Magazine corner
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Kieran Wood (see Crash Nov'88) has sent in Issue 5 of the Spectrum Programmer, responding to comments made in Crash. He has now made the tape magazine bi-monthly, and increased the price to #1.50. However, he does appear to have some assistance now ...
The latest issue offers more to the beginner, including an abbreviated course of binary & hexadecimal, including doing calculations in binary - well worth understanding, as that is how your Spectrum does it. There is also a list of Spectrum bugs (see +3 section), and a Turbo Loader program from Mr.Goodman - unfortunately, this program appears to be a close copy of that on the Crash Tech Tape, and there is no credit to Crash or the Turbo Loaders original authors!
Now on to another Disk based magazine, OUTLET from Chezron Software, 605 Loughborough Rd, Birstall, Leicester LE4 4NJ. They have been a little upset about not being reviewed by Crash - hope that you are happier now ...
OUTLET is a very well presented magazine for all Spectrums (except 16K ones - if there are still any!). It is available on Opus or Disciple/Plus D disk, on two ZX-Microdrives, or on tape. The cost is #2 per issue, if you supply the disk/microdrive media, or #3.50/#5.00 on supplied disk/microdrive. The cassette version is #2.75.
OUTLET contains a wide variety of generally excellent content including readers letters, hints/tips, medium length utility programs, mini-games (and the occasional adventure), reviews of commercial non-game software and hardware and even monthly round-ups of what the rival 'paper' magazines are printing. There are also adverts, and a detailed section for less experienced Spectrum users; interestingly, Nick Lewis is currently teaching machine code - the same as that reviewed last month (though in much greater detail)!
In the few issues sent for review (assortedly on Plus D disk, microdrive and tape) I found many gems - a 42/51/64 column screen print routine (issue 7), many new character fonts (22 in issue 13, 20 more in issue 14), a simple disassembler (issue 13), details of connecting microdrives from ICL's OnePerDesk to a Spectrums Interface One (issue 14). There was also a microdrive exerciser program (SEAL RESCUE in issue 10) which finds & locks out suspect sectors on a microdrive - this program takes ages to run, but is almost bound to discover any faults! And if one important program is not corrupted due to a dodgy sector ...
There is also a full back-issue service from Chezrom (in which I noticed a full assembler - JACKSOFT - in issue 10).
Finally, a Fish Tank Simulation (The Amazing Arnold in issue 10) would have kept me amused for hours, if it didn't keep crashing!
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The current issue (number 15, November '88) offers a proportional text print routine, a program to print decimal numbers tidily (all decimals aligned), a shopping list maker, an in-depth discussion of interrupts on the Spectrum, and Craldons Creek (an adventure).
One minor niggle - The microdrive version comes on two cartridges, and you are always prompted for cartridge B, even if it is the one that was just used and so is still in the drive! Also, the cassette version can only be accessed sequentially - but then that is really the only way (cassette users are recommended to upgrade to a disk drive system!).
OUTLET is a good value disk-based magazine, well established and with a reasonable readership (150 or so at present, apparently). Serious users would do well to consider a discounted 6 or 12 month subscription (at #11 or #21, if you supply the media - once a month or all at once!).
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Thanks to Miles Gordon Technology, I now have access to a Plus D interface & 780K 3.5inch disk drive. This kit is available for #139.95 from MGT, Lakeside, Phoenix Way, Swansea Enterprise Park, Swansea SA7 9EH.
It is very interesting to compare a 48K or 128K Spectrum with Plus D fitted, to the 'official' +3. The Plus D is a flat but long interface, that when fitted to the Spectrum almost doubles its depth. A cable connects it to the metal cased disk drive, which has a separate power supply (another cable). There is a built in parallel printer interface, but no serial ports. So, overall, the Plus D combination takes up slightly more desk space than the +3.
The interface, when powered up, has only minimal internal software - enough to 'boot' a disk, which loads in the full program. A configuration program supplied on tape allows the specifics of your particular disk drive set up to be programmed into a system file, which is then stored on disk for future booting - the tape will probably never be needed again. Booting takes only about 2.5 seconds (the +3, of course, does not need this step). Using the MGT disk drive, 780K of data can be stored on one disk, more than 4 times what the +3 holds (without manually turning the disk over). The drive is also very fast, the SAVE of 16K took 4.6 seconds, the LOAD just 2.2 seconds. Formatting, however, takes a very slow 110 seconds (18 for the +3, but you need to do it 4 times to get the same resultant disk space).
