ULTIMA IV PROBLEMS?
Dear Les,
It would appear that early copies of Ultima IV
distributed by US GOLD in this country are faulty. If you can NEVER
kill ANY enemy at all then it is because you have a bad copy. US
Gold have now fixed the problem and will replace your copy if you
send it to them (their address is on the packaging). If you know how
to write bad sectors then you can fix it yourself by writing bad
sectors into the fifteenth track. Check that it is full of hex
zeroes first though!
There is also some doubt about their copies of
QUESTRON. If you find that it drops into BASIC when you come out of
a dungeon then please let US Gold know on 021 356 3388 so that they
can track down the problem.
John Sweeney
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PRINTER DRIVERS
Dear PAGE 6,
Could you please send me details of your public
domain software collection. I am most interested in a printer driver
mainly because I don't know what it is!
Fernand
Paquet,
Belgium
Details are on their way. In case other readers
are puzzled, a printer driver is a program that acts as an
interpreter between a word processor or other program and a specific
printer. If your printer has special features such as bold,
enhanced, graphics etc. then these can be accessed easily by using a
printer driver designed for that printer. Most word processors have
printer drivers for the most popular printers built in but a few
programs do not. Essentially what happens is that the program uses a
code for special functions, underlining for
example may use CTRL-U. The program will always use CTRL-U but not
all printers use the same code for underlining. The printer driver
checks each character sent to the printer and when it comes across
an 'instruction' character such as CTRL-U it replaces it with
whatever code your printer requires. This way it is possible for a
particular program to work with every printer by simply adding or
using different printer drivers.
______
WISHSONG BBS
Dear Sirs,
I was wondering if it would be possible for you to
help me. I am trying to set up a BBS for Atari users. I know that in
the past you have mentioned other BBS's and would be most grateful
if you could mention mine in one of your columns.
It is called Wishsong, runs at 300/300 (V21) and
can be reached by dialling 01 464 2516 between the hours of 20.00 -
08.00 7 days a week. It will be aimed mainly at Atari users
to swap ideas, get problems answered, or just let them chat to each
other.
Have you ever thought of having a BBS list in each
of your issues, with a list of current systems that are online? This
seems to be a growing area of interest for Atari owners.
Your help would be most appreciated and keep up
the excellent work you do in PAGE 6.
Martin
Wybold,
Bromley,
Kent
One problem with printing details of BBS's and
the like is keeping it up to date. I have an idea for a 'resource'
page next year which would list all BBS's, User Groups and retailers
supporting Atari. To work it requires all those concerned to provide
me with details and for readers to let me know if they find any
entries get out of date. If you want to get the ball rolling and run
a BBS or User Group put the details on a sheet of paper clearly
headed RESOURCE and send them to me. Ed.
______
HACKER PROBLEMS?
Dear Les,
I purchased a copy of Hacker on tape and completed
it last week. I think that there is a part of the game missing as
the computer tries to load something else at the end. When I reach
Washington with the document the game tells you to press RETURN to
see tomorrow's headlines. The computer then beeps and the tape
starts up but the screen just goes blank and the tape runs to the
end.
I returned my copy to Activision for replacement
but the same thing happens. Can any of your readers help? Is it the
same on all copies or am I just unlucky?
Paul
Cole,
Walworth,
London
______
KEEP WRITING!
Dear PAGE 6,
I'm sure that there are a great deal of Atari
owners who at one time or another have felt a bit envious of their
friends who own other machines. Every month new games are released
by British companies for the Commodore and Spectrum but the software
houses rarely do a version for the Atari.
I see that a lot of budget titles have re-appeared
in the charts after an Atari conversion has been made which surely
proves that their is a market for Atari software if only the
companies would bring out Atari versions. Elite did a conversion of
Airwolf for the Atari but why stop there? Why don't they do Ghosts
and Goblins and Paperboy as well? Surely there are not more C16's
and PLUS 4's than Ataris?
