AmstradComputerUser30-0587.pdf

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COMPUTER USER

Tainting with numners using

Rainhird's Advanced Art Studio

Buiicia Buggy tilt ricallUW,

WIN: Scalextric from Virgin

and Rombo's Video Digitize/

Plus: Motor Racing games, Stargliders for

the CPC, PC & PCW, Empire from Firebirri

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Ofﬁcial Amstrad Home Computing Magazine

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AMSTRAD PROFESSIONALS

FROM DIGITAL RESEARCH

Your Amstrad has

256k or128k to play with.

The Amstrad 8256 and

Multiple line function capability

6128 are extraordinary machines It S

eems a pit with multiple parameters provides

ust to play.

Ten times faster with

(BASIC E49.95.

CBASIC Compiler is a native code

compilerthatallows sepa rate modules

to be written,tersted and combined to

create a complete programAnd it

combines machine code speed with

BASIC ease to produce programs that

execute eight to ten times fasterthan

the same interpreted programs.

A fully integrated set of device

independent graphics statements

and functions permits direct output

to any graphics peripheral without

recompiling.

Extended precision

14-digit decimal

arithmetic ensures that

fractional parts of pound

amounts are exact and

ledgers balance to

the penny.

CBASIC Compiler

also supports integer

arithmetic so you can

use integervariables to

increase execution speed.

features found in block-structured

languages. Local variables can be

declared in an MLE MLEfunctions may

be declared as external, belonging to

an entirely different program module.

wrth random access memory that

•

lifts them far above the home

computer norm.

Now Digital Research, creators of 111

the CP/M operating systems bundled

with these business calibre Amstrads,

offer serious users professional

program development power and

applications portabilityvia two high

level Digital Research languages:

PASCAL/MT+ and CBASIC COMPILER.

Both languages corneas complete

packages of standard Amstrad 3"

disks with full documentation.

The most complete

PASCAL E49.95.

PASCAL/MT+ is full ISO standard

PASCAL, extended to provide a

comprehensive professional

programming environment for

industrial, business and educational

applications.

It's faster, more versatile, more

portable and easierto use in

sophisticated applications demanding

segmented development

The package includes a compiler

to generate relocatable object ﬁles; a

linker to generate executable ﬁles from

compiler outputs; a run-time support

library covering transcendental

functions, machine interrupts and other

tasks; a disassembler and a symbolic

debugger.

As well as standard ISO numerics,

PASCAL/MT+ supports BCD and

ﬂoating point real numbers for

arithmetic precision. Special features

reduce program size and enhance I/O

capabilities. PASCAL/MT+ is the fully

implemented PASCAL you can start

with, stay with and never outgrow.

Development Potential.

PASCALiMT+ and CBASIC

Compiler run ontheAmstrad CPC 6128,

PCW 8256,CPC 664 and CPC 464 with

DD -1 disk drivetise of graphics with

CBASIC Compiler is only available on

CPC 6128 and PCW 8256.

The Amstrad Professionals from

Digital Research will allowyou to

explore and exploit yourAmstrad

computer's program development

potential to the full.

Now with FREE

support for 30 days.

Amstrad Professionals from Digital Research.

Now Professionalism begins at home.

To place an order, send cheque to. Amstrad Sales, Digital Reasearch (UK)

limited, Oxford House, Oxford Street, Newbury, Berkshire RG13 1.113.

Of telephone Newbury (0635)38787 or 38783, with your credit card

details Or contact your local Amstrad dealer

*FREE telephone support for 30 days following receipt of registration

card Thereafter a full year's on-line telephone support is available for

lust f 15.00 + VAT. Full details ils will come with your software

*Prices include

Packaging, Postage and VAL

DIGITAL

RESEARCH

The creators of CRM

CONTENTS

REVIEWS

5 News

11 Letter

23 Hairy Hackers Haunt

36 Seek and Ye

Shall Find

20 Gallup Chart

98 LSB

18 Advanced Art Studio

With more facilities and a

higher price. Does the former

justify the latter? Jill Lawson

found out.

32 Planit

Sort Out your ﬁnances,

software style. But getting

organised needs more than

just some clever software.

