- tions, this BASIC, although very close to Microsoft BASIC, is often far superior. Graphics are very good on this micro. The top screen resolution offers 640x200 pix- els, although only two colours may be shown at once in this mode. 80 column text can be displayed, opening up the sys- tem to CP/M users (with disk drive, of course). In other graphics modes, a maximum of 16 colours from a palette of 27 may be used. The sound capabi lities ofthe system are identical to those found in MSX computers. This is hardly surprising as both types of computer use the same sound chip. The means of accessing the chip through BASIC is far too cumbersome, and there is no language construct quite as friendly for playing tunes as the MSX Music Macro Language. If an external amplifier is used, the sound produced may be split into stereo, with each of the voices occupying left, right and centre of the stereo field. Software supplied is of good quality, and even includes a word processor. The value of the added software is esti- mated at over £100 by Am- strad. In the main these are commercial packages riding under the flag of Amstrad’s software arm, Amsoft. Harrier Attack from Durrell Software and Oh Mummy are possibly the most familiar titles. A fault-finding cassette is also included, so allowing you to run periodic checks on the health of your system. A major disappointment is the manual supplied. This is badly laid out and quite patchy. The style in which it is written can be very irritating. You can get a more detailed manual at a not inconsiderable price from Amstrad. Alternatively, you could opt for an independent book dedicated to the system. As for future expansion, joysticks, printers, speech synthesizers and an incredibly cheap 3 inch disk drive are just a few of the options currently available. Software houses are rapidly converting titles for the CPC464. Manic Miner is one famous title that has under- 28 taken the migration. Hi-Soft's range of software develop- ment tools (‘C\ Pascal, Assemblers etc) have already been converted in both casset- te and disk formats. Overal I , the Amstrad CPC464 is a superbly specified micro, with a healthy future ahead of it. Most of the periphera Is you w i 1 1 be I i kely to need can be suppl ied by either Amstrad or a third party manu- facturer. Software support is flooding in, with a wide range of both games and business software. The quality of this software is genera lly very good too. There has, though, been a great deal of cost saving in the design: the edge connectors and the overall 'tacky' appear- ance of the system are dead giveaways. Toshiba After this brief look at the Amstrad, how does the Toshiba system compare? With the supplied plugs and screwdriver, you are able to wire up your system straight away. You will then need to connect the monitor and cas- sette unit before you can begin to play. The micro is no stunner to look at, but is very well con- structed. The QWERTY keyboard lacks a numeric keypad, and has a rather 'slack' feel about it. Not exactly a touch typist's dream. Toshiba aimed this system squarely at the micro enthusiast. With the bright colotir scheme, it looks very much the part of a games micro. At the back of the computer are standard TV, monitor and cassette connectors and a covered expansion bus. The side of the computer houses two 'D' type I/O sockets for joysticks and the Centronics printer port. The cassette unit supplied with the HX-10 is a rather tasty looking (as such things go) jet black model. It has a program tape counter, Automatic Level Control for recording purposes (this can be switched out if desired) , a monitor feature and a condensor microphone. The Automatic Level Control sets a consistant recording level. This saves you worrying about the volume setting each time you save or load prog- rams. MSX micros can save data at The Toshiba HX-10 — no stunner, but sturdy and reliable OO ( o Both video and TV outputs are provided. Note the protected expansion bus (above) and two Joystick ports (below) ** m x ' mmmmm kmmmmmm ■ M W Aliii m Toshiba’s stylish data recorder two speeds: 1200 and 2400 baud. As with the Amstrad, the slower speed is preferable as it is less error prone. Our chosen ‘monitor’ was one of T oshiba's 14 inch colour TV sets. This gave excellent results, with much less of the screen 'clipping' than might be expected of an ordinaryTV. And you can watch Dallas on this set, too! MSX-BASIC is a fine lan- guage, but it is awfully greedy for memory. 28K is left for your programs out of an original 64K. And that is before you've even thought about program- ming. The CPC464 is much kinder, leavingyou around 42K free to fiddle with. Although the Amstrad offers higher graphics resolutions, it does not offer sprites. With MSX you may define up to 256 sprite patterns, and place up to 32 on screen at once. As well as the usual LINE, CIRCLE and PAINT types of commands, MSX-BASIC offers a simple sub-language to pro- duce graphics. The Graphics Macro Language consists of strings of instructions. For example, 'U40' means ‘move up 40 units’. Shapes may be scaled up or down or even rotated . A similar language for the manipulation of music exists. Instead of specifying frequen- cies for the sound chip as you havetoinAmstrad’s BASIC, you specify notes on the musical scale, e.g. ‘CAB’. Rests, dotted notes, tempo and note length are a few of the parameters that may be altered. There are three manuals supplied. One is a very elementary beginner's guide, the second is a reference to the MSX commands. The third manual is entitled Getting the Best from Your MSX. This is quite an expen- sively produced booklet giving a very broad overview of the applications of computers and a good many programming examples as well. Tosh, the character from the Toshiba commercials, finally makes an appearance. There is even a program detailing how to draw Tosh's wire frame head. Everything from graphics to communications is touched upon. This is quite an unusual booklet, and it will probably work quite well. Software supplied by Toshi- ba hasbeen specially commis- sioned for the HX-10. Two of these are games and one is a tutor program. There is also a set of five demonstration pro- grams in the starter kit. MSX owners are beginning to see substantial amounts of software available after what was a painfully slow start. Like the Amstrad, conversions are filtering across from the more established microssuch as the Commodore 64 and Spectrum. Conclusion The Amstrad CPC464 initial- ly sold very well because it was cheap when compared to com- petitive systems. When viewed in the light of the recent price cuts in the MSX marketplace, it looks like the Amstrad system may lose some of its advan- tage. On a technical level, the systems are fairly evenly matched. The Amstrad scores higher on the quantity and quality of its packaged soft- ware. On the other hand, users of the Toshiba system can take advantage of other MSX manu- facturer's peripherals; Am- strad owners may have to wait for Amstrad, or third party suppliers. Bear in mind that a cheaper colour TV set than the Toshiba model we've recommended could be purchased, so bring- ing the system price down still further. Any colour TV with an aerial socket is suitable for MSXmicros — mostpeoplewill already have one at home. But a few months ago, the Amstrad system would have won hands down when com- pared on a price/performance level with other home micros, including those of the MSX stable. The new price cuts from Toshiba are certain to endan- ger Amstrad's dominance of the cheap, high- performance micro- computer market. Do you need a versatile, cheap, fast printer? We outline three of the latest models nee you’ve taken the plunge and bought a computer, the chances are that within months you’ll think about buying a printer — for the majority of serious applications, Including prog- ramming and business, keep- ing records of your work Is essential. But steel yourself fora shock — a printer can cost more, a lot more in fact, than the compu- ter itself! It seems ridiculous, but if you think about it a printer is made up of many more moving mechanical parts than a micro. As with any expensive elec- tronic item, you need to con- sider what task you intend to use the printer for before handingoverthecheque. Most people use their printers for a combination of applications: listing computer programs; printing out word processed text; keeping hard copies of data and for reproducing graphics such as pie charts. All three of our review prin- ters, the Epson GX-80, Rite- man F+ and Star STX-80 can cope with those applications, but they are not necessarily ideal for all of them. Printer mechanisms are a varied breed — helical ridged- drum and electro-sensitive printers are some of the more unusual models — but our review is confined to the more common dot matrix printer. It is worth noting that daisywheel and plotter/printers are also widely used. Dot matrix printers are among the cheapest and most versatile of printers. The reason they are called ‘dot matrix' quickly becomes appa- rent when you examine a piece of printed text — each of the characters is formed from a number of little dots, everyone less than l/72nd of an inch in diameter. A dot matrix print head consists of wires or pins mounted on a flat base This printer control panel combines lights and buttons U J The socket for the Epson GX-80’s parallel printer Interface cable The print head, the mechan- ism which strikes the paper, consists of a numberof wires or pins mounted on a base — rather like a flattened hedge- hog — forming the character matrix. These pins are pushed out of their resting position onto the paper to make the dots, a bit like shooting a gun, and commonly known as mak- ing the pin 'fire'. As each pin is fired it hits the inky ribbon to mark the paper behind. Thermal printers, such as Star’s STX-80, use heat and a special type of paper contain- ing ink and don't need ribbons or impaetto form characters— they are much quieter. The more pins on the print- head, the better the print quality, which in turn affects the price. The average charac- ter matrix is about 7x9 which means a printhead with seven pins which moves across nine columns to create each char- acter. Both the Epson GX-80 and the Riteman F+ printers offer ‘dual mode' printing. They use a 9x9 pin matrix for fast, draft quality print, and a 9x11 matrix for higher quality but slower output. The draft qual ity is perfectly adequate for memos, essays, business and personal correspondence. The higher quality, 9x11 matrix (known as NLQ, or near 30 letter quality) output is suit- able for more formal letters and reports, and means that you don't have to pay for an expensive daisywheel printer fa producing letters and for- mal reports. While in NLQ mode, the Epson GX-80's print head slows down enabling the dots to overlap horizontally and produce the 9x11 matrix of dots. The resulting letters are much more fully formed. The Star STX-80's print head, on the other hand, has a 5 x 9 matr ix, so the p r i nt q u a I ity is not quite as good as the other two — but it does cost £100 less. This printer has no dual mode facility. These printers are especial- ly useful for programmers, because a wide variety of characters — scientific char- acters, symbols and letters used in foreign languages, various typestyles and a good range of dotand b I oc k gra p h i cs —can be produced. With those features to their credit, dot matrix printers, especially the dual mode prin- ters, will support so many applications that they are especially suitable for most MSX users. Daisywheel printers produce very high quality print and are ideal for printing large amounts of word processing, ! " #**:&' < )*+, x0 123456789: ; <.=>?ePBCDEFGHI JKLMNOPQRSTUUWXVZE£3^_ s abcdef ghi j klmn< pqrstuvwxyzl !>' v * I- — -I I-, LV1 — »_VI rXD* !♦-*■* l-rT^ & UT I h • r^HI I A test print out using the Star STX-80's American International character set but they’re slow and are I imited to those characters on the print element. Printer/plotters use biro-type pens to draw dia- grams and characters — great for listings and diagrams, but not for word processing. Dot matrix printers combine the features of those printers and are nearly always less expensive. Dot matrix printers do vary in price, but our experi- ence shows that you usually get what you pay for. Features influencing the cost include overall quality of engineering, size of character matrix, the range of character sets, printing speed, operating noise (they can be deafening!) and the print formatting com- mands available. Paper feed mechanisms are an important element to con- sider when choosing a printer. Both the Epson GX-80 and Riteman F+ will handle single sheets and continuous tractor feed paper, both of which are suitable for the majority of applications. Thermal (heat sensitive) paper for the Star STX-80 comes on a roll and isn’t suitable for uses where cut sheets are essential. Draft pica Elite Near letter quality Emphasized Doubl e-Stri ke EE i i 1 Condensed Italics <3 ed Under 1 i ned Super »•='"' 4 Sub® c r- 1 NLQ/Emphas i 2 ed Double-Str i k e/Condensed Doubl e-Stri k«/el i te Doubl t-8tri ke/condensed/el i te Cmdensed/elite Both the Epson GX-80 and Riteman F+ Include a variety of typestyles Std r STX-80 Of the three printers, the Star STX-80, a thermal dot matrix printer, is the cheapest at £183. In appearance it is a sturdy- looking, compact machine, styled in white with a greyish smoked Perspex lid. A little control panel sits on top of the printer and using a combina- tion of two lights and buttons the paper can be wound on for the full length of a page (form feed) or just for a line at a time, (line feed). A space at the back of the printer holdsthe roll of thermal paper. Because the paper is contained within the model, very little desk space is taken up. Therma I paper is not stocked by all dealers, but Star advises us that it can easily be ordered. It is much cheaper than other types of paper; for instance Star's own brand costs £4.80 fora 30 metre roll. Getting the printer up and working isacinch. The manual, written in a lighthearted, read- able style, clearly explains even the most difficult printing concepts (although it is aimed at Commodore 64 owners) and we were soon ready to print, with our DIP switches set and the paper loaded. 31 ^ / »JM|y >/ v , \ ; ' V * ' , ; jm**# 1 *** RITEMAN F+ MODEL NUMBER STAR STX-80 EPSON GX-80 Impactdotmatrix TYPE Thermal dotmatrix Impactdotmatrix 105 cps PRINTSPEED 60 cps lOOcps 9x9dots CHARACTER MATRIX 5 x 9dots 9x9 dots 80 MAXCOLUMNS 80 80 10 inches PAPER WIDTH 8.5 inches 10 inches Friction PAPER FEED Friction Friction, optional tractor feed 95 x 385 x 265mm DIMENSIONS 100 x 352 x 190mm 84x 421 x 314mm HxWxD H x WxD HxWxD £310 PRICE £183 £344 C.ltoh Electronics, DISTRIBUTOR StarMicronics, Epson (UK) Ltd, Beacon House, 26-28Worple Craven House, 40 Uxbridge Dorland House, 388 High Road, Road, Wimbledon, London Road, LondonW52BS Wembley, London HA96UH SW194EE Tel:01-8401800 Tel: 01-9028892 Tel: 01-946 4960 N.B These specifications are taken from the printers' draftqual ity print modes and don'ttakethe special ised typestyles i nto account. Thequoted prices include VATand, inthecaseofthe Epson GX-80, incorporates the parallel interface cable cost. Setting DIP switches is just one of three methods used to control printers. You can also send control signals directly to the computer using signals defined in the interface, or send data sequences which are interpreted by the printer as a control code or sequence of codes. It may sound compli- cated, but a good book will soon enlighten you. The printing speed is not fast, at 60 characters per second (cps), but it is quiet. A maximum paper width of 8.5 inches istaken by the printer so it can cope with 80 column text . . . just. Printing out graphics seems to be the STX-80’s forte. Both block and dot graphics can be accommodated enabling us- ers to define a number of characters not included in the printer’s character set. It copes with word processing, but there is no NLQ mode and only pica and emphasised type- styles are available. Star's STX-80 does have its limitations, but it’s a bargain for anyone who wants to print listings, design graphics or write the odd letter. GX-80 Epson is the leader in printer design and for many rivals, Epson's printers are a base from which to make their own machines. The GX-80 is the latest addition to its stable, and it justoozes withfeatures, varied enough to make printing a real pleasure. At £286 it is competitively priced, but MSX users will need to get the parallel interface cartridge, bumping the price up to £344. By far the biggest and most stylish of the printers, it is a cream colour with smoked Perspex paper separator on top. Even the control panel with its attractive blue, black and grey colouring enhances the appearance. There is a ribbon to be fitted in this model, but we had no problems — justahintof inkon our fingers. Fitting the paper was simple, although we didn't have the optional tractor feed, costing £20, to try out. The quality of the Epson GX-80’s draft mode is excel- lent, due to the dense 9x9 character matrix, and the NLQ mode looked almost identical to typewriter print. Numerous print modes are also available to vary and enhance printing — pica, elite, emphasised, double-strike, enlarged, condensed, italics, underline, superand subscript — and these can be combined to produce characters in NLQ/ emphasised or even double- strike/condensed/elite (see fi- gure 2). Selectingthese typestyles is so easy with Epson’s ‘Selec- type’ system. By pushing a number of the control panel buttons, it is possible to move into and out of any of the print modes — now that's what we call user friendly. At lOOcps in draft mode, it's fairly fast, but is also extremely noisy — a problem in an open office, but for most domestic purposes just an inconvenience. Apartfrom the wide varietyof text characters, including a number of international char- acter sets — Swedish and French for example, the GX-80 can deal with user-defined characters as well as dot graphics. The excellent Epson manual iscomprehensiveand provides a summary at the back for easy reference. Once again, Epson has pro- duced a top class printer with all the features you could possibly want for the price. Riteman F+ Characterised by a rather un- usual design, the Riteman F+ shares many features with the Epson GX-80, but costs less. For £310, it incorporates a parallel interface and a tractor feed. Like the other two models, it is creamy in colour and has a smoked Persex lid, but that’s where the design similarities end. The main printer mechan- ism is situated at the front and paper isfed in from underneath to the front. Two special wire feet raise it seven centimetres from the ground, leaving enough space to store a box of paper underneath — a useful feature if space is limited. The Riteman F+ takes both cut sheets and tractor feed paper — no need to buy extra attachments — and will cope with 80 columns of print. The print modes cover the same range as the Epson GX-80, although there is no Selectype function. Print speed is slightly faster, 105 cps compared to the GX-80’s 100 cps, and again it is very noisy. Print quality is good and we found no discernible differ- ence between its output and that of the Epson. A graphic character set is included, and defining your own characters using the Rite- man F+’s bit image control codes is possible. These areas aren’t fully explained in the manual, which assumes that the reader is familiar with- printer operation and occa- sionally serves to confuse rather than to explain. Although the Riteman does have a few less features than the Epson GX-80, it is a superb printer and for £310 you h could do a lot worse. H PlipRINTEI^B®^^ To connect an MSX eompuj ter to a parallel interfaced printer you need a printer cable with a 14-pin amphe- nol (MSX printer socket) and a 36-pin amphenol (standard parallel printer These carfbe obtained from the following suppliers; Aztec Software £14.30 (0924) 49T319'^^^H feo|ts Doug Packer £15 Micro Peripherals £12.80 MT-BASE the number one data base MT-BASE is famous for its quality, speed and user-friendliness MT-BASE is a card index system which allows you to store data normally stored on conventional cards. From important addresses to stock, from your stamp collection to a prospect-address system, Irom a membership list to an agenda etc etc. With MT-BASE the possibilities are endless. You can choose from 7 built-in card indexes, and design an unlimited number of card indexes yourself. The reviews are the proof Read the reviews! “The best price/performance we have ever seen.” “Out-performs any other database on MSX.” “A very special card index, unbelievable speed.” “Even the most spoiled user will be satisfied.” These are extracts from reviews by European magazines. Extensive manual MT-BASE is easy to learn, and easy to handle, so much so that the manual is almost superfluous! Nevertheless, each MT -BASE program comes with an extensive manual of over 1 50 pages with examples and help-pages’. If for any reason you are not sure about a certain part of the program just look at the top right hand of the screen which points to the help-page’ in your manual. Printing The printing features of MT-BASE are almost unlimited. You can produce labels, lists, forms etc etc in any design. It s just a question of composing’ your label from your records! Plastic carrying case Extensive manual Memory expansion The MT-BASE system can be used on all memory sizes. It even uses RAM expansion cartridges up to the maximum MSX configuration. This means that should you decide to expand your MSX computer at a later, date to 256Kbyte or even 1 Megabyte MT-BASE already supports it! For disk and cassette Because MT-BASE is on cartridge (which can be plugged directly into your MSX cartridge slot) a diskette or cassette can be used to store your data — this gives you more data storage and doesn't alter any MT-BASE functions — you can start now on a cassette based system and expand at a later date to a diskette base system. Easy plug-in