News & Products
Life Simulation
Life Simulation 100 is a program which simulates the possible consequences of various choices made in real life. It is based on the ripple theory to show how a decision will affect a person's life throughout his or her lifetime. LS100 uses mathematical probabilities and actuary tables instead of artificial intelligence to create the what-if scenarios.
Thomas Life Systems designed the program for use in school, career, and personal decision making. Its purpose is to help individuals, especially high school and college students, anticipate how decisions may affect them in the future.
Life Simulation 100 runs on the IBM PC and any compatible which supports Microsoft BASIC.
The suggested retail price is $95. Support, updates, and registration are also available for $95 per year. School discounts are available.
Thomas Life Systems, 17408 NE 19th, Bellevue, WA 98008
Circle Reader Service Number 200.
Two Disk Managers
Lassen Software has released two IBM PC disk managers. Diskette Manager Plus, Version 1.1 automatically reads the directory from the disk and prepares a catalog. Each catalog can store information from up to 200 disks and is updated each time a disk is read. Reports using the information from the catalog can also be generated.
With Diskette Manager Plus, you can also print labels that contain the name of the disk, creation date, number of files, amount of disk space remaining, and up to eight lines of comments.
Diskette Manager II performs the same functions as Diskette Manager Plus, and it creates a database from the catalog. You can use the wildcard function, cross-reference disks, and print the results to screen.
Both disk library managers require an IBM PC, AT, XT, or compatible with 80-character display, 128K RAM memory, PC-DOS 2.X or 3.X, and two double-sided disk drives or one double-sided and one fixed drive. To print labels, a dot-matrix printer that prints eight lpi and 16 or 17 cpi is required.
Diskette Manager Plus has a price of $59.95, and Diskette Manager II is $79.95. An upgrade from Plus to II is available for $20. Neither disk is copy-protected.
Lassen Software, P.O. Box 1190, Chico, CA 95927
Circle Reader Service Number 201.
What Happened The Day You Were Born?
Any one born since 1901 can find out what was happening in the world on his or her birthdate with Time Scrolls. This database application is contained on two 400K disks and runs on the Macintosh. Using the program, you can print out the birthdate information in a scroll format, designing your own scrolls or using those on the disk. For each date you choose, you'll see the person's name, day of the week, news events for that day, news events for that year, and three other people born on the same day. There is also entertainment information such as who won an Oscar, consumer prices for that date and the present, sports news, and political information.
Time Scrolls requires a Macintosh 512, Plus, SE, or Mac II with external drive. The program is harddisk compatible and is not copy-protected. It also requires a Laser-Writer or an ImageWriter printer.
Retail price for the program is $29.95. California residents add $1.80 for sales tax. Optional pre-printed forms are also available for $20 for 100 forms.
Accurate Computer Search, 993 "C" S. Santa Fe, Dept. P, Vista, CA 92083
Circle Reader Service Number 202.
Business Software For The Mac
You can be the CEO of a company in the electronic industry with Venture magazine's Business Simulator for the Macintosh. This game simulates the day-to-day activities and strategic planning of a large corporation. You start out with $500,000 in capital and complete control over all decision making and resources. The object is to reach $1 billion in sales over 25 years. A business journal provides information on the economy, competition, and the market. You can use the program for what-if analyses and forecasting with no risk.
Retail price of the program is $69.95. Business Simulator is distributed by Electronic Arts.
Reality Technologies, 3624 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19104
Circle Reader Service Number 203.
Toy Shop Price Reduction
Brøderbund has reduced the price of its critically acclaimed The Toy Shop to $39.95 for the Commodore 64 version. Users of this program can customize and print out designs for 20 mechanical models, paste the designs to cardstock, and then cut out and assemble models such as an antique truck and jet plane.
Brøderbund Software, 17 Paul Dr., San Rafael, CA 94903-2101
Circle Reader Service Number 204.
Submarine War Game
You can command a World War II submarine with ActionSoft's Up Periscope! and your Commodore 64. There are 14 different historical scenarios for surface or submerged patrol. Your targets include freighters, tankers, troop ships, destroyers, and battleships. The fleet-class sub is equipped with Mark 10 and Mark 18 torpedoes, surface and attack radars, a variable-power periscope, complete instrument panel, and ocean charts.
Up Periscope! is available on disk only and requires one disk drive and either a monochrome or a color monitor.
Retail price is $29.95.
ActionSoft, 201 W. Springfield Ave., Ste. 711, Champaign, IL 61820
Circle Reader Service Number 205.
