Letters @~This issue, a personal, yet public, letter - more on books - a @~correction for Humbug - sad news on Quantum Leap - more on the @~Falcon (another personal/public letter) - new section suggestion. ------------------------------------------------------------------ @~First, a letter from Mongoose to fellow SynTax reader, James @~Judge. Dear James, I have written to you via SynTax because I thought that it would be a great honour for you to receive a public letter from me. Next time you need help on Ultima V please be kind enough to wait for me to give you the answer before solving the problem yourself, very inconsiderate, even if I did keep you waiting for 6 years. MONGOOSE. @~ ------------------------------------------------------------------ @~When I wrote last issue about my collection of books, I guessed @~someone would say 'that's nothing!' and I had a sneaking @~suspicion it would be ... Kjell Robertsen, Norway ... I just bought the Dragonlance series of books which I have just read. The whole series took up a whole bookshelf so I now have 42 shelves - some small, some big - with nearly 9,000 books and I have 6,000 more in the cupboard. Maybe I have a chance to win the 'die with most books' award? @~Any advance on 15,000 books? ------------------------------------------------------------------ @~Next a letter from the author of Humbug (and Jacaranda Jim) Graham Cluley, Berkhamsted ...I noticed in a recent hint given in SynTax a slight inaccuracy (the dials on the display cabinet have a random combination - it's not the same between different players, and it would be interesting to see if someone has come up with alternative solutions to the one I know. I heard recently that if you put the dead Wumpus in the washing machine it jumps out alive! But I haven't been able to test that yet ... oops. @~Someone managed to get two Doberman dogs in Oklib and another @~found that if you threw your clothes you could strip off! It's @~amazing what people find they can do in your games. ...I see you're a Quantum Leap fan. I quite like it too. Brace yourself. The final (sic) episode, Mirror Image, was aired on the 6th May. NBC have just cancelled the show. I've seen a couple of books about the show at Forbidden Planet (that's on New Oxford Street, get off at Tottenham Court Road tube). There's a book called imaginatively "The Quantum Leap Book" by Louis Chunovic (published by Citadel Press at $16.95). Apparently there is soon to be a UK edition by BoxTree. Anyway, I saw it and a couple of other things at FP so it might be worth a trip. The BBC, by the way, are following their usual practice of showing many of the episodes out of order and have even refused to show a couple. They typically edit Sam Beckett's leap at the end of each episode. There's also a conference on CIX where there is quite an active discussion on QL. I'll see if I can download some of the episode listings for you. @~Argh! How could they. Well, that's messed up my Tuesday @~evenings, one of the highlights of my viewing week. I'll try to @~order the BoxTree book locally in a little while, thanks for the @~info. I used to work in Charlotte Street years ago, not for from @~where FP is now. Just as well I don't still work there or we'd @~have more books here than Kjell! When I get the episode listings @~from Graham, I'll put them into SynTax as others may find them @~interesting. ------------------------------------------------------------------ @~Now a letter expanding on BMK's views on the Falcon, in response @~to Richard's letter about it LAST issue (still with me? Good, @~read on ...) From The Bitmap Kid, Mars Dear Mr Hewison, Firstly allow me to thank you on your letter in the last issue of SynTax concerning the Falcon'030 article, if you need to question something it must be aired. I (by the way) find it sad that a SynTax reader/contributor takes the Falcon/1200 so seriously, each machine needs one another to keep the standards up, I will, however, explain a few things. The reason for doing my original report, over a year ago now, was to bring together all the facts and boasts of the Falcon and see what the reality of the machine actually was. After being an Atari ST owner for over four years I must admit I was sick with Atari and their recent marketing of the ST, and I was concerned they'd do the same with the Falcon. I wanted to see if Atari really could come from the death-bed. In fact, the article put in SynTax was actually a bit of a hybrid. Originally there were three articles. One was about the 1200, another the Falcon and another about the Atari vs Commodore thing. Then someone asked me to do a summary of magazine articles, in his own words 'I am getting a bit confused with all this conflicting information' (and who can blame him?!) And so, being quite interested myself, I did what he requested. In the end I wrote a report called 'The Falcon - Facts at Last!' which was a mixture of all the previous reports. And so along came SynTax and I thought it would be a good idea to show the article to a larger audience. However because I was no longer dealing in people who just wanted a summery of magazine-talk I decided to investigate the computer more fully. By this time 2 of my regular sources had done a bit of research and had written some articles for me to put wherever. I had a good few hours on each machine myself, and made sure that I was satisfied that I had a good knowledge of the finer points of them. I then rewrote all of the reports (both my own and from my contacts) into something like what you have read. As you can now see why there are several bits of magazine articles that have appeared to have been 'cobbled down' in there! I tried my best to change the reports into proper a article but with the next issue of SynTax fast approaching, and due to the fact that I wasn't quite sure where my contacts got their info.... I still, however, gave a very independent and true view of the machine, which I found to be a clear 1200 beater. As for the "My computer's better than yours..." idea, well that's rubbish. I wanted to find out clearly the best of the machines, I did, and went with that all through the article. However, I feel your gripes are really with what I thought of the Falcon vs the 1200 that really bothered you. The Falcon'030, even in its development stage beats its competition, I wanted to find out which was the best machine, and I did. The Falcon, in every way is the superior machine, and I think people should know that. Not only that, but you are very much mistaken when you say that Atari is now a dirty word. We all know Atari's marketing has made some major blunders in the past, but the only thing that can stop the Falcon from flying is sad people who dismiss the machine long before they have given it the slightest chance. The name Atari is not a dirty word, certainly not in the industry. The only people trying to look into the past for present use is Commodore and some of their more narrow-minded supporters. I've heard them directly, they remain in fear-induced smugness. I'll repeat, there are already over 150 pieces of (known) software and hardware in development for the Falcon, including Legends of Valour (latest news), even Zool is going to be Falcon compatible! The industry is getting very excited about the Falcon, much more than the 1200, and there will be a rush of major programmes as soon as the thing is released. Which brings me to the Europe software front. There are packages being developed in Europe and that's a fact, the major software houses are getting excited, but OF COURSE there won't be a massive amount of games for the machine UNTIL THE THING IS RELEASED! You seem to be comparing the Falcon's market fully with the 1200's, but the 1200 has been on sale for ages, and the Falcon hasn't even started. Richard you have already been proved wrong, in fact in some ways you had even before you started. Unlike you I've been researching the machine before it even appeared in the magazines, and yes I have used both. The Falcon has a MASSIVE support already by programmers and hardware developers alike. Remember, don't compare its market full-on with the 1200 yet, because it hasn't even been released properly. People will always have their favourite computer, there are still people who think the BBC is excellent, and good for them. I'll always be someone who can sit on the fence where computers are concerned, I'll always go for the best though, when I'm sure which is the best. Atari always said that the inclusion of MULTI TOS might not be a permanent standard item in the Falcon, but if you didn't get a copy with your machine you can get one free from Atari. And as for hardware changes, I guess you refer to the cartridge port being dropped from the machine. The reason for this is it is not needed - the other ports can do its job. Developers were told of this and also told how to modify their hardware in development. Any other hardware changes on the Falcon are mere rumours, (apart from the case), and fools are the only people who take rumours as 100% truth. Atari are going to start advertising the Falcon very soon and have estimated massive sales before the end of the year. The new Falcon case is said to be released in September. Look out you non believers, the Falcon means business! Once again that article has been updated (I THINK Sue liked it, didn't you?!). But this time it's much improved, and bears no connection to magazines. If anybody would like a hard-copy, write in and ask! @~Yes, I did like the article but, as I said when you first sent @~it, I think Atari are bringing out the Falcon too late. Too many @~firms have already dropped the ST and I think they're unlikely @~to support the Falcon. But, I'll be happy to be proved wrong. @~The other problem is that Atari have lost a lot of users; though @~lack of software they've changed to the PC or Amiga. Will they @~move back to the Falcon? I doubt it. @~Finally an idea for a new section from James Judge, East Peckham I've been thinking, why don't you start including techie bits and bobs in SynTax? There must be enough space to put on a couple of articles on the technical side of things and they could be anything from my Sticky Balls article to how to build your own PC in two easy steps (1. save the cash and 2. get a friend to do it for you). I'd be willing to do a small piece about ram disks which some people don't seem to know much about and, if you ask me, they are a great help. Also you could include reviews of mundane things that everyone needs - mice, second disk drives, hard disks, even disk boxes. @~Yes, good idea, so long as (a) it doesn't cut back the @~adventuring side of SynTax, which is what it's all about and (b) @~I don't have to do anything techie 'cos I'm happily ignorant @~about that side of computers! An article of ram disks would be @~useful as I gather you can use them to speed up, for example, AGT @~adventures and stop the disk accessing and for file copying.