77 Empire

Firebird is hiding its light

under a bushel and has kept

quiet about the new space

strategy game. It may be

difﬁcult, but it is also very

addictive.

, vliszt.62;

1 1

64 Elite, the software

house which cares

Some software houses will

release any old program, but

Elite is too fussy for that, as

Jerry Muir found out.

44 AMBUG

Build your own number 5 , a

robot which runs under the

control of your CPC. So get out

your soldering iron, dust off

those wire strippers and get

going

81 Games Reviews

Cohn, Nigel and Liz try out

Muncher, Sigma 7, Cobra, Into

The Eagles Nest, and

Shockway Rider.

ICOMPET

4071

43 Rombo Compo

Let your video and computer

become friends with a Vidi

interface. A simple, free-to-

enter competition for all

Arnold owners.

57 Plumberdroid

The pipeline is leaking, you

must dodge the alien and

repair the pipe before it's too

late. Go for it!

68 Assembly Point

Pete Green presents a routine

which features one of the

classic principles of assembler

coding.

31 Scalextric Compo

You are never too old to play

Scalextric. Win a full set from

Virgin or a runners-up prize of

the computer version.

IIIISTRAI

COMPUTER USER

Editorial and Advertising ofﬁces:

169 King's Road, Brentwood, Essex CM14 4EF.

Tel: 0277-234459 (Editorial); 0277 234434 (Advertising)

Telec om Gold: 72:MAG021

Published by Awalite Ltd, 36/38 St. Petersgate, Stockport SK1 1 HL

News t ra d e d ist rib u t io n . D ia m o n d -Eu ro p re ss Sa le s & D ist rib u t io n L t d .

Unit I . Bu rg e ss R o a d lvyh o u se L a n e , H a st in g s, Ea st Su sse x T N 3 5 4 N R .

Tel: 0 4 2 4 4 3 0 4 2 2 .

Am st ra d ? s a re g ist e re d t ra d e m a rk, a n d w it h t h e t it le

Am st ra d C o m p u t e r U se r, is u se d w it h t h e p e rm issio n o f

Am st ra d C o n su m e ! Ele ct ro n ics p lc N o p a rt o f t h is p u b li-

cation m a y b e re p ro d u ce d w it h o u t p e rm issio n . Wh ile e ve ry

effort is m a d e t o e n su re t h e a ccu ra cy o f a n f e a t u re s a n d

listin g s w o ca n n o t a cce p t a n y lia b ilit y f o r a n y m ist a ke s o r

misprints. T h e vie w s a n d o p in io n s e xp re sse d a re n o t n e ce s-

sarily t h o se o f Am st ra d o r Am so f t b u t re p re se n t t h e vie w s

of o u r m a n y re a d e rs, u se rs, a n d co n t rib u t o rs. M a t e ria l f o r

publication is o n ly a cce p t e d o n a n a il-rig h t s b a sis. We re g re t

that Am st ra d C o m p u t e r U se r ca n n o t e n t e r in t o p e rso n a ?

correspondence t g i Avra t it e L t d 7 9 8 7 .

The ofﬁcial magazine for all

' users of Amstrad computers

Cov er photo: Martyn Howlett

Editor: Simon Rockman

Advertisement Manager: Jane Nolan

Advertisement Assistant: Lorraine Day

Amstrad User May 1987

Page 3

MASTERFILE III

FOR THE AMSTRAD CPC 6128 (ALSO CPC 464/664 WITH DK 'TRONICS 64K RAM)

FIRMLY ESTABLISHED

ALL THIS POWER

MASTERFILE III is now ﬁ rmly established as

THE ﬁ ling system for the CPC6128. It has received

rapturous reviews and we could paper the walls of

our new ofﬁ ces with our customers' letters of

appreciation.

This is no toy thrown together in BASIC and half-

tested, but real machine-coded computing power

professionally constructed. We have had IBM and

Apricot users beg us for a MASTERFILE for their

machines — when they had seen the earlier CPC

MASTERFILE. All this power is yours for

£39.95.

