February 1981

vol 7, no 2

$2.50

creative coiRpatiRd

the #1 magazine of applications and

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Dedicated tc

BASIC-the

Universal

Language of

Microcomputing

iSfr^ Computers

*\>-0* in Mathematics:

A Sourcebook of Ideas

Here is a huge sourcebook of ideas for using computers in mathematics instruction. This large format book contains sections on computer literacy, problem solving techniques, art and graphing, simulations, computer assist- ed Instruction, probability, functions, magic squares and programming styles.

One section presents over 250 prob- lems, puzzles and programming ideas- more than is found In most "collection of problems" books.

Pragmatic, ready-to-use, classroom tested ideas are presented for everything from the most basic introduction to binary numbers to advanced techniques like multiple regression analysis and differential equations. Every Item dis- cussed has a complete explanation including flowcharts, programs and sample runs.

The book includes many activities that don't require a computer. And if you're considering expanding your com- puter facilities you'll find the section on how to select a computer complete with a microcomputer comparison chart inval- uable.

Much of the material has appeared in Creative Computing but the back issues are no longer available. Hence this is your only source to this practical and valuable material. Edited by David H. Ahl.this mammoth 224-page softbound book costs only $15.95. (The Individual issues, if they were available, would cost over $60.00). [1 2D]

To Order

Send your check for books plus $2.00 shipping and handling per order to Creative Computing, P.O. Box 789-M. Morristown, NJ 07960. NJ residents aod 5% sales tax. Visa, Master Charge or American Express are also acceptable. For faster service, call In your bank card order toll free to

800-631-8112 (in NJ, call 201-540-0445)

creative computing

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creative computing

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80,000 paid readers!

The average reader : •Male

•33 Years Old •College Graduate •Professional •Computer at Home •Responsive to Advertising

For advertising rates and a complete media kit, drop a line to :

Advertising Department Creative Computing

P.O. Box789-M Morristown, N J 07960

The Colossal Computer Cartoon Book

Edited by David H. Ahl. The best col- lection of computer cartoons ever is now in its second printing. There are fifteen chapters of several hundred cartoons about robots, computer dating, computers in the office, and much more. Keep the book with your reference works. When needed, the right cartoon can say it all for you. Pro- vides hours of fun and comic insight. 120 pp. 8'/2 x 11" softbound. (6G) $4.95.

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Time & Money. Commodore; Atari' & Apple users get more with VisiCalc" software.

A financial VP in Massachusetts is cutting the time it takes to prepare month-end reports from three days to three hours.

A California company is replacing most of its time-share computer service with a personal computer and VisiCalc, saving at least $30,000 the first year.

Thousands of other personal computer users are also sold on how VisiCalc is increasing their productivity. Besides saving time and money, they're simplifying their work and getting more information that helps them make better decisions. A typical user reaction comes from a New York dentist:

"VisiCalc has become an integral part of my business'.'

VisiCalc displays an "electronic worksheet" that auto- matically calculates nearly any number problem in finance, business management, marketing, sales, engi- neering and other areas. The huge worksheet is like a blank ledger sheet or matrix. You input problems by typing in titles, headings and your numbers. Where you need calculations, type in simple formulas (+,— ,X, + ) or insert built-in functions such as net present value and averaging. As quickly as you type it in, VisiCalc calculates and displays the results.

"I am extremely impressed with Visi- Calcs capability, flexibility and orderly presentation of instructions'.'

So writes the director of a New York cor- poration. He appreciates VisiCalcs powerful recalculation feature. Change any number in your model and instantly all numbers affected by that change are recalculated and new results are displayed. You can ask "What if . . T, analyzing

i irgistrrrtl trade

"jjrirurkol

more alternatives and forecasting more outcomes. It really increases your decision-making barring average!

When you finish, you can print a copy of the worksheet just as it appears on the screen and /or save it on diskette.

'1 like VisiCalcs ease of use?

That response comes from a Utah businessman using Visi- Calc for production forecasts, financial report ratio analysis and job cost estimating. Ease of use is VisiCalc's best-liked feature. It's designed for a non-programmer, and has an extensive, easy- to-understand instruction manual.

Users also like solving a wide variety of problems with VisiCalc ... and solving them their way. VisiCalc can even justify the cost of a personal computer, according to a New Hampshire financial analyst:

"VisiCalc is paying for itself over and over?'

VisiCalc is available for 32k Commodore PET/CBM, Atari 800 and Apple disk systems. VisiCalc is written by Soft- ware Arts, Inc.

See VisiCalc at your Personal Software dealer For your dealers name, call Personal Software Inc. at 408-745-7841, or write 1330 Bordeaux Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94086.

While there, see our other Pro- ductivity Series software: Desktop Plan and CCA Data Management System. They're like time on your hands and money in the bank.

1	^mm*—

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;|RCLE 170

In This Issue

evaluations^ profiles

■J Q Music Editors for Small Computers Mercuri

A comparative study

20 Radio Shack Line Printer VI Koester

A dot matrix printer for TRS-80 Level II

OQ Base 2 Makes Its Mark Cummings

An inexpensive alternative

36 Three Sorcerer Games Stuckmeyer

40 Soft Centered Lubar

Interactive fiction and other goodies

42 Interactive Literature Nelson

articles

44 When Is a Program Intelligent? Whaland

Thoughts on the subject

RO Tne Problem of Defining Intelligence Lubar

Artificial intelligence is a talking rabbit

56 ' Compute— Therefore I Am Connor

62 Ara Computers Alive? Simon

Can life be artificial?

68 Some A.I. Reports of Interest

A bibliography of recent research reports

Y0 Bsch Keitn

Basic Aids for Composing Harmonies

74 Bingo Card Secrets Ahl

76 Computers and Descriptive Linguistics Pritchett

Computers analyze language

Fiction 6 foolishness

1 36 The Grandmaster Factor Grossbach

It's only a game

1 50 °°P«I Payack

Some scientific boo boos by the ancients

FEBRUARY 1981 VOLUME 7, NUMBER 2

Creative Computing magazine is published monthly by Creative Computing, P O. Box 789-M. Morristown, NJ 07960 (Editorial office 39 East Hanover Ave . Morris Plains. NJ 07950 Phone: (201 ) 540-0445 I

Domestic Subscriptions 12 issues $20: 24 issues $37; 36 issues $53 Send subscription orders or change of address (PO Form 3575) to Creative Computing P.O. Box 789-M. Morristown. NJ 07960 Call 800-63 1-8112 toll-tree (in New Jersey call 201-540-0445) to order a subscription (to be charged only to a bank card)

Controlled Circulation paid at Richmond VA 23228

applications - games

78 A Problem Solving Technique Based on Genetics

Unnatural Selection Radcliffe

82 How To Solve It Pie/e

National Programming Contest

94 Genepool Eisenberg

A genetic simulation in Pascal

1 06 Mon,ter Combat Chapel

Make a killing in the forest

lift Birthday Celebration Harper

A cake from your TRS-80

■J 22 '"PuM'nfl Without Input Persuitte

An aid to interactive programs

1 24 Lo werCase Display for Apple Writer Stith

Apple Writer meets Paymar chip

1 30 ,n,r°duction to Computer Control Pearson

Interfacing techniques

departments

6 Et Cetera Etal

8 Input/Output Readers

1 23 Computer Store of the Month

1 40 Compleat Computer Catalogue Staples

1 48 Puzzles & Problems Townsend

1 52 Software Legal Forum Novick

1 54 Persona' Electronic Transactions Yob

A Toolkit and four Pilots

1 62 TRS"*° Strings Gray

Music and Graphics

1 68 °U,P°8,: Atari Blank

Peeking into the monitor

1 72 Apple-Cart Carpenter

Mini Pilot listing

I 82 Intelligent Computer Games Levy

1 83 Ret»" Roster

1 86 Effective Writing Schwartz

Getting around the block

I 88 Book Reviews Gray

1 94 Index to Advertisers

This month s cover was designed by Peter Payack and Opal Louis Nations of Cambridge, MA. For more information see page 140.

FEBRUARY 1981

Publisher/Editor-in-chief David H. Ahl

Editorial Director Editor

Editor-at-large Associate Editor Contributing Editors

Editorial Assistant Secretary

George Blank

Elizabeth Staples

Ted Nelson

David Lubar

Charles Carpenter Thomas W. Dwyer Stephen B. Gray Stephen Kimmel Harold Novlck Peter Payack Alvln Toffler C. Barry Townsend Gregory Yob Karl Zlnn

Peter Fee

Elizabeth Magin

Production Manager Art Department

Typesetter

Laura MacKenzie

Diana Negri

Chris DeMllla

Joanne Fogarty

Candace Rgueora

Jean Ann Vokoun

Advertising Sales Renee Fox Christman Nancy Wood

Marketing Coordinator Barbara Garris

Creative Computing Press

Managing Editor Burchenal Green

Software Development

Software Production

Chris Vogeli

Bob Callan

Linda Barkaszi

William Kubeck

John White Rita Gerner

Financial Coordinator

William L. Baumann

Bookkeeper Retail Marketing

Circulation

Customer Service Office Assistants

Order Processing

Patricia Kennelly

Jennifer Burr

Laura Gibbons

David Rogers

Suzanne Guppy

Ranees Miskovich

Dorothy Staples

Molra Fenton

Carol Vita

Patricia Brown

Rosemary Bender

Linda McCatharn

Marie Groves

Jim Zecchin

Alan Kelly

Dorian Snipes

Joan Swlhart

Rick Mullln

Ralph Loveys

Shipping & Receiving William Rogalski

Ronald Antonacclo

Scott McLeod

Nick Ninni

Mark Archambault

Mike Grlbbon

Nick Roy^

Advertising Sales

Advertising Coordinator

Renee Christman Creative Computing P.O. Box 789-M Morristown, NJ 07960 (201)540-0445

Western States, Texas

Jules E. Thompson, Inc. 1 290 Howard Ave.. Suite 303 Burlingame, CA 94010 (415)348-8222

Southern California

Jules E. Thompson, Inc.

2560 Via Tejon

Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274

(213)3784361

Mid-Atlantic, Northeast CEL Associates. Inc. 27 Adams Street Braintree, MA 02184 (617)848-9306

Midwest Ted Rickard 435 Locust Rd. Wilmette, IL 60091 (312)251-2541

New York Metroplitan Area Nelson & Miller Associates, Inc.

55 Scsnic Dr

Hastings-on-Hudson. NY 10706 (914)478-0491

Southeast

Paul McGinnisCo. 60 East 42nd St. New York, NY 10017 (212)490-1021

1

r

Responsibility

Creative Computing will not be responsible for the return of unsolicited manuscripts, cassettes, floppy disks, pro- gram listings, etc. not submitted with a self -addressed, stamped envelope.

OK to Reprint

Material in Creative Computing may be reprinted without permission by school and college publications, per- sonal computing club newsletters, and nonprofit publications. Only original material may be reprinted; that is, you may not reprint a reprint. Also, each re- print must carry the following notice on the first page of the reprint in 7-point or larger type (you may cut out and use this notice if you wish):

Please send us two copies of any publi- cation that carries reprinted material. Send to attention: David Ahl.

Microform

Creative Computing is available on permanent record microfilm. For com- plete information contact University mi- crofilms International, Dept. FA., 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106 or 18 Bedford Road, London WC1R 4EJ, England.

Foreign Customers

Foreign subscribers in countries listed below may elect to subscribe with our local agents using local currency. Of course, subscriptions may also be entered directly to Creative Computing (USA) in U.S. dollars (bank draft or credit card). All foreign subscriptions must be prepaid.

Many foreign agents stock Creative Computing magazines, books, and software. However, please inquire directly to the agent before placing an order. Again, all Creative Computing products may be ordered direct from the USA-be sure to allow tor foreign shipping and handling.

CANADA S 1-year	c^SS	Ak n/a
2-year	56	n/a
3-year	80	n/a
Micron Oistnb.
408 Queen SI W
Toronto. OT M5V 2A5. Canada
AUSTRALIA	SA	•A
1-year	28	52
2-year	54	101
3-year	78	150
ELECTRONIC CONCEPTS PTY.. LTD.
Attn. Rudi Hoest
Ground Floor 55 Clarence St.
Sydney. NSW 2000. Australia
ENGLAND	£	C
1-year	12.50	21.00
2-year	24.00	41.00
3-year	34.50	61.00
CREATIVE COMPUTING
Attn: Hazel Gordon
27 Andrew Close
Stoke Golding. Nuneaton CV13 6EL
FRANCE	F	F
1-year	120	201
2-year	228	385
3-year	332	588
SYBEX EUROPE
14/18 Rue Planchat
75020 Paris. France
GERMANY	dm	dm
1-year	52	86
2-year	88	168
3-year	141	250
HOFACKER-VERLAG
Ing. W Hofacker
8 Munchen 75
Postfach 437. West Germany
HOLLAND. BELGIUM		f
1-year		118
2-year		231
3-year		332
2XF COMPUTERCOLLECTIEF
Attn: F. de Vreeze
Amstel312A
101 7 AP AMSTERDAM, Holland
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1-year	34.000	52.000
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ADVEICO S.R L.
Via Emilia Ovest. 128
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Attn: Giulio Bertellim
JAPAN	Y	Y
1-year	8.800	11.800
2-year	13.300	23.100
3-year	18.300	34.400
ASCII PUBLISHING
Aoyama Building 5F
5-16-1 Minami Aoyama. Minato-Ku
Tokyo 107. Japan
PHILIPPINES	P	F
1-year	214	363
2-year	413	716
3-year	588	1058
INTEGRATED COMPUTER SYSTEMS. INC.
Suite 205. Limketkai BWg.. Ortigas Ave.
Greenhills P.O Box 483. San Juan
Metro Manila 31 13, Philippines
SWEDEN	Kr	Kr
1-year	123	206
2-year	238	405
3-year	340	603
HOBBY DATA
Attn: Jan Nitsson
Fack
S-200 12 Malmo 2. Sweden
OTHER COUNTRIES	US*	US*
1-year	28	50
2-year	56	87
3-year	88	143
CREATIVE COMPUTING
P.O. Box 789-M
Morristown. N J. 07880. USA

CREATIVE COMPUTING

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FEBRUARY 1981

HEWLETT ff PACKARD

HP-85A ONLY $2795

HP-85 ACCESSORIES

5-'/4" Dual Master

Disc Drive List $2500 $2125

5-%" Single Master

Disc Drive List $1500 $1275

HP 7225A

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HP-85 16K

Memory Module List $395 . $355

HP-85 Application Pacs Standard List $95 $85

Serial (RS-232C)

Interface Module list $395 $355

GPIO

Interface Module List $495 $445

IMAGINE A CALCULATOR YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE. IT'S HERE-THE HP-41C.

HP-41C ONLY $244.95

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HP-32E Scientific w Statistics _ HP-33C Scientific Programmable HP-34C Advanced Scientific

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HP-67 Handheld Fully Advanced Programmable Scientific for Business A Engineering

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123.95 S8.9S

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HP-97 Desktop w/ Built-in Printer 579.95

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Commodore Pet

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A PERSONAL COMPUTER ATARI* SYSTEMS

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Atari® 400 List $630 $499

CIRCLE 240 ON READER SERVICE CARD

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Congratulations!

We have two winners! In September, we announced a competition for the best transportation simulation and the best simulation in a freestyle category.

Kenneth Murray of Grand Rapids. Michigan wrote an amazing simulation, "Streets of the City." The user has goals of completing street and Interstate highway construction, improving street repair, improving traffic safety, upgrading the bus fleet, increasing ridership and improv- ing on-schedule performance. It will be published in its entirety in the April or May issue of Creative Computing. Ken received an Ohio Scientific Challenger IP for his simulation.

Richard Galbraith of Tempe, Arizona also wrote an exceptional simulation, "Trucker." The program simulates coast- to-coast trips by an independent trucker hauling different types of cargo. The primary objective is to improve the user's understanding of reasonable risk-taking and the costs involved in freighting. It succeeds very well. It will be published in the March or April issue. Richard received an Interact computer and software for his efforts.

Getting Bigger and Growing Stronger

Getting Bigger

Some months ago when we had a company luncheon at Victoria Station, we needed their largest private room to hold all 60 of us. Such is the time for reflections and one person recalled that two and a half years ago the company would have fit in one large booth (8 people).

We're still growing. Our newest division headed by Larry Koss will provide exten- sion and adult educational courses in cooperation with school districts and colleges throughout Northern New Jersey. Of course, there are also our new maga- zines. Microsystems, and Sync. These and several other new ventures will be described in an upcoming Random Ramblings column.

However, we're not ignoring our estab- lished divisions. Creative Computing maga- zine is growing at a rapid clip. Indeed, within a few months you'll be seeing ads for it on TV in certain parts of the country. You've probably already seen ads for it in Popular Science, Scientific American, The Wall Street Journal and scores of other places.

Recently too. Creative Computing has

received editorial mention in The New York Times, New Jersey Monthly, The Christian Science Monitor as well as on CBS-TV.

Growing Stronger

All this growth would not be possible if we didn't have quality products. And quality in this business means people, none in the publishing business being more important than the editorial people.

Hence, it is with great delight that we welcome George Blank to our staff as Editorial Director. George comes to us from The Software Exchange where he was editor of Softside. Readers of Creative should be familiar with George as the author of our Atari column. We feel that George will be a tremendous addition to our editorial department. His responsibility includes management of all magazine, book and software publishing of Creative Com- puting.

