Ramblings From
The RidgeWe wish all of you a happy holiday season and a prosperous and enjoyable New Year. Return to Top
West Hartford Happenings
by Darrell R. Sage
The Wall Street Journal continues to be filled with speculation that Coleco will drop the ADAM after Christmas. Remember this is only speculation. Most of it comes from the same type of people who thought that the IBM PC Jr. was the best thing since sliced bread. We all know how accurate their predictions about the Jr. have been.At the same time they are predicting the demise of the ADAM.
Coleco has announced a number of promotions. The most recent will allow many retialers to sell the ADAM at $499. Rather than cut the wholesale price, Coleco is offering retailers $175 worth of free software with each computer.
Infoworld recently carried a relatively positive article on ADAM. The article quotes industry analysts who estimate that by the end of the year approximately 320,000 ADAMs will have been sold. Coleco has been busily working to get peripherals and software on the market before Christmas. They are currently shipping disk drives, modems and 64k memory expanders, as well as data drives. Return to Top
What About The Competition?
by Darrell R. Sage
What competition? Atari seems to be in never-never-land. Even if their pledges to support the 800 are true, it seems as if no one will believe them. It is rumored that 800s will be selling for less than $100 by Christmas. Whether or not Atari remains a force in the home market will be determined next yar. They have to get their new product line together and then they will have to convince retailers to sell it. Based upon current problems this may be a difficult task. Atari user groups are up in arms about the current lack of cooperation from the company.
Meanwhile Commodore is busy shipping the Plus-4. The name sounds more like a cold medicine than a computer. I just don't think this computer is what the public wants.
The PC Jr. is still around, but without the clunky chicklet keyboard. IBM has provided free exchange of the old keyboards for the new ones.
Price wise there doesn't seem to be much competition for the ADAM outside of Atari and Commodore. Maybe next year the Japanese will enter the market or maybe it will be the British. The current situation certainly gives Coleco the opportunity to make ADAM a sucess this Christmas. We'll have to see what the Winter CES brings us. Return to Top
An ADAM Owners' View: One Year Later
by Joe Blenkle
It doesn't seem that long ago that I purchased my ADAM, but it's been almost a year since I received it via UPS. It was delivered almost a month earlier than promised by Montgomery Ward.
In the time I've had it, I've learned a lot about computers, both good and bad, and happily most of it has been good.
My initial response to ADAM was one of frustration. The early models of the machine seemed to be full of bugs, and mine was no exception. It had numerous word processing problems; nothing serious, but little things that were very annoying. I waited until my warranty was almost up to get them fixed so I could become familiar with everything that was wrong with my unit.
The printer was next to cause me problems, but happily everything is now in good repair, or almost, as my ADAM occasionally refuses to replace a word it has searched for in the word processing mode. Other than that, ADAM works fine and gives me not a single problem.
My experiences with ADAM weren't my first with computers. In the past I have owned an Atari 400 and Texas Instruments 99/4A. Both were sold long ago. The TI was bought on impulse, the Atari for game playing. It has been since replaced by an Atari 5200 for the same purpose.
I'm very big on game playing. I use the ADAM for that purpose, along with record keeping and writing. In the time I've owned an ADAM I have made the following observations about its capabilities.
First, as far as game playing goes, I have found no machine that can match ADAM. Graphically, while games vary from system to system, I've found most games, no matter what manufacturer produces them, are superior on the ADAM. While the ADAM doesn't boast the hundreds of colors offered by other systems, I've found that the graphics are always crisper on ADAM games, subjects are better detailed, and the whole overall appearance of the game is better. I'm saying this from experience as I've compared a lot of games from system to system.
The gaming world is just now opening up to ADAM as manufacturers can produce cartridges not only for the computer system, but the ColecoVision game system as well. This will definitely be a plus when it comes to the decision whether or not to put out a ColecoVision/ADAM compatible version of a particular game.
I'm very happy with ADAM as a word processor, although I can think of a lot more features I'd like to see in it. Hopefully, Coleco or some other company will put out an enhanced word processing package with features such as automatic centering, right margin justification, and a reverse search so you don't have to return to the beginning of a document every time you want to search for something. I would also like to see a graphic printer for the ADAM somewhere down the line.
