8-bit Software (c) Duncan Webster January 1992
Issue 18 Jan/Feb 1992
To Upgrade or Not to Upgrade? - part 2
To briefly recap - I discussed the first impressions of the Archimedes
A3000 and outlined the main perils and pitfalls the Model B/Master
user can expect to be confronted with when using an Arc for the first
time. I concluded with the brief discussion on what the USER (ie. no
programming knowledge) can expect when using this machine. This month
I shall continue with the USER's point of view. A full index of what
is to be discussed appears in the issue 17 magazine.
THE NOVICE USER (continued)
I finished last issue by stating that the learning curve was a
definate must when purchasing an Archimedes or A3000. For 100.00 you
get a Word Processor, the PC Emulator, Genesis plus a host of other
utilities. Considering that the PC Emulator would cost in excess of
65.00 to purchase separately it makes good sense to part with the
extra 100.00 quid for the complete set of bundled software.
Briefly touching on file management once again, I soon found out that
it is possible to leave the WIMP desktop and "mouse" aside by issuing
a simple *BASIC command from the "Command line" accessed by pressing
f12. Having been put into basic I found myself back in the familiar
old "command mode" environment. Quickly I typed MODE 7 and I had
before me a "super" BBC computer with all of the filing system
commands available plus a good many old *FX calls. I was tempted to
"configure" my A3000 to "power on" in this environment and forget the
desktop WIMP altogether which would have been a shameful waste of
potential, but fortunately curiosity prevailed and I soon got used to
the desktop. As I mentioned in part 1, I now seldom have to exit to
BASIC when running software on the A3000 as everything is performed
from the desktop. The only "typed" commands I really need as a user
are the "star" commands (ie. *Configure) which I can enter direct from
the desktop by pressing function key f12.
Supplied with the A3000 are 3 "standard" packages called PAINT, EDIT
and DRAW. All three titles in my personal view are complicated and
poorly documented and the poor novice does not really stand much of a
chance. DRAW appeared to be a CAD based package which I really didn't
get on with and quickly abandoned. PAINT took a lot of getting used
to, but on consulting my DABS PRESS BEGINNERS GUIDE (see part 1) I
soon learned the basics and had quite a lot of fun. Basically PAINT
is an art package which stores it's pictures in "sprites". In short
you create your masterpiece which is then saved to disc as a "sprite"
which (visually) is a scaled down (very tiny) version of the picture
you have just created. EDIT is a text editor and is best used for the
creation of autoboot files, "obey" files and system operations (i
think). I mainly use it for the viewing of text user guides that
accompany many P.D. software titles.
Using commercial software on the A3000 also takes a bit of getting
used to. To take an example here I will talk about Word Processors.
If you purchase the learning curve you will be presented with 1st word
plus which is very complicated to use - yet I am informed that this is
a very basic word-processing package! Obviously, being the owner of
8BS, I do a lot of text processing and to date, 8BS is produced using
Computer Concept's interword. Having used interword (plus View and
Wordwise) for many years, 1st Word+ on the A3000 in a word is
difficult. For starters you have to get used to using the mouse to
position, highlight, delete and edit text - you still use the keyboard
for typing text, although I wonder when we will be using the mouse for
this as well!! Fortunately, there are keyboard "short cuts" but these
take a bit of remembering. It is difficult to explain properly, but
the 1st Word+ package although very professional in appearance and use
is just too "professional" for me. Instead I purchased Interword for
the A3000 (available for about 25.00) - there are no extra features
(and no segment menus are provided) but you have oodles of memory and
I do not need any extra facility that Interword does not offer (apart
from a Spellchecker maybe). One last thing about 1st word plus is
that as soon as I had filled up a screen or two the whole system
became very sluggish.
I cannot discuss the A3000 USER's section of this series without
mentioning Public Domain software - there is simply tons of the stuff
ranging from excellent to downright bilge. A note of caution here in
the fact that some P.D. software title's follow no programming "rules"
and bearing in mind the volatility of the A3000's configuration,
caution seems to be the word of the day. I have been through many PD
titles and have had the very annoying surprise of having my machine
"re-configured" in some way by some nasty piece of PD software which
can take a lot of undoing unless you have had the foresight to have a
*EXEC file of all your configuration commands handy. Thankfully the
majority tend to stick to the unwritten rule of "leave my settings
alone" in some form or another.