module For MSX Computers (inc. VAT) DISTRIBUTORS Belgium: Wvde Elektronika, Machelen, 02-2511358. UK: Electric Software, Long Stanton, 0954-81991. Germany: Sony Deutschland, Koln, 0221-59661. Finland: Sanura Suomi OY, Helsinki, 0-441 233. France: Sony France, Clichy, 01-7393206. Spain: Sony Espana, Barcelona, 03-3306551. Italy: Sony Italia, Milano, 02-6121551. New Zealand: Please Promotions, Packuranga, 562529. NETHERLANDS AND WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION Micro Technology, PO Box 95, 3353 GZ Papendrec ht, N etherlands. Telex: 62425. Tel: 010-31-78410977. Eurocard, Mastercard, welcome. We put Yamaha’s latest double* sided disk drive through its paces -is it really value for money? C .assette tape users drink a lot of tea and coffee. After all, they have to do something while their programs are loading. A much faster and more conve- nient means of storing prog- rams and data, and an excel- lent way to cut down your drinking, is to use a disk drive, like the FD-05 which Yamaha has Just brought out. Acassette system iscertain- ly an inexpensive form of mass storage, both in terms of the hardware and the medium — that is, the tapes themselves. But there are severe limita- tions, including speed and the need to keep rewinding the tape after use. Files load from disk in a fraction of the time taken with cassettes. And the facility to access any point on the disk at random makes for a highly flexible system. Naturally the cost is also much greater, but few people who make the move to disks regret the expense. Most MSX manufacturers have standardised on the 3.5 inch disk format. Spectravideo had an early, but rarely seen 5.25 inch machine, and Sanyo has also brought out a drive using this format — mainly to provide some compatibility with the company's business micros. The3.5inchdrivesalluse80 tracks and double density, giving storage capacity of 360K per side of the disk, once you’ve formatted it. The Yama- ha model is unusual, though not unique, in that it is double sided, with the reverse being referred to as Drive B. Both sides of the disk are used giving a total storage of 720K per drive. Although double sided blank disks are more expensive than single-sided ones, you’ll have to do an awful lot of program- ming to fill up a disk, so they ultimately work out cheaper. Like most of the other MSX disk drives, with the exception of the Sony, the Yamaha drive holds disks vertically. There is just one si ight d isadvantage to this which is that, when you're inserting and extracting the disk, its bottom edge is only a small distance above the table. If you are untidy you'll find you will keep having to move papers, manuals, cartridges, ashtrays or whatever junk accumulates in the area of your computer, each time you change a disk. In many ways this drive is similar to the JVC model . But it has one feature which the JVC lacks, and that's a busy I ight. It can be ha rmf u I to both the dr i ve and the disk if you remove the latter while it's spinning. You might think that nobody would be stupid enough to try it — as the disk only spins when commanded to, you should know when its in operation. Unfortunatley the disk often spins for some time after it has finished reading a file, and if you're in a rush it's very temp- ting to try to take it out too soon. The bright LED on the front of this drive helps to warn you against this possibly tragic act. However, you won't always need the light. This drive makes enough noise when it's spinning to let you know it is working. Of course you don’t get a deafening din, but just the odd graunch. Some people have been known to find this sound comforting, because it lets them know that something is actually happening in re- sponse to their typed com- mands. The sound is far from rough. Indeed the drive seems to operate very smoothly, and quite fast too. Combined with its solid appearance and robust construction this helps togiveitanairofefficiencyand reliability. We'd certainly trust our precious data to this machine (while still making back-up copies, of course!) One feature the FD-05 lacks is a dust cover for the d isk slot. Even 3.5 inch floppies, with their sturdy cases and sliding covers, are horribly prone to damage from dust and dirt. Getting the FD-05 to talk to your computer couldn't be easier. The drive is connected to the computer by standard interface cable. This termin- ates in a large cartridge at the micro end, so there are no guesses where you plug it in! On the back of the drive there are two main ports. The inter- face cable plugs into one. The other is for daisychaining another drive, which would give you around 1.4 Mega- bytes of online storage. Should you usethe drive with Yamaha's own micro, the CX- 5M, you will immediately notice a problem. The compu- ter has only one cartridge slot, so when the disk drive is plugged in you can't use any normal software cartridges, such as Yamaha's wonderful music packages. The micro does have an expansion bus at the back, but this is of the edge connector variety, as found on some toy computers we could mention. However, Yamaha produces an adapter allowing you to plug cartridges or the disk drive in the back. The interface cartridge com- es complete with MSX disk BASIC, which contains most of the commands you're ever likely to need for handling disks. These include com- mands for random access f i les — one of the biggest advan- tages of using disks. With cassettes the informa- tion is stored serially, and it's usually necessary to load a complete file into memory before you can use the data. This means the size of your file is limited by the spare memory capacity of the micro. With disks you can read or write to any point in the file. Theoretically the file can be as large as the memory capacity ofthedisk, which inthiscaseis a massive 720K. Only part of the file needs to be in the computer’s memory at any one time. What was noticeably mis- sing from the drive we received was an MSX-DOS system disk. It’s not clear whether this will be included with production drives (ours was an early pre-production sample). MSX-DOS is the profession- al disk operation system, de- rived from the business stan- dard MS-DOS. It's likely that a large number of the business software packages which will be coming on the the MSX market will run under this system. But it needs at least 64K of memory. As Yamaha's own micro has only 32K this may be the reason MSX-DOS was not in- cluded in our sample package. However, the drive will quite happily run MSX-DOS with another micro, if you've got the system from elsewhere. Two manuals were supplied with the drive, though one would be better described as a leaflet. This is the operating manual. It tells you how to connect the machine up to your computer and the mains, how to insert and remove disks, how to format d isks and how to look after them. And that's about it as far as useful information is concerned. The second manual , which is a complete guide to MSX disk BASIC, is rather fatter and much more interesting. We saw an i ncomplete pre-release copy, but even so it looks quite comprehensive. All the com- mands are explained in detail, with full syntax and examples. So there’s no excuse for not using the machine fully or properly. The overall styling of the drive is well up to the class of Yamaha's micro. It's finished in the same slate grey, with subtle lettering. The main pow- er button is on the front, along with a bright green LED making it obvious when the machine is switched on. The busy light should really have been at the top too. Unfortunately it's low down, where it can get obscured. To eject a disk you press a large button, right next to the slotand mountedflush withthe front of the drive. Even without practice this button iseasyand comfortable to use — you appreciate small details like that when you swap around a lot of disks. The Yamaha FD-05 is a quality product. It's un- doubtedly one of the better drives, mainly because it's double-sided, the only com- petitor being Mitsubishi. So if you're bored with tea and coffee, this drive would be a good investment. Hi T oshiba’s HX-10 has been one of the best selling MSX micros since It all began here a year or so ago. It’s not surprising, with Its sturdy design and competitive pric- ing, that It's been such a success. Well, now's your chance to win an HX-10 for yourself — together with Toshiba's brand new word processing car- tridge, The Bank Street Writer. All you have to do is look at these close-up pictures of six MSX cursor keypads. We want you to tell us which MSX machine each keypad belongs to. So, if you think keypad A is the Canon V-20, write down A — Canon V-20 on the back of a postcard, and so on. Address your card to T osh iba Competition, What MSX?, 38- 42 Hampton Road, Tedding- ton, Middx TW11 OJE to reach us by 20th January 1986. RULES 1. The judge'sdecision isfinal. 2. The competition is not open to employees of Haymarket Publishing or Toshiba, or their families. 3. The winner will be the first correct entry drawn from the bag. 4. The winner will be announced in the Spring issue of What MSX? 36 MSX BOARD GAMES A compendium of darts, draughts and Triversi (Othello for three players). These will appeal to all users, both the demonic arcade players and the more serious user to test their skills at playing the traditional board games on the television screen. BOULDERDASH This highly addictive arcade game involved Rockford, the hero you have to guide round the Boulder strewn depths of each maze. He's a cute little character with winking eyes and tapping feet. With dangerous butterflies, deadly fireflies and an amoeba growing out of control, all these and more have to be avoided in the dash from boulder to boulder in search of diamonds, especially at the high levels where even time is against you. A classic game which will test your skill, courage and strategy to its limits. ★ GAME OF THE MONTH. JULY - MSX COMPUTING ELIDON The game is based on Faerie mythology which has been popular with the young for many years. The player controls a beautifully animated Faerie which flies around the forest collecting magical objects which are needed to complete the game. There are several hundred rooms which are displayed with very close attention to detail. The music of Gn eg is used to accompany the game. Elidon has been awarded several 'Best Buy of the Month' and 'Game of the Month' with Your 64 and Commodore Computing International, plus several excellent reviews on T.V. ★ GAME OF THE MONTH. Your 64 TUJAD The Tujad is a Josephson supercomputer that controls a fusion reactor orbiting Earth. It has gone berserk and the future of half the known galaxy is in the balance. You take control of one of the new GEN 1 9 multidroids, capable of running and flying and equipped with the latest weapons and neutron defensive shields. Your task is to search through the reactor, overcoming the automatic defensive mechanisms and piece together the circuit board needed to stop Tujad. Orpheus Ltd., The Smithy, Unit 1 , Church Farm, Hatley St. George, Nr. Sandy, Beds. SG19 3HP Tel. Gamlingay (0767) 51481/91 Telex 8171 1 7 ETHGEN G Please send me copies of BOULDERDASH @ £6.95 copies of THE YOUNG ONES @ £7.95 copies of UJAD @ £8.95 copies of MSX BOARDGAMES @ £4.95 copies of ELIDON @ £8.95 P&P FREE (UK only); £2.00 P&P overseas. I I l I Name: Address: I I I | Please make cheques or money orders payable to | | Orpheus Ltd and send together with your order form to: I ■ Orpheus Ltd, The Smithy, Unit 1 , Church Farm, i u„ii ci n k. i _ c I., d i- crioouD L Hatley St. George, Nr. Sandy, Beds. SGI 9 3HP. .2 < 8 1 , Most golf mad addicts would brave blizzard conditions just to get their daily 18-hole fix, but with this cartridge, golf courses are a th ing of the past. It brilliantly simulates the golf game, but leaves out the unpleasant aspects such as the fortune lost in golf balls. Before taking your first swing, carefully read the in- structions because there is a lot of information to take in before you can play; wind direction, wind velocity, the different types of club and the distances between teeing-off and the hole. The course covers a wide variety of landscapes — de- serts, peninsulas, three- dimensional trees and wide expanses of water. This means that each of the 18 holes poses a different challenge. All the information you need to take a shot is listed at one side of the screen and once everything is set up, you take the stroke and hope. Once the ba 1 1 moves onto the putting green, a close-up is shown together with the green's slope. Skill and good judgement are need in Hole in One and after a few rounds, your game will rapidly improve. Both golf players and non players will lovethisgame. It is complicated enough to en- gage interest, generate enthu- siasm and is definitely worth £14.95. Pastfinder By the year 8878 A.D. explora- tion had become a thing of the past, except for a select band known as the Pastfinders. In your capacity as an intre- pid Pastfinder, you are in control of a Leeper, a spidery blue vehicle with the capacity to leap over obstacles, move very fast and slow down to a crawl. Using this craft, you roam around the lands collecting artifacts. These need to be deposited at bases and sta- tions — but f irstthey have to be found. Before starting on your quest, a map of the lands and a list of supplies are displayed. Supplies are crucial to your survival and include gadgets to by Activision i -i " * f * fr" — Jilm, .. it Jff’S #>> j: V f -"t-- i ...uJa rj finiija* slow down the Leeper's absorption of radiation, a pro- tective shield, a signal scrambling device and a de- radiator which helps eliminate radiation. There are a huge variety of landscapes, most of them resembling obstacle courses. The obstacles — ridges, arches and disappearingdoors — are deadly to touch so should be avoided at all costs. Enemy ships hover about or attack and can be shot for points. Pastfinder combines the best qualities of an arcade, adventure and strategy game. It is a superb example of what a computer game can be. ' i \ i 9 j Eddie Kidd’s Jump Challenge CASS: £7.95 by Martech 5 i i j Signing up sports personali- ties to endorse computer games seems all the rage at the moment and Martech has lost no time in signing up stuntsman Eddie Kidd to champion their game. Jump Challenge is based on many of Eddie Kidd's past stunts including death defying leaps over oil barrels and rows of cars. Our first few attempts were feeble, manoeuvring the bike is a lot more difficult then we anticipated. Without developing the bike skills you're not going to get very far so we spent much time familiarising ourselves with the gears, revs, speed and brake controls indicated along the bottom of the screen. ^ ^NtF 1 Leaping off the ramp can only be achieved by trial and error — we repeatedly crashed the bike and broke Eddie's neck! But, eventually we crack- ed it and discovered that jumping was the easy bit — maintaining control and land- ing intact is where all the ski II is needed. High scores are dependent on getting the bike’s back wheel to hit the ramp on landing. If you miss even by a cat’s whisker, no score is chalked up. Overall we were impressed with the graphics and sound, but it doesn't offer enough action and at£7.95, the game is a little overpriced. Pairs Pairs is described as a ‘fun real-time matching game’ in the game’s instructions and that is exactly what it is. On the first screen, 20 cards are laid out on a four by five grid and pictures of 10 varieties of fruit including pineapples, ap- plesand lemon si ices decorate each card. The idea is to guide Koppe, a I ittle smi ling face with legs and a tail , around the cards flipping them over one by one. By memorising the locations of the fruit, you should eventually be able to match the pairs up. Making life difficult are a time limit giving you very little time for dilly dallying and Monchan, a black ghost who by Panasonic chases Koppe and annihilates him on contact. Vegetables form the theme of the second level and this time two ghosts make their appearance. Completing the third screen which features animal cards, automatically brings you back to the fruits, but this time, the pace gets a I ittle faster. The graphics in Pairs are colourful and amusing and musical accompaniment isjol- ly and tuneful. Pairs is a hectic game and you'll probably end up with cramped fingers and sore arms. Still it's an excellent game, although a pricey one. j r CART: £18.8 Juno First CART: £18 by Sony . i 8 ] > i Destroy the enemy's power station and save the world from an alien invasion. If this theme soundsfamiliar — it is, but it’s still one of the best subjects to shape a computer game around. You are controlling Juno First — an atomic turbine space fighter no less — and are supposed to zap all oncoming enemy space vehi- cles. As i n Space Invaders, Ju no's movement is restricted to the bottom of the screen and it has to avoid the letha I white bombs dropped by enemy ships. A set of indicators inform players at what stage of the game they are, score, high score, number of enemy waves negotiated, time re- maining in which to destroy the enemy, the number of warps left and the remaining fighters. A time I imitof 100 very rapid seconds is awarded to destroy each enemy wave. Varying the game speed provides variety and moving time warps is a good way of extricating yourself from a sticky situation. Zapping the green blob otherwise known as the magnetic power station turns the screen green and reveals the red power source. Graphic and sound effects are good and if you enjoy the occasional spell of alien bashing, get this — if you can afford it. Brian Jacks Superstar Challenge by Martech Armchair sports enthusiasts can now enjoy the thrills and spills of winning the 100 metres, scoring a bulls eye in archery and scoring a hat trick in f ootba 1 1 without so much as a flick of the wrist. Superstar Challenge con- tains eightgamesand requires a player with a competitive streak and a desire to win. First on the events list is canoeing, but try as we might, the canoe wouldn't pick up speed. But, we still qualified and continued on to the next event — arm dips. It was a real struggle; with sweat pouring from the brow we managed to notch up . . . 11. Squat thrusts proved to be just as taxing and it was welcome rel ief to cool off in the swimming pool. As for football, we could probably have fared better if the graphics had been better quality and the goalkeeper hadn't feigned dead. Cycling was the most excit- ing event, but again would have been vastly better with improved graphics. We’ve been spoilt with Kona- mi's series of athletic games on cartridge. They've set up a superb standard for sports programs. Admittedly, this game is on cassette, but there is no reason why itshouldn't be just as good. r 1 L 7 I i CASS: £7.95 40 Mouser CART: £18 by Sony 1 p 08008 M Tl * x » . ****^J6 ®©si§§®ee * * & J|? ’ 1 . 1 8 i . 1 • . 0 i a ' ■*****■*.****,, ,| . ' I****** » * , , * , ■ I f I a • |**^*»»* r ^. J 2 <£ Y ^ v - -lA * *'■£ ? $ * ». -*«£&• *_ *'** *** * * *;» m * jLf- a i| ^****^ f ,_ a ; i ■ * * * ** * * . * ^ * £ ? # * :* ^ ._ ...:;• We have come across some pretty extraordinary games in our time with titles to match, but Mouser is one of the strangest. It is based on the f ami liar cat chasing mouse theme, but there isn't a mouse to be seen anywhere — only rats! The idea is to rescue Tom’s girlfriend, Kitty who is being held hostage by the Frat Rats on the fifth floor. As Tom tries to climb up, Boss rat chucks down quanti- ties of flowerpots and rolling balls. As well as avoiding these, Tom has to eat the fish liberallystrewn around on each floor. Sounds easy, but there is a catch— the ladder from fourth to fifth floor is missing and will only appear after Tom has caught a certain number of rats. When Kitty isfinally rescued, the event is heralded with a quick burst of Mendelssohn's wedding march — very sweet! On level two, the going really gets tough, twirling spanners and dynamite (they don't kid around these rats!) attack Tom together with more flower pots and missing platforms. Our only complaint is that the graphics, although excel- lent, tend to flicker when Tom is balanced between floors. If you are bored with adven- ture games, alien zapping and need something light hearted and amusing, then do consider Mouser. Tens and units Most three year olds are intri- gued with brightly coloured toys and watching Playschool. With this in mind, Mentor has developed a mathematics package with the maximum content of attractive graphics and the minimum of text. Tens and Units is pitched at the three to seven age range which seems a pretty broad spectrum for one program. The program is divided into eight sections and the f i rst f our use different graphics to con- vey the same information; a tree full of apples, carscoming out of a garage, candles on a birthday cake and coloured boxes are used. As each object appears, a by Spectravideo number is registered in the 'units’ box. When ten is reached, one is indicated in the tens’ box and zero in the ‘units’ box. An abacus is used in the remaining four sections and displays the concept of divid- ing objects into groups often. Mentor’s inevitable four problems follow these number exercises and guessing the number on the abacus is the aim. Aftergoingthrough Tensand Units which costs £7.95, we feel that better va I u e f or money could have been offered. For example, more sections and problems. 