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                          Editorial

First of all, apologies to anyone who received the last issue of
SynTax late. I posted on time, honest, and at the main Sidcup Post
Office too.  Heaven knows what they did with them but no-one
received their disk until the following Wednesday (I posted on
Saturday, May 13th). I thought the last person to get his disk was
Neil; his didn't arrive until the next Monday (22nd). That was
until Mongoose rang to say his had just arrived ... on June 21st!
It was postmarked May 15th. We did actually find what delayed his
(changes at the sorting office) but, even so, it was annoying for
me that so many arrived late. Seems like the only ones that
arrived on time were the ones that went abroad. Alex was the first
person to ring and say his had arrived (in Holland) and Bev's copy
got to sunny Australia on its usual date.  Minus 10 points to our
post service.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who commented on last issue's file
uploading saga. I haven't heard of any more occurrences and the BBS
concerned isn't on-line any more so let's hope that's an end to it.
I'd still be interested to know who did it but I'm just happy that
it seems to have stopped.

SynTax is going from strength to strength with quite a few new
readers, mostly through PC Mart. From next issue there will also be
a Windows version. SynTax has always run through Windows but Alex
has programmed a proper Windows version and it looks great. A big
thanks to him for taking the time to do it. From next issue, the PC
disks (3.5" only) will have both DOS and Windows programs on them.
You also need VBRUN300.DLL to run the Windows version; if you
haven't got it, let me know and I will post you a copy. It's too
big to go on the disk with everything else. The Windows version
will have a print facility and will even display graphics files,
but only in BMP format. Does anyone know of a way to make Visual
Basic programs display other graphics formats? BMP files take up a
lot of space, so it would be better if I could use GIF or PCX etc.
One other question for those technically-minded Windows users out
there; do you know how we can force the symbols used on the maps
to print through Windows as they appear? They use the terminal font.

Hopefully someone can come up with the answers to those two
questions by next issue when SynWin (!) is launched. Full details
on installation etc will be given in an article next issue too.

Incidentally, in case anyone had wondered about odd blank lines in
the text of the PC version which look as though they are there by
mistake, this subject came up while talking to Alex about SynWin.
They are there because the ST version runs in 20 line screens. You
can't move through the files line by line as you can on the PC. I
don't like having odd lines at the top or bottom of the screen -
they look messy - so I sometimes insert blank lines to force the
text onto the next screen. If you use page up/page down to read
the files, it isn't noticeable, but line by line it is. Moral,
read it page by page! The extra lines may be more visible in the
Windows version so I may have to combine or split paragraphs in
future to get round the problem.

I'm always pleased, too, to get an idea for a new section. Whether
or not anything comes of it is often up to you, the readers!
Anyway, here's one from The Grue for you to think about. With the
upsurge in interest in comms and the Internet in particular, Grue
suggested an infrequent Internet guide to, for example, good sites
with adventure or puzzle related sections. Just send details in
and I'll get the column started; can't do it myself ... no modem,
yet! I don't count my old one I used to use on Prestel which could
only struggle up to 1200/75 so is well behind the times.  Grue
will probably kick the section into life next issue with some
sites he's found useful / interesting. He's also sent me some
excellent Windows software to make it easier to surf the 'Net, the
programs have been added to the library. Incidentally, how many of
you are on or planning to go on the Internet? I get the feeling
that there are a lot of you who have more than a passing interest
in it. Again, let me know how you stand on the subject.

I had a surprise phone call at the start of June from John
Barnsley. It was really nice to hear from him after so long. He
wanted everyone to know that he is still about and still on the
computer. He and Tim have just bought a PC to join the Amiga and he
is still at the same address and phone number and will be pleased
to hear from anyone who wants to get back in touch.

John Whatty contacted me and told me about his Tele-Link BBS which
contains mostly Atari PD but has on-line games at well.  You can
reach it on 01726 844725. It runs 24 hours a day at up to V22 bis.
He also sells PD, some hardware and a good range of commercial
Atari software very cheaply - Monkey Island for œ8, Captive œ4,
Leather Goddesses œ5 etc plus P&P. Contact him on Tel/FAX 01726
842266 for a full list.

A bit of personal news from me; I am running a small DTP business
from home, designing and printing leaflets, flyers, letterheads,
compliment slips, business cards and anything else along those
lines that people want. If any of you would like details, let me
know and I'll put an information pack in the post ... and a bit of
personal news from Alan; he started a new job on 3rd July. He is
now the managing director of Toly Products UK Ltd! Toly are based
in Malta but he will be working in Wembley.  Hopefully he won't
have to do so many long trips away which will be great for both of
us. Long days though, with us up at 6am (Zzzz ... zzz).

Taking the DTP, SynTax and PC Mart columns into account, time has
flown since last issue and I haven't got much adventuring done. I
did play Lost Eden and enjoyed it very much and also finished
Freddy Pharkas which was good in places but the Sierra control
system isn't the most friendly in the world. A note to anyone else
who plays it; watch the credits at the end, they're the funniest
bit of the game!

I recently started playing a golden oldie, Dungeon Master. I didn't
get further than 3 or 4 levels on the ST when it first came out but
I am thoroughly enjoying it now on the PC. It may be almost 10
years old but it is still an excellent game.

I also bought SimTower, which I've been dying to play since I first
heard about it, but when I saw the 19 page read.me of last minute
corrections etc on the disk, I realised that I might have problems
running it.  I was right; I got a stack fault and Maxis had to get
advice from the States - which never came, by the way. It took 2
weeks but I finally sorted it out myself by running the program in
800 * 600 256 colours which wasn't the one they recommended.
Marion bought the Mac version and in minutes had it up and running
AND had built the lobby! Still, I found it worth the initial
bother getting it running; it really was very addictive and
entertaining.

... You may have noticed I said 'was'. Well, after playing it for
a few weeks, I went to save my tower one evening and got a 'too
many files open' error message. Say what?  To cut a long story
short, it finally crashed and, darn it, the next time I went into
Windows, I found it had trashed it. It no longer recognised my
sound card, other programs crashed etc.  I restored my Windows
back-up - twice - reinstalled SimTower and still SimTower wouldn't
work again. So I said a few choice and unprintable words and
erased the program from the hard disk until I calmed down enough
to talk nicely to Maxis.  Then I decided to install a new Windows
specifically for SimTower.  Rather a waste of hard disk space but
doing that seems to have solved all the problems. Maybe some DLLs
etc left by other programs confused it ... who knows? But with a
clean copy of Windows I am back to building my tower and, once
again, thoroughly enjoying myself.

All this brings me to my 'point of the issue' - why are some
current games so badly bugged? The situation seems to be getting
worse. Is it because the authors are pushing back the boundaries a
bit too quickly to keep up with new technology and the games are
bigger? Or are they just rushing releases? The PC version of
SimTower certainly seems to be rushed - the blokes at Maxis said
they are having a lot of problems - and I hear Full Throttle has
its share of problems too. Both these games were plugged for a
long time before they appeared; maybe the companies just weren't
willing or able to wait that bit longer to iron out all the bugs?
What do you think?

By the way, does anyone know what causes a Windows stack fault and
what can be done to avoid it? Can't find it in the manuals ...

Enjoy the rest of the summer!
                                                Sue

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