@database "CD³²bits.guide" @Index INDEXNODE @author Matthew Legg @wordwrap @width 72 @node Main "Front Page." @{fg highlight}@{b}SEPT 1994@{fg text}@{ub} CCCCCCCCC DDDDDD 33333 22222 CCC CC DD DD 33 22 TT CC DD DD 33 222 BBBBBBB T @{"Introduction" link intr} CC DD DD 33 22 BB B TT CC DD DD 33333 22222 BB BB II T CC DD DD BB BB II TT CC DD DD BB BB TTTTTTTTT SSSSSS CC DD DD BB BBBBBB T SS SS CC DD DD BB B II TT SS S CC CC DD DD BB B IIII T S CCCCCCCCC DDDDDD BB B II T SSS BB B I TT SS @{" Gossip " link goss} BB BB I TT S @{" Games " link game} BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB IIIII TTTTTTT SSS @{" Movies " link movi} SS @{" Hardware " link hard} SSS @{" Non-Game " link nong} SSSSSSSSSSSSSS Compiled by Matthew Legg - mlegg@freenet.scri.fsu.edu @endnode @node intr "Welcome........" Welcome to the CD³²Bits. The essential guide to all matters concerning the CD³². You can get CD³²Bits at :- Internet - wuarchive.wustl.edu and it's mirror's Fido - /X\ostly Harmless 2:251/41.0 (+44 705 614824) I can be E-Mailed on mlegg@freenet.scri.fsu.edu or mlegg@nowster.demon.co.uk or 2:251/41.2 (FIDOMail) Feel free to submit your own work to me at the above address, and it will be included in future issues. @{b}© M.Legg 1994@{ub} @endnode @node goss "Gossip In The World Of The CD32" Hot News in the world of Commmodore and the CD32. @{" CD32Bits. " link cd32} @{" Commodore " link comm} @{"Autumn ECTS" link ects} @{"3DO Hits UK" link 3do} @{"Interview With David Pleasance" link plea} by jwwright@cix.compulink.co.uk @{"Competition" link comp} @endnode @node cd32 "News On CD32Bits" From this month onwards CD32Bits will be going bi-monthly. The move is forced by Commodores market standing and the what can only be called a pathetic amount of titles released for the machine. Over the last two months, the games industry has seemed to have stood back to wait and see what is happening with Commodore. As a result over the last two month period, there have only been three games releases. Strictly speaking, I could still release monthly, but I see no point to do so. If the news isn't there, the magazine is going to be very boring. Hopefully this will only be a temporary measure, and the CD32 will regain some of it's lost ground from the last few months. I have said before that October onwards was going to be the time for the good game releases, and to date, this situation has not changed. Let's just hope that the lag was due to the traditionally slow Summer period. Due to archive size, it has been decided to not include pictures anymore. This matter is negotiable, so if you would like to carry on being able to see what I am talking about, then let me know, and I will try to accomodate. If enough people were interested, I could do a normal (with picures) and a Lite, (without) version of CD32Bits for each issue. Let me know your feelings on the subject. If the current situation continues with Commodore, I may be forced into changing the magazine's outlook slightly to encompass all CD format machines. If this happens, I will need writers for the various formats. I would like to hear from readers with PC-CDRom, 3DO and CD-I machines who would be interested in contributing to the magazine. All feedback to the addresses in the Introduction please. @endnode @node comm "Commodore Management Buyout" The major news of the last month has been the attempted Commodore UK Management buyout of it's parent company. The bid was made after combined managers from the UK, Germany and Canada formed a group and raised the financial power to make an effective bid. Other confirmed bidders were Creative Equipment International, Samsung, Philips and Amstrad. At the time of writing there has been no official confirmation of success on any of the groups part, but Commodore UK sent out a letter to their developers and trade confirming their part in the buyout. The letter also stated that they were extremely confident that they had succeeded with their bid, and that production of new machines and continuation of old runs would soon commence again in time for Christmas. It has now been over a week since the decision date, so all we can do is wait. It's looking good though. @endnode @node ects "Report on the Autumn European Computer Trade Show" I've just this moment got back form the ECTS.. Commodore were not there as a company, *BUT* David Pleasance, and John Smith were there in the restaurant, and we had a little chat!! The Bahamian Court is still undecided over the bid, but Pleasance is extremely confident that they have it.. He was in a cheerful mood and joked about the situation.. He claims though, that if the bid is not confirmed in the next 10 days, the team will