6 i CASS: £7.95 King’s Valley by Konami || Crazy Train by Sony CART: £14.95 ' i 8 : Fame, fortune and the secret of eternal life lie beneath the Valley of the Pharoahs just waiting for Vick, the famous archaeologist, to go and find them. Of course it's no easy task; not only did the pharoahs employ the best tomb architects to design the crypts, but dangerous mummies are wondering around the pyra- mids guarding the mysterious sparkling jewels. Gathering all these precious stones wi 1 1 revea I the secret of eternal life. Once inthef irstpyramid, you have to act quickly because two mummies suddenly mater- ialise and follow you around. Jumping over them or flinging one of the swords scattered around is the only way to avoid certain death. Besides getting through all the pyramid levels, you’ve got to win points and the best way of doing so is to knock down mummies and collect jewels. Some of the jewels are hidden in brick boxes. Four mummy types exist; red ones walk slowly and then rush up and down the ladders, white ones just wonder along slowly while the blue and yellow ones leap up and down as they move along. King's Valley is the sort of game that will have you hooked, the graphics and sound effects utilise MSX’s capabilities brilliantly and it’s another winner from Konami. Crazy Train is basically a huge mobile puzzle built out of railwaytracksandstationsona square grid. The idea is to successfully manoeuvre your train along tracks and through stations, but as in all good games, there are a number of obstacles to overcome. For a start, part of the puzzle is missing and so you have to keep j uggl i ng sections of track by moving parts of the grid around. In this way you make sure the train doesn’t derail, crash orcollide with an oncom- ing train. The longer you keep the train running, the more points you notch up. Points are also scored for calling at all the stations. Variation is added by plunging you into darkness. In later stages, the game gets quite difficult with aggressive enemy trains, dead ends and more stations. Strategic planning is the key to success with this game and as there are 43 stages to get through, it pays to plan your moves carefully. As the train moves round the tracks, a realistic chugging noise can be heard together with whistles. Although at£18, the game is well out of reach of the pocket money brigade, it could be well worth saving up for. Psychedelia by Llamasoft i J When we first saw this product, we thought we had a real klutz of a program on our hands. For instance, we were exhorted to 'freak out with it, blow your minds and freak out your granny' in the accompanying leaflet. It didn't bode well for a program billed as a light synthesiser. Still we set aside prejudice, loaded up and to our surprise it turned out to be entertaining, versatile and great fun. The idea is to use the MSX to generate a dynamic light show on screen. Eight pre-set pat- terns are available and by pressing various keys, it’s possible to change sprite shapes and alter the symmetry of patterns. Besides the inevit- able llama shapes there are seven shapes in all. Once you get the feel of Psychedelia, start to experi- ment. Most things can be altered, for example you can choose any seven colours from a palette of 14 tones. You can have from one to seven colours appear on screen at once. Cursor speed is variable too. In addition, light pulses, length of colour lines, the smoothness with which pat- terns can be changed can all be altered. Obviously Psychedelia won't appeal to all tastes, but if you like doodling, this could be the program for you. i 9 i Over the centuries, many have entered an area known as the Bermuda Triangle never to be seen again. The team at Level 9 can now reveal the true fate of these missing persons. They are trapped on the weird and wonderful Emerald Isle somewhere in the Carib- bean. You are cast as the pilot who parted company with his air- craft just before it plummeted into the sea. Fortunately, you and your parachute drift gently towards Emerald Isle. Once on the ground, you start adventuring proper. What you are looking for is a means of leaving the island and to do that you have to become ruler. Scoring is murderously diffi- cult. After hours of play, you are lucky if you can ga i n more than 50 out of a possible 1,000 points. The scope of the game is impressive with over 200 loca- tions to visit, each with an accompanying picture. Modes of transport are varied, includ- ing a railway system with a timetable more confusingthan British Rail’s southern region. Level 9's claim that Emerald Isle is easier to solve than its other adventures explains its low price tag. The price in no way reflects the quality and once again Level 9 has come up with an absolute winner. CASS: £6.95 Introducing Fractions 2 by Spectravideo Boulderdash CASS: £6. 95 i 8 by Orpheus Software Deep beneath the earth's sur- face lies a very unusual sort of mine and it's in these boulder strewn depths that the activity takes place. You are guiding Rockford, a cute little character, round this mine with the express purpose of gathering points by collect- ing valuable objects such as diamonds. Although this game has 16 different screens and up to 84 levels of difficulty, Boulder- dash wi 1 1 sti 1 1 operate on a 32K MSX. The basic idea is to dig through earth blocks collect- ing enough diamonds to open the exit to the next screen. Your movements are compl i- cated by a tight time limit and the ubiquitous boulders which lie around. As Rockford drills down through earth, dislodged boulders tumble down in heaps, squashing him if he’s still underneath — very nasty! In some screens, strategy as well as speed must be em- ployed. For example, in some screens deadly fireflies and butterfies can kill you if you haven't manoeuvred the boul- ders to fa 1 1 on them first. Each of the screens offer a different challenge; the di- versity of maze scenarios and variety of creatures add spice and excitement to the game. It is impossible to get bored with Boulderdash — so much is going on — and for a fun and addictive game costing the relatively low price of £6. 95, it is hard to beat. Fractions were first introduced in Mentor’s original program, Fractions 1, and Fractions 2 is really a continuation of the ideas explored therein. Mentor, the original author of Fractions 2, describes this program as ‘a collection of exercises designed to rein- force various aspects of frac- tions'. First on the menu is a review of equivalent fractions. A de- finition is shown on screen together with a box of frac- tions. This resembles a pyra- mid structure due to the way that the fractions are dis- played. In addition to this diagram, the fraction % is shown as being equal to one. The numer- ator and denominator are also labelled. In the following three exer- cises various aspects of frac- tions are explained. Throughout the program, simple diagrams accompa- nied by crude sounds illustrate ideas as they are introduced. For instance, familiar objects such as a house with different- ly coloured curtains, toy sol- diers, an apple tree and egg boxes are used. To finish the program, four problems test how much the student has learnt. Introducting Fractions 2 is aimed at the 10 to 14 age group and could be used as a back up to school work. ' 1 5 CASS: £7.95 42 by Konami Classic Adventure by Melbourne House Sky Jaguar CART: £14.95 ( L < 9 When Space Invaders made its first appearance on the video game scene, normally sane people became addicts over- night. Sky Jaguar could well inspire similar feelings in MSX users. Sky Jaguar is your fighter aircraft and it's your task to fend off a mysterious invading fleet from the Zeifart nebula (the what?) . As you fly your fighter plane over a downwardly scrolling screen, theenemyappearfrom the top in waves. Altogether there are nine different types and each one has a unique set of fighting tactics. Drinkas, the first set of enemies, are followed by ball- shaped black Balas, rotating Hammers, missle-shapped Twinbals, Hilakis, triangular Tranias, Cylods, Exbalis and finally the two-sided flapping Remaz. It's a formidable line-up, especially as they drop indes- tructable white bombs. Fortu- nately, passing over POW sym- bols gives your ship extra firing capacity. If you successfu I ly negotiate theenemyonslaughtyou reach your goal — the enemy for- tress. After its destruction, you return to the beginning, but this time enemies are even more cunning and devious. Graphics are excellent and the realistic sound effects add extra tension to the game. Sky Jaguar is brilliant — one of the best zap ’em flat games around. Sffdl 22 ill a Wat®!! Ift ill dSin viMMttl Adventures have alternately fired and frustrated player's imaginations since the first one — Adventure — appeared in 1978. Classic Adventure is Mel- bourne House's version of this orginal adventure game, and it has added a few ideas and puzzles of its own. Most of the action takes place in a huge network of caves and caverns, but you start off in a forest beside a building — seemingly nowhere near any caves. Eventually, a combination of imagination and luck will lead you into the magical world of the underground and once inside, the fun really starts. Dirty broken passages, cheese rooms fil led with holes, tiny beanstalks gasping ‘water . . .water', are just some of the locations and objects to be found in this unpredictable game. Mapping your progress is vital as it’s very easy to get lost in the endless maze of pas- sages. It is a text adventure and the place descriptions must be examined closely for vital clues and directions. Classic Adventure is a great version of the original adven- ture game. Priced at £6.95, it is excellent value and is a worthy addition to any player's software library. CASS: £6.95 Simple Subtraction 2 by Spectravideo Simple Subtraction 2 is a continuation of Mentor's other two mathematical programs, Subtraction 1 and Tens and Units , and assumes that the user already knows and under- stands the concepts intro- duced in those two programs. It is written for seven to ten year olds and is intended to further a child's knowledge of the three number groupings; units, tens and hundreds. The program is divided into eight exercises. The first is called ‘what is a number?', and displays an abacus with a few counters. The user is expected to type in the numbers shown there. Most of the exercises deal with subtracting large num- bers. In each exercise, an abacus is prominantly display- ed in the middle of the screen and, beside it, a subtraction sum is set out. By using the abacus, the child should be able to com- plete the sum and type in the answer. Huge ticks and cros- ses make it fairly obvious if the answer is right or wrong. Fiveproblemstesthowmuch the student has learned. A pair of unbalanced scalescontaina subtraction sum on one side and the idea is to balance the scales by inserting the right answer on the other side. Colours and crude sounds are used where possibletojazz the program up and, if used carefully, it will probably help children with subtraction. CASS: £7.95 i 6 Computer Billiards This is billiards as you've never seen it before, with all the excitement of Hurricane Hig- gins potting yet another black. It looks fairly simple, but don't let that deceive you into thinking it's going to be a cinch to play. Putting the balls into the pockets is hard work. On screen, a green baize table is displayed together with the six numbered balls, a wh ite cue ba 1 1 , and a I ittl e white indicator dot. To line up a shot, you move the indicator dot around the edge of the table. The dot has to be placed so that the bal I you intend to pot is between it and your cue ball. It's also important to ensure that the part of the ball you by Sony want to hit is on a direct line between these two. The strength of the ball can be varied from a scale of one to three. The ball responds smoothly and accurately to your hit and the graphics, although simple, are very good. Scoringpointsistheaimand if you manage to get the ba 1 1 s i n one after another, your scoring rate will go up dramatically. If you miss a ball three times in a row, you lose a life — as in Pool. Computer Billiards is one of the most popular games in our office and despite its apparent simplicity, it will entertain for hours. r i I 8 ; CART: £18 43 introduction to Shapes CASS: £7.95 by Spectravideo 1 5 i Mentor has already made a large number of educational programs and is fast estab- lishing itself as one of the major producers of education- al software. Introduction to Shapes is part of a trio of programs and is intended for seven to ten year olds. However we can’t help thinking that the ideas are too simple for that age range. Squares, triangles, circles and rectangles are the shapes introduced and are presented with colourful graphical illus- trations and the sporadic use of tuneless noises. For example, in the squares exercise, a square house appears and is gradually deco- rated with square windows and chimney. In triangles, a drawing of a road crossing complete with triangular decorations flashes up. At this point the Mentor programmers seemed to have lost i nterest with the program because the illustration for circles is the same. Finally, three colouring-in exercises test the child's knowledge. A rocket, train and robot outline made from the four shapes appears and be- fore filling in colours, the shape has to be identified first. Mentor has done what it set out to do, introduce the shape concept, but there really isn't enough work in the program to warrant a £7.95 price tag. Fairy by Morwood With a name like Fairy you'd expect a game to be pretty naff, buttooursurprise, itturnedout to be unusual and amusing. Killing caterpillars is the theme of the first level . They lie under a mass of leaves and cast as a fairy, the idea is to move around the screen plac- ing white pots in front of the caterpillars. These pots apparently exhude immense attraction for caterpillars be- cause they crawl inside and suffocate. Once they are all dead, you move onto the second stage and find yourself doing battle with rats in a very dark room. Fortunately, a torch is provided and using its beam, you are expected to catch the rats in the light and knock them senseless with a slipper. It takes some getting used to, but you’ll soon get the knack. Eight large spiders and 15 poles confront the player in the third screen and again the slippers come in handy as it is necessary to throw them at the spiders. They don't like it of course and spin sticky webs to try and stop you. Once past th is stage, you get onto a screen where the fairy is in severe danger of being snapped up by yet another caterpillar. Snails laying their spore present problems too. 7 l bo **® 00 CASS: £7.95 Mopiranger CART: £14.95 by Konami ! 8 i Japanese games often have a certain cuteness about them. In this maze-type arcade game, you have to rescue little Moplits, held by galactic kid- nappers called Razons (who makes up these names?) in their underwater castle. You are Mopyland's superhero, Mopy Ranger. Moplits are trapped in the screen mazesand the idea isto move Mopy Ranger alongside the moplits to free them. Razons are out to thwart you and touching one is fatal. A stone beamer is your only means of defence and it can change the Razons into stones. Tidal flows are another fac- tor to consider — they can slow down or speed up Mopy Ran- ger's movements. Points are scored for clear- ing a screen without a stone beam, freeing Mopl its, turning Razons into stone and com- pletinga screen withinthetime limit. On higher levels, the Big Razon appears and it has the power to dissolve stones. Pips and beeps make up Mopiranger’ s sound effects and graphics are well up to Konami's usual excellent stan- dard. As arcade games go, this one is more strategic than many. If you like puzzles, it will become addictive. Adventure Quest Adventure Quest is the second game in the popular trilogy of middle earth adventures and bears many similarities to Col- ossal Adventure, the first game. If you’ve already seen Col- ossal Adventure, you'll know that you are faced with yet another epic journey travelling through more than 200 loca- tions, fighting fearsome foes and solving puzzles. Time has passed since the firstgame, butyou still begin in the familiar spot outside a building containing a well. Ah-ha, the adventurer thinks, GET ALL and head for the brass grating, let’s see what happened to the old cave network bevon^ C o ^*1 1 % i 1 !>■> by Level 9 grating is cemented over . . . curses! Yes, the sequel is just as frustrating. The tale is typical middle earth fodder, you being the hero called upon to defeat the Demon Lord who's threatening your peaceful lands with nasty armies from the north. So far we've found a silver ball up an oak tree, been mauled to death, died of thirst i n the desert, been accosted by a djinni and found two white dots. It's going to be a long hard battle, but then Level 9 games are seldom easy, and this one is presented in the usual professional manner. Another must for adventure players. PiU 8 i i CASS: £9.95 Sea Hunter by Spectravideo || Colossal Adventure CART: £14.95 t l 1 i Felix Freebyte and his Hydro- Hovercraft have set out on a dangerous fishing trip. Wild red ducks and manic fish are his prey, but it seems more likely that he'll end up being their supper. He starts off with five I ives and each one i s supported with 100 per cent oxygen supply. This acts as a time limit as one per cent is deducted for every second in the game. Why Felix shou Id need oxygen when he's standing on land is anyone's guess. On level one, red birds swoop onto the screen from both sides and the aim is to shoot 25 birds without losing a life. On the second level, he moves underwater to fight kil- ler barracudas. The birds wreak revenge by dropping explosive eggs from above. This time, 25 fish and five birds have to be shot with one life — a virtually impossible task asyouaren’tgiven enough movement and shooting capacity. Level three repeats the pro- cess except that the eggs are dropped at a faster rate. Sea Hunter is not one of the best games around, the graphics are amateurish, it’s d if f icu Itto get a good score and even though it is available on cassette for £6.95, we expect much more of a game for the price. One of the first adventures to the first problems you face is a appear for the MSX is, approp- hissing green snake that riately enough, the one that blocks your progress, started it a II several years ago, Once past, an amazing net- known then as Adventure, and work of caves with over 200 converted now in Level 9’s locations opens up to you, usual impeccable style. complete with trolls, mazes, This is text-only, and text at pirates and, naturally, oodles its best, complete with room of treasure. . . if you can get it descriptions of lengthy purple out again, prose. Response time is quick as The quest, as ever, is to hunt Level 9 utilises its special for treasure, and you begin the A-code programming lan- adventure outside a small guage, and as usual the game brick building in a wooded is well-packaged, landscape. Level 9 is the number one There is quite a lotto explore software house for adven- in the surrounding landscape, tures, and this is the number but the game only really takes one title. MSX owners start off once you’re inside the here. rnlnccalrav/PQ Dnrp in nnpnf Computer Hits CASS: £6.95 by Beau Jolly r 1 1 9 • Bargain computer games are a rarity, but we think we've found one; Computer Hits by Beau Jolly. It is a compilation of six games, all popular in their own right, costing £6.95. First on the tape is Martech's Brian Jacks Superstar Chal- lenge which we're reviewing elsewhere in this section. Disc Warrior is next up, an unusual arcade adventure fromAlligata. By moving a man around a grid full of nasty enemies, you have to collect objects and destroy a compu- ter complex. Pool addicts will appreciate the inclusion of Bubble Bus’s Hustler. There are six different variations, the general idea being to hit balls into the pockets of a pool table. Chuckie Egg from A 'n' F Software is an addictive plat- form game, an office favourite i n fact. You have to rush around eight screens collecting eggs and corn whilst avoiding rabid hens. The most confusing game is PSS's Les Flics, an arcade game starring Pink Panther characters. The aim is to recover a diamond. Lothlorien's Special Opera- tions has you in charge of a group of commandoes trying to sabotage a weapons research centre. There you have it, a varied collection of entertaining games for £6.95. Don't get crushed in the rush to buy it! Castle Combat An evil gloom has fallen on the galaxy since the rapid proliferation of the Tyrons who, we are told in the blurb, are ‘the most wicked ele- ments ever to scare the face of the earth’. In your capacity as a space fighter, you are sent off in Star Duster to rescue the Galactic castle from its pre- sent occupation by the Tyrons. It all sounds exciting, but unfortunately this car- tridge game is a bit of a disappointment. We’ve come to expect bril- liant graphics, a wide range of changing scenarios and snap- py musical tunes from car- tridge games. So it came as a shock to find that Castle Com- by Spectravideo bat has none of these qual- ities. There are only two different screens in the game; the scene outside and the one inside the castle. Before entering the for- tress, you have to shoot three types of attacker. Shooting capacity is limited due to the very crude programming, and occasionally the bullets pass straight through the enemy. Once inside the castle, the aim is to make your way through the gaps in three walls, killing enemies on the way. An extra life is awarded if you make it to this level, but that is about the only soph- isticated part of the game. r 1 i 4 ■ CART: £14.95 45 *: .vj*;:? H “TVJ WM* f f wo ^crs*. RHW • load ItltM CONtWOU liYS“t CM K:fW *'WP» OHSffll'ii OATARJOW MON'TOn Off* -<* MADE IN JAPAN ■ 4ft Vvf. ^ • • - v * ^ ; i v \< - 1 ^ PPBM ' - - j, ,n rf l ~ 1 ™ U'liu id»W * • " ' 7 "ft; * ifrr , ->#. ^ j.. i > 1 1-i^fS 1 ! 1 w tin, vr 7 ita re- Sanyo The Sanyo DR202, succes- sor to the DR101, has been on the market for some time. Peter Mitchell-Jubb, Sanyo’s UKengineering manager, tells us that it's selling well. ‘The iophisticated lei than the aimed at puter r* * - - * ii*. We round up three extra special data recorders. See how they run , -V • j f «.•>. • L s > I A *•' LAW Jv/.v , FA! LOAD, and STOP/0 ECT buttons. To the left of these are the PHASE, MONITOR, SAVE and volume controls. Further over to the right of the unit is an additional button labelled ADSS which standsfor Automatic Data Search Sys- tem. This feature is useful if, like us, you tend to save several programs on the one tape. It saves you spending all that time trying to locate a particular program. >.