The Plus D can emulate the microdrive syntax, making it reasonably compatible with Spectrum business software (the +3 emulates tape loading/saving, but little else), but also has a simpler syntax (still not as easy to type as the +3, though). The Plus D also has a built-in 'Magic Button' (saving the cost of Multiface 3) which allows screen-shots & 48K or 128K snapshots to be taken. Another bonus over the +3 is that true disk data files can be created - it is possible to open streams to files, and PRINT to or INPUT from the file via the stream. It would be possible to write programs handling 390K or more of data in this way!
Snapshots cannot be loaded until the disk has been booted, so loading a 48K snapshot ('Advanced Pinball Simulator') takes about 7 seconds, and 5 keypresses (using the LOAD p5 shortcut). The +3, using Multiface 3, takes 19 seconds (and 10 keypresses) to load the same game - however, there is a little extra 128K-specific code to be loaded. The one bonus is that Multiface packs the games on disk, allowing more to be fitted on the disk (e.g. 60K for a 128K game on the +3, as against 128K on the Plus D). But then, the Plus D has more space available on the disk.
Remember that the +3 is quite incompatible with older Spectrums (except the +2A) and much hardware, and some software, will not run on it. Fitting a Plus D to your old Spectrum will save you #105 (+3 & Multiface 3 = #245), and run everything you already own (N.B.: Plus D is NOT compatible with my Alphacom Printer, or Multiface One).
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The Plus D & disk drive from Miles Gordon Technology (see separate box) has, like the Romantic Robot Multiface devices, a 'snapshot' function, but little else. GENIE, for all Multifaces except the +3, has for some time allowed hackers to stop a game or other program in mid-flight, call up a disassembler/editor, then continue the stopped program as if nothing had happened.
Now, two programs for the Plus D allow similar tasks to be carried out. The 'official' PickPokeIt (PPI) from MGT themselves (address elsewhere) and Plus D Hacker (PDH) from INDUG, 34 Bourton Road, Gloucester GL4 0LE. PPI costs #14.95, as against PDH which costs just #3.95!
Both programs are supplied on tape, so that they can be configured onto any Plus D set up. In both cases, a new +SYS file is created on disk, which will auto-initialise the hack-program whenever the disk is booted. Other necessary files take 15K of disk space for PPI, and 20.5K for PDH.
Multiface GENIE fits totally into the Multiface RAM, so is instantly available when the 'magic button' is pressed. Both PPI & PDH, however, store their code on disk, and take some time to appear when the button is pressed - PPI takes 6 seconds, PDH takes 7.5 seconds. However, PDH has a second mode, in which the screen is not saved (useful in some cases) which appears almost instantly!
Once loaded, both programs offer similar facilities (though PDH offers some unusual additional routines), but the routines are also called in from disk as required (e.g. 2 seconds to call up the disassembler) - PPI is quicker here, but PDH is smart enough to not re-load the routine if you have just used it. One problem with both programs is that some of the Spectrum RAM is taken up with the hack-program itself (just the screen on PDH, but all memory up to 23755 on PPI). PDH does not deal with this, indeed it is possible to disassemble/edit PDH itself (or crash it, if you are not careful). PPI, however, allows the 'missing' memory to be loaded in to the 48K section, and examined there - this is detailed under the 128K bank functions as an appendix, so 48K users may miss it!
Both of the programs have a poor keyboard interface; there is a tendency for double registering of keys, etc. This is particularly annoying in PDH, since there is no delete function. You have to let the selected function begin, then abort it (very dangerous if the selected function was a fill memory, or similar).
PPI offers, once the button has been pressed, the normal snapshot functions, as well as a Disassembler, memory Editor, Search routine, access to Z80 registers, (128K) Bank switch, and Quit. PDH offers similar routines, along with an Infinite life search, Block find & fill and Graphics search (more on this later). Output can be sent to the printer, if PPI by answering Y to the prompt when each function is called; in PDH by setting print mode on/off (press L when the menu is displayed).
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Of the two packages, PPI is far easier to use. When disassembling or displaying memory, one page at a time is given, then the menu can be recalled, the same function restarted, or the following page displayed. PDH simply disasembles/displays until ENTER is pressed (to pause the display), SPACE (which restarts) or M (to recall the main menu). PDH also uses only the bottom third of the screen, whereas PPI uses the whole screen. Poking is also simpler with PPI, allowing entry of message strings as well as decimal/hex numbers - PDH has a poke facility within a general Z80 register page, and only accepts decimal numbers.
However, PDH offers additional facilities to PPI - in particular, semi-automated infinite life poke searches (though nowhere near as sophisticated as the Multiface LifeGuard program), and a Graphics search mode. This is quite intriguing, as it allows memory to be scrolled around on screen in many ways, giving a reasonable chance of finding where a games graphics are held in memory. Another PDH bonus is an additional program that can be loaded into the Plus D over the top of the hack-program (but taking no main Spectrum memory), which gives the Spectrum some graphics drawing functions. For example, RUN*i (followed by 7 arguments!) allows an area of memory to be defined as a graphic; RUN*d will delete lines of Basic; etc. One problem is that these routines use information from the hack-program, which cannot be run at the same time.
