@database AmigaAddicts1-1.guide @node Main "Contents of AA1-1.guide" AMIGA ADDICTS ONLINE VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1 April '94 The AGA, 4000/040, and Sports Games Online Magazine for the Amiga! @{"Click me First" link Goal.About} EXTRAS @{"View Title Screen"system "c:vt title.pic"} (Note: Must have VT in your C: directory) Find out what you have to do to get your old programs to work on your AGA system with: @{"4000/040 Compatability List" link compat.About} The Most Asked Questions About the Amigas Answered in: @{"Frequently Asked Questions Part 1" link FAQ1.About} @{"Frequently Asked Questions Part 2" link FAQ2.About} Some Hilarious Conservative taglines in: @{"Taglines" link Tags.About} Assorted Items @{"Welcome " link Introduction.About} @{"Letters " link letters.About} @{"For Sale" link Sale.About} @{"Rumors " link Rumors.About} @{"Staff " link Staff.About} BBS Software Review of Cnet 3.05 @{"Cnet 3.05" link Cnet.About} Game Reviews @{"Tom Landry DE" link tlsfde.About} @{"4-D Driving " link 4D.About} @{"Lamborghini " link Lamb.About} @{"Winter '92 " link Winter.About} @{"Bo Baseball " link Bo.About} Articles John compares the numerous golf games for the Amiga. Which is better: Links, Ryder Cup, PGA Tour? @{"Golf Games" link Article.About} Having Problems with the Double-NTSC mode? @{"Double-NTSC Solutions" link ntsc.About} The Best and Worst Sports Games of All-Time @{"Best and Worst" link Best.About} Editors Comments in: @{"Final Words" link Final.About} Last and Least; Our stupid blonde joke of the month. @{"Stupid Blonde Joke" link Blonde.About} @endnode @node Tags.About "Funny Conservative Taglines" FUNNY CONSERVATIVE TAGLINES Editors note: I found most of these off of a PD file that has been floating around on many bbs'. There was no copyright notice in place so I am assuming that these are all public domain. Some are from the PD program tagpaste bashing IBM computers. This file is actually just the tagline file I use with my offline mail reader. No one get upset, if someone wants to send me Liberal Taglines, I will post them in the next issue. Please feel free to email me the best taglines you have heard. TAGLINES ======== Hillary Chicken: tiny breasts, large thighs & 1 left wing Hillary Chicken: 2 large thighs and a 30 pound beak. Bill & Hillary Must Go! Friends don't let friends use MS-DOS. If speed kills, then Windows users may live forever. Why doesn't Hillary wear short skirts? Oops, Can't post the punchline here.. VirusScan: MS Windows found. Delete? (Y/y) I admit it, I tried MS-DOS, but I didn't inhale. If at first you don't succeed, create an "NT" version. MicroSoft tech support: "Remove all useful utilities from your system..." I think, therefore I did not vote for Clinton! Removal of this tagline is prohibited by law. Only an idiot actually READS taglines. Clinton - From a chicken in every pot, to a chicken who smoked pot Bigot: Someone winning an argument with a liberal. Can we make Clinton's defeat in '96 retroactive to '92? "And to ye 43% I say....ye suckers!" G. Gordon Liddy Chelsea has two mommies. Its the president, stupid! (and vice versa) No, I'm not a Kennedy. My pants just fell down. Why the flood? Clinton took all the Dykes to DC. May you have a blind date with Lorena Bobbit! Democrats: Bad ideas in search of a big budget. Fear a government that fears your gun. Don't let Hillary pick your doctor or your pocket. Gun bans work! Just look how safe New York City is! Dyslexics of the world, untie! My tagline is better than your tagline. Who elected President Hillary anyways? You will get a fair trial, after which you will be shot. If marriage is outlawed, only outlaws will have in-laws. "Masturbation is to sex as philosophy is to real life." -- K. Marx Two monologues do not make a dialogue. -- DeNever Lets make the draft retroactive and get rid of Bill! First Hillary, then Jennifer, then us. So we are getting outcome based government now. Who let the politically correct pinhead on the bbs? Brain dead = electroencephalographically challenged! IBM stands for Inferior But Marketable. Go ahead, jump. 100,000 lemmings can't be wrong. And remember kids, DON'T try this at home! For Cintonomics info dial: 1-800-SUICIDE I have the heart of a liberal ... in a jar on my desk. Welcome to the Democratic Party, here's your blindfold. Clinton and gore - gone in four! ABC in '96 (Anybody But Clinton). Bill Clinton - over 10,000 whoppers told! CLINTON.SYS CORRUPT (A)cquiesce (R)evolt (P)anic To: John Hinkley - Bill Clinton is dating Jody Foster. AIDS is just a virus. Bill Clinton is God's punishment. Liberal Rule #2: Anyone who disagrees is a Nazi. Crime: The only thing the government does that pays. Tagline dispenser temporarily out of order. Syntax? Why not? They tax everything else! Impeach Clinton...and her husband! A fool and his money soon become a Sysop! Inflation is when the buck doesn't stop anywhere. Every politician has a price, some hold bargain sales. My hard disk is full! Maybe I'll try this message section thing. "Could you continue your petty bickering? I find it most intriguing." If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried. Smoking is the leading cause of statistics today. Urinalysis - The study of pissed off people. The Raw Deal Continues on... Thats not a tree Fido, that's Mr. Gore. Can one really be ethical through following someone else's rules? The truth shall make you free, but first it shall piss you off. Poli = many, tics = blood-sucking parasites "Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger." -- Abbie Hoffman Bill Clinton doesn't lie...he's ethically challenged. Bill Clinton sucks, but doesn't swallow. He appears to be suffering from Clue Deficit Disorder. I'll take trickle-down economics over trickle-down taxes "I got an IDEAR on how to improve education - Dick Riley, Head of Education Political Correctness: Making lies the truth while making the truth lies. Reginald Denny Trial Outcome: We voted for peace instead of justice. If homosexuality is natural, how come exclusive homosexuality would lead to extinction? Ted Kennedy Party: Pants Optional. Happiness is Bill Clinton's face on a milk carton! Hide the gerbils! Here comes Clinton's new army! Liberalism: "But the murderers only need love and understanding" Help Control the criminal population. Vote out your congressmen. @endnode @node Cnet.About "Cnet 3.05 Review" Cnet Professional 3.05 BBS software I saw the so called review of Cnet 3.05 in this months Amiga World and it made me laugh. I am not sure if this guy has ever seen Cnet. I used to run an older version of Cnet and I have not updated to the newest version although I have run the 3.05 demo to get an idea of what new features are incorporated. First let me say that Cnet is an extremely powerful bbs package that is more versatile than either DLG Professional or AmiExpress. However, what has failed to be mentioned about Cnet is the unique style of it. It is by no stretch of the imagination an remote access clone. The commands are all very different from standard bbs software. It does not come pre-configured with a menu other than that standard one line menu you have probably seen. U for uploads, B for bases, G for gfiles, P for Pfiles, etc. The problem with the software is first time users almost have to be an expert at computers in order to use it. However, once the user has learned all the commands, Cnet is much faster than any other bbs package. I have heard many sysops state that they go with Cnet because it is "different." I have found that the "good" users will stick with it until they figure it out. The users who cannot figure it out are the brain-dead IBMers who only understand the remote access commands: M for messages, R for read, etc. If they ever bothered to take a look at the commands, they would not have any problem. Cnet has just about every feature imaginable in a bbs package. It has qwk mail which is multi-tasking (you go about with your business and the bbs informs you when your qwk package is ready). It has a built in mail-tosser, storage buffer for each user (for remembering selected files), multiple access levels, MCI codes to control text. Cnet is so versatile that you can actually start a door from a message in the message bases. You can configure every aspect in any way that you want. The configuration is easy to use. The new manual is much better than the old 2.0 manual. It supports Arexx and DOS doors as well as RAW window doors. The only doors you really can't get to run with Cnet are those doors which look for an specific library in the bbs program such as most Xenolink doors do. Overall, Cnet will take some time to setup due to its complexity even though the commands are fairly simple and you always have On-line help. You will need to have snoopdos in your c directory at all times in order to track down any bugs that might occur on your system. As for the speed of Cnet, it depends on your processor. Although it can be run on a 7mhz system, at least 16mhz is recommended. Cnet works fine on a 4000/040 although the PD program HSCHK which is commonly used with Cnet to check the .dms files will not work with the '040 unless you disable it. That really defeats the purpose of having the fast chip. As for memory, Cnet does take up its fair share of memory. It takes up about one meg and possibly more depending on how you have it configured. You can configure things such as having the On-line spell checker in ram, etc. It also depends on how many lines you are running. It generally takes up about 256k for each port. Most systems only have one line but will usually have a local node open so the sysop can be on-line while still allowing remote users to be On-line at the same time. Some other programs that take up memory is AREXX since it must be run with Cnet. Most systems also run doors with RexxPlus which is a compiled arexx program which will take up more memory. Realistically, you need at least three Megs of ram to run the bbs on a single-line system to be safe. Some of the arexx doors will take up more than 2 megs while running. The problem with Cnet is its price. It is just too much to pay for bbs software. DLG, Excelsior, Skynet 2 are all around the same price and they are all overpriced. If Cnet was priced between 100 - 125 dollars, I would recommend it as the bbs software to buy. However, once you buy it and it is updated, you will be required to pay an update fee in order to get the update. The updates are free to a point. For example, if you bought version 2.00, you would get free updates until it reached the 3.0 series and then you would have to pay another 75.00 for the update. Works on All Amigas with WB 2.0+. HD Installable. Rating: 7 out of 10 CONCLUSION: Cnet is powerful, flexible bbs software which is very unique. However, the price and the oddities makes Cnet not suited for every would-be sysop. Mike Schaper @endnode @node FAQ1.About "Frequently Asked Questions Part 1" FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS PART 1 Answers to the most commonly asked questions on the Amigas. Editors Note: This document is copyrighted by: Jochen Wiedmann Am Eisteich 9 72555 Metzingen (Germany) Tel. 07123 / 14881 Internet: wiedmann@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de Permission is granted to include this document under GNU General Public License. The author makes no guarantees about the information given. 1. CPU, Custom chips, RAM and other stuff ***************************************** This chapter contains questions concerning the Amiga-Hardware. 1.1. What are the 68EC020 and the 68EC030? ========================================== Motorola, the company producing the 680x0 family offers crippled versions of their processors. They are a little bit cheaper than the originals, that's why Commodore decided to build the 68EC020 into the A1200 and the 68EC030 into the A4000/030. The difference between the 68020 and the 68EC020 is that the latter can address just 16Mb of memory. That's why the A1200 cannot have more that 10 Mb RAM. In most cases you will not notice the difference. This is not the case for the 68EC030: Many owners will notice that the 68030 has a MMU and the 68EC030 doesn't have. There are some important programs depending on a MMU, for example Enforcer (a debugging utility), GigaMem (a program to emulate virtual memory) or all current Unix versions (see Unix). Other Amigas than the A4000 and the A3000 need an additional processor card to run these. 1.2. What's a FPU? ================== The first 680x0 processors (upto 68030) could process integers only. Floating point operations had to be emulated by the software. A FPU is a chip (or part of a chip) that can process floating point operations, a mathematical coprocessor. One separates three FPU types on the Amiga: The 68881, 68882 and the 68040's internal FPU. The 68882 is up to 1.5 times faster than the 68881, because it is splitted in two parts: A conversion unit (the FPU's are using an 80 bit format internally) and the arithmetic unit. The 68040's internal FPU adds a pipeline, but misses the trigonometric instructions of the others. These are still emulated by the software, 68040.library for example. Special programs (Raytracing, DTP, Mathematics, TeX) are offered in a special coprocessor version which are up to 50 times faster than the original versions. Michael Kaiser (kaiser@ira.uka.de) 2. The Operating System *********************** This chapter handles questions concerning the operating system, Kickstart as well as the Workbench. 