Like many other ADAMites, I am very frustrated by the slow appearance of software and hardware for the ADAM. Living on the west coast, we always seem to be the last to see products as they are released, not just for the ADAM but for other systems as well. I know of several products for the Atari 5200 that have been out for at least six months in the east, but have not appeared in the west.
It will get better. It's only a question of when. I could go on and on about ADAM, but knowing there is limited space in ECN, I won't. It's enough to say that during the past year I have grown very attached to my ADAM. Unlike some computer systems that are outdated almost the minute they hit the shelf, I don't think the ADAM will suffer this fate for quite some time because of the tremedous potential of the system for growth.
Despite some of the early problems, ADAM appears to be here to stay and there hasn't been one minute during the past year that I've regretted making ADAM my computer system. Return to Top
Line-Spacing In
SmartWRITERby Tony Barnert
Many of you have noticed that SmartWRITER puts 1.5 spaces between paragrpahs if spaced with a solo (RETURN). For many reasons, you may want a single space or even half-space, which can be done as follows. For single space, the easiest way is to type a subscripted space (or nothing) before the (RETURN). The half space is a bit more complicated, and basically involves printing every other paragraph in full SUBSCRIPT, making sure that each line begins with the (L) subscript character and ends with the (R) and a (RETURN). It is also essential to end the paragraph with a subscripted (SPACE), or the next paragraph is buried. Some of the complexities which can be handled include the difficulty in editing the shorter line (the subscript characters are counted by SmartWRITER as spaces, but not by the printer), the added difficulty in subscripting an already-written paragraph (say after moving it - this requires inserting full L & R subscript characters at the beginning and end of each line, and then deleting the appropriate half - given the slowness of INSERT and DELETE, this can be tedious). Some of the problems that remain include the inability to underline the subscripted paragraphs, and the fact that the printer is then not bidirectional and is even slower.
Despite all this, I feel that the tighter look and extra words per page are well worth the time and effort, at least until an improved word processor is available (or an RS-232 interface to bypass the printer). The general principal is also confirmed that most programs can be "tweaked" to do more than they promise. Return to Top
Getting
The Most Out Of
CompuServeby Joe Blenkle
With the ADAM SmartLINK Phone Modem available, there is bound to be a rush on one of the more popular on-line services - CompuServe.
The CompuServe Starter Kit (retail around $30) includes five hours of connect time. The SmartLINK Modem includes a card that entitles you to an additional two hours of time on CompuServe.
Seven hours seems like a long time, but it can go very fast if you are not careful. At $6 per hour standard connect time (after your free time is used up), CompuServe can quickly run up a bill that you'd rather not see at the end of the month.
I've only used the system a short time, but I've already found ways to keep your time on-line to a minimum and therefore allow you to save money.
The first thing you will want to do is set up your own personal menu. you can list up to 10 items and their page numbers that are of interest to you. Almost as soon as you log on the system, this menu will be displayed. By inputing the appropriate menu number, you will be taken immediately to that service.
Another way to save connect time is by using the free- demo you receive with the SmartLINK Modem to access the CompuServe index and find the page numbers of the items you want to view. In this way you will save your own time, while using CompuServe's. You can access the demo mode as many times as you want. If you choose to become a CompuServe subscriber, they will send you updated indexes on a regular basis.
Once you become a subscriber, you will have access to Compuserve's Electronic Mail (EMAIL) service. With this you can send messages to other computer users as long as you have their ID number. Upon logging onto the system you will be informed if you have any mail waiting and if you do you will be taken to the EMAIL menu.
Another way of leaving messages is through SIG's (Special Interest Groups) or various public bulletin boards. As of this writing there wasn't an ADAM SIG, but hopefully there will be one soon. Upon logging onto the SIG you will be told if you have a message waiting. I recommend EMAIL for general message writing, as the SIG's take too long to get into. You can read through all the messages on the SIG and have the opportunity to answer or comment on any of them.
CompuServe is a lot of fun and it is interesting to browse through its many services and features. But beware, your time goes very fast and you can use up your free time and compile some very high connect charges if you are not careful.