*, ii*-'. |H||g program 01 iply press the LOAD button which will light up the load idicator), press the ADSS itton three times then press the FAST FORWARD/ ADSS (or REWIND/ ADSS) buttons to lo- cate the required section. When the data recorder reaches the thi ref program on the tape the appropriate light will come on to indicate that it has been located. Peter Mitchell-Jubb tells us that ADSS isn't a new concept; ‘It is an off -shoot of our Auto- mated Music Selection System (AMSS) that’s built into our music cassette recorders. In- corporating the facility into our data recorders was a natural progression’. Another feature we particu- larly liked is that the EAR, REM and SAVE sockets have been user. The the Sanyo — ui The casing is a sopl graphite grey with ourco-ordinated control; enough for even the .. ham-fisted. On the left hand side of the machine is a TAPE counter and SAVE and DATA FLOW indica- tors. In the middle is the cassette flap and over on the right are the SAVE, PAUSE, LOAD/START, REWIND, FAST/ FORWARD, CUE and STOP but- tons. Below these are switches for turning the monitor on or off, altering the PHASE control, and a sliding switch for adjust- -r~ ' — , • 1 High Quality Microcomputer Software Pascal (cassette only) £29.95 A powerful and virtually full implementation of Stan- dard Pascal. A valuable educational and development tool in an incredibly small size (19K) for such a complete language compiler, compiles directly to Z80 code which executes very quickly, typically at least 40 times faster than the BASIC equivalent. INTEGERS, REALs, CHARs, ARRAYS, SETs, RECORDS, POINTERS, IF . . . THEN . . . ELSE, CASE ... OF, WHILE ... DO, REPEAT . . . UNTIL, FOR . . . DO, fully recursive procedures and functions, value and variable parameters etc. etc. So much that you will not believe it. You MUST write for details. De vpac (cassette only) £19.95 An excellent, fast (4000 lines per minute) assembler coupled with a powerful disassembler/debugger. So many features that we cannot possibly do the package justice here - conditional assembly, assembly from tape, macros, screen and line editing, full arithmetic, front panel debugger with disassembler, single step, multiple breakpoints, modify, list and move memory etc. Every- thing you need AND fully relocatable so that it works on ALL MSX machines with more than 16K memory. ED80 MSX Disc Software each £39.95 Devpac80 A suite of three programs for assembly language development: is a powerful Wordstar compatible program editor; fully installable with help screens, cut and paste, search and replace, and other sophisticated features. is a fast, high-specification macro assembler with disc inclusion, conditional assembly and full arithmetic. is a comprehensive debugger and monitor, includ- ing single-step, disassembly to disc, breakpoints, pattern search and much more. GEN80 MON80 Pascal80 A powerful and virtually full implementation of Pascal, produc- ing fast Z80 directly (no P-codes or linking). There is full heap management by NEW, MARK and RELEASE and access to machine code via PEEK, POKE, INLINE, ADDR, INP, OUT and CPM. Among the compiler options are source file inclusions and runtime check disabling. ED80 is supplied with Pascal80 (see Devpac80 above). C++ A fast compiler for the C systems language which invokes ED80 automatically when it finds an error. C++ has UNIX standard I/O including random access files and command lines with redirection. C is a very flexible language combining high-level structured programming with low-level access to the Z80. HiSoft C++ conforms almost exactly to the ‘Kernighan and Ritchie’ standard with the exception of floats. Again, ED80 is part of the package. HiSoft, 180 High Street North, Dunstable, Beds. LU6 1 AT Telephone (0582) 696421 . ..♦»** . . ...... ....... • •«•*:#***» „ «****»»«**..♦» • ««,,,<«•> +*+*+*■* . mm It (now in ** . ******** ....... ./.♦ .......... .......... ^ *♦»/,>#•* v**>. lVl*. W * * 'w.Vv * i V.V • . - **•>♦♦*>** *. • • did ............... M »*♦» »*'*.***'» *« Wmsm »♦.**.+**»«** »..«.<»« ................ .....I.,,,,.**...., * »■.*****.» »* « f» ♦ *.* * < « . ».♦ **.■ .*'»• *ikf»»»i ........ ......I. .. ..... .......... MM .......... .......... , . . * * »►.»«••»♦* *4.. . •♦*****.*. ... ,*•*•• ..... .. ........ « *.*■«♦*♦»*.« • ». ...£*** *>**<•*« «**>:**,*«>>» *,* . ..*** I ......... I... «•*..»• ■**»* **:♦:*:***»' *•** 1 4 . ♦+*:»> -» « » r » » * Vi. »«.*.* ». ■« « .» ».».« «»»...«* *****;+■« •**■»». • • » •»»/*««++«+»»* .*• cannon Buzzoff »**«.».* n *A. »....**> . .... ...... «... ........ » .*.«** 1 5+r- ......... *«*«•».. « . . ...... *.*.««• .... :«;* *$V» . . . «* . ....... ........ »*» * ...*..•***« ».*i ***** •+*« ♦•****» ...... **l 48 SANYO DR202 Tape counter Reset button Save button Automatic Data Search System Indicator Automatic Data Search System button Volume control Monitor switch Phase switch Stop/Eject button Fast Forward Rewind switch Load switch Remote socket Load socket Save socket Tape speed: 4.75cm/sec Weight: 0.9kg Dimensions: 200x80x145mm Price: £44.95 Supplier: Sanyo, Sanyo House, 8 Greycaine Road, Watford, Herts. Tel: (0923) 46363 FERGUSON 3T31 Tape counter Indicator lights Reset button Save button Volume control Monitor switch Power button Stop/Eject button Fast Forward Cue/Revlew Rewind switch Load switch Built-In monitor/speaker Ear socket Remote socket MIc socket Aux socket Tape speed: 4.75cm/sec Weight: 1.2 kg Dimensions: 240x60x177mm Price: £29.99 Supplier: Thorn EMI Ferguson, Cambridge House, Great Cam- bridge Road, Enfield, Mid- dlesex. Tel: 01-807 3060 PHILIPS D6450 Tape counter Monitor On/Off switch Save Indlctor Data flow Indlctor Stop/Eject button Output signal control Phase selector DC 9V socket for AC/DC mains adaptor Stop button Rewind/Review Fast Forward/Cue button Load/Start Pause button Save Socket Ear socket MIc socket Remote socket Tape speed: 4.75cm/sec Weight: 0.9kg Dimensions: 210x160x115mm Price: £38 Supplier: Philips Electronics, City House, 420/430 London Road, Croydon, Surrey CR9 3QR. Tel: 01-689 2166 ingthe output signal. There’s also a built-in speaker and an EJECT button. On the back of the machine are the standard EAR, REM and MIC sockets which are col- oured to match the cassette plugs on the lead. The unit can be mains or battery run, but if you're going fa the former you'll need an AC/DC mains adaptor with a DC 9V socket. This isn't supplied with the recorder. This model doesn't have the ADSS system to locate prog- rams on a tape, but you could use the tape counter or DATA FLOW indicator. This not only lights up during loading and saving, but also indicates, during the use of the CUE and REVIEW functions, whether data is actually present on the tape. Failing that you can switch on the MONITOR. If data is present and you've got the volume high enough, you'll hear it! A random selection of tape- based games and. a couple of listings sent in by readers all loaded into the Philips without any hitches. And as a further test we saved BASIC programs on the Sanyo and then re- loaded them on the Philips. There were no problems — we didn't even have to alter the PHASE switch. Ferguson Ferguson’s 3T31 model is totally different in shape and styling from the Sanyo and Philips data recorders. It looks mae like a standard cassette recorder in its black plastic casing with toning grey and muddy-orange controls. This might explain why Ferguson has stuck a very large label in the top right hand corner to remind you that this is, in fact, a Ferguson Program Data Re- corder’. Unlike the other two models the Ferguson 3T31 has a POWER ON switch, which ex- plains why we couldn't get the machine to work at first. Read- ing the manual first makes good sense. The TAPE counter is tiny and almost invisable, and the RE- SET button seems to have been designed for pygmies. On the bottom left hand section of the unit are two sliding controls — MONITOR Off /On and a LEVEL control . The latter controls the pitch of the signal. Moving round to the back of the machine you’ll find a built- in microphone and the EAR, REM and MIC sockets. There's an additional Auxiliary socket that can be used instead of the MIC, butthe latter is preferable as it has the higher sensitivity to input than the AUX. When loading and saving data we had to fiddle around with the LEVEL control until we hit the right setting. Ouradvice is that when you've worked out which is the right setting make a note of it for future reference. The Ferguson stood up to usageandtestloadingsaswell as the other two models. But you need to play around with the LEVEL control. We do have two criticisms. The f i rst is the design of the two sliding controls, which are so flimsy that they can easily be removed. The second is the lack of a phase switch. There is a chance that a program loaded on another data recorder won’t load into the Ferguson. Admit- tedly we had no problem there, but a phase switch would eliminate any possible future problems in this area. When we asked about the AUX socket on the back of the machine, Ferguson was a bit vague as to its use. From the I ittle we've managed to deduce from the manufacturer's leaf- let it's superfluous. Other than that it's a solid and reliable machine with a very attractive price tag for home micro users. Opinion None of the data recorders we looked at are capable of playing music cassettes — they are, after all, dedicated data recorders. Because of its useful ADSS f ac i I ity, we have to say that the Sanyo DR202 was our favourite. Who would prefer to spend time listening for a program or watching the tape counter whizz round when, instead, you can use the ADSS and nip off for a quick cup of tea while it tracks down the program for you? Having said that we also liked the boxy uprightdesign of the Philips and the controls which, although not touch- sensitive, still have a nice feel and respond to very little pressure. If you're on a budget, are likely to do some programming but are more interest in games playing, you’re best bet is to go for the Ferguson. It is compact, has easy to use controls and offers lots of dedicated fea- tures for your £29 .99. Ultimately, buying a data recorder, or any peripheral for that matter, boils down to personal preference. The de- cidingfactorcan be price, but it can also be the presence — or absence — of the technical gadgets and widgets. Don’t buy a machine just because it looks good or it’s on special offer — make sure that it has all the features you're likely to need and that it is covered by a manufacturer’s warranty or guarantee. Do shop around, though. Prices can vary dramatically from one retailer to the next, even for the same model . Once you’ve bought your data recorder, don’t skimp and buy a job lot of cut price cassettes. It's much better to pay a bit extra for a reputable brandandbeconfidentthatthe tape will load properly and not lose all your program- ■■ mingmasterpieces. 49 SBRgK - liSll ^v.y.v^WvS’AW. \ vXv w ;- •• • iw *- 5^I‘.vC4ssV v.VvwVm \\V AV ‘•WW >: >:•:•: wv^vy.w \yl<\%A\'>?>.\'.v\v,'.\ v -.-.vvy . vv-.-.v. UN&ttKpgg* V.% ^//Ay/W/V.VAV.VA' :■ • . Mi wMite •:•:•:•:• <:V:>^xv.v ;.- v/.v/.w/^yAw. . A .... v.v . vy/^y wX;&v>i A ^ S V ' S • W ^ * ' • • v -.- ^ >x n>:« £v ' : : : : : : : : : : x*: : y/**X> ; ^ . WW^f.' v.'.\v MS H ave you ever looked at the program listings In magazines and won- dered whether they are worth the effort? Well, the listings section on the following pages contains some excellent soft- ware for nothing more than the price of a few hours spent typing them in. But beware — there is a catch for the unwary or careless typist. Listings are valuable in many ways. For a start, they're a very cheap way to get soft- ware. And they're also highly educational in that they can teach you a great deal about programming. Unfortunately, a lot of that learning comes as a result of hours spent getting the bugs out of programs which refuse to work. But that doesn't mean the listings themselves are faulty — on the contrary, most errors creep in at the typing stage, and can be all the more difficult to see for that reason. Impatient or especially un- lucky programmers are occa- sionally consumed with para- noia, believing that the micro or the program contains some evil entity, bent on draining their energy and wasting their time. But with care, and a knowledge of the common pitfalls, you can easily exor- cise these demons. It may sound obvious, but don't miss anything out. You'd Before you type in those games, take a few tips from Steve Mansfield be surprised how many people discard parts of a program because they don't look impor- tant. Occasionally there may be just one part of a program — a graphics routine, say — which interests you. But even in well-structured programs, which are broken down into self-contained sections, the bit you want may rely on other parts to set up variables, screens, arrays and so on. So you should always start by typing in the whole thing. Be very careful not to jump lines. Accidentally entering a line twice presents no prob- lems, providing the same line number is used both times, as the second entry simply over- writes the first. Butmissingout a line is usually fatal, unless it's just a REM statement. In case you haven't come across these apparently be- nign creatures before, REMark statements are harmless notes, put into a program to remind you what any particular section is doing. Anything fol- lowing the REM statement is ignored by the computer when it's actually executing the progra m — they’re j ust there to make the listings clearer. Smart programmers use REMs to insert the date the program was written or up- dated, a summary of what it does, and any known bugs or peculiarities. This means that when you come back to a program after a break, having forgotten everything about it, you can understand it at once. So REM statements don’t actually do anything, and mis- sing them out of a listing will make no difference atall to the functioning of the program. But these seemingly harmless creatures still have a way of getting at you. The statements themselves can be omitted with impunity, but the lines that contain them might be essential. That's be- cause those line numbers might be used in GOTO or GOSUB commands elsewhere in the program. Jumping to REM statements like this is quite common. If you remove the line the program will have nowhere to jump to, and so will crash. When copying the program, use a ruler under the line you are reading, moving it down one line at a time. This should stop you mixing lines. If you're feeling a little more wealthy you could invest in a proper copy holder, I i ke those used by • ; ' • :::: vv.w.wy A’r ‘ *.NViv>AV. N >V.. V.\ / wmmwp mwMm MMlHH iMwiPp v^IvXvX\\vV.j>,* -.•.Vj/.'.V-V-' V.V/AV-'.V-V.-.V.V.V// vjv. lillillliSP ■ . • . . Jr>.vvty‘ *\ . !v.//Xv*X •*.* . X\v. ■ • . HIM mm .oa’Aw.O mm mm mmmm 50 professional typists. It’s easy to confuse some of the characters. The classic case isto mix upthef igure zero (0) with the uppercase letter 0. For that reason a convention was adopted in computer cir- cles to put a slash through the zero. Not all printers do this, but we have adopted this style for listings in What MSX ? So if there’s no slash you can assume it’s the letter, not the number. A similar, if less common problem occurs with the num- ber one and the lower case letter I . And if the program uses a slash, make sure it's going the right way. The standard oblique (/) is used as the division symbol, but the keyboard also has a reverse oblique (\). Don't mixthem up. What's more, MSX BASIC allows some commands to be tokenised — one symbol re- placinga whole command. The most useful is the query (?) which you can type instead of PRINT. This shouldn’t cause too much trouble. The one to watch out for is the single quote mark (’) in place of REM. It’s easy to miss altogether, and if you omit it the computer wi 1 1 try to i nterpret the text as a BASIC command — and invari- ably crash. Watch out for graphics char- acters, too. The problem isthat they don't always appear as such. Non-MSX printers can’t cope with many of the special figures and shapes contained in the large MSX character set, and when a program is listed these characters often turn up as blanks or ordinary letters. Having the wrong shape in a PRINT statement won't cause the program to crash. But it may make the screen look decidely odd and tempt you into thinking you've done something wrong. If this hap- pens, experiment a little, put- ting your own choice of graphics characters into the PRINT commands. Entering DATA statements is undoubtedly the biggest cause of programming heartache and frustration. Some programs, particularly games, make ex- tensive use of DATA lines, holding hundreds of numbers and characters. It'salltooeasy to miss one item out, put an extra one in, mix up lines, repeat lines, and so on. If there are too few items the program wil I crash with an ‘Out of data’ error message. You then have the laborious task of finding the missing item. Sometimes it’s not the item that’s missing but the comma which should separate two. This can lead to other faults, such as Type mismatch’ where the computer expects a num- ber and finds a character string, or vice versa. Ratherthan tediously check- ing every DATA item in your program with the original list- ing, simply count the number of items in each line. This can often lead quite quickly to a missing number. Loops If you are sure that the DATA statements are correct, but you're still getting an error, check the READ statement which takes in the data. This is often contained in a loop. Make sure this loops the cor- rect number of times, paying particularatttentiontowhereit starts — some loops run from 0, others from 1. While on the subject of loops, these can cause trouble if you forget to close them. All FOR statements must have exactly the same number of NEXTs. Count them up, and if there’s a difference you’ll at least know what's wrong, if not where! Sometimes the screen may lookstrange or untidy. That can happen when the program wri- ter has assumed your compu- ter will be in the default screen mode, the one the micro adopts when you f i rst turn it on, with its normal white text on a blue background. However, if you've been play- ing around with the screen modes, or have just finished running another program, you might wind up in a different mode, with an odd screen width and different colours. If the program you're enter- ing doesn’t use graphics it might not contain a SCREEN command, so you could be in the wrong mode. What's more the new program, assuming that the screen colour is the normal blue, might also select a text colour which reacts horribly with the colour you've actually got in the background — or even choose the same colour, making the text in- visible! The answer to all this is simple. Always reset the micro before starting any program- ming. Use the RESET switch, if provided, or the main power switch. Unless you're a complete masochist you'll want to SAVE the program you’ve entered on disk or cassette, so you can LOAD it easily next time. But don’t wait until you've finished to do that. Instead SAVE the program every 15 minutes or so. In that way, if you accident- ally kick out the mains lead you still have most of the program safely stored. You should also make sure the program is SAVED before trying it out. This is especially true of those programs which send data to a printer or other peripheral. If the peripheral isn't connected, or you've for- gotten to turn it on, the micro can hang up completely. You then have no choice but to turn it off — at which point you can wave goodbye to your p rogram . Sometimes the demons might originate outside the micro. Electricity Boards are ace program wreckers, with power surges or, much more commonly, momentary power failures. Even a brief interrup- tion is enough to wipe out or badly corrupt your program — another good reason to SAVE regularly. As you can see, there are plentyof opportunitiesto make mistakes. Buttake heart — you probably won'tmake more than two or three, and with care you will have your programs up and running in no time. HI If you've bought your MSX, had a read through the first ten pages of your manual, and are wondering what to do next, here's the answer, courtesy of reader Cliff Walters. We have games I istings for you to type in and run for yourself. They're all fairly simple, straightforward BASIC programs, and shouldn't present too much difficulty. Typing in listings is one of the best ways to get to grips with a programming language, learning foryourselfthekindof routines and shortcuts that other programmers have found useful. So get typing! FROGGER This is a particularly colourful version of the famous arcade game, with plenty of variation on-screen. Machine code has been used In parts to move everything about as BASIC Is Just too slow. The white frog Isn’t too impressive, but It Is Just aboutthe only colourthat will show up on such a colourful background. Each time you successfully negotiate five frogs home, you move onto the next, faster screen. By the time you reach screen 10 you are at maximum j|jjtlj speed. jj| 10 REM ********************** 20 REM ** M.S.X FROGGER ** 30 REM ** BY CLIFF WALTERS ** 40 REM ** MARCH-MAY 1985 ** 50 REM ** ON SPECTRAVIDEO. ** 60 REM ** SVI 728 ** 70 REM ********************** 80 CLEAR 500.&HEA2E 90 ON STOP GOSUB 2130: STOP ON 100 CLS: KEYOFF: GOSUB 2050 110 N=RND ( -TIME ): GOSUB 1500 120 SCREEN 1,2: COLOR l4,l,l:WIDTH 32 130 DEF USR0=&H4l 140 DEF USR1 =&H44 150 DEF USR2=&HEA2F 160 DEF FNA(X)=INT(RND(1)*X)+1 170 GOSUB 830 : GOSUB 1700:HI=0 180 LE = 1 : SC = 0 : Z=100 190 FL=0: FH=0: LI =5 200 CLS: PRINT: PRINT: PRINT"FROGGER LEV EL” : PRINT 210 FOR 1=4 TO 19: PRINT SPC ( I ) LE : NEXT I 220 LOCATE 0,21: PRINT”SCORE = M ; SC 230 GOSUB 1460: GOSUB 820: GOSUB 820 240 U=USR0 ( 0 ): CLS: LOCATE 0 , 0 : PRINT"SC (ORE”; SC: LOCATE 13. 0: PRINT”HI=”; HI: LOC ATE 24, 0: PRINT"LIVES"; LI 250 LOCATE 0,1: PRINT STRING$ ( 32 , 216 ) : : LOCATE 0, 2: PRINT"bbb ' abbbb ' abbbb ' abbb b ' abbbb ' abbb” ; 260 LOCATE 0.3: PRINT STRINGS ( 32 . 