2.1. Can I use another Kickstart than the builtin? ================================================== First let's drop some words on the Kickstart's Copyright: This belongs to Commodore, you *must* not use Kickstarts, without the right to do it! Especially it isn't allowed to make an image of anyone else's Kickstart and run this on your own Amiga. (I even doubt that it is allowed to do this on your own Amigas, if you have more than one.) But of course it is possible and allowed for some people, developers for example. There are two different ways, a hardware solution and a software solution. The former is to buy a card which can hold two or more Kickstart ROMS and allows to select between when the System is booting. The software solution needs a program (softkicker) and an image of the ROM. The softkicker allocates RAM, loads the ROM image into the allocated memory and reboots. Of course you have less RAM after the Reboot: 256Kb when running Kickstart 1.2 or 1.3 and 512Kb for Kickstart 2.0 or higher. There are different Softkickers, some of them needing a MMU (see 68EC0xx). A nearly perfect solution seems to be `kick13' (Aminet, directory `util/misc') because it has the ROM image included. (With Commodores agreement!) For newer Kickstarts I recommend SKick 3.43 (Aminet, directory `os20/util') because it doesn't need a MMU and supports many different Kickstarts. It is rather easy to create the ROM image using the following program: #include #define kickorig 0xf80000 /* 0xfc0000 for Kick 1.2 und 1.3 */ #define kicklen 0x080000 /* 0x040000 for Kick 1.2 und 1.3 */ void main(int argc, char*argv[]) { FILE *fh; if ((fh = fopen("kickstart.file", "w")) != NULL) { result = fwrite(kickorig, kicklen, 1, fh); } fclose(fh); } 3. Programming ************** This chapter handles problems arising for programmers only. 3.1. What documentation do I need as an Amiga programmer? ========================================================= The best information available are the RKMs (ROM Kernel Manuals), 3rd edition, by Commodore, published by Addison-Wesley: *The Amiga ROM Kernel Manual: Libraries The Amiga ROM Kernel Manual: Devices The Amiga ROM Kernel Manual: Includes and Autodocs The Amiga Hardware Reference Manual The Amiga User Interface Style Guide* Especially the RKM: Libraries is a must. The RKM: Includes and Autodocs isn't that much worth: Better get the same stuff on disk instead to have it online. See Includes. AmigaDOS isn't included in these books. The Autodocs give much information, but to go deeper you probably need *The AmigaDOS Manual, 3rd Edition, by Commodore* published by Bantam Books. Another good choice is `The Amiga Guru Book' by Ralph Babel. The book starts with a survey on different aspects of programming the Amiga. (About 250 pages) Useful for beginners are the sections on the Amiga's data types (not the 3.0-DataTypes), the Includes and the amiga.lib. But even experienced programmers will find useful things here that are missing in the RKMs. But the largest part are about 500 pages on AmigaDOS and, as I think, the most important, because AmigaDOS is the worst officially documented part of the OS. The book is rather concise and hence not as easy to read as the RKMs, but I recommend it as an addition and instead of the AmigaDOS manual. (Not, however, a replacement for the Libraries and Devices, which aren't covered here.) Unfortunately the book has no ISBN and is currently available in Germany only. But there are some mail order companies which offer it for about 50$ and which accept credit cards: Buchhaus Gonski, Neumarkt 18a, 50667 Koeln, Germany Phone: 0221/2090972, Fax: 0221/2090959 Buchhandlung Bouvier, Am Hof 32, 53113 Bonn, Germany Phone: 0228/7290169 Fax: 0228/7290178 Hirsch & Wolf OHG, Mittelstrasse 33, 56564 Neuwied, Germany Phone: 02631/83990 Fax: 02631/839931 (Eurocard/Mastercard/VISA) DTM-Computersysteme, Dreiherrenstein 6a, 65207 Wiesbaden, Germany Phone: 06127/4064 Fax: 06127/66276 (Eurocard/Mastercard) Unlimited GmbH, Kehrstrasse 23, 65207 Wiesbaden, Germany Phone: 06127/66555 Fax: 06127/66636 3.2. What is CATS? ================== This is a department at Commodore West Chester which was formerly named `Commodore Amiga Technical Support' and was later renamed `Commodore Application and Technical Support'. These are people that work independently of Engineering, but close together with them, and try to help developers outside of Commodore to create nice Amiga applications, software or hardware. To achieve this, CATS has gathered a lot of informations and tools, on floppy, CD, or paper. Much of this material is also available to the general public. (1) But don't mix this up with some sort of Hotline for everyone! For Americans the address to get this material is Commodore Business Machines, Inc. Department C 1200 Wilson Drive West Chester, PA 19380, for all Europeans it's a company in Germany: Fa. Hirsch & Wolf Mittelstr. 33 56564 Neuwied Tel. 02631/83990 Dr. Peter Kittel, peterk@cbmger.de.so.commodore.com ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) Which means: For Non-Developers. 3.3. Where do I get the Amiga includes? ======================================= The only legal way to get the includes and autodocs (and you *should* get them, they are *very* useful!) is to become a developer (see Developer) or to buy the NDUK (Native developers update kit), which is offered by CATS. They cost about 25$ and this seems to me to be a fair price. See CATS. The current version is 3.1. If you need only the includes, you could get them as well with a compiler (commercial compilers or the registered version of Dice) or by getting the Fresh Fish CD. See Fish CD. 3.4. How do I become a developer? ================================= You need the ADSP (Amiga Developer Support Program) documents. To get this write a letter to your local Commodore branch asking for these documents. Everything else should be explained there. The german address is Commodore Lyoner Strasse 38 60528 Frankfurt There are three different developer versions: *Registered* developers seem to me to have no special advantages except getting a magazine called AmigaMail. Especially they don't receive the new Includes & AutoDocs and beta releases of Kickstart and Workbench. Being a registered developer costs about 70$ per year. *Certified* developers don't have these disadvantages. They have to sign the so called NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) and so aren't allowed to tell other people what they know. Certified developers pay about 280$ per year. *Commercial* developers pay about 550$ per year. A tip is to build a group of users and become a developer group, so the costs are reduced. 3.5. What compilers (assemblers) are there? =========================================== There is a lot of programming languages on the Amiga, commercial as well as freely distributable. I will enumerate only those that I know or which seem it worth to me otherwise. *Assembler* All C-compilers have an Assembler included. Freely distributable are A68K and PhxAss (directory `dev/asm' on Aminet or Fish disks 521 and 906) *C* *C++* Freely distributable C-compilers are `gcc' (which has its own directory `dev/gcc' on Aminet) and the evaluation version of `Dice' (for example per FTP from `ftp.uni-paderborn.de', directory `/news/comp.binaries.amiga/volume91/languages' or on Fish disk 491). `Dice' is Shareware, however, but registering will cost only 50$. The advantage of `gcc' is that you find `gcc' versions all over the world and on all computer systems. Another advantage is that C++ is included into `gcc'! But it is slow and needs 4Mb of RAM or more. `Dice' is very fast. Both compilers seem to be reliable. Commercial C compilers are `Aztec-C' and `SAS-C'. I cannot recommend `Aztec-C', because the compiler doesn't seem to get further development. It should be remarked that the commercial compilers have especially wonderful debugging utilities (Source level debuggers!) that the others are missing. `Dice' will become commercial soon too and probably will have debugging utilities then. SAS has announced a new release which will have C++ included. Comeau C++ is a cross compiler creating C source. That wouldn't be a problem, SAS will do the same. But Comeau C++ doesn't have a C compiler included. You need SAS-C, Aztec-C or Dice additionally. But it supports the newest standards. And like gcc it runs on many platforms. Maxxon C++ is offered in Germany. I cannot say anything on it. Both compilers are commercial. Comeaus address is: Comeau computing 91-34, 120th Street Richmond Hill, NY, 11418-3214 USA EMail: Greg Comeau, comeau@bix.com *Forth* JForth is said to be an excellent Amiga port of Forth. Among its advantages are object oriented extensions, full Amiga interface and an application generator. It is available from: Delta Research P.O. Box 151051 San Rafael, CA 94915-1051 Phone: (415) 453-4320 EMail: Phil Burk, phil@ntg.com Mike Haas, haas@starnine.com *Fortran* (Sigh! Still people who need it :-<) Freely distributable are BCF (Fish disk 470) and f2c, a Fortran to C converter (Aminet, directory `/dev/misc'). A commercial compiler is offered from ABSoft. All these are Fortran 77 compilers, I don't know any Fortran 90 compiler on the Amiga. *Lisp* Freely distributable Lisp interpreters are XLisp (Fish disk 181) and OakLisp (Fish disk 530). *Prolog* `/dev/lang/UNSWProlog.lha' and `dev/lang/sbp3_1e.lha' on Aminet as well as `SBProlog' on Fish disk 141 and `SBProlog' on Fish disk 145 are freely distributable Prolog interpreters. *Modula-2* M2Amiga is offered in Europe, Benchmark Modula-2 in the U.S. Both are said to be very good, have a powerful souurce-level-debugger, a large library. Especially M2Amiga has great support by a german user-group (AMOK) which for example offers own PD disks. M2Amiga is offered by: A+L AG Daderiz 61 2540 Grenchen Schweiz Tel.: +41/65/52 03-11 Fax: -79 Benchmark Modula-2 is available from: Armadillo Computing 5225 Marymount Drive Austin, Texas 78723 USA Phone/FAX: 512/926-0360. EMail: Jim Olinger, jolinger@bix.com *Oberon* *Oberon-2* AmigaOberon is offered by A+L too. It is integrated into a full developers environment and has a large library of modules. Library linker and source level debugger are available. The AMOK user goup supports AmiOberon as well as M2Amiga. *Pascal* There is a PD-compiler called PCQ (Directory `dev/lang' on Aminet or Fish disk 511). It doesn't support all of Pascal and major features are missing. P2C, a pascal to C converter is on disk 341. (Aminet: `/dev/misc/p2c120.lha') Additionally there are two commercial compilers called HiSoft Pascal and KickPascal. HiSoft Pascal and P2C claim to be compatible to Turbo Pascal up to 5.0. HiSoft has a source level debugger included. 3.6. Those never working Esc sequences! ======================================= Many printers come with a manual that explains which Esc sequence causes which action on the printer. But there happen weird things when you try to send these sequences to your printer, either it does nothing, or it does something completely different. There is a reason, the Amiga printer drivers. These drivers are made in a way that they only understand a certain set of `ANSI Esc sequences', not the special ones defined (differently) by the various printer manufacturers. The purpose is that every application on the Amiga just uses this one standard set of control sequences and this way doesn't need to know which printer is actually connected. The printer driver then translates these standard sequences into the special sequences a certain printer understands. A list of the available ANSI Esc sequences is found in the current Workbench manuals (or older AmigaDOS manuals). Now if you want to issue a control sequence to the printer that's not available as an ANSI command, you have two possibilities to achieve this: 1. Bypass the printer driver (that would unsuccessfully try to interpret the sequence) and send your output *only* during this sequence to `PAR:' (or `SER:', respectively). For this you have to close and open printer output channels very often which is rather tedious, and you have to know where (`PAR:' or `SER:') your printer is connected. 