I recommend that after you've found your way around the system, usung about half of your alloted free time, that you set up a budget and log on to CompuServe for a pre-determined amount of time every day, week or month depending on your needs.
Always keep a log of how long you've spent on the system (you'll be told when you log off how long you've been on) and it is best when you log on to know exactly where you intend to go and what you intend to do. Return to Top
Assembling Graphics Sprites
by Darrell R. Sage
Well we don't have a sprite editor yet, but at least we have a demonstration program that creates a sprite and allows you to move it with a joystick (see program listing).
The more work we do with machine language programming on the ADAM, the more we learn. In the last issue I indicated that you need to save the contents of a number of registers by PUSHing them before using them and by POPing them when you were finished. The only time that this procedure is necessary is when those registers contain information that needs to be saved. We have eliminated those statements in the sprite demo.
The best way I know to cover sprites is by discussing my demo program line-by-line. Line 10 sets LOMEM to 32100. This allows us to reserve a portion of memory for storing machine language routines and sprite data. Line 20 CLEARs all variables and equates "s" to 30000 (this will be the starting location for the machine language routines). Line 30 sets "x" equal to 32000 (this is the memory location for the start of the sprite data) and "c" equal to 0 (this is a counter used in the program). Lines 110 through 220 contain the data for the machine language routines. Following each line of data is a REM statement that gives the assembly language equivalents for the preceeding data and a brief explanation of what that line does. Rather than repeat that information, I will try to provide an explanation of what it means. Line 110 tells ADAM what size and magnification we want to use for our sprite(s). The second value in line 110 (227) specifies a 16 x 16 sprite that is double magnification. Essentially you have four options available for this value: 224 = 8x8 sprite, no magnification; 225 = 8x8 sprite, double magnification; 226 = 16xl6 sprite, no magnification; and 227 the value actually used in the program. The fourth value (1) in line 110 is used to designate one of the eight vdp registers in the video chip. Register one controls the size and magnification of sprites. The rest of line 110 contains the data used to CALL a system routine that stores the value (227) in the appropriate vdp register (1).
Lines 120-160 contain the machine language routine that stores the sprite data in the proper location in video ram. The first lines provide instructions and information used by the CALL routine in line 160. Line 120 tells the routine to use Table #1 in video ram. This is the sprite data table. Line 130 indicates that there will be four entries to load to VRAM. All 16xl6 sprites require a value of four (4) for each sprite; all 8x8 sprites require a value of one (1) for each sprite.
Line 140 contains the starting location of the sprite data (32000). This number is obtained by adding the second value in line 140 (0) to 256 X 125 (the third value). Line 150 indicates the entry in the vdp table to write to (0). Your choices range from 0 to 31 for a total of 32 entries or sprites. Line 160 CALLs the routine that processes all of this information. Once this routine executes the sprite is stored in VRAM. However, sprites are controlled by entries in two tables - table 1 stores the sprite data and table 0 stores the sprite attribute data.
Lines 170-210 contain the machine language data used to load the sprite attribute data. Line 170 designates table #O; line 180 sets the number of entries to one (1); line 190 specifies the entry to write to (0 which is the first entry); and line 200 gives the location of the sprite attribute data (32 + (125 X 256) = 32032). Line 210 CALLs the routine that processes the data. This is the same routine that was used to load the sprite data in line 160. Line 220 is the RETURN statement for the machine language routine.
The data for the 16 x 16 sprite is contained in lines 250-280. The data must be stored in the order indicated. Next time I will go into detail on how to code the sprite data.
Line 290 contains the sprite attribute data which is described in lines 295-298. Lines 1000-1030 store the machine language routine. Lines 1990-2030 store the sprite data. Line 2120 CALLs the machine language routine stored at memory location 30000 which executes and draws the sprite. Lines 2500-2520 read the joystick and loads the values into memory for the horizontal and vertical position of the sprite. Line 2530 CALLs the machine language routine starting at memory location 30023, which is the part of the program that loads the sprite attribute table data. The sprite moves as you move the joystick. The program is terminated by a CONTROL-C.
I realize that this is very complex, but it does work. Try playing with it. Next time we will try to make this information more useable, but we have to start somewhere.