withdraw their bid, which is very worrying.. the only other contender is Samsung and he confirmed that they will not continue the Amiga line if they win the bid.. They only want the technology. CD32 and Amiga support was largely non-existent, although there were some interesting things to be seen:- Maxis were showing Sim City 2000 and it is absolutely amazing. It is no longer hard disk only, but one is needed for proper use. It's AGA only, and upon startup promotes to any screenmode perfectly. It looks exactly the same as the Mac and PC versions, and the only time you would notice any difference is during use of the ASL file requester. It was runnning on a 4000/030, and screen-update and magnification are much faster than the PC version which was running along side. A late September release is expected, and it's going to be big. This title will not appear on the CD32. Mirage were still focussing their attention on Rise Of The Robots, with versions for every format. The game will be out in the next few weeks, and looks awesome. It's on 14 disks and is hard disk only. The graphics are every bit as good as the PeeCee version that you have probably seen previews of, and the animation is fluid and quick. The control is the best I have seen on a Miggy Beat-em-up. The cut-down non-AGA version is almost as fast, with less detailed backdrops. This is going to be another major title. The Team 17 stand had a rather interesting surprise. They were demonstrating Stardust and Speedpool for the CD32, and Alien Breed - Tower Assault for all formats, BUT.. In one of the side rooms, there was a program running on an A1200 which looked remarkedly like Doom. The game is in early stages of development, but from what I saw, and it was only a little, it looked quite capable of the tasks it was performing. At this stage it is running on two-thirds screen, but one of the staff confirmed that it would be full screen upon release. At the moment, it has no title, but who cares.... Everybody said it couldn't be done, and they were wrong. I've just seen it. 21st Century Entertainment were showing thei new game, Pinball Illusions.. It's a vast improvement on the previous versions, with multiball option and left and right tilt ability. It's scheduled for release in November, so that's one to look out for. Their other demo was of the CD32 title, Marvins Marvellous Adventure, but it was pretty run of the mill stuff. Mindscape were showing off their Mega-Race conversions, but the CD32 one is VERY dissapointing. It was in 32 colours, and running between the 3DO and Sega versions. Out of the three, the CD32 version was the worse. One of their representatives tried to tell me that the Sega had similair capabilities to the CD32, so that could be the end of such a promising title. It was jerky, ugly and the car was badly animated.. The worse thing was, the rep didn't say anything to reassure me that the final version was going to be any better... Bullfrog were encompassed into the EA stand, but there wasn't an Amiga or any description in site. I asked Bullfrog about this, and they said that it was EA's decision. Subsequently, I haven't seen Theme Park yet, although I should be receiving a demo copy early this week. They were also heavily pushing the PC version of Magic Carpet. At the moment, it's looking very impressive with four in-game modes. You can play normally, with a VR headset, with 3D glasses (red and blue comp) and finally the strangest thing I have seen for ages, in RDS mode. Yes, you can play it like an animated stereogram!?!?!?!? I can't see the use, but it did work and the game wasn't too difficult to play in this mode. The only other big push that I could see was on Disney's part for The Lion King. It looks very good. Philips were there showing the same old stuff that they always do. Activision were still promoting PitFall 2 as at the last ECTS, so nothing new there. Millenium were showing their latest beat-em-up, and Rasputin were showing of the AGA CD32 conversion of Jetstrike. Apart from that, there wasn't really much Amiga wise. Hopefully, the situation will be different at the next show! @endnode @node plea "Interview With Pleasance" Whilst at the European Computer Trade Show on Sunday 4th September 1994, we were lucky enough to be able to have a chat with the man behind the current Management Buy Out attempt on Commodore International. The setting for this was not a plush Commodore suite, but because Commodore were not officially at the show, their business was conducted over one of the tables in the corner of the bar. We started by wishing him good luck with the MBO, and proceeded to ask what the present situation was with it. We were told that