2. Use a special ANSI sequence, made exactly for this case: `Esc["' where `' is the decimally typed number of bytes in the string `', which actually contains your special printer sequence. This ANSI sequence tells the printer driver to not interpret or translate the next `' bytes. But both methods have one big disadvantage when used in an application program: You lose the printer independency! If you stick to ANSI sequen- ces, you can output to any printer on earth, as long as there is an Amiga printer driver for it. If you start to use special control sequences, your program will be tied to this single printer model and will not be usefull for any other (or you would have to provide some dozen new printer drivers for your application). Dr. Peter Kittel, peterk@cbmger.de.so.commodore.com 3.7. Is it possible to use AmigaBasic on the A1200? =================================================== We heard conflicting reports about AmigaBasic on the A1200: While I said that you can work sufficiently with it, others said that this isn't possible, as AmigaBasic crashes on the slightest little error. I couldn't reproduce this. Now I can. It depends on the setting in the Sound Prefs editor. When you activate a sound there, this conflicts with sound that AmigaBasic tries to produce by hand and obviously not quite the correct way itself. Easy solution: To work with AmigaBasic on the A1200, just 1. Switch off sound output in the Sound prefs editor. 2. On the A4000 (as well as on an A1200 with Fast Mem expansion (1)) you additionally need to run NoFastMem. 3. Better avoid SUBs and use conventional GOSUBs instead, then the compatibility with newer processors will be higher. Dr. Peter Kittel, peterk@cbmger.de.so.commodore.co ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) If you have a turbo board 3.8. How do I localize my program? ================================== Suggest, you want to write a `HelloLocalWorld.c'. Your final program will look like this: #include "HelloLocalWorld_Cat.h" #include struct Library *LocaleBase; void main(int argc, char *argv[]) { /* Open the locale.library. No kill, if not successfull. (Just use the builtin catalog strings instead.) Note, that we open locale.library here, even if our compiler supports AutoOpening. */ LocaleBase = OpenLibrary("locale.library", 38); OpenHelloLocalWorldCatalogs(NULL, NULL); printf(GetString(MSG_Hello)); CloseHelloLocalWorldCatalog(); if (LocaleBase) CloseLibrary(LocaleBase); } The routine GetString checks, if the wished catalogs are available and returns a pointer to either the builtin string or the catalog string. (In my case the german string.) You see, the main difference besides the minor opening and closing stuff (OpenLibrary, OpenHelloLocalWorldCatalogs, ...) is to replace strings with a function call. Hence we need a file `HelloLocalWorld_Cat.c', which holds OpenHelloLocalWorld, GetString, CloseHelloLocalWorld and the builtin strings (this could be an array, where array[MSG_Hello] = "Hello, local world.\n"; is defined) and an include file `HelloLocalWorld_Cat.h', which defines the message ID's like MSG_Hello. You don't need to know, how these files work internally, especially you don't need to know `locale.library'! There are some catalog generators (in what follows: CGs) available (`CatComp', for devlopers only, `KitCat', german docs only, `MakeCat', which I don't know and `FlexCat', which I recommend, because it is most flexible in the generated source and supports catalogs on 2.0 and any language, even Amiga-E, Cluster, Pascal, ... and besides that: I'm the author ;-) are tools, that create HelloLocalWorld_Cat.h, HelloLocalWorld_Cat.c and the real catalogs for you. (The above code might differ slightly between the different CGs.) (See Aminet, directory `dev/misc'.) Of course they need to know how to use them. First create a so-called `catalog-description' file. This could look like this: ; Lines beginning with a semicolon are comment lines. # language english ; the language of the builtin strings # version 0 ; the catalog version (0 = any) MSG_Hello (1/15/30) Hello, local world Any string is defined by a line like the last two lines above: MSG_Hello is the message-ID, (1/15/30) says, that the value of MSG_Hello should be 1 (you may omit this, in which case just the next free number is used) and the string must not be shorter than 15 characters or longer than 30 characters. (These may be omitted too.) Now write your program. Once you are ready, use the CGs to create a so-called catalog translation file. (One for any language different than the builtin.) In my case (german) this could look like this: ; Lines beginning with a semicolon are comment lines. ## language deutsch ; the catalog language (german) ## version $VER: Deutsch.catalog 1.0 (22.12.93) ; the catalog files version string MSG_Hello ; Hello, local world Note the empty line after the message ID. (The arguments of ## language and ## version would be missing as well.) You have to fill in the german strings here. Again using the CGs you create a catalog file from this. Additionally note, that no informations on the strings ID or length are behind MSG_Hello. They are taken from the catalog description file. Once you change the program (adding strings, changing the string length) you change the catalog description as well, use the CGs in the same way to update the catalog translation and hence the catalogs. 3.9. How do I get the window pointer of my console? =================================================== Here is an example from the csh-Source. (No garanty, as I didn't write it! ;-) struct Process *Myprocess = (struct Process *)FindTask(NULL); struct Window *win = NULL; if (Myprocess->pr_ConsoleTask) { struct InfoData *infodata; if (infodata=AllocMem(sizeof(struct InfoData), MEMF_CLEAR|MEMF_PUBLIC)) { if (DoPkt((void *)Myprocess->pr_ConsoleTask, ACTION_DISK_INFO,((LONG)infodata)>>2, NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL)) { win=(struct Window *)infodata->id_VolumeNode; } FreeMem(infodata,sizeof(struct InfoData)); } } If all goes right, `win' will be the pointer to the window, NULL otherwise Note the following problem: You cannot close the window, if it is an `Auto'-window! See also page 629 in the `Guru book'. See Manuals. Andreas Kirchwitz, amk@zikzak.in-berlin.de 4. Applications *************** This chapter offers informations about major Applications. 4.1. Text Editors ================= Text Editors are programs allowing to enter and edit unformatted text. Generally, this means text that is meant to be manipulated by machine, rather than human. Programmers use these to enter the text for compilers. Since UNIX machines don't typically have word processors, most text processing starts with a text editor, then is filtered through a page layout system (TeX, for example) to produce attractive paper results. *Commercial Products* CygnusEd Professional and TurboText seem to be the main contenders in the professional realm. The Fred Fish disks contain dozens of other shareware text editors. A demo version of TurboText is on Fish disk 445. A very old demo of CygnusEd is on Fish disk 95 (testament to its lasting-power). In the following some freely distributable editors will be discussed. *Emacs* Gnu Emacs (the "G" is not silent) comes from Unix and is probably the king of editors - it's huge (about 1 Megabyte), feature-packed (it does windows and even contains a game!) and extensible (if you know lisp you can write new emacs functions and bind them to any key combination). On the other hand, it may be too huge, its feature-ladenness is imposing, and its extensibility often means you can't use someone else's emacs configuration. Source: Aminet (directory `util/gnu'). *Vi* The leaner, less configurable, non-extensible cousin to gnu emacs is vi (pronounced "vee eye"). Unix people like vi especially because you find it on *any* Unix machine. What you choose is personal preference, and will mark you for life. Vim is a good vi for the amiga, and is on Fish disk 591 or in the `util/gnu' directory of Aminet. *DME* Many Amiga programmers like DME. It's fast, fully configurable; menus may be created and any key may be mapped. It's much easier to learn DME than than Emacs or Vi. There are three different versions: AmokEd, DME and XDME. It's a matter of opinion which you prefer. (Oberon and Modula programmers like AmokEd because it's written in Oberon and supports AmiOberon error messages, C programmers like DME or XDME.) Sources: Aminet (directory `util/edit'), Fish disk 776 (XDME) and 749 (AmokEd), AMOK 90. 4.2. What word processors are there? ==================================== A word processor is the typical application for writing notes, letters or reports on a computer. Unless you prepare newsletters on a weekly basis, your word procesor is probably your workhorse program. Thus choosing one you are comfortable with determines how comfortable you are with your computer. Word processors can offer a variety of features, and many can approach the sophistication required for Desktop Publishing (see DTP) but no one uses them for programming, for which text editors are more suited. One distinguishes between Wysiwyg programs (What you see is what you get) and page layout languages. Wysiwyg programs should be fast, comfortable and easy to use. Most people prefer them. The alternative is an approach that works similar to compilers. You feed text files to a a program that produces the layout which may be previewed on screen or printed. LaTeX takes this approach. See TeX. Lout is another such system which seems smaller, easier to learn and has full documentation included, but it is nonstandard. Lout produces Postscript output. (I don't know if this is an advantage or disadvantage. ;-) See Postscript. Both programs are freely distributable. There are a lot of wysiwyg programs, but only commercial products: Final Copy II, Wordworth, Word Perfect, AmiWrite, Beckertext II, Maxon Word and many others. I don't dare to recommend any. ALl I can say is: Give yourself time to make a selection. 4.3. Desktop Publishing ======================= These programs offer features lacking in word processors, usually tailored to flexible arrangement of text, but often don't provide all of the text manipulation that a good word processor provides. The best desktop publishing programs strive to provide the features of both, just as the best word processors strive to provide the features of desktop publishing programs. Microsoft Word (Mac, PC) is a good example of a word processing program that offers many page layout feature. Framemaker (UNIX, Macintosh, DOS, etc.) is an example of a desktop publishing system that offers most needed word processing functions. As yet, no Amiga program has bridged the gap, though the main word processors are coming close. (On the other hand, even many sophisticated programs don't support typesetting mathematics, tables, producing bibliographies, indexes, or cross-references. The page layout languages do, and programs like Frame are improving their support of such features.) Unless you need to prepare fancy newsletters or promotional literature, a word processing program is probably enough. See Word Processors. There are not yet any freely distributable wysiwyg desktop publishing systems. Commercial products are ProPage and PageStream. They have been playing leapfrog for the past few years. It appears that PageStream 3.0 is about to leap ahead. A more detailed description of these products and their differences is welcome. Both programs' list prices are $299. Student discounts are available (approx 40% discount.) 4.4. What is TeX and where can I get it? ======================================== TeX is a very powerful wordprocessing system. It can display mathematical formulas or complex tables as well as function graphs, creates indices, contents and many other things. Its greatest advantage is that it is freely distributable (TeX, not the previewers and the printer drivers!) and that you find TeX all over the world on every computer family. Its greatest disadvantage is that it isn't very handy (works similar to a compiler) and it isn't wysiwyg. But many people like it. (BTW: This document is written using TeX. 8-) See Word Processors. There are two major implementations on the Amiga. The first one, Amiga-TeX, from Thomas Rockicki and Radical Eye software is commercial. It is said to be excellent and his owners seem to be very satisfied. But it costs at least 200$. I recommend PasTeX, a freely distributable version. People seem to have problems installing PasTeX, especially the font loading and generation (It's a quite complex program.) but I did not here anyone upset once it was installed. (A friend with knowledge of TeX helps immensely.) A few words should be said what you need: * 5 disks containing the TeX-compiler itself * 2 disks containing MetaFont * Nothing more Many people ask for fonts. They are included in the MetaFont-package and can get compiled by you. All you need to do is setting up your TeX-system in the right way which is described in the documentation. Please note that the PasTeX disks are compressed using the program Zoom. (see Endings) Sources: FTP at `ftp.uni-passau.de', directory `/pub/amiga/tex/PasTeX1.3'. 