Your
reactions
to issued
software.
PROGRAMMERS RETURN NUMBER EIGHT:
Program name: Sunrise/Sunset
Reviewed by: 275
Good program for what it does, very
easy to use. Nice simple layout with
clear instructions on what to do,
would be nice to have more colour
on the screen.
Program name: Devils Island
Reviewed by: 275
I was unable to get this program to
work at first, but after reading
the reviews in the issue following
the program succeeded.
One problem, the writing on the screen
is sometimes lost due to the graphics
on the top half of the screen, thus
unable to read full text for clues
to the adventure.
I think you can turn off the graphics
screen by typing something like TEXT
- ed.
Program name: Envelope creator
Reviewed by: 275
This program is good and simple to
use. The screen layout could be better,
as when you choose one of the options
the screen is pushed upwards. It would
be better to have a complete new screen
Then the user could go back to the
main screen to continue with the
program. It would also be nice to have
a save routine within the program so
that envelopes can be saved for
programs written at a later date.
Program name: BRAILLE TRANSLATOR
Reviewed by: 275
This program is very good if you have
poor sight and are starting to read
braille. It could also be used for
sending confidential notes to friends
who possess a list of braille codes
to translate back to read.
Program name: PERIODIC TABLE
Reviewed by: 275
This is a very good program for
people studying chemistry at school.
It would be nice if more information
was given about each subject, so that
other people could understand all the
information given by the program.
Program name: 3 IN A LINE
STRATEGY GAME
Reviewed by: 275
A very nice game, I think that it would
be better if the x and y axes were
marked on the game board or if one
axis were marked with letters, so a
single input could be used for each
person per turn.
I am not sure whether or not the
scoring is working correctly on the
game for the BBC Master 128. Very nice
screen layout.
Program name: BARBARIAN FLOORPLAN
Reviewed by: 2GJ
This must be a game that I have not
heard of. I know and possess Barbarian.
However I think there is a problem with
the loader, as there seems to be a line
of text missed off at the bottom,
am I missing anything?
ED REPLIES:
Barbarian is a straight combat
Game and so cannot be mapped etc,
Barbarian II is an arcade
adventure and the map is for this
(I think) and I think the text
is to this effect.
ANDY NIBBS
2GJ: 5-A-Side Football
This is great! As far as I can see it
is bug-free as well (congratulations,
Mr. Shakoor!). I have no-one else to
play with, but thoroughly enjoyed
watching my team win the league - just!
The SAVE option is very useful,
especially at awkward times. Certainly
the best program that he has yet
produced!
81R: Cassette Inlay
This is a useful program and also very
well put together and user friendly, I
shall use this program a lot once I
have tailored it to my printer.
0E7: NEW ADDRESS PROGRAMME
For a serious programme the 'GAMES'
type of script does nothing to enhance
it's appeal as I find it distracting
and not easy to read especially on a TV
screen.
There tends to be too much colour which
gives it a 'GAMES' characteristic. This
is a pity because obviously a lot of
work has gone into this programme. The
MENU is not as tidy as it could be as
the functions are mixed and split over
two pages.
Page two could be allocated to data
amendments only leaving page one for
INPUT of data. I think that a hundred
records for this type of programme are
the minimum of requirements. This
programme when expanded justifies a
disc of its own like SYSTEMS.
CHANGE FIRST NAME
The programme asks for file number. Not
very friendly if you have forgotten to
look for such and have to go back into
the file to verify it. Why cannot the
surname be entered to call up the file
or better still why cannot all the
amendments be done from the full
datafiile presentation without having
to have as many seperate entries into
data files?
CHANGE SEX (Not to be taken literally)
If any other amendment is called up
e.g. SURNAME and the same SURNAME is
entered into the amendment box then the
programme goes back to the main menu
and carries on. This does not happen
when changing the sex and entering same
sex in the amendment box. (I hope
there are no double entendre's there).
In this case the programme packs up and
the message NO SUCH FN/PROC at line 610
is received. The programme should
behave as per the other amendments?
CHANGE POST CODE
If get the message NO SUCH FN/PROC at
line 240. A bug?
ESCAPE
How does one 'ESCAPE' safely from the
programme or know when it is safe to do
so? Couldn't this be put into the MENU
as an option?
81R: New address book program
This is a much better version of the
old program. I am now going to start to
enter in all my friends details. Thanks
to A. Shakoor for re-writing the
program. I find it very difficult to go
back and rewrite a program.
0E7: SORTING ARTICLE
A very nicely written article that is
easy to understand. The main problem I
have with it is that without having a
printer it is not easy to read if one
wants to go back a page to verify a
point.
This is not the programmers fault of
course but is a failing with all text
covering more than one screen.
I appreciate that the text can be sent
to a printer if you have one which
makes it very easy to get a permanent
record. Looking forward to article two.
81R: Sorting Article
This is and excellent package or
series, although I don't have any real
use for sorting routines I found that
this series sparked my interest and I
am quite looking foward to the next
issue to find out more about these
routines. The only thing I would like
to see is a menu for the example
programs.
994: STD Code SYSTEM Demo
Very good and simple to understand.
Good layout and menu. Very useful when
using a modem. One small improvement
would be to include the tariffs that
such calls would be charged at.
L1L: 5-A-Side Soccer
A very enjoyable simulation, a type of
game I have not tried before and I can
say that I enjoyed it. However there
are a few things which could possibly
be improved.
There is almost a guaranteed way to win
which is to use the automatic selection
of players and repeatedly use he pot
luck option to raise funds. With high
funds the team morale is also high and
thus the team tends to win all of it's
match encounters.
There is, however, always a punishment
to fit the crime for those looking for
an easy win. Upon approaching the
400,000 pound mark, and not having lost
a game in four rounds, I was presented
with a No Room at line 110 error. This
is not to say that it is a bad program,
it is a great program, one which I
enjoyed a lot, and I look forward to
any sequel that may come in the future.
4RR: Cassette Inlay
Well written but it suffered in 2
respects. I didn't like the wrap around
effect as the characters spilt onto the
next line. I would have preferred a
warning beep indicating that the
maximum number of characters per row
had been reached.
Secondly, by better use of the
printer's codes more lines could have
been printed.
8CT: New Address Book Program
Much better than the last version.
1) The SEX (M/F) field could do with
having it's colour changed from blue to
one that is more visable.
2) The information is not justified to
a column.
3) An Erase function would be useful.
6JE: 5-A-Side Soccer
When playing no matter how many teams
are playing it is impossible to get a
match in which the first player does
not take part in.
The questions option seems pointless so
far in playing (over 50 matches).
I have not seen any use of money so
what is the purpose of winning any?
Occasionally a SUBSCRIPT error appears
making it impossible to play a decent
game without having to save your
position after every match and having
to reload if the game faults. The idea
for this game is very good but the game
play is at best poor.
6JE: Periodic Table
This is a brilliant program. It has
many uses and it a great help. The
author has done very well to fit all of
the periodic table onto one screen.