[{"TitleName":"White Lightning","Publisher":"Oasis Software","Author":"","YearOfRelease":"1984","ZxDbId":"0008967","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 8, Sep 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-08-30","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":112,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nConsultant Editor: Franco Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\nCirculation Manager: Tom Hamilton\r\nAll circulation enquiries should ring [redacted]\r\n\r\n©1984 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Micro is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nGeneral correspondence to: [redacted]\r\n\r\nTelephone numbers\r\nGeneral office [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\n\r\nPhotosetting by SIOS [redacted]\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £10.50 (UK Mainland post free)\r\nEurope: 12 issues £17.50 (post free).\r\n\r\nWe cannot undertake to return any written or photographic material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"WHITE LIGHTNING STRIKES\r\n\r\nThere is a large interest developing in Games Designer programs. Lots of Spectrum owners have experienced a wealth of commercial games programs. Many of them feel at one point or other that they could improve and do better programs or have original ideas for new games concepts. Some may have experience of programming in Basic and have felt the disappointment in the deficiencies of Basic as a graphics and sound language. Every programmer goes through the stage of despair at the lack of speed when operating from Basic. Only very few will dare venture into low level machine code language directly from Basic. They will either learn to use specific machine code routines, which they will be able to access from Basic, perhaps using a machine code toolkit, or they will delve into a high level graphics development language. Nearly all of these dedicated people will find themselves learning machine code operation in the end and become machine code freaks. The interim stage of a high level graphics language or of a toolkit will help them bridge the gap between Basic and hex code programming by improving the end result of their work and thus keeping their interest alive long enough. In fact, the results may be so impressive, that some people may not even be bothered to develop any further and settle for this relatively easy and rewarding interim stage.\r\n\r\nTHE WHITE LIGHTNING PACKAGE\r\n\r\nWhite Lightning is a high level development system for the Spectrum 48K. It consists of three distinct programming blocks:\r\n\r\nThe Sprite Generator\r\nSpectra Forth\r\nIdeal\r\n\r\nThe White Lightning language is a fast integer Forth which conforms to standard Fig-Forth.\r\n\r\nIdeal is a sub language incorporated in Forth which deals with the graphics manipulation.\r\n\r\nThe Sprite Generator is a stand alone utility, which provides a development system for creating user defined characters and sprites for later use in Forth and Ideal or from Basic. Due to the wealth of material, only a very marginal cover can be given, but this should give the programmer an idea of the possibilities contained in this package.\r\n\r\nTHE SPRITE GENERATOR PROGRAM\r\n\r\nThe Sprite Generator program assists in the design and editing of graphic characters, which will later be manipulated as sprites in Forth, Ideal or Basic. At the end of the session the sprites generated can be saved to tape for later use. 167 arcade characters are provided with the package. These can be reviewed by loading and running DEMO B on the demonstration cassette. The demonstration sprites are located after the White Lightning program and may be loaded and edited with the LOAD SPRITES FROM TAPE facility.\r\n\r\nThe Sprite Generator program displays to the left the character square, an 8 by 8 grid and is the area where the sprites are created and edited one character at a time. The Sprite Screen situated on the right is an area of 15 x 15 characters in which sprites are created, developed and transformed. A sprite library of up to 255 sprites or 12500 bytes may be created and more than one library may be merged into White Lightning.\r\n\r\nThe character is generated on the character square and then transferred to the Sprite Screen. From here it can be used for sprite creation or saved directly as a sprite to memory. An information rectangle provides the information of the sprite in the Screen Window. It indicates the memory left, start and end position in memory, sprite height and length (in characters) and the sprite number. The special functions provided are plenty and include mirror, rotate and attribute handling. Sprites can be combined into larger sprites. Sprites may also be combined using the Boolean (logic) functions OR, AND, EXOR. The functions are too numerous to mention.\r\n\r\nSPECTRA FORTH\r\n\r\nThe standard Spectrum editor or a special Forth line editor may be used to create the source code for later compilation. Forth achieves its superior computing speed by employing a computation and data stack on where the data or operations to be performed are held coupled with the use of Reverse Polish Notation, which may be familiar to Hewlett Packard pocket calculator owners.\r\n\r\nThe language is made up of a standard set of vocabulary of Forth words. Programming is achieved by defining new words based on the words of the existing vocabulary ('The house that Jack built...' principle). Values to be passed to these words are pushed onto a stack . Forth produces very compact code, the source code is very readable and it has near enough the speed of machine code without requiring the in-depth knowledge of machine code. Access may be gained to Basic and to machine code routines for full flexibility.\r\n\r\nIDEAL \r\n\r\nIdeal is a sub language with a dictionary of over 100 words. Ideal stands for 'Interrupt Driven Extendable Animation Language' and is designed to facilitate the manipulation of sprites and screen data. Forth/Ideal words can be executed under interrupt. This facilitates timing, as the Spectrum interrupts occur 50 times a second independent of any running program. This way smooth background scrolls may be produced independent of the foreground movement. Ideal may also be accessed from Basic. This allows the programmer to utilise the animation and screen facilities of Ideal before having to learn Forth. The animation speed will be reduced due to the higher overheads of the interpreter, and more memory will be used for the Basic source. Most of the Basic commands that handle sound and graphics on the Spectrum have been implemented in Forth and if these functions are accessed via Forth, will execute more rapidly.\r\n\r\nDEMONSTRATION\r\n\r\nRunning the demonstration tape gives a clue as to what can be achieved with Ideal/Forth. All the demonstrations are explained in the manual indicating the method employed and the comands required for the special effects. The animation is very fast and the interrupt facility displayed to its advantage in several demonstrations.\r\n\r\nMANUAL\r\n\r\nIt is here where White Lightning scores very highly. The manual is a 131 page booklet and provides an excellent introduction into this highly versatile language system. The manual is divided into the three main sections on the Sprite Generator, Spectra Forth and Ideal. Each and every command is explained in detail and illustrated with sample programs.\r\n\r\nGlossaries are given for Fig-Forth, Ideal, Forth/Basic and Extended Spectra Forth. Important Use call addresses are listed.\r\n\r\nThe demonstration programs are briefly described and 16 sample programs are provided for the aspiring Forth/Ideal programmer.\r\n\r\nCONCLUSION\r\n\r\nWhite Lightning proves to be more than just a high level graphics development system. At £14.95 it includes a fast and efficient Forth language, the graphics sub Ideal and a versatile Sprite Creator all accompanied by an excellent beginners and reference manual.