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From: kim@amdahl.UUCP (Kim DeVaughn)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Amiga news (genlock & lots more, *long* but juicy)
Message-ID: <4584@amdahl.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 12-Dec-86 20:59:50 EST
Article-I.D.: amdahl.4584
Posted: Fri Dec 12 20:59:50 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 15-Dec-86 19:36:33 EST
References: <1272@zen.BERKELEY.EDU>
Organization: Amdahl Corporation,  Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Lines: 204

Nice summary, Doug!  Let me add to it a little bit ...

> Genlock is being shipped. This was announced at the First Amiga User's
> Group tonight (Dec 9) in Palo Alto (California). Retailers aren't
> supposed to sell it until Dec 15, but if they've got 'em I bet some will
> slip out. In the San Francisco Bay Area you'll be able to get them at
> Federated Electronics.
> 
> Price: $280 (or less [$217] to F.A.U.G. members--join!). This was announced
> by FAUG, not by C/A, but it was certainly said very authoritatively.
> Only a few thousand will be available nationwide in December.

Hmmmm ... I *thought* Paul said $250 ... maybe I mis-heard him.  Anyway,
Federated does indeed have them, and the FAUG discount price is $219
(Paul got his number wrong, but only by $2).


> Deluxe Music Construction Set was demo'd and it looks fabulous and
> well worth the wait.

Agreed!  A few of the features I recall:  up to 8 staffs, with 2 tracks/
staff;  MIDI support (16 channels);  automatic transposition;  reald
slurs and crescndos/decrescndos;  guitar fret fonts;  "real" music
score notation;  works with SoundScape;  can read Instant Music files;
20 new instruments (over Instant Music), including a Moosehead sound :-)
and a Sitar;  ability to import DMCS-Mac files;  price $99.95.

EA also announced a quarterly newsletter called DeluxeNews.  Supposed
to contain info/tips/etc. for all their Deluxe series of programs.
(This is where you will find info like how to import Mac files.)  Watch
for it [you *did* send in your registration cards, didn't you?]


> They also showed a *** 3-D ray-traced smooth-motion animation *** showing
> a clown juggling 3 reflecting balls!!!!!! Extraordinary.

Surely was!  I *thought* the clown was reflected in the balls ... maybe
not, though.  The rest of the scene certainly was.  Oh, and the ray-trace
*generation* was done on the Amiga also ... 2 hours/frame, I believe.


> Intuitive Technologies (formerly MaxiSoft) talked about V1.5 of their
> MaxiPlan spreadsheet and gave a live demo.

I may have to change my opinion of MaxiSoft's products (now Intuitive
Technologies).  This new version *is* impressive.  I think there are
two products here, though ... the version that was demo'd was refered
to as "Macros", and the v1.5 (without macro capability, but with many,
MANY bugs fixed).  They said they would provide free upgrades to 1.5
if you are running an older version, and they also have an upgrade plan
to "Macros" if you want the additional capabilities.  Best to check with
them (availability was said to be "now").

Couple of interesting features I remember:  macros can be "written" with
the mouse as well as the keyboard (very nifty!);  supports password
protected fields;  can run commands from within MaxiPlan and suck their
output into the spreadsheet;  NO COPY PROTECTION;  another upgrade due
end of 1Q87 (sideways printing support;  creation of 1-2-3 compatible
files; more).

>                                               They also have Encore,
> which runs in the background and can be told to record mouse/keyboard
> keystrokes as a macro no matter what else you're doing.

Another really nice tool ... seems to provide macro capabilities to
any application (keyboard and/or mouse)!  Also mentioned (but not
demo'd due to time) were "Shortcut" and "Wow".  "Shortcut" was described
as an "abbreviation processor" ... use it with your favorite word
processor/editor/spreadsheet, or what have you  [can you say programming
"templates"? ... I thought you could!]

"Wow" is a DISK CACHING PROGRAM of some kind (wish he hadn't spent so
much time showing off MaxiPlan).  The only capability that was mentioned
was that it uses "a variable amount of memory, depending on how much
is free", and that this size varies dynamically.  If it only is what I'm
hoping it is ...

Availability of all three of these is "shortly after the 1st of the year".


> Dale Luck and R.J. starred in a series of silly videos they made, mostly
> commercials that should have been done for the Amiga ...

I guess CBM got the message ... they have a NEW advertising agency that
even *wants* to show what the machine can actually *do* in commercials!
(BTW, how many wine coolers did you guys start with, anyway :-) ?)


> Aegis showed Draw Plus for the first time ("I shouldn't" and didn't
> really show many features, did announce cheap upgrade policy).