4.5. Are there any Postscript interpreters? =========================================== PostScript is a programming language designed to be used to describe printing on pages. Apple helped make PostScript popular by selling printers with built in PostScript interpreters. Many programs have evolved to produce PostScript programs as their output, making PostScript the lingua franca of printing. Until recently, in order to print a PostScript file, you had to have a relatively expensive laser printer. The development that changed this was the software PostScript interpreter. These programs allow your computer to interpret PostScript programs, and produce the matrix of dots to send to your normal graphics printer. One of the benefits of PostScript is that it is resolution independent. What this means is that it can support the highest resolution of your device - and that you can reasonably preview PostScript on a low resolution screen. There are two free PostScript interpreters for the Amiga. Post and Ghostscript. Post comes as an Amiga shared library along with front ends for previewing to the screen and printing. This structure allows others to write programs that can show PostScript images on screen. In fact, AmigaTeX uses Post's library to support incorporation of PostScript into documents. Ghostscript similarly comes in two programs, but not as a shared library. Ghostscript is the rendering engine, and Ghostview is the front end. Sources: Aminet (directorys `text/print' and `text/dtp'), Fish disk 669 @endnode @node FAQ2.About "Frequently Asked Questions Part 2" FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS PART 2 The most commonly asked questions concerning the Amigas. Editors Note: This document is copyrighted by: Jochen Wiedmann Am Eisteich 9 72555 Metzingen (Germany) Tel. 07123 / 14881 Internet: wiedmann@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de Permission is granted to include this document under GNU General Public License. The author makes no guarantees about the information given. 5. How about Graphics? ********************** Graphics is one of the major strengths of the Amiga. Why don't we have more answers here? :-( 5.1. What are chunky and planar displays? ========================================= Simply put, the terms `chunky' and `planar' (short for `bitplanar') refer to different ways of storing graphics information in a computer's memory. They are rather easy to understand, as far as things go, but incredibly difficult to explain: Computer images are arranged as a grid of pixels, each of which can be thought of as a number representing the color number of the pixel, sort of like a paint-by-numbers scheme. For example, here's a simplified example image, in four colors: 00302132 The Amiga stores this image in a `bitplane' mode. That is, it is represented by several planes of bits (binary digits, 1s or 0s). This is a four-color image, so each color number could be represented by two bits. Therefore there are two bitplanes: 00100110 Here's bitplane 0 00101011 And here's bitplane 1 -------- Now, let's add them up, binary style: 00302132 Which is the final image. If the image was in two dimensions, it would truly be composed of bit planes. However, I'd need three dimensions to show multiple bitplanes overlayed, and therefore for simplicity we're working in one dimension (which is all we need). Now, there's another way of storing this image. How about if we localize the bit data in little chunks? 00 00 11 00 01 10 11 01 = 00302132 This is the principle of the `chunky' pixel mode. Both methods of image storage are perfectly logical, and no one can say that one is better than the other. However, there are certain technical aspects which cause certain advantages and disadvantages. First, if you've seen colored text scroll on your Amiga, you know there is a bit of "flicker" that arises. Specifically, what happens is that while the text is scrolling, its color temporarily changes to something completely different. What's happening is that the computer's moving several bitplanes of data while the raster (monitor electron gun) is sweeping across the screen. What that means is that, if the raster catches the data while it's being moved, you can end up with some bitplanes being moved and some not. What if we filled bitplane 1 in the example above with 0s? Instantly all the 3s become 1s, and the 2s become 0s! This is what causes "flicker" when certain colors are scrolled. By contrast, if a chunky pixel display is caught while scrolling, all we see is a partially-scrolled image; the colors are preserved (since their units are the small ones). That's a disadvantage to planar pixels, but what about chunky pixels? Well, recall that a computer organizes information in terms of 8 bit bytes. These groups are static; you cannot decide to all of a sudden organize data in terms of three bytes or something! Therefore, when using chunky pixels, things get complicated if we decide to use a nonconvenient number of bits per pixel. In practice, the 8-bit (256-color) mode, and 24-bit (16 million color) modes are the most common candidates for chunky pixel displays. Finally, certain effects can be accomplished with the different systems. Bitplanar mode is particularly useful for things like shadows (where an extra bitplane is set with 1s instead of 0s), and chunky mode is great for perspective and "mapping" (since the data for each pixel is localized in a single "chunk"). The latter advantage makes chunky pixel mode really great for games, and is what made Wolfenstein 3-D possible. We all know that Amigas use the bitplane system for storing images. However, the Macintosh and PC(VGA) both use chunky pixel modes. While we can optimize our RAM usage with "bizarre" modes like 8- and 128-color, they gain the advantages of non-flicker scrolling, and the programming simplicity of just writing a byte where you want the pixel to go. The difference between the two modes becomes problematic in things like emulation. EMPLANT has a "chunky to planar" routine which it uses to convert a Macintosh display into an Amiga one. "Chunky to planar" routines are also useful for getting chunky-inclined things to run on Amigas (see TMAPDemo, rotdemo). On a side note, there was some confusion as to what EMPLANT used the MMU for with regard to chunky to planar. The MMU itself is incapable of performing the algorithm for the conversion; rather, it is used to detect what portions of the display memory are updated from the Mac side, and therefore the processor is saved from having to perform the chunky to planar conversion for the entire display. I sincerely hope that helped clear up most of the mystery concerning the terms "Chunky" and "Planar"! (Joseph Luk, jluc@eis.calstate.edu) 5.2. What is doublebuffering? ============================= Don't be ashamed if you haven't a clue as to what this is. It's rather simple, really. Imagine you wanted to animate something by drawing out each frame. Now imagine you had only one piece of paper. Even if you drew pretty fast, it would be difficult to see what the animation looks like because you'd have to erase the frame you just drew, in order to draw the next one! What if you had two pieces of paper? Why, then, you could see the difference between two adjacent frames. First you'd draw your first frame on the first piece of paper, then you'd draw the second frame on the other piece. Then you'd erase the picture on the first piece of paper, and draw in the third frame. Then you'd erase the picture on the second piece of paper, and draw in the fourth frame, and so forth. This is the principle of doublebuffering. The computer shows you the picture it just drew, then turns around and draws the next one. It then swaps the picture in front of you with the one it just drew, and repeats the process. The result is a smooth animation, because you never need to see the computer draw; all you see is each finished product. (Joseph Luk, jluc@eis.calstate.edu) 5.3. What monitors will work on my Amiga 1200/4000? =================================================== Monitors can be classified after the horizontal scan frequency they require. TVs, as well as C='s 1084 monitor, need frequencies around 15 kHz. VGA/SVGA need approx. 30 kHz. Multisync monitors can take many frequencies. In short: You can use any monitor you want with an A1200. BUT: - If you use a regular VGA/SVGA monitor, you can only use a few display modes (like DblPAL, DblNTSC and/or Productivity). I.e. (320|640) x (256|512|1024) for DblPAL. This is great for Workbench and all "serious" utilities (DTP etc), but don't expect any games to work... they don't use your preferences, just take over the machine and assume a 15 kHz monitor. Also, you cannot utilize the "Early Startup Control" screen (you know, disable cache, and that stuff), which also requires a 15 kHz monitor. Furthermore, VGA monitors don't have speakers. And the VGA-type modes don't support Genlocks. But for a lot of "serious" work, a VGA monitor is quite adequate. - You already know what happens with a 15 kHz monitor; the flickering in Interlace mode. A small tip: Try to use NTSC instead of PAL. This increases the refresh rate from 25 Hz to 30 Hz, at the expense of lower vertical resolution (482 lines maximum). The NTSC and PAL modes aren't as bad as many people think. If your monitor has a lot of phosphorous (long afterglow), PAL Laced can be quite OK, and it gives you a resolution of 1448x566 in SuperHiRes. That's the highest resolution currently supported on AGA Amigas, in _any_ display mode. - A Multisync gives you the best of both worlds. The new 1940 and 1942 monitors from C= are quite OK, although rather cumbersome to use... The h/v size and offset must be set manually each time you switch display mode. (1) For a VGA/SVGA or Multisync monitor, you'd need a little shiny box which gives you the standard 15-pin "D" connector. It costs around $15. There are other alternatives... like the "AmiVGA" box ($50 or so), which I think is a cheapo version of the Flicker Fixer. (But it's really a shame to use this on an AGA Amiga.) Also, you can get a VGA monitor, and hook up your TV to the composite or RF port on the Amiga - one monitor for games, one for serious stuff. (Per Espen Hagen, per.e.hagen@ffi.no) ---------- Footnotes ---------- (1) A patch is available on Aminet for Kickstart 3.0 to do this without manual actions in the file `os30/util/Monitor30Patch.lha'. 5.4. How do I switch between PAL and NTSC? ========================================== PAL and NTSC are two different video standards, the former being European, and the latter being American. PAL has a slightly taller screen (256 lines non-interlaced, non-overscanned) as opposed to NTSC (200 lines), so if you see the bottom portion of a program's screen getting cut off on your American machine, chances are the program was written for PAL, and is running on your shorter NTSC screen. PAL and NTSC differences are somewhat less important to European users; since their machines default to PAL, running an NTSC program is no more than a minor annoyance having the screen only appear in the top portion of the display. Therefore, for us NTSC folks, switching into PAL mode becomes important to avoid loss of some picture on Euro Demos, etc. First, the most common misconception about switching between PAL and NTSC is that you need a Multiscan or special monitor for such a purpose. Not so! Just about any monitor can handle the minor signal difference between PAL and NTSC (50Hz vertical refresh versus 60Hz). The 108x, 19xx, and 20xx series, and even most TVs, can display both PAL and NTSC. Sometimes it is necessary to perform minor tweaking of vertical hold and/or v. size on your monitor to achieve full display, though this is trivial. What IS needed to switch between PAL and NTSC in software, is a "Fatter" (1MB) Agnus or better. If your system has more than 512K of CHIP RAM (use the avail command to find out) you have this chip. If you do not, ou can still construct a hardware switch (see below). The following directions assume you're an NTSC user who wants to switch into PAL mode, but the procedure for going from PAL to NTSC is much the same. The most common use of switching into PAL is for self-booting games, demos, etc. The best way to accomplish this on pre-3.0 systems is to use Chris Hames' Degrader program (most recent version: 1.30). Once you have procured this program, the switch is as simple as selecting "50Hz", and "50Hz System", then installing the program's ROMTag (little program that runs at boot-time) by pressing the "Survive Reset(s)" button. AmigaDOS 3.0 added a PAL/NTSC switch feature to its Boot Menu, and all you need to do in order to access this is hold down both mouse buttons as the computer boots. Select Display Options, Display Mode/PAL, and then Boot. If the program still fails to go into PAL mode (Zool is one I've found), you may wish to get Degrader anyway and try that. Software PAL/NTSC switching is easy and painless. Some people have gone even further by installing hardware PAL/NTSC switches. This results in a system which even the most nasty hardware-banging programs can't bring to its original configuration (if it has been switched). The procedure is simple - most Amigas have jumpers already - but beyond the scope of this document. Therefore, if your screen is too short or cut off, seek the different screen mode. You'll "see new horizons", literally! (Joseph Luk, jluc@eis.calstate.edu) 6. Emulators ************ What? The Amiga isn't good enough? You really want it to be another machine? Well, look here... 6.1. Can I run Unix on my Amiga? ================================ Actually there are three Unix versions on the Amiga. All of them need at least 68030 (see 68EC0xx), probably a 68040 in the near future and seem to have problems with many hard-drive-controllers. You should have a good look into the documentation before installing it. Unix needs much resources, say at least 10Mb RAM and a 150Mb Unix-partition on the hard-drive. 