The "new" editor of Creative Computing is Elizabeth Staples. No newcomer to these pages, Betsy has been doing the new products column and generally one or two pieces per issue for the past year and a half. This was done on top of her regular duties as Business Manager where she oversaw the entire order processing, subscription fulfillment, retail sales, finan- cial and accounting operations of the corporation.

Ted Nelson will occupy the newly- created position of editor-at-large. In this position he will have the freedom to explore new and interesting concepts, carry on with his personal research projects, philo- sophize and give us outpourings from his fertile mind.

We expect these changes to have a very positive effect on both the editorial content of the magazine and our dealings with outside contributors. Speaking of contributors, if you haven't seen the editorial on effective writing by Chris Morgan in the December issue Byte, I urge you to read it. He says many things that I've been saying for ages, but he does it in a succinct and entertaining fashion.

Credit Due to Personal Computer World

In the December issue, we published an in-depth review of the Sinclair ZX80 by David Tebbutt. We also noted that the review was reprinted from Personal Com- puter World. However, we probably should have given you a bit more background

Personal Computet" World is a British magazine and, in some loose sense, is our sister publication in the U.K. We both

run David Levy's Intelligent Computer Games column, for example. Also, we occasionally reprint a piece from PCW and vice versa.

We feel that some important develop- ments are emerging from the U.K., such as the Sinclair ZX80, Acorn Atom and Tuscan S100 on the hardware front. In addition, companies such as Thorn/EMI are developing outstanding software. Short of frequent trips to Britain, we keep tuned to the latest developments through the magazines. A one-year subscription to PCW costs 22 (approx. $50) via air mail. Write Personal Computer World, 14 Rathbone Place, London W1P IDE, England.

Personal Computing for the Handicapped (National Contest)

Johns Hopkins University will be con- ducting the First National Search/Contest on the Application of Personal Computing to Aid the Handicapped starting in Novem- ber 1980 and lasting to June 1981.

Major objectives of the contest are to:

1 ) Focus the power of computing tech- nology on the urgent needs of millions of handicapped citizens.

2) Harness individual innovation and creativity on a national basis.

National Computer Problem Solving Contest

The University of Wisconsin — Parkside extends an invitation to schools everywhere to participate in its fifth annual computer problem solving contest. Complete rules and a copy of last year's problems with solution, appear on p. 82 of this issue.

Corrections

In the December 1980 "Apple Cart," the price of RADCOM PLUS was given as $190,000. The correct price is $190. Also, the software was referred to as Integer Basic. This is not the name of the program, just the language it runs under.

The Program for "Out of Sorts" (December 1980, page 14) has a line missing. The line is: 205 LET I = I- Y

On page 67 of the December 1980 issue the price of the CBM 2022 printer was incorrectly listed as $995. The printer sells for $795.

CREATIVE COMPUTING

STOP PLAYING GAMES AND GET DOWN TO DOSINESS

Corvus Transforms the Personal Computer into a Powerful Business Tool.

In business, professional offices, and schools through- out the world, thousands of Corvus intelligent peripherals bring mass storage, increased speed, and multi-user capability to a variety of microcomputers. Current applica- tions include accounts receivable and payable, medical records, mailing lists, inventories, word processing, insur- ance, mathematics and science, and other large and complex files.

Corvus proven Winchester disk technology provides 10 to 80 million bytes of capacity, fully compatible with your current operating system. This is up to 500 times the -^ capacity of a floppy disk.

The Corvus CONSTELLATION links up to 64 com- puters in a state-of-the-art multi-processor network. It provides shared mass storage, pipes for inter-computer „ « «• -

communication, and system spooling for sharing of peripherals such as printers. Performance far exceeds that of larger and more expensive networks. "->

Backup data protection and archival storage are pro- vided by the Corvus MIRROR (Patent Pending), a low- cost backup using standard video cassette recorders.

Contact your local Corvus dealer for the full story about these innovative new products. .

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©Creative Computing

Business as Usual

Dear Editor:

1 would like to comment on the article written by Mr. Paul F. Doering. entitled, "The Bleak Future of Small Business Computing," in the November, 1980 issue of Creative Computing.

First, I certainly agree that there are both good and bad business programs available. However, to condemn all business programs as being poorly written is like throwing the baby out with the bath water.

While some of the problems mentioned in Mr. Doering's article are real, he has missed a very critical point. That is, the whole area of business application of small computers is very new. As in a fledgling industry, it takes time to mature and shake out the marginal operators.

A suggestion we use, in our firm, to ascertain the quality of a program is to ask for the documentation before purchasing. This costs a firm little and does a reasonable job in protecting it from poorly written programs or programs with inadequate documentation.

Also, another thing a prospective purchaser of business programs should inquire about are the qualifications of the programmer. It is very critical to have a programmer that understands the application as well as having programming skill. For example, frequently I have seen programs written to compute asset depreciation schedules — only to find out that they use the general guidelines method of depreciation. This method was outmoded by the ADR (Asset Depreciation Range schedule) which offers significantly greater tax shield to the firm.

Our firm has been in business for two years now — dedicated to promoting quality business software. To our knowledge, we have never had any complaint about our products. I only mention this to show that there are good business software houses.

Jerome S. Osteryoung, Ph.D.

Management Systems Software, Inc.

2912 Brandemere Drive

Tallahassee, FL 32312

Bleak House

Dear Editor:

I couldnt agree more with the observations of Mr. Doering in his article "The Bleak Future of Small-Business Computing" (November 1980). Clearly he makes many fine points regarding the sometimes immoral schemes foisted upon the innocent (and sometimes naive) small businessman.

1 regularly run up against businessmen who are so eager to "get into computers" that they just can't reason straight. When an effort is made to explain such things as the need for backup, maintenance, audit trails and the like, they conclude that such things are merely an attempt to "milk" them for more money. They are bound and determined to get a complete computer system for the least amount of money. Therefore, they invite Mr. Doerings kitchen-table amateur (KTA) in with open arms! Is it any wonder that such businessmen fail?

At the same time though, I question the conclusion of Mr. Doering that a bleak future is ahead for small business computing. Regardless of the reasons why the situation has reached its current state of affairs, I don't think it is a terminal ailment. The mystique which has long surrounded computers is quickly crumbling, thanks to the home computer cra/e. Businessmen worth their salt have gone and talked to others about the problems associated with installing a computer system. Most of them are smarter than we computer professionals may be willing to give them credit for.

No doubt the problems mentioned in the article have contributed toward the go-slow attitude we have seen among businessmen in general. And remember too, there have been successes. Those competent commercial programmers (CCP's) responsible for such successes are going to be in high demand. They will be around for a long time. Meanwhile, the kitchen- table amateur who is out to make a quick buck is liable to move along to some other get-rich-quick scheme. While new ones will come along from time to time, 1 think we will see a stabilizing which will be beneficial for all.

The situation reminds me of the fledgling personal computer marketplace that existed just a few years ago. Then the urge was to market a product that was insufficiently

CREATIVE COMPUTING

WHY THE MICROSOFT

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But if you're one of the thousands of Apple owners using the Sof tCard. there's an economical new way to expand your memory dramatically.

16K ON A PLUG-IN CARD.

Microsoft's new RAMCard simply plugs into your Apple II." and adds 16k bytes of dependable, buffered read/write storage.

Together with the SoftCard, ■— the RAMCard gives you a 56k CP/M" system that's big enough to take on all kinds of chores that would never fit before (until now. the only way to get this much memory was to have an Apple Language Card installed).

GREAT SOFTWARE: YOURS, OURS, OR THEIRS.

With the RAMCard and SoftCard, you can tackle large- scale business and scientific computing with our COBOL and FORTRAN languages. Or greatly increase the capability of CP/M

II

■

applications like the Peachtree Software account- ing systems. VisiCalc'M and other Apple software packages can take advantage of RAMCard too.

And RAMCard gives you the extra capacity to develop advanced programs of your own, using the SoftCard and CP/M. Even with the RAMCard in place, you can still access your ROM BASIC and monitor routines.

t JOIN THE SOFTCARD

FAMILY.

The RAMCard is just the latest addition to the SoftCard family — a comprehensive sys- tem of hardware and software that can make your Apple more versatile and powerful than you ever imagined.

Your Microsoft dealer has all the exciting details. Visit him soon, and discover a great idea that keeps getting better.

Microsoft Consumer Products, 400 108th Ave. N.E., Suite 200, Bellevue, WA 98004. (206)454-1315.

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Model II 64K RAM Model-Ill 16K RAM Model-Ill. 3?K Dual Disk Pocket Computer w/lnterlace TRS-80 Color Computer TRS-80 Color Computer Expanded COMM-80 Interface CHATTER BOX Interlace DISK 80 Interlace Expansion Interlace no RAM Expansion Interlace. 1 6K RAM Expansion Interlace. 32K RAM RS-232-C Board TRS-232 Printer Interlace 16K Memory Kit TRS-keypad 16K Memory Kit. TRS-Exp Int

OUR PRICE	LIS! PRICE
S3899 00	$3599 00
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S298 95	$269 00
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ATARI 800
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ATARI' JACC 16K RAM $149.00 AXLON 32K RAM $259.00

APPLE II* or APPLE II +r- 48K $1119.00 ^

TRS-80*

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16K with extended

BASIC $519.00

TRS-80* MODEL III

16K $929.00 32K with two drives $2299.00

	OUR PHlCE	LIS! PRICE
Upper/lower Mod Kit	$59 00	$24 95
Video Reverse Kit		$23 95
CPU Speed-up Kit		$24 95
Percom Electric Crayon w/cable		$279 95
TRS-80 Dust Cover (3pc set).MOD-l	$9 95	$7 95
TRS-80 Computer Case	S109 00	$99 95
TRS-80 Monitor Case	$84 00	$84 00
Percom TFD-100. 40-track	$429 95	$399 00
Percom Dual TFD-100 Drives	$849 00	S799 00
Percom. TFD-40. 40-track	$399 95	$379 00
Percom. TFD-200 77-track	$675 00	S629 00
Hardside 40-track Disk Drive	$389 00	$329 00
Percom Data Separator		$29 95
Extender Cable		$15 95
? Drive Cable	$29 95	$29 00
1-Drive Cable	$39 95	S39 00

PMC-80

Personal Microcomputers

A work-alike computer to the TRS-80* Model I. Level II. Complete Level II. 12K BASIC ROM by Microsoft 100 software compatible with Radio Shack programs and other independent suppliers Built-in cassette player Will operate with any Radio Shack peripherals and others. Interface Adapter permits Ex- pansion Interface with memory expansion to 48K to be added. Expansion Interface will also permit the addition of Radio Shack compatible 5%" disk and disk operating systems. RS-232. printers, etc. Reg S645

OUR LOW S599.

DISK-80

Disk Controller (up to 4 drives)

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Incl. 16K Of RAM

Provision for an additional 16K RAM

TRS-BUS Connector for future expansion

ONLY $339.00

PRINTERS

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Epson MX-80 $969.00

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CIRCLE 180 ON READER SERVICE CARD

I/O, continued...

engineered to protect the buyer's investment. Yet. it was cheap! Computer enthusiasts bought such hardware thinking they were getting a bargain. Thankfully, many of those early marketeers are no longer with us. Instead, we have a relatively stable community of competent hardware vendors who are conscientiously trying to deliver a reliable product at a reasonable cost, but not necessarily cheap. They recognize the value of doing it right even if it must cost a few dollars more.

Daryl A. Frame, President

Discreet Computer Service, Inc.

69 Victor Herbert Drive

Ventura, CA 93003

Lonely Parts Club

Dear Editor:

I would like to help form or join a Video Brain user's group. My little orphan was purchased for $78 with three ROM cartridges, but I have been unable to obtain a Basic ROM so far, so it's just games for now. I would like to get in touch somehow with other users, and most of all obtain a Basic cartridge. Can you help me?

John Starrett

7115 E 14th Ave.

Denver, CO 80220

P.S. I also own a ZX80 and would like to see some articles about

it and correspond with other users.

We did run something on the Video Brain in the September 1980 issue, p. 38.

As for the 1X80. try our new magazine. Sync, $10 a year. — TN

Vote of Confidence

Dear Editor:

I found Stephen Kimmel's "Election Prediction by Computer" in the October 1980 Creative Computing and used it with great pleasure this week.

In fact, at about 6:45 p.m. on November 4th, my TRS-80 predicted a Reagan landslide with only Kentucky and Indiana — but then who believes a "computer knut" that early in the evening? (Actually not even the knut.)

Anyway, the program was well written, it worked on first input, and the article presenting was also good reading. I am not a subscriber but I scan all the appropriate magazines at the University Library.

Thank you and congratulations for a most enjoyable evening.

Eli C. Hall

Resident Manager

University of Kentucky

Carnahan House Conference Center

Lexington, KY 40511

Peak Performance

Dear Editor:

It seems that the people who "yell" the loudest in the world are those who feel they have been wronged. Computer journals are filled with letters telling of the incredible suffering and horrors of trying to do business with various computer oriented companies. Unfortunately there is little said about the companies with whom we have dealings which are especially pleasant.

1 have been a computer hobbyist for quite some time, and

as such I have experienced much of the frustration and dissatis- faction of purchasing hard & software from numerous vendors. Over the past few months 1 have had the absolutely incredible experience of dealing with Mountain Computer. Inc.

Mountain Computer manufactures a line of peripherals mainly for the Apple Computer. As the owner of three of their products, 1 can say without fear of contradiction that their products are second to none. Their hardware, software, docu- mentation and even the packaging of their products is superb.

Mountain Computer has an incredible attitude towards its customers. I have had a few occasions to correspond with the company to request information. I was slightly amazed (in a field in which companies seem to neglect answering their mail) to receive immediate, informative and friendly replies to my requests. In one instance they actually called me via telephone to give me a personal and timely reply to my request.

I once telephoned them to ask if it would be possible to send a representative to our local Apple Users Group (note: we are in New Jersey; they are in California) to demonstrate their product line. 1 really expected a negative answer, but much to my joy and surprise they answered in the affirmative and even set a date with me immediately.

I can go on and on about this outstanding company. If you are looking for an Apple peripheral, give this company a look, because if they happen to manufacture what you are looking for. you will be hard pressed to find a superior product.

S. D. Sadowsky

17 Round Hill Road

Scotch Plains, NJ 07076

Waiting for Baudot

Dear Editor:

As your November issue points out, being a deaf dancer really IS something. Being able to communicate with her friends, relatives and emergency services via telephone is something else. 1 would like to enlist your help in providing some information which may be important to this young dancer.

As you may know, the deaf can use teletypewriters to communicate with their friends and a small number of public agencies which have installed TTYs. Because the origin of this network resulted from cast-off Western Union hardware, their standard for communication is the BAUDOT code. 1 have been trying to track down a reasonably priced modem which would be switchable from ASCII to BAUDOT. If such a device exists or if its development could be encouraged, it would have several commercial and human benefits:

• The deaf could be integrated into the home-computer communication network to the benefit of all.

• The deaf could use home-computers rather than the single-purpose devices they now must buy which cost as much.

• Businesses would be in instant compliance with Federal laws which require them to have non-discriminatory communicative access, through interface with existing ASCII hardware or typewriter interface.

• Everyone could communicate with and market tele- communication devices internationally. (Is BAUDOT translation not a problem?)

If you have any specific information, leads or general thoughts about making the computer revolution work for ALL of us, I would be glad to share them with some of the young deaf dancers of the world.

David V. Williams. Ph.D.

5 Wildflower Drive

Ithaca. NY 14850

12

CREATIVE COMPUTING

The

MAGIC WAND

IS

ALMOST PERFEC.

We've been saying it for a few months now, and the reviewers seem to agree.

4 4 Until I saw the Magic Wand, if I were allowed to own one and only one editor, Word Star* would have been it. ... My personal preference is for Pencil or Magic Wand for text creation. 5 5

Jerry Pournelle On Computing, Summer 1980

4 4 The basic functions of the Magic Wand editor are as easy to learn as those of Electric Pencil*. . . . Magic Wand dominates in the area of print formatting. 5 5 Larry Press

On Computing, Summer 1980

4 4 Of all the word processors I have used (and that includes a dozen or more), the Magic Wand is the most versatile. The Wand has almost all of the features of other processors, plus many new ones of its own. It measures up to even the word-processing software running on the largest mainframe computers. 5 5 Rod Hallen

Microcomputing, June 1980

4 4 The Magic Wand is one of the most flexible word processing packages available, and should be considered by any potential word processing purchaser. 5 5 Glenn A. Hart

Creative Computing, August 1980

Available for both the CP/M" and OASIS operating systems

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CIRCLE 194 ON READER SERVICE CARD

I/O continued... In Addition

Dear Editor:

Your October, 1980 issue carried a letter in the Compendium section by a Susan J. Wilkins wherein an accountant or equally uncreative type was required to be browbeaten by the programmer in determining a listing program.

In acquiring my first cassette computer system in 1973, I too was advised that the computer could not add sideways.

When 1 pointed to my purchase order and said that it was part of the agreement; that if no such program could be accomplished that 1 would not pay for the system and the factory could pick up the equipment, then:

Very quickly not only could the computer add sideways but the program allowed for an error column and a provision for correcting errors, the computer could add down, and both sets of columnar totals would balance against each other and indicate any errors in balance differences.

Two years ago when 1 went to a hard disk system, Wang's people gave me the same runaround (which cost them a sale) but Century Computer's staff found no problem in providing the application.

When programmers realize they are here to provide what a user requires or wants, not what a programmer feels the user could use. then perhaps more systems would be acquired resulting in uncreative types of programmers becoming human beings.