Viruses is another point to bear in mind here, and whilst known
viruses on the Arc are mercifully small, it is difficult if not
impossible to identify a virus from a user error unless you know what
you are looking for. For those of you who don't know what a computer
virus is, I shall attempt to explain .... A computer virus is a piece
of computer program that "hides" itself by sitting in a little known
or little used part of the computers memory (usually the part of
memory that remains active when the computer is turned off). It
"spreads" itself by "duplicating" itself onto every disc that it put
into the disc drive. It does this by saving a small program onto the
"boot sector" of a floppy disc - when this disc is inserted into
another machine it will copy itself from the "infected" disc into the
other machine - and it daisychains from thereon jumping from machine
to machine .... Problems really start to get serious when you find a
virus on your hard disc drive which may result in you having to
reformat it with the loss of 40mb (about 40 floppies for example) of
data.
Don't assume however that whenever the A3000 corrupts or "hangs" you
have a virus. Owing the the multi-tasking environment of the A3000 -
Error messages and "hangs" are a frequent occurrence which is caused
by anything from bad software to user mistakes.
Obviously, when sending off for P.D. software - you have no idea of
where the disc you receive has been so the risk is always there.
Fortunately, there are many P.D. virus detectors/killers around which
means that you can identify a potential killer at the very least.
Most of my software is actually Public Domain on the A3000. I have
little commercial software apart from games and the Word Processors
already mentioned. Well known P.D. software is often talked about
frequently in national magazines. For example, there are simply loads
of "tracker" sound modules in the P.D. archives which play "sampled"
music and most of it is of very high quality. Another huge sector of
the P.D. world is made up from demonstrations or "demo's" as we call
them. Basically you cannot do much with a demo apart from
watch/listen to it. Some of the demo's available for the A3000 are
spectacular and demonstrate just what the Archimedes range is capable
of doing. You cannot help wondering though what could be acheived if
these demo writers put their talents to more constructive use. P.D.
libraries are also full of "paint" and "draw" files which are
graphical screens created using the PAINT and DRAW packages supplied
as standard with the A3000 - some of them are pretty impressive.
The other major part of P.D. must be utilities - there are simply
loads of them. For example, you cannot read DFS discs on the A3000 as
the machine is supplied with ADFS and does not emulate 1770 DFS as the
BBC Master does. Consiquently, a load of P.D. DFS emulators have
sprung up - some better than others. This highlights the main problem
of P.D. software in the fact that there are many versions of a
partucular piece of software written by different people - some
versions miles better than others - it is just a case of finding the
best one which can be an expensive task. In the case of DFS
emulators, there are some that in my opinion are better than the
original DFS supplied with the Master, and there are others that will
corrupt your disc without doing much else. There are thankfully
organisations that select the best of P.D. if you are prepared to
wait. Such examples are the Micro User's monthly subscription disc
(expensive!) which are (I am reliably informed) tested before
publication. There is to my knowledge no FREE or inexpensive
Archimedes PD User Group such as 8-bit Software does for the Model
B/Master.
In conclusion for P.D. software there are some basic steps to follow:-
1. Shop around - Arch P.D. charges 50p per disc - Beebug charges over
1.50 per disc. This is where the "copying charge" is highlighted.
2. Request a catalogue (there is usually one saved to your P.D. disc)
and note all the different versions of one particular piece of
software. Most good P.D. libraries will also publish comments
and/or ratings as to how good the software is.
3. P.D. is P.D. and (unless specifically requested not to) can be
distributed as you please - so it is cheaper to team up with a
friend and half the expenses. However do exercice caution as
a lot of P.D. libraries are illegally distributing copyright
software and it is you that will have to carry the can in the end.