1. Commodore offered a System V Unix in the past. It contained TCP/IP, X11 and other software and seemed to make a good job, but it was expensive and after all Commodore has dropped developing it. Commodore-Unix needs a streamer because it is distributed on tapes. 2. A Linux port is prepared. But actually there is not very much than the kernel. Specialists might like to use it, but it cannot be recommended for now. Linux is freely distributable. Sources: `ftp.uni-paderborn.de', directory `/pub/amiga/linux' or `ftp.uni-erlangen.de', directory `/pub/LINUX/MIRROR.tsx-11/680x0'. 3. NetBSD is freely distributable too. Like Linux it isn't ready for now, but it seems to make big steps. Most GNU software is said to run, especially emacs and gcc. I think it's worth to have a look on it. Sources: `ftp.uni-paderborn.de', directory `/pub/amiga/NetBSD' or `ftp.uni-erlangen.de', Directory `/pub/amiga/unix/NetBSD'. 6.2. Is it possible to use the Amiga as X11 terminal? ===================================================== Yes, it is. There are two different packages available: GfxBase offers a commercial version which is said to be excellent, but expensive. The distribution includes different window managers andclients. A demo version is on Aminet. (`gfx/x11/GfxBase-X11-Demo.lha') DaggeX is freely distributable and probably not finished yet. (It calls itself version 0.22.) Source: Aminet, `gfx/misc/localDaggeX0_22.lha' and `gfx/x11/twm_930531.lha'. 7. Miscellaneous **************** This last chapter contains some questions that don't fit in the chapters above. 7.1. Is there any unix version of LhA? ====================================== See Endings. 7.2. What are files ending with ...? ==================================== Most endings on FTP sites or Fish disks tell you that the file is compressed and/or is an archive containing more than one file. Some programs even archive whole disks. Frequently found endings and programs to handle the related files are: *.sfx* Compressed archives which are included in an executable program: Just call the program and it will extract itself (sfx = self extract) *.lha* *.lzh* Compressed archives; recommended: LhA (`util/arc/LhA_e138.run' on Aminet or Fish disk 715) or Lx (`util/arc/lx100.lha' on Aminet), Unix version available (`misc/unix/lha-1.00.tar.Z') *.dms* Disks compressed using DMS (`util/arc/dms111.sfx' on Aminet or Fish disk 406) *.zom* Disks compressed using Zoom (`util/arc/Zoom_5.4.lha' on Aminet, Fish disk 682); an older version which you probably need for uncompressing PasTeX is found on Fish disk 459. *.zoo* Compressed archive; recommended: Zoo (`util/arc/zpp2-10.lzh' on Aminet or Fish disk 527) *.Z* *.z* *.gz* Compressed files; recommended gzip (`util/arc/gzip-1.2.3bin.lha' on Aminet), note that this are Unix files in most cases *.tar* Acrhive; recommended: tar (`util/arc/tar.lha' or `util/arc/gtar10.lha' on Aminet or Fish disk 445), note that tar is a Unix archiver and you often find soething like `.tar.Z'. *.arj* Compressed archive; recommended unarj (`util/arc/unarj-0.5.lha' on Aminet) *.zip* Compressed archive; recommended UnZip (`util/arc/unzip-5.1.lha' on Aminet), note that this are MS-Dos archives in most cases 7.3. Is there a Stacker-like utility to pack my hard drive? =========================================================== XFH does a good job. It operates as a handler and uses the XPK-libraries, so you have different compression modes (NUKE is a good choice) and possibly even more in the future. The only disadvantage is, that the size of a file is limited by RAM: Don't use it with less than 2MB of RAM. Sources: Aminet (`util/pack/XFH134.lha' and `util/pack/xpk25usr.lha'), Fish disk 754. Another possibility is EPU. It's shareware and should offer the same as XFH, but without limiting the file size. Sources: Aminet (`util/pack/epu14.lha'), Fish disk 858. 7.4. Where do I get Fish disk xxx? ================================== Those FTP servers have that much space (or a CD-Rom) to have all fish disks available online: ftp.isca.uiowa.edu (USA, directory `/amiga/fx/fxxx') ftp.hawaii.edu (USA, directory `/pub/amiga/fish') ftp.dfv.rwth-aachen.de (Germany, directory `/pub/amiga/fish') ftp.uni-erlangen.de (Germany, directory `/pub/amiga/pd') ftp.funet.fi (Finland, directory `/pub/amiga/fish') Note that the CD-Rom's are not always mounted. See FTP. Another possibility would be to ask your local dealer. :-) 8. Where and how do I get Software? *********************************** Three questions arise in this context: Which programs can be found, where are they and how to get them and transfer them home? 8.1. Files and databases on freely distributable software ========================================================= Of course you need to know where you find things. Many good choices are listed in this paper, as I hope. Other sources are: *AmigaSciSchool* is a list of software and where you find it in Ascii format. It is posted monthly to the newsgroups `comp.sys.amiga.applications', `comp.unix.amiga', and `news.answers'. Additionally you will find it on Aminet sites (`text/doc/AmigaSciSchool-4.01'). It handles everything listed here and many more, for example GNU software, libraries (linked and shared), shells, Unix commands, educational and scientific software and much more. *FishCon* are lists of the Fish disk contents. (`fish/doc/fishcon-???.lzh' on Aminet) *FishXref* is a cross reference list of the Fish contents. (`fish/doc/fishxref-???.lzh' on Aminet) FishXref and Fishcon are in Ascii format. *KingFisher* A Fish disk database, (`fish/doc/Kingfisher1_30.lha', which is the program and `fish/doc/KFData850.lha' ,which contains the data, on Aminet or Fish disk 863) allows search by name and context. See Fish. 8.2. A collection of tests ========================== `Comp.sys.amiga.reviews' is a moderated newsgroup where tests of soft- and hardware, books and anything else relevant to the Amiga are posted. Its always a good idea to check this newsgroup for a review, if you are interested in something special. Of course you always find only the latest reviews, but the older postings are available per FTP from `math.uh.edu', Directory `/pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews' or on the Fish CDs. 8.3. Getting files from a FTP server ==================================== Things are easy for those who have access to the Internet and a program called FTP (File Transfer Program). Nearly all Unix computers have it, but not all of them allow the use of FTP. FTP allows you to gain access to some other machines and store and/or retrieve files. Normally one needs an acoount on the remote machine to use it, bat a number of machines have a setup that allows everybody to log in as the user `ftp' or `anonymous', so anybody may get files from them. The most important of this servers are the Aminet servers, which mirror each other and hence should have the same files. They are the best choice if you are looking for Amiga software. Aminet hosts are ftp.luth.se (Sweden) ftp.eunet.ch (Switzerland) litamiga.epfl.ch (Switzerland) ftp.uni-kl.de (Germany) ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de (Germany) ftp.uni-erlangen.de (Germany) ftp.uni-paderborn.de (Germany) ftp.th-darmstadt.de (Germany) ftp.uni-oldenburg.de (Germany) ftp.cdrom.com (USA) ftp.etsu.edu (USA) ftp.wustl.edu (USA) oes.orst.edu (USA) src.doc.ic.ac.uk (Great Britain) All these mirrors have a directory `/pub/aminet', where you will find much stuff. Please use a mirror close to you! Some other important hosts are ftp.funet.fi (Finland) ftp.isca.uiowa.edu (USA) ftp.hawaii.edu (USA) ftp.cso.uiuc.edu (USA) ftp.dfv.rwth-aachen.de (Germany) Note that grind, aachen and erlangen have the full collection of Fish disks available! See Fish disk xxx. To connect to a special host (ftp.uni-erlangen.de for example), you should type ftp ftp.uni-erlangen.de The host answers by requesting your login. You should type ftp No you are asked for a password. Please type your Email address here, if you have one. If not, use the password ftp. Now you're inside the host. There is a number of commands you may execute here. The most important are: *?* Prints the help text of the FTP command. Additionally you may type *? command* to get information on a special command. *bin* Tells the FTP program that you whish to transfer binary files. It is always a good choice to type bin as the very first command! Files you load without the bin command can be corrupt. *get * Loads the given file from the host. On most Unix machines you can type something like `get file.txt -' or `get file.txt |more' to show a text on the screen. Note that there *must* be no blank between the | and the word more! *mget * Loads the given files. pat may contain Unix style like wildcards. *put * *mput * Like get and mget, but transfer files from you to the remote host. This is in most cases not allowed, except for a special directory called `incoming'. You can place files here which you want to make public. *cd * Like the usual cd command. The commands get, mget, put, mput, dir and ls refer to the current working directory. *dir []* *ls []* Like `list' and `dir' on the Amiga. Note that the FTP-dir corresponds to the Amiga-list! *bye* Leaves the FTP program. When you have used FTP for the first times you will notice, that you always begin with executing the same steps: 1. Type the login (ftp in most cases) 2. Type the password (your mail address in most cases) 3. Enter the bin command 4. Change the current working directory (`/pub/aminet' for example) This may get executed automatically. What you need is a file called `.netrc' in your home directory. Note that it needs to be protected against others! The FTP program doesn't use it, if it can be read by anything else than you. (Protection is set using the command `chmod go-rwx .netrc'.) The .netrc file contains some entries for your most favourite FTP sites, each separated by empy lines. A typicel entry may look like this: machine ftp.uni-erlangen.de login ftp password or macdef init bin cd pub/aminet Note that on some machines it is possible to use the machine name `default' which meets all machines not listed in .netrc. 8.4. Getting files from a Mail server ===================================== Another way to get files is to use a mail server. This assumes that you can send mail to Internet addresses and get mail from Internet hosts. It works by sending a mail to the server specifying some commands, for example send commands for the files you want. Important mail servers are ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com mailserver@nic.funet.fi ftp-mailer@ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de mrcserv@janus.mtroyal.ab.ca mail-server@ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu The most important commands are: *Help* Tells the server that you wish to get an Ascii file containing detailed explanation how to use the server. *Limit * Specifys that you wish to get not more than Kbytes per mail. Larger files get splitted into small pieces of at most Kbytes which are sent as separate mails each. Note that the mails may get larger because of overhead. *Cwd * Sets the current working directory to . This directory is used by the commands send and dir. *Index* will return a list of files and/or directories that the server offers. Note that this may be *very* large! *Index * returns a list of files containing in their names. *Dir []* returns a list of the files and directories in the given directory. *Send ... * Tells the server to send the given files to you. *Begin* Tells the server to ignore all lines above this command. *End* Like Begin, but specifies to ignore the lines below. (A signature for example!) A typical session would be to send the following mail to the mail server: BEGIN CD /pub/aminet/util/arc SEND LhA_e138.run END 8.5. The Fish disks =================== A very good source are the Fish disks. One distinguishes between the floppy disks and the CD-Roms. 8.5.1. The Amiga Library disks ------------------------------ Fred Fish has started in the middle eighties to collect freely distributable software on floppy disks. There are more than 900 disks for now and very much good stuff on it. Most Amiga dealers sell them and most magazines contain addresses of people mailing them to you for about 3$ per disk or less. Fred Fish has announced to terminate offering software on floppy disks with number 1000. Instead he offers CD-Roms. See Fish CD. There are some things which can be found on the Fish disks, but not on Aminet. However, you can get them with FTP. See Fish disk xxx. 8.5.2. The Fresh Fish CD-Roms ----------------------------- Fred Fish is going on to offer freely distributable software. But now he collects it on CD-Rom's. He will release two different kinds of CD's: 1. Monthly released disks are divided into roughly three sections: 1. New material, which includes the material from the new unreleased floppy disks as well as material which does not appear in the floppy distribution, about 84Mb on the first disk. 2. Useful utilities that can be used directly off the CD-ROM if desired, thus freeing up the corresponding amount of hard disk space (GNU Emacs, Gnu C, GNU C++, Amiga E, PasTeX, AmigaGuide, Installer, 2.0 and 3.0-Includes, different archivers, tape drivers, the AmiCDROM filesystem and many other GNU and BSD tools, ...), about 150Mb on the first disk. 3. Older material from previous released floppy disks or CD-ROM's, about 404 Mb on the first disk. (Fish disk 600-910) 2. Disks containing the latest software as well as recent software in packed format only. (These are intended to be used for example in BBS's.) I recommend especially the first kind of Fish CD's. They cost about 30$ plus 3$ for shipping (5$ outside USA/Canada/Mexico) and are available from Amiga Library Services 610 N. Alma School Road, Suite 18 Chandler, AZ 85224-3687 U.S.A. Phone/FAZ: (602) 917-0917 8.6. How do I Read and write MS-Dos disks? ========================================== No problem for owners of Workbench 2.1 or higher: The program CrossDos is part of the Workbench. All you have to do is mounting the device `pc0:' by putting it into the drawer `Devs:DOSDrivers' or by double-clicking the icon in `Sys:Storage/DOSDrivers'. Ms-Dos disks in drive `df0:' can now be handled in the usual manner replacing the word `df0:' by `pc0:'. For example the directory can be shown with the command dir pc0:. People still running Workbench 2.0 or lower need a program called `MSH'. You will find this on the Aminet (directory misc/emu) and on Fish disk 382. See Sources. After editing the file `devs:MountList' as described in the documentation you have to say Mount msh: in the CLI and can now do the same as above replacing the word `pc0:' with `msh:'. 