Sully Sudin

Public Accountant

730 East Washington Street

Marina Del Rey, CA 90291

Summing it Up

Dear Editor:

1 am not too often moved to write rebuttals to publications but in reference to Susan J. Watkins'"A Short Episode" in the October Compendium, Page 12, 1 have been moved.

One of the great differences between a GOOD programmer and just another programmer is that person's knowledge of now to make the program do what the customer wants it to do. It is, admittedly, sometimes difficult for us customers to convey to the programmer what we want done.

The image of the programmer locked up in the back room with his chocolate bars and root beer is not helped much by Ms. Wilkins' programmer friend. It sounds like he falls into this image very well. He is not sharp, he is just not a programmer.

1 am no programmer but once in a while I do convince my computer to do what I want it to do. One of those things is to add BOTH row and column totals. It is not difficult and certainly should be within the capabilities of any programmer.

Maybe my assumptions are wrong. Maybe both Ms. Wilkins and Creative Computing were looking for Halloween stories since her story appeared in your October issue.

R. W. Russell

418 Louisiana, S.E., Suite 8

Albuquerque, NM 87108

For the Record

Dear Editor:

We are writing this letter in regard to Mr. Yob's evalu- ation of the MTU music system and song data in the November 1980 PET column ("about going too far").

Mr. Yob seems to have missed the overall point of the system (which is to produce high quality music at a low cost).

For some reason he complains that the program pushes the PET to its limits in order to obtain the best possible results (would he prefer a lower quality music, to make it "easier" on the PET?)!

In his evaluation, Mr. Yob recommends the use of additional hardware, which costs considerably more than $1000 (whereas the MTU system requires only a $50 digital-to-analog converter, which can be used for other purposes besides music, and a $25 software package).

The major advantage of computer generated music is the ability to control instrument definitions, alter pitch, and envelope & timber. We personally don't know of any $7.00 record that can be played with several different variations and control.

Granted, there are some limitations in the system, but not enough to condemn it to the point of abstinence simply because it can't compare to album quality (kind of like cutting your nose off to spite your face).

Matt Ganis & Fred Covitz

Constant Comment

Dear Editor:

In a recent article (August 1980) entitled "Translating into Apple Integer Basic," the author. Jordan Mechner, spoke of some limitations of integer arithmetic. I would like to pass along some tips developed in the olden days (i.e., I970.4K Nova computer, no model number, just a Nova) for dealing with fractions using integers.

We used a "precision constant" to give us the desired fractional accuracy in our computations. You multiply your number by a precision constant before an operation which would produce a fraction. For example, (5 10)/ 2 = 25. You can output the precision constant and result (10,25) and know the answer is really 2.5. Using this method you can get any desired degree of precision. Usually one or two decimal places is all that is required. The concept of significant digits is relevant here. Thus, square root and Mugwumps is possible with Apple integer Basic contrary to Mechner's article.

You must be careful using this method. Some very large numbers can result, and the user must watch out for overflow. Also note /X= /I0X. For square root applications use 100 or 10,000 as the precision constant.

Andrew L. Homer

Research Associate

University of Missouri - Columbia

Department of Psychology

210 McAlester Hall

Columbia, MO 65211

Curtain Call

Dear Editor:

I especially enjoyed your feature on Actor Languages in the October issue. Smalltalk and its friends may not save the world from Basic and COBOL but at least it's concept -oriented (rather than machine-oriented). Here are some other fun ideas for special sections: program testing and verification. Very High Level Languages, exotic graphics systems, database models, compiler design for the layman ... did 1 leave anything out?

Steve North

35A Orchard St.

Summit, NJ 07901

14

CREATIVE COMPUTING

Meet the Tiger with a bigger bite

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presents a breakthrough in matrix printm ering the user excellent print quality wit: oe of a matrix printer. Employing a unic red column" head manufactured by Integr creates high quality printouts by overla

Paper Tiger 560 Print Sample

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CIRCLE 207 ON READER SERVICE CARD

columns, parallel and serial interfaces, self- diagnostics, and more. All inside the most compact printer of its kind.

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'Suggested U.S. retail price.

ALF/ Apple Music Synthesizer

The ALF Apple Music Synthesizer (AMS) is an easy to use peripheral which allows you to program music into an Apple II computer using standard musical notation. The ALF kit includes the synthesizer board (plugs into any peripheral slot), exceptional quality software, and an extensive user manual.

Sophisticated Music Entry Program

Sheet music is easily entered using the Apple game paddles. The high-resolution ENTRY program features the familiar music staff with a "menu" of musical items listed beneath it (note lengths, rests, edit commands, acciden- tals, etc.). One game paddle moves a cursor up and down the music staff and is used to select the note pitch; the second paddle chooses from the menu items (note length, etc.) With the ALF hi-res ENTRY program, you won't have to use cryptic codes to select note parameters.

As you program sheet music with ENTRY, measure bars are inserted automatically (and note values are tied over the bar where necessary). Key signatures are also automatic— you don't have to keep writing in every sharp or flat!

Three monophonic, individual parts can be programmed with each ALF Music Synthesizer. Two boards are required for stereo. A total of three synthesizers can be used simultaneously for a maximum of nine voices. By controling the envelope (or shape) of each voice, many different instrumental sounds can be simulated.

Eight-octave Range

The ALF Music Synthesizer has a pitch range of eight octaves— a wider range than a grand piano. The ALF can also play semitones— "blues notes" or the pitches in between the keyboard notes of a piano. (The pitch range is from 27.5 to 55,000 Hertz, well beyond the limits of human hearing.) Tuning accurancy is virtually perfect within two cents of pitch value.

Every parameter of the ENTRY program can be changed again and again during a musical piece. For example, you can make changes in key, time signature, volume, and timbre (envelope). Parts can be edited at any time, also. Notes can be added or deleted, note length can be changed, as well as pitch, volume, etc.

You can save songs on either cassette or disk, and play them back using either ENTRY or PLAY. The playback speed is adjusted with one of the game paddles, and can be varied during the playback, if you wish to change the overall tempo.

Colorful Playback Display

The ALF Music Synthesizer features a 16-color low-res graphic display during song playback. Each musical part is represented on a stylized piano "keyboard"— the intensity of the note determines the color, and the pitch is shown in relation to "middle C".

The ALF Music Synthesizer requires the use of an external audio amplifier. Stereo programming is possible with the use of two or three synthesizer boards.

The ALF software includes the ENTRY and PLAY programs, sample songs, an introduction to "envelope shaping", and demonstrations of advanced uses of the synthesizer.

With the ALF software, enfry of music is easy, fast and accurate.

Nine Voices for only S198

The new ALF "AM-II" music synthesizer offers an unbeatable value for the Apple owner who is a music hobbyist. With nine voices on a single music board for $198.00, the AM-II is the most economical device for creating music with the Apple.

The AM-II uses the same excellent ENTRY and PLAY programs as the more sophisticated ALF Music Synthe- sizer (AMS); the same hi-res graphic display from which notes are selected with the Apple game paddles (not typed with cryptic codes). All of the conveniences of the ENTRY program apply— easy editing, playback with low-res display, ability to save songs on cassette or disk, etc.

The AM-II has stereo output (3 voices in left, 3 voices in the middle, 3 voices in the right).

How can the AM-II offer so much for only $198.00? The two basic differences between the AM-II and the ALF Apple Music Synthesizer (AMS) are pitch accuracy and dynamic range. The AM-II has an accurate pitch range of about six octaves. Pitch values above the treble staff become increasingly inaccurate. Also, the AM-II has a dynamic range of 28db, with 16 different volume levels, (the AMS has a dynamic range of 78db).

The AM-II is manufactured with the same high quality standards as other products from the ALF Corporation. No sacrifice has been made in reliability; the new AM-II is simply a great bargain.

Professional musicians will still want to use the original Apple Music Synthesizer (AMS) for its extended range and volume controls (the AMS has a range of 8 octaves). But for the Apple owner who is interested in music as a hobby, the AM-II is the best music peripheral value available today.

Requires : 16K Apple II or Apple II Plus, cassette or Disk II, and an external audio amplifier (all necessary patch cords are included). AM-II ALF /Apple Synthesizer $198.00

AMS ALF/Apple Synthesizer 268.00

To order, send payment plus $3.00 shipping and handling to Peripherals Plus, 119 Maple Ave., Morristown, NJ 07960. Credit card customers should include card number and expiration date of Visa, MasterCard or American Express. Credit card customers may also order toll-free:

800-631-8112

(In NJ call 201-540-0445)

Peripherals Plus

119 Maple Ave., Morristown, NJ 07960

CIRCLE 239 ON READER SERVICE CARD

HOW TO TURN AN APPLE INTO A TANK.

With Computer ConfBct"and a little imagination, we'll transform your staid and respectable Apple computer into the fearsome war machine of the Soviet Red Army. Computer Conflict actually consists of two fast-paced, action-packed war- games played on full-color mapboards of Hi-Res graphics: Rebel Force and Red Attack!

REBEL FORCE puts you in the role of a Soviet commander whose regiment must face a computer-directed guerrilla up rising which has overrun a vital town. Armed with your tank, heavy-weapons, and infantry units, your mission is to regain the town through the annihilation of the Rebel Force.

Your advance will be brutally opposed by minefields, ambushes, militia, and anti-tank guns — all skillfully deployed by your computer. Survival and success of your units will depend on your ability to take advantage of the variable terrains - open, forest and rough - each of which has different move- ment costs and shelter values.

In this finery- balanced solitaire wargame, everv move is plaveri i m^«' --"a! time conditir

the same time, caution cannot be cast aside; severe unit losses will only result in a Pyhrric victory at best

With its five levels of difficulty (plus one where you make up your own), the computer can and will stress your tactical skills to their fullest

RED ATTACK! simulates an invasion by a mixed Soviet tank and infantry force against a defending battalion. As the defender, your task is to deploy your infantry units effectively to protect three crucial towns — towns that must not fall!

As the Russian aggressor, your objective is to crush the resistance by taking two of these three towns with your tanks and infantry. With control of these strongpoints, the enemy's capitulation is assured.

Red Attack! is a two-player computer simulation of modem warfare that adds a nice touch: At the start of each game, the computer displays a random setup of terrains and units, pro- viding every game with a new, challenging twist

Computer Confhc* for $39.95, comes with the game pro- a.~.n mini-disc and a rv le book.

f*V

&3

OR A SPITFIRE.

After you're done playing Computer Conflict you may be in a mood for something other than ground-attack wargames. In that case. Computer Air Combat is just what you need.

With Computer Air Combat your screen lights up with an open sky generated by Hi-Res graphics offering global and tactical plots. Squint your eyes a bit let loose your mind, and you'd swear your keyboard has melted into the throttle, rudder, altimeter, and other cockpit instrumentation of a World War II combat plane. In fact any of 36 famous fighters or bombers, from a Spitfire and B-17 Flying Fortress to the Focke-Wulf 190 and A6M5 Zero Each plane is rated - in strict historical accuracy and detail - for firepower, speed, maneuverability, damage-tolerance, and climbing and diving ability.

Practically every factor involved in flying these magnificent airplanes has been taken into account even down (or up?) to the blinding sun. Climb, dive, twist and turn. Anything a real plane can do, you can do. However, the computer prevents all "illegal" moves - such as making an outside loop (which in real life, would disastrously stall a plane).

PLAY THE COMPUTER. Aside from being the games perfect administrator and referee, the computer will serve as a fierce opponent in the solitaire scenarios provided: Dogfight Bomber Formation, radar-controlled Nightfighter, and V-l Inter- cept There's even an Introductory Familiarization Flight (with Air Race option) to help you get off the ground.

With the number and type of planes and pilot ability variable, you can make the computer as challenging as you want to give you the ultimate flying experience.

PLAY A HUMAN. Two can play this game as well, in dogfights and bomber attacks. Given a handicap of more or better planes or an ace pilot (or all of the above), even a novice at Computer Air Combat stands a chance to defeat a battle hardened veteran.

For $59.95, Computer Air Combat gives you the game disc, a rule book two mapboard charts (for plotting strategies between moves), and three player-aid charts.

Credit card holders, if you own an Apple®!! 48K (Apple soft ROM) and a mini-floppy disc drive, call 800-227-1617 ext 335 (toll free) and charge your order to your VISA or MASTERCHARGE In California, call 800-772-3545, ext 335.

To order by mail, send your check to: Strategic Simulations Inc. Dept ST, 465 Fairchild Drive, No. 108, Mountain View, CA 94043. All our games carry a 14-day money back guarantee to assure your satisfaction.

While you're at it you can also get our other games:

D Computer Bismarck for your Apple: $59.95 Computer Bismarck. TRS-80® 48K Disc: $59.95 Computer Bismarck, TRS-80 32K Cassette: $49.95

D Computer Ambush (a tactical simulation of man-to man combat in WWII) for your apple: $59.95

D Computer Napoleonics, the Battle of Waterloo for your Apple: $59.95

D Computer Quarterback (a real-time strategy football game): $39.95

Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc.

TRS80 is a registered trademark of Tandy Corporation.

CIRCLE 201 ON READER SERVICE CARD

A Comparative Study

Music Editors for Small Computers

Rebecca T. Mercuri

Four-voice choral notation as seen in the MMI display. Notice thai the second complete measure appears to contain only three beats due to the fact that rests are not visible.

An abundance of music editors for small computers have recently appeared on the market. At RCA's David Sarnoff Research Center, where I an involved with computer music experimentation, I have had the opportunity to compare these systems.

The presently available music editors appear to fall into three categories: •Text editors which enable the user to directly enter a music file in a program like format.

•Editors which display musical notation, but require the user to enter the notes using an ASCII keyboard. •Graphic editors where entry of notes directly on the music staves is made possible by cursor manipulation.

Text-Like Editors

The VIP's system could be called a machine-language editor since it requires

Rebecca Mercuri. RCA. David Sarnoff Reasearch Center. Princeton. NJ 08540.

the user to directly input hexadecimal codes for each of the notes, each hex word specifying both the pitch and duration of one note. Musicraft and Orchestra-80 both take this idea one step further, and permit the user to input notes as they would be read aloud from conventional music. For example, A3H would indicate a 440 Hz half note.

Since both of these systems are similar to standard text editors, features have been incorporated which make it easy to ma- nipulate the music program. Insertion and deletion procedures can utilize line numbers, and looping, segmentation and external calls to other portions of the program are processes available to the user.

Both Musicraft and Orchestra-80 require compilation of the music program before playback, but an interesting feature of the Orchestra-80 editor allows the tempo to be changed during play by depressing number combinations on the keyboard. This feature enables the piece to be heard at various speeds: These may be adopted into the program text at a later time.

Display With ASCII Input

The MMI and Atari systems use ASCII input information similar to the Musicraft and Orchestra-80 systems, but provide a visual staff display for editing and playback. MMI utilizes a full four-voice display and requires that all notes in each chord be written vertically during editing. In the display-and-play mode, the score is scrolled from right to left, and note durations may not always be sounded precisely. In the play mode, there is no video display, but all rhythms are correctly performed.

Atari permits the independent writing of up to nine separate phrases. The arrange mode enables the user to insert these phrases into any of the four voices. In addition, the volume of each phrase may be changed each time it is called. Looping can be used in order to implement repeats or rounds. The color display used in editing assists the user in specifying the octave for each note. On playback, only one voice at a time may be displayed, the display voice being selected by the user.

Double staff display of the Atari editor. When measure checking is on, this measure would not be allowed, since it is clearly oversized. Color bands (difficult to see in this B & W print) are used to delimit the octave ranges.

18

The Supersound display utilizes coded information to keep track of measure, voice, selection, section, and note numbers. The f above the staff indicates an oversized measure. The note currently being edited is printed below the staff.

CREATIVE COMPUTING

The ALF system incorporates a menu and set of staves into its display. Notice that both key signatures and meters may be changed and displayed during the piece. User has the option to hear notes as cursor is moved or notes are deleted (see speaker diagram at right lower corner).

Single page of ideal music editor. Notice the similarity of the black-on-white display to actual musical notation. Staves are spaced far enough apart to permit insertion of text and dynamics mark- ings.

Considering the rapid development of the personal computer industry, it should soon be possible to construct music editors which bear a striking resemblance to printed music, and can also be used in real-time performance. My photograph of the "ideal" music editor demonstrates the high level of readability which is presently possible using the Apple II graphics display. Notes were input using a light pen, and sufficient space is available between staves to permit insertion of text and dynamics markings. The black-on-white display further enhances the similarity to printed notation. Let me remind the reader that this editor is only in the development stage and is not commer- cially available.

KL-4M, Supersound, ALF, and Mountain Hardware all offer music editors which permit cursor manipulation and note insertion directly on the musical staff.

The Visible Music Monitor provided with the KL-4M DAC Board permits four- part harmonic input for PET/CBM Com- puters. The notes are displayed horizontally, but grouped into chords with small lines. The cursor can be moved up or down to change the pitch of notes, and may also be moved right or left for insertion or deletion purposes. Due to display requirements of the PET, the notation appears much like that used in medieval music, but this does not detract much from its readability.

Persons familiar with the VIP system will recognize the Super Sound name in reference to the four-channel music player. At RCA, an experimental prototype music editor for the VIP was developed. The VIP four-channel Super Sound has the same music-playing features as the proto- type Supersound editor. The major differ- ence is that with the VIP, notes and measures must be hand-coded into memory, while the Supersound editor permits graphic entry of notes. Another feature of the proto- type involves the use of the note cursor. As the note is moved up or down in half-

step increments on the staff, the pitch is also heard. Future availability of this editor will most likely depend on user interest; information may be obtained from RCA Customer Service.