Alien Action Game
Energy is the most important commodity in Firebird's The Sentry. In this new game, the player and a robot try to defeat the Sentry and her Landgazers by absorbing their alien energy while at the same time maintaining their own energy levels. Once the player becomes ruler of the landscape, he or she moves on to another of the 10,000, three-dimensional landscapes for more advanced play.
The Sentry is available for the Commodore 64. The package includes a booklet, quick-key guide, and a pin-on button. The suggested retail price is $39.95.
Firebird Licensees, P.O. Box 49, Ramsey, NJ 07446
Circle Reader Service Number 206.
ST Products From MichTron
MichTron has released several new products for the Atari ST. Gold-Runner is a futuristic game in which humanity deserts Earth and searches for another inhabitable planet. However, to reach a new planet, you must battle the Tritons of the Ring Worlds, a highly technical and violent race. Your computer is your companion, giving instructions as you go. Graphics and an original music score are other features of this game.
Retail price for GoldRunner is $39.95.
GFA-Vector is a three-dimensional graphics program to be used with the GFA BASIC interpreter. Using this program, you can create objects using coordinates or the graphics editor and then add the objects to other programs. The pictures are created in machine language for speed and can be revolved along the axes in one-degree increments. You can store up to 32 objects in one picture file.
GFA-Vector is available for $49.95 and requires the GFA-BASIC interpreter.
Make It Move is a graphics animation program designed for use with a paint program to create screen movement. The program is controlled by the mouse and is compatible with paint programs such as NEOchrome and DEGAS. You move predrawn objects from one picture to another using the objects program. With the script function, you can display the graphics and pictures in a sequence, cutting, fading, repeating the object, or scrolling it over another object.
Retail price for Make It Move is $49.95.
Twenty-one different utility programs are combined into one package with STuff. This package includes utilities such as a GEM-program autoboot, caps-lock key lock, a file security program, a text file search utility, hexadecimal display for binary data and program files, date and time set for selected files, disk-write speed-up, and four utilities for the auto folder programs.
STuff has a retail price of $39.95.
MichTron, 576 S. Telegraph, Pontiac, MI 48053
Circle Reader Service Number 207.
IBM Educational Software
Gamco Industries has released two new educational packages for the IBM PC. Telling Time combines an arcade with drills in learning to tell time. Students choose from four different time-telling lessons and four levels of difficulty. They have three tries to answer each problem correctly before the correct answer is displayed. At the end of the lesson, the student receives a performance summary and, if he or she scored a certain percentage, plays an arcade game.
The teacher can change the number of problems in a lesson and the percentage needed to play the game. The program holds up to 200 students names and their scores.
In Money, there are also four different lessons with four difficulty levels. The lessons in this package deal with money—pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half-dollars. If the student achieves a set percentage of correct answers, he or she has the opportunity to play an arcade-style game.
Teachers can store up to 200 students' names and print all or individual files.
The IBM versions of both Telling Time and Money require a graphics card and 256K memory. Versions are also available for the Commodore 64 and Apple II series with 48K. Backup disks and class packages are also available.
Retail price for all versions is $44.95.
Gamco Industries, Box 1911, Big Spring, TX 79721
Circle Reader Service Number 208.
PC Accelerator
Prism Electronics has announced an accelerator board for the IBM PC XT and compatibles. PC-Bandit does not require an expansion slot and resides in the PC's current 8284 clock-chip position. A lead is then connected to the DMA chip and another lead is connected to the motherboard for software speed selection. The board uses software instead of a switch to toggle between speeds.
A disk can be formatted using the accelerated mode, and the mode does not interfere with the realtime clock.
PC-Bandit can boost the PC's processing speed by up to 60 percent. An additional 8 megahertz can be purchased for a total boost of 280 percent.
There are two versions of PC-Bandit—7.4 MHz for the 150 nanosecond chip machines and a slower, 6.7 MHz for machines with 200 nanosecond chips.
Installation takes about 30 minutes unless the 8284 is soldered in place, in which case assistance may be necessary.
Retail price is $69.95. The 8MHz boost retails for an additional $19.95.
Prism Electronics, 14682 NE 95th St., Redmond, WA 98052
Circle Reader Service Number 209.
