WANTS TO PROGRAM GREAT ST GRAPHICS
I've been an ST owner for over two years and have formerly owned an Apple II and Commodore 128. I learned both BASIC and assembly language for those computers from books and magazines, and I'm now learning GFA BASIC and assembly for the ST.

The ST has been out several years now and yet the information available on how to program arcade graphics is coming out too slowly. This is a plea, on behalf of myself and the other hobbyist programmers out there, for a sharing of information. There are some people out there who have mastered the ST's graphics and could teach us a lot, if they were willing. A lot of programming examples in magazines and books have a lot of information about GEM. GEM is fine, but what I think most of us really want is information on how to get sprites on the screen and move them smoothly and animate them.

What's more, the information must be made understandable to those of us who haven't a lot of time to study. Einstein once said that there is nothing so complicated that it can't be made understandable to someone of average intelligence. An expert programmer, when working with a good writer/teacher, could write a good manual to help us.

When I saw Megaroids I thought C was the answer to fast graphics programming in a high-level language, but I discovered that much of the critical coding for that program was in assembly. I believe that with assembly subroutines, Megaroids could have been executed in GFA BASIC as well. What we need are machine language subroutines that can move sprites and do page flipping that can be incorporated into GFA BASIC programs. I realize there are some trade-offs in speed if BASIC is used, but with the right subroutines, I believe GFA BASIC can accomplish in software the same speed that C-128 BASIC 7.0 accomplished with its built-in hardware sprites.

In looking over the ST information available from books and magazines, I feel that too much space is wasted on GEM, windows, ROM routines, the AES, VDI, etc. What we want is a BASIC that will allow easy sprite manipulation, scrolling, sprite priority handling, etc., but with the great resolution and full palette of colors the ST offers.

Any ideas?

Steve Callaway
Anaheim, CA

If you haven't already, check out Special Issue #2 of START, Music and Graphics. There is a program on that issue's disk, The Cartoonist, that lets you define sprites from DEGAS-compatible pictures and move them about the screen. Best of all, on the disk are all the assembly language routines you need to use these sequences in your own programs as well as a text file to explain how the routines work.

AN OPEN LETTER TO INFOCOM
Having read the announcement in the Winter 1987 START that Infocom is abandoning Atari 8-bit computers and severely limiting new releases for the ST series, I just had to write to express my displeasure. I own both of these fine machines and have been a loyal Infocom player for many years. (I own 23 of their games.)

To Infocom: I urge you to reconsider your decision. Many companies which have been hesitant about releasing software for the Atari machines are changing their minds: Broderbund, Electronic Arts, Springboard and your own sister company, Activision.

Please don't make the mistake of abandoning the large Atari audience both in the U.S. and abroad. We have come to expect only the best from Infocom, but now, we are being treated like second-class customers.

Thank you for your attention.

Cody A. Michael
Morton, IL
 

HOW TO USE ST WRITER
I'm writing this letter under the most difficult conditions with my brand-new 1040 ST, Brother M-1409 printer and ST Writer from your Fall 1987 issue. It may come as a shock to you, but many computers are purchased today by first-time users, like me. And I demand, for the large amount of money I spent on my system, to be able to use it. And that may mean being led through the program step-by-step. I found the Atari manual barely comprehensible, the printer manual tells you everything about the device except how to use it, and I think ST Writer was designed for an 18-year-old with 30 years of computer experience.

I have managed to get documents to print out, but I have this feeling that I'm stuck in 1st gear when I was promised five on the floor! And yes, there are instructions, but they scroll down like the wind.

Help!

Tony Scatena
College Point, NY

The ST Writer manuals on the Fall 1987 and Winter 1987 START disks are in ST Writer format. To print out the manual:

• Unarc STWRITER and STWMAN, following the disk instructions.
• Double-click on STWRITER.PRG.
• Turn on your printer and make sure it is connected properly
• Type L to load the manual.
• Type STWMAN.TXT (if you have the Winter 1987 issue) or STWMAN (if you have the Fall 1987 issue).
• Type P to print the manual.
• Press return at the prompts until the document begins to print.

If you don't have a printer, or if you want to read the printer configuration instructions before printing anything out, you can read the manual on the screen by typing E instead of P Use the arrow keys to scroll down the document.

Since you said the instructions were "scrolling down like the wind," you probably tried to read the manual by double-clicking on STWMAN.TXT on the desktop and then clicking on Show. This feature is designed to work for ASCII text files; the problem is that ST Writer uses its own file format. You should never try to read ST Writer files this way; you won't be able to control the scrolling to read what's on the screen, nor will you be able to stop the scrolling before the end of the file without turning off the computer.

RECORDING MACRO KEYS

On page 61 of START's Winter 1987 issue, you state that STARTKey cannot "record" macros. Could you please explain this shortcoming of your otherwise wonderful program? (By the way, thanks for the inclusion of the Dvorak keyboard layout in STARTKey!)

Edward Lafitte
Staten Island, NY

Some programs that allow macro creation, such as WordPerfect, let you create macros by storing a keystroke sequence as you type it. To use STARTKey, on the other hand, you have to describe each macro in an ASCII file, compile the macro file and then load the compiled macro definitions into STARTKey.
 
 

ALERT BOX Because of the great length of the files in BATTLE.ARC in the Spring 1988 issue of START, it can't be unarced directly onto a single-sided disk. You will get an error message during unarcing and Battle for the Throne won't run. You can, however, unarc BATTLE.ARC onto a double-sided or hard disk. If you have two disk dnves (or a single sided disk and a RAM disk) put ARCX.TTP onto a disk in drive A: and BATTLE.ARC on the second disk Double click on ARCX.TTP then type the second drive name, a backslash and the filename (e.g. B:\BATTLE.ARC). Press Return and the files will unarc onto the disk in drive A. If you have a single sided single-drive system without a RAMdisk, first run ARCX.TTP following the Disk Instructions-be sure you are not in low resolution mode. You will get an error message; disregard it. When you return to the Desktop click on the file BATTLE.PAS and drag it to the Trashcan. (If you are interested in studying the source code copy BATTLE.PAS to a new disk before doing this) A dialog box will ask you if you really want to delete the file- answer Yes. Now, rename BATTYPE.PAS as BATTLE PAS click on BATTYPE.PAS and select "Show Info . . ." from the File option on the menu bar. When the dialog box appears, press the Escape key, type in the new name BATTLE.PAS and press Return. You have now replaced the original 79K file BATTLE.PAS with a smaller file having the same name. Now run ARCX.TTP again on the same disk, type in BATTLE.ARC and press Return. As ARCX runs, it will ask you if you want to overwrite each file that appears on the disk. Type N and press Return at the prompt until you reach the two files TERRAIN.NEO and TITLEPAG.NEO. Type Y and press Return to overwrite these (The first time you ran ARCX it may have cut off one or the other of these files when it ran out of disk space.) Now, when you get back to the Desktop, you will have a working version of BATTLE.PRG with the picture files intact. If you are not interested in studying the source code, delete all files from the disk except BATTLE.PRG, TITLEPAG.NEO and TERRAIN.NEO. Remember that you must run Battle for the Throne in low resolution.

 

Do you have questions about using your ST? Is there something you're not clear about? Every issue, START's editors listen to your comments and answer your questions in Dialog Box. let us hear from you! Our address is: Dialog Box START 544 Second Sheet San Francisco, CA 94107  Or leave us a message on CompuServe using the Antic Online MaiIbox - just log on and type GO ANTIC.