1 4 5 ) 270 FOR 1=3 TO 27 STEP 6: LOCATE I.3:P RINT SPC ( 2 ) : NEXT I 280 LOCATE0 , 4 : PRINT STRINGS ( 128 , 147 ) 290 LOCATE0 , 8: PRINT STRINGS ( 32 , 1 4 4 ) 300 LOCATE0, 9: PRINT STRINGS ( 32 , 98 ) 310 LOCATE0, 10 : PRINT STRINGS ( 32 , 1 3 1 ) 320 LOCATE0 , 11 : PRINT STRINGS ( 32 , 1 2 8 ) 330 LOCATE0, 12: PRINT STRINGS ( 32 , 130 ) 340 LOCATE2 , 14 : PRINT IS 350 LOCATE0, 16: PRINT STRI NGS ( 32 , 129 ) 36c LOCATE0 , 17 : PRINT STRINGS ( 32 , 1 30 ) 370 LOCATE0, 19: PRINT IS 380 LOCATE0, 21 : PRINT STRINGS ( 32 , 129 ) 390 FOR 1=6848 TO 6879: VPOKE I,136:NE ' XT I 400 FOR 1=6880 TO 6911: VPOKE I,98:NEX T I : SP=0 : M=0 : 410 X=l6:Y=22: PUTSPRITE 1 , ( X*8 , Y*8 ) , 1 5.4 420 ON SPRITE GOSUB 810: SPRITE ON 430 IF M=1 THEN 490 440 LOCATE0 , 4 : PRINTAS : LOCATE0 , 5: PRINT B$ | 450 LOCATE0 , 7 : PRINTCS : LOCATE0 , 6 : PRINT ; D$ 52 -rr r r ■ W.V/AWAV 1X62) LOCATE0. 13: PRINTE$ : LOCATES . 15: PRI NTF$ 1X72 LOCATE0 , 18 : PRINTG$ : LOCATES , 20 : PRI NTH$ 480 U=USR1 ( 0 ) 490 FOR D = 1 TO Z:NEXT D 500 U=USR2 ( 0 ) 510 PUTSPRITE0, ( SP, 66 ) . 15 . SP MOD 2+1 520 SP=SP+5: S=STICK(0) 530 X = X+ ( S= 7 AND X>0 ) - ( S= 3 and X<31) 540 IF S=1 THEN Y=Y-1 : PUTSPRITE 1 , ( X* 8 , Y*8 ) . ,7: SC=SC+10 : LOCATE 5,0:PRINTSC 550 PUTSPRITE 1 , ( X*8 , Y*8 ) , , 4 - ( S = 3 ) + ( S =7 ) 560 IF VPEEK( Y*32+X+6l44 ) >146 THEN 8l 0 570 IF Y>3 THEN 490 580 IF VPEEK( Y*32+X+6l44 )<>32 THEN 8l 0 590 IF X=4 OR X= 10 OR X=l6 OR X=22 OR X=28 THEN X=X-1 600 PUTSPRITE 1 ,( -16, 0 ): LOCATE X.Y-1: PRINT” cd” : LOCATE X , Y: PRI NT”ef ” 610 SC=SC+100 : LOCATE 5,0:PRINTSC 620 PLAY ’’T255L6403C6404C6405C6406C64 ?» 630 640 650 3 660 670 680 690 70S FH= FH+ 1 : I F FH=5 THEN 720 M=1 : GOTO 410 FOR 1=1 TO 5 : PUTSPRITE1 , FNA( 15 ) . FOR D L = 1 TO PUTSPRITE1 , FOR D L = 1 TO PUTSPRITE 1 LOCATE 29,0 30 : NEXT FN A ( 15 ) 30 : NEXT (- 16 , 0 ) DL 6 DL, I L I = L I - 1 PRINT LI: IF LI=0 THEN 750 710 M=1 : GOTO 410 720 GOSUB 820 : SC=SC+1000: LE=LE+1 : PUTS PRITE 0, (-16,0) 730 Z=Z-10 : IF Z<=0 THEN Z=0 740 GOTO 190 750 IF SC>HI THEN HI=SC: LOCATE l6,0:P RINTHI : FL=1 760 GOSUB 820: PUTSPRITE 0 , ( -1 6 , 0 ) : CLS : PRINT: PRINT : PRINT SPC(6)”YOUR SCORE WAS” ; SC : I F FL=1 THEN 780 770 IF FL=0 THEN LOCATE 8,7:PRINT”HI SCORE = ” ; HI : GOTO 790 780 PRINT: PRINT: PRINT: PRINT SPC(4)”A NEW HI SCORE OF” ; HI : FL=0 790 LOCATE 1 , 20:.PRINT”PRESS SPACE BAR TO PLAY AGAIN” 800 IF NOT STRIG ( 0 )THEN 800 ELSE 180 810 SPRITE OFF: PLAY ”T2 5 5 L6 406C6405C6 404C6403C6402C64” : GOTO 650 820 FOR DL=1 TO 750: NEXT DL: RETURN 830 LOCATE 8 , 20: PRINT”ONE MOMENT PLEA SE” 840 RESTORE 880 850 FOR 1=1 TO 7 : SP$=”” : READ S$ : FOR B =1 TO LEN(S$) STEP 2 86S SPS=SP$ + CHR$ < VAL( ”8.H”+MID$ ( S$ , B,2 ) ) ) : NEXT B 870 SPRITES ( I) =SP$ : NEXT I 880 DATA 00000 C3FF3C 00000000000000000 00000000 C0B0E00000 00 890 DATA 00000 C3FC 3000000000000000000 000000000i _, 3B FEC0 0000 900 DATA C2251C7E7E1C25C2 960 READ C$ : FOR B=1 TO LEN(C$) STEP 2 970 V POKE A*8 +■ C , VAL ( ”&H”+MID$ ( C$ , B , 2 ) XT B J'9 1 0 DATA 1 920 DATA 9 30 DATA 940 DATA 0000 950 C = 0 : R 960 READ 970 VPOKE ) : C = C+ 1 : N 980 GOTO 990 DATA 1000 DATA 1010 DATA 1020 DATA 10 30 DATA 1040 DATA 1050 DATA 1060 DATA 1070 DATA 1080 DATA 1090 DATA 1100 DATA 1110 DATA 1120 DATA 1130 DATA 1140 DATA 1150 DATA 1160 DATA 1170 DATA 1180 DATA 1190 DATA 1200 DATA 1210 DATA 1220 DATA 1230 DATA 1240 DATA 1250 DATA 1260 DATA 1270 DATA 1280 DATA 1290 DATA 1300 DATA 1310 DATA 1320 DATA 1330 DATA 1340 DATA 1350 / DATA 1360 DATA 1370 DATA 1380 DATA 1390 DATA 1400 DATA 1410 DATA 1420 DATA 1430 DATA 1440 DATA 1450 DATA 8 1995A3C3C7E9942 4 3A4 387E7E38A443 C 3 E 7 7 E 2 4 2 4 7 E E 7 C 3 004281995A3C3C3C182424424224 40, 3C7EFFE7E7FF7E3C 96, FFF0C08080000000 97, FF0F030101000000 98, FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF 99, FFF1D993950B0F07 100, FF0F9BC9A9D0F0E0 101, 0703070D0C384400 102, E0C0E0B0301C2200 104. 3F535C8B8C535C3F 105. FF33CC33CC33CCFF 106, FC32CE33CD32CEFC 112, 3F535C8B8C535C3F 113, FF33CC33CC33CCFF 114 , FC32CE33CD32CEFC 120, 187E7EFFFF7E7E18 128, 8l8lFF8l8lFF8lFF 129, FFFF000000000000 130 . 000000000000FFFF 131. 0000000000000000 136 , 000044D26EEEFFFF 144, 000044D26EEEFFFF 145, FFFDBE2934440000 146, 815A3C7E7E3C5A81 147. 0000000000000000 184, FF80BFBFBFBF80FF 192, 077EF3F3F3F37E07 193. F83EE7E7E7E73EF8 194 , E02EBDB9B9BD2EE0 195. 78337FCECE7F3378 196, 008EE43F3FE48E00 197, 0775BDBFBFBD7507 200, E04779F9F97947E0 201, 7EFFF7F7F7F7FF7E 208, 077EF3F3F3F37E07 209, F83EE7E7E7E73EF8 210, E02EBDB9B9BD2EE0 211 , 78337FCECE7F3378 212, 008EE43F3FE48E00 213. 0775BDBFBFBD7507 216 , DFDF00FBFBFB00DF 217. FF80BFBFBFBF80FF 218, 00AAAA0000AAAA00 227, FF5555FFFF5555FF 233, FF5555FFFF5555FF 252 . 0 0AAAA000 0AAAA0 0 999 RESTORE 1490 READ A: IF A=999 THEN RETURN READ B : VPOKE 8192+A, B : GOTO 1470 DATA 5.142,12,192,13.78,14,30,15 16, 26, 17. 42, 18. 206, 23. 78, 24,96, 2 5 , 208 ,26,112,27. 182 2, 31 . 26 , 999 REM TITLE SCREEN 3: COLOR OPEN ”GRP: ”AS#1 FOR H = 1 TO 10: J$ = ”M. S. X” : J=52 : K= 1460 1470 1480 1490 . 222 ■;.% .v •vCvvXXO I •i‘.V,V,SW>SV< 28, 206, 29.42.30,3 1500 1510 1520 1530 1.1,1: CLS 24 : FOR 1=1 TO 2 53 FROGGER 15/10 FOR L = 1 TO LEN ( J$ ): COLOR RND(l)* 1/1 + 2 1550 PRESET ( J , K) : PRINT#1,MID$(J$, L, 1) 1560 J = J + 3 2 : NEXT L : J $ = ” FROGGER” 1570 J=20 : K=112 : NEXT I.H 1580 GOSUB 820 1590 REM INSTRUCTIONS 1600 SCREEN 0: WIDTH H 0 : COLOR Ik, 1,1 1610 PRINTSPC (Ik) ” INSTRUCTIONS”, SPC( 1 /!)” PRINT 1620 PRINT” USING THE CURSOR KEYS , GU IDE THE FROG”: PRINT” ACROSS THE BUSY MOTORWAY AND THE RIVER” 1630 PRINT” IN ORDER TO REACH YOUR A RCHWAY HOME. ”: PRINT: PRINT” YOU GET 10 POINTS FOR EVERY STEP MADE” 16/10 PRI NT” AND 100 POINTS FOR EVERY F ROG HOME PLUS”: PRINT”A BONUS OF 1000 POINTS FOR 5 FROGS HOME” : PRINT”FROM W HERE, YOU GO ON TO THE NEXT LEVEL.”: PR INT 1650 PRINT” EACH LEVEL GETS A LITTLE BIT FASTER .”: PRINT: PRINT” KEEP YOUR FROG MOVING WHEN ON THE LOGS”: PRINT” OR MULTI-COLOURED TURTLES ETC.,”:: PRINT” OR IT WILL FALL IN AND DRO WN . ” : PRINT 1660 PRINT” ALSO AVOID HITTING THE FA R RIVER BANK”: PRINT ” OR BEING EATEN BY THE SLIPPERY SN AKE . ” : PRI NT 1670 PRINT” PRESS THE SPACE BAR TO S TART PLAYING” 1680 IF NOT STRIG( 0 ) THEN 1680 1690 RETURN 1700 RESTORE 1900 1710 X$ = ” ” : FOR A = 1 TO 32 : READ B 1720 X$=X$+CHR$ ( B ) : NEXT A:A$=X$ 1730 X$ = ”” : FOR A= 1 TO 32: READ B 17/10 X$ = X$ + CHR$ ( B ) : NEXT A:B$ = X$ 1750 X$ = ”” : FOR A = 1 TO 32: READ B 1760 X$=X$+CHR$( B ) : NEXT A:C$=X$ 1770 X$ = ”” : FOR A = 1 TO 32 : READ B 1780 X$- X$ + CHR$ ( B ) : NEXT A:D$=X$ 1790 X$ = ”” : FOR A = i TO 32: READ B 1800 X$=X$+CHR$ ( B ) : NEXT A:E$ = X$ 1810 X$ = "” : FOR A = 1 TO 32 : READ B 1320 X$=X$+CHR$ ( B ) : NEXT A:F$-X$ 1830 X$=””: FOR A= 1 TO 32 : READ B 13/10 X$ = X$+CHR$ ( B ) : NEXT A:G$ = X$ 18 50 X$ = ” ” : FOR A = 1 TO 32: READ B i860 X$=X$ +CHR$ ( B ) : NEXT A:H$=X$ 1870 I $ = ” ! !!!!!! 1 *» 1880 RETURN 1890 REM A $ 1900 DATA 112,113,113,113,11/1.1/17,1/17 , lk7, 1/17. 1/17, 1/17. 10/1, 105. 105. 106. 1/17, 1/17, 1/17, 1/17, 1/17. 1/17, 10/1. 105, 105. 105. 1 06, 1/17, 1/17, 1/17. 1/17, 1/17. 1/17 1910 REM B$ 192 0 DATA 1U7. 1/17. 1/17. 1/17. 1/17. 1/16, /10. k 0 , 1/16, 1/17, 1/17. 1/17, 1/17, 1/17. 1/17. 1/17, /10 , 120, Z10, 1/16, 1/17, 1/17, 1/17, 1/17, 1/17. 1/17, 1 k 7 , 120, /10. 1/16./10, 120 1930 REM C$ 19/10 DATA /10, 1/16, 120, 120, 1 /I 6 , /10, 1/17, 1 /l 7, 1/17. 1/17. 1/17, 1/17, 1/16, k 0 , 120, k 0 , 1/17, 1/17, 1/17, 1/17. 1/17. 120 , /l 0, 1/16, 1 / 16 . /10, 120 . 1/17, 1/17, 1/17, 1/17 . 1/17 1950 REM D $ I960 DATA 1/17,1/17.1/17.1/17.1/17.10/1,105 , 105. 105. 105. 106, 1/17, 1/17. 1/17. 1/17, 112, 113. 113. 113. Ilk , 1/17. 1/17, 1/17, 1/17, 112,1 13, 113. 113. 113. 113. 113 , Ilk 1970 REM E$ 1980 DATA 32,32,32,208,209.32.32.32,1 97. 233. 233, 233. 32, 32, 32, 32, 197. 252, 25 2, 32, 32. 32, 32, 200, 201, 32, 32, 32, 213, 21 7, 217, 217 1990 REM F $ 2000 DATA 208,209.32,32,32,32,218,218 ,218,218,210,32,32,32.32.32,32,32.195 . 196, 32, 32, 32,32, 18/1, 18/1, 18/1, 19/1,32,3 2. 32, 32 2010 REM G$ 2020 DATA 197,18/1,18/1,18/1,18/1,32,32,3 2, 32, 32, 200, 201, 32. 32, 32, 32, 213, 227.2 27.227, 227. 32,32,32.32.32. 192.193. 32, 32.32. 32 2030 REM H $ 20/10 DATA 32, 32 . 32., 211, 212, 32 , 32, 32 , 3 2, 233. 233. 2 33. 19/1. 32, 32, 32. 32. 32, 192, 193,32,32, 32,32, 32, 218, 218, 218,218,21 0. 32. 32 2050 RESTORE 2100 2060 FOR A%=&HEA2F TO &HEAB8 2070 READ B $ 2080 POKE A%, VAL( ”&H”+B$ ) 2090 NEXT A%: RETURN 2100 DATA 3E, 05 . 32, 50. C3. 3E, 0/1, 32 , 51. C3. CD. 60. EA. 3E, 0 7. 32. 50. C3. 3E. 06. 32. 5 1 , C3, CD, 60 , EA, 3E, 0F, 32 , 50 . C3 . 3E , 0D , 32 , 51 . C3. CD, 60 , EA. 3E, 1/1 . 32, 50. C3. 3E, 12, 32 , 51 . C3 2110 DATA 3A, 50. C3. 01. 20, 00, 21. IF, 18, 3C, 3D, CA, 72, EA, 09. C3. 6A, EA, CD, kA, 00 , F 5. 01. IF, 00, 2B, CD. /1A. 00. 23. CD, /ID, 00, 2B , 0B, 79.B0.C2, 79. EA, FI, CD, /ID, 00 2120 DATA 3A, 51. C3. 01, 20, 00. 21, 00, 18, 3C, 3D, CA. 9E, EA, 09. C3. 96, EA, CD, /1A, 00, F 5. 01. IF, 00, 23. CD, ZlA, k 00, 2B, CD, /ID, 00, 23 , 0B.79.B0.C2.A5.EA, FI, CD, /ID, 00. C9 2130 SCREEN 0 : COLOR 1 5 . k , k INVADERS A fairly simple game, which you’ll immediately recognise from a few years ago In the amusement arcades. You control a craft at the bottom of the screen, which can only move left or right. The attackers move en masse from left to right and back again across the screen, all the time getting lower. You have to shoot them out of the sky before they have a chance to land. Each time you start a new screen, the attackers start a little closer, so you have less time to destroy them. 1 JL. ft O I 19 THEN GOSUB 490 240 ST=STICK ( 0 ) : IF ST = 0 THEN FOR DL=1 TO 100: NEXT DL: GOTO 400 250 XL=XL+ ( ST = 7 AND XL>9)-(ST=3 AND X L < 2 2 ) : PUTSPRITE 0 , ( XL* 8-2 , 16 0 ) ;260 IF STOl THEN FOR DL=1 TO 100: NEX T DL: GOTO 400 270 SOUND 0,0: SOUND 7.198:SOUND 8.16: SOUND 12, 2: SOUND 13.3 280 FOR M=19 TO E STEP-3 : LOCATE XL.M: PRINT"<": LOCATE XL.M: PRINT” ”:NEXT M 290 F=0: Q$ = E$: QQS = EE$: R = 0: GOSUB 420:E S=Q$ : EE$=QQ$ 300 IF F = 1 THEN 390 310 LOCATE XL, E- 1 : PRINT”<”: LOCATE XL, E-l : PRINT” ” 320 QS = D$ : QQS = DD$ : R= 1 : GOSUB 4?0:D$ = Q$ : DDS=QQ$ v 1 1 330 IF F- 1 THEN 390 340 LOCATE XL, E-2 : PRINT”<” : LOCATE XL, E-2: PRINT” ” 350 Q$=C$ : QQS = CCS : R=2 : GOSUB 420:C$=Q$ : CCS = QQ$ 360 IF F = 1 THEN 390 370 LOCATE XL. E-3: PRINT”<” : LOCATE XL, E-3: PRINT” ” 380 Q$ = B$ : QQS -BBS : R = 3 : GOSUB 420:B$ = Q$ : BBS =QQS 390 IF B $ = ” ” AND C$ = ” ” AND DS = ”” AND E $ = ” ” THEN 550 400 SWAP B$, BBS: SWAP CS, CCS: SWAP D$,D D$ : SWAP E $ , EES 410 NEXT X : E = E+- 1 : SWAP A. B: SWAP C , D : GO TO 210 420 IF 0.$ = ”” OR MIDS ( QS . XL-X+-1 . 1 ) = ” ” THEN RETURN 430 LOCATE XL, E-R: PRINT” ' ” 440 MIDS ( QS , XL-X+-1 )=” ”: MIDS ( QQS , XL-X +-1)=” ”: F=l: S=S+-25-E 4 50 LOCATE XL. E-R: PRINT”a”: BEEP: LOCAT E 24. 0: PRINT S 460 LOCATE XL, E-R: PRINT” ” 470 IF Q$= AS THEN Q$=””:QQ$=”” 480 RETURN 490 IF E>19 AND ESO”” THEN 540 500 IF E > 2 0 AND D$<>”” THEN 540 510 IF E > 21 AND C$<>”” THEN 540 520 IF E > 2 2 THEN 540 530 RETURN 540 FOR D L = 1 TO 500: NEXT DL: PUTSPRITE 0, ( -32, 0 ): CLS: LOCATE 3. 5: PRINT” THE AL IENS HAVE TAKEN OVER” : GOTO 610 550 COLOR 15. 15. 15: PUTSPRITE 0 , (0,209) : FOR DL = 'l TO 2 5: NEXT DL: COLOR 15,1,1: GOSUB 960 560 CLS: LOCATE 0,5: PRINT” YOU HAVE DE FEATED THE ALIENS!!” 570 LOCATE 0.7: PRINT” AND SCARED OFF THE MOTHER SHIP” 580 LOCATE 6 , 11: PR I NT” YOUR SCORE IS:” . O * ’ 590 LOCATE 0,18: PRINT" BUT ANOTHER WAV E IS APPROACHING.” 600 EE=EE+ . 5 : FOR DL=1 TO 1500: NEXT DL : GOTO 70 610 LOCATE 6,10: PR I NT "YOTJR SCORE WAS : ”;S: LOCATE 2 . 2 0 : PR I NT ” P PESS SPACE-BAR TO PLAY AGAIN” 620 IF NOT ST RIG ( 0 ) THEN 620 ELSE 60 630 PR I NTT A B ( 10) "INSTRUCTIONS” : PR I NTT AB( 10) ; ” ”: PRINT: PRINT 640 PRINT” USE THE LEFT AND RIGHT CUR SOR" : PRINT: PRINT” KEYS TO MOVE YOUR LASER BASE” : PRINT: PRINT” AND THE CURS OR UP KEY TO FIRE": PRINT 6 50 P R I N T ” QU I C K SHOOTING EARNS MORE P OI NTS”: PRINT” AS DOES HITTING THE MOTH ER SHIP” : PRINT: PRINT” AND A NEW WAVE ARRIVES AFTER” : PRINT: PRINT” EACH W AVF IS DESTROYED AND” 660 PRINT: PRINT” THE MOTHER SHIF IS B EATEN OFF": LOCATE 8. 22: PRINT”ONE MOME NT PLEASE” 670 RESTORE 840 680 S PS = ” ” : FOR J = 0 TO 7 : READ K 690 SP$ = SP$+-CHR$(K) : NEXT 3 700 SPRITES ( 0 ) =SP$ 710 S PS = ” " : FOR 1 = 0 TO 7 1 5S;S: S’.W.V V.V.W .y.vXv.wI •xj v.;.\nw.; lips 1 Wm >■><$>: •• .••V.V.SW.' .v.sv.v.v. ■ •V.;,W.\V vXvIvXv IvXvX’tv XvXXvX* . • • • • •.v.y.v.s*. : : : : x ; x : : : ;o>:o;o .v.v.v.v.v WANIAVi ;v*\\vX yXvIy.yiwS NWHMMHMIMMMMMMt ■MM MiWili’ iMiVi'ili'iWw HMMMIMMMMMIMilMMMiMMn MMM MMMMM " — ■ S# 720 SP$=SP$+CHR$( VPEEK( 1504+I ) ) <«-.',vava;;Va^ •• v Nv/.v c*>:v»:iv v a wfcl Up «■»■■■»■■. . ■ . ' . . 1 1 ■ ■ ■■■ ■ . ■■ ■ ■■ H i m ■ ■■ ■ . - 1.. '■■■»■ •?; ;;X P mmtM&mmm -x Xtf: | V: • W ||1§| ' \ - - pf ^ :«re»: : a;'; v;v:Y ‘Va ,: : /:>;•>>>*•**• : : ; : : x : *<•*. ■ ; ; ' i : ;v.x<: ;: , :ox •'■ v'vO>-x 1 111 " U, 1 K»:«K:X; INVADERS ■ CCv. .-.v. . tfS.v 730 740 31 : 750 760 770 780 790 800 810 820 TO 830 RN 840 850 1.7. FOR 1=0 TO NEXT I H 820 m IjpjsS B lii NEXT I : SPRITES ( 1 ) =SP$ FOR H = 2 TO 3: SP$(H)=”” READ SP SP$(H)=SP$(H) +CHR$ ( SP ) SPRITE$(H)=SP$(H): NEXT RESTORE 870 READ C H : IF CH = 999 THEN FOR J=0 TO 7: READ K V POKE CH*8 + J , K: NEXT J GOTO 780 LOCATE 4 , 22: PRINT” PRESS SPACE-BAR PLAY” IF NOT STRI G ( 0 ) THEN 330 ELSE RETU DATA 12,12,12,30,30.63.63,63 DATA 0,0.0.0,7,31.63,237.237.63.3 1030 RETURN 960 Y=1 : XR=15: Z=0 970 CL-8192: VPOKE CL+4 , 1 1 2 : VPOKE CL + 5 , 12 3: V POKE C L 1 2 , 240: VPOKE CL+13.160: iiM l VPOKE CL+14, 208: VPOKE CL+ 1 5 , 192: V POKE CL + 27 , 166 ■* 980 CLSs LOCATE 2,0: PRINT”M. S . X INVADE RS SCORE: ”;S 990 LOCATE 0 . 20: PRINTSTRINGS ( 9 , 120 ) : L OCATE 23. 20: PRINTSTRINGS ( 9. 120 ) : LOCAT E 0, 21: PRINTSTRING$( 32, 220 ) 1000 PUTSPRITE 0, (XR*8-2, 160 ) , 4 1010 FOR D L= 1 TO 250: NEXT DL 1020 ON INTERVAL=3 GOSUB 1130 liillilll T E ' GOSUB 1120 W£M ON SPRI | 0,0, 0.0. 0.0. 0,0, 224, 248, 252, 191,1 91. 252 . 248. 224.0. 0.0.0 860 DATA 0,0,0,0,7.31.63.251.251.63,3 1.7.0. 0.0.0.0.0.0.0.224.248.252.111.1 mam 11 , 252 . 248 , 224 , 0 . 0 , 0 , 0 870 DATA 35.130,68,124,84,124,68.130. 0 , 36 . 68 . 40, 124, 84, 124, 40,68, 0,42. 124, 214, 254. 108 , 254, 146, 40, 108 , 43. 124, 214 . 254 , 10 8 , 254 , 40 . 40 , 198 , 96 , 17 . 186 . 124, 62. 255. 126, 92, 138.97. 161.82.42. 28,63, 200 . 166 , 36 880 DATA 104,28,62,42,127,20.34.65,0, 105 , 28 , 62 . 42. 127 , 20 , 34, 34, 34. 112 , 56,1 24 , 130 . 214 , 124 , 40 , 40 . 40 , 113 , 56 , 124, 13 0,214, 124, 40. 68 . 130, 120. 255. 171. 213.1 71. 213. 171. 213, 255. 999 890 COLOR 1,1, 1: SCREEN 3 900 OPEN "GRP: "ASffl 910 FOR 1 = 1 TO 10: M $ = " M . 5 . X ” : Y = 2 4 : X = 4 1040 1 TO 1050 FOR DL= p®$|8U^ w&&m ■ v ■■■ JHli i^ilpp sSSSSsSSSsSss^ mm - FOP X=1 TO 2: FOR J = 1 TO LEN ( M$ ) : C OLOR RND(l)*l4+2 930 PRESET ( X , Y): PRINT^l , MID$ ( M$ , J, 1) 940 X = X + 32 : NEXT J 950 M$ = ’’INVADERS” : Y=120: X = 4 : NEXT K.I: INTERVAL ON: SPRITE ON ST=STICK ( 0 ) : IF ST=0 THEN 10: NEXT DL: GOTO 1100 XR=XR+ ( ST=7 AND XR>9)-(ST=3 AND XR< 2 2 ) £ 1060 PUTSPRITE 0, (XR*8-2, 160 ) 1070 IF STOl THEN FOR DL = 1 TO 10:NEX T DL: GOTO 1100 1080 SOUND 0,0: SOUND 7.198:SOUND 8.16 : SOUND 12,2: SOUND 13.3 1090 FOR M=148 TO 24 STEP- 3 : PUTSPRITE 1 , ( XR*8 , M) , 15 : NEXT M:PUTSPRITE l,(-3 2 , 0 ) IF Z<0 OR Z>240 THEN 1110 ELSE 1 INTERVAL OFF: SPRITE OFF: FOR 1=0 PUTSPRITE I , ( -32 , 0 ) : NEXT I : RETUR INTERVAL OFF: SPRITE OFF: PUTSPRIT E 1 . ( -32 , 0 ) : BEEP: FOR DL=1 TO 25: NEXT DL:Y=1.2*-Y:S=S+RND(l)*50+25: LOCATE 2 4,0: PRINT S : RETURN 1030 1130 Z = Z + Y: PUTSPRITE 2 , ( Z , 2 4 ) , 1 0 , 2 : PU TSPRITE2 , . .3: RETURN 1140 INTERVAL OFF: SPRITE OFF: SCREEN 1 : CO LOR 15.4,4 PS mf ■ ■ II—.— SNAKEY X\X OKE A + 70 4 . 113: NEXT 110 FOR A = 6 2 0 3 TO 6880 STEP 32 A. 11. 3: VPOKE A + 10.113 POKE A *- 3 1 . 113: NEXT 120 REM SPACES 130 1 4 0 F. K ( 150 160 EK( 170 L8 0 190 200 ) <> 2 I 0 22 0 FOR A = 1 TO 4 X - 6 1 8 6 + 3 2 * I N T ( END ( 1 >*207-1 ) : IF VPE X ) ~ 3 2 THEN 140 VPOKE X, 32 X = 6 1 9 7 + 32 * I NT ( RN D ( 1 )-*20 + l ) : IF VPE Y.) =22 THEN 160 VPOKE X. 32: NEXT A REM MONSTERS FOR A - 1 TO XX <~’ = 6209 + INT( RND C 1 ) * 6 7 0 ) : IF V PEEK ( C 32 OR C = 6 2 7 5 THEN 200 B ( A ) --C : VPOKE C. 128: NEXT A REM FOC>D ill! » SNAKEY IF T = 1 THEN IF T“ 5 THEN IF T-3 THEN IF T = 7 THEN IF S<5 THEN I'liiiiiii iimiiii.iiiiM mm L : ?30 FOR A = 1 TO FD ! 240 E = 6209 + INT ( RND ( 1 ) *670 ) : IF VPEEK ( E )<>3P OR E=6275 THEN 240 ; 250 VPOKE E , 120: NEXT A J j 260 P=0:R=1:S=1:S(0)=6275:H=106: VPOKE PLAY”T2 55L6403C6404C6405C6406C64” FOR D L = 1 TO 2 50: NEXT DL FOR DL = 1 TO SK: NEXT DL T- STICK ( 0 ) +STICK( 1) : IF T=0 THEN 3 330 HEN R- --32 : H= 107 : GOTO 3 50 R = 3 2 : H = 1 0 5 : GOTO 350 R=1 : H= 106: GOTO 350 F. = - 1 : H = 1 0 4 S-S + 1 : GOTO 370 VPOKE S ( S ) , 32 FOR A=5 TO 1 STEP-1: S ( A ) =S(A~1 ) : N A:S(0)=S(0)-*-P. Z = V P E E K ( S ( 0 ) ) : IF Z= 1 1 3 OR Z = 128 T 630 VPOKE S ( 0 ) , H : VPOKE S ( 1 ) . 97 IF Z=97 THEN 630 IF 2 = 120 THEN GOSIJB 600 Y = I N T < P.ND ( 1 )*XX ) + 1 V = I N T ( RND ( 1 ) *4 1 + 1 W- 32* ( V = 1 ) -32* ( V=2 } - f V=3 ) -<- ( V=/l ) IF VPEEK (B(Y)-*-W)=32 THEN M=W: GOTO I 390 4 0 0 410 i n ?0 U30 | 4 4 0 U50 ! 470 ; 460 GOTO 2 90 IF VPEEK ( B ( Y ) -M> <>32 THEN 630 VPOKE B(Y) , 32: B( Y)=B( Y) -*-M: VPOKE 128 GOTO 290 FOR D=1 TO 500: NEXT D GOSUB 750: CLS LOCATE 3 , 5 : PRINT”WELL DONE! YOU ' V E FINISHED” : LOCATE 12, 9: PRINT ’’SCREEN ” ; FD/5 530 BN= 90-SK-t-FD 540 LOCATE 7. 13: PRINT S’”: LOCATE 2. 21: PRINT HR FOR SCREEN” FD/5 + 1 m ^70 1430 || ( Y ) ■ 490 <8*500 BN; ’’BONUS POINT ’’PRESS SPACE BA 5 50 IF NOT STRIG ( 0 ) THEN 550 SC-SC+BN : FD = FD+ 5 : XX = XX + 1 GOSUB 1100 IF FL=1 THEN GOSUB 860 FL= 0 : GOTO 90 BEEP: SC-SC+1 : P=P+1: S=S+1 LOCATE 7.0: PRINTSC IF P= FD THEN 500 ELSE RETURN PLAY ”T2 55L6ao6C6M05C6iiOac6/i03C6^ 640 FOR .7 = 1 TO 10: VPOKE 820 5 , INT f RND ( 1 ) *16 ) * 16 650 FOR DL= 1 TO 50: NEXT DL. J 660 CLS: LOCATE 11, 5: PRINT ’’GAME OVER” 670 LOCATE 6.8: PRINT ’’YOU SCORED”: SC: ’’POINT”;: IF SCOl THEN PRINT”S” 680 IF SOHI THEN GOSUB 7tt0:GOTO 700 690 LOCATE 3. 12: PRINT ’’THE HI-SCOP.E I S”: HI ; ’’POINT”; : IF HIOl THEN PRINT”S” 700 GOSUB 750 710 LOCATE 1.21: PRINT ’’PRESS R TO PLAY AGAIN.” 720 IF NOT STRIG ( 0 ) THEN 720 730 S C = 0 : XX = 1: FD=5: FL = 1: GOTO 740 LOCATE 3. 10: PRINT ’’YOU HAVE THE EW HI -SCORE”: H I = S C : RETURN N 750 FOP, j=0. TO S+l: B(J)=0:S(.7 ) = 0: NEXT J : RETURN 760 U = USR0(0) : CLS: LOCATE 0 , 21 : PRINT”D O YOU WANT INSTRUCTIONS Y/N ?” 770 LOCATE 31 . 21 : Q$- INPUTS ( 1 ) 730 IF Q$ = ”N” OR O $ = ” n ” THEN 360 790 IF Q$<>”Y” AND Q$<>”y” THEN BEEP: GOTO 770 300 CLS: PRINTSPCf 11 >”qqqqqqqqqq”: PRIN T SPC(ll>”q SNAKEY q” , SPC ( 1 1 ) ’’qqqgqqq qqq": PRINT: PRINT 8.10 PRINT ’’USING THE CURSOR KEYS . GUI D E THE” : PRINT: PRINT” SNAKE AROUND THE SCREEN TO EAT”: PRINT 820 PRINT ” THE YELLOW FOOD, WHILE AVO IDING” : PP, I NT : PRI NT” THE WALLS AMD TH E MONSTERS.” 830 PRINT: PRINT : PRINT” MAKE SURE THAT THE SNAKE DOES” : PRINT: PRINT” NOT TRY TO BITE IT’S OWN BODY 840 PRINT : PRINT: PRINT” llllll N ALSO BE USED”: LOCATE JOYSTICK 1 CA 4.22: PRINT”PRE SS SPACE BAR TO PLAY” 850 IF NOT STRIG(0) THEN 850 860 CLS: LOCATE 0 , 1 8 : PRI NT” ENTER SKILL LEVEL 0 TO 9” LOCATE 0 , 20 : PRINT”0=FAST 9= SLOW L+14, &H6B: VPOKE L+15.&HB &H70 3 , &HC0 : VPOKE 0: VPOKE L+ 1 6 1110 RETURN 1120 DATA 97 255. 126 1130 DATA 106,30.63,79,255*255.79,63. 30 1140 DATA 105,126.255.255.255.219,90. 880 U=USR0 C 0 ): LOCATE 1 8 , 2 0 : SK$ = I N PUT$ ( 1 ) 890 IF ASC ( SK$ ) < 4 8 OR ASC(SK$)>57 THE N BEEP: GOTO 880 900 SK = VA L ( SK$ ) 910 LOCATE 17, 20: PRINTSK 920 FOR D L= 1 TO 250: NEXT DL 930 SK=SK*10: RETURN 940 B$=STRING$ (32.32) +”h”+STRING$ ( 20 , 97 ) + CHR$ ( 95 ) 950 A $ ( 1 ) =B$ +STRING$ (10,112) +CHRS ( 32 ) : A ( 1 ) =5 960 A$(2)=B$+”x SNAKEY X ”+C$ : A ( 2 ) =6 970 AS ( 3 ) =B$ -(-STRINGS (10,112) +CHRS ( 32 ) : A ( 3 ) =7 980 FOR 1=1 TO 3: FOR A=1 TO 44 » 990 LOCATE 0 , A ( I ) : PRINT MIDS ( AS ( I ) , A , 32): GOSUB 1050: NEXT A 1000 FOR A = 1 0 TO 0 STEP-1 : LOCATE A, A( I): PRINT CHRS ( 32 ): GOSUB 1050:NEXT A, I 1010 FOR 1=8 TO 0 STEP-1 : SOUND8 , I : FOR D = 1 TO 50: NEXTD , I 1020 LOCATE 0 , 20 : PRINT”PRESS SPACE BA R TO START PLAYING” 1030 IF NOT STRIG ( 0 ) THEN 1030 1040 CLS: SOUND7 , 248 : SOUND8 , 0 : RETURN 1050 Q-RND ( 1 )*255: SOUND0.Q: SOUND 1,0: SOUND6, 5 : SOUND 7 , 24 6: SOUND8 , 8 1060 FOR D = 1 TO 20 : NEXT: RETURN 1070 READ A: IF A=999 THEN 1100 1080 FOR B = 0 TO 7: READ C 1090 VPOKE A*8+B , C: NEXT B : GOTO 1070 1100 L=3l92 : VPOKE L+12 , &H40 : VPOKE L+l 57 •••mm m m mm m • •.SVV.N.V.V. •.•.•.V.W.V.'.V. - v-yy-y «> ••• ■-v» , -v.v- a*.- .;v v:-r- ; - Mff w W .V/.WWVA ’. 1 < * • SNAKEY ■ 7 . >7' Piim-v.s: ■ ■■ ■ -4- - 5 : S y.^ =; ■::;■=? .*.*.'.* * '.yXv.v.;ivAv '•Tv'.vvD -X •Xw.VA , .vI | w^s*yy.v.^%v.*.v.* < r.y%v»vXv.*. ■ MU Ml . 11 80 , 223 1190 0 1200 k 1210 1220 DATA 113. 223. 223. 0.251. 251. 251.0 DATA 120,0,60, 126 , 1 1 tl , 78. 126.60, DATA 128. 28. 62. 107.62. 73. 3ft, 73.3 DATA 999 SOUNDS . 0 : SCREEN 1 : COLOR 1 5 , U , tl i(Mti m m ■ HI-LOW •A :.+ :• •x>>*»Xv: ■ pi •■■ ■X-Xvv>» nsvCCv.vaj f.WAV.V.V Fans of Bruce Forsythe’s TV Show Play your cards right will Immediately recognise this game. Five cards (face down) appear with the first turned up. You have to guess whether the next card is of a higher or lower value. if you’re right, you go onto the next card, if not you lose some of your £100 stake and are Invited to deal again. The card graphics are very realistic, and strings with control charac- ters have been used to produce cards and pictures much faster than printing one charac- ter at a time. V: V::,: x .V 7 v . . 7 x ’AVAVAf.V: 1 W5S m Itlipl iMMi x ;::- • .y.