In summary, both programs do their job reasonably well. PPI is a well written program, with excellent documentation - but it is very expensive. PDH is less 'professional', but offers a number of unusual additional functions, and is VERY good value. Documentation for PDH is not too good (and there is a warning of possible crashes on 128K Spectrums). The average Spectrum user would be quite happy with Plus D Hacker, but serious game hackers may wish to pay the additional money for Pick Poke It, to get a more reliable product.
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As mentioned last month, a quick update on DICE (now Version 2) from Kobrahsoft (Pleasant View, Hulme Lane, Hulme Near Longton, Stoke on Trent, Staffs. ST3 5BH). Refer back to Crash October '88 for the full review.
The main menu has now lost the COPY command (which has been moved to within the FILES menu, so that all or just selected files can be copied). However, two new commands have appeared - INIT & ANALYSE.
The INIT command (type I from the main menu) allows a disk to be formatted to +3, System or Data format (all three formats are now fully supported by DICE) - the Data format gives an extra 5K per disk, and is a fast format ("DOSROM" saved in 7.6 seconds & loaded in 5.2 - c.f. results for +3 printed in Crash October '88).
The ANALYSE command (type A!) goes some way towards dealing with commercially protected non-standard disks. You can examine, and even modify (at your own risk), disks that normal +3 disk routines cannot read. I would not recommend that you do this on an original disk however - use Kobrahsofts DB1 package first to make a backup!
DICE also now handles CP/M format disks - including decoding disk volume name details, file passwords & user numbers, and date & time stamps.
The sector display now has an additional mode, in which all 512 bytes are displayed at once, in ASCII only - this is very useful when examining/recovering text-only files (or looking through adventure programs, etc).
Finally, there is a new LOG function within the DISK menu. This allows individual sectors to be logged into a list, the contents of which can then be written to a new disk as a complete file. This can, with care, allow a file to be recovered from a corrupted disk EVEN if the directory has been destroyed! It is only really useful for text files, since you must be able to recognise, in order, the parts of the file.
DICE is now 13500 bytes long, leaving 10K free for Basic programs. Its price is still #12.95, and upgrades from version 1 cost #5.95.
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Those of you, like me, using an old 48K/microdrive version of Masterfile, may be interested in a program from Robert Diskson of 12 Coppelia Road, Blackheath, London SE3 9DB. Send him a disk & #2.99 and you will receive a program to transfer Masterfile (including data & report files) from tape to +3 disk. Users of Masterfile on microdrive will first need to save the program & data files to tape. Additional facilities are added via the User Basic function, which calls up a new menu, including CATaloguing, file ERASE & overlay loading. Be warned, however, that very large databases (30K or more approx) will not be usable with Roberts system of saving data on the Ramdrive - though this does allow Masterfile to be RUN without losing any stored data (Yes - there really is a use for the +3 Ramdrive!).
Downgraded +3
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A new and interesting poke has come to my attention, from Kenny Anderson of Dunfermline. Type POKE 23398,4, then FORMAT "A:" - this will result in a +2A error message!
The +2A's are on sale now - they are in Sinclair black (rather than the awful grey), and have an "M:" RAMDISK to which you can SAVE/LOAD all files, unlike older +2's. They do, however, have all the bugs and expansion port incompatibilities of the +3 - in particular, the MGT +D interface (see elsewhere) will not work without a special extra interface, costing #7.95. I suggest that potential 128K purchasers hunt down the grey +2 - there is little to recommend in a +3 without disk drive!
While on the subject of +3 bugs, Kieran Wood has sent in two more curiosities :- When the 'scroll?' message appears, try pressing the EXTEND MODE key, then ENTER. Kieran also warns that entering very long lines (of the order of one screenful) causes unpredictable corruption of the entered line, and/or the complete program - so be careful! There is, of course, no warning issued by the Spectrum of when this will occur.
By the way Kieran, the cursor left bug (printing a cursor left code when the screen is already at top left) will corrupt ALL Spectrums, not just the +3!
CARDEX, or ...
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The company that brought Desk-Top Publishing to the Spectrum (Word Master, Headliner and Typeliner, see Crash September '88) has changed its name from CARDEX to P.C.G. - now at 61 School Street, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 1EW. They have sent me their latest versions, including one for the Spectrum+3, which I will look at in a later Tech Tips - in more detail than Simon managed on his final review!
Next Month
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I will be looking at Art Studio on my Spectrum +3, and hope to find out some details of the Ergo Systems "Clive Drive" ...