8.7. How do I split large files? ================================ There are some archives which are too large to fit on one disk. To transfer them on disks you need to split them into smaller pieces and transfer each part on a separate disk. I recommend Martin Schlodder's `Splitter'. (Aminet, `util/misc/splitter_121.lha'. The archive contains binaries for MS-DOS and should be compilable without problems on any Unix system. The Amiga-FAQ archive ********************* The Amiga-FAQ is available in different formats: Ascii format (which is posted to the nets) AmigaGuide format (which is the adequate format on the Amiga) and in dvi format (to be printed). Additionally there is some stuff, that might be useful or interesting, but could not be included into the Amiga-FAQ: txt/amiga.history On the Amiga's history txt/story.txt The Commodore story (or: the Tramiel story ;-) txt/amiga.newsgroups Overview on comp.sys.amiga.* txt/amiga.sites List of FTP sites txt/AmigaOverview.tex A short overview on the Amiga-Soft- and Hardware txt/Hardware.tips For those people who can't live without solder src/JWSplit.c The source of a file splitter src/JWJoin.c The opponent to JWSplit src/addtoc.c Utility to add a toc to texinfo-created docs (this document uses it) I decided to collect these in the Amiga-FAQ archive. It is called AmigaFAQxxxxxx.lha (where xxxxxx is the date of the last release) and can be found on Aminet, directory `text/docs'. Contributions ************* This FAQ can neither get useful nor hit further development without your help. Suggestions, contributions, new answers, critics, anything is rather welcome. Please note, that very major subjects are absolutely missing yet: Nothing about sound, nothing on graphic cards, no Animation. These are some of the Amiga's best points! But I don't know them ... :-( So grab your keyboard (Your pencil? Well, if there's no other way...) and send mail to: Jochen Wiedmann Am Eisteich 9 72555 Metzingen (Germany) Tel. 07123 / 14881 Internet: wiedmann@mailserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de Credits ******* My thanks go to: *Reinhard Spisser and Sebastiano Vigna* for the Amiga version of texinfo. This is written with it. *The Free Software Foundation* for the original version of texinfo and many other excellent programs. *Dylan McNamee* for contributing the sections on Editors, Word Processors, DTP and Postscript and some wording fixes. *Joseph Luk* for help in the section on chunky/planar, double buffering and PAL/NTSC *Urban Dominik Mueller* for the FAQ on FTP and Mail-servers. @endnode @node Sale.About "For Sale" FOR SALE SECTION ================ If you would like item(s) you have for sale posted, simply contact me at any of the addressed posted in the Welcome section and I will be glad to post it in future issues. There is no charges for placing items in this magazine and will run it until you sell it. Please be sure to include a phone number, internet address, or some way of contacting you. FUTURESOUND AUDIO DIGITIZER FOR A1000. This will work with any other model Amiga but you must convert the parallel cable since the parallel port is different on the 1000. Comes with original software which works under any version of AmigaDOS. Asking Price: $40.00. Email M.Schaper1@Genie.geis.com MAXX YOKE Professional quality Yoke Stick to use with your Amiga. Works with any Amiga and plugs into the joystick port. Has only been used once. Has Analog/Digital switch, dual fire buttons, and speed control. Asking Price: $50.00. Email M.Schaper1@Genie.geis.com PLACE YOU ADD HERE FREE! @endnode @node Goal.About "About AA" Amiga Addicts in a online Amiga Magazine which emphasizes sports games, AGA, and the 4000/040. However, these are not our only interests. We will also have general questions and answers about the Amigas in General as well as other articles. We want to include as many letters from readers as possible so please send any questions you have in. Email to M.Schaper1 at Genie M.Schaper1.@Genie.geis.com for Internet US Mail: Mike Schaper P.O. Box 5283 Anderson, SC 29623 @endnode @node Best.About "Best and Worst Sports Games of All-Time" THE BEST AND WORST SPORTS GAMES OF ALL TIME =========================================== I have owned an Amiga since the very first shipments of 1000s came into my state and I had the first one reserved. Since that time, I have been through several amigas, added many perhiperals, and played most every sports game. The games are not listed in any particular order. Please note that Flight Simulators/Combat games are categorized as sports games although they may not technically fit the definition. The Best Sports Games of All Time TV SPORTS FOOTBALL -- This was the most addictive football game ever when I first purchased it. I played this game for about 20 hours straight. It was way ahead of its time. It has great graphics, great control, and full league schedules. Unfortunately, at the time it was released, there were not many hard drives for the Amiga so this program is not hard drive installable. It still is more fun than even Madden Football '94 for the Genesis and SNES. TV SPORTS BASKETBALL -- This is by far the best basketball game available for any computer system. Graphics, playability, and editing make it great fun. This one is also hard drive installable and works on the 4000/040. WINGS -- Yes, Cinemaware did it again with this great WWI airplane game. You fly mission after mission during WWI of dogfights, bombing missions, and straffing runs. One of the best programmed videogames in history. TEST DRIVE II -- The graphics now seem inferior on this game but when it first came out, it was superior in every way. There are even European Scenery disks so you could race through Europe. Keep your eye on the radar detector or you are busted. SuperStar Ice Hockey -- Although I never liked Ice hockey, this game was completely addictive. You own, manage, coach, and play for the team of your choice. You have to draft the best players, train them during the off-season, and learn when to trade your star players before you get old. The real challenge is trying to keep a winning team once you have won a championship and your players start to age. PGA TOUR GOLF -- This is the best golf game ever in my opinion for the Amiga. Sure Links has better graphics but is not as fun. You get to compete against all the top pros with a choice of 4 courses. The graphics are good and it has great reverse reviews. As soon as you hit the ball, it shows a reverse angle view of your ball. It also features helicopter fly-by previews of the holes and keeps tracks of your stats. A must have for any golf fan. The Worst Sports Games of All Time MAGIC JOHNSON BASKETBALL -- This is by far the worst sports game for the Amiga and perhaps the worst game ever. The amazing thing is that Amiga World said it was a good game. The graphics are lousy and the play is even worse. It only plays off of floppies and every time someone takes a shot, you have to wait for the disk to be read before you find out if your shot went in or not. This game is so bad that every Amiga user should try it once just so they realize how good the rest of the games are. GREG NORMAN'S SHARK ATTACK -- A incredibly bad golf simulation. The graphics were just terrible and the putting was even worse. The courses are all flat and split up into grids which looked stupid. The putting was instant. You didn't even have to aim. You could easily make a 60 foot put without even aiming. MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL -- The absolutely worst football game I have ever played. I would play the old Atari 4-bit two man football before I would try this again. Words can't describe how bad it is. To give you an idea, I had a friend send me some disks with some WB 3.0 utilities on it and he copied them right over his original disks of Monday Night Football. Yep, the disks are worth more than the program. Mike Schaper @endnode @node Blonde.About "Stupid Blonde Joke" STUPID BLONDE JOKE What do you do if a blonde throws a grenade at you? Pull the pin, and throw it back at her. @endnode @node Final.About "Final Words" FINAL WORDS I would like to thank everyone for checking out this new on-line magazine and once again ask that people send in letters with questions, comments, or suggestions. In order to make this on-line magazine successful, we must have the readers participation. I know I have stated this throughout the magazine, but I cannot overemphasize this. I will not post the address again in this section since I have posted it most everywhere. I would like to remind everyone once more that we need more writers for this magazine so that hopefully it will be much larger by the next issue. We would also like to have advertisers. If you work a company that sells Amiga magazines, let us know and we will be glad to include your catalog as part of this magazine. We are also looking for small programs to distribute with each release. I did hurry and create this first issue in a couple of days in order to hopefully gain interest in this magazine. I plan to create each issue in a period of a couple of weeks after that. I would prefer to just be the editor and write a couple of reviews or articles but it remains to be seen what type of response we will get. As for Commodore's financial problems at the current time, I only have heard rumors about it and cannot confirm anything so I will avoid commenting on it until I hear some facts concerning the issue. As long as the Amiga users continue to support the product and let people know they will not support second rate computers such as the IBM 486, then the Amiga market will always be alive. Now is a good time to purchase a quick 1000 shares of Commodore stock if you have the money and realize the risks involved. As of the writing of this article, the stock was no longer halted. Thanks All, Mike Schaper Editor Amiga Addicts On-line Magazine @endnode @node Staff.About "Staff" STAFF Currently there are only two people working on this newsletter. They are Mike Schaper and John Cauthen. We are just two Amiga Users who love sports games. John is more into racing and golf games while I prefer football, baseball, and basketball games myself. I have an A4000/040 and John has a A1200 so we both are very much interested in AGA programs. How would YOU like to contribute to Amiga Addicts? We certainly could use more sports game addicts to help write articles. If you are even the least bit interested, then please send email to me. Select "letters" from the main menu for all the ways to get in touch with me. @endnode @node ntsc.About "Double-NTSC Solutions -- Article" How do I get the Double-NTSC screen to work correctly? I am sure many users who have bought an A1200 or A4000 have had difficulty getting the Double-NTSC screen mode to take up all of the screen. There are many factors such as your monitor, drivers, and overscan settings. Here is a step by step check list that may help you out. Step 1) Make sure monitor is a multiscan and that it supports overscan. Regular VGA/SVGA monitors will most likely not support the correct frequencies to work in this mode. Step 2) If your monitor has an double-width switch, then make sure that this is on. Step 3) Put your Amiga in Double-NTSC and manually adjust the vertical and horizontal controls on the monitor itself. Step 4) Select overscan from your prefs drawer and stretch it out as much as you can and then once again play with the monitors horizontal and vertical controls. Step 