-.v, .sy ........... . .;.vy.;X\v.v.y\; &Sm Wv : S>:: : ' -A mm H REM ***** HI-LOW ***** REM * BY CLIFF WALTERS. * REM * FOR MSX COMPUTERS * REM ***** JUNE 1985 ***** REM CLEAR 500 ON STOP GOSUB 1520: STOP ON SCREEN 1: WIDTH 32 : KEYOFF A-Z 13.3: PRINT” HI- LOW” , TAB ( 13)” DEFINT LOCATE 3|c}|c}|c}|e3|e}|e?t 60 LOCATE 8 , 20: PRINT”ONE MOMENT PLEAS N=RND( -TIME) DIM C$ (13. ft ) DEF USR=&H156 REM CHAR DEF FOR B=1 TO 8: FOR A=0 TO 7 VPOKE( 128+B)*8+A, VPEEK ( ( ft9+B ) *8+ A VPOKE ( Ift6+B)*8+A, VPEEK ( ( ft9+B ) *8+ A NEXT A , B FOR A = 0 TO 7 VPOKE 280+A , VPEEK( 1 2ft8+ A ) 102ft+ A, VPEEK( 520 + A )/2 1 168+ A, VPEEK ( 520+ A )/2 11 36+ A, VPEEK( ft0+A) llftft+A, VPEEK( ft8+A) 1 1 52 + A , VPEEK ( 32 + A ) 1160+ A, VPEEK ( 2ft+ A ) 1 10ft+ A, VPEEK ( 592+A)/2 12ft 8+ A, VPEEK ( 592+ A )/2 111 2+ A, VPEEK ( 6ft8+A)/2 1256+ A, VPEEK ( 6ft8+A)/2 1120+ A, VPEEK (6 00+ A )/2 126 ft + A, VPEEK ( 60 0 + A ) /2 VPOKE A*8+C, VAL( ”&H”+MID$ ( A$ , J , 2) DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA VPOKE VPOKE VPOKE VPOKE VPOKE VPOKE VPOKE VPOKE VPOKE VPOKE VPOKE VPOKE NEXT A RESTORE 350 C=0 : READ A:IF A=999 THEN 600 A$=”” : READ A$:FOR J=1 TO LEN(A$)S 2 ilflflil C=C+ 1 : NEXT J : GOTO 310 DATA 96, 00706lft2050Alft29 97. 7E992ft5AC32ftA5A5 98, 000E86ft2A0 50289ft 99. 52Eftft2ftl201C0201 100, A5A5A52ftA57El800 101, ft A2 7ft 2820ft 38ft080 102, 000000081C1C2A7F 103, 8lft22ft2ft2ft2ft2ft2ft 10ft, 000000367F7F7F3E 105, 7F2A010E0E010008 106, 1800E71818E71818 107.1C08807070800008 108, 1C3E7F7F3E08030E 109. I8l8l8l8l8 E7 8118 110 , 1C3E7F3E1C08C070 111, 38ftlU75C70000070 112, 7EC35ABD5Al83Cft2 113. 1C86E23A0E00000E lift, 88A9AABft A8906000 115. C35A5Aft 22ft 18 1800 116, 1195552D15090600 137.0026692929297600 155. 0026692929297600 160, FFC3BDA5A5BDC3FF 999 D$=STRING$ (5.8) +CHR$ ( 10 ) G$ ( 5 . 120 ) : F$-”” 610 FOR 1=1 TO 9 : F$=F$+E$+D$ EM CARD BLANK 620 L$=STRING$( 3. 8 ) +CHR$ ( 10 ) G$ ( 3 . 160 ) : N$ = ”” 630 FOR 1=1 TO 7 : N$=N$+M$+L$ EM CARD BACK 6ft 0 Q$=” ' ab”+L$+”cde”+L$+”f gh”+L$+”io k”+L$+”lmn”+L$+”opq”+L$+”rs t” : REM J , Q , K PICTURE 650 COLOR 1 , 3, 3: CL=8192 660 VPOKE CL+12 , 177 : VPOKE CL+13.177:V POKE CL+lft , 177: VPOKE CL+ 1 5 , 2 5 5 : VPOKE CL+16,31 670 VPOKE CL+17 , 31 : VPOKE CL+l8,lft3:VP OKE CL+19, lft3: VPOKE CL+20 , 95 : VPOKE CLf + 31 . 0 680 REM DEAL 690 X(l)=l:X(2)=7:X(3)=13:X(ft)=19:X(5 ) =25 700 C LS : GOSUB lft50 M= 1 0 0 : GOSUB 1390 FOR T = 1 TO 5 U=USR ( 0 ) CARD (T) = INT(RND(1 )*13)+1 SUIT(T)=INT(RND(l)*ft ) +1 :.Vr,A I L I wmz ■ \V.*.VSV. 1 ip m Hi ill Kips ill E$=STRIN NEXT I : R M$=STRIN NEXT I : R ,:■ ■ ■ . Wm- ■i+mm mM ■ y.'.iy'/X’/.v §0; BI Mmx mmfe •: v §§ y. vvvw.vw XwMwvwX . >>yy\ HHsHB pyXiSc- 780 Wmm <790 f? 800 r*y v>vA' . ■.* iil y V ft# 1 %: m’y. SH 1 1 flrA''. AV.y'.'.-NvI'.'.V.N’.'.N W"'V M HI-LOW Av.Mv.v.v.y.j § 8 $ wHSw?K*?y .*.*••■* BBS ' IF C$(CARD(T) , SUIT(T) )=”X”THEN 7 U C$ ( CARD ( T ) , SUIT ( T ) ) = ”X” IF T>1 THEN 810 LOCATE 8 . 22: PRINT”PRESS D TO DEAL W .Mm II 22: PRINT”HIGHER OR LOWER GOTO 820 810 LOCATE 4 H OR L ?” 820 LOCATE 28, 22: K$=INPUT$ ( 1 ) **« 830 K = ASC ( K$ ) : IF T<>1 THEN 850 840 IF K<>68 THEN 820 ELSE CLS:GOTO 8 90 THEN LOCATE(T-l)*6 + l, 3: PR 850 IF K=72 INT”HIGH” 860 IF K=76 THEN LOCATE (T-l ) *6 + 2 , 3: PR H INT”LOW” 870 IF K=72 OR K=76 THEN 880 ELSE 820 880 LOCATE 0 , 22: PRINTSTRING$ ( 30 . 32 ) GOSUB 990 IF T = 1 THEN LOCATE 1 , 3: PRINT” DEAL i 890 900 rjift 910 IF T = 1 OR CARD ( T ) = 1 OR CARD(T-1) = 1 THEN 960 920 IF K=72 AND CARD ( T ) >CARD ( T- 1 ) THEN 970 930 IF 1380 9^0 IF 1380 950 IF 970 960 IF 970 NEXT 980 GOTO 990 PLAY 6a*’ 1000 1010 1020 K=72 AND CARD ( T ) CARD(T-1)THEN I K=76 AND CARD(T)1 THEN RETURN XX=X ( T ) +6 FOR 1=1 TO 4 FOR DL=1 TO 250: NEXT DL LOCATE XX, 6: PRINT F$ LOCATE XX+ 1 , 7 : PRINT N$ p 1 ■ 1120 Ki 1130 Jll40 1 1150 1160 1170 mini mm — m I : ■ ; !v 1180 1190 TURN 1200 1210 TURN 1220 3 I 1230 1240 1250 XX=XX+6: NEXT I : RETURN LOCATE X ( T ) +2 , 10: PRINTCHR$ ( G ) : RE REM ACE LOCATE X ( T ) +2 , 8 : PRINTCHR$ ( G ) LOCATE X ( T ) +2 , 12: PRINTCHR$ ( G ) : RE REM 2 GOSUB 1200: GOSUB 1 1 9 0 : RETURN : REM m •.v.v.v. v. w FOR P=1 TO 2 LOCATE X(T)+2*P-1, 8: PRINTCHR$(G) LOCATE X(T)+2*P-1, 12: PRINTCHR$ ( G ) : NEXT P: RETURN: REM 4 1260 GOSUB 1190: GOSUB 1230 : RETURN : REM 5 1270 1280 1290 TURN 1300 1310 ■ GOSUB 1230 LOCATE X(T)+1, 10: PRINTCHR$ ( G ) LOCATE X(T)+3. 10: PRINTCHR$(G) : RE REM 6 GOSUB 1270 LOCATE X(T)+2 , 9: PRINTCHR$ (G) : RET URN: REM 7 1320 FOR P=1 TO 4 1330 LOCATE X(T)+1, 5 + 2*P: PRINTCHR$(G) 1340 LOCATE X(T)+3. 5 + 2*P: PRINTCHR$(G) : NEXT P : RETUR N: REM 8 1350 GOSUB 132 0 : GOSUB 1190: RETURN : REM 9 1360 GOSUB 1320 : GOSUB 1200 : RETURN : REM 10 1370 LOCATE X(T)+1 , 7: PRINT Q$ : RETURN : REM PIC 1380 LOCATE 12, 20 : PRINT”YOU LOSE”:M=M - 5*T 1390 1400 1410 1420 1430 1440 M LOCATE 9, 22: PRINT”YOU HAVE #” ; FOR DL=1 TO 750: NEXT DL FOR F=1 TO 13: FOR G=1 TO 4 C$(F,G)=””: NEXT G.F GOTO 720 LOCATE 12, 20: PRINT”YOU WIN”:M=M+ 50: GOTO 1390 1450 PRINTSPC(10)” INSTRUCTIONS”, SPC( 1 0)»t ********** **" : PRINT : PRINT 1460 PRINT” YOU HAVE TO GUESS IF T HE”: PRINT: PRINT” NEXT CARD IS HIGHER OR LOWER” : PRINT: PRINT” THAN THE PREVIOUS ONE. ”: PRINT: PRINT ACE IS HIGH OR LOW.” : PRINT” YOU GET NOTHING : PRINT AND YOU START OFF WITH # PRINT: PRINT” MAKE SURE TH IS ON.” 5,22: PRINT”PRESS SPACE BA 1470 PRINT” : PRINT: PRINT FOR A PAIR” 1480 PRINT” 100 . ”: PRINT: E CAPS LOCK 1490 LOCATE PLAY” IF NOT R TO 1500 1510 1520 STRIG( 0 )THEN 1500 CLS : RETURN SCREEN 1: COLOR 15.4,4 \v. v • • •. -> mm mmm. ■ BAGMAN Surely everyone has played this all-time classic at some time or other. It’s a pretty straightforward version, but with one snag. You have to clear each screen within the time limit — and It’s really tightl in all, a difficult task, but challenging — especially with the two ghosts chasing you around the maze. | I v/' - -v I H ■ *. : •. »:■: ' ' . . : : ■ ! . : •. :• >/* • . •. >v • v.; W;!v.v.vi; My.;>Xv.v 10 20 30 4 0 50 60 70 80 90 «l« «l< • !• •!« •!« •!« r|k * M.S.X F'ACMAN ** * BY C.R. WALTERS ** * SPECTPIAVIDEO SVI 728 * mlm \± - * 1 * m mtm ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ n • ^ ^ CLEAR 500 ON STOP GOSUB 7 30: STOP ON DEFINT A - 2 DEFUSR0=SH41 : DE FUSR1 =&H44 REM REM P.EM REM REM m . Jil I PACMAN 130 1/10 22 TH 100 N=RND ( -TIME ): CL=3l92 : GOSUB 670 110 SCREEN 1,0: WIDTH 32:KEY OFF 120 GOSTJB 6 1 0 : GOSUB Z100 OLS : LI = 3 : GOSUB 46 0 U = USR1 ( 0 ' : SC-0 : TI=800 : LOCATE1 , 22 : PR I NT” LIVES” ; LI ; SPC( 2 ) "SCORE”; SC: LOCA TE2 1 , 22: PRINT”TIME”;TI 150 Z=6799 : VPOKE Z.96 160 R ( 0 ) =INT ( RND (1)*19)+1:C(0)=INT(RN D ( 1 )*13)+2 : IF VPEEK( 32*R(0)+C(0)+6l44 ) <>46 THEN 160 170 R(1)=INT(RND(1)*19)+1:C(1)*INT(RN D(l)*13)+l6: IF VPEEK ( 32*R ( 1 ) +C ( 1 ) +614 4)<>46 THEN 170 180 E(0)=8: E ( 1 ) = 1 3 : FOR B=0 TO 1:PUTSP RITE B, (C(B)*8.R(B)*8-1),E(B),0: PUTSP RITE 2. (C(B)*8, R(B)*8-1) , 7, 1: NEXT B 190 S = STICK( 0 ) : IF S = 0 THEN 2/10 200 X = 32*(s = l )-(S=3) _ 32*(S=5) + (S=7) 210 W=VPEEK(Z+X) : IF W=120 THEN 240 220 IF W = 46 THEN SC = SC+ 1 : LOCATE 16 : PRINTSC : IF SC=265 THEN 590 230 VPOKE Z, 32 : Z=Z+X: VPOKE Z,96 2/10 FOR D = 0 TO 1 250 IF VPEEK(32*R(D)+C(D)+6l44) =96 EN Y1=0 : X1=0 : GOTO 350 260 TI=TI-1 : LOCATE 25 . 22 : PRINTTI : IF T 1=0 THEN 360 270 A=INT(RND(l)*4)+l:ON A GOTO 280,2 90, 300, 310 280 Xl=l : Y1=0 : GOTO 320 290 Yl=- 1 : X1=0 : GOTO 320 300 Xl=-1 : Y1=0 : GOTO 320 310 Y 1 = 1 : X1=0 320 P = VPEEK( 32 *(R(D)+Y1)+C(D)+X1 + 61/1/1 ) : IF p=96 THEN 350 ELSE IF P=120 THEN 340 330 R(D)=R(D)+Y1:C(D)=C(D)+X1: PUTSPRI TE D, (C(D)*8,R(D)*8-1): PUTSPRITE 2,(C ( D ) *8 , R ( D ) * 8- 1 ) 3tt0 NEXT D : GOTO 190 350 R(D)=R(D)+Y1:C(D)=C(D)+X1: PUTSPRI TE D, ( C( D) *8, R(D)*8-1 ): PUTSPRITE 2,(- 2/1,0) 360 GOSUB 660: FOR J=1 TO 8: VPOKE CL+1 2, 160: FOR DL=1 TO 30: NEXT DL: VPOKE CL + 12, 96: FOR DL = 1 TO 30: NEXT DL: VPOKE C. L+12 , 64 : FOR DL=1 TO 30:NEXT DL, J 370 VPOKE Z, 32 : LI=LI-1 : FOR DL=1 TO 25 0 : NEXT DL: LOCATE 6 , 22 : PRINTLI 380 FOR DL=1 TO 500: NEXT DL: FOR Q=0 T O 2: PUTSPRITE O , < - 2 4 . 0 ) : N EXT Q:IF LI = 0 THEN 5 6 P 3 9 p O LS : GOSUB 4 6 0 : GOTO 1 4 0 /l 0 0 FOR 1 = 1 TO 3 : M$ = ” ” : C = 0 : READ M.M$ 410 FOR J=1 TO LEN ( M$ ' STEP 2 /120 VPOKE M*8 + C\ VAL( "&H”+MID$ ( M$ , J , 2 ) ) : C = C + 1 : NEXT J . I /l 3 0 DATA 46, 0000001818000000. 96 , ‘1 8 3 Cl 83C5 A182466 . 120, DFDF00FBFBFB00DF 440 M$ ( 0 ) =” 66247 ED BDBFFFF99” : M$ ( 1 ) =”0 000002424000000” 4 50 FOR 1 = 0 TO 1 : S $ = ” ” : FOR J = 1 TO LEN (M$(T) ) STEP 2 : S$=S$+CHR$ ( VAL( "&H”+MID $ ( M$ ( I ) , J , 2 ) ) ): NEXT J:SPRITE$(I)=S$:N EXT I: RETURN 460 U=USR0 ( 0 ): COLOR 1 , 1 5 . 1 5 : VPOKE CL+ 11, 96: VPOKE CL+12 , 64 : VPOKE CL+15.&HCA Si:'::': ft 470 PRINT” XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX X X X . X . XXXXXXXXXX . XXXXXXXXXX . X. x” 480 PRINT” x. x X. X X. XXXXXXXXXXXX . XXXXXXXXXXXX . X X X . X x” 490 PRINT” X . XXXXXXXXXX . X . X. xxxxxxxxx X. X X. XXXXXXXXXX. X. X. XXXXXXXXXX. x” 500 PRINT” X. XXXXXXXXXX . X . X . xxxxxxxxx X.X X X.X X X.XX. . . .XXXX.X.X.XXXX. . . . XX. x” 510 PRINT” x xxxx.x.x.xxxx . . X X.X. XXX . XXXX . X . X . XXXX . XXX .X.X X.X. XXX. XXXX. X.X. XXXX. XXX. X. x” 520 PRINT” x.x. xxx x.x xxx. X.X x.x. xxxxxxxx .x.x. xxxxxxxx .x.x X.X. XXXXXXXX. X.X. XXXXXXXX . X . x” 530 PRINT” x . x . xxxxxxxx . x . x . xxxxxxxx . x.x x.x x.x X. XXXXXXXXXXXX. XXXXXXXXXXXX. x” 540 PRINT” x . . X xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 550 RETURN 560 COLOR 1 , 11 , 11 : CLS : LOCATE 9 . 5 : PRIN T” ALL LIVES LOST” 570 LOCATE 2 , 18: PRINT”PRESS SPACE-BAR •TO PLAY AGAIN” 580 IF NOT STRIG( 0 ) THEN 580 ELSE 130 590 FOR L=0 TO 2 : PUTSPRITE L, (-24,0): NEXT L: COLOR 4,14,6: CLS 6 00 LOCATE 1 , 5 : PRINT”WELL DONE, YOU CL EARED THE MAZE” : GOTO 570 610 CLS : COLOR 1,11,11 620 PRINT SPC( 9 ); ’’INSTRUCTIONS”, SPC(9 ) . ********* ******* . priNT : PRINT: PRINT: PR INTSPC ( 6 ) ’’USING THE CURSOR KEYS”: PRIN T 630 PRINT” GUIDE YOUR MAN AROUND THE MAZE” , , , ”TO EAT THE DOTS AND GAIN POI NTS. ” , , , , ”YOU HAVE LIMITED TIME TO DO THIS” : PRINT 640 PRI NT” AND GHOSTS WILL TRY TO STOP YOU. ”: PRINT: PRINT: PRINT” PRESS SP ACE-BAR TO PLAY” 650 IF NOT STRIG ( 0 ) THEN 650 ELSE COL OR 14 , 14 . 14 : RETURN 660 PLAY”T64 L6406CEG05CEG04CEG03CEG” : RETURN 670 COLOR 15. 15 . 15: SCREEN 3 680 OPEN”GRP: ”AS#1 690 FOR L=1 TO 10: T$(0)=”M. S.X”: A(0)= 54: B ( 0 ) =24 700 T$( 1 ) = ” PAC-MAN” : A(1)=20:B(1)=120 710 FOR V=0 TO 1 : FOR T=1 TO LEN(T$(V) ) : COLOR RND(1 ) * 1 2 + 2 : PRESET ( A ( V ) , B(V) ) : PRINT#1 ,MID$(T$(V),T,l):A(V)=A(V)+32 : NEXT T, V, L 720 RETURN 730 SCREEN 1 COLOR 15.4,4 m m mm M m ■■ / : '■'GM m ••'•V .. : mm mm 60 FAIRGROUND DUCKSHOOT How’s your aim? In this game you’re trying to shoot the ducks to gain points. Lots of balloons are floating by between you and the ducks, so you have to avoid them if possible. Shooting them does gain you an extra few points, though. You have a limited supply of ammunition, but if you still manage to shoot down six ducks, you move onto the next screen. It’s pretty tricky, but It can be done. a 5 6 7 8 REM REM REM REM REM REM * FAIRGROUND DUCKSHOOT * * BY CLIFF WALTERS * * FEBRUARY 1985 * * FOR M.S.X. COMPUTERS * «l« «l< «l< «l« «l« «l« «l« «l« n^pV» (i^pV 32 : KEY • t TAB ( 9 10 COLOR 14 , 1 , 1 : SCREEN 1: WIDTH OFF: CLEAR 500 20 ON STOP GOSUB 560: STOP ON 30 LOCATE 10 . 5 : PRINT”DUCK SHOOT 10 ) ; "==========" 40 GOSUB 400: GOSUB 490 50 COLOR 15 . 3. 1 : CLS : RESTORE 60:CL=8l9 2: FOR 1=1 TO 7 : READ A,B:VPOKE CL+A.B: NEXT I 60 DATA 4.160,5.64,12,96,13,192 8,15, 240, 16, 168 70 S=0: N=RND( -TIME ) 14.20 80 Z$=STRING$ ( 42 , 32 ) : AS = ” ' h 'h ' h ' h h ' h »» 90 B$=”i a q ( i a 100 C $ = ” q i ( a i 110 D $ = ” ( q i a q it ( i •« PRINT”////ggggnnnnvvvv PRINT ” + , - . cdef Jklmrstu 120 A=INT (RND ( 1 )*18 ) +5 : SH=40 130 LOCATE 2,0 n n n n g g g g/.///” 140 LOCATE 2,1 3 klmcdef + , - . ” 150 FOR I = 6 1 4 4 TO 6910 STEP 32:VPOKE I, 128: VPOKE I + 1 , 128: VPOKE I+30,128:VP OKE 160 EXT 170 EXT 180 190 N N 1+31 , 128 : NEXT I FOR 1=674 TO 701: VPOKE6144+I , 33 I FOR 1=738 TO 765: VPOKE6144+I , 33 I LOCATE 2, 4: PRINTSTRINGS ( 2 8 , 35) LOCATE A, 20: PRINT” * ”: LOCATE 2,2 2 : PRINT” SHOTS )))))))))))))))))))))))” 200 A$=MID$ ( A$ , 4 , 39 ) +MID$ ( A$ , 1 , 3 ) : B$= MID$(B$,27,2) + MIDS ( B$ , 1 , 26 ) : C$=MID$ ( C $.3,26) + MIDS (C$, 1 , 2 ) : D$=MID$( D$ , 28, 1) +MIDS ( D$ , 1,27) 2,3: PRI NTMI D$ ( A$ , 1 , 28 ) 2,7: PRINTB$ 2,10: PRI NTC$ 2,13: PRI NTD$ K=STICK( 0 ) : A=A- ( K=3 AND A<27)+(K= 7 AND A>2 ): LOCATE A. 20: PRINT” * ” 260 IF NOT STRIG ( 0 )THEN FOR DL=1 TO 8 0: NEXT DL: GOTO 330 270 SOUND 0 ,0 : SOUND 6 , 20: SOUND7. 199: SO UND 8 , 16 : SOUND12 , 2 : SOUND 1 3 . 3 ?80 FOR 1=19 TO 5 STEP-4 : LOCATE A+1,1 : PRINTCHRS ( 120 ): NEXT I : FOR 1 = 7 TO 19 STEP 4: LOCATE A+1,1: PRINT” ”:NEXT I:S H=SH- 1 : IF SH<30 THEN LOCATE SH,22:PRI NT” ” 290 IF MID$ ( D$ , A, 1 )<>” ” THEN MID$(D$ , A , 1 ) = ” ”: BEEP: S = S + 5: LOCATE 2,13:PHIN TD$ : GOTO 330 210 220 230 240 250 LOCATE LOCATE LOCATE LOCATE MID$ ( C$ 10: PR IN MID$ ( B$ 7 : PRINT 1 S E ” 370 380 TO 300 IF MID$(C$, A, 1)0” ” THEN , A , 1 ) = ” ”: BEEP: S=S+5: LOCATE 2 TC$ : GOTO 330 310 IF MID$ ( B$ , A, 1 )<>” ” THEN , A , 1 ) =” ”: BEEP: S=S+5: LOCATE 2 B$ : GOTO 330 320 IF MID$(A$, A, l)=”'”OR MID$(A$,A ) =”h”THEN MID$( A$ , A-l , 3)=” ”:BEEP = S+ 1 0 : LOCATE 2,3: PRINTMIDS ( A$ , 1 , 28 ) 330 IF A $ = Z$ THEN S = S + 50 : LOCATE A + 1,2 0: PRINT” ” : GOTO 80 340 IF SH>7 THEN 200 350 COLOR 14, 1 , 1: CLS: LOCATE 4,10:PRIN T” YOU RAN OUT OF AMMUNITION” 360 LOCATE 6 , 15: PRINT”YOUR POINTS WER S FOR DL=1 TO 750: NEXT DL LOCATE 2 , 20: PRINT”PRESS SPACE BAR PLAY AGAIN” 390 IF NOT STRIG( 0 ) THEN 390 ELSE CLS: GOTO 50 400 M=0 : FOR 1=1 TO 39 : READ CH,CH$ 410 FOR CD = 1 TO LEN(CH$)STEP 2 420 VPOKE 8 *CH+M, VAL( ”&H”+MID$ ( CHS , CD , 2 ) ) : M=M+1 : NEXT CD:M=0:NEXT I 430 RETURN 440 DATA 33, FF01FF80FF01FF00 , 35 . EAAAA AAAAAAAAABA, 40, 3C7EC3DFC3FB 4 2 3C , 41, 00 183C3C3C3C3C00, 42, 0018183C3C7E7EDB , 43 , FFFF7F1F0 70 10000 , 44, FFFFFFFFFFFF7F0F 450 DATA 45. FFFFFFFFFFFFFEF0 , 46 , FFFFF EF 8 E 0800000 , 47. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF, 96 , 01 037E0E7F030000, 97, 3C7EC3DFC3FB423C , 99 , FFFF7F1F07010000 . 100, FFFFFFFFFFFF7F0 F 460 DATA 101, FFFFFFFFFFFFFEF0, 102, FFF FFEF 8 E 0800000 , 103, FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF, 10 4, F0FC7E7EFEFCF000, 105, 3C7EC3DFC3FB42 3 C, 106 , FFFF7F1F07010000. 107, FFFFFFFFF FFF7F0F 470 DATA 108 , FFFFFFFFFFFFFEF0 , 109 , FFF FFEF 8 E 0800000 , 110 , FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF, 11 3, 3C7EC3DFC3FB423C, 114, FFFF7F1F070100 00, 115, FFFFFFFFFFFF7F0F, 116, FFFFFFFFF FFFFEF0 480 DATA 117, FFFFFEF8E0800000, 118, FFF FFFFFFFFFFFFF, 120,1010101010101010, 12 8 , 9999999999999999 490 CLS: LOCATE 10 , 0 : PRINT”INSTRUCTION S” : PRINTTAB ( 10 ) ; "############" : PRINT 500 PRINT” YOU HAVE TO TRY AND SHOOT DOWN THE DUCKS THAT ARE PARTLY HIDING AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN” : PR I NT 510 PRINT”YOU GET FIVE POINTS IF YOU HIT ABALLOON OR TEN POINTS IF A DUCK” : PRINT 520 PRINT”IF YOU HIT ALL THE DUCKS AN OTHERSIX DUCKS WILL APPEAR AND FIFTY POINTS ARE ADDED TO YOUR TOTAL”: PRIN T 530 PRINT” YOU HAVE A MAXIMUM OF HOTS”: PRINT: PRINT”USE THE CURSOR TO MOVE YOUR GUN AND THE SPACE TO FIRE”: PRINT: PRINT 540 PRINTTAB( 5 ) : ’’PRESS SPACE BAR LAY” 550 IF NOT STRIG(0)THEN 550 ELSE RETURN 560 SCREEN 2: COLOR 15,4,4 40 S KEYS BAR TO P CLS: .WJWi'.S .V.V. yXv XvXvIvnJ .y.w. •V W.SNW.'.J V • • •••* : I ■ ■ .-.-.-XXvX-'/X W/w! • Viv.’.VAW.'iV ' >S What MSX 72 CANON V-20 £280 Stylishly chunky — that’s prob- ably the best way of describing the Canon V-20. The sleek black case, adorned with the orange and white Canon logo, and the mixture of dark and pale grey keys combine to give this machine a modish pro- fessional look. Noticeable features on the Canon are its huge cursor keys and the array of large function keys across the top. These would be perfect for program- ming and especially for games play, but unfortunately, favour- able first impressions are let down a little by the keyboard’s feel. Key response is spongy and they click when pressed. When handled, the keys together with the casing feel cheap and ‘plasticy’. Word processing large quantities of text can be trying, particularly as the space bar is a little short. The RETURN key, however, is large and well-placed for typists. Unusual features include the plastic protective covering on the two cartridge ports and the clever positioning of the two joystick ports at the front of the machine — the usual location on an MSX micro is at the side. A reset button is absent from the Canon, but the back of the micro contains the usual array of interface ports; Centronics printer, 8-pin DIN cassette and the video, audio and RF (for connection to TVs) phono sockets. Costly No software or special offers accompany the m icro, which at £280 is costly. The introduc- tion manuals are the standard MSX offering and teach first time users to do thi ngs such as connect the machine to a TV and a bit of MSX BASIC prog- ramming. Rounded corners, a smart colourscheme and well placed ventilation shafts give this machine its good looks, butthe beauty is just a little skin deep. If you like playing games, especially the Track and Field variety, the Canon's huge cur- sor keys are absolutely ideal, but £280 is a lot to pay for a games playing machine only. SPECIFICATIONS CPU MEMORY Z80A 3.6MHz clock RAM 64K ROM 32K MSX BASIC VIDEO RAM 16K VIDEO DISPLAY 40 characters x 24 lines Resolution: 256 x 192 pixels 16 colours 32 sprites OUTPUTS SOUND KEYBOARD TV, composite video monitor, mono audio 3 channels 8 octaves 48 alphanumeric keys, 21 function keys, cursor keypad INTERFACES 2 joystick ports 2 cartridge ports 1 Centronics printer port, 18-pin DIN cassette port RESET BUTTON No DIMENSIONS 397 x 218 x 60mm W x D x H WEIGHT SOFTWARE INCLUDED 2.4Kg None ACCESSORIES 1 video cable 1 audio cable Instruction manuals DISTRIBUTOR Canon (UK) Ltd Manor Road Wallington Surrey SM6 OAJ Tel: 01-7733173 CPU Z80A equivalent (3.6MHz clock) serial port 1 8-pin DIN cassette port MEMORY RAM 32K ROM 32K built-in disk drive MSX BASIC VIDEO RAM 16K RESET BUTTON No VIDEO Standard MSX DIMENSIONS 365 x 295 x DISPLAY mode (40 cols x 60mm 24 lines) Plus 80 column mode 16 WEIGHT 2.3Kg OUTPUTS colours 32 sprites SOFTWARE INCLUDED MSX-DOS system disk CP/M 2.2 TV, composite video monitor, Mono audio system disk both with utilities ACCESSORIES RF cable CP/M SOUND 3 channels 8 octaves manual MSX-DOS manual MSX disk KEYBOARDS 48 alphanumeric keys 21 control keys Cursor keypad BASIC manual MSX BASIC manual Computer manual INTERFACES 2 joystick ports 1 cartridge port 1 centronics printer port 1 RS232 DISTRIBUTION- Spectravideo Ltd 165 Garth Road Morden Surrey Tel: 01-330 0101 SPECTRAVIDE0 X’PRESS £399 We’ve a long way to go before the second generation of MSX micros hits the high streets, but Spectravideo seems to be heading in the right direction with its latest model, the X’Press. The machine comes with a host of extras that makes it ideal for the low-end business user. The most noticeable of these is the built-in 3.5 inch diskdrive, which is perhaps the most important addition, as disk drives on their own can cost anything up to £350. Other additions are the 80 column card and a built-in RS232C socket, but as this isn't a standard socket you’re going to have to make up your own lead if you want to connect it to a modem, serial printer or some other peripheral. The X'Press's keyboard cer- tainly looks good, but to be honest we had a few problems using it. Partly because there’s nocolourcodingforthevarious sets of keys and also because some of the keys a re too small, particularly the ENTER key. Like most other micros the X'Press comes with its own software, namely two system disks for MSX-DOS and CP/M version 2.2. If you switch the micro on with either of these disks inthedrive, the computer automatically boots-up into the operating system. When there’s no disk in the drive, the micro defaults to MSX BASIC plus MSX disk BASIC, which is built into the machine. Such facilities are an ob- vious boon to potential small business users because of the enormous amount of business software which becomes com- patible. All in all the X'Press is a very impressive machine. The only problem we can see is getting hold of it. Spectravideo is still vague about the launch date, which is a pity because it's a very versatile micro with a very attractive price tag. 73 SPECTRUM • CBM 64 • AMSTRAD • ATARI • MSX • BBC iSSETTES £9'95 • DI5CS (BBC &CBM 6+ ONLY) L\Z dS ALSO AVAILABLE THE ADRIAN MOLE SECRET WARY KIT The Computer game + 1986 Diary in one pack ? Cassette versions (i4-95 Disc versions / 17-95 HOSflC eOOHUflRE Dislributed by VVHS Distributors, SI Johns House Tel. (0533)551196 LLAMASOFT 49 MOUNT PLEASANT. TAOLEY. HANTS (TEL. 07356 4478) SAE FOR CATALOGUE & NEWSLETTER THE NATURE OF THE BEAST!' 74 PIONEER PX-7 £300 Pioneer’s PX-7 is not Just a computer, It’s a whole new concept In home entertain- ment incorporating sound, vi- sion and computer control, which, appropriately enough, Pioneer calls Its ‘Home Enter- tainment System’. The PX-7 micro is a visual controller which can superim- pose text and graphics using its extra graphics language, P-BASIC (Pioneer Video BASIC) and Pioneer is using this fea- ture as its product's main selling point. Using the PX-7 as the main nucleus, you can add on Pioneer’s£500 laser disk play- er, £90 graphics tablet, a TV, hi-fi system, video camera and £600 ‘Bodysonic’ chair. With the P-BASIC language, it’s possible to manipulate words and images on screen, on laser disk i mages or even on home movie films — it has tremendous potential for home, educational and indust- rial use. Pioneer envisages a future world where everyone has more leisure time and reckons that its system will enable people to spend this time more creatively. The PX-7 comes in two units, a box containing the Z-80 processor, P-BASIC, MSX BASIC and a host of interfaces and a standard MSX keyboard unit including three additional function keys. Apart from its potential as a superb video controlling sys- tem, the PX-7 opensupa whole new games world — the in- teractive video games are un- believablygood. Playing Strike Mission, one of Pioneer’s games, is like flying into one of the Star Wars space fighting scenes — so realistic, you emerge from the battle with sweat soaked hands. Pioneer is opening up a new dimension in home entertain- ment products, something claimed by all the MSX manu- facturers and never fully real- ised. But it is costly and only time will tell if the public are ready for such innovative and interesting ideas. SPECIFICATIONS CPU 8-bit Z80A (3.58 MHz clock) INTERFACES 2 joystick ports 2 cartridge ports 1 MEMORY RAM 64K ROM 32K MSX BASIC 8K P- BASIC VIDEO RAM 16K Centronics printer port 18-pin DIN cassette port 1 laser disc player VIDEO 40 characters x port DISPLAY 24 lines resolution: 256 x RESET BUTTON Yes 192 pixels 16 DIMENSIONS 420x171x47. 