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"38,39","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Franco Frey","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"A Spritely bunch"},{"Text":"The Sprite factory"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 32, Nov 1984","Price":"£0.85","ReleaseDate":"1984-10-18","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":204,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nConsultant Editor: Mike Johnston\r\nStaff Writer: Chris Bourne\r\nIllustrator/Designer: Craig Kennedy\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nProduction Assistant: James McClure\r\nEditorial Assistant: Colette McDermott\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nAssistant Publisher: Neil Wood\r\nPublisher: Gerry Murray\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nTelephone\r\nAll departments\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs should be on cassette and articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included.\r\n\r\nWe pay £10 for the copyright of each program published and £50 per 1,000 words for each article used.\r\n\r\nAll subscription enquiries to\r\nMagazine Services,\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1984\r\nSinclair User\r\nISSN NO. 0262-5458\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by Spotlight Magazine Distribution Ltd, [redacted]"},"MainText":"QUICK ON THE DRAW\r\n\r\nMemory: 48K\r\nPrice: £14.95\r\n\r\nWhite Lightning is an apt name for the games development package released by Oasis Software.\r\n\r\nThe package is described by the company as \"the first true sprite manipulation language\". Although some would not agree with the first point, as the ISP SCOPE arrived on the scene much earlier, it has to be admitted that the package provides a powerful graphics utility language which will add a new dimension to games written by amateur programmers.\r\n\r\nSprites are made up of several character segments which can be moved around the screen in unison. Any one of a possible 255 sprites can be set up at any width and height you indicate. The unit of measurement for sprites is one byte and the most common size is four by four. That will produce characters similar to those which can be found on the Commodore and Atari computers.\r\n\r\nThe White Lightning language is compiler-based and runs Fig-Forth together with a set of commands to handle graphics, sound and input. Oasis has labelled that new sub-set of Forth 'Ideal' and it fills in the holes which the official Forth language leaves on the Spectrum.\r\n\r\nIf you do not have any knowledge of that esoteric language then the 131-page booklet which accompanies the package explains all the commands in detail.\r\n\r\nAs well as being able to use Forth and ideal you can incorporate Basic commands into programs. The reason for allowing the use of Basic keywords is that a beginner can be gradually weaned onto Forth code and off Basic. That is a commendable idea and one that works well.\r\n\r\nAnyone who wants to write compiled games ought to buy White Lightning. It is easily the most complex games language on the market and produces stunning effects on the screen.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"32","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"John Gilbert","Score":"9","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Gilbert Factor","Score":"9/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Computer Issue 10, Oct 1984","Price":"£0.9","ReleaseDate":"1984-09-20","Editor":"Toby Wolpe","TotalPages":218,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Toby Wolpe\r\nAssistant Editor: Meirion Jones\r\nStaff Writer: Simon Beesley\r\nProduction Editor: Ian Vallely\r\nSub-Editor: Paul Bond\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lee Paddon\r\nEditorial Secretary: Lynn Dawson\r\nEditorial: [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: U.K. £12.50 for 12 issues.\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Shobhan Gajjar\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Nicholas Ratnieks\r\nAdvertisement Executives: Nigel Borrell, Julian Bidlake, Kay Filbin\r\nNorthern Office: Ron Southall\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maxine Gill\r\nClassified: Lucy O'Sullivan\r\nPublishing Director: Chris Hipwell\r\n\r\nYour Computer, [redacted]\r\n©Business Press International Ltd 1984\r\n\r\nPrinted in Great Britain for the proprietors of Business Press International Ltd, [redacted].\r\nISSN 0263-0885\r\nPrinted by Riverside Press Ltd, [redacted], and typeset by Instep Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nABC 154,334 January-June, 1984."},"MainText":"Spectrum 48K\r\n£14.95\r\nOasis Software\r\n\r\nWhite Lightning is the most extensive and effective games writing package yet to appear. Oasis have had the clever idea of adapting Forth to meet the needs of the games writer. The program is a version of Fig-Forth, greatly extended by a hundred commands for manipulating graphics.\r\n\r\nForth is well-suited for creating games. It is almost as fast us assembly language but easier to use and has the great merit of allowing you to define new commands.\r\n\r\nThe bulk of the extra commands provide the Spectrum with an impressive sprite facility. Not only can you define the dimensions of your sprite but once created you can enlarge it, invert it or reflect it, and even spin it. To design sprites there is a sprite generator program together with a set of 167 predefined characters.\r\n\r\nThere are also commands to create screen and sprite windows, which can then be swapped around or scrolled in any direction. But perhaps the most useful feature is the way any of these graphics facilities can be interrupt driven. Thus you can set a scrolling landscape in motion while your program attends to other tasks.\r\n\r\nTo master White Lightning you will have to work through a manual of 130 pages of fine print. And in the process you will have to learn Forth Compared to programs like Hurg, Scope and Fifth, White Lightning is dauntingly complex. But if you want to write a game of commercial quality using a games designer, this is the one to buy.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"47,49","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ZX Computing Issue 22, Dec 1985","Price":"£1.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-11-28","Editor":"Ray Elder","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Ray Elder\r\nEditorial Assistant: Cliff Joseph\r\nGroup Editor: Wendy J Palmer\r\nSoftware Assistant: John Gerard Donovan\r\nSales Executive: Alice Robertson\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Barry Bingham\r\nDivisional Advertising Manager: Chris Northam\r\nCopy Controller: Sue Couchman\r\nPublishing Director: Peter Welham\r\n\r\nOrigination and design by MM Design & Print, [redacted]\r\nPublished by Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, [redacted]\r\n\r\nZX Computing is published bi-monthly on the fourth Friday of the month. Distributed by: Argus Press Sales & Distribution Ltd. [redacted]. Printed by: Garnett Print, Rotherham and London.\r\n\r\nThe contents of this publication including all articles, designs, plans, drawings and programs and all copyright and other intellectual property rights therein belong to Argus Specialist Publications Limited. All rights conferred by the Law of Copyright and other intellectual property rights and by virtue of international copyright conventions are specifically reserved to Argus Specialist Publications Limited and any reproduction requires the prior written consent of Argus Specialist Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Argus Specialist Publications Limited 1985"},"MainText":"ZAPPING YOUR GRAPHICS\r\n\r\nZX looks at some utilities that can help put some life into your graphics displays.