The point I am trying to make is that Atari owners
should write or telephone these companies and ask if, or rather
when, the Atari version of the game is coming out. It is no good
sitting back and waiting for someone else to ask otherwise nothing
will happen. If every PAGE 6 reader wrote or rang up, I am sure that
more companies would be doing conversions. If you don't know where
to write here are some suggestions.
Ocean Software, Ocean House, 6, Central Street,
Manchester, M2 5NS. Tel. 061 832 6633. Games include Match Day,
Daley Thompson, Miami Vice.
Gremlin Graphics Software Ltd., Alpha House, 10,
Carver Street, Sheffield, S1 4FS. Tel. 0742 753423. Games include
Monty Mole and Jack The Nipper.
Elite Systems Ltd., Anchor House, Anchor Road,
Aldridge, Walsall, W. Midlands. Tel. 0922 59165. Games include
Ghosts and Goblins, Commando, Paperboy and Bombjack.
Melbourne House (Publishers) Ltd., Melbourne
House, 60, High Street, Hampton Wick, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey,
KY1 4DB. Tel. 01 943 3911. Games include Exploding Fist, The Hobbit,
Mugsy and Fist 2.
Imagine Software (1984) Ltd., Address the same as
Ocean but omit Ocean House. Tel 061 834 3939. Games include Galvan,
Green Beret and Yie Ar Kung Fu.
Design Design Software, 125, Smedley Road,
Cheetham Hill, Manchester, M8 7RS. Games include Nexor, Dark Star
and Hall Of The Things.
All these companies have produced
some great games, just think how much better they would be on an
Atari! The Atari has the best graphics so we should have the best
software but you don't get what you don't ask for.
All it will cost you to ask is a few pence.
Noel
Wallace,
Wandsworth,
London
This letter arrived BEFORE John
Davison's letter in the last issue was published so it seems that
there are more Atari owners who feel strongly about this. Show how
you feel by getting out that pen and paper or making a call. There
is no excuse!
______
FAMILY TREES
Dear Les,
My wife and I are compiling a family
tree. As you can imagine we have accumulated a mass of information
which is all in notebooks and on scraps of paper. To try and bring
some order to it and present it in an easily accessible form we want
to store it on disk. We are at present using Home Filing Manager but
it is not really satisfactory. Once you have so much information it
becomes difficult to present it in a way that makes it easy to
follow through.
Is there a program available on disk
either specifically for genealogy or a program more adaptable for
this use?
Tony
Barnes
Lymington,
Hants
The ANTIC CATALOG do a program
called The Family Tree written by Harry Koons which may be available
from your local retailer or Software Express in Birmingham. The
program is limited to 6 generations but up to 24 generations can be
stored on one disk. There is another program available in America by
post only (we do have the details somewhere but could not find them
in time for this issue!) and also a group specialising in genealogy.
Try writing to Genealogical Computing, 5102 Pomeroy Dr., Farfax, VA
22032, U.S.A. and they may be able to provide further help. If any
PAGE 6 readers have written programs for genealogy or can provide
further information I would be interested to know.
______
PRINTSHOP AND 1029
Dear Les,
You may have noticed that there were
three pleas for help on using the 1029 with Printshop in a recent
Contact column. I think that there is more than enough interest to
warrant the printing of an answer in the magazine. I am shortly
going to purchase a 1029 printer and Printshop and want to be sure
they work.
I will also be buying a word
processor. Can you tell me if Superscript supports microspacing and
if Paperclip has user definable keys?
Gareth
Martin
Dublin
The 1029 will not work with
Printshop. I doubt whether a 1029 printer driver will ever be
produced for it as the 1029 was never sold in the States and
Printshop is a program with, primarily, a U.S. market. As regards
word processing, I would firstly suggest that if you are interested
in such refinements as microspacing, you get a much better printer
than the 1029. Superscript does not support microspacing but
Paperclip does providing your printer is capable of it. Paperclip
does have user definable keys (macros) but they are not as powerful
as Superscript.
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