although the deal had not been finialised, they were very confident with what was happening, and an announcement will be made within the next 2 weeks. A relaunch event for developers and dealers has been planned for October 13th, with more details to follow at a later date. When questioned as too whether this would leave enough time to get machines to the Christmas Market, he said that although they would not have the quantity that they want, there will be machines on the shelves for Christmas. We also discussed the complete lack of A4000's available, and he stated that this problem would be addressed immediately the MBO has been announced, because the A4000 is the machine in the highest demand. The last point that was mentioned was whether or not, Amiga International would be assisting software companies in an effort to bring some high quality games and application software to the market. The answer to this was yes, and to my mind this is a very encouraging statement. Commodore always lacked the ability to see software as being essential to the success of a machine, and this lack of quality software partially led to their downfall. If the likes of MicroSoft were persuaded to develop software, then more and more people might use the machine. We had finished the chat now, but David left my gathered associates and I with one last comment : "Cheers lads, thanks for your support - we need it" We can only wish him the greatest of luck, and look forward to meeting him again on October 13th at the relaunch. Jwwright@cix.compulink.co.uk @endnode @node 3do "Trip Hawkins' Baby Finally Hits The UK" The long awaited Panasonic 3DO REAL System finally hit the UK last week, and looks set to be a big seller. Although sales in the US have been far less than expected, they are starting to pick up now, with 200,000 units now sold. The initial batch of games titles are very impressive, and the future looks even more so. Play Road Rash once, and you'll be hooked. UK prices are £400 for the player, and £40-50 for a game title. Later in the year/early next year, the FMV expansion will be released amd will allow 3DO onwers to watch Video CD's. The unit will retail at around the £200 mark, which is identical to the Commodore CD32 unit released 8 Months Ago. The CD32 is going to have a fight on it's hands if good quality games do not start appearing. @endnode @node comp "The CD32Bits Competition" This month, there are two prize options. The first is Emerald Mines CD, the second is Games And Goodies 3 CD. Please state your prize preference on your entry. All names will be placed into an hat (or something like a hat), and the first drawn on 30th September will win the prize of their choice. The winner will be notified by E-Mail. Please include your full postal address on the E-Mail entry so any prize can be sent out straight away. @endnode @node game "GAMES!!!!" Well it's been a quiet couple of months to say the least, but there have been a few titles released! @{" Banshee " link bans} @{" Emerald Mines " link emer} @{"Games And Goodies 3" link g&g3} @{"Simon The Sorcerer " link simo} All of the titles reviewed were kindly supplied by @{"Viking Computers" link viki}, Ardney Rise, Norwich. @endnode @node bans "Banshee" Banshee Core Design £30 The newest game from the Core stable to grace the CD32, and can only be described as the best shoot'em-up out for the CD32 at the moment. It is a clone of the old classic 1942 but has been enhanced beyond all proportions. Single or two player options and three ways to play the game: adventure which is the full thing, bonus and arcade both of which are training flights to help improve your skills. The game itself is fast and furious with superb colours and extra sounds over the 1200 version, and of course the intro which are just static screen shots. There are loads of pick ups to enhance your plane and you will need them as the enemy has its own selection of fire power. My recommendation is to go and buy this game, you wont be let down. CD32Bits Rating **** shawes@freenet.scri.fsu.edu @endnode @node emer "Emerald Mines" Emerald Mines Almathera £15 Emerald Mines is a massive re-releae of the old classic onto CD32 and has literally hundreds of levels. Emerald Mines is a maze-like romp in which your objective is to collect the neccessary amount of crystals needed to complete the level. During your spree, you will come up against a wide range of monsters whos sole purpose is to thwart your task. The levels range from very simple to vergeing on the impossible. The graphics are very basic eight bit-like attempts, but what do you expect for £15. If you can master the somewhat cumbersome pad conversion control method, you may enjoy