\r\n\r\nThis program has been around for some time now and I well remember the hours of studying the little, small typed, 131 page manual trying to get to grips with it. It's not that the manual is badly written, just the opposite, it's just that you have to throw away all your knowledge of programming in BASIC and learn what amounts to two complementary new languages.\r\n\r\nSpectra Forth is a variant of the Forth language and its implementation is explained in detail, but there's no attempt to teach you how to program in Forth. This means that before you can get full benefit of this program you have to buy a book, read it and become competent in Forth.\r\n\r\nWhite Lightning not only gives you the use of a faster language but also over a hundred special commands in 'Ideal', a specially designed language created by Oasis.\r\n\r\nThe presentation case holds the previously mentioned manual plus two tapes containing White Lightning, a Sprite Development package and two demonstration programs. Look at the demos first, they will convince you that it may be well worth taking the time to learn to use the program.\r\n\r\nWhite Lightning is a superb package for the dedicated games writer, it's good to see Forth having a practical use, and the end results could be superior to any other games designer programs.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"42","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue Annual 1986,  1986","Price":"£2.5","ReleaseDate":"1985-12-01","Editor":"John Gilbert","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\nEditor: John Gilbert\r\nConsultant Editor: Bill Scolding\r\nStaff Writers: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nDesigner: Craig Kennedy\r\nEditorial Secretary: Norisah Fenn\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertising Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Shahid Nizam\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\n\r\nMAGAZINE SERVICES\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\n\r\nTELEPHONE\r\nAll departments [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User Annual is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Photograph: Spitting Image Productions Ltd.\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles to:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs should be on cassette and articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included.\r\n\r\nWe pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by Saffron Graphics Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Peterboro' Web, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd. ©Copyright 1985 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458"},"MainText":"USER-DEFINED POSSIBILITIES\r\n\r\nJohn Gilbert says: Why not stop playing games and do something useful instead?\r\n\r\nThe definition of a utility in computer parlance has widened in the past year. In the early days of the industry it meant a program which aided the machine code programmer to accomplish a task. Now it can have five meanings.\r\n\r\nThe first category takes in the graphics and sound toolkits. Those expand the Basic command set, adding instructions which create shapes, fill them in, and save pictures to tape or microdrive. The sound generators sometimes included within those packages can make music or even create a voice for your computer.\r\n\r\nMachine code utilities include assemblers, disassemblers and monitors, all of which are designed to help you write your own machine code routines. If you are not up to that sort of exercise you may like to acquire a new operating system or high level language such as Pascal, Forth or C.\r\n\r\nGeneral utilities which will teach you the highway code, help you with car maintenance or show you how to diet efficiently are also available.\r\n\r\nGraphics packages have the most visible effect on a Spectrum or QL, and they have proved popular this year even with people who would not normally program a computer. Light Magic, from New Generation, started the interest in all things graphical during 1985. It carried on where Melbourne Draw, from Melbourne House, and Paintbox, from Print 'n' Plotter, left off.\r\n\r\nThe program is totally menu driven and can be operated either under keyboard or joystick control. There are five modes of display. The first is pen mode in which, you can draw on the screen using an electronic nib.\r\n\r\nCircle and Fill mode will allow you to produce circles and arcs which can then be filled in with colour. Brush mode is similar to Pen mode but you can use 10 types of brush.\r\n\r\nThe block mode operates in parts, or blocks, of the screen. It allows you to rotate and mirror blocks on pictures, saving time if you need to draw an object which is symmetrical.\r\n\r\nFinally, the Text mode enables you to write on the screen. User-defined graphics can also be produced as a UDG generator is included in the package.\r\n\r\nIf Light Magic does not impress you then The Artist, from Softechnics surely will. It is one of the most powerful packages on the market.\r\n\r\nThe Artist can be used to take one section of a picture and reproduce it on another part of the screen, where it can be enlarged or reduced. The package will also allow you to produce UDGs and a animator utility is included within the program. Not satisfied with that the author has also included a simple routine which will take a screen display and reduce the number of RAM bytes required to store it.\r\n\r\nArt Studio, from OCP outperforms The Artist in almost every way. It has superior speed to the Softechnics package and the pull down menus are easy to use. It can be used with disc, tape or microdrive and contains a printer driver which handles most Spectrum compatible printers. It should be of use to professional artists and designers as well as to the home user.\r\n\r\nA similar package came onto the market for the QL. GraphiQL marked the entry of quality software house Talent onto the QL scene. Not only can the package produce every conceivable type of line, circle, are and angle, but it can also be used to define textures, using form and colour. Those can then be used with Fill routines.\r\n\r\nThe program allows you to enlarge shapes on the screen. That facility enables you to ensure that Fill texture does not leak out of a shape which has a hole in its border.\r\n\r\nQL Art, from Eidersoft, has the same sort of facilities as GraphiQL but does not have the same professional edge to it. Unlike the Talent package it is fully menu driven. One of the faults with GraphiQL is that you must rely on the instruction manual or special help option for information about user commands.\r\n\r\nIllustrator, from Gilsoft, is the long awaited adventure graphics designer for the Spectrum. It is no ordinary package as it produces graphic screens which can be put into adventures designed by Gilsoft's adventure design program The Quill. Although the routine can only produce static screen pictures it brightens up the adventures written by its sister program and gives adventure programmers more scope for invention.\r\n\r\nWhite Lightning, from Ocean, is one of the most exciting advances in graphics design packages for the Spectrum that I have seen in the last year. Its aim is to allow you to produce high standard arcade game graphics and, in order to do that, you must use its special Forth-type language. The package combines a sprite generator with a screen layout designer. It is great fun to use and its limitations are only in the mind of the beholder.\r\n\r\nA similar package has been produced for the QL, although Super Sprite Generator, from Digital Integration, will produce and animate only sprites and not full screen game backdrops.\r\n\r\nThe program adds extensions to SuperBasic and is run in two parts. The first is the generator and the second the animation routine. It is an excellent package which has been used by professional programmers to produce arcade games. Night Nurse from Shadow Games is one example of its use.