More Aegis Amiga Software
To add to Aegis' line of Amiga software such as the Aegis Images paint system and the Aegis Sonix music and MIDI software, the company also has introduced Diga!, desktop communications software for VT-52, VT-100 and Tektronix terminal emulation and for telecommunications at 300, 1200, or 2400 baud; and the Amiga Desktop Design System, composed of Aegis Draw Plus design software for the Amiga used with the Roland DXY-980 or DXY-880 series plotter.
Aegis Development, 2115 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90403
Circle Reader Service Number 210.
New Action Software
Paragon Software's first entertainment package, Master Ninja: Shadow Warrior of Death, is a graphics-intensive action game for IBM PCs and compatibles available immediately and this fall for Commodore 64, Amiga, and Atari ST computers ($29.95–$34.95).
The company also has an accounting package for the Commodore 128, Cash In-Cash Out ($69.95), and plans to have more computer games available in late 1987 and early 1988.
Paragon Software, Plymouth Center, 521 Plymouth St., Greensburg, PA 15601
Circle Reader Service Number 211.
Avalon Hill's Darkhorn, NBA
With Darkhorn, Avalon Hill provides both strategic and arcade action in a high-fantasy setting as up to four players challenge the Darklord's dominance of the world. The game is available for Apple II and Commodore machines, and is priced at $30.
Licensed by the National Basketball Association, Avalon Hill's NBA is an animated, statistical basketball package that provides players with the chance to recreate 20 historical teams, with rosters including Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, and Bob Cousey. The game can be played solitaire, two-person, or in autoplay mode. It is available for Commodore, the Apple II family, and PC compatibles for $39.95.
The Avalon Hill Game Co., 4517 Hartford Rd., Baltimore, MD 21214
Circle Reader Service Number 212.
Amiga Expansion
For the Amiga, Byte By Byte has announced a $99.95 powerful solid modeling and ray-tracing image production package, Sculpt 3-D; the Advantage 500, an Amiga memory expansion system that comes with 512K of RAM, and is user expandable to two megabytes of RAM ($249-$599, depending on amount of RAM); and the PAL JR, a two-slot, fully Zorro compatible auto-configure expansion system and 20-meg hard disk for the Amiga, priced at $1,495.
Byte By Byte, Arboretum Plaza II, 9442 Capital of Texas Highway North, Suite 150, Austin, TX 78759
Circle Reader Service Number 213.
Apple PrintMaster Plus
The new Apple version of the Print-Master Plus printing and graphics package has been announced by Unison World. Priced at $49.95, the package is also available as an update for $15 to current users of PrintMaster, Print Shop, Stickybear Printer, or similar programs.
Unison World, 2150 Shattuck Ave., Suite 902, Berkeley, CA 94704
Circle Reader Service Number 214.
Low-Cost Educational Programs
For $8.99 each, Vision Software offers a variety of budget-priced educational programs for PC-compatible, Apple, and Commodore 64 computers. The collection of programs, an educational series that's been used in the Arkansas school system, includes math, English grammar and composition, geography, and many other topics.
Vision Software, 5400 Taylor Rd., Suite 108, Naples, FL 33942
Circle Reader Service Number 215.
Tandy Expansion
This company offers a variety of user-installable expansion boards for the Tandy 1000, 1000SX, and 3000 PC-compatible computers; the latest board is a Hayes-compatible 1200-baud internal modem for $129.
Zuckerboard/ATD, 235 Santa Ana Ct., Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Circle Reader Service Number 216.
Budget Entertainment Software
In addition to a growing line of budget—$9.95 range—entertainment software, Constellation Software has announced Quiet Riot: The Silencer, an earphone system for Commodore computers including Amiga. The earphones are being advertised as "Mom's Delight."
Constellation Software, 1300 N. Hagan St., Champaign, IL 61820
Circle Reader Service Number 217.
Passport Supports PC Music
Passport has announced three programs supporting IBM's new PC Music Feature, an eight-voice FM sound synthesizer and MIDI interface on a single card for under $500. The programs include MIDIsoft Studio ($149.95), a 32-track MIDI sequencer; the Passport MIDI Voice Editor ($149.95), a music editor; and Score ($495), a desktop music publishing system for composing and printing high-quality sheet music.
Passport now has more than 50 music products available for seven different computer systems.
Passport Designs, 625 Miramontes St., Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
Circle Reader Service Number 218.
Byte Size Software
This new company's Byte Size line of low-cost applications software is targeted to meet specific consumer needs, with each package designed to do one thing well and to be easy to use. Initial products, available for PCs and compatibles, will include such programs as Business Graphics, Word Processor, Stock Portfolio, Telecommunications, Labeler, Home Inventory, Calculator, Time Keeper, and more.