4. Despite the expense - it is worth subscribing to Micro User's
sub. disc and (at present) the Archimedes World magazine. The
latter has produced some excellent software (not public domain
though) and regulary features the best of the P.D. world. There
seems to be a developing trend of software houses putting "playable
demo's" of commercial software onto cover discs of which most are
very good. One example is "Chuck Rock" which contained 2 levels
and "Lemmings" which contained 4. This is an excellent and cheap
way of trying before you buy and this looks set to continue.
In conclusion to this part of the series on the USER's view of the
Archimedes, the word "complicated" spring to mind. Having said this
though I still would not be without one as it is so interesting and
there is always something new to learn and/or use, especially in the
P.D. world.
So what will the user do with his/her 8-bit Micro? Well the only
reason I still own an 8-bit machine is because of 8-bit Software and
little else. If I did not run 8BS then I would not own a BBC Micro -
it is as simple as that. Although a "BBC Emulator" is provided with
the Arc I have never used it - nor have I used the "compatibilty"
commands thoughtfully built into the operating system by Acorn. The
fact is that once you own a 32-bit Micro, your 8-bit together with all
software will soon become a distant memory. The best advice is - if
you're going to upgrade to an A3000 as a user, then you might as well
make a clean break of it.
As far as the complicatedness (?!) is conerned, you must bear in mind
that the Archimedes range of computers are much more "professionally
orientated" machines and whilst you may only want the facilities you
need from software - you are more than likely to find software packed
to the rafters with weird and wonderful features and options you have
never even heard of - For example I have spend the last hour looking
for a delete option from a popular database only to find that it is
called "purge" and not "delete" - admittedly I was running software
under the PC emulator, but that's another story ...
THE AVID GAMES PLAYER
When I first received my Model B issue 3 in December 1983 (I think) I
did nothing except play games for about 3 years. When I acquired a
disc drive I learnt about file handling which explains the plethera of
SYSTEMS server and SYSTEMS bank versions floating around. Since I
left school and my source of software dried up (ahem) I play very
little games so I cannot comment fully on the kind of software
available for the Archimdedes computers. However, I have 10 or so
titles for the A3000 which I bash about on occassionally so I will
present my views.
To purchase an Arc for games only would be a sin - go out and buy an
Amiga or Atari instead - they're cheaper and better at games (well the
Amiga is) and there is a heck of a lot more available both on P.D. and
commercially. However, software for the Arc is now large and is
growing all the time and it is nice to see major software houses
beginning to support the Archimedes in earnest. Such companies
include Krysalis which are converting a lot of titles (ie. lemmings)
and the 4th Dimension which produces software exclusively for the
Archimedes range. Generally, games for the Archimedes are still a bit
thin on the ground, but those that are around are of high quality.
Typically, the 4th Dimension have produced some excellent masterpieces
such as "Saloon Cars" and "Break 147 & Superpool". Of course, we now
have Elite for the Arc which is essentially an "archimedes version" of
the popular game with the new features being better graphics,
intellegent pirates/police/traders and more involved missions - the
rest is about the same except that some of the "extra" features hinted
in the manual actually exist this time. Upon reflection I would not
purchase an Arc just to play Elite although it is a game that I did
constantly (deadly) play on the model B. If you are expecting "Elite
- the next generation" on the Arc then you are in for a major
disappointment.
I can't really say a lot more about games on the A3000, except that
they are the usual high quality we come to expect from Acorn machines
and a lot of titles are unique to the Archimedes Range. One major
bonus of course, is that the Archimedes is a 32-bit micro and thus can
offer very smooth gameplay when compared to the Atari and Commodore
Amiga computers. This is especially evident in packages such as
Flight Simulators and the aforementioned Elite. In conclusion, the
game base for the Arc is well established and I see a great future for
the games market, but if you are only out for a games machine, then
you must have more money than sense to purchase an Arc.
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Next issue I shall be viewing the A3000 from the General Enthusiast's
point of view, that is the type of person who both uses professional
software, but also knows how to knock a quick BASIC program together
and thus has a certain amout of technical "pre-knowledge".
Duncan Webster.