The ALF system is similar to the two editors mentioned previously, in that it permits cursor manipulation directly on the musical staff. In addition, it incorporates many of the features of the text editors such as subroutine calls and recursiveness. Meters, key signatures, envelopes, volumes, and tempi can all be redefined at any point in the music, thus providing the capability for inventiveness and flexibility in musical interpretations. The pitch of notes is heard as they are entered, providing immediate auditory feedback for the user. In addition, measure bars are automatically inserted by the editor. Notes which exceed the measure boundaries are tied over into the subsequent measure. The ALF system resolves the problem of real-time music display by utilizing a set of horizontal bars. As the notes are played, a small rectangle moves across each bar, and its position relative to middle C may be viewed. The color of the rectangle is dependent upon the volume of the note. It is my understand- ing that ALF is now marketing a single nine-voice board which has a six-(rather than eight-) oatave range, and a 28 db dynamic range (instead of 78 db for the 3- voice board).

The Mountain Hardware system utilizes 16 oscillators in order to obtain high-quality polyphonic instruments. Instead of specify- ing a monophonic voice, the user may select one of six instruments which have been preset. Of course, the number of notes played at any one time must not exceed sixteen. This editor permits single or double stave notation utilizing the treble, bass, tenor and alto clefs. A wide range of dynamic and tempo resets are also available, which may be inserted throughout the

A light pen (which is provided) may be used to access the menu. Version #1.1. which I viewed, did not provide the software support which I understand will be available in future versions. For instance, it is not yet possible for the user to create his/her own instrument tables in order to augment those that are supplied. It may be useful to review this system again at a later date when more software becomes available. I regret that I was unable to obtain a picture of Mountain Hardware's unique display.

The folllowing chart is a 37-point comparison of eight available music editors, a VIP-compatible editor prototype, and what I feel would be the "ideal" music editor.

The music editors in this chart have been listed in order of increasing complexity, and grouped according to the categories mentioned above. Increased complexity does not imply that these editors are harder to use; in fact, the reverse is often the case. I have avoided subjective factors (e.g. which is best?) so that the reader will be able to peruse that chart and determine which system suits his/her present needs. It is important to note that the cost listed for each editor can be deceptive, and should therefore be considered only in conjunction with the list of the equipment required. Some of the less expensive systems demand extensive hardware support; but, on the other hand, a number of the systems have special circuitry which cuts costs for the user.

Although all efforts were made to com- plete this chart, not all needed information was available. Where no information was available on a specific topic "NI" was used. "None" was only used if the product did not incorporate a particular feature. There were also occasional discrepancies between information presented in user's manuals and by the software representatives of the various music editors (or by the editors' performances alone). □

Music Editor Features

For Further Information

Music Hardware Included

VIP Super Sound

Musicraft

Orchestra-80

MMI

ATARI

Cost

Other Equipment Required

Number of Voices

Expandability

Required Minimum Memory Size

File Storage

File Protection

Display Characteristics

Editing Mode

Error Correction

Editing Program Structure

Music File Structure

Playback Mode

Note duration types

Dots

RCA Customer Service New Holland Ave Lancaster. PA 17604	Paul J Medlack 1031 Marlou Drive Baltimore. MD Distnb Newtech Computer Systems 230 Cinton St Brooklyn. N Y	Jon Bakelman 473 Sopena Court Suite i Santa Clara. CA 95051	309 Brautort Normal. IL 61761	1 195 Barregas Sunnyvale CA 94026
2 or 4 programabte frequency generators, music circuitry and keypad	Nora	Sound Chip and DA convener included on 2 PC board	Dividers D/A converter audio amplifier on board	Hardware is pan ot Atari BOO Keyboard Console
2 channel VP550 S49 Expander VP531 $74 4 channels Total $ 1 23	$79 95	$79 95	$200	Approx $40
Monitor. 4K VIP Audio Amplifier * Speakers and cable	CP/M System (Digital Research) Terminal with addressable cursor. Newtech Model 6 Music Board ($99 95)	TRS-60 Audio Amplifier 4 Speaker	Apple II 6 or 16 speaker	Atari 800, TV
2 ♦ drum or 4 with a single VIP	Editor can support 24 voices hardware can only supply 4 voices	4	4	4
Chaining ot multiple VIPS is possible	More memory can be added in order to increase fill size It may later be possible to expand to 24 voices	2 66 MHz clock can be used for better sound resolution	Software may be added but is not presently available	Sound can input through hi-fi but cables are not provided
2K/4K	24K Need additional 8K with music board	16K	48K	16K
Cassette Tape	Floppy disk	Floppy disk	Floppy disk	Cassette or disk
Nl	File can be destroyed it RESET or SHIFT seven is depressed	NEW RETURN kills file (4 keystrokes) In edit mode, lines can be deleted by depressing CLEAR	Single keystroke (O) when in command mode can kill entire RAM file	Erasure only occurs for single phase after query is answered by Y RETURN User can retrieve part ot file
Hexadecimal Display For Memory Address and data byte	Atl ASCII display	All ASCII display	White lines and notes on black background High resolution	In editing mode, color bands are used to denote octave ranges Color also used to highlight commands
Hexadecimal codes written into memory locations in order to create music file Machine-language type editing	Each line is one duration value All notes in chords must have the same duration	Each line is one complete measure Voices are separated on the line	Writing of each chord— all voices Chord sounded after all voices are entered Enter duration, note, octave Voices which contain sustaining notes are not requested in the subsequent beat(s)	Displays one measure at a time Plays entire measure each time a note is entered If display is exceeded in measure, only the remaining notes are seen
Rewriting of incorrect memory locations	Standard text editing methods tor insertion or deletion of characters	Standard text editing features plus Move lines around in program Split or merge lines Duplicate l nes Locate any string	Rewriting of each chord - all voces User must remember to install dashes for voces containing sustained notes Chords can be called by number	Measures of phrases may be called Cursor may be moved to insert, delete or rewrite individual notes
Not applicable	Menus or input area Line numbered text	Program text edit Line numbered text	Program is either in a command mode, or is requesting a new command mode	Tree structure with menus staff display or arrange display
Selection/ Sections Envelope/ Pitch Voice 142 Measures Voice 1 Notes Voice 2 Notes Voice 344 Measures Voice 3 Notes Vnir»< 4 Notes	Program text is stored Note value. Vi V2. V3 V4 needed for each line Other commands may be inserted directly into the text	Program text is stored A part may be defined as a group of measures and may be looped or called as a subroutine	Table of waveforms can be stored separately Music tile stores chords consecutively VVV2.V3.V4 1st chord VI. V2. V3.V4.& 2nd chord	Phrase records pitch duration pairs Voce records with voice info Looping in voces is possible
No display Play once or repeat Play random Selections	No display Delayed interactive system-compile is necessary before play	No display Compile necessary Real-lime interaction via keyboard is possible to change tempo during play	Display f* play shows full choral notation on double staff Incorrect rhythms may occur Play mode — no display Correct rhythms	Displays one voce m real- time If tempo is too fast sometimes notes on the display lag behind
JJ*V	Plus various pre-defined durations (triplets. qumteuplets)	W& Triplets		it*
Only dotted half, quarter and eighth are available	Single and double dots	Single, double and triple dotting	Single dots only Dots appear in relation to line or space	Single dots only Dots appear m relation to line or space

20

CREATIVE COMPUTING

KL-4K

Supersound

Graphics Editor

Prototype

fountain Hardware

Mike Riley c o A-B Computers USE Stamp Rd Montgomery^ lie. PA 18936	RCA Customer Service New Holland Ave Lancaster PA 17604	1448 Estes Denver. CO 80215	300 Harvey West Blvd Santa Cruz CA 95060	See upcoming articles m Creative Computing R Mercun M Keith RCA DSRC
8-bit D/A converter. Low pass filter, audio amplifier RCA jack	1802 microprocessor. 2 supersound chips. RC filters audio amplier. keyboard	Latches, dividers and RC filter on each board Each board has an individual crystal	16 oscillators Light pen board	Sound generation equipment D/A converter, audio amplifier included
$59 90	Not on Market	$265 per board	S545	Not on Market
Commodore PET-CBM Speaker	TV	Apple ll with paddles Audio Amplifier Speakers)	Apple II with at least i paddle Audio Amplifier Speaker! s)	Adapters to major small computer sockets should be available (Apple S-100 ) computer system Speaker! s)
4	4	3 per board up to 3 boards are possible	16	Virtually inifinite Ability to assign voice numbers to any note sequence
Hardware or software expansion would involve considerable program revision	Sound can input through hi- fi Two or more supersounds can be interlaced	With more than one board stereo becomes possible Relatively easy to add user software	Nl	Light pen com partible Stereo adaptability Should allow for easy addition of software by user
Nl	5KROM 3 SK RAM	36K	48K	As small as possible
Floppy disk	Cassette Tape	Floppy disk	Floppy disk	Disk
Virtually impossible to kill file while in editing mode	C (clear). N (new) or R(read) followed by RETURN can destroy file	NEW RETURN kills tile (4 keystrokes)	When in editing mode, if quite is requested, you are asked to confirm quit using keyboard	User should not be able to accidentally overwrite disk or destroy RAM tile Query before execution User option to destroy or retrieve part or all of file
Medium resolution white lines and notes on black background	Low resolution white lines and notes on blue background Measure and voice numbers are also in various colors	White lines and notes on black background	High resolution white lines and notes on black background menu display below staves Choice of single of double staves Choice of 4 menus	Black lines on white background Color option to indicate notes in individual voces Color also used to define timbre and envelope High Resolution
Cursor is positioned at center of screen, and may be moved up or down, or the staff may be scrolled left or right Notes are written horizontally and may sustain over other voices	Pressure sensitive keys are depressed Duration is determined and note may be moved up or down on the staff by repeated key presses	Screen editing Paddles are used for menu and note cursors Any measure may be accessed Only one voice at a time may be edited	Single or double staves displayed with menu beneath Menu maybe accessed with light pen. paddle or keyboard Note cursor accessed with paddle	User should be able to input music directly from written page Notes can be written in any order on the screen Editor creates a playable file from the screen image
Staff can be scrolled to permit note correction	Can access any measure and scan next and previous measures and notes Can t insert or delete measures Can copy measures previously written	Deletion replacement and insertion is cursor controlled File is compacted or expanded for deletion or insertion	Beginning or end of file can be accessed Staff can be scrolled to permit note correction, insertion or deletion	Can stop music during playback and page witl be displayed Insertion and deletion of groups of measures or notes Easy access with light pen to any item or page
Command menu, or note display	Staff Menus Musk Table— ♦Sections7 Select — *► Number''	Either editing a part or a subroutine Menu driven edit Menu appears at bottom of staff display	Command menu Instrument and speaker definitions Staff display with mam menu 3 other menus can be called	Menu and staff display on separate pages Separate page for control menu (help, store, retrieve, etc )
Coded m Hex 2 hex digits for each note Each pair is the pitch, voice and duration code tor the note	See VIP A Color Storage	Voices stored sequentially in variable size blocks Subroutines stored before parts	Nl	Separate editing file and play file Editing file contains visual data (words, spacings of notes)
Musical staff display on or oft during playback	See VIP	Low resolution bars with moving rectangle indicating pitch {relative placement) and volume (color)	No display Save and compile is necessary prior to play	Paging used in real-time display Optional bouncing ball Automatic rewrite when file is stored places notes in proper locations <r< measures
oJJJJ J Uses dashed flags for # 9 32nds A 64ths Triplets also	JJJ	Also any length note can be user defined Pius Triplets	ojjjyy*	oJJJJJ'J' Triplets with proper bracket User defined note durations
Single dots only	Single dots only Dots are in fixed position with note	Single only No dotted 64ths appear in relation to line or space Dotted Triplets possible	Single dots only	Multiple dotting Dots modify note values rather than separate storage for dotted units Dots appear m relation to line or space on rewrite

FEBRUARY 1981

21

	^Music Editor Features -^^^	VIP Super Sound	Musicraft	Orchestra-80	MMI	ATARI
Rests Ties Repeats Key Signature Accidentals Meter Transposition Pitch Range Measure Checking Tempo Volume Tuning Envelope Wave-shape Stems + Beams Clefs Scrolling/Paging	Same as note duration types	Same as note duration types	Same as note duration types	Same as note values Not displayed during editing olayback	Same as note duration types Whole rest whole measure (not just 4 counts)
Between measures by extending note duration	Note has to be written again it it exceeds the specified value Attack will occur again	Nl	None	Multiple ties can be written Slur may be written, but is not executed
Selections can be played repeatedly	Looping used tor repeats No levels of recursiveness are possible	A part can be defined as a group of measures and can be repeated, or called m the program	None	Arrange mode permits you tc call or repeat any of the nine phrases Looping used to repeat phrase groups
None	0-7 sharps or flats	Nl	None	0-7 sharps or flats Displayed on staff
« or b only remain tor that particular note	SHIFT 1 2. or 3 must be entered tor each note. 0 entered lor natural or note in key stg	«.b.\|\|.*.bb.l\|» t>	* or b only remain for that note	».b 5 Remain for measure Not displayed near note if in key signature
3/8-4/4	None	None	2-9/2.4.8	2-9/2.4.8 6/2 and 9/2 are not allowed
1 2 half-steps up or down in play mode tor all voces 4 channnel only	Nl	Pitch ot entire file may be transposed up or down-does not affect file	None	36 half steps up or down Frequency transposition, not file Phrases in voices may be independently transposed
4 octave settings each with 31 note range Span is 3 As below to 4E flats above middle C	7 octave range A to G«	6 octave range B — E 8va notation used for upper and lower octaves	2C s Below middle C. to 2Cs Above	1C Below, to 2Cs Above
None	All notes in chords are always of equal values	voices are filled in on right with rests to match the duration ot the longest voice tor that measure	None You can over or underwrite measures	On or Off When on. return to menu is not permitted if measure is too targe
Fast/slow presets Also hardware tempo control	Can vary tempo for any portion of the song by definitions within the edited file	Can change speed of parts in edited file	Real-time variations possible only during display ft play mode May change tempo prior to playback mode	9 Tempos ranging from J = 3C to 270 Many redefine tempo for each phrase in arragement prior to playback
One preset volume	Nl	256 gradations to specify relative volumes for each voice definition	Volume slide switch may be used prior to playback	7 volumes o.pp.p.mp.mf.f.ff may be redefined in arrangement prior to playback
Equal tempered fast ft slow slide up ft down pitch for each note presets	Equal Tempered	Nl	Equal Tempered	Equal Tempered
Each of the 4 voices in each of the 8 sections may call one of seven envelope tables Envelopes have 16	Nl	Nl	Preset	Preset
Square wave	1 6 fourier harmonics may be used to set up to 14 different waveforms in a data base	4 harmonics may be used to create new waveshape presets	16 Fourier harmonics may be manipulated in order to set timbres 2 timbres may be Stored in RAM	Preset
Not Applicable Text editing only	Not Applicable Text editing only	Not applicable Text editing only	4 voice choral layout No beams Less than tour voices, stems reverse direction in relation to middle staff line	Stems down above 3rd line, up on or below 3rd line No Beams
Notes called by using one of 4 notes range tables (2 treble. 2 bass)	Notes called by octave numbers	Positive note numbers are Treble Negative are Bass Middle C 0	Treble ft Bass clefs displayed together	Treble ft bass clef displayed together
None needed Data placed directly into specific memory locations	Upward scrolling of file Wen the end ol the file is encountered, downward scrolling begins Cursor tabs to next input location as RETURN	Upward scrolling ot text file	Notes scroll to left when line is exceeded Measures may be called for display	During edit, only one measure displayed at a time if line exceeded, only the remainder of the measure is displayed In play, scrolling is from rtght
		>2	CRE	MIVE COMPUTING