\r\n\r\nOnly one good example of a sound toolkit came onto the market last year. Varitalk produces speech through the Spectrum Beep unit. Its performance can be enhanced using a loudspeaker or by putting the sound through a tape recorded output channel.\r\n\r\nA large number of phonetic sounds are included in the package. Those can be accessed by using a code made up of the first letter of the type of sound required and the number of that sound from a list which has been provided on the cassette inlay. There are no parameters within the program to allow you to set emotion or inflection into the speech. You cannot even get the package to ask a question properly.\r\n\r\nMachine code utilities may only appeal to assembly language programmers but that audience has grown larger during the past year, especially within the ranks of those who own a QL.\r\n\r\nNo less than four QL assemblers arrived on the market during 1985. The most powerful was from Metacomco. The QL Assembler Development Kit comprises a full screen editor, together with a three-pass compiler.\r\n\r\nThe editor can input ASCII code files and so can be used with code Basic programs and even word processor files. Once your assembly code listing has been entered you must save it to microdrive, or disc, and then load it into the assembler program. The package takes approximately two minutes - and three code overlays - to convert the code file into a machine code format.\r\n\r\nAlso included with the assembler is a library of QDOS calls. Those can be named within you programs. A linker was put into the second version of the assembler package at which time Metacomco dropped the price.\r\n\r\nComputer One was also quick to produce an assembler for the QL. The difference between it and the Metacomco program is that it can be loaded into the machine complete with the source editor. You can, therefore, write your assembly program and then convert it to machine code without having to load any overlays from microdrive.\r\n\r\nThe Sinclair Research assembler is similar to that from Metacomco, but it is not as powerful. Incidentally, the full screen editor in the package was written for Metacomco. GST, the company which wrote the Sinclair assembler, just does not seem to have the knack of producing editors.\r\n\r\nAdder Publishing was not as quick to produce an assembler package as Metacomco and Computer One but it did release one after the launch of its classic QL Advanced User Guide.\r\n\r\nThe program was similar in structure to the other products on the market but adheres closely to the notation in the User Guide Book.\r\n\r\nIt was some time before anyone realised that what the QL market was missing was a debugging tool such as a monitor or disassembler. That was soon put right, however, as four companies put monitors onto the market almost simultaneously.\r\n\r\nThe first program came from Digita1 Integration. QL Super Monitor is an economical package, put out in a cassette format box. It performs its task well and allows to view and alter code in a hexadecimal format.\r\n\r\nComputer One was again quick on the scene with a monitor which followed, and was compatible with, its assembler package.\r\n\r\nNot to be outdone Hi-Soft also decided that it should bring out a token QL product and opted for Andrew Pennel's QL MON. Unlike the Computer One program it is not automatically invoked when the machine is powered-up. Pennel's monitor is a QDOS job and can be called simply by typing a new SuperBasic command, MON. As it is easy to break out of the package back into SuperBasic the monitor can reside in RAM, be called at any time, and not disrupt any of the other tasks being performed by the QL.\r\n\r\nThe same technique is used in Tony Tebby's QL Monitor which is produced by Sinclair Research. The package has all the usual debugging facilities, a one line disassembler, and routines which displays the values of the registers or a block of memory in hexadecimal.\r\n\r\nAnother good feature of the package is that you can set it to run on any channel or in any window. That means that you could set up several versions of the program within the machine, each of which work on different sections of code.\r\n\r\nYou may prefer, however, not to get tangled up in the web of machine code. That does not mean, however, that you have to stick to SuperBasic, or to buying packages off the shelf. You can still experiment with QDOS and machine code by buying one of the toolkits or SuperBasic extension packages which have just become available.\r\n\r\nThe most famous toolkit, of course, was written by Tony Tebby and can be obtained for the QL from Sinclair Research. It provides a whole spectrum of new SuperBasic commands and run-alone programs which show the power of the QL multi-tasking operating system.\r\n\r\nThe main body of QL Toolkit comprises SuperBasic extensions which control jobs, allocate or clear memory, and display the status of the system.\r\n\r\nA series of separate programs, some in SuperBasic, some machine code, are also included in the package. They provide a user-defined graphics generator, an exceptionally fast back-up utility, and a multi-tasked digital clock which can be run while the package is in operation.\r\n\r\nOne task which the toolkit will not do is to check microdrives for errors or repair files which have become corrupt. Those sort of occurrences may be well known to you. They are unfortunate but fairly regular and if you do not have a back-up copy of a file you will usually be in trouble.\r\n\r\nThe Cartridge Doctor, from Talent, does away with many of the problems posed by the microdrives. It checks every sector on a cartridge to see it any errors have occurred and informs you if files have been corrupted.\r\n\r\nOnce you know about an error you can set up the Cartridge Doctor to deal with it. The most usual way is to read the file in and display it in ASCII format. A cursor is then provided by the program and you can rewrite any parts of the file which have been damaged. You can even repair the headers of files if necessary.\r\n\r\nMachine code is a low level language because you cannot understand it but the computer finds it easy to understand. A high level language, such as Basic, is easy to understand from your point of view - as a user - but needs some translation before the computer can understand it. There are several types of high level language for both the Spectrum and QL.\r\n\r\nAlthough Sinclair Basic, for the Spectrum, is highly respected it does have some faults and one software house, Betasoft has brought out a new version of structured Basic. Many of the additions provided by Beta Basic can also be found on machines such as the BBC Microcomputer, Amstrad and QL. They include WHEN and WHILE loops, a real time clock, new graphics commands and instructions to make Interface 1 and microdrives easier to use.\r\n\r\nThe Betasoft version of Basic is one of the best on the market for any machine. It has undergone several transformations during its relatively short three-year life span.\r\n\r\nPascal is another popular language and can often be found in schools. Indeed it is on the curriculum of some O and A level examination boards.\r\n\r\nThe first company onto the market with a full version of the language was Hi-Soft. Although it does not have an ISO standard of certification, which most full versions of the language have, it does run many times faster than Sinclair Basic and includes Logo turtle graphics.\r\n\r\nThe big Pascal launch of the year, however, was for the QL, from Metacomco. The QL Pascal Development Kit did receive ISO standard certification - an award which is to Pascal what a BSA certificate is to car safety seats.\r\n\r\nThe Metacomco package provides a full version of the language with extensions for QL graphics and sound. The source code is taken from a full screen editor and compiled into true 68000 code.