5mm colours 256 sprites SOFTWARE INCLUDED None OUTPUTS TV, composite video monitor. RGB, mono audio, headphone socket ACCESSORIES RF cable Instruction manual BASIC reference manual P-BASIC SOUND 3 channels 8 manual octaves DISTRIBUTOR Pioneer High KEYBOARD 48 alphanumeric keys, 28 control keys, keypad cursor control Fidelity 116 Field Way Greenf ord Middlesex Tel: 01-575 5757 SPECIFICATIONS CPU Z80A equivalent RESET No (3.6MHz clock) BUTTON MEMORY RAM 64K ROM 32K DIMENSIONS >420 x 220 x MSX BASIC plus 75mm ROM software VIDEO RAM 16K WEIGHT 2.7Kg VIDEO DISPLAY 40 characters x 24 lines 256 x 192 pixels 16 colours 32 sprites SOFTWARE INCLUDED Built-in word processor and communications software OUTPUTS ACCESSORIES Instruction manual TV, composite video monitor, RGB RF cable monitor Mono DISTRIBUTOR Toshiba (UK) Ltd audio Toshiba House SOUND 3 channels 8 octaves Frimley Road Frimley, Camberley Surrey GU16 5JJ KEYBOARD 48 alphanumeric keys 21 control keys Cursor keypad Tel: (0276) 62222 INTERFACES 2 joystick ports 2 cartridge ports 1 centronics printer port 1 RS232 serial port 1 8-pin DIN cassette port TOSHIBA HX-22 The Toshiba HX-IO, one of the most popular MSX micros, has now been Joined by an up- graded version, the HX-22. Externally it looks no diffe- rentto any other MSX machine, but take a quick look at the I/O ports and you’ll soon realise that there’s more to this micro than meets the eye. For a start there are two cartridge ports compared to the single slot on the HX-10 and there’s an RS232 serial interface which uses an IBM- standard 25-pin DIN plug/ socket combination. The RGB socket is a Iso a new addition and round on the side of the unit are two joystick 9-pin D connectors and the cassette interface. As for the keyboard, it’s a great improvement on the HX- 10 — less sponge-like — but we found that it responded rather sluggishly and we often missed keys when getting up speed. The beauty of the HX-22 is the built-in software; a word processor and communica- tions software. Selecting the word proces- sor gives you a menu of eight £249 1 options: writing (creating and editing) text; printing; loading from tape or disk; clearing out the memory; setting program variables; saving; and return- ing to MSX BASIC. Needless to say the word processor is the best we’ve seen on MSX, and with the additionof a printer, you’ve got a very compact and powerful low-cost system. In addition the RS232 is very attractive to users wanting a cheap way of logging on to bulletin boards and commer- cial databases. Despite all the trimmings, the HX-22 isn’t an MSX II — more of an MSX 1.5. But it is competitively priced and, com- pared to the likes of Sanyo’s MPC-100 costing £299 and the Canon V-20, priced at £289, it is a very attractive bargain. If thesuccessofthe HX-10 is anything to go by, we reckon that Toshiba is on to a winner as, to date, this is the best micro to come out of the MSX fold for main stream computer enthusiasts — we’ll be watch- ing its sales with very keen interest. 75 p &h electronics Ltd 5 THE PARADE YATELEY HANTS TEL: 0252 877222 No 1 CENTRES TELEPHONE OR VISIT ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE FAST PHONE/MAIL SERVICE— SAME DAY DESPATCH ON ITEMS IN STOCK SUPPLIERS TO SCIENTIFIC AND EDUCATION AUTHORITIES COMPUTERS Toshiba HX10 Starter Pack £99.95 Sanyo MPC100 + J/stick + Recorder .. . £99.95 Sony HitBit POA JVC HC7GB £99.95 Toshiba Dot Matrix— HXP550 £225.00 Toshiba Plotter Printer — HXP570 £189.00 Tally MT80100cps £215.00 Tally MT85 with NLQ £350.00 Epson RX80F/T £250.00 Epson LX80 with NLQ £255.00 Kaga Taxan with NLQ £270.00 Juki 2200 Daisywheel + Keyboard £289.00 Juki 6100 Daisywheel £389.00 Printer Leads £15.00 MSX BOOKS Starting With The MSX £5.95 Starting Machine Code £7.95 Behind The Screens Of MSX £8.95 Programming MSX Basic £7.95 Ideas For MSX £6.95 MSX Exposed £7.95 MSX Programmers Guide £14.95 Practical MSX Machine Code Prog £4.95 Games For Your MSX £2.99 Useful Utilities For Your MSX ..£2.99 Getting More From MSX £7.95 Introducing MSX Basic £6.95 Philips BM7502 High Res Green £79.00 Philips BM7522 High Res Amber £85.00 Microvitec 1431 Colour. £215.00 MAILORDER COUPON P&H ELECTRONICS LIMITED 22/24 GUILDFORD ROAD BAGSHOT SURREY GUI 9 5JN Please send me: (or order by letter) 1 4 In enclose cheque/PO for. .P&P see above. Or please debit my Access/Barclaycard/Visa* (delete as applicable) Card Number Expiry Date 22/24 GUILDFORD ROAD BAGSHOT • SURREY TEL:. BAGSHOT 0276 73078 Ferguson MC01 14inCTV+ RGB .. . ... £215.00 Hitachi CPT1444 Min CTV + RGB £215.00 Monitor Leads ,.£5.00 TOP TEN GAMES Lady Jones £8.95 The Hobbit £14.95 Le Mans £9.95 The Wreck (Cart £16.95) £14.95 Barnstormer £8.95 Zipper £3.95 Boulderdash £6.95 Sorcery £8.95 Vacumania £5.95 LANGUAGES UTILITIES/GRAPHICS Road Fighter. Cart £14.95 ACCESSORIES Joystick £12.00 Quickshot II Joystick £11.00 RB2 Tracker Ball £85.00 Modem ,.£220.00 Modem Cable £15.00 MS 2000 Mouse + Cart £79.00 Data Recorder £29.00 Computer Desk £69.00 Computer Covers £5.50 Printer Covers. £5.50 Disk Drives POA Sprite Editor Graphic Designer Hi-Soft Pascal Hi-Soft Devpac Devpac 80 (DISC) ED 80 (DISC) Pascal 80 (DISC) Zen Machine Code System Zen Machine Code System (DISC) Logo Colour Fantasia Kuma Forth Machine Code Tutor & Monitor Psychedelia Champ Sprite Generator £6.95 Drawing and Painting £14.95 Pascal Compiler £29.95 Assembler/Monitor £19.95 Assembler/Monitor/Editor £39.95 Versatile Full Screen Editor £29.95 Pascal Compiler. £39.95 Assembly Language Utility £19.95 Assembler/Monitor £39.95 Computer Language £19.95 Explores MSX Graphics Facilities £9.95 Programming Language £39.95 Introduction To Machine Code £14.95 Light Pattern Synthesiser £6.00 Assembly Language Utility £12.95 FAST VAT FREE EXPORT SERVICE CARRIAGE COSTS — Micros — Monitors — Disc Drives — Printers — Desks: £7 Cassette Decks: £3 — Books — Accessories — Leads: £1 per item ACCESS/BARCLAY CARD/VISA ORDERS WELCOME CREDIT FACILITIES Instant credit up to £1 ,000, deposit 10% SOFTWARE SENT FREE OF P&P IN UK Name Address Telephone. What MSXWinter COMPUTER CENTRE TEL: 0735 5948 79 ORSETT ROAD, GRAYS, ESSEX RM17 5HH REYNOLDS r SENSATIONAL VALUE! TOSHIBA HX1 0 COMPUTER COMPLETE KIT WITH TOSHIBA DATA RECORDER SPECIAL HANDBOOK 3 SOFTWARE PROGRAMS SPARE CASSETTE EVEN 2 PLUGS, SCREWDRIVER TOSHIBA HX10 64K Computer with JOYSTICK £79 .95 ONLY Remittances will not be cashed until goods are ready to be dispatched. I enclose a cheque/postal order for £ made payable to H Reynolds. Please d ebit my Access Card No for £ Barclaycard No for £ Signature Name Address Tel. No CARRIAGE FREE ESTABLISHED 29 YEARS TOSHIBA MSX in Milton Keynes Full range of TOSHIBA COMPUTERS and accessories, with good service back-up HX-IO from £79.95 STARTER PACK £99.95 GOOD RANGE OF SOFTWARE ACCESS/BARCLA YCARD ELECTRONICS est 1968 38 CHURCH STREET WOLVERTON MILTON KEYNES MK12 5JN Tel: (0908) 312808 BRADFORD ELECTRICAL LTD TOSHIBA MSX IN KENT 98 High Street, Edenbridge, Kent Tel: (0732) 863153 862255 THE CENTRE FOR IN STOCK AND ON DEMONSTRATION TOSHIBA HX-1064KMSX Starter Pack Home Computer also HX-22 Home Computer HX-J400 Joystick HX-P570 Printer Plotter HX-P550 Dot Matrix Printer Business, Music and Education Kits Large selection of Software EDUCATIONAL * BUSINESS * GAMES Computers, Disk Drives, Monitors, Data Recorders etc by: JVC * SONY * MITSUBISHI etc FRENCH 52 DORDON ROAD, DORDON TAMWORTH, STAFFS. TEL: (0827) 892252 MSX COMPUTING TOSHIBA MSX &HX10 MSX Computer *140E 14" Colour T.V. 1c Sanyo Data Recorder &HXJ400 Joystick &3 Pieces of software l'X'1-X ' l l 1 1 V.VJ rr t ‘ i“i r i/i l \ \ 1* IJ J ipIfStJ-Tlj 1 ALL STOCK SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. PRICES CORRECT AT TIME OF GOING TO PRESS AT HOME wrm TECHNOLOGY Instant Credit up to £1,000 Apr. 34.2% 76 ILFORD LANE, ILFORD, ESSEX Open 9-6 Mon to Sat 9-8 Friday Tel: 01 478 1307 01 553 2587 \ m *. The whole Toshiba range from TV to Hi-Fi to Computers H F Goodalls (Merthyr Tydfil) Ltd 31 High Street Merthyr Tydfil Wales (0685) 3378 J & H RUSSELL (Kidderminster) LID Toshiba MSX Centre The Toshiba MSX Machine £79.95 The Toshiba MSX Pack £99.95 TOSHIBA 21-22 Coventry Street Kidderminster, W. Midlands Tel: (0562) 2686 ALFRED LEES (Mansfield) LTD 2a Newgate Lane Mansfield, Notts Tel: (0623) 25011 The Toshiba MSX Machine at £ 79.99 The Toshiba MSX Pack at £ 99.99 Bolh row available at these local stockists: Charles H. Shaw 60A New Street Huddersfield Tel: (0484) 32443 TOSHIBA Fred Moore Ltd 15/17 Southgate Halifax, W. Yorks Tel: (0422) 67763 2/6 Commercial St Halifax, W. Yorks 1 Wellington Arcade Brighouse, W. Yorks Tel: (0484) 719960 JACKSON FOREST ROW, SUSSEX PHONE 034-282 2885 A TOSHIBA MSX CENTRE HERE'- HX10 Home Computer 9.95 HXJ400 Joystick £10.00 HX1 0 Starter Pack with Computer plus Data Recorder £99.95 HXP570 Plotter Printer £199.95 HXP550 High Speed Dot Printer £269.00 HXF101 Disk Drive £369.00 PLUS LARGE RANGE OF MSX SOFTWARE SAY HELLO TOSH TO A NEW TOSHIBA NEWM-fl SYSTEM 8 ONLY £189 STARTER Ml NOW ONLY £99.99 FOR TOSHIBA V Mr ms TVs Hi-Fis Model 211E4B VIDEO RECORDERS, RADIO CASSETTES AND MSX HOME COMPUTING — COME IN AND SAY HELLO TO US HOBINSON & caw m 42 Priestpopple Hexham Tel 604411 TUGfJR TOSHIBA Southampton Special offers on Toshiba and all other computers ★ 2 YEARS GUARANTEE ★ MSX Machine £79.00 MSX Pack £99.00 Wide ronge of software available R. UPFIELD a.s.e.r.t 6 & 14a High Street, Botley, Southampton Tel: Botley 5004 Radio & TV services, television, video, audio and Hi-Fi specialists PLUS Computer servicing and repairs at very competitive rates 79 HX10 Machine £79.95 (with free Joystick) PLEDGERS HX10 Pack HELLO TOSH, BUY A TOSHIBA HERE! £99.95 BONEL & CURTIS AUDIO 29 EMSCOTE ROAD WARWICK Tel: (09261 492827 SWAN STREET WARWICK Tel: (09261 491875 TOSHIBA M H & G Smith 26-28 Market Place Long Sutton, Lines Tel: (0406) 362381 27-29 High Street Holbeach, Lines Tel: (0406) 23061 Sales & Services on TOSHIBA Call in also for details of our own credit card and Christmas club AVAILABLE IN A STARTER KIT AT £99 HX10 MSX HOME COMPUTER CASH — MAIL ORDER — ACCESS — BARCLAYCARD Toshiba's Norfolk MSX DEALER The Toshiba HX-10, available now, along with a large range of peripherals and software: Printers, Plotters, TOSHIBA Joystick, Disk Drive, Synthesisers and MSX Software ■ ■ — ■■ BENNETTS (Dereham) Ltd 20 Norwich Street, Dereham Norfolk. Tel: (0362) 2488 80 Henry’s Street Margate, Kent Tel: (0843) 221355 gg Hamilton Cole STOCKISTS OF “TOSHIBA” MSX TELEVISION VIDEO AUDIO gS Hamilton Cole STATION ROAD PULBOROUGH WEST SUSSEX TEL: (079 82) 2237 WANDSWORTH AREA Your Local MSX Dealer The HX-10 and package at latest prices BRATHWAYS 1 65 Merton Road London SW18 5EQ Tel: 01 -874 81 10 ^mljittenderit First Choice for MSX in Bucks & Herts. S N" •» v <•'. c> ; •• • \v' • v *\ vNx • NvX*...-- mw^ 1 L I m ' Now in stock TOSHIBA. HX10 & HX22 Computers, HX-P570 Plotter Printer, HX-P550 Matrix Printer, HX-F101 Disk Drive, Hx-MU901 Music Keyboard, HX-R700 Comms. Interface. Also in stock SANYO. MPC 100 Computer & MLP-001 Light Pen. Wide Selection of software . . . Education, Business, Adventures, Simulations, Arcade Games. Chittenden’s . . . Where expert and friendly service is always on hand D. L. CHITTENDEN LTD 59-61 The Broadway Chesham, Bucks, HP5 1BX. Tel: (0494) 784441 ESTABLISHED OVER 60 YEARS Complete Home Computing For £ 99.99 The Toshiba HX10 kit lives you complete MSX ome computing at a bargain price. For £99.99 you get a Toshiba HX lO home computer; a Toshiba data recorder; a special user handbook; 3 exciting software programs (plus a spare cassette to write your own program); and even 2 plugs and a screwdriver! And everything is in an easy to carry box. So buy one now while stocks last. SOUND & VISION at MICHAEL BERRIMAN 306-308 Newlond Avenue , Hull. Tel: (0482) 41976 712 Holderness Road, Hull. Tel: (0482) 733529 COMPUTERS MSX COMPUTERS! MSX COMPUTERSMSXCOMPUTERS THE NORTH YORKSHIRE CENTRES' SYSTEM The Superb I | TOSHIBA HX-10 IJfl \ PLUS |g[ The very best MSX Computer Kit available ASTOUNDING VALUE CALL TO-DAY FULL RANGE OF PERIPHERALS - PRINTERS - DISK DRIVES - AND ROM AND CASSETTE SOFTWARE — TELEPHONE ENQUIRY SERVICE PETER DDLING* 8 KIRKGATE, THIRSK Telephone: 0845 22035 ARTHUR YATES LTD* 2 WESTGATE, RIPON Telephone: 0765 2737 MAXWELLS High Street, Northallerton Tel: 0609 3535 and Market Place, Bedale Tel: 0677 22592 The Independent Group of Electrical Retailers fZ Toshiba MSX available now The MSX Pack and MSX Machine plus a good selection of software 136 Conway Road Colwyn Bay Tel: (0492) 2942 373 Abergele Road Old Colwyn Tel: (0492) 518288 Harmony House St Georgs Place Llandudno Tel: (0492) 74610 v 7/ 7s J.OMIBBUZS — Tsoms LTD utcft H/V ( 83 MAJOR SUPPLIERS A&F Software Unit 8 Canalside Industrial Estate Woodbine Street East Rochdale Lancs (0706) 341111 Activision (UK) Inc. 15 Harley House Marylebone Rd London NW1 01-486 7588 Alllgata Software Ltd 1 Orange Street Sheffield SI 4DW (0742) 755796 Ampalsoft PO Box 19 Knutsford Cheshire WA16 OHE (0565) 893563 Anlrog Software 29 West Hill Dartford Kent (0322) 92513 Artie Computing Ltd Main Street Brandesburton Driffield Nth. Humberside (0401) 435533 ASK London House 68 Upper Richmond Road London SW15 01-874 6046 Bubble Bus Software 87 High Street Tonbridge Kent TN9 1RX (0732) 355962 CDS Silver House Si Iver Street Doncaster DN1 1HL (0302) 21134 Computer Mates Ltd PO Box 2 Houghton Down Stockbridge Hampshire S020 6LE (0264) 810824 DK Tronlcs Unit 6 Shire Hill Ind. Estate Saffron Walden Essex (0799) 26350 Electric Software Ltd 8 Green Street Willingham Cambridge CB4 5JA (0954) 81991 Hlsoft 180 High Street North Dunstable Beds LU6 1AT (0582) 696421 Kemp Ltd 43 Muswell Hill London N10 01-444-5499 Knights TV and Computers 108 Rose Mount Place Aberdeen AB2 4YW (0224) 630526 Konaml Ltd 269 Field End Road Eastcote Middlesex HA4 9LS 01-429 2446 Kuma Computers Ltd Unit 12 Horseshoe Park Horseshoe Road Pangbourne Berks RG8 7JW (07357) 4335 Level 9 Computing 229 Hughenden Road High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP13 5PG (0494) 26871 Llamasoft Ltd 49 Mount Pleasant Tadley Hants RG26 6BN (07356) 4478 Longman Software Longman House Burnt Mill Harlow Essex CM20 2JE (0279) 26721 Mastertronlc Ltd Park Lome 111 Park Road London NW8TJL 01-935 4944 M.C.Lothlorlen 56A Park Lane Poynton Cheshire SK12 1AE (0625) 876642 Megacycal Software Ltd PO Box 6 Birkenhead Merseyside L43 6XH 051-652 3139 Micro Aid 25 Fore Street Praze, Camborne Cornwall TR14 OJX (0209) 831274 Mlcrocom 67 Gestridge Road Kingsteignton Devon TQ12 3HJ (0626) 60473 Microsoft Piper House Hatch Lane Windsor Berks (07535) 59951 Mlrrorsoft Mirror Group Newpapers Holborn Circus London EC1 1DQ 01-822 3971 Morwood Maple Walk Bexhill East Sussex TN39 (04243) 5840 Mr Micro Ltd 69 Partington Lane Swinton Manchester M27 3AL 061-728 2282 Music Sales 78-79 Newman St London WIT 3LA 01-636 7777 Nemesis 2 If fley Road London W6 OPA 01-846 9701 Ocean Software Ocean House 6 Central Street Manchester M25 5NS 061-832 6633 Office Junior Market Place Oundle Nr Peterborough PE8 4BA (0832) 72127 Orpheus Software The Smithy Unit 1 Church Farm Hatley St George Nr Sandy Beds SG19 3HP (0767) 51481 Panasonic (UK) Ltd 300-318 Bath Road Slough Berks SL1 6JB (75) 34522 PSS 452 Stoney Stanton Road Coventry CV6 5DG (0203) 667556 Qulcksllva Ltd Palmerston Park House 13 Palmerston Road Southampton SOI ILL (0703) 20169 Sllversoft London House 271 King Street London W6 01-748 4125 Software Projects Bearbrand Complex Allerton Road Woolton Liverpool L25 7FS (051) 428 9393 Sony (UK) Ltd Sony House South Street Staines Middlesex TW18 4PF (81)61688 Spectravldeo Ltd 165 Garth Road .Morden Surrey SM4 4LM 01- 330 0101 Tasman Software Ltd Springfield House Hyde Terrace Leeds LS2 9LN (0532) 438301 T ermlnal Software Derby House Derby Street Bury BL9 ONW 061-761 4321 Toshiba (UK) Ltd Toshiba House Frimley Road Frimley, Camberley Surrey GU16 5JJ (0276) 62222 Virgin Games 2- 4 Vernon Yard Portobello Road London Wll 2DX 01-727 8070 Visions 1 Felgate Mews Stud land Street London W6 9JT 01-748 7478 84 C onfused by computers? Puzzled by peripherals? Stonkered by software? Here are the answers — or at least the information that will get you on the right track. This Is as comprehensive a guide as has been humanly possible to compile of the MSX computer scene. It details machines, peripherals and programs that are, or are due to be, available. Itisdivided into six sections, over the next 16 pages. We kick off with a di- agrammatic overview of an MSX computer system — what plugs into what, what different things to do and so forth. Be warned, there's no such thing as a complete system. You’ll be bankrupt before you get anywhere near buying all the things that you can use with your MSX computer. The first main listing is a comparative chart of all cur- rently available MSX compu- ters. Many are reviewed in this issue of What MSX? The com- parative table shows how they stack up against each other for price, features and so forth. You should be able to compile a shortlist if you haven’t already settled on a favourite machine. If you're a games player, you must consult the buyers’ guide to joysticks. Here you'll find details of all kinds of joysticks, including paddles, remote control units, trackballs, and so forth. The aliens will never stand a chance! To improve the quality of Over the next 15 pages you’ll find all the information you need to build up a compiete MSX system your image, consultthe buyers' guide to monitors. We’ve the facts on just about every moni- tor costing less than £500. If you think that your games look good on the domestic televi- sion, wait till you see what a monitor does to them. We’ve got a f ul I explanation of a 1 1 the terms you’ll meet in the monitor world too. For hard print, the buyers’ guide to printers has all the hard facts. Over 100 printers are listed, costing up to £1,000 or so. Some are super fast, othersoffersuperquality. Some do colour, some run silently. Some can be used as an electronic typewriter, others as viewdata terminals. There’s a tremendous variety of printers to choose from, and this guide should put you on the right path. The last section of the Buyers’ Guide lists MSX soft- ware. Some of it may not be available immediately, but is promised for the near future. As there are so many soft- ware packages available, we've grouped them into cate- gories. These are games, education, business, utility and other. We’ve listed the supplier of each package, and you’ll find addresses and ’phone numbers of suppliers. Some of the software may not be available through your local MSX dealer, so you may have to order direct. Prices throughout are approximate only. Peripherals may be discounted, particular- ly if they are popu lar and widely available. Computer prices can vary from shop to shop too. Check out advertised prices. With the huge amount of MSX hard and software arriving on the market, we’re sure you'll find just what you are looking for to make your MSX system do what you want it to. JOYSTICK The most popular games controller, the joystick has one of two fire, buttons and relays the player's move- ments to the computer. Some joy- sticks are available with continuous fire buttons for the cheats among us! LANGUAGES Computer languages are coded in- structions. There is a wide variety of languages available each with its own application. MSX BASIC spoken here! High level languages are computer languages easily understood by you and I but not by the processor. Low-level languages (like Machine Code) are much closer to the lan- guage of the processor but are difficult to read by humans and hard to edit. The benefit of programming in a low level language is the higher speed at which it runs. BASIC. This stands for Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. Though developed as an intro- ductory language it has now become one of the most widely used lan- guages for home computing. Various dialects exist. MSX BASIC. This is the extended version of BASIC written by the Microsoft Corporation as used on all- MSX computers. ASSEMBLERS etc Assembler. Correctly called assem- bly language, this exists between the high level programming language and Machine Code which it gener- ates. Assemblercarriesoversomeof the benefits of a high level language (labels etc) yet is fast to run. Compiler. This is a program which translates your program into Machine Code— permanently. Com- piled programs are quick to run but very hard to edit. Interpreter. Unlike the compiler, an interpreter translates your program into Machine Code one lineata time. This makes programs slower to run but relatively easy to edit. MOUSE An alternative way to control the screen cursor. Works rather like a ‘rolling joystick', the mouse's move- ments over yourdesktop are mimick- ed by the cursor on the screen. Good for building graphics. UGHT PEN The lightsensitive elementatthe end of a light pen sends signals to the computer via a modulator which interfaces through thecartridge port. Light penscan be used foreducation- al games, graphics or any program which involves selecting from lists (menu driven). GRAPHICS TABLET The computer equivalent of the Etch-A-Sketch! The stylus is used to draw lines on the tablet proper while the palette is used to choose colours and hatch patterns for outline filling. MUSIC KEYBOARD To enable computers to have quick access to music without the prob- lems of coding or notation some manufacturers are producing 2 V 2 or 4 octave keyboards which will plug in to interface cards for the MSX expansion bus. INTERFACES The 50pin input/output socket (ex- pansion bus) on the MSX computer offers expansion possibilities through the use of dedicated plug-in modules. Called ‘cards' these cir- cuits can either expand the operation of the micro (an 80 column card for word processing or a data cartridge) or enable the computer to be inter- faced withspecia I ised i nput devices, light pens, music keyboards etc. CPU The Central Processor Unit is simply a vast array of electronic switches which can either be on or off. These two states are represented by binary (base two) notation; there are two binary digits (bits), namely 0 and 1. Machine Code. This is the language of the processor. This is called a low-level language because it is removed from the quasi-English of a high-level language like BASIC. KEYBOARD The Keyboard is the traditional inter- face between humans and the com- puter. The standard QWERTY layout is supplemented by some special keys on the MSX keyboard. The function keys marked F1-F10 allow complex commands to be entered at one key stroke. Four cursor keys are used to move the cursor up, down and across the screen. Some games programs can be played with just the cursor keys and require no joystick control. A GRAPH (Graphics) key allows the QWERTY keyboard to enter symbols with one key stroke. The GRAPH key works like the SHIFT key. The full 73 key set is made up with four keys which allow insertion and deletion, one which returns the cursor to the top left of the cleared screen and one, SELECT, which is of use in WP and data entry programs but has no use in BASIC. MEMORY RAM (Random Access Memory) the amount of memory quoted in K (Kilobyte). ROM (Read Only Memory) this is the memory ‘setup’ by the manufacturer. MSX Basic language is stored here. Like RAM this is quoted in K. Byte. Memory is determined by the number of characters which can be stored . A character is coded by an 8 bit binary word which is called a byte. Kilobyte. As computer mathematics are binary (to the base of 2) the nearest binary number to 1000 is 1024. 