KL-4M

Supersound Graphics Editor Prototype

ALF

Mountain Hardware

Ideal

Nl	Same as note duration types	Same as note duration types	Same as note duration types	Same as note duration types Dotted & triplets etc Whole reset -whole measure not lust by 4 counts Movable position on staff by user or computer detection of overwrite
Nl	None	Multiple Ties Tied notes are stored as single unit Notes that exceed measure are automatically converter; into tied notes	Multiple ties may be written Slur may be written but not executed	Multiply ties Tie stored as separate character in fitle When tie connects notes of different pitches the envelope is changed for slur effect Slur connects notes on rewrite
Segments of any length may be repeated (even partial measures)	Selections can be played repeatedly Measures can be selected for copying and then inserted	Subroutine calls for repeats Recursiveness is also possible	Nl	Go— to type pointers in Me for repeats. 1st. & 2nd ending etc No duplication of file for storage of repeat passages
0-7 sharps or flats	None	0-6 sharps or flats Key signature may be redefined at any time m piece A is displayed	0— 7 sharps or flats Key signature may be redefined at any time & is displayed	User can input either 0— 7 sharps or flats or name of major or minor key Signature displayed on staff and can be redefined dunnq piece
» or P may be used for any notes Not held (or measure	Sharps or flats are displayed during scan of notes for entry User may select sharp or flat Not held for measure	S.PM Remain for measure Cannot appear near note if In key signature	« M «» bb	Q » b * bb: Remain for measure uan be written even if m key signature
None	1/4—4/4 38 5/8 7/8	1-19/1.2.4.6 or 16 Meter can be changed and displayed during piece	2-32/1.2.4.8,16.32 meter may be changed A displayed during piece	Meter affects amplitude of notes 1-20/1 2.4.8.16 Meter can be changed and displayed during piece No meter is also permitted
Pitch (not display) of any voice can be transposed higher or lower User must check that pitch range is not exceeded	1 2 half -steps up or down in play mode for all voices Octave transposition for individual voices during edit mode	4 octaves up or down in quarter steps Changes pitch, not file	None	Name key that is wanted for transposition Transpose segment of song within voices, or entire voice, or all voices. Pitch and/or display Semi-tone transposition
Limited to notes on bass or treble clef staves No ledger lines Plus' will provide octave above or below	4 Octave settings each with 31 note range Span is 3 As Below to 4 Ebs Above	3Fb s below to 3Fft 7s above middle C	8 octave span Various clef modes utilize different note ranges	Range identical to 88 key piano Octave (8va) notation used to avoid excessive ledger lines
None	I displayed when measure exceeded Will not play when oversize measures occur Rests fill in measures automatically	Automatically puts bar lines in Ties note over bar it measure is exceeded Can t write short measure except at end or part or subroutine	None	On or off Notifies user about incomplete or exceeded measures, but permits user to continue Plays as written even if incorrect
Can vary relative tempo between notes, or overall tempo between segments 6 levels each of accelerado and ntardando	Hardware tempo control	2 increments for quarter note duration and 256 tempos may be redefined at any place in the piece Real- time tempo control in olavback mode	8 tempos Identified by Italian musical terminology	Variable tempo gradations can be redefined during piece Presets for major tempo terms callagro ) accel. & nt functions
Nl	One preset volume	2 volume levels may be redefined at any point in the piece	ppp. pp, p.mp, mf t, ff.tff plus 9 accents	Variable volume gradations Also presets for ppp-fff Should be able to have real time control of volume Presets for cresc , dimin , & accent
Nl on tuning Keyboard can be redefined, but tuning remains the same	Equal tempered preset for slides up & down each note	Equal Tempered	Equal Tempered?	New pitch tables can be easily created by user Presets for major timing types/well, equal )
User could write software in order to change the envelope preset	8 envelopes can be set 3 presets are available but can be overwritten 16 time segments in each envelope	4 point envelope can be redefined at any point in the piece	Envelope defined in instrument block Option of staccato, tenuto or percussive envelopes	User can create and call envelope tables throughout program Graphic input of envelope should be possible
80 waveshape tables can be created in a 32K PET	Square wave or none choice	Square or pulse selection	Fourier additive synthesis 256 block used to define all features of each instrument More than 1 oscillator may be used	Fourier harmonics ( 16) Presets should be available A large data base should be possible Presets vary with octave range
All upward stems No beams	All upward stems No beams	Down above 3rd line Up for all other No beams	Melodic or chord notation option for stems No beams	Stems should be defined by user options— choice of choral, piano or other formats (all up. all down etc ) Options to beam 8ths etc together
Treble & Bass clefs displayed together	Single stave may be used in 4 note ranges ( 2 Bass & 2 Treble)	Treble and Bass clefs displayed together	Treble, bass, alto and tenor clefs Double stave treble & bass clef option	Treble and bass clefs should be user defined on staves Movable C clef should also be possible
Only 3 notes are displayed -scrolling is from right, one note at a time Parts, selections, and measures may be called	Scrolling either left or right past stationary cursor, one note at a time	Scrolling either left or right by single notes Measures, parts, and subroutines may be called	Scrolling left or right by single notes Can reference beginning or end of piece	Complete pages should be displayed Each page contains a double set of staves Fixed measure size and number of measure per page

FEBRUARY 1981

23

Item Limit of File

Special Features

VIP Super Sound

Musicraft

Orchestra-80

MMI

ATARI

Not applicable

Menu or music program text

Musk: program text

?t in command mode Note Voice7 for edit

Menus or staff display Letter codes given as ones at bottom of screen

255 notes per voice Fixed Block size for each voice

Depends upon memory size 48K will support 1 1 00 tour voice lines

Depends upon RAM size Nl for number of lines

8K music file Approx 4K number of notes

Nl for number of notes 127 arrange steps per voice

Random access of musical times or fragments Drum option 16 time segment envelopes can be set by user

Automatic tab and scrolling features 16 levels of recursiveness Semitones and complex rhythms are possible

Readable instruction manual Real time manipulation o( tempo on playback Duration does not need to be specified with each note

Displays all inserted voices during display and play Fourier waveshapes can be set by user

Arrange mode permits rounds Ease of inputting phrases

Virtually indestructable files

Music Editor Features

Prompting

Item Limit

of File

KL-4M Supersound

Graphics Editor Prototype

ALF

Mountain Hardware

Ideal

Special Features

Menu or staff display

2 menus or staff When certain items are selected from menu, one word queries are given

Staff and menu on same display

Staff and menu on same display 3 alternate menus can be called

Full page of staff with floating note cursor, or full pagets) tor menu

32K PET can store 80

waveshape tables

Nl for number of notes

255 notes per voice Fixed block size for each voice

5900 Entries

Nl

Chaining and paging of music files should be possible Dual disk drive could be utilized

Waveshape tables can be created Can change relative tempo between notes or segments Accelerando and ntardando presets

Random access of musical tunes or fragments Display indicates note name. measure and part numbers

Features can be reassigned (volume key. tempo ) at any point in the piece Can call subroutines from different voices

Single or double stave

option

Alto and tenor clefs

Melody or chord option

1 6 voices possible

Words and music displayed Options tor stem directions or color voices Double definition of notes between the 2 staves Correction of overlapping notes Je>

The time has come for computers to talk and listen

Introducing COGNIVOX series VIO, the affordable voice I/O peripherals

SORCERER TRS-80 ALL Z-80

AIM-65 * PET * APPLE II

mition ana Voice Response need no i

ndware COGNIVOX series VIO is a tamily ol

;>ut and output peripherals tor personal computers t> support COGNIVOX c;; recognize words or short phrases from a vocabulary ot up to 32 words ot your choice with an accuracy ot upto 98% and it will talk back with up to 32

• words It can also play music and create sound COGNIVOX requires at least 16K ot RAM in your computer II your computer has less memory or it you are only interested in recognition ask us about our SR- 1 00 series ot voice input peripherals COGNIVOX series VIO comes complete with microphone amplilier and speaker cassette with software and extensive manual It costs only $149 ladd $5 tor shipp and handl in US 10% ot order overseas CA res add 6% taxi Has immediate :> 120 day limited warranty Write tor more

information giving it your comj

VOICETEK I805) 685-1 854 ^ Dept C, P.O. Box 388, Goleta, CA 93116

CIRCLE 190ON READER SERVICE CARD

GALAXY SPACE WAR I

Galaxy Space War 1 1WARH is a game of strategy in which the player has complete control ot his space fleet s tactical maneuvers Each fleet battles its way toward the opponents galaxy in an attempt to destroy it and win the war WAR1 simulates the actual environment encountered in a space war between two galaxies Optimum use is made ol Apples high resolution graphics (HIRES) and colors in displaying the twinkling stars unveise the colored ships ot each Heel long range sensors colored illuminations, and the alternating blinking colors used in battles between ships Complementing HIRES are the sounds ot war produced by Apple s speaker

WAR1 is played between Apple and a player or between two players You may play with total knowledge ot each others fleet or only ships sensor knowledge ot the opponents fleet Each player builds his starting fleet and adds lo it during the game This building process consists ol creating the size and shape of each ship positioning it and then allocating the total amount of energy tor each ship

During a player s turn he may dynamcially allocate his ships total energy between his screen/detection and attack/move partitions The percentage ol the total energy allocated to each partition determines us characteristics The screen /detection partition determines how much energy is in a ship s screens and the detection sector range of its short range sensors The attack/move determines the amount of energy the ship can attack with its attack sector range and the number ot sectors it can move in normal or hyperspace

When an enemy ship is detected by short range sensors it is displayed on the universe and a text enemy report appears The report identities the ship its position amount ot energy in its screens, probable attack and total energy, a calculated de- lection/attack/move range and sue ol the ship Also shown is the number ol days since you last knew these parameters about the ship When a ship s long range sensor probes indicate the existence ot an enemy presence at a sector in space, this sector is illuminated on the universe

An enemy ship is attacked and destroyed with attack energy II your attack energy breaks through his screens then his attack energy is reduced by two units ol energy tor every unit you attack with A text battle repoit is output aftei each attack The program maintains your ship s data and the latest known data about each enemy ship You may show either data in text reports or display the last known enemy posi- tions on the universe You can also get battle predictions between opposing ships The text output calculates the amount ol energy required to destroy each ship tor different energy allocations

APPLE- II. 48K. APPLESOFT 9

ROM CARD. DISK II DOS 3.2 3

WAR1 DISK & MANUAL ...$39.95 (CA residents add 6% sales tax) Write or call for more information

9 GALAXY

C DEPT. CC4

P.O. BOX 22072 SAN DIEGO. CA 92122

(714) 452-1072

24

CREATIVE COMPUTING

HE ORIGINAL MAGAZINE FOR OWNERS OF THE TRS-80 ™* MICROCOMPUTER

SOFTWARE

FOB I Ks-so ■ OWNERS

CQIYIPUTHQMICSf

MONTHLY

NEWSMAGAZINE

FOR FRS-80 •

OWNERS

MONTHLY NEWSMAGAZINE

Practical Support For Model I, II & III

• PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

• BUSINESS

• GAMBLING • GAMES

• EDUCATION

• PERSONAL FINANCE

• BEGINNER'S CORNER

• NEW PRODUCTS

• SOFTWARE EXCHANGE

• MARKET PLACE

• QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

• PROGRAM PRINTOUTS AND MORE

PROGRAMS AND ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN OUR FIRST 12 ISSUES INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

A COMPLETE INCOME TAX PROGRAM (LONG AND SHORT FORMl

INVENTORY CONTROL

STOCK MARKET ANALYSIS

WORD PROCESSING PROGRAM (I OR DISK OR CASSF III,

LOWER CASE MODIFICA I ION I OR YOUR VIDF < ) MONI I ( )R OR PRINTER

PAYROI I d-IDLRAI I AX Wl I IIH< >l DING l'RO( »RAMi

EXTEND 16 nic.rr accuracy to trsso" functions <such as

SQUARE ROOTS AND TRIGONOMETRIC HJNCIIONSl

NEW DISK DRIVES FOR YOURTRS80"

PRINTER OPTIONS AVAII AM I I OR YOUR TRS-80"

AHORSI SELECTION SYSTEM***ARlTHMETIC HACHIR

COMF1 I II MAILING LIS1 PROGRAMS i BO I H I OR DISK OR CASSETTE

SEQUI NIIAI AND RANDOM A( CESSl

RANDOM SAMFI ING***BAR GRAPH

CHICKBOOK MAIN 1 1 NANCF PROGRAM

I I VII II UPDATES***! IVII II INDEX

CRIDII CARD INFORMATION STORAGI III I

BEGINNERS GUIDI l<) MACHINE I ANGUAG! AND ASSEMBLY

I ANGI

I INF RENUMBERING

ANDCASSI III DPS. PROGRAM HINTS lAllsi PRODI

COMING soon iGENERAI LEDGER. ACCOUNTS PAYABI F AND RICIIVABII I OR I RAN BO. I INANl IAI APPI ICAIIONs PACKAGE. PROGRAMS I OR HOMI OWN! Rs Ml RGI TWO PROGRAMS STATISTICAI AND MATHEMATICAI PROGRAMS (BOTH I I I Ml Nl ARY AND ADVANCED! AND

• IKS Ml" IS A I KAI II M \kh c II lAMil I , «'

WORD PROCESSING PROGRAM For writing letters, text, mailing lists, etc . with am h new Mibo ripti LEVEL II RAM TEST Checks random access memory to ensure that all memory locations are working properly

DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Complete hie management (or your TRS-80".

CLEANUP Fast action Maze Game

ADVENTURE Adventure «0 by Scoll Adams (From Adventureland International)

* All programs are supplied on cassette (add $3 (or Diskette Version - add $5 (or modified Mod-ll Version).

**££

I SI

SEND FOR OUR NEW 48 PAGE SOFTWARE CATALOG (INCLUDING LISTINGS OF HUNDREDS OF TRS80" PROGRAMS AVAILABLE ON CASSETTE AND DISKETTE) $2.00 OR FREE WITH EACH SUBSCRIPTIONS OR SAMPLE ISSUE.

•CQMPLITRQNICS

SO N. PASCACK ROAD SPRING VALLEY, NEW YORK 10977

ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION $24 TWO YEAR SUBSCRIPTION $48 SAMPLE OF LATEST ISSUE $ 4

g R\ 24 ORDER

(914) 425-1535

NEW TOLL-FREE

ORDER LINE

(OUTSIDE OF NY. STATE)

(800) 431-2818

START MY SUBSCRIPTION WITH ISSUE

(»1 - July 1978 • »7 - January 1979 • «12 - June 1979 • »18 NEW SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL

January 1980)

CREDIT CARD NUMBER

EXP DATE

SIGNATURE

NAME

ADDRESS

CITY_

STATE_

••• ADOS* YEAR (CANADA. MEXICO) - ADD $12 YEAR AIR MAII OUTSIDE Of US A. CANADA* MEXICO ••• CIRCLE 137 ON READER SERVICE CARD

^ZIP_

FEBRUARY 1981

25

Radio Shack Line Printer VI

After a long period of comparison shopping for a printer to use with our TRS-80 Model 1/ Level II, we decided on a Line Printer VI. The first week of September we placed our order, even though the printer wouldn't be ready for shipment until September 30th. On October 21st the Radio Shack dealer phoned saying our printer had arrived.

The unpacking process was quick — partially because of the method of packing, and partially because we were eager to set-up and run the unit.

The printer was securely packed with styrofoam blocks holding it tightly in place. There was a dust cover over the Line Printer, and printer and dust cover were both inside a plastic bag. The manual, which is extremely informative, was packed inside with the Line Printer. The ribbon cable, which must be ordered separately, came in a second package. There are two ribbon cables available— one plugs into the keyboard,— the other plugs into the expansion interface.

Once unpacking was complete, it did not take long before a new sound was coming from our computer room.

The Line Printer VI, a 9 X 7 dot-matrix impact printer, has a very efficient output rate.

1.) It prints NORMAL characters at 100 characters per second, and 33 lines per minute.

2.) The CONDENSED characters are printed at 120 characters per second, and 37 lines per minute.

3.) There is a maximum of 132 characters per line.

4.) It has the capabilities to print in both directions. In the large (elongated) characters, however, it only prints left to right.

The printer has four sizes of print that are software selectable, and simple to use.

1.) Normal Characters

2.) Elongated Characters

3.) Condensed Characters

4.) Elongated— Condensed

Rotter and Bonnie Koester. R.R. #1. Box I61A. Tennyson. IN 47637.

Roger and Bonnie Koester

FIGURE #♦ 1

L PR I NT "SMALL" 5 CMR* < 31 > 5 •• L_A RGE " SCHR»< 30) J "SMALL AGAIN" PRINTING OF NORMAL AND DOUBLE-SIZE CHARACTERS ON SAME LINE DEMONSTRATED.

LPRINTCHR*(27) ;CHM( U) i'CONDENSED' PRINTS CONDENSED CHARACTERS.

LPRINTCHR«<27) ;CHR»(15)i "NORMAL CHARACTER* CONCELS CONDENSED CHARACTER MODE AND RETURNS

rO NORMAL CHARACTER.

To change print size "CHR$( )" command is needed. (See Figure 1.)

The vertical spacing, also software selectable, can be six, eight, or twelve lines per inch. It automatically goes to six lines per inch at power-up. To change vertical line spacing, a two part code is needed. (See Figure 2.)

One of the best features is the choice of tractor feed or friction feed. With tractor feed you can use any standard tractor feed paper ranging from mailing label strips up to 15 inch forms. They can be single, double, or triple sheets, allowing an original and two copies. We'd like to mention that although the specifications

say 4 to 15 inch paper, the tracks will go from 2 5/8 to 16 5/8 inches. The tractor feed paper can be entered at two locations. There is a paper insertion opening at the top center. If your printer stand allows, paper can also be fed into the bottom of the printer.

Changing from tractor feed to friction feed is simple. You turn off the power, remove the upper plastic cover, and pull up on both sides of the mechanism. The rear part will unlock and youll be able to remove it by simply continuing to pull upward. Then you re-install the plastic cover and turn on the power. You're now ready for friction feed.

FIGURE **2

LPRINTCHR*(27)iCHR»(5A)

PRINTS LINES AT 6 LINES PER INCH. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

.PRINT CHR*(27)!CHR*(56)

PRINTS LINES AT B LINES PER INCH.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

LPRINT CHR*(27)'

CnR*(54>

PRINTS LINES AT 12 LINES PER INCH.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

26

CREATIVE COMPUTING

(201	) 623	-6818
(201	) 742	-0858
(201	) 777	-0952
(202	) 347	-1400
(202	) 783	-2050
(203	) 357	-1800
(203	) 522	-0344
(203	) 789	-0211
(205	) 251	-2495
(205	) 432	-8015
(206	) 447	-9012
(206	) 577	-5835
(206	) 939	-8200
(208	) 344	-7823
(212	I 279	-1000
(212	736	-0099
(213	549	-5150
(213	) 624	-5230
(213	) 822	-9287
(213	) 937	-3580
(213	) 956	-8235
(214	) 748	-0127
(215	435	-8268
(215,	574-	-0620
(216]	241-	-0940
(216)	452-	-0903
(216!	678-	-5115
(2161	743-	-2296
(216!	762-	-9791
(217'	384	-0011
(217	> 753	-1362
(218	722	-0906
(219	234-	-9071
(219,	882-	-6300
(301 )	266-	-6886
(301 )	962-	•5010
(302)	737-	8550
(303)	623-	■0876
( 304)	345-	6450
(305)	371-	4801
(305)	764-	8880
(305)	849-	9600
(307)	778-	2721
(309)	637-	-8601
(312!	372-	-4901
(313!	964-	■ 5538
(313!	996-	-0351
(314)	231-	-8800
(315)	472-	■5503
(3w:	456-	■3851
(317)	635-	■9630
(318)	221-	■2984
(318)	387-	-6330
(319)	363-	• 2393
(401 )	272-	• 9290
(402)	341-	7570
(404)	324-	0684
(404)	577-	8911
(405)	232-	4550
(405)	624-	1112
(408)	279-	•8450
(408)	443-	■4980
(412)	288-	9950
(413)	739-	■7221
(414!	271-	2560
(415)	362-	■6200
(415!	595-	• 0360
(415)	836-	■ 4884
(415)	856-	9930
(415)	881-	1382
(419)	243-	8871
(501)	374-	1400
(502)	223-	■1841
(502!	589-	-7520

A

T

-|W

ELEPHONE SOFlWARE CON NEC

:|ion LnJ

Msg: *CRC-n42-

Posted: Tue Jan 27, I9R1 11:14 AM KST

From: TSC

TO: Al I MODEM Users

Your Friends Sub J : TSC - Electronic Communication Service

You're now just a phone call away Irom our exciting new Electronic Communication Service.

