@2                   AMOS AGA EXTENSION (Build V.312)
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      @3                      Review By Andrew Campbell
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      @6                    First featured in WAC magazine
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      @4

      The  first  ever  AGA extension for AMOS has arrived in the form of
      this  one-disk  Licenceware  product  created by Michael Prince and
      which, as far as I can gather, retails at approximately £10 a copy.
      @3

      So  what  do  you  get  for  £10?     A hell of a lot of AGA screen
      functions,  that's  for sure.    Opening 256 colour images is now a
      simple  matter  of calling the command "AGA Screen Open", and there
      are  plenty  of drawing and colour changing commands on offer, too.
      Disappointingly,  er...     there's very little else covered.    In
      the  on-disk  documents,  the author confidently assures us updates
      will  contain  a  more varied range of AGA commands.    I certainly
      hope  so,  as  at  present  this extension is certainly limited and
      doesn't seem to offer much to even the average AMOS user at a hefty
      £10.
      @4
      Don't  get  me  wrong,  it's  great to see AMOS at last being moved
      nearer  to AGA compatibility and I eagerly await future versions of
      this  program.     The  author has obviously enough knowledge to be
      able to sort out a hell of a lot more than just AGA screens.
      @3
      At  the  moment  though,  it  seems  the  "AMOS AGA Extension" is a
      massive  and  hyped-up  release that could have done with remaining
      indoors  for  several  more  months  under  intense development, or
      released  as a much cheaper Licenceware disk (boldly admitting it's
      limitations)  at, say, £3.99.    You could get a much better AMOSsy
      deal for around £10.
      @5
      So, the first AGA Extension, includes:
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @1
      *  Easy  to use screen commands.    "Just add AGA" to most existing
         ones, eg.    AGA Screen Open, AGA Screen Close, AGA screen copy.
         Includes AGA screen packing/unpacking.
      
      *  A  large  amount of graphics commands are supported in AGA mode,
         eg. Box, Bar, Colour, Ink, etc.
 
      *  Simple to install, and works under AMOS Classic or AMOSPro. 
      *  Comes with a few example pictures and demo routines.
      *  Has an on-disk document explaining the commands.
      @5But it has the following drawbacks:
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @1
      *  When  installing  to AMOSPro, AGA takes up extension number 20 -
         which  is,  if  you  happen to have it, used by the excellent Jd
         Colour  Extension.    This means you can't use the two together.
         It  makes me wonder if the author has really looked at any other
         of the AMOSPro extensions before "jumping on the bandwagon" with
         his.
      *  Loading  AGA screens is made more difficult by the fact that the
         palette  must be loaded seperately.    A utility called "PicCon"
         is  supplied  to help you with this, but it does seem a bit of a
         hassle,  especially  considering  it's  very easy to display AGA
         screens  using  an  external  call  to  a  program such as, say,
         Multiview.
      *  When displayed, AGA screens seem to flicker annoyingly with a bar
         of chewed up lines near the bottom-middle of the screen!
      *  The  docs  don't  seem too enthusiastic or helpful, and the demo
         programs are very limited (there's only four!).    Some exciting
         ideas  on  how to use ALL the commands, not just the pack/unpack
         ones would have enhanced the quality of the product - a top AMOS
         coder  would  probably  have been able to sort out some far more
         impressive example listings...    Though with so few and limited
         commands,  perhaps  not!     Next  time  give  us  a  bit  more
         enthusiasm- show off a bit, eh chaps?
      @5Conclusion
      ~~~~~~~~~~@1
      This  AGA  extensions  needs much more adding to it to justify both
      price  and  purchase.     At the moment, the huge advertisements in
      the magazines by AmigaNuts (the official distributors) do seem like
      virtually a con.
      @4
      Perhaps  reviews  like  this  will  help  the  author  realise  his
      extension  needs much more work to get the full backing of the AMOS
      majority.    Any author of an AMOS extension these days deserves at
      least  a  mark  of  50% for the effort, and that's why Black Dragon
      give this promising program a non-insulting 70%.
      @3
      Great to see the support, but we do need far more commands!
      @2
      Where to get this one
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @6
      Contact AmigaNuts (now being advertised as "Petra Software" - er...
      okay chaps!) on 01703 348943 or write to:
      @3
      30 HARTINGTON ROAD
      SOUTHAMPTON
      SO14 OEW
      @5
      I  have  been  in  touch  with Joe at Petra Software and he assures
      myself that the AGA Extension is being updated at this present time
      and it will host many bug fixes and new commands to boot.

      If  you  are  like  me,  then you will have been waiting for over a
      month  for  your copy of this new extension to be delivered through
      your letterbox.

      What I don't understand is Petra Software still having the cheek to
      take  out  full  page (sometimes two full page) adverts saying that
      the AGA Extension is available, when it clearly isn't!!!

      I  wonder  how  many  £10 notes they have now?!?    Quite a few I'm
      sure,  but  let's  be  confident for the moment that as soon as Joe
      receives the latest update of the extension, he will post it out to
      you.

      He  seems like an honest chap and all I can say is, HURRY BLOODY UP
      Joe and get yer finger out m8.  We're all waiting .....

      (I wonder why we were never sent the review copy of the extension!)

      Ho hum!                                                @1Andy Gibson.