5) If you are still not satisfied, then download the file V39Disk.lha from an Amiga support BBS. I know the C= support bbs in Canada has this and so does the AmigaMan BBS. This disk has replacement drivers for the monitors and a modified overscan control panel which allows you to stretch the screen more and center it better. Step 6) Download the file Moned214.lha from your favorite bbs. I know this file is on Genie. This file will allow you to directly edit your monitor drivers. I have heard of people successfuly getting their VGA monitors to work in DBL-NTSC with this program. Be careful with this program though since it is possible to destroy your monitor by misusing it. Step 7) If you still have a little of a border on the left or right side, then I would suggest grabbing the file BBlank.lha from Genie. This file automatically blanks out the left and right side of the screen for you that is not in use. Step 8) If you are having even more difficulties now, then send email to me and list your specific setup and I will see what I can come up with for you and post it in the next issue. Step 9) Go out and buy as much Commodore stock as you can and hope the company is bought out by a company with a marketing department. Mike Schaper Genie Address: M.Schaper1 internet: M.Schaper1@Genie.geis.com Mailing Address: Mike Schaper P.O. Box 5283 Anderson, SC 29623 @endnode @node Bo.About "Bo Jackson Baseball -- Review" BO JACKSON BASEBALL (AKA TV SPORTS BASEBALL) Bo Jackson Baseball is a solid baseball game that has good graphics, a friendly user interface, and good sounds. However, it has one major problem. You have your choice of any baseball team from any real major league city. They are not the actual teams although you will notice many of the names resemble those of real players. It would not be too difficult to modify a team so that you have the real players stats. You have your choice of three difference ball parks. One is a dome, one is a large indoor stadium, and one is a small indoor stadium where there are plenty of homers. The batting is fun. You can control the swing easily but yet it isn't too easy to hit a home run. The fielding is easy to control although it can be difficult to catch those line drive balls that are sent to the outfield. If you make a clean stop in the infield, you will have no problem throwing the runner out. The problem with the game is with the pitching controls. There is a aimer that moves back and fourth over the batters box fairly fast and you must throw the pitch while its right over the middle. This is very difficult to do and is a very awkward way of of pitching. The game really suffers because of this. The game plays fine on a stock 7mhz system and will install on your hard drive. However, users with only 512k of chip ram may have problems running it from the hard drive depending on how much chip ram is taken up. The game plays fine on an A2500 or stock system with Adspeed accelerator. The game also plays fine on an A1200 A4000/040 users will have problems with this game. The game will work fine from floppies if you disable the caches first and switch to the enhanced graphics mode. If you leave the cache on, the game will be so fast that you will not be able to play it. At least it was way to fast for me. This game does NOT work from the hard drive on the 4000/040 for some reason. I have tried many different routines such as runlame, degrader, and disabling caches and it crashes every time. Off Disk Protection. Hard drive installable (except on 4000/040). Rating: 6 out of 10 CONCLUSION: This would be a much better game if the pitching routine was changed and it would work from the hard drive on an A4000/040. These changes would lift its ratings from 6 to 8. Mike Schaper @endnode @node Winter.About "Winter SuperSports '92 -- Short Review" WINTER SUPERSPORTS '92 - Short Review WS '92 is a surprisingly good game. It is simply a update on the old Epyx Winter Games series. It has pretty much the same events but the graphics are generally better than most of these games. The Downhill skiing is one of the most fun in my opinion. You have three different courses to select from. You have to avoid trees, rocks, and even occasional jumps. It is a pretty tough event to master but fun. The most interesting of the events is the barrel jumping. You have to jump skate around using the joystick by moving right and left and keep up a good rhythm in order to build up speed. You then must jump over barrels once every lap. It is extremely hard to keep your timing. However, the event that sets is apart from many of the other winter games is the snowmobile racing. You race around a tricky track in a snowmobile. You have to watch out for the ice are you will be sliding everywhere. This is a neat little game that never got much attention but is definitely worth a second look if you like the Winter Games type events. Disk Protection. Not Hard Drive Installable. Rating: 7 out of 10 CONCLUSION: A neat little game. Not anything special but nevertheless fun. Mike Schaper @endnode @node compat.About "4000/040 Compatability List" 4000/040 COMPATABILITY LIST This was a list I was working on with conjunction with Mark Raymond of Genie. I plan on having an updated 4000/040 compatability List in every issue of this magazine. If anyone would like to do a 1200 compatability list, then please do so and I will be glad to include it in future issues. Notice that I marked the area that came from Mark Raymonds list and put his mailing addressed below so any questions concerning his part of the list can be addressed to him. GUIDE ===== AGA = Runs without modifying the 4000 in any way and takes advantage of the AGA chip set. AGX = Runs without modifying the 4000 in any way (but the program does not take advantage of the AGA chip set). ECS = Runs only when "Enhanced" mode is selected from the BOOTUP menu. ORG = Runs only when "Original" mode is selected from the BOOTUP menu. NCA = Runs when "No Cache" is selected from the BOOTUP menu or the CPU command is used to turn them off. DEG = Runs when the Shareware program "Degrader 1.03" is executed. NSU = Runs when "No Startup-Sequence" is selected from BOOTUP menu (usually means it runs when the 040 Library isn't running). RLK = Runs when the program "ReloKick" is executed. RLA = Runs when the program "RunLame" is used in a startup script. XXX = Will not run no matter what I tried. Commercial Games ================ Airbus 320 AGX Another World AGX Works fine Apydia ECS Turn off cache also Chaos Engine AGX Good Shoot 'em Up Desert Strike AGX Not HD Installable Fire and Ice ECS Turn Cache Off First Samurai ECS Turn Cache off also World Circuit ECS/NSU Turn off Cache to Slow Down Headcoach3.0 XXX Tried everything. Doesn't work. Street Fighter II AGX Fighter Duel Pro 2 AGA Supports Mode Promotion Populous II ECS Turn off cache also. D-Day AGX No problem with this one. ShufflePuck Cafe AGX I like Air Hockey! Walker NCA 4-D Boxing ECS/NSU 4-D Driving ECS/NSU Combat Air Patrol ECS/NSU D-Day AGX War in the Gulf AGX Wings AGX Dune 2 AGX Even Mode Promotes Party Games AGX OverDrive AGX Mean Arena AGX Fallen Empire AGX Gods AGX King of Karate AGA Black Crypt AGX Will not work from HD Solitaires Journey AGX DeathBringer AGX Adams Family AGX Leander ECU Kick Off 3: Goal AGX Boot in PAL Striker AGX PGA Tour Golf AGX Works on HD. Don't play in DBL-NTSC. Nuclear War AGX Flashback XXX Another World works but not this. Winter SuperSports '92 AGX Pretty Decent Game Bug Mines III XXX What a loss RedZone XXX Why doesn't this work? Alien Breed '92 SE OLD Boot in Pal, Old, nocache. Cannon Foddler AGX Bill Elliot Nascar Challenge AGX Death Sword XXX Darn. I liked this one! California Games OLD Disable Cache. Another Classic Crazy Cars III ECS Excellent racing game! Lamborghini Challenge XXX Same as CC III but doesn't work. Strange. Sim City XXX Doesn't run. Below is By Mark Raymond ======================== A-10 Tank Killer 1.5 ECS I love this game. Fighter Duel Pro AGX Wing Commander AGX Sometimes it needs NCA Birds of Prey ECS,NSU Start from the SHELL. Birds Of Prey doesn't like WB 3.0 Stellar 7 AGX Nova 9 ECS Weird, Stelar 7 was AGX Gunship 2000 AGX,NSU Gunship doesn't like the 040 Lib. Pinball Fantasies RLK Why didn't they fix this program? Pinball Dreams AGX Strange? This works but PF doesn't. Eye of the Beholder AGX Eye of the Beholder 2 AGX Wings ECS,NCA Links 1.53 NCA Humans XXX You'd think a new game would work. Elite NCA,ORG An old game works. Archer Macleans Pool NCA,ECS Gobliins-2 AGX Lemmings ECS,NCA Lemmings-2/Tribes AGX And HD installable, too. Super Frog DEG Set to PAL for best game play. Flying Fortress AGX,NSU Won't run from hard drive. Combat Air Patrol (CAP) ECS,NSU,NCA Runs from CLI on hard drive. Walker AGX Super Off Road ECS,NCA Tetris NCA Shanghai AGX F-18 Interceptor ECS,NCA Star Wars XXX On disk protection is the reason. Empire Strikes Back ORG,NCA 3 Stooges RLK Battle Chess AGX See what happens when you follow the rules. Ancient programs work. Zany Golf ECS No music in AGA mode. Test Drive RLK Test Drive II, The Duel ECS Hollywood Poker XXX MicroMachines RLK Works AGX on a 1200. Strange. Falcon 1.1 ECS,NCA Flight Simulator II ECS,NCA Strike Aces XXX Protection again. Stunt Track ECS,NCA TV Sports Football RLK Federation XXX Hoyle / Solitaire AGX Plays at a descent speed, now. Battle Hawks 1942 RLK Plays way to fast in NCA Fire Power RLK Mega-Traveler NCA Red Storm Rising NCA F-19 AGX Nuclear War RLK Monty Python ECS,NCA Champions of Krynn AGX Their Finest Hour AGX F-16 Combat Pilot XXX 688 Attack Sub RLK It Came From the Dessert NCA Scrabble AGX Leader Board NCA See what happens when you follow the rules. Ancient programs work. Star Trek (Gustavson) RLK Star Trek (Barber) RLK Ferrari Formula One XXX Speedball XXX Twilight Zone NCA Times of Lore XXX A program with multiple entries simply means that more than one item applies. For example: "Wings" needs to be booted in ECS mode AND have the caches disabled. Virus Checker 6.33 AGX It's a good thing, too. The A-64 Package 2.0 RLA Compatibility promised in A64-V3.0 Assign-X 1.2 AGX CPUBlit AGX AIBB says it's doing something. Parnet 3.2b AGX I'm hooked to a CDTV. Silicon Menus 1.0 AGX Tools-X AGX StarBlank 1.0 AGX LHWarp 1.40 AGX DiskMasher 1.11 AGX PKAZip 1.0 AGX Chokes on newer PC ZIP archives. ZIP 1.9l AGX Newer than PKAZip. Shell only. UNZIP 5.1d3 AGX Comes with ZIP 1.9l. It works. LHA 1.22 AGX Almost an Amiga staple. Super Duper 3.0 AGA XCopy Pro 8.0 NSU Doesn't understand High Dens. disks Module Master 2.5.1 XXX Cuts off long notes prematurely. EdPlayer 2.1 AGX Task-X 3.1 AGX Screen-X 3.0 AGX IconMeister 1.6 AGX Won't use the WB palette. Mostra 2.0 AGA NewZap 3.30 AGX RemapInfo 1.0 AGX FontView 1.2 AGX Understands what a CG font is, too. ScreenSavingSystem 1.0 ECS Saves a little strange under AGA, but it does work. SysInfo 3.22 AGX AIBB 6.5 AGX View 3.5 AGA SoundZap 3.0 AGX Great for grabbing those IBM "Windows" sound files. Degrader 1.3 AGX Doesn't help them all, though. FixDisk 1.2 AGX Doesn't do HD disks well. LCD Calc 1.023 AGX WallPaper 1.1 AGX Not really needed under WB 3.0 Deft 1.0 AGX MuchMore 3.6 AGA Now has modes to fix jerky scrolling. DynaShow 1.4 ECS Scrambles the screen on AGA. GIF-View AGX TurboGIF 1.0 AGX Chokes on some small GIFs. Prism 1.3i AGX ShowAnim 5.7x-02 AGX Doesn't play AGA anims MoviePlayer 1.0 AGX/ECS If AGX doesn't work, try ECS mode. I need my Schwartz anims. GL 1.3 AGX AmiFlick 1.10 AGA ViewTek 1.05 AGA A God sent program. Thank you. Rend24 1.05a AGA Another great one. DiskSalv 1.42 AGX Doesn't do HD disks well. DiskSalv 2.0 V11.27 AGX It works now :) LS 3.1 AGX Much better than DIR Sound (7 Mar 91) AGX Older versions choked on 4000. JRComm 1.02a AGX Terminus 2.0d AGA Commercial Products Power Packer Pro 4.1a AGX BAD 4.13 AGX Doesn't like the IDE drive or HD floppies. Normal disks OK. Diskmaster 2.1 AGX Viewer still can't read AGA pics. Quarterback 5.0.3 AGX Can't read pull down requesters. Quarterback 5.0.4 AGX Pull down requester problem fixed. Quarterback Tools 2.0 AGX Project-D 2.0 AGX Doesn't understand HD disk drives. PageSetter 2.0 AGX Doesn't like WB3.0 CG fonts. ImageFinder 1.1b AGX I'd hate to lose this one. Microfiche Filer 1.02a AGX AMAS 1.32 ECS,NCA Sonix 2.0 AGX ProWrite 3.3.2 AGA Proper Grammar 1.4 AGX Sometimes it screws up. DigiPaint III ECS Never REALLY worked under WB2.10 DigiView 4.0 AGX Imagine 2.0 AGX Can't render to 640x400xHAM8 (yet) but ADPro solves that :) Buddy System / Imagine AGX Won't work in DBLNTSC mode. HamLab Plus 2.0.8 AGX Can't save in newer AGA modes. CanDo 1.6 AGX DeluxePaint IV 4.1 AGX For those who don't upgrade. DeluxePaint IV 4.6 AGA Was there any doubt? Buddy System / DPaint4 AGX Won't work with AGA-DPaint. DeluxeVideo III 1.07 AGX EA should update this. ADPro 2.3.0 AGA FRED 001. AGA Morph+ AGA Photon Paint AGX Pro Draw 2.0 AGX Doesn't like to use WB CG fonts. Elan Performer 2.0 AGX Performer works. Support programs don't. No AGA modes displayed. DCTV 1.1b AGX Doesn't understand AGA modes. GPFax 2.223S AGX Aladdin 1.60 (GEnie) AGX VistaPro 2.0 AGX VistaPro 3.0 AGA TerraForm 2.10 AGX Scenery Animator 2.04 AGX Scape Maker 3.0 AGX Distant Suns 4.2 AGX ========================================= End of Mark Raymonds list To Contact Mark Raymond: M.RAYMOND6 GEnie Mark Raymond @ 1:387/639.0 Fido Mark_Raymond@fcircus.sat.tx.us Usenet Commercial Publishing / WP Programs =================================== Pagestream 2.0 - 2.2 AGX Works fine and is FAST! Excellence 3.1 AGX Supports Mode Promotion Prowrite 3.0 AGX Supports Mode Promotion Final Copy II - Release I AGX Looks sharp in Double-NTSC Professional Page 4.0 AGX Not as good as Pagestream Terminal / BBS Programs ======================= Baud Bandit 2.1 AGX Supports Mode Promotion Terminus 2.0d AGX Supports Mode Promotion Term '030 AGX Supports Mode Promotion Cnet 2.xx AGX Works but see note (There are bugs which cause crashes which appear to be a problem with the '040 library. The 3.x series might fix this but I have not updated.) Excelsior AGX Works fine under 3.0 Aladdin AGX Genie fron-end works fine Graphic Programs ================ Art Department Pro 2.3 AGX Everyone needs this! Dpaint 4.5 (AGA) AGA Slow in 256 color mode Vista Pro 3 AGX Neat landscape Program Caligari 24 AGX Unfortunately it flickers MISC ==== Pro Net V 2.0 AGX ProBoard works with it. Trip V1.0 AGX I love this program! @endnode @node Lamb.About "Lamborghini Challenge -- Review" LAMBORGHINI CHALLENGE Warning: Do not purchase this game if you already have Crazy Cars 3. This is the EXACT SAME GAME. Titus was bought out so this game was renamed to Lamborghini Challenge although it is the exact same game as Crazy Cars 3. This review is officially of Crazy Cars III although it applies to LC also. This version DOES NOT WORK on an A4000/040. However, Crazy Cars 3 does. I have no idea why CCIII does and LC does not. I assume they changed some of the calls. When Crazy Cars I came out, many Amiga magazines gave it great reviews so I went out and bought the game. However, there is one problem with that game -- It sucked. I never have purchased Crazy Cars II so I do not know if it any good. Crazy Cars III got good reviews so against my better judgement, I purchased Crazy Cars III. I was surprised when it turned out to be an excellent game. It does resemble Crazy Cars I in any manner. The object of CCIII is to race in many different parts of the country and collect enough prize money to enter races with bigger pots. You also are racing against up to 4 computer drivers who you can make side bets with before the race to increase the purse. The graphics are very good. It is a very smooth game and it runs fine on any stock Amiga. There is no difference between running it on an A4000/040 and a stock 1000. You can also purchase different items such as radar detectors, better gripping tires, bigger engines, and even a new Lamborghini. There are also turbo boosts that you can buy which can really help you out if you are way behind without much time left. Of course, they don't come cheaply. There are four classes of racing. In order to make it through each level, you must win enough races to earn the money to buy a ticket for the class challenge. The ticket gives you three chances to make it through the challenge. The challenge consists of trying to make it to the finish line in under a specified period of time. The catch is that there are large trucks on the road and you have to swerve in and out of traffic to make it. It is extremely challenging to conquer the challenge. Once you have completed the challenge, you will have a bunch of new races to choose from in different parts of the country and you must once again win enough money to buy a ticket to the challenge. Each challenge stage becomes progressively more difficult. The actual races have some unexpected obstacles such as police trying to knock you off the road or damage your car so much that you are forced to pull over. There are also weather elements to deal with such as snow, rain, and ice. Some courses have more police than others. Some have no police at all. Its always good to buy a radar detector as soon as you can. This is an excellent arcade racing game with plenty to keep the avid racing gamer interested. I recommend this game highly. The only real drawback is that it is not hard drive installable. Rating: 8 out of 10. CONCLUSION: Fast, Furious, and Fun! Mike Schaper @endnode @node Article.About "Article - Golf Games" Bad News -- John missed his deadline on this article. However, the good news is that you get to look forward to next months issue because it will not only have a comparison of all the golf games but also a independent review of the New AGA golf game Ryder Cup. Sorry for the Inconvience. @endnode @node Rumors.About "Rumors, Rumors, Rumors" Rumors, Rumors, Rumors Sorry but this was just a cheap ploy to try to get some users interested in sending in any rumors of game related news so I can post it in the rumors section. If you know if any sports games that may be translated to the Amiga, then please leave me some email so I can post it in this section. Do you have a favorite game on the Genesis that you want to be translated to the Amiga? If so, send the company a letter and then send me some email so I can post it in this section. Remember, without the readers input, this on-line magazine will be mediocre at best. We need all the users to contribute as much as possible. Mike Schaper Genie Email: M.Schaper1 Internet: M.Schaper1@Genie.geis.com @endnode @node 4D.About "4-D Driving -- Review" 4-D DRIVING 4-D driving is brought to you by the same team that made test drive and test drive II and is very similar to the Test Drive Series in control. However, the game play is very much like Hard Drivin' or Stunts (on the IBM). You get to choose from several cars including a Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche. There is even an Lamborghini four wheel drive jeep as well as a Porsche Indy Car. After you have selected your car, you get to choose your opponent. You can either choose an computer opponent with different levels of skill as well as the car he is driving. If you don't want to race anyone, you can select to race against the clock and try to beat your personal best. The program does keep track of fastest times on each track as well as the car which was used. Your next step is to select the track you want to drive on. The game comes with several tracks and also has a track editor so you can create as many as your heart desires. The default track is my personal favorite. You have your choice of two paths to go through much like Hard Drivin'. One of the tracks is mainly a speed track while the other has more stunts. The stunts include bridges, jumps, split roads, loops, elevated roads with turns, sharp turns, as well as many more. Controlling your car can seem difficult at first but the controls are more realistic than most games. The graphics are good. They are nothing special. If you have an A2500 or better, the game looks great in full detail. You will see buildings, boats, windmills, and many other items. There is also a great instant replay feature where you can review your run with VCR like controls and view it from a helicopter angle. I have more fun watching some of my crashes than actually playing the game. 4D Driving runs excellent on an 4000/040 with no speed problems at all. It does not run too fast either. On a stock 500/600/1000/2000 the game is a little too slow and it will not allow you to turn the detail up unless it finds a 68020 or better processor. The game is fair on an stock Amiga with Adspeed accelerator but you still will not be allowed to select maximum detail. It is a little bit too slow on an A1200 also although it is very playable. This is a excellent game on any machine with a 68030 or better but may have a very limited market due to the speed requirements. Hard Drive Installable. Off-Disk Manual Protection. 4000/040 Users. You must boot with no start-up-sequence and select enhanced graphics in order to get this to play from your hard drive. It is worth this little bit of hassle. Rating: 8 out of 10. CONCLUSION: If you have an '030 or better, this is a great driving game that will give you many hours of pleasure. Mike Schaper @endnode @node Introduction.About "Welcome to AA Volume 1 Issue 1" WELCOME TO AA Volume 1 Issue 1 Welcome to the first issue of AA (Amiga Addicts Online Magazine). The reason I have started to write this bi-monthly newsletter is because there is a lack of quality reviews of sports games on the Amiga. Major publications such as Amiga world don't give quality reviews of programs which can be annoying. They seem to rate programs from A to C+. The worst case scenario was when Amiga World described Magic Johnson's basketball as being a good game. MJB was perhaps the worst basketball game ever created for any computer system. I have always been active in sports myself and I love watching most sports on television. A good sports game is the greatest accomplishment in computer games in my opinion. This newsletter is intended for those users who share my enthusiasm for sports. The first issues of this magazine will review mainly older games. I will not go out and buy every single new sports game just for this magazine. However, if anyone who en- joys this newsletter would like to send me any new sports game, I would gladly review it and return the program to you as soon as I am finished reviewing it. The only condition is that I must have the ORIGINAL program with manuals and the hopefully the box. I will only review programs from original copies and will not resort to testing pirated cop- ies of software. Besides, it is not fair to review something that is not complete. Lastly, I will tell you a little about the system I am using. I have an Amiga 4000/040 with 10 megs of ram. Hopefully, this is more than enough ram to run any sports games. I have plenty of hard drive storage (currently 840 megs). I have one hi-density floppy drive (internal) and one low-density floppy drive (external). I am using a CTX multi-scan monitor which is set in Double-NTSC for any games that mode promote. I use Softwoods' Final Writer as my word processor, CygnusEd as my text editor, and a couple of programmers tool to convert the Final Writers documents into the AmigaGuide format. Please feel free to send me internet email or Genie Mail if you have any comments, suggestions, questions, or would like to help review sports game. Enjoy, Mike Schaper Genie Address: M.Schaper1 Internet Address: M.Schaper1@Genie.geis.com @endnode @node letters.About "Letters" LETTERS Sorry folks but since this is the first issue, there are no letters to post here. However, if you would like to have your letters posted in future editions of AA, then please send mail to one of the addresses listed below. We would be more than glad to publish your letters and try to answer them to the best of our ability. Genie Mail: M.Schaper1 Internet Mail: M.Schaper1@Genie.geis.com U.S. Mail: Mike Schaper P.O. Box 5283 Anderson, SC 29623 @endnode @node tlsfde.About "Tom Landry Special Edition Football" TOM LANDRY STRATEGY FOOTBALL DELUXE EDITION I am going to review Tom Landry Strategy Football Deluxe Edition because in the May '94 issue of Amiga World, it was given an A-. I will tell you right off hand that I give this game a D rating. On a scale of 1 to 10, this game gets a 3. TLSFB is not an arcade football simulation but rather an strategy game. You get to be the coach of the team of your choice and you select all the plays are just setup your team and have the computer play the games for you. It is to football what Earl Weaver is to baseball. However, Earl Weaver was fun. TLSF has a good bit of strategy but the game is just not fun and football is by far my favorite sport. The graphics on the game are just awful. The graphics remind me a lot of some of the atari 4-bit video game graphics. The players look very crowded and the field view is a joke. If you call every play of the game, you will be very disappointed and probably bored. It is better to choose the option of choosing what percentage of run and pass you want to use and have the computer play the game for you. The game will show you all of the scored as they happen with the amount of time left in the game. It will probably take a couple of minutes to complete the game and then look at all the stats. On the plus side, TLSFB does come with a league editor. You can setup real NFL divisions, college divisions, high school, semi-pro, or whatever type of league you want. I am glad that this is included in the game, but it doesn't make up for the lack of good football strategy. Unfortunately, it comes with Generic city teams which cover all the major NFL cities but they didn't bother to buy the rights to the NFL teams so you will have to create the teams yourself or hope someone actually takes the time to create them and uploads them to your favorite bbs. They would have been much better off if they would have just named it Strategy Football and bought the NFL rights for the real teams and left out the Tom Landry name which does not benefit the program in any way. The game is hard drive installable and has off-disk copy protection. Conclusion: Don't waste your money on this game. There are numerous football games much better than this. Mike Schaper @endnode