To Ret nore information and/or to apply for an account:

I. Call any of these phone numbers at either 110 or 100 baud.

?. After you're connected, hit RETURN twice.

1. When it asks "TERMINAL-", hit RETURN again.

t* . When it says ":<»", type "MAIL".

5. When it asks "User name?", type "NEW/TSC".

6. When it asks "Password?", type "NEW/TSC" again.

If you have an APPLE, you can continue to count on us for fully documented and tested software, via our main number:

BBBHED BBBB

-21-1-329-3715

P.O BOX 6548 - TORRANCE. CA 90504

VOICE (213) 329-7544 MODEM (213) 329-3715

(503)
(504)
(504)
(505)
(509)
(512)
(512)
(513)
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243

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524

243

455-

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288-

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372-

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-2800 -0753 -0783 -7701 -7601 -7784 -4360 -8433 -1570 -701 7 -7163 -0320 -7810 -5400 -91 11 -1552 -0427 -8110 -2302 -6188 -0312 -5904 -0561 -6101 -9650 -0150 -1400 -8310 -5323 -1200 -1400 -4810 -2158 -3333 -0371 -3380 -1922 -7491 -6061 -0810 -1710 -5711 -4641 -3430 -0600 -3202 -2644 -4966 -3488 -1 108 -5421 -1941 -8291 -4660 -9920 -3223 -7561 -7566 -1600 -7791 -2563 -6637 -0790 -2605 -6816 -5600 -8777 -9670 -7921 -0020 -3215 -0231 8311 1957

FEBRUARY 1981

CIRCLE 206 ON READER SERVICE CARD 27

Line Printer, continued...

F^XGURE #3

! " ***■>£«• * < > -«--»-- — . /0123456789 s ? < = > "? 3

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZC \ 3-*-*>^ abcdef gh ijki mn © p-=ir ^- t: uvuixyz < ! > ~

The friction feed is a real plus. It has all the same capabilities as the tractor feed, and more. The use of single sheets of paper is very beneficial. We've used typing paper to write letters. They look great.

It is very easy to keep track of the line you are on when you need to advance the paper. Mechanically, you use the Line Feed button, which advances by very definite spacing. Manually, the roller can be quietly heard, and distinctly felt, as it advances each line. Many printers simply roll freely in order to advance the paper, and you cannot tell how many actual lines you have moved.

The streamlined, attractive appearance is a plus in our computer room. The Line Printer VI measures 24.2 inches(W) X 6.3 inches(H) X 13.3 inches(D). On the front there are three buttons (left to right reset, line feed, 1/12 line feed), and one switch (on/off). Just above the buttons are three LE.D.'s (power, alert (out of paper), ready).

There is a self-test switch on the left rear comer. During testing the line printer does not need to be attached to the computer. The test prints the character set (See Figure 3.) Notice, as mentioned before, the graphics capabilities.

So far we've only touched on the good features. There are a few things with which we are not satisfied:

1. The high-pitched noise which one can hear any time the printer is on.

2. The lack of a method for setting tabs.

3. The lower case g, y, p, and q do not go below the line. It's a shame that a printer of this quality does not do this.

4. The absence of markings by the paper release lever denoting which position is LOCKED for friction feed, and which position is FREE for using tractor feed.

Regardless of these four points of dissatisfaction, we still believe the Line Printer VI is the best line printer we've seen for the money. D

As a Radio Shack '

Authorized Sales Center,

owned and operated by

Pan American Electronics, Inc.,

we can sell

TRS-80 Computers for less.

Toll Free Order Number 800 531-7466

Telex Number 767339

Texos & Principal Number

512/581 2765

Pan American Electronics

Incorporated

° Radio /hack

AUTMOHI2ED SALES CENTER

Department CC 1117 Conway

Mission 1 78572

CIRCLE 166 ON REAOER SERVICE CARD

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING TYPIST. . .

Is it safe to walk the keyboard of your TRS-80 at night? Do you look for Syntax Errors down every dark subroutine? Well, look in your mailbox— It's a bill, its an ad, it's CLOAD MAM! Faster than keying in hardcopy. more fun than an accounts-receivable package, ready to run in a single load

When mild mannered Clyde Goad (star * S(7^^*\

cassette tape duplicator at the MONTHLY // Nsffix CLOAD) dons his cape, the evil Typo-Bugs

cringe in terror. This mighty Man of Iron Oxide f—^^^ /y<^> c

swoops down on your TRS-80 by First Class Mail \ j ■■"""""^^■^■■S-

every month with super, ready-to-load programs \ ^""^^^H r*l ^^■■■■W j»

for your (and your computer s) education and ^""-"— -«k%ii ^B Lm ?J7/*7^

enjoyment. *■—

Join in the battle against the Finger-Cramps, f -^"V^ a»y '_ y

Edit Modes, and Typo-Bugs. Let CLOAD MAN J[ f /B^^Ss. IrJ come to your computer's aid by getting a subscription to CLOAD MAGAZINE. ^S^V**^— -Wi ^ EXi

I year subscription s42.00 S ^pflL ** \

6 month subscription *23.00 f ^fl t^v.

Single copies *4.50 ' -^* laW7^-w-

Anthology-volume I '10.00

Anthology-volume 2 '1 500

The Fine Print:

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COLLEGE BOARDS

for TRS-80 PET, APPLE

The best way to sharpen your skills for the College Board Exams is to work on actual examinations. Each of these program sets confronts the user with a virtually limitless series of questions and answers. Each program is based on past exams and presents material of the same level of difficulty and in the same form as used in the College Board examination. Scoring is provided in accordance with the formula used by College Boards.

SAT, PSAT, N.M.S.Q.T., set includes 7 programs covering Vocabulary, Word Relationships, and Mathematics. Price$79.95

GRE set includes 10 programs covering Vocabulary, Word Relationships, Mathematics, Logical Diagrams, Analytical Reasoning. $139.95

Educator Edition - GRE, SAT, PSAT Includes all of the above programs plus detailed solutions and explainations for each problem plus drill excercises. SAT set includes 14 programs. $149.95

Graduate Record Exam Set includes 20 programs. $199.95

SWORD OF ZEDEK

Fight to overthrow Ra, The Master of Evil. In this incredible adventure game, you must confront a host of creatures, natural and supernatural. To liberate the King- dom, alliances must be forged and treasures sought. Treachery, deceit and witch- craft must be faced in your struggles as you encounter wolves, dwarves, elves, dragons, bears, owls, ores, giant bats, trolls, etc. Each of the 12 treasures will en- hance your power, by making invisible, invulnable, more eloquent, more skillful in combat etc., etc., as you explore the realms of geography, both on the surface and underground. Dungeons, temples, castles, mountains etc., are all a part of the fan- tastic world of Ra. Each game is unique in this spectacular and complex world of fantasy. $24.95

SUPER STAR BASEBALL

KRELLGAMEPAK

Incredible bargain,

15 unique and challenging games!!!

Primary Fight Black Gold Wordsworth

ALL TIME

SUPERSTAR BASEBALL

Sample Lineup

SUPER STAR BASEBALL

f Lineup

Hostage Prime Time The Black Death Star Clipper Bulls & Bears Banzai Banzai II Super Banzai

Hard Scrabble Bible Quode Shakespear Quode Bill of Rights Quode TRS-80 only, $39.95

B Ruth L Gehrig I DiMaggio |. iackson C. Sister S Musial T.Cobb W Mays C Young-P

T. Williams I Fonx

H. Creenberg R. Hornsby H Wilson B. Terry M. Mantle H. Aaron W. fohnson-P

O. Parker W.Stargell W.Mays P.Rose O.Cepeda C. Yazstremski W. McCovey R. lackson C Brett R. Cuidry P

I Rice H. Aaron L Brock R Carew H.Killebrew R alien R Leflore R Zisk B Mad lock T SeaverP

Performance is based on the interaction of actual batting and pitching data. Came can be played by one or two play- ers with the computer acting as a second player when desired. Players select rosters and lineups and eicenure stra- tegic choices including hit and run, base stealing, pinch hitting, intentional walk, etc. Highly realistic, there »n two ver- sions. ALL TIME SUPER STAR BASE- BALL, and SUPER STAR BASEBALL featuring players of the current decade. Each includes about SO players allowing nearly infinite number of roster and lineup possibilities.

$14.95

TIME TRAVELER

The best of the adventure games. Confronts player with complex decision situa- tions and the demand for real time action. Using the Time Machine, players must face a challenging series of enviornments that include; the Athens of Pericles, Imperial Rome, Nebuchanezzar's Babylon, Ikhaton's Egypt, Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion. The Crusades, Machiavelli's Italy, the French Revolution, the American Revolution, and the English Civil War. Deal with Hitler s Third Reich, Vikings, etc. At the start of each game players may choose a level of difficulty . . . the more difficult, the greater the time pressure. To suceed you must build alliances and struggle with the ruling powers. Each game is unique. $24.95

•ALL PROGRAMS AVAILABLE FOR TRS-80, APPLE II & PET

KRELL SOFTWARE

Send check or money order to 21 Milbrook Drive, Stony Brook, NY 1 1790 (516) 751-5139

Ml programs require I6IC» TRS-80 programs require Level II BASK • Apple programs require Applesoft BASIC

CIRCLE 219 ON READER SERVICE CARD

FEBRUARY 1981

29

Base 2 Makes its Mark

Wayne F. Cummings

The Base 2 Model 800 is among the printers presently undergoing extensive field testing at Creative Computing Well keep you posted on the results. —DL

A relative newcomer on the market, the Model 800 from BASE 2 Inc. is gaining a reputation as a good quality, low cost, impact printer. Recently. I purchased one for my business (Midwest Microcomputer) and thus far have been quite pleased.

Interfacing

The Model 800 accepts the four basic interface disciplines. Namely: Centronics parallel, IEEE-488, RS-232, and 20ma current loop. I presently use the parallel format with my TRS-80. The hook-up was simple: plug in the cable and set six microswitches to 'off. Presto! It's ready to run.

Printing Specifications

The unit is a 5 X 7 dot-matrix impact printer, available with either friction or tractor feed. It can print in six different densities; 64, 72, 80, 96, 1 20 or 130 charac- ter/second (CPS) at all densities. The quality of print is good, especially at 96 characters/ line which I find to be the most readable with the least fatigue. However, character column alignment can vary as much as

Wayne F. Cumminus. 817 Charles St.. DeKalb. IL 60115. —

two dots (aprox. ^char.) from one line to the next. This variation can be completely eliminated by switching from bidirectional to unidirectional printing. However, this method also decreases throughput to 50 CPS. For most applications, I have found the faster bidirectional printing to be satis- factory.

Character Fonts

On power up, a standard 96 character ASCII character set (font) is accessed in the printer's 32K ROM. This set includes upper & lower case characters. The lower case does not feature true descenders, (i.e. the tails of the p.j.y.g, & q do not hang below the line).

Also, the user has the option of designing his or her own character set. This is done under software control by loading the printer's on board RAM with a data stream that formats the character set. This may seem a bit abstract, but is really quite simple. The operating manual gives com- plete instructions on how it works. If one additional set isn't enough for you, the Model 800 can accommodate eight more for a total of ten. Additional memory chips need to be installed for these eight sets. The printer is able to switch back and forth from one set to another, without reloading, as long as the printer remains 'on'.

Graphics

If the user wants, he can use no character fonts at all. This is the graphics mode. It works much like the user defined set except that instead of sending a data stream for one character, the computer sends a data stream for an entire line. This can be slow, as the printer must receive an entire line before printing. Even if, for example, only half a line is used. In connection with this mode, the printer can be set to allow no space between lines so that true graphical output is achieved.

Software Control

Probably the best feature of the 800 is its software control. There is nothing that can be done manually (i.e. by flipping switches) that can't be done by the software, and there is a whole lot that can be done by the software that can't be done manually. This is due to the incorporation of an 8085 microprocessor in the printer's logic. Space does not permit a listing of all software controllable items, but here are some of the more important ones: •variable line lengths (64,72.80.%, 1 20, 1 32 char./Iine)

•elongated characters •character font selection •reset (sets all modes to their default (condi- tion)

•form feed •page length

•tabs (vertical & horizontal) •graphics

•vertical densities (# of dots between lines) •unidirectional printing

Exterior

Physically, the printer is compact; only 3" x 11 " x 1 5" and it weighs only fifteen lbs. It has a heavy gauge aluminum chasis that appears able to withstand a very harsh environment. (A refreshing change from most of my other equipment, which is Radio Shack plastic.) The tractor mecha- nism is, unfortunately, plastic and looks

CREATIVE COMPUTING

MODEL II

$ DISCOUNT $ TRS-8O0®

MODEL III

ALIR

26-4002

64K 1 Drive

$3440.00

26-4160 1 Drive EXP .$1035.00 26-4161 2 Drive EXP . . 1575.00 26-4162 3 Drive EXP . . 2115.00 26-4501 Gen. Ledger . . . 180.00

26-4502 Inventory 1 80.00

26-4503 Payroll 360.00

26-4554 Acct. Rec. . 180.00

26-4701 Fortran 270.00

26-1 157 A Daisy Wheel . 2495.00 26-1158 Daisy Wheel II 1799.00

COMPUTER SPECIALISTS

26-1 155 Quick Printer II $187.00

26-1 145 RS-232 Board 84.00

26-1 140 "O" K Interlace 249.00

26-1 141 16" K Interface 359.00

26- 1 142 '32' K Interface 469.0C

26-1160 Mini Disk • Drive 0 419.00

26- 1 161 Mini Disk ■ Additional 419.00

26-1154 Lineprinter II 699.00

26-1 156 Lineprinter III 1799.00

26-1159 Lineprinter IV 859.00

26-1 166 Line Printer VI 1080.00

26-1563 Scripsit ■ Disk 79.00

26 1 566 Visicolc 83.00

26- 1 562 Profile 72.00

NOTE: Call for availability of VIDEO TEX. Model III. Color, and other new products.

26-1061 4K I $630.00

261062 16K III 888.00

26-1063 32K III

2-Drives. RS232 2225.00

COLOR

AXXS8&BQB*%

ALL OTHER R.S. SOFTWARE

FURNITURE. STANDS. CABLES

AND ACCESSORIES AT

DISCOUNT FROM

CATALOG PRICE.

26-3001 4K $360.00

26-3002 16K 540.00

26-3010 Color Video 360.00

26-1206 Recorder 54.00

26-3008 Joysticks 22.50

CEtlTRDniCS

Post 100 CPS Centronics

730 Printer $659.00

Text Quality Centronics

737 Printer $819.00

Novation Cat Modem. .$149.00 CCA Data Management

System 72.00

Adventure Games

Games 1 -9 each 14.00

Pocket Computer

□

Acorn

Software Products, Inc.

Model II Cobol Compiler I

$360.00 Cobol Run Time Package I

$36.00

ODDOO

mrnmm.-nmmmn up I J

26-3501 1 9K PC $225.00

26-3503 Cassette l/F 45.00

14-812 Recorder 72.00

GAMES:

Alien Invasion $9.00

Stock Market 9.00

Star Trek 9.00

Block 'Em 9.00

Ting-Tong 9.00

UTILITIES:

System Sovers 14.00

EDUCATION:

Language Teacher 18.00

FREE: COMPUTER CATALOG UPON REQUEST

1-800-841-0860 Toll Free Order Entry

MICRO MANAGEMENT SVSTEMS, INC.

No Taxes on Out Of State Shipments

Immediate Shipment From Stock on Most Items

DOWNTOWN PLAZA SHOPPING CENTER

115CSECONDAVE. S.W.

CAIRO, GEORGIA31728

(912) 377-7120 Go. Phone No.

-T«S»0 It « r.gltl.r.d lr.d«m«rk o< III* T.nrfy Cop

R.S. 90 Day Limited Warranty F-48 Form Provided

Largest Inventory In theS.E. U.S.A.

FEBRUARY 1981

31

CIRCLE 163 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Base 2, continued.