10 LOMEN :32100Return to Top
15 REM SPRITE DEMO by D. Sage
20 CLEAR: a = 30000
30 x = 32000: c = 0
110 DATA 14,227,6,1,205,32,253
115 REM LDC,E3H;LDB,I;CALL FD20
116 REM E3H=16xl6 double sprites
120 DATA 58,24,252
125 REM LDA(FC18H) - table #1
130 DATA 253,33,04,00
135 REM LDIY,0004H - # of entries
140 DATA 33,00,125
145 REM LD HL,7D00H - location of data (32000)
150 DATA 17,00,00
155 REM LD DE,0000H - entry to write to
160 DATA 205,44,253
165 REM CALL FD2C - write tbl entries to VRAM
170 DATA 58 23,252
175 REM LDA(FC17H) - table #0
180 DATA 253,33,1,0
185 REM LD IY,0001H - # of entries
190 DATA 17,0,0
195 REM LD DE,0000H - entry to write to
200 DATA 33,32,125
205 REM LD HL,7D20H - location of data (32032)
210 DATA 205,44,253
215 REM CALL FD2C - write table entries to VRAM
220 DATA 201
225 REM RETURN
230 DATA 256
235 REM end of ml data
240 REM SPRITE DATA
245 REM upper left quadrant
250 DATA 3,3,15,7,5,7,1,1
255 REM lower left
260 DATA 7,11,19,35,2,2,2,14
265 REM upper right
270 DATA 192,192,240,224,160,224,128,128
275 REM lower right
280 DATA 224,208,200,196,64,64,64,112
285 REM SPRITE ATTRIBUTE TABLE DATA
290 DATA 1,1,0,9
295 REM 1=vertical position
296 REM 1=horizontal position
297 REM 0=name
298 REM 9=color code-red
990 REM store ml routine
1000 READ a: IF a = 256 THEN 1030
1010 POKE s+c, a
1020 c = c+1: GOTO 1000
1030 REM
1990 REM store sprite
2000 FOR i = 0 TO 35
2010 READ a
2020 POKE x+i, a
2030 NEXT i
2100 HOME: PRINT " USE Joystick #1"
2105 PRINT "Stop with Control-C"
2110 PRINT " Clear with TEXT"
2115 REM call sprite routine
2120 CALL 30000
2495 REM read Joysticks
2500 b = PDL(1): d = PDL(3)
2510 POKE X+32, b
2520 POKE x+33, d
2525 REM call sprite location routine
2530 CALL 30023
2560 GOTO 2500
3000 END
Programs, Programs, Programs
In addition to the sprite demo program listed above, there are four other subscriber written programs listed in the back of this issue. Most of these programs are self-explanatory and require no additional discussion. All you have to do is enter them and run them. In the future we plan to handle many of the programs written by subscribers in this fashion. If instructions are required, they will be provided. The programs in this issue are:
Product Reviews: Briefs
from Imagic. This is an extremely elaborate arcade type game that is
excellent in
every respect. Wing War is not an easy game. Game play is extremely
varied and the
graphics are excellent. I recommend it.
Product Review: Smart Letters
&
Forms
Product
Review: ADAMLink Modem
The ADAMLink is easy to install
and plugs into
the
Expansion Port #1 inside the ADAM's Memory Console. A dual phone jack
is provided
that plugs into your phone jack so that you can plug your phone into
one side and the
ADAMLink into the other. A 10-foot phone cord is provided to hook to
your phone line
and the system is connected through the top of the console's
ventilation slots.
Product Review: ADAM Disk Drive
The
correct order for turning everything on is:
TV, disk
drive, and ADAM last.
Product Review: The Stock
Market
Game
Product Review: Black Gold
Product Review: Congo Bongo
Product Review: James Bond 007
I've
managed to make it as far as the fourth
game, but
then it gets the best of me and I have yet to complete it. In the first
game, your
mission is to make it across first a desert scene and then an ocean
scene, avoiding
craters in the desert and killer frogmen, subs and a killer satellite
on the ocean until
you reach and land safely on an oil rig.
Product Review: SmartFiler
The
computer automatically puts your files in
alphabetical
or numerical order, depending on what you are searching for and the
whole program
kames it very easy to change information in any of the files at any
time.
Product Review: ExperType