Software Resources International, 1209 W. Knickerbocker Dr., Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Circle Reader Service Number 219.
IBM Programs On The ST
Avant-Garde Systems has introduced pc-ditto, a software package that allows IBM PC software to run on the Atari 520ST and 1040ST computers. The $89.95 program features up to 703K usable memory (with 1040ST), is not copy-protected (hard disk installable), supports 3½-inch 80-track formats and an optional 5¼-inch 40-track drive, imitates monochrome and color graphics adapters, and provides adjustable palette colors.
The company states that pcditto enables an ST to run virtually all of the major IBM programs, such as Lotus 1-2-3, Multiplan, Symphony, Flight Simulator, Dollars & Sense, Sidekick, DAC Easy Accounting, Turbo Pascal, and many others.
Avant-Garde Systems, 381 Pablo Point Dr., Jacksonville, FL 32225
Circle Reader Service Number 220.
AwardWare From Hi Tech
Hi Tech Expressions has introduced AwardWare, a $14.95 design and printing package for the creation of awards, certificates, letterheads, ribbons, tickets, coupons, checks, and other printed items. The program has 20 graphics, 20 graphic borders, unlimited text borders, five seals, and five fonts.
The program is available for IBM PCs and compatibles, the Apple II family (64K minimum), the Commodore 64, and the Atari XL and XE computers. A color graphics adapter and 256K are necessary to run the program's animation function on the IBM and compatibles. A dot-matrix printer is required.
Hi Tech Expressions, 1700 N.W. 65th Ave., Suite 9, Plantation, FL 33313
Circle Reader Service Number 221.
Amiga Image Capture
NewTek has announced the release of Digi-View 2.0, a major upgrade of the company's color image capture system for the Amiga 500, 1000, and 2000 computers.
The $199.95 program uses advanced graphics routines and dithering techniques to display images with up to 4096 colors at once in resolutions to 640×400. The Digi-View system works with any home color or black-and-white video camera, using NewTek's three-color filter wheel system to emulate a broadcast video camera. The package captures 21 bitplanes, or over two million colors.
New features include support of all resolution modes, the new enhanced hold and modify mode for increased color resolution, and compatibility with the new Amiga 500 and 2000 computers.
NewTek, 115 West Crane St., Topeka, KS 66603
Circle Reader Service Number 222.
Thesaurus For MS-Word 3.0
Users of Microsoft Word 3.0 on the Macintosh now have access to a 28K desk accessory thesaurus. The Merriam Webster Thesaurus for Microsoft Word 3.0 runs only with Microsoft Word 3.0 and contains 45,000 whole root words with up to 1.4 million combinations of synonyms. All the root words are listed with definitions. The virtual cross-referencing feature enables a user to continuously cross-reference from one synonym to another. When a synonym is located, it is automatically inserted into the text.
Retail price for the desk accessory thesaurus from Target Software is $59.95.
Target Software has also upgraded MacLightning to include the Merriam Webster Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. There are two versions of this upgrade—Mentor and Mentor Plus—both of which contain an abridged version of the Merriam Webster Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. This 100,000-word electronic dictionary occupies approximately one megabyte and requires a hard disk drive.
Mentor Plus also includes the 75,000-word Merriam Webster Pocket Dictionary with definitions. It is designed for desktop publishing and large word processing use.
Retail price for Mentor is $99.95, and the upgrade is available for $25. Mentor Plus retails for $199.95 and the upgrade is available for $100. The upgrades are available for MacLightning, which retails for $99.95.
Target Software, 14206 SW 136th St., Miami, FL 33186
Circle Reader Service Number 223.
Power Up! Products
Organize all your addresses into one file and then print out an address book with Power Up!'s Pocket Address Book. Each entry may contain a name, two phone numbers, a company name, a two-line address, city, state, zip code, a profession, and a comment; each entry can also be listed and sorted by name, company, or profession.
With the program, you can print out by any of the categories in the form of an address book, rotary-file cards, labels, and envelopes. Envelopes and mailing labels can be sorted by name or zip code.
Paper and a black leather cover are included so you can create an address book that's 6 × 3⅜ inches. A pen and calender are also included.
The Financial Reporter helps you prepare columnar reports by automatically aligning columns and performing mathematical functions.
Financial Reporter can work with up to eight numeric columns and up to 200 lines per report. You can enter data in a column or row, and the program will calculate up to five levels of subtotals plus the total. You can move complete rows at one time or move, swap, combine, or clear whole columns. The sort option helps you reformat your report to choose the correct form. The screen shows the report as it will print out.
