& LIGHT-YEARS! - TRS-80 Color Computer Archive

Talk didn't miss a byte.
Background communica
tions is only half the SideTalk
story. SideTalk's powerful
script language Is an excellent
partner for the program's back
ground ability. The language is
so complete that you can even
write games in it. More to the
point is the fact that you can
write your own simple, singleuser
BBS in less than 20 lines
of code. An example that's
easy to customize is included
with the package.
There's very little to com
plain about with SideTalk.
The manual contains a lot of
useful information, but it also
contains some errors, and.
though the number for the Lat
tice BBS (which offers techni
cal support and files for
downloading) is included in
the autodial directory, the
number is incorrect. These mi
nor reservations aside, Side-
Talk is a winner. If you're
interested in communicating
in the background, don't over
look it. It may be as close as
we're going lo get to an ideal
background telecommunica
tions program.
Still the King
Peter Norton built his reputa
tion on The Norton Utilities,
but he has never been content
to rest on his laurels. Each new
release of The Norton Utilities
has introduced new programs
and new features. If you trace
the changes in the Utilities,
you can see the evolution of
the average PC user.
When The Norton Utili
ties was introduced, the rankand-file
PC user was techni
cally oriented and probably
had some programming skill.
The first edition of The Norton
Utilities was intended for a
techie group. As the PC market
matured, more and more non
technical people started using
the machines. There was a
need for software that would
perform critical disk chores
but be easy to use. Each new
version of The Norton Utilities
has addressed more of these
users.
The Norton Utilities, ver
sion 4.5 (Peter Norton Com
puting. 100 Wilshire Boule
COMPUTE!. _
specific
vard. 9th Floor, Santa Monica.
California 90401-1104; 213-
319-2000; Standard Edition—
S100, upgrade—S25; Ad
vanced Edition—$150, up
grade—$39), is the easiest of
the Utilities to use yet. Almost
every program in the package
has had at least a minor face
lift, and several new programs
have been added.
The Norton Utilities Ad
vanced Edition's new offerings
include File Date and Time.
Norton Control Center, Safe
Format. Norton Disk Doctor,
and a book, Norton Trouble
Shooter. And all the utilities
now work with DOS 4.0 and
DOS 3.3's extended partitions.
In the flurry of new fea
tures, it's easy to miss 4.5's big
news, which is NDD—the
Norton Disk Doctor. This is
an automated disk-tcst-andrepair
program that performs
more than 100 tests on your
disk's logical and physical
structure.
Norton Disk Doctor can
be operated in two modes:
quick and complete. In quick
mode, NDD is like a superversion
of CHK.DSK. It ana
lyzes your disk's logical
structures: the boot record, the
FAT (File Allocation Table),
and the directories. This series
of tests is quick enough to run
every day.
If you specify the com
plete switch, in addition to
performing the logical tests,
NDD tests every sector on
your disk for data integrity. If
bad sectors are found, the pro
gram moves the data to a safe
location and marks the sectors
as bad. This test is similar to
but more thorough than Disk
Test (familiar from previous
editions of The Norton Utili
ties). NDD takes quite a while
lo run a complete lest.
You can run NDD either
interactively or as a command
line option. Peter Norton's
technical support suggests that
you run NDD with the quick
switch every day to catch logi
cal problems before they be
come critical and that you run
either NDD with the complete
switch or Disk Test even1 week
to insure the physical integrity
of your disk. If you're thinking
of upgrading to The Norton
Utilities 4.5, NDD alone is
worth the price.
— Clifton Kames
A few columns ago I took
SSG's Ian Trout to task for an
announcement he made in
Run 5 (SSG's house maga
zine). He said that the 64 was
in a state of demise and that
SSG would probably stop sup
porting it.
Well. Trout leads off the
latest Run 5 editorial with an
apology for what he wrote, re
assuring his readers that all of
SSG's new games, including
the Napoleonic system and the
new World War II commandlevel
system, will indeed be re
leased for the 64. This is
excellent news, because SSG's
games grow stronger all the
time. If you haven't tried an
SSG war game, start off with
one of the Decisive Battles of
the American Civil War vol
umes ($39.95), with the superb
Reach for the Stars, third edi
tion ($39.95). or with Halls of
Moniezuma ($39.95).
Contact SSG at 1820
Gateway Drive, San Mateo,
California 94404; (415) 571-
7171.
Fun Fare
New games have been released
on several fronts.
From Mindscape (3444
Dundee Road, Northbrook. Il
linois 60062; 312-480-7667)
comes Willow ($29.95), the
game based on the unsuccess
ful movie. Excellent graphics
and good gameplay (as well as
support for fast-load car
tridges) can't hide the fact that
the movie was flawed, but as a
game it's pretty good. Mindscape
has also released the
long-awaited Uninvited
($34.95). This program uses
the same game mechanics
found in Deja Vu, and its plot
is every bit as absorbing. With
Deja Vu 2 around the corner,
you'll probably want to get
through Uninvited as quickly
as possible. But take your
time; it's worth it.
Sega (of videogame fame)
is now releasing games in Com
modore 64/128 format. Alien
Syndrome ($29.95), available
now, is an arcade shoot-'em-up
with well-executed graphics
and good game speed. Sega
games for home computers are
distributed by Mindscape.
Mastertronic a division of
Virgin Mastertronic Interna
tional (711 West 17th Street,
Unit G9, Costa Mesa, Califor
nia 92627; 714-631-1001) has
released a computer rendition
of Shogun ($9.99), the epic
novel by James Clavell. Your
goal is to become the military
ruler of Japan. Although Mas
tertronic calls the package an
interactive novel, it's mostly
just good, fast arcade action.
Trilogy(${4.9% another
Mastertronic release, offers a
trio of graphics-and-text ad
ventures—Venom, Kobayashi
Naru, and Shard of Inovar. In
an interesting twist, the games
come on flippy disks—one
side for the 64 and the other
for MS-DOS.
Melbourne House a divi
sion of Virgin Mastertronic In
ternational (71! West 17th
Street, Unit G9. Costa Mesa,
California 92627; 714-631-
1001) has converted Barbarian
($29.99) to the 64/128 format.
A graphics masterpiece in the
Amiga and Atari ST formats,
this Psvgnosis release takes full
advantage of the 64*8 capabili
ties. As a barbarian warrior
seeking to destroy the evil Necron.
you move through the
underground world of Durgan.
You'll find this game addic
tive. The monsters are inter
esting and the interface works
well.
In contrast to the worlds
of fantasy and the worlds of
the past, consider the world of
hockey. Electronic Arts (1820
Gateway Drive, San Mateo,
California 94404; 415-571-
7171) has released Powerplay
Hockey ($24.95). which pits
the United States against the
Soviet Union. A fast-moving
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