\r\n\r\nIt was the first QL product to receive a Sinclair User Classic and, indeed, it was the first utility to receive that award for software excellence.\r\n\r\nComputer One brought out a version of Pascal which while not up to the standard of the compiler from Metacomco comes a very close second. The first version of the package compiles the source into P-code which, although faster than SuperBasic, requires the Pascal operating system to be in memory. Computer One later amended the program so that code could either be translated into P-code or compiled to form a job which would run without the operating system being present.\r\n\r\nThe compiler is more user friendly than the Metacomco package - all sections of the screen editor and compiler can be accessed through a menu based program - but the QL Pascal Development Kit wins hands down in the features race.\r\n\r\nMetacomco and Computer One both brought out versions of the popular artificial intelligence list processing language LISP. The Computer One program is less expensive than the one from Metacomco. Both versions can deal with the QL graphics commands and both are interpreted.\r\n\r\nThe medium level language C also proved popular with QL software houses during 1985. The first company to bring out a version was GST, which is famous for the 68K/OS alternative QL operating system. Unfortunately the product is a version of public domain RATC, a scaled down version of the original with additions to allow the use of QL graphics and QDOS traps. It is, of course, a compiler but the source must first be typed into a screen editor, run through a compiler which produces assembly language source, and put through an assembler to produce 68008 code. It is an unnecessarily complex operation and the code could be compiled in one go if GST had produced a machine code compiler.\r\n\r\nGST also ranks among the companies which brought out QL operating systems in 1985. Its 68K/OS was originally intended to be the QL operating system. The package consists of as ROM board, slotted into the expansion slot at the side of the QL, and several microdrive cartridges.\r\n\r\nAs operating systems are usually judged on the amount of software available for them 68K/OS is a dismal failure. So far GST has only produced an assembler and word processor for its baby. One wonders what would have happened if Sir Clive had decided to use the GST operating system.\r\n\r\nThe C/PM-68K operating system from disc drive manufacturer Quest Automation did little better than the GST product. A few business packages are available for it but, despite the fact that it uses discs or microdrives, few software houses have taken up the challenge to produce anything of note for it.\r\n\r\nA large variety of DIY utilities came onto the market in 1985. They teach everything from garden design to touch typing and computer athletics.\r\n\r\nSinclair Research wins our first Most Useless Utility Award for 1985 with QL Gardener. While it is obvious to see the benefits of a plant dictionary and garden design package for those who like gardening, and own a QL, with the dearth of QL software the company must be green behind the ears to bring out such a product. Where are all the fantastic business and educational programs which will show off the true power of the 16-bit - or is it 32-bit - machine?\r\n\r\nOur second MUU of 1985 award goes to Car Cure, a program which aims to diagnose the problems which you may encounter with your car. All you have to do is type in the symptoms of your vehicle's illness and the program will come up with an answer to your problems - maybe. Most of the time it just recommends that you contact a qualified mechanic immediately.\r\n\r\nAnother car-orientated program which is marginally more useful than Car Cure is Highway Code. Through a series of multi-choice questions it will teach you about the signs and situations which you may encounter on the road. The graphics are simple, but effective, and the program has been checked by a qualified driving instructor.\r\n\r\nIf you want to stay fit then Microfitness from VO2 is for you. It will take you through a series of carefully graded exercises culminating in - I hope for your sake - physical fitness. When it was reviewed early in 1985 our own Clare Edgeley found out how unfit she was!\r\n\r\nFinally, touch typing programs for beginners came from QL software houses during the past year. Two were produced, one from Computer One and the other four months later, from Sinclair Research. Touch 'n' Go from Sinclair Research provides more in the way of graded exercises and a more complex results table.\r\n\r\nThe utility market is the area in which the QL has done best. There are many languages available for it and a host of machine code utilities which allow the use of the power of the 68008 processor and QDOS.\r\n\r\nIt is a pity that the same cannot be said of the Spectrum. Very few utilities were produced for the machine and most software houses have moved to other machines. That is unfortunate as the Spectrum still has a lot of power within it which lies untapped because people like you cannot get at it.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"72,73,74,76","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"John Gilbert","Score":"9","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Left, GraphiQL; below left, three screens from The Artist and below right, three from Art Studio"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Gilbert Factor","Score":"9/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 74, Aug 1984","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1984-08-18","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":50,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nSub-Editors: Harriet Arnold, Leah Batham\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writer: Ralph Bancroft\r\nNews Writer/Sub Editor: Sandra Grandison\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPeripherals Editor: Ken Garroch\r\nHardware Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nPrograms Editor: Nickie Robinson\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nLayout Artists: Tim Brown, Paul Clarkson\r\nPublisher: Cyndy Miles\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nGroup Advertising Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Bettina Williams\r\nAssistant Advertisement Managers: Sarah Barron, Phil Pratt\r\nSenior Sales Executives: Laura Cade, Claire Rowbottom\r\nSales Executives: Claire Barnes, Phil Benson, Mike Blackman, Paul Evans, Tony Keefe, Christian McCarthy, Amanda Moore, Sarah Musgrave, Tony O'Reilly\r\nProduction: Noel O'Sullivan\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Karen Isaac\r\nSubscription Enquiries: Gill Stevens\r\nSubscription Address: [redacted]\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising Address: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]\r\n© VNU 1983. No material maybe reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\nPhotoset by Quickset, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Chase Web Offset, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Seymour Press, [redacted]\r\nRegistered at the PO as a newspaper"},"MainText":"ELECTRIFYING GRAPHICS\r\n\r\nThe blinding speed and versatility of games developer White Lightning impressed David Janda.\r\n\r\nNAME: White Lightning\r\nAPPLICATION: Games Development System\r\nPRICE: £14.95\r\nSYSTEM: ZX Spectrum\r\nPUBLISHER: Oasis Software, [redacted]\r\nFORMAT: Cassette\r\nOUTLETS: Retail/Mail order\r\n\r\nThis high-quality graphics development system offers Spectrum games designers the flexibility missing in menu-driven utilities, or packages where separate routines perform a particular operation only, leaving the programmer to thread them together with the crude Basic control constructs available.