64 CHHR. PER LINE. ! "#**&' <>*+,-. .-- 0 1 23436789 i ; <->?9RECDEFGHI JKLM NOPORSTUUl.i: :YZC^D-*-_s-«bcd»f»Ki JklnnoMr»tuwux'(Z< ! 3~*

72 CHAR. PER LINE. ! "#*:;«' <>*+,-. ^0123456789 I ; <->?G>ABCDEFGHI JKLMNOPQRSTU

UUIXY^[s]A."*bcd»f»hijklnrioMrttuuux-*i<l>^i

80 CHAR. PER LINE. "•#*•-'.«' <)*+,- .• 0 1 23456789 1 ; <->?»ABCDEFGHI JKLMNOPQRSTUUWXYZCn] ~_v«tocd»f«hi Jklmnor*r*tuvwx<<z<l>~R

96 CHBR. PER LINE. ' "•»•/.«' O**.-./0123456789i; <->7W»CDEFGNIJKLMN0P0RSTUUyXYZCM"-x«bcd»f«hiikl«

noMr«tuwi«i<!hl

120 CHBR. PBell*. !"§»M'0«,-./M234567»!;<«>?IMCr*raiJKlJiei>TOTUU'rat^^ 132 Cm. PER l»C. •■|M^>«.-./0l234567W!;<O?l«CD£raHJKim]r^

RRRRRBBaBBBBBBRBRRRRRRRRRRRRRBBRRRBRBRRRRBBBBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRBaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

aaaaaaaMaaawaaaRaaaaxaaaaaaBaaaaaxxaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaRaaBaaMBaaaRRaaaaaaaaaaaaaMM

aaaaaaaaBaaaaaaBaaaaRxaaaaaaaaBBaaaxaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaBaaaaaaaaBaaaaaRaaaMaBaaaaaa aRaaaaaaaaBaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaRRRaaaRaaRBRRRRRRaaaRRRaRRRRRRRRRRaaaaRRRRBaRaBaaaRRR

THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED O UER THE LftZY DOG S BflCK . THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BflCK . THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BflCK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG S BACK . THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUIC K BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK. THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BflCK . THE QUICK BR OUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY

DOGS BACK. THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG 'S BACK. THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S B ACK.THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMP ED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK. THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK. THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED 0 UER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUIC K BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK. THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BR OWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG S BACK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY

DOG'S BACK. THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG 'S BACK. THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG S B ACK.THE QUICK BROUN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMP ED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK . THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OUER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK.

like a last minute addition when compared to the rest of the printer. Let us pray...

Noise

It does make some. When printing, the print head makes a high pitched racket, almost tinny sounding, that is quite loud. Apparently, there are some even higher pitched sounds emitted, because my dog looks distressed and whines whenever it runs. Fortunately, the printer makes no noise when standing by. ..zero. Noise can be minimized in two ways. First, always keep all metal covers on when printing. And second, use heavy gauge paper to reduce the sound of the impacting print- head.

Documentation

The operating manual is beautiful; 70 pages with plenty of illustrations, examples.

charts, and appendices. A complete set of schematics is included for the hardware minded and a sample program for every software feature is included for the software minded. What else can I say? It's well done and even has a glossy cover.

Service

Last but certainly not least, the actual service. I ordered my printer directly from BASE 2. 1 was told it would be shipped in about six weeks. That's 42 days folks. After 87 days and several long distance phone calls, the printer arrived. ..without any operating manual. By day 1 17 1 had received two manuals (one was a "preliminary" manual sent a few days before the real McCoy.) Keep in mind that a six week order turned into a sixteen week ordeal. Suggestion: buy from a retailer who has them in stock.

32

In summary, let me say that the Model 800 is an exceptional printer. It has a few draw-Dacks, but for the price ($699)* one would be hard pressed to find a better value in an impact printer.

Flash! Between the writing of this article and the date of publication my printer had an accident. The printhead burned out! This is most distressing, considering less then 'A box of paper has been run through it. BASE II charges a flat $50 to fix anything on its printer. By coincidence, the cost to send me a new printhead is also $50. The unit's on its way back to the factory. I'll keep you posted. D

v*699 is the price for Iheir 'loaded' model, the MST. M= terminal screen buffer S= high speed paper advance & graphics T= tractor feed

I'm told they are phasing out "options" and making them standard.

CREATIVE COMPUTING

mail this card today

n YES, please send me my FREE Heathkit Catalog of easy- and-fun-to-build electronic kits. I am not receiving your catalogs now, and I certainly would like to get them regularly.

REE HEATHKIT CATALOG

name

(Please Print)

address

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CREATIVE COMPUTING

355-749

Ftee

HEATHKIT CATALOG „

PLACE STAMP HERE

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Heath Company

Benton Harbor, Ml 49022

New muscle for Heathlc it

Now with new CPIM Systems Software

for thousands more programs. ..and new

8-inch disk system for millions more bytes.

	CP/M \|\|
• l^l	■ —
»J	^t ^^^	■Si	ill'll'l .^fl

The Heathkit All-in-One Computer now has space for 64K of addressable RAM, so you can run bigger, more complex programs.

And our new CP/M' Operating System (Standard ORG-0. Version 2.2) makes thousands of CP/M pro- grams available to you. Heathkit systems can run more, do more, store more than ever before. A new 8-inch double-sided, double-density disk sys- tem, with over 1 million bytes per drive, is now avail- able for Heathkit H-89 and H-8 Computers. The new 8-inch disk system features soft-sectored disks for IBM" compatibility. It's capable of operat- ing in standard IBM 3740 format. And the 8-inch sys-

VISIT YOUR HEATHKIT STORE

Heathkit products are displayed, _^__ sold and serviced at Heathkit Electronic Centers', located in major cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. See your white pages for the store nearest you. 'Units of Veritechnology Electronics Corporation, in the U.S.

'W

tern can be used in conjunction with 5V4-inch systems. For compatibility with the rest of the in- dustry, Heathkit Computers may just be the most flexible systems you can buy.

All Heathkit computers and peripherals are avail- able in money-saving, easy-to-build kit form— or completely assembled and factory tested. All are supported by the best documentation in the busi- ness and by 62 service centers throughout the U.S. and Canada. You're never out in the cold. For complete details and prices on Heathkit com- puters, peripherals and software, write today for the latent Heathkit Catalog or visit your . • :t I ne..;by Heathkit Electronic Center*.

I Send for FREE catalog

Write to Heath Company, Dept. w\-V9Lii. Benton Harbor, Ml 49022

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m CIRCLE 147 ON HEADER SERVICE CARD

Heathkit

IBM Is a registered trademark ot International Business Machines Corporation. CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research, Inc.

from Quality Software

Three Sorcerer Games

One thing all Sorcerer owners have in common is that we are desperate for soft- ware! Exidy has made little effort to enhance their product with additional software or peripherals. Consequently, users like myself are forced to find other sources of Sorcerer software. This article will review three games from one such source— Quality Software.

Martian Invaders and Head-on Colli- sion are modeled after popular video arcade games. Both are written in ma- chine language and make excellent use of the Sorcerer's graphic capabilities. In Martian Invaders (see Photo 1 ) 28 aliens descend from the sky dropping bombs. You must maneuver your gunner to avoid the bombs while attempting to shoot the aliens before they land. As aliens are shot, those remaining descend faster. If all aliens are eliminated 28 more appear slightly closer to the ground. Points are awarded for each Martian destroyed. Fly- ing saucers appear randomly and bonus points are awarded for their destruction. This game differs slightly from its arcade counterpart in that only one gunner is

Photo 1. Martian Invaders.

allowed and the gunner is not protected by barriers.

Although its title may be offensive to some (I would prefer Dodge Cars), Head- on Collision (see Photo 2) is also an excit- ing game. The object is to drive your race car around a five-lane track in a manner

Bob Stuckmcycr. 2347 Cavendish Lane. St. Louis. MO 63129.

which avoids collision with a computer- controlled car traveling in the opposite direction. Collisions are avoided by changing lanes at any of four intersec- tions. Points are received for passing over dots in the tracks lanes. The game has three skill levels and models the arcade game very closely.

Both of these games are addictive in nature and not easily mastered. Either

9eH

Photo 2. Head-on Collision.

one will be over in a few seconds if you lack good hand-eye corrdination. These programs are quite good, but they would be even better if they had sound. Al- though the Sorcerer lacks an internal speaker, sound could be produced over an inexpensive amplifier connected to the computer's microphone jack. This ar- rangement has been used by several com- panies who offer programs for the TRS-80 and would work equally well with the Sor- cerer.

Starbase Hyperion (see Photo 3) is a tactical simulation of war in outer space. The object is to prevent enemy forces from destroying your starbase. As com- mander you must decide how to deploy the starbase 's energy each day. Energy may be used to generate warships, to re- lease probes, to increase the starbase 's shields, to create additional power bands, or to add power reserves. Different classes of warships may be generated. Each class has unique speed and arma- ment ratings; those with the highest arma- ment ratings require more energy to create. The commander directs ship

36

Bob Stuckmeyer

movement with the aid of a sector map which displays the position of enemy and friendly ships on a polar coordinate grid. Battle between ships is graphically dis- played on this grid.

Starbase Hyperion is rich in detail. Play- ers will probably need hours of practice to become well versed in rules and tactics. Random events like enemy reinforce- ments, circuit overloads and the recovery of enemy battle maps make each game challenging. Unfortunately, the program has several minor errors which are irritat- ing. The screen area which lists the status of all friendly ships is not always updated correctly when a ship is lost in battle. Advancing enemy ships occasionally dis- appear without having been destroyed. Sometimes the program erroneously re- ports a ship is destroyed as it is launched. Because I received one of the first copies shipped, the program may not have been fully debugged.

In addition to the programs reviewed. Quality Software offers about twenty

Photo 3. Starbase Hyperion.

other programs for the Sorcerer. About half of these are games; the others are "serious" programs including extensions to Exidy's assembler, a smart terminal program, a disassembler and more.

Quality Software can be reached by calling (213)344-6599 or by writing to: Quality Software, 6660 Reseda Blvd., Suite 105, Reseda, CA 91335. □

CREATIVE COMPUTING

SOFTWARE FOR THE SORCERER*

i ■:■:

:B I f ■

* BM wmm HI f " ■■ ■■¥ ■

* SB BB BB " BB BB

FASTGAMMON

HEAD-ON COLLISION

ARROWS AND ALLEYS

UTILITY PROGRAMS

SIMULATIONS AND GAMES

FORTH. Now Sorcerer owners can enioy the convenience and speed of the fascinating FORTH programming language Based on fig FORTH and adapted for the Sorcerer by James Albanese. this version uses simulated disk memory in RAM and does not require a disk drive Added to standard tig FORTH are an onscreen editor, a serial RS 232 driver, and tape save and load capability Eight bit input/output has been added allowing use of the Sorcerer's graphics keys Documentation includes examples Requires 32K or more of RAM $49 95

BEDIT by Ernest Bergmann A BASIC editor. This short and easy to use program is a machine language routine that loads in low memory and allows you to edit your BASIC programs by modifying text on the video screen No more retyping a long line lust to change one character A few cursor movements make the necessary modifications Even renumbering lines is easy to do This program is a real timesaver Runs on any size Sorcerer $11.95

GRAPHICS ANIMATION by Lee Anders This package provides the BASIC programmer with a powerful set of commands for graphics and animation The program is written in machine language but is loaded together with your BASIC program and graphics definitions with a CLOAD command Any image from a character to a large graphic shape may be plotted, moved, or erased with simple BASIC commands Encounters of plotted character sets with background characters are detected and background images are preserved Contains a medium resolution plotting routine A keyboard routine detects key presses without carriage returns Includes a separate program for constructing images Runs on any size Sorcerer $29 95

QS SMART TERMINAL by Bob Pierce Convert your Sorcerer to a smart terminal Used with a modem, this program provides the capability tor you to communicate efficiently and save connect time with larger computers and other microcomputers The program formats incoming data from timesharing systems such as The Source for the Sorcerer video Incoming data can be stored (downloaded) into a file in RAM Files, including programs, may be saved to or loaded from cassette, listed on the video, transmitted out through your modem, or edited with an onboard text editor Interfaces with BASIC and the Word Processor Pac $49.95

DPX" ( Development Pac Extension) by Don Ursem Serious ISO program developers will find this utility program to be invaluable Move the line pointer upward Locate a word or symbol Change a character string wherever it occurs Simple commands allow you to jump directly from EDIT to MONITOR or DDT80 modes and automatically set up the I/O you want for listings Built-in serial driver Stop and restart listings Abort assembly with the ESC key Save backup tiles on tape at 1200 baud Load and merge files from tape by file name Versions for 8K. 16K. 32K. and 48K Sorcerer all on one cassette Requires the Sorcerer's Development Pac $29.95

PLOT by Vic Tolomei Now Apple owners will be envious of how easy you can get good graphics on your SORCERER PLOT includes both a super high resolution mode and a quick low resolution mode Both are accessible from your BASIC programs using simple commands Hires & lo res examples included on tape $14 95

SHAPE MAKER" by Don Ursem An onscreen character maker $14.95

DEBUG by Bob Pierce Debug machine language programs $14.95

new! ARROWS AND ALLEYS" by Vic Tolomei The latest and possi My the best arcade type game for home computers You drive your car in a maze of alleys Your task is to eliminate a gang of arrows that constantly pursues you You have a gun and the arrows don't, but the arrows are smart and they try to stay out of your sights and will often attack from the side or from behind Eliminate the arrows and another, faster gang

comes after you Four levels of play Requires 16K or more of RAM

$17.9$

STARBASE HYPERION" by Don Ursem At last, a true strategic space game for the Sorcerer1 Defend a frontline Star Fortress against invasion forces of an alien empire You create, deploy, and command entire ship squadrons as well as ground defenses in this complex tactical simulation of war in the far future Written in BASIC and 1 80 code Full graphics and realtime combat status display Includes full instructions and STARCOM battle manual Requires at least 16K of RAM $17.95

HEAD-ON COLLISION" by Lee Anders You are driving clockwise and a computer controlled car is driving counter clockwise The computer's car is trying to hit you head on. but you can avoid a collision by changing lanes and adiustmg your speed At the same time you try to drive over dots and diamonds to score points Three levels of play, machine language programming, and excellent graphics make this game challenging

and exerting for all At least 16K of RAM is required

$14T.9!

LUNAR MISSION by Lee Anders Land your spacecraft softly on the moon by control ling your craft's three propulsion engines Avoid lunar craters and use your limited fuel sparingly You can see both a profile view of the spacecraft coming down and a plan view of the landing area Land successfully and you get to view an animated walk on the moon Nine levels of play provide a stiff challenge to the most skillful astronaut Requires at least 16K of RAM $14.95

new! HANGMAN/MASTERMIND by Charles Finch Two traditional games are brought to life by Sorcerer graphics HANGMAN has three different vocabulary levels for you to choose from In MASTERMIND, the computer selects a tour-character code and you have to uncover it. These two games provide an enioyable way tor young people to develop their vocabulary and their logical reasoning ability Written in BASIC, for any size Sorcerer $11.95

FASTGAMMON™ by Bob Christiansen Backgammon players love this machine language program that provides a fast skillful opponent Option to replay a game with the same dice rolls Eight page instruction manual includes rules of backgammon

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MARTIAN INVADERS™ by James Albanese How long can you hold out against a persistent invasion force from Mars? Zap all the members of the landing party and another group comes after you The longer you hold out. the higher your score The Sorcerer s programmable graphics make this game look great, plus we've added special keyboard routines to really zip it up Written in machine language $14.95

NIKE II" by Charles Finch and Bob Broffel You may never get your computer back Irom your kids once they start playing Nike II The obiect is to destroy enemy bombers by firing Nike missiles at them If you miss the bombers, they bomb your factories and return tor a second pass. Nine levels of play make this game a challenge for everyone Written in machine language $11.95

280 DISASSEMBLER by Vic Tolomei

Decode machine language programs

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SOFTWARE INTERNALS MANUAL FOR THE SORCERER by Vic Tolomei A must for anyone writing software for the SORCERER Seven chapters: Intro to Machine Language. Devices & Ports. The Monitor. Cassette Interface. BASIC structure. Video & Graphics. The Keyboard Indexed Includes diagrams and software routines 64 pages $14.95

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TANK TRAP by Don Ursem An action game that combines skill, strategy, and luck A rampaging tank tries to run you down You are a combat engineer, build- ing concrete barriers in an effort to contain the tank Four levels of play make this animated game fun for everyone Written in BASIC with machine language subroutines $11.95

MAGIC MAZE™ by Vic Tolomei A chal- lenging maze game Ten levels of play Holding your lantern, you wander through a maze trying to stay on the right path and avoid pitfalls Automatic scor- ing tells you how good a pathfinder you are $11.95

CIRCLE 243 ON READER SERVICE CARD

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Battles in space and on Earth seem to be strong categories in the new software releases. This is a continuation of the computer-as-arcade-machine style, and I have to admit a fondness for it. No matter what other uses there are for computers, games will always represent a major portion of the new software. One such game is

A clever, logical

solution to a problem

might not work because

the programmer never

thought of it

covered below. Another popular area is adventure-type games. The original concept has spawned several programs that, while bearing a kinship to Adventure, are only distant cousins. One will be discussed below. Filling out the column, we'll take a look at a mailing-list program.

Winging it

Dogfight ($29.95), from Micro Lab, 811 Stonegate, Highland Park, IL 60035 has several game variations on one Apple disk. This 32K machine-language program puts you in control of a jet plane flying against enemy jets and helicopters. At the start, you have the option of using keys, paddles, or one or two joysticks for control. Next, you can select from six modes. The single-

David Lubar

player option allows you to play by yourself. With two players, you can play as partners or play as opponents. There are also two demo modes (one without sound) and a mode that lets up to eight players fly in competition. The game starts at level one. The player faces a single jet or helicopter. The enemy craft flies a random pattern, firing bullets. You must evade these bullets while making your own attack. A shot fired from a distance is less likely to down the enemy. Generally, you have to get rather close to the target. If you hit it, it explodes. Sometimes, the pilot will para- chute from the plane. If you don't shoot him, he gets another plane and continues to fly. If you are hit, you have a chance to jump. Once the plane or helicopter is

destroyed, you move to the next level. Each level either adds another craft or increases the speed at which the crafts fly and shoot. As mentioned in their ads. Micro Lab will award special certificates to the first ten persons who score 10,000 points. It might be some time before those certificates are claimed.