1024 Bytes make one Kilo- byte. Megabyte and Gigabyte are terms for even larger numbers of bytes. User RAM. Computers tend to use a lot of RAM when asked to generate high resolution graphics, to run other languages or specialised peripher- als. User RAM is what's left over for your programming. GENERAL Software is the general term for computer programs. Hardware is everything else, the processor, keyboard etc. Firmware is software stored i n a ‘hard’ form, cartridges and ROM chips are good examples. Peripherals. The bolt-on goodies. This term covers, printers, plotters, joysticks, monitors and the like. VDUs. A general term for a visual output; stands for Visual Display Unit and covers monitors, and TVs. DATA STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL Disks and Compact Cassettes are the most common forms of permanent data storage. Both are magnetic record/erase devices. Disks offer faster access to a greater amount of stored information. Cassettes are slow but cheap. Disksaredivided up i nto tracks and sectors. The computer needs to know where data has been stored; this ‘housekeeping’ function is run by a program called the Disk Operating System (DOS). The MSX-DOS (Micro- Soft Extended Disk Operating Sys- tem) is used by MSX machines. CP/M DOS (Control Program for Micros) is data compatible. DATA TRANSMISSION Computers can be networked to enable one user to talk to others individually or together through ‘electronic mailboxes'. The tele- phone system can be used via specia I adapters to let one computer talk to others. Modem stands for Modulator/De- modulator, a Modem turns the tele- phone system into a giant cable between distant computers. The Modem is a ‘black box' which con- verts the low voltage digital signals from the computer into an analogue signal which can be transmitted over the 'phone system. An Acoustic Coupler is a more portable and often cheaper way of interfacing a computer with the 'phone network'. Here the computer output is used through a modulatoror to drive a telephone handset through a microphone and loudspeaker. Port- able couplers offer the businessman instant access to his data base back at the off ice. © 0 CARTRIDGE The quickest way to load a program, but as yet the most expensive. Programs are permanently stored on a micro chip in the cartridge case which interfaces through a 50 pin cartridge socket. v 7 7 \ PRINTERS AND PLOTTERS Dot matrix printers build up the patterns of letters and characters by a bank of pins striking through an inked ribbon. Printqualityvariesfrom terrible to good. Daisywheel printers are named after the spinning disc which carries the type elements on its spokes. The very highest print qual ity can be achieved but speed and character set is often limited. Plotters. These draw graphs and diagrams with a pen and can beeither of the flat bed or platen type. A choice of pen colour is often offered. Thermal printers. These offer fast, quiet but I i m ited qual ity print often on especially treated paper which reacts with heat to show visible lettering. Material costs and print quality are often a deciding factor against such printers. GETTING A PICTURE TEXT All MSX computers will give sound Computers are frequently used for and pictures from a standard TV set word processing, to write letters or through their UHF output. A dedi- reports. Most text displays give 37 cated monitor will give better resolu- characters (or 40) by 24 lines. Real tion from the video output while the word processor packages reform the audio output can be taken to a hi-fi text screen to 80 characters (some to system if the monitor has no built in 64 characters wide). Powerful edit- loudspeaker. RGB outputs a 1 low i nd i- ing facilities enable the user to vidual control over the Red, Green delete and insert words, phrases or and Blue electron guns inthe monitor paragraphs, tosearchforand correct colour and can be used to produce s pelling. Dictionary programs can high quality graphic images. a so be bought. SOUND Computers have conventional audio outputs which can be used to drive the tape or tuner input of any hi-f i system. MSX computers have three separate channels of sound, and a fourth channel of noise. Stereo outputs are possible. A computer can be used to define the precise wave- formofasoundjustinthemannerofa synthesiser. GRAPHICS The sma I lest unit of 'graphic informa- tion' is the pixel. This can be thought of as the dot from which graphics can be built up. The MSX system uses a screen of 49152 pixels arranged in 256 columns of 192 lines. Sprites are independently prog- rammable groupings of pixels which form a recognisable character which can be ‘addressed’ around the screen. 16 colours are available to the programmer working in MSX. 87 Spectravldeo X’Press £400 Spectravideo was largely responsible for developing the MSX standard in the first place, but until now has kept very much in the background. The X'Press, when it is eventually launched by Spectravideo, will be the first MSX business oriented machine. Its features include a built-in 3.5 inch disk drive, RS232C inteface and an 80 column card. With these facilities both MSX-DOS and CP/M operating systems can be used. It's a formidable computer and if it does sell for £400, the X'Press will be hard to beat. Toshiba HX-22 £79 In the wake of drastic price cutting on its HX-10 micro, Toshiba is introducing the superior specification HX-22. Offering an RS232C interface for communications, a built-in word processor and an improved keyboard, the HX-22 comes in at£249.99, only £10 more than the previous price of the HX-10. The HX-22 seems an ideal choice for the more ‘serious’ user. Its word processor is the best we’ve seen so far on MSX, and comms software for the RS232C is included in the interface cartridge. Due in the shops before Christmas, this is certainly a machine to look out for. COMPUTER MEMORY KEYBOARD DISPLAY RF.CV RF.CV RF, CV. RGB RF.CV RF,CV RF.CV RF.CV RGB RF.CV RF. CV. RGB RF.CV RF.CV RF.CV J2 O I <- ■> * u fc Q_ o£ O u i — to o. CC o ■ u i — to fl_ CC O U to a. a: O l V WITHIN A totally new design gives instant response to your command movements. Up to now Joysticks of the Speedking quality are priced at £20 and over. The Speedking is microswitch based, and costs only £12.99, £14.99 for MSX, BBC & DRAGON machines. Designed to fit your hand, not the table top, meaning comfort during the longest of games. GUARANTEED for Twelve Months. Available for Spectrum 48K and Plus Commodore 64, 1 28 and Vic 20 Atari, Electron, Amstrad, BBC and Dragon machines. Available in left and right handed models. 4, .v A Major Breakthrough in Joystick Design ONLY £12.99 ■ • * #• • * % • • • •* • • ••• • • ✓ < Trade and export enquiries contact Keith or Wayne on (0495) 71 1988 Konix Computer Products is a trading name of Creative Devices Research Ltd. 1 -f & 5ft* 7^ ~? o / ✓ Please send me Speedking(s) at £ 1 2.99 each Right handers please order right handed model Computer make left handed I enclose cheque/postal order payable to KONIX Please charge my Access/ Visa Card holders can call (0495) 7 1 1 988 to order. Signature Name: Address: _ / Postcode Tel: Send to Konix Computer Products Unit 1 3 Sirhowy Ind Est Tredegar Gwent NP2 4QZ <■ 7 + ■? dM9 • >DLLS dM9 • X9I1S dM9 • >DI±S dM9 ■ >DI±S dM9 • >DI±S dM9 • >I9I1S dld9 • XDI1S dld9 I 4, 96 GRIP STICK • GRIP STICK • GRIP STICK • GRI\%STICK • GRIP STICK • GRIP STICK • GRIP STICK • GRIP STICK • GRIP STICK • GRIP STICK • GRIP STICK • GRIP STICK ■ GRIP STICK • GRIP STICK Title Type Format Joystick Price Supplier Weedy Arcade Cass Yes £3.95 Microcom Yie-Ar Kung Fu Arcade Cart Yes £14.95 Konami Zakil Wood Adventure Cass No £7.95 Mr Micro Zaxxon Arcade Cass Yes £11.95 Electric Zenji Arcade Cass Yes £11.99 Activision Zipper Arcade Cass Yes £3.95 Kuma EDUCATIONAL Title Type Format Joystick Price Supplier 3D Hypermath Maths Cass Yes £7.95 Longman Adder Sums Maths Cass No £14.95 Ampalsoft BMX Number Jump Maths Cass Yes £7.95 Longman Calculation 1 Maths 3 Cass No £9.95 Morwood Calculation 2 Maths 3 Cass No £9.95 Morwood Challenge My Bluff General 2 Cass No £9.95 Soft Cat First Steps General Cass Yes £8.95 Mirrorsoft French Is Fun Language Cass No £7.95 CDS Fun Sums Maths Cass No £14.95 Ampalsoft Fun With Words Reading Cass No £14.95 Ampalsoft Funwords Spelling Cass No £9.95 Soft Cat German Is Fun Language Cass No £7.95 CDS Gods Of The Tomb General Cass No £9.20 Megacycal Here & There General Cass No £7.95 Mirrorsoft Introducing Circle 1 Maths Cass No £7.95 Spectravideo Introducing Circle 2 Maths Cass No £7.95 Spectravideo Intro Percentages Maths Cass No £7.95 Spectravideo Intro To BASIC BASIC Cass No £6.95 Spectravideo Intro To Numbers Maths 3 Cass No £9.95 Morwood Italian Is Fun Language Cass No £7.95 CDS Junior Maths Maths Cass No £5.95 Knights Kriss Kross Quiz General 2 Cass No £9.95 Soft Cat Large & Small Numbers Maths Cass No £7.95 Morwood Let’s Go MSX BASIC 2 Cass No £9.95 Soft Cat Mastermind General Cass No £9.99 Mirrorsoft Mastermind Quiz General Cass No £5.99 Mirrorsoft Math Bug Maths Cass Yes £6.95 Spectravideo Maths Invader Maths Cass Yes £7.95 Stell Software Memory Training 3 Cass No £9.95 Morwood Monkey Academy Maths Cart Yes £14.95 Konami MSX BASIC Tutorial BASIC Cass No £16.95 Knights MUE General Cart No £24.95 HAL/Morwood Number Painter Maths Cass Yes £8.95 ASK O’Level Maths Maths Cass No £9.95 Shield O’Level Chemistry Chemistry Cass No £9.95 Shield O’Level Physics Physics Cass No £9.95 Shield Quiz Safari General Cass No £9.20 Megacycal Reasoning Training 3 Cass No £9.95 Morwood Reflexes Training 3 Cass No £9.95 Morwood Revise Computers Computing Cass No £8.50 Megacycal Revise Physics Physics Cass No £8.50 Megacycal Simple Addition 1 Maths Cass No £7.95 Spectravideo Simple Subtraction Maths Cass No £7.95 Spectravideo Spanish Is Fun Language Cass No £7.95 CDS Star Words Spelling Cass No £6.95 Spectravideo Sum Measure Maths Cass No £14.95 Ampalsoft Sum Takeaway Maths Cass No £14.95 Ampalsoft Sum Times Maths Cass No £14.95 Ampalsoft Sum Weights Maths Cass No £14.95 Ampalsoft Teach Electricity Physics Cass No £9.20 Megacycal The Sphinx Quiz General Cass No £9.20 Megacycal Trigonometry Educational Cass No £7.95 Spectravideo Typing Tutor Typing Cass No £5.95 Knights Uni’s Learning Maths Cass No £6.95 Spectravideo Word Wobbler Words Cass Yes £7.95 Longman BUSINESS Title Type Format Joystick Price Supplier Aackobase Database Cass /disk No £39.10 Silversoft Aackotext Wordpro Cass /disk No £39.10 Silversoft Cards « » Database Cart No £49.99 Computer Mates Title Type Format Joystick Price Supplier Cash Accounts Financial Cart No £124.99 Computer Mates Cash Book Accounts Cass No £14.95 Micro Aid Communications Comm Cass No £19.95 Kuma Crediquote Retail Cart No £100.00 Office Junior Database Database Cass No £12.95 MST Database Financial Database Cass No £19.95 Kuma Calculator Financial Cass No £6.95 Spectravideo Home Accounts Accounts Cass No £12.95 MST Home Budget Accounts Cass No £14.95 Kuma Homewriter Knights Wordpro Cart No £39.95 Sony BudgetA/C Knights Accounts Cass No £14.95 Knights Mail List Addresses Cass No £14.95 Knights Mail Shot Cards Cart No £99.99 Computer Mates Marginator Accounts Cass No £10.00 Office Junior Memo-Calc Database Cass No £14.95 Micro Aid MST-Calc Speadsheet Cass No £12.95 MST MT Base Database Cart No £49.95 MT Technology Partsearch Stock Cass No £100.00 Office Junior Payroll Wages Cart No £99.00 Computer Mates Payroll RS233 Wages Cass No £29.95 Micro Aid Communications Spectra Comm Cart — £229.99 Comp Mates Chequebook Accounts Cass No £6.95 Spectravideo Shoppastoppa Retail Cass No £100.00 Office Junior Spreadsheet Spreadsheet Cass No £29.95 Kuma Spreadsheet Spreadsheet Cart No £49.99 Computer Mates Stock Control Stock Cass No £34.95 Kemp Tasprint Printing Cass No £9.90 Tasman Tasword MSX Wordpro Cass No £13.90 Tasman WDpro Wordpro Cass No £29.95 Kuma Word Processor Text Cart No £49.99 Computer Mates VAT Cracker Financial Cass No £10.00 Office Junior UTILITIES Title Type Format Joystick Price Supplier Colour Fantasia Graphics Cass No £9.95 Kuma Champ Assembler Cass No £12.95 PSS EDDY II Graphics Cart No £24.95 HAl7Morwood Games Creator Programming Cass Yes £12.95 M irrorsoft Games Designer Programming Cass Yes £9.95 Quicksilva Go-Sprite Graphics Cass Yes £9.95 Mirrorsoft Graphic Designer Graphics Cass No £14.95 Electric Studio Hisoft Devpack Ass/Disass Cass No £19.95 Hisoft Hisoft Pascal Pascal Cass No £29.95 Hisoft Kuma Forth Forth Cass No £39.95 Kuma Logo Logo Cass No £19.95 Kuma Machine Code Assembler Cass No £28.75 Knights MSX Graphics Graphics Cass No £5.95 Knights MT Debugger Operation Programming Cart NO £39.95 MT Technology Caretaker Maintenance Cass No £9.95 Global Picasso Graphics Cass Yes £9.95 Morwood Psychedelia Speech Graphics Cass Yes £6.00 Kuma Synthesis Voice Cart No £69.50 Kuma Sprite Editor Graphics Cass No £6.95 Electric Studio Tasprint MSX Printing Cass No £9.90 Tasman Zen M/Code System M/Code Cass No £19.95 Kuma MISCELLANEOUS Title Type Format Joystick Price Supplier MSX Demonstrator Demonstrator Cass No £5.95 Knights MT Comms Comm Cass No £79.95 MT Technology Music Mentor Musical Cass Yes £6.95 Spectravideo Odyssey K Musical Cass No £11.95 Rittor Music iPSG Musiwriter Musical Cart No £19.95 Rittor Music | Star Seeker Star Guide Cass No £9.95 Mirrorsoft 97 Advertisers Index A Alligata Software Arthur Lees B Bennetts Bonel& Curtis Bradford Electrics B rath ways C Creative Devices D Digital Music D.L. Chittenden E E&N French F Fred Moore G Goodalls H Hamilton Cole H. Reynolds Henry’s Hi Soft Hi Vu Electronics I Impact J Jacksons Jothan Software J&H Russell J.G. Gibbons K Kuma Computers L Llamasoft M M. Berriman Maxwells MicroTechnology Mosaic Publishing N NDSL O Odling Orpheus P P&H Electronics Phillips Pioneer Pledgers P.R. Hartley R Robinson & Cowell Rockfort S Sanyo Southern Electricity SP Electronics S&CTextiles Sudbury Micro T Tavistock Hi Fi Toshiba U Unit Soft Ultimate W Woolfmans Y Yates 64 78 80 80 77 81 96 64 81 77 79 79 81 76 81 48 76 65 79 98 78 82 IBC 74 82 81 33 74 65 82 37 76 ..9 ..4 80 82 79 62 IFC ..83 ..78 ..98 ..98 10-11 .OBC 48 63 63 JOTHAN SOFTWARE ARCADE RRP OUR Le Mans II (softcard) £15.95 £13.95 Barnstormer £8.95 £7.75 Zaxxon ..£11.99 £10.40 Buck Rogers ..£11.99 £10.40 Shnax ... £6 95 £5.95 Hunter Killer ... £7.95 £6.75 Kubus ...£6.95 £5.95 Fruity Frank Minaer ... £6.95 £5.95 ... £9.95 £8.50 Brian Jacks Superstar Chall ....£7.95 £6.75 Eddie Kidd Jump Challenge ..£7.95 £6.75 Space Wafk/Chilter/Find Keep Elidon ...£5.95 £4.95 ... £8.95 £7.75 Squash ...£6.95 £5.95 Sorcery £8.95 £7.75 River Raid ..£11.99 £10.40 Ghostbuslers ADVENTURE ..£11.99 £10.40 The Wreck (cass) The Wreck (cart) ..£14.95 £12.95 ..£16.95 £14.75 Shadow of the Bear ....£7.95 £6.75 Death Valley Gold Rush ....£7.95 £6.75 Emerald Isle ....£6.95 £5.95 Red Moon .£6.95 £5.95 Special Operations ....£7.95 £6.75 Panzer Attack .,..£7.95 £6.75 The Hobbit .£14.95 £12.95 Zakil Wood , £7.95 £6.75 The Young Ones RECREATIONAL ... £7.95 £6.75 737 Flight Simulator ....£9.95 £8.50 Supercness .... £8.95 £7.75 Contract Bridge .... £9.95 £8.50 Backgammon .... £9.95 £8.50 Oddyssey K (music composer) £11.95 £10.40 PSG Musiwriter (cart) LANGUAGE A UTILITIES .. £24.95 £22.50 Hi-Soft Pascal .£29.95 £27.25 Hi-Soft Pascal 80 (disk) . £39.95 £35.95 Hi-Soft Devpac ...£19.95 £17.50 Hi-Soft Devpac 80 (disk) £39.95 £34.95 Hi-Soft E 080 (disk) .. £29.95 £26.50 Kuma Forth .£39.95 £34.95 Logo ..,£19.95 £17.50 Zen Machine Code System ..£19.95 £17.50 Zen Machine Code System (disk) ... £39.95 £35.95 Games Creator PERIPHERALS .£12.95 £11.50 Softcard Adaptor RS232 Cable (links comm pack . .£7.95 £6.75 to modem V 543 Autodial/Autoanswer ..£1495 £12.95 Modem £225.40 £199.95 Joy Card ...£11.00 £9.95 Konami Hyper Shot ............ ... ... Tracker Ball . £17.25 £15.99 ROM CARTRIDGES Konami RRP OUR Road Fighter Yie Ar Kung Fu £14.95 £12.50 £14.95 £12.50 Sky Jaguar Hyper Sports 1 £14.95 £14.95 £12.50 £12.50 Hyper Sports II £14.95 £12.50 Track & Reid 1 £14.95 £12.50 Tracks Field II £14.95 £12.50 Konami Tennis £14.95 £12.50 Konami Golf £14.95 £12.50 Athletic Land £14.95 £12.50 Monkey Academy Super Cobra £14.95 £14.95 £12.50 £12.50 Antarctic Adventure £14.95 £12.50 Circus Charlie £14.95 £12.50 Comic Bakery £14.95 £12.50 Time Pilot • *•>••••« • £14.95 £12.50 King's Valley £14.95 £12.50 Mopi ranger Mon* ooo £14.95 £12.50 Mr Ching £14.95 £12.50 Slfip Up OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOftl If*.' Rollerball £14.95 £12.50 . £14.95 £12.50 Super Billiards Hole in One .................... £14.95 £12.50 £14.95 £12.50 Super Snake . £14.95 £12.50 8USINESS RRP OUR Tasword £13.96 £12.50 Home Accounts £14.95 £13.25 Computermates: Word processor (cart) £39.99 £35.99 Cards (database) . £39.99 £35.99 Mailshot (wp + cards) . £69.99 £64.95 Cash Accounts (cash book) . . £99.99 £87.99 Spreadsheet £39.99 £35.99 Communications Secretary £39.99 £3599 (cards + wd pro + viewdata) . £99.99 £87.99 Typing Tutor MST Invoices & Statement... ..£5.95 £4.95 £14.95 £12.95 MST Mailer £14.95 £12.95 EDUCATIONAL Age RRP OUR Maths 'O’ Level ... 14+ £9.95 £8.50 Physics '0' Level ... 14+ £9.95 £8.50 Chemistry ‘O' Level Let's GO MSX ... 14+ £9.95 £8.50 all £9.95 £8.50 Fun with words 4-6 £9.95 £8.50 French isFun ... 10+ £7.95 £6.75 Calculation 1 .... 4-8 £9.95 £8.50 Calculation II ....5-8 £9.95 £8.50 1st Steps (Mr Men) .....4-8 £8.95 £7.75 ...4-10 £7.95 £6.75 Trigonometry . 10-14 £7.95 £6.75 Intro Circle 1 ..10-14 £7 95 £6.75 Intro Circle II ..10-14 £7.95 £6.75 All prices include postage & packing in U K. Please add 50p per item for Europe and £1 .50 per item elsewhere. Payment try cheque or postal order please to: JOTHAN SOFTWARE 65 Heol Gwys, Upper Cwmtwrch Swansea SA9 2XQ Tel: 0639 830934 Please state which micro. Dust Covers for MSX or any hardware Top quality made to measure dust covers in our specially coated fabric. Printed with your company name or logo, if required. No job is too large, or too small. DEPT. M S&C TEXTILES 4 BROOKSIDE, DISEWORTH DERBY DE7 2RW TEL: (0332) 81 0099 SUDBURY MICRO SYSTEMS NUMBER ONE SHOP IN SUFFOLK FOR MSX SOFTWARE WIDE RANGE IN STOCK Send large SAE for details and price list, or call at: 64 NORTH STREET SUDBURY, SUFFOLK Tel: 0787 311839 Kuma Computers Ltd., Unit 1 2, Horseshoe Park Horseshoe Road, Pangbourne, Berks RG8 7JW. Please send full catalogue on MSX products. Name .. Address Phone MSX Computer I own a i/i7, " • ' • It jjfe My Mk- ..c3l iS VI "NOW. WITH fl SPECIF ICRTI ON LIST LIKE THAT. NO WONDER YOU'VE " GOT fl 64K MEMORY . “ om >•' ** T 7 ki 1 M ( \ H 1 r\r^\ I 1 \m/ \ J | LIT DO Li niDri n T ' 1 jrr I vL uOl r ai LL THE D T TO ODOM Ol ItTDV Dllb rKUM LvLKY 1 WHMF POMP! ITPP nUr CL L/Ul It U I lLi\ , OTH FP UDMF P fix nuriL_ u C j [ 4^ •T-'l — \ ; If 1 w AND MDRF T 1 IwIXL- » i. /TVl Uul nrr AC vH. 64K MEMORY , 1 T 1 /t — LIKE COM MODORE 64 / 1 — i t k iTrnrnrr I I 1 I \f ( -lUL THE COMI fl BUILT SUPPLY , BBC. 16 COLOURS ODORE 64. IN POWER _IKE THE IKE THE 70 FULL STROKE KEYS, LIKE THE BBC. fl CARTRIDGE SLOT, LIKE THE COMMODORE 64 . fl PRINTER INTERFACE, LIKE THE ORIC ATMOS. SOUND OUTPUT THROUGH THE T.U. , LIKE THE COMMODORE 64. AN AUD I 0/U I DEO OUTPUT CONNECTION, LIKE THE COMMODORE 64. RF BUILT IN LIKE THE BBC. AND: fl SEPARATE 16K UIDEO MEMORY, UNLIKE MOST NON-MSX COMPUTERS. 32 SPRITES, MORE THAN MOST NON-MSX COMPUTERS. AND I USE MICROSOFT EXTENDED BASIC, LIKE EUERY OTHER MSX COMPUTER . M CrDQDC ")V/ TOflHIB A m ffll. PfZ 4 , J, tfr/t u • Hfijv n*Qc r i ,> iVi> > Yv * > • 7 v • "• t ’ • <'*' y' " fi > ' c '■pm ?^l*l jlM MBm Mm *■ f » &J mam- % nJ . — -^gag- - v Wmm Yf +*(*:'**'****#. . ••><** ' ' v .s .v * >r f : 'i ! You’d expect one of the best-selling home computers in Japan to have a specification list as big as its memory. But the Toshiba HX10 doesn’t just limit itself to that. It was developed along with other Japanese home computers to operate on one language.MSX.You can swap prog- rams, games, cassettes, even peripherals like disk drives, printers, and joysticks: they’re all compatible with every other MSX computer. All of which makes MSX the system of the future. So if you want a computer that won’t be obsolete in a few years, buy an MSX. If you want one of the best-selling MSX computers in Japan, buy aToshiba HX10. TOSHIBA FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE TOSHIBA HX10 CONTACT TOSHIBA (UK) LTD., TOSHIBA HOUSE, FRIMLEY ROAD, FRIMLEY, SURREY GU16 5JJ. TEL: (0276) 681691.