\r\n\r\nOasis software has approached the problem of games design in a completely different way. Over a period of time it has produced an integrated high-level graphics development system to make others in the field redundant.\r\n\r\nThis has been achieved by providing the programmer with a flexible tool - Forth. Add to the standard definitions a sprite/graphics extension called Ideal, throw in a separate sprite generator and you have the White Lightning graphics development system.\r\n\r\nFEATURES\r\n\r\nMost of the features are described in the boxes opposite, but here is a general overview.\r\n\r\nAt the system's core is a full implementation of Fig-Forth. As well as the standard words there are Basic/Forth words and the Ideal subset. Programs can be written in Spectra Forth (as Oasis calls it) or space can be reserved for the inclusion of Sinclair Basic. Using this feature it is possible to write Forth programs that call Basic as a subroutine or vice versa.\r\n\r\nWhen a program is finished and debugged it can be compiled and the resultant source code will be ready to run. The source can also incorporate Basic. This means the string handling and floating-point bits don't have to be written in Forth.\r\n\r\nThe system works quite happily with the Kempston Joystick and Oasis claims it should work with many types of interface, though not interface 1.\r\n\r\nVery large programs can be compiled in stages. This is done by loading source code into one or two screens and compiling it a bit at a time.\r\n\r\nIN USE\r\n\r\nThe package is definitely not of the load-and-go variety. It took me three days, on and off, to get to grips with the 131-page manual, let alone fiddle about with the language.\r\n\r\nThe sprite designer was the first part of the WL system I tackled. The 167 characters provided offer characters from many of the popular games and can be edited and changed easily.\r\n\r\nCreating a sprite was simple enough at first, provided fancy features were kept for a later date. Using the various features of the package was quite easy. Careful thought has gone into the use of the keyboard with the cursor controlled by keys five to seven, and colour attributes accessed by using the keys with their associated keywords.\r\n\r\nCompleted sprites can be saved to tape for loading into the main part of the package.\r\n\r\nOnce Spectra Forth is loaded and running it provides a typical Forth environment with the OK prompt and the flashing cursor.\r\n\r\nEntering VLIST, however, reveals the Basic/Forth words and the many words that make up the ideal extension.\r\n\r\nBashing in Forth source code is not the easiest thing to do as many Forths have only a primitive editor. WL incorporates this editor for compatibility but the EDIT command allows you to edit a line (a la Spectrum). It also lists the current screen and does a FLUSH - neat.\r\n\r\nThe wealth of graphics words available are surprisingly easy to remember because they end with a letter corresponding to a particular type of operation, M for memory, S for screen/sprite and so on.\r\n\r\nThe question with a package such as this is its speed. If the demonstration tape doesn't convince you, nothing will. It should be noted that speed also depends on how efficient the source code is in the first place, and for those who require machine code to be incorporated. It can be called from Forth.\r\n\r\nVERDICT\r\n\r\nWhite Lightning is the best package I have, used on the Spectrum. Its features and flexibility are second to none and have to be seen to be believed.\r\n\r\nThat it can be used as a Basic extension means the less experienced will be able to have a go without fear of getting bogged down, which is why I give it the thumbs up. And at £14.95 it represents tremendous value for money.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"36,37","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"David Janda","Score":"5","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[{"Text":"HYBRID PROGRAMMING AND THE BASIC INTERFACE\n\nWL allows the programmer to use Basic, Forth or a combination of the two. This gives greater flexibility in programming as some applications are best suited to a particular language.\n\nThere are three types of language interfacing, each designed for a particular purpose.\n\nWithin the ideal extension there are 18 Forth/Basic words, such as DRAW, CIRCLE and so on. These words are treated as Forth words, and must be used as such. All arguments and parameters are taken from or put on the stack, and in operation they are faster than the Basic equivalent because all floating point interpretation is avoided when the word is being executed.\n\nThe second method of hybrid programming is to use lines of Basic as subroutines. Ie call them from Forth. To do this, space for the Basic source is first set aside using the ideal word RESERVE. This is followed by a number representing the amount of space to be reserved in bytes.\n\nBasic is called from Forth by placing the line number on the stack and using GOTO. Control can then be returned to Forth with PRINT USR 3006, which then executes the very next word - not the next colon definition.\n\nForth can be called as a subroutine. Here, a RANDOMIZE 3000 is used to enter Forth and a return is made by using the ideal word RErusn.\n\nTo select the word to be called, a variable can be defined from Forth and its address found.\n\nOnce done, the variable can be poked from Basic and, on calling Forth, a CASE or IF CAN be used to select the appropriate word, CASE 2 of 'SECOND WORD', for instance."},{"Text":"THE SPRITE GENERATOR\n\nThe two major stages in designing a game with WL are writing the game itself and defining the sprites it uses. For the latter, a sprite generator program is included with the WL package, but used separately.\n\nThe package allows you to define and edit sprites of various sizes and colours, which can be saved to tape for re-editing at a later date, or loaded into WL.\n\nOasis has provided 167 predefined sprites which cover popular games such as Pee-Man, Space Invaders, Defender and so on, as well as sprites used in the demonstration program.\n\nThe editor is made up of a 15 by 15 Sprite screen and a smaller eight by eight CHRS son, which is used to edit and create the sprite while the sprite screen is used to manipulate and transform sprites. Also provided on screen is information relating to attributes, logical operations and sprite information, including size and so on.\n\nData for sprites can be entered in two ways. First the CHR$ SQR can be used to fill in pixels, and secondly data can be entered as Hex.\n\nOnce done, it can be 'moved' to the sprite window where it can then be manipulated.\n\nSprites can be made up of several characters, and sprites can be placed within sprites. All the usual attributes can be set to the sprite as whole or individual characters. It is also possible to set Boolean operations on sprites (AND, OR, XOR) which produce interesting effects.\n\nUp to 255 sprites can be defined, and if more are needed there's a merging procedure."},{"Text":"THE IDEAL EXTENSION\n\nFig-Forth is the host language of the White Lightning package, but the graphics end of things is the Ideal extension. Ideal (Interrupt Driven Extendable Animation Language) consists of 110 sprite/screen data manipulation words. These words perform operations on particular areas of the screen and sprites. There are words for screen, sprites, screen/sprites, screen/sprite windows, sprite/sprite windows and sprite/sprite operations.\n\nA total of 27 variables are provided in Ideal, and these store data relating to windows, position of sprites and so on.\n\nMany Ideal words are similar, allowing pixel/sprite data to be scrolled in four directions by a certain number of pixels. A number of GET and PUT commands allow sprites to be displayed with different effects on the data already there. Other graphics commands for colour and drawing are provided by the Basic/Forth words which are part of Ideal.