Upgrade to Draw Plus is $30;  to a new release of Draw it's $10
(Draw Plus will retail for ~$250, so the upgrade is a *substantial*
savings ... thanks Aegis!)

In addition to alot of new capabilities and bug fixes, Draw Plus comes
with several "parts libraries" ... logic design (all the 74xx TTL
stuff), electrical, furniture, plumbing, etc.

>                                                                Also
> showed Diga, yet another terminal emulator. But has many unusual features,
> including "doubletalk" which allows simultaneous download/upload while
> still browsing the remote system...presumably only if they, too, are
> running Diga. Sounds like a feature to add to Vt100!

I hope they will release their protocol to the public!  Diga also supports
Kermit, Xmodem, Compuserve-B, and something called "remote" that Bill
Volk wouldn't talk about.

Of course it has a "phonebook" with "address cards", script support,
macro keys, and USER DEFINABLE EMULATIONS.  The one that was demo'd
made the Amiga look like a Tektronix 4010.  This last feature (along
with the DoubleTalk protocol) really make Diga unique!  Price was said
to be "under $100", and availability "before the next model in the
Amiga line comes out".  Take that for what it's worth ...


> Mindscape
> Also demo'd the existing Balance of Power and Deja Vu.

BofP was described as a "geopolitical simulation" and a "test of the
intellect" (as opposed to arcade and adventure style games) ... seems
something like an enhanced and Amigaized version of Empire.  DV is a
mystery/adventure, and you start off in the men's room of a bar
(wonder what the ladies will think of that :-)).

>                                                        They sent a
> marketing rep who was cute

Alas, she was wearing a wedding ring ... her name is Shannon, BTW.
She had one kinda funny problem with Mindscape's "Execution Protection"
scheme ... the page of the manual that the on screen question directed
her to for the answer was ... blank!  (That guy Murphy sure does get
around :-)).

Seems like this is a pretty good way to go (as opposed to Copy Protection)
for game type s/w.  I'd hate to see it catch on for "real" s/w though.
I mean can you imagine having to look up the answer to some obscure
question about C every time you went to compile something?  Come to
think of it, that might not be such a bad idea ... might reduce some
of the braindamaged code that gets released ... just a thought :-).


> There was much other interesting stuff at the meeting; in ten
> minutes I'll doubtless remember the other people, companies, and
> products that I should also have mentioned.

Let's see, Infinity Software was there and demo'd their Tennis
simulation game (simulation in the same sense that Mean 18 is a golf
simulation).  You can choose different courts, opponents, conditions
(like the weather, crowd noise, speed, break, etc).  They will be
releasing an "Opponents Disk" in 1987 to keep the game "fresh".

Execution protection like Mindscape's.  Available now for v1.1 Kick/WB.
Cost was $49.95, but they were selling them at $30 at the meeting.
Looked like it might be fun to play if you like tennis.


Also Scott Peterson and Jude (formerly of CBM-Los Gatos, I believe)
demo'd a plug-into-the-mouse-port clock module.  I *think* this was
the Byte-by-Byte product, but I didn't pay much attention, since I
have the A-Time module.  Their clock s/w *was* pretty nice though.
A much wider range of sizes and styles of clock faces (analog, digital,
or both).  You can set the damn thing just by moving the hands on
the clock with the mouse ... what a novel idea!!!  Now *that's* what I
call "user friendly"!


Lastly, a couple of tidbits from FAUG's newsletter (Robo-City News) ...

DPaint II's upgrade policy is $30 (plus $7 shipping and handling, plus
sales tax inside CA) and the original cover from the manual if you have
the copy protected version.  If you have the unprotected version, they
want the original disk back.  And if you have the protected version, but
want the unprotected version of DPaint II, it's another $20.  Their
newsletter (DeluxeNews) spells all this out, and should be in the mail
"within two weeks".

Representitives from Ashton-Tate attended the 2nd Annual Developers
Conference in Monterey last month.  Hmmmmm ...

Can anyone confirm (or deny) the story about how there were *almost*
Amiga's in "Star Trek IV"?  Supposedly, CBM wouldn't ship ILM (or whomever)
the Developer machines that they had ordered (and even had to *pay* for)
because they hadn't included enough for shipping!  Apple got wind of
this and *gave* them some Mac's and II-GS's, which is why you see Scotty
talking to a Mac-mouse instead of an Amiga-mouse.

Did the letter from CBM to ILM really say, "The sooner we receive your
check for [something like] $9.00, the sooner we will be able to ship
your machines"?

Incredible, if true!

/kim

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