For the beneﬁt of newcomers to the CPC machines:

MASTERFILE III is a powerful and ﬂexible data

ﬁling and retrieval system. All "database" systems

require that your data is organised into ﬁelds and

records. Unlike most, MASTERFILE does not

commit you to ﬁeld lengths or formats, since ALL

data is variable-length and optional. Files are not

pre-formatted, and only used bytes are saved to

disc. Also, unlike the rest, MASTEBFILE allows

multiple user-deﬁned ways of viewing/printing

your data. And unique in its price range, MASTER-

FILE offers RELATIONAL FILE options, where-

by common data can be entered just once and

shared by many records. Maximum ﬁ eld size is

240, maximum ﬁ elds per record is over 50, and

maximum ﬁ le size is 64K. Room for 1,000 full

names and addresses, for example. Only one disc

drive is required. It is menu-driven throughout, and

comes with detailed illustrated manual, and exam-

ple ﬁles.

For those who already have an earlier MASTER-

FILE, we offer updates; please telephone for

details. You will be amazed at the performance

improvements and extra functions.

lir** PCW users: be patient, MASTERFILE 8000

will be ready early in 1987 ***

MASTERCALC 128 SPREADSHEET

We also have one of the fastest and friendliest

spread-sheet programs around, MASTERCALC

128. Its unique features include: individual tailor-

ing of column widths and precision; relocatable

formulae; split-screen option; automatic cursor

advance; text output to printer, or to disc for

interface with PROTEXT or TASWORD; hi

res

graphic histogram of any three rows. MASTER-

CALC 128 runs on CPC6128, or CPC464/664 with

DIctronics RAM. The price is just 233.00.

SO VERY VERSATILE

Just about ANY kind of information can be

handled by MASTERFILE. You can EXPORT the

data to other systems (e.g. PROTEXT/MERGE and

TASWORD). You can even merge your own USER

BASIC to MASTERFILE for customised ﬁ le

processing, or build new ﬁles from other computer

sources. The speed of SEARCH of MASTERFILE

is second to none. Records can be sorted ascending/

descending, character or signed numeric, even

embedded keys such as surnames. Other functions

are ﬁ eld-to-ﬁ eld calculations, and several-across

label printing. We simply don't have room to list all

the features; give us a call if you are still in doubt

of the power of MASTERFILE

I U3OR

AS TUC OLC 8 met heti ot,m'

,•1.

- iNrig

7i13 3390 1112.3 11511 ta174 12990 14414 15178

4900 1530 1/40 45011 745S IL( S ) 8845 6603

4 803 26

34°

10174 10090

173.09 10397

7450

6361

41100

6345

1 0 Computer ,

PPT Off i ,

S 7 5of Ware

Oiulther tie

SPECIAL OFFER

You can save £10 by taking MASTERFILE III and

MASTERCALC 128 for a combined price of just

162.95.

Prices include VAT and MP to anywhere in

Europe. Elsewhere please add 20% for air-mail

service. ACCESS/VISA/MASTERCARD welcome,

written or telephoned, quoting card expiry date.

Make cheques payable to "Campbell Systems".

Our normal response is return of post, 1st class.

CAMPBELL SYSTEMS Dept. (ACU)

7 Station Road, EPPING, Essex CM16 4HA,

England. Tel: (0378) 77762/3.

Suna a ry o f Bo sio e ss Asse ts

Maker

Mterovmputer. 6 4 K KAN 3 2 * 1 0 1 .1 , 6 1 6 stro d

Microconpoter. 1 2 8 1 ( R AM • d t, c p a sitto e

Disc interface avid Is drive, 3':instrad

Dot-natrog p riAte e % cp s Wo o l •M te stra d

Eurcotive b rie fca se ,

notler

Wa re p a p e r clip British

Onsmering machine British

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Description

E2 S9 .8 8

DPI 1 ( 143. / 5

Ill 51108 ( 153.95

Ar010/

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Steel

Telecom

812816 ( 135.00

Kreutsve je AirtrA

TyPneriter, eleetrit

letAtIUM machime

Coffee maker

Pa rce l sce le

Microcomputer, 4BM

Letter I ca le

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ear

Olivetta

01 koc 119

LeterrA 3 E E1 3 0 .00

510 I E1 9 1 1 .0 0

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to i

ltr

New comms package

for CPC 6128

The second

and third

4th Protocols

A new terminal package is to be

launched by Montlair for the CPC 6128

range of computers. The disc based

software will work with all interfaces

built to the speciﬁcation outlined in the

Amstrad ﬁ rmware manual. These

include the Pace, Honeysoft and both

the new and old Amstrad serial

interfaces.