\n\nSprites and screen may be inverted and reflected, and sprites can be spun and enlarged. Automatic sprites are not catered for, but a routine is provided in the manual to achieve the same thing.\n\nOne of the main features of the White Lightning package is the ability to perform background processing ie multi-tasking. This feature is crucial in games where a landscape needs to be scrolled, for example.\n\nA background task may be performed up to 50 times a second. Though the background task continues until the task is finished, careful programming allows the programmer to do several jobs giving the impression that more than one task is happening at once.\n\nConflict can occur between Ideal variables when a background task is in operation, so it is possible to disable the interrupts. This allows a task to get on with the job in hand without being interrupted."}],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Features","Score":"5/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Documentation","Score":"5/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Performance","Score":"5/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Usability","Score":"5/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Reliability","Score":"5/5","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall Value","Score":"5/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 81, Oct 1984","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1984-09-28","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":58,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nProduction Editor: Lauraine Turner\r\nDeputy Production Editor: Leah Batham\r\nSub-Editor: Harriet Arnold\r\nNews Editor: David Guest\r\nNews Writer: Ralph Bancroft\r\nNews Writer/Sub Editor: Sandra Grandison\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPeripherals Editor: Kenn Garroch\r\nHardware Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nPrograms Editor: Nickie Robinson\r\nArt Director: Jim Dansie\r\nArt Editor: David Alexander\r\nAssistant Art Editor: Tim Brown\r\nLayout Artist: Bruce Preston\r\nPublisher: Cyndy Miles\r\nPublishing Assistant: Tobe Bendeth\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nGroup Advertising Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Bettina Williams\r\nAssistant Advertisement Managers: Sarah Barron, Phil Pratt\r\nSenior Sales Executives: Laura Cade, Claire Rowbottom\r\nSales Executives: Claire Barnes, Phil Benson, Mike Blackman, Paul Evans, Tony Keefe, Christian McCarthy, Amanda Moore, Sarah Musgrave, Tony O'Reilly\r\nProduction: Richard Gaffrey\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Karen Isaac\r\nSubscription Enquiries: Gill Stevens\r\nSubscription Address: [redacted]\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising Address: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]\r\n© VNU 1983. No material maybe reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\nPhotoset by Quickset, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Chase Web Offset, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Seymour Press, [redacted]\r\nRegistered at the PO as a newspaper"},"MainText":"GAME GENERATORS\r\n\r\nDavid Lester scans four pieces of software that claim to allow users to create games of a relatively good commercial quality.\r\n\r\nCommercial software becomes more sophisticated all the time, or so the adverts would have us believe. Not only can you buy games which use ultra-smooth, high resolution graphics to enhance your playing, but you can also buy programs that let you create games of commercial quality without any programming knowledge. At least that's what some software houses claim. But can their programs back this up?\r\n\r\nAll four pieces of software dealt with here have the same objective, but go about achieving it in slightly different ways. Hurg, from Melbourne House, employs a series of menus from which you can select the options you want to build up your game. Fifth on the other hand adds new commands to the standard Spectrum Basic. These let you program fast-moving, smooth graphics from Basic, as each command is the equivalent of calling a machine code routine. The other two Scope 2 from ISP and White Lightning from Oasis Software, are actually completely new languages.\r\n\r\nHURG\r\n\r\nProbably Hurg's greatest asset is that it's easy to use. In fact, you can operate most of it using just a joystick. Unfortunately, it also produces the least appealing results as far as games are concerned.\r\n\r\nIts sprite designer/editor is good and you also get an animation routine. This switches the computer between a number of sprites, for example to show the different leg positions of somebody walking. You can set the movement pattern quite easily, but that is about as far as it goes. You need to create any background graphics yourself, and then load them in as a SCREEN. There are no sound facilities whatsoever.\r\n\r\nI found it difficult to do any more than get a sprite moving around the screen. Although provision is made for setting the conditions for explosions and deaths, the manual is poor and the menus almost impossible to decipher. Melbourne House claims that you can 'design your own computer games in minutes', and that 'the hardest thing you will have to do is to think of a game title and design the characters.' Not a chance - it will take you a long time to get to grips with the package.\r\n\r\nA good hint as to the potential of each of these four games designers is the demonstration provided by the software houses. Hurg comes complete with 3 'ready to play, fast action arcade games'. I suppose each one is better than the so-ocalled 'full arcade game' in another Melbourne House release. Mugsy, but even so, they are terrible. And if that is the best Melbourne House can do, what chance has anyone else got?\r\n\r\nFIFTH\r\n\r\nFifth is probably the easiest of the four programs to get decent results out of, provided you can program in Basic, as all you need to do is learn a few new commands. Once you have loaded the program in, you simply put the new commands in REM statements in the same way as you do with some assemblers.\r\n\r\nYou can still use REMarks in the normal way by putting an asterisk at the start of any real REM statement.\r\n\r\nTwo of the more useful commands are GET and PUT - these will be familiar to anyone with any experience of a Dragon. With these you can store sections of the screen in a string variable, or array, and then recall it using the PUT command anywhere on the screen.\r\n\r\nFifth also uses interrupts for such things as collision routines, which enables the main body of the program to run much faster than it would otherwise. Although the manual is poorly printed, and a touch confusing in places, the commands are well-named and I soon found myself quite happy with them.\r\n\r\nAnother advantage with Fifth, as opposed to Hurg, is that it includes some new sound commands - and the sound effects you can achieve from machine code (yes, even on a Spectrum) are infinitely better than those obtainable from Basic.\r\n\r\nThe demo program included is probably the best of any of the pieces of software reviewed here, and shows that speed and smooth motion can be achieved with very little effort. It only uses small graphics, however, and this limits it.\r\n\r\nFifth is a good extension to Basic, but the results will not be as good as the best arcade games. They will almost certainly be better than the average game listing you might find in a magazine - this worthy publication excepted, of course.\r\n\r\nSCOPE 2\r\n\r\nScope 2 is, believe it or not, an improved version of the award winning Scope, and actually provides you with a new language specifically designed for writing arcade games. It includes commands for colour, sound and graphics, as well as more normal things like variables. When you have written a program in Scope 2 (in REM statements) you compile it into machine code, which is why the result is faster than Basic. You can then use your Scope program either as a machine code routine in your Basic program or as a complete program (depending, obviously, on what you write in Scope 2).