Dogfight is a good game. The helicopter is one of the nicest pieces of graphics programming I have seen. Two things should be mentioned. The disk will only boot if the drive controller card is in slot six. Also, when the game comes up, you'll see some extra text on the screen along with the title. There is nothing wrong with your Apple, those random-seeming letters are supposed to be there.

Dogfight

40

CREATIVE COMPUTING

Pump Up Your TRS-80 with the ES/F Mass Storage System

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'Soft Centered, continued.

Interactive Literature

Ted Nelson

Bob Lafore's Interactive Fiction is a new genre he's invented. And it's great.

Unlike standard Adventure games, obsessed with knapsacks and secretive about the commands that make them work, Interactive Fiction is an adventure in a literary setting— a narrated story in which you are a character. Your chances for action consist mainly in deciding what to say when asked, but these interactive stories are generally vivacious and exciting. They are also excellent for parties, and for computer beginners and literati who do not find conventional Adventure games attrac- tive. (And speaking as a jaded vetem, these were the most fun I've had with computers in a long time.)

Essentially Interactive Fiction is a Dialogue Adventure, a combination of Adventure and Eliza— since the pro- grams behind the stories must parse your replies and branch appropriately.

Each story begins with a longish intro- duction—over-long, perhaps— but gets you wide awake with something like, "And we hope you are ready to become a fictional character." This really grabs you (—especially if. like most of us, you sometimes suspect you are a fic- tional character.)

Then the story begins— excruciatingly stylized, a combination of mood, whimsy and nostalgia— and soon you have your first chance to reply.

Each time you reply, it's a temptation just to go for keywords— but if you have any love of story-telling, you're more likely to reply in full sentences, befitting your station as a character.

The dialogue format.it must be ad-

Essentially

Interactive Fiction

is a Dialogue

Adventure.

mitted, is sometimes awkward; but it's a nice prompt. (And the whirring disk, the first part of the computer's response, creates a nice conversational tempo.)

And what you say has consequences. You live or die, find the murderer or not, achieve fame or disgrace. And all in the framework of delightful story- telling and purple prosody:

"...As you raise the head droplets of

coffee in Rodney's beard glisten in the light from the dirty window."

Lafore has thought through his format beautifully. By careful stacking of the stories, he gives you neat choices of action, but not so many as to make the story unwieldy. (The respones that lurk ready to pounce on your utterances are often choice.) Sometimes he will surprise you by speaking for you; sometimes he lets you off the hook, as in "Two Sides of the Coin," where you can ask your Dr. Watson to take over if your own initiatives don't work.

For a Swarthmore alumnus, Lafore unfortunately slips us a surprising number of misspellings — I noted "governement," "trolly," "reasonalby," "imaginitive," and the arresting "douchess." He is also not consistent in the spelling of the characters' names. But no matter.

Bob Lafore is obviously a talented writer with a nice command of atmo- sphere, fictional action and structure; not content to be merely a swell teller of conventional tales, we can be glad he favors us with an entire new system of interactive writing.

Never mind the swords and sacks of souvenirs; I'd rather curl up with a good interactive story. □

You are There

Interactive Fiction. The phrase does a good job of describing the product. These programs by Robert LaFore, on disk for a TRS-80, are stories where the player has a chance to take part in the development of the plot. This is done through dialogue. Throughout each story, the player has a chance to put words in the mouth of a character. The choice of words affects the outcome of the story. This approach has several ramifications. As with all interactive programs, you can succeed only with solutions that have been antici- pated by the author. In other words, you are working within a well-defined universe. Part of the fun is in discovering the laws of this universe. Part of the frustration is in being unable to transcend these laws. A clever, logical solution to a problem might not work because the programmer never thought of it. Another important feature of these games is that you only get out of them what you put in. A user can approach Interactive Fiction as a contest between him and the computer, where the goal is to find the vocabulary and overcome the program. For instance.

in Interactive Fiction you can enter sentences consisting not of real dialogue but of a string of potential keywords. This approach might reveal the design of the program, but it kills all the fun.

The early disks were structured in such a way that the drive was accessed fairly often. The programs vary in interest and quality. Six Micro Stories ($14.95) is one of the best. The player takes part in short stories, each with many outcomes. In one, you are a spy attending a German party during World War II. Another story involves a meeting with a young women in a park. The novel Two Heads of the Coin ($19,95) is a Holmes-and- Watson type affair. Billed as one of the more difficult programs to solve, it is clever, but not that tough. Again, the main thing is getting into the spirit of the program. Even after you've solved the story, you can go back and look at other branches.

The most recent release. His Majesties Ship Impetuous, takes a slightly different approach. There are fewer interruptions for disk access and the story is more linear. The series of events encountered during any "reading'of the story will not change much, but the outcomes will vary depend-

ing on decisions made earlier. As the captain of the Impetuous, you have many choices to make, each of which could come back to haunt you later. Whether you end in fame or infamy, you can always take another run through the game. This raises another interesting point. Since there is a goal (namely, ending in fame and glory), players might be discouraged from exploring all the avenues since many are obviously losers. But what seems obvious might not be correct. Besides being fun as games, these programs are a good way to show off your computer the next time someone asks, "What do you do with that thingr The disks are available from several distributors including TSE (6 South St. Box 68, Milford NH 03055)

In the Mail

Software Technology for Computers,

P.O. Box 428, Belmont MA 02178, produces Mailing List Program on disk for a 48K Apple with Applesoft. The program has ten pre-defined fields with pre-defined lengths, including first name, last name, address, and phone number. Data can be saved on any initialized diskette. Before

42

CREATIVE COMPUTING

printing a list, the format can be tested and changed. Data can be sorted in six different fields, and the sorted information can be printed. A search routine is included, allowing you to print out only those entries which fulfill a specific catagory. You can also print a list of names and phone numbers.

The program performs as promised. For $40, it is a bargain, with some qualifications. You cannot search on a subset. For instance, while the program will find everyone with the last name "Jones," it can't And everyone whose last name begins with "L." Also, you can't produce a sort of two fields such as an alphabetical list of names within a list sorted by zip code. But, if you don't need these extras. Mailing List Program is a capable program.

Scattered Bits

On Line Systems, who gave the world Mystery Mansion and The Wizard and the Princess, has another high-resolution adventure slated for release in the near future. They've also come out with a football game. These Apple products will be covered in an upcoming issue. The Sensational Software division of Creative Computing will be distributing several Atari games created by Thorn EMI, one of the most innovative software developers in England. D

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Inventors of flying machines have one major advantage over designers of intelli- gent programs. It is always evident whether a machine is flying, but not whether a program is intelligent. A program as proficient as man in a wide range of intellectual activities would indubitably be intelligent. Such success is far off, however, and perhaps impossible. For the present, we must be satisfied with programs of limited intelligence. Un- fortunately, the distinction between ordinary programs and somewhat intelli- gent programs is not entirely clear.

Writing programs is a major activity of AI researchers. The purpose of the programs is sometimes obscure, but most are apparently thought to be intelligent in some sense or are intended as pilot projects for programs that will exhibit true intelligence. The design and evaluation of AI programs requires an understanding of what it means for a program to be intelligent. Such understanding has been slow in coming.

The goals of the early research in AI were distorted by a one-sided conception of intelligence. The result was excessive optimism and wasted effort. Much of the early progress in AI is proving illusory, as the distinction between pseudo-intelli- gence and true intelligence becomes more apparent. Even today, the difficulty of defining goals is a serious impediment to A I research.

Pseudo Intelligence

In their introduction to Computers and Thought. Feigenbaum and Feldman say that the goal of AI research is "to construct computer programs which exhibit behavior that we call 'intelligent behavior' when we observe it in human beings." Most authorities offer essentially the same definition, although lately it is

Norman D. Whaland, 430 E9 St.. Apt. 15. New York. NY 10009.

When Is

A Program

Intelligent?

Norman Whaland

usually qualified in an attempt to repair its defects. The creation of programs to carry out useful intelligent behavior is obviously valid as an ultimate goal. However, it is incorrect to use behavior as the sole criterion of intelligence in formulating proximate goals. The behavior of most AI programs is completely useless. They have value only insofar as they embody principles that can eventually be incor- porated in useful programs. Intelligent- seeming behavior is no guarantee that the program represents any progress at all toward true AI.

Intelligent-seeming be- havior is no guarantee that the program repre- sents any progress at all.

Many AI programs can attack only problems within a limited range, called a task domain. The rationale is that lessons learned with a small task domain can be applied to programs with much larger task domains. If this plan is to be successful, however, it is not sufficient that the behavior of the small-domain program appear intelligent. Methods that work for small domains can't always be applied to large domains.

If the task domain is sufficiently small, the number of different types of situation that can arise will be small compared to the number of instructions in a computer program. Under these circum- stances, the domain can be handled by a conventional program, in which each type of situation is handled by a separate sequence of instructions. The program- mer, using his intelligence, makes all the decisions and records them in the form of a program. Such a program may seem impressively intelligent, but it is worthless for the purposes of AI research.

A person who plays Nim perfectly is surely exhibiting intelligent behavior. Nevertheless, the existing Nim programs can't be considered intelligent. We can say to a person, "All right, now let's change the rules, and say that you can't draw more than five counters at a time." No great intelligence is required for us to change our behavior accordingly. Nim programs are completely unable to do this, let alone find the winning method under the new rules.

Of course, Nim programs can't under- stand English, but that isn't the crux of the matter. Even if we had a program that understood English, there would be no way to link it to a Nim program so as to duplicate human performance. The reason is that Nim programs and typical English sentences contain units of information of entirely different kinds. Also, the infor- mation in programs isn't in a suitable form for modification. A Nim program might contain an information unit like

230 IF X = Y(J) THEN 540 Deprived of its context, it is meaningless and useless. It exists only to be executed at the proper moment. Information in such a form can't readily be manipulated to produce appropriate behavior in changed circumstances.

A conventionally structured program lacks the flexibility that is an essential part of intelligence. This lack can't be remedied simply by adding to the program. New ways of structuring programs are needed if they are to use information flexibly and to accept and utilize new information.

The conventional techniques that succeed on small task domains are bound to fail on much larger domains. If each type of situation were to be handled by a separate section of code, computer memory and programmer endurance would both be pushed past their limits. The task-related information used by large- domain programs must be in the form of facts and principles, which (unlike com- mands) can be combined in various ways

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ADVENTURES

Adventures are interactive fantasies where you give the

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the Love Boat and survival is far from certain.

TREK ADVENTURE - Takes place on a

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This ROM adds full screen editing, software selectable scroll windows, keyboard correction (software selectable), and contains an extended machine code monitor. It has breakpoint utilities, machine code load and save, block memory move and hex dump utilities. A must for the machine code programmer replaces OSI support ROM. Specify system $59.95

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SUPER COPY - Single Disk Copier This copy program makes multiple copies, copies track zero, and copies all the tracks that your memory can hold at one time — up to 12 tracks at a pass. It's almost as fast as dual disk copying. - $15.95 MAXIPROSS (WORD PROCESSOR) - 65D polled keyboard only - has global and line edit, right and left margin justification, imbedded margin commands, choice of single, double or triple spacing, file access capabilities and all the features of a major word processor - and it's only $39.95.

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MINOS - A game with amazing 3D graphics. You tee a maze from the top, the screen blanks, and then you are in the maze at ground level, finding your way through on foot. Realistic enough to cause claustrophobia. — $1295

SCREEN EDITORS

These programs alt allow the editing of basic lines. All assume that you are using the standard OSI video display and polled keyboard. C1P CURSOR CONTROL - A program that uses no RAM normally available to the system. (We hid it in unused space on page 2). It provides real backspace, insert, delete and replace func- tions and an optional instant screen clear. $11.95

C2/4 CURSOR. This one uses 366 BYTES of RAM to provide a full screen editor. Edit and change lines on any part of the screen. (Basic in ROM systems only.)

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%

Intelligent, continued...

to generate appropriate behavior. In this way, the number of types of situation that the program handles can be many times larger than the number of items in the information store.

For very large task domains, easy communication with the computer is needed. When Turing predicted that his Test would be passed by the year 2000 — a prospect that now appears very unlikely — he believed that it would be necessary first to program computers to learn, so that they could be supplied with information more efficiently. Unfortunately, programs have so far been capable of only the most rudimentary sort of learning.

If the behavior of AI programs is to serve as an indicator of progress, they must do more than solve problems in a small task domain. Conventional programs, which add nothing to our knowledge of techniques useful for large task domains, can do as much. Intelligent behavior by itself is a sign of progress only when it includes the acceptance and flexible use of new information. It is possible for an AI program that does nothing but solve problems to have value, but the deter- mining factor is not its behavior but its internal mechanism.

True Intelligence

The stress on behavior as a criterion of intelligence obscures the real goals of AI research. The naive definition is, in my opinion, the best one: the goal of artificial intelligence is the creation of programs that think. Improvement of the behavior of programs is too often accomplished by ruses of no general usefulness. Changing the processes that AI programs use, so that they more closely resemble thought, is a surer guide to progress.

AI programs needn't necessarily model human thought. It suffices that the mechanisms used by the program have the essential characteristics of thought. Just as a flying machine needn't flap its wings, a thinking machine needn't work exactly like the brain. Of course, it may be difficult to agree on a definition of thought, in this extended sense. The need for a clearly defined goal might seem to justify the customary emphasis on intelligent be- havior.

Still, thought is no more vague a concept than intelligent behavior. Neither can be defined; both must be judged subjectively. The skeptic's judgment that the mechanism of an AI program is not thought is just as valid as the proponent's judgment that its behavior is intelligent. Success in problem solving is an objective criterion, but (as we have seen) an insufficient one. Those aspects of behavior that indicate true intelligence — flexibility, adaptability, and the ability to learn and understand — are difficult to measure objectively.

Although thought can't be defined

precisely, a few necessary characteristics of programs that think can be stated. The specific information about the task domain should appear, not in the actual program, but in a data base consisting of discrete units of information. The informa- tion units in the data base should be used flexibly in accordance with the situation. The program should have entirely general methods, applicable to any subject matter, for retrieving relevant facts and principles and applying them to the given situation.

In the fifties, programs played checkers and proved mathematical theorems. In the seven- ties, they rearranged blocks and figured out how to turn on the light switch.

In assessing the intelligence of a program, we should ask these questions: How much of the information in the program is applicable only to certain types of tasks? Can it, like a conventional program, apply only specific instructions to the problem, or can it utilize factual information? Can it use any fact, or only certain kinds of facts? How flexibly does it use the facts in the data base? How well does it retrieve from the data base just those facts that are relevant to the problem? Are its problem-solving methods organized as a rigid procedure, or are they activated flexibly as the situation changes?

The existing programs that are relatively intelligent by these criteria are unimpressive problem solvers. This isn't surprising and shouldn't be discouraging, since there are many aspects of thought that are not well understood. Real progress

is being made, however. There are computer programs that model such thought processes as logical deduction, goal setting, concept formation, analogy formation, and associative retrieval from memory. Still, not very much is known about any of these processes, with the exception of logical deduction. Lengthy experimentation will be necessary for the design of useful problem-solving programs that think.

False Optimism

In What Computers Can't Do (Part 1 in ROM, Vol. I #9, p. 66; Part 2 in Creative Computing. Vol. 6 # 1 , p. 54; both available from Creative for $2.50 each), Hubert Dreyfus called attention to the first-step syndrome that afflicts AI research. A worker writes a program that seems somewhat intelligent, hails it as a first step toward a much more powerful program, and then goes on to something completely different — another "first step." Second steps are uncommon.

When serious research in AI got underway in the late fifties, there seemed to be good cause for optimism. Some impressive programs were written then notably Samuel's checkers program and Gelernter's program for proving theorems in plane geometry. Contrary to expecta- tions, still more powerful programs did not soon materialize. It now appears that many an impressive first step was not a step toward AI at all. Progress in producing intelligent behavior is not necessarily progress towards producing thought.

In recent years, AI researchers have become more aware of the difficulties to be overcome. Nowadays it is mainly the general public that is misled by reliance on behavior as a criterion of intelligence. Demonstrations of alleged artificial intelligence can be deceptively impressive because of the force of analogy. It is natural to assume that appropriate and

46

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Intelligent, continued...

seemingly purposeful behavior results from thought. Laymen aren't in a position to examine the program and determine whether it is a bag of ad hoc tricks or an approximation of true thought.

Since chess is one of the best-known and longest studied task domains, it makes a good case in point. Claude Shannon proposed in 1950 that a chess program could serve as a pilot project for programs that could do useful thinking, such as engineering design. Early success in writing programs that played mediocre chess was followed by a long period of little apparent progress. Finally, the Slate- Atkin program CHESS (I omit the ever- changing version number) astounded everyone by achieving an Expert rating — three levels above the rating of the average tournament player.

Many people overrate the significance of the progress in chess programming. Contrary to a widespread belief, it does not harbinger machine play of world championship caliber. While CHESS has highly sophisticated tree-searching tech- niques, it contains very little information about chess. Its success proves only that shallow but exhaustive analysis is more