The package is referred to by the

authors as being a full workstation.

Written with Hi-Softs' Devpac, the pro-

gram has been two years in the making

and runs under CP/M+.

The full spec viewdata terminal

supports telesoftvvare, double height,

ﬂashing, a full eight colours, conceal

and reveal and we expect dynamic

frames. It is possible to write mailboxes

off line and send them at high speed

when you log in. This saves time and

cuts down on telephone bills.

Two screen dumps are available, a

rapid text dump and a shaded Epson

screen dump. The software will be

available shortly and cost E39. For

more details contact Monﬂ air on 01-

367-1777.

Someone, somewhere in Britain is

building an atomic bomb. He is a top

KGB agent, the smartest they've got.

With only a deep belief that this is

what's going on, and the slightest of

clues, you must ﬁ nd and stop him.

An excellent new ﬁ lm telling the

story is doing the rounds, Go and see it,

if only to watch a transit van being

driven like a rally car. The hero is John

Preston, played by Michael Caine, who

solves the crime with the help of a BBC

Micro,

Sounds ideal for a computer game

really. And indeed it is. The fourth

Protocol — the game is an adventure

using icons and ciphers rather than

text. Ariolasoft produced the ﬁ rst

Amstrad version of this adventure

quite a while back. It runs on the CPC

and is worth looking out for.

To coincide with the ﬁ lm release

Ariolasoft has launched PCW and PC

versions of the game. Ideal for some

cerebral exercise.

Michael Caine, star of The Fourth

Protocol, outside the Cabinet ofﬁce.

DK'Tronics

clock on

CRL reveal a

warped mind

'CRI, licenses Oink!'. This is not a par-

ticularly horriﬁ c press release. It tells

of a game in which you play the part of

Uncle Pigg, the world-famous editor of

the magazine and have to be promoted

from tea boy to editor, (Same thing in

this place — Ed. What is horriﬁc is that

they keep sending copies of the maga-

zine. It's sick, vile and absorbing.

Two years ago Amstrad user ran its

ﬁrst hardware project. The second one

is in this month! Now DK has launched

a peripheral for the CPC which does the

same job as that ancient project, only

with a bit more ﬁnesse.

It is a battery backed-up clock, just

like the one Amstrad include with the

PC 1512, It stores information when

you switch the computer off. This

includes a clock which can be switched

from 12 to 24 hour notation, End of

month and leap years are catered for in

the calendar function and you can have

a daily alarm.

It also includes 50 bytes of battery

backed-up ram for important data and

will work with CP/M and CP/M

There is an 8 bit 110 port for control

applications. The battery is re-charged

from the Amstrad, so providing you use

your Amstrad occasionally the data

should be safe. More details from

DK'Tronics on 0493 602926

In the never ending quest for a new

approach to software, CRL has

announced a number of new programs.

The most mundane of these is Sun

Star. According to the press release

'You are destined for the Xxarian Star

Corporation solar energy grid to collect

energy' 'what else — Ed).

It goes on 'However, due to a build up

of unstable energy pulses, that task is

far from easy'. Basically it's a jolly good

shoot-em-up which will cost E7.95 on

tape and E14.95 on disc.

The releases continue as the gore

sets in. 'Gothic Horror from CRL'. This

is a three part Frankenstein adventure

with reportedly terrifying sound effects

and a price tag reading ,E9.95 on the

tape or E14.95 on disc.

Then the bumf plumbs the depths.

No one fooled

Amstrad User's scoop news feature on

Amstrad's sky rocket in the April issue

of ACLT does not seem to have fooled

anyone It was of' course an April Fool.

But how may of the clues did you spot?

The acronyms APRIL, LOCOSCRIPT

and even April FOOL worked into the

script. Little touches like the date at

the bottom and large hints like the

satellite footprint should have helped

you twig.

Amstrad User May 1987

Page 5

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