There are built-in math functions so you can perform calculations without entering the formulas. A pop-up calculator sends the results to any location in the report.
Pocket Address Book and Financial Reporter run on the IBM PC, Compaq, and compatibles with 256K memory. The printer must be able to print at 15 to 17 cpi.
Retail price for the address book is $59.95 and $49.95 for Financial Reporter. Both have a 30-day money-back guarantee and are available only from the Power Up! catalog.
Power Up! Catalog, Channelmark Corporation, P.O. Box 7600, 2929 Campus Dr., San Mateo, CA 94403
Circle Reader Service Number 224.
Amiga Spelling Checker
LexCheck, a spelling-checking program for the Amiga, works with Textcraft, Scribble!, Notepad, and ASCII text files. The master dictionary contains over 100,000 words, and there are auxiliary dictionaries that enable you to add your own words. LexCheck is disk-based and uses less than 100K of RAM, so you can run it with your word processor. This spelling checker recognizes proper names, place names, and technical terms.
LexCheck requires Workbench 1.2. Retail price is $42.95.
Complete Data Automation, P.O. Box 1052, Yreka, CA 96097
Circle Reader Service Number 225.
Mystery Reading Program From Mindplay
Students in grades two through eight can use clues and intuitive thinking to write their own solutions to 60 mystery stories in Ace Detective. This educational program is designed to help improve reading comprehension, cause-and-effect reasoning, and creative writing skills. The players visit the scene of the crime, interview witnesses, and check mug shots to determine the motive, opportunity, means, and suspect. Players must read and draw conclusions to get search warrants and to print out mug shots of the suspects.
New mysteries can be created using the story-builder feature which has over 60 mug-shot graphics and a telephone directory. The Challenge Upgrade option includes sound, time, level, text speed, story selection, story creation, and performance summaries.
The teacher's software package includes a disk, a backup, a teacher's guide and a user's guide. It is available for the Apple II series, including the IIGS.
The home edition is priced at $39.99, the teacher's edition at $49.99, and a six-disk lab pack is available for $120.
Mindplay, 82 Montvale Ave., Stoneham, MA 02180
Circle Reader Service Number 226.
Your Family History On Disk
All About Us helps you record your family and personal records. It contains many entries where you can fill in information such as birth-dates, memorable events, geneology, estate planning, personal loans, and medical history. You can enter information on as many family members as you wish and then print out the information on individuals or groups.
The software package includes a 220-page user's guide, a glossary of terms, a keyboard template, and an appendix on wallet-sized cards.
All About Us runs on the IBM PC, XT, AT, and compatibles with 192K DOS 2.0 or 256K DOS 3.0. An 80-column printer is optional.
The price of the package is $60.
IlliNet Software, 123 Mumford Hall, 1301 W. Gregory Dr., Urbana, IL 61801
Circle Reader Service Number 227.
New Adventure/Simulation Game
Pirates! combines the action of an adventure game with battle and sailing simulations to recreate the seventeenth-century pirating era. Players travel throughout the Caribbean, taking part in land battles, ship duels, and sword fights. Actual sailing experiences are simulated by changing weather conditions and the characteristics of early barques, sloops, frigates, and galleons. There's also the constant threat of mutiny and panic.
Play takes place in six different time periods from 1560 to 1680. Players take the roles of English, French, Dutch, or Spanish pirates; the expeditions of Francis Drake, Piet Heyn, and Henry Morgan are also recreated. Difficulty of the game varies so beginners and advanced players are challenged.
Pirates! is stored on both sides of a 5¼-inch floppy disk for the Commodore 64.
Suggested retail price is $39.95.
Microprose Software, 120 Lakefront Dr., Hunt Valley, MD 21030
Circle Reader Service Number 228.
Arcade Adventure For Commodore 64/128
Cauldron is a new, two-part adventure game from Brøderbund consisting of Cauldron and Cauldron II. In Cauldron, you are a witch queen whose broom has been stolen by the pumpking. In Cauldron, you play the part of a pumpking warrior trying to destroy the witch queen. The object in both games is to collect ingredients for a magic potion to brew in the cauldron. Along the way, you meet spiders and skeletons plus a host of other ghouls in over 190 different scenes.
Suggested retail price is $29.95.
Brøderbund Software, 17 Paul Dr., San Rafael, CA 94903-2101
Circle Reader Service Number 229.