\r\n\r\nThe commands are fairly similar to machine code, as is the structure of the whole language. This could be either an advantage or a disadvantage. If you wanted to learn machine code but found it too hard, this program might be a good stepping stone to it, or you might find that it's alternatively also too hard to learn.\r\n\r\nDespite a reasonable manual, some of the commands are quite difficult to grasp if you don't know anything about machine code. You could be forgiven for thinking that a program written in Scope 2 was an assembly language listing.\r\n\r\nThat said, the program goes further toward offering a completely versatile games-designing package than either of the two previously mentioned offerings. The results can be every bit as good as most commercial arcade games, although to get equivalent results you need to put in a lot of effort.\r\n\r\nThe demo routines are notably bad, and ISP would seem to have misjudged things a bit. When I saw the demo I thought that the package was a waste of money, but once I started to get to grips with the language a little bit, I found it had great potential. There is even a Sprite facility, including collision detection - just what you want for arcade games.\r\n\r\nWHITE LIGHTNING\r\n\r\nThis is similar to Scope 2 in that it is a complete language, but it is much, much more. In fact, it is a fully-fledged games development system.\r\n\r\nThe system has several distinct sections: the White Lightning language itself (really two languages: a version of Forth and an additional graphics language called Ideal) and a sprite development package for use within programs that have been written with White Lightning.\r\n\r\nThe main section, the White Lightning language, is complicated. Unless you already know Forth you will need to spend a long time trying to learn it. Ideal on its own has over 100 commands. But once you've mastered it, I'm sure it will be an extremely versatile tool for developing games. I say 'I'm sure' because after a week's trying I am by no means proficient in it.\r\n\r\nThe sprite designer maintains the high standard set by the language itself. It enables you to define up to 255 sprites, some of which can even be larger than the screen display. You design your sprite either in sections one character square large or as hexadecimal numbers.\r\n\r\nYou can do all the usual things to your design too, such as inverting and rotating it. When you have finished your sprites, you can save them to tape for use in your White Lightning programs. If you feel you have had enough trouble becoming a Matthew Smith, and do not want to emulate Leonardo da Vinci as well, don't worry - there's a whole set of ready-to-use sprites on the tape. These cover most games (PacMan, Defender, and all the usual ones). But for me, half the fun of designing a game is creating the graphics, so I can't see these being used very much.\r\n\r\nOasis provides a detailed manual, and you'll get a shock when you see it as it's a substantial-sized book.\r\n\r\nThe best way to get started with the package is probably to write a few routines with it first. You can call these as machine code routines from within a Basic program until you feel confident enough to write an entire program using White Lightning language.\r\n\r\nOnce you have got the hang of it, White Lightning provides some incredible features: interrupt-driven routines, good sprite handling and more besides. My only doubt is that, if you are going to the trouble of learningWhite Lightning, why not go that little bit further and learn machine code? However, White Lightning is slightly more user-friendly.\r\n\r\nCONCLUSIONS\r\n\r\nAs you can probably tell, the packages are similar in concept but different enough to be able to survive in the same market together. There seems to be, inevitably I suppose, a trade-off between how powerful a package is and how easy it is to use.\r\n\r\nForget the adverts - none of the packages here will give you an easy way to create the next number one game. But Fifth will let you write very playable games very quickly. Scope 2 gives you better quality graphics but takes more effort, and at the top of the scale is White Lightning, which is capable of creating something almost as good as Jet Set Willy - just don't make me write it.\r\n\r\nAs for Hurg, it is basically a waste of money.\r\n\r\nWith no sound and making you define your own backgrounds separately, it is a dead loss as a games designer package.\r\n\r\nWHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT COPYRIGHT\r\n\r\nShould you write a good game with one of these packages and want to sell it, it would help if you know the views of various software houses about copyright.\r\n\r\nSince one aim of each of these pieces of software is to enable anyone, programmer or not, to produce games of a commercial standard, it is quite likely that you will be interested in whether, and if so how easily, you can sell games you write using these products.\r\n\r\nThe easiest of the products to answer this for is Hurg. To start with, it is most unlikely that you will produce good enough programs with it, but more importantly, the host program Hurg must be in memory for your game to work. This means that a substantial part of the package you would try to sell would belong to Melbourne House - so you would be breaking the law to try and sell it.\r\n\r\nFortunately, all is not lost, as Melbourne House offers to market such games if they're good.\r\n\r\nCRL makes no mention of the problem in the Fifth manual, except to provide a copyright notice. Because of the way it works,however, Fifth must be present in memory, so that you would probably be breaking the law if you tried marketing a program which uses it.\r\n\r\nScope 2 is much better in this respect, since it compiles your Scope programs into machine code, and you don't need to have Scope 2 in memory to be able to run your own games. For this reason Scope 2 performs much the same task as an assembler, and so I see no reason why you should not be free to sell anything you write with it to a software house, if you can find one that wants to buy it.\r\n\r\nWhite Lightning is the same as Scope 2 in this respect, but it also has several notices regarding the subject of you marketing games written using it. Unfortunately, these contradict one another.\r\n\r\nFor example, on the back of the plastic cassette wallet is a notice saying: 'Programs written using White Lightning can be marketed only by arrangement with Oasis Software'. But the manual it says: 'Software produced using White Lightning can be marketed without restriction'. It then goes on to say that a mention on the cassette sleeve would be appreciated - more that fair, it seems to me.\r\n\r\nI am inclined to take this latter as being the true case, but if in doubt, ask the software house you intend to sell your game to.\r\n\r\nWhichever package you have, if you have written a piece of good software with it, the people likely to be most interested are the software house which sells the original program. After all, if it is good it helps advertise their product, at the same time as making them (and hopefully you) some money. Do remember that there have been almost no test cases as far as computer copyright goes, and that a Portuguese company is openly selling other companies' games without paying a penny in royalties and is unlikely to be prosecuted. The fog will no doubt clear eventually, but it could take sometime.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"18,19,20","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"David Lester","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]