this, but it is very basic stuff and is unlikely to hold your attention for a long period of time. CD32Bits Rating ** @endnode @node g&g3 "Games And Goodies 3" Games and Goodies MMM £20 This is a compilation of lots of shareware titles. There are over 100 titles in all, but many of them require a form of registration until you can enjoy them to their full potential. If you are a fan of PD games, then this disk is for you. If not, you'll hate it! CD32Bits Rating ** @endnode @node simo "Simon The Sorcerer" Simon The Sorcerer Adventure Soft £40 Who hasn't heard of Simon the Sorcerer? It has been around on the 1200 for some time now but has finally graced the CD32, and what can we expect? Sampled speech and oodles of game play. The game a point and click graphical adventure which can only be compared to Monkey Island 2. This game has plenty of humour and depth to the game that will have you frustrated for days or even weeks. This game has an auto mapping function which helps make the game more enjoyable to play. This game is packed with puzzles and quips, however there are some puzzles that are extremely abstract and may take some time to figure out. As for the sound there is the obligatory sound track through out the game which varies from location to location, but it is the sampled speech that really blows you away! This game is really enjoyable to play. So is it the same as Monkey Island 2? No way! This is one large adventure that will keep you happy for weeks. CD32Bits Rating **** shawes@freenet.scri.fsu.edu @endnode @node viki "Viking Computers" Viking Computers Ardney Rise, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 3QH Viking is Norfolks leading Amiga specialists. Amiga 4000/040, 1200, 600 and CD³² on display. Viking offers a mail-order service on most Amiga hardware and software as long as stock exist ;-) For further details phone Martyn (0603) 425209 (3 lines) @endnode @node movi "FMV Videos" Now for the Video CD releases...... All titles require an MPEG video cartridge. @{" The Crying Game " link cryi} @{"Fatal Attraction " link fata} @{"Indecent Proposal" link inde} @endnode @node cryi "The Crying Game" @endnode @node fata "Fatal Attraction" Fatal Attraction Philips £16 Michael Douglas and Glenn Close star in this erotic thriller. In a very similar style, Fatal Atraction was probably an influencing factor on the 92 hit Basic Instinct. The story revolves around Douglas' character trying to distance himself from an obsessed woman with whom he once had an affair. Close plays the psychotic ex-lover who will do anything to get Douglas back. Even murder. The film has been encoded well, but still suffers from minor jumping on the CD32. I doubt you'll watch it many times, but it's worth getting for the sink scene! CD32Bits Rating *** @endnode @node inde "Indecent Proposal" Indecent Proposal Philips £16 Demi Moore, Robert Redford and Woody Harrilson star in one of the most popular films of 1993. Hard up couple Harrilson and Moore are offered $1 million by Redford for a night with Moore The film follows the distress caused by the night to Moores and Harrilsons marriage, and the subsequent break down of their relationship. Indecent Proposal is a very enjoyable film, although, once again, not the sort of thing that you will watch over and over again. CD32Bits Rating *** @endnode @node hard "Full Reviews of CD Hardware addons" Welcome to CD32Bits' Harware reviews.. @{"Communcator II" link com2} @{" SX-1 " link sx-1} by jwwright@cix @{" Zappo CD-Rom " link zapp} @endnode @node com2 "Communicator II review" There is a new CD available for use with Eureka's communicator, which allows much higher transfer rates. The press release states a speed of 210000 baud, but I find this hard to believe. I think an extra 0 may have been added in error. As soon as I find out more, I will let you know. @endnode @node sx-1 "SX-1 Review" Finally the much awaited SX-1 module has appeared on sale, but was it worth the wait. For £199 you get a box that fits onto the back of the CD32 offering expansion possibilities beyond your wildest dreams - well nearly. The unit actually consists of a number of expansion ports Serial - a PC AT DB9 connector. RGB - a standard Amiga 23 pin video port allowing connection to RGB and VGA (with the appropriate adaptor) monitors. Parallel - a standard Amiga parallel port. Audio In - Allows the use of audio mixing - undocumented feature at present. AT Keyboard - Allows connection of an AT101 key keyboard. External & Internal IDE hard drive connectors. Floppy - connect a standard Amiga floppy drive - recognised as df0: SIMM connector - connect either a 1/2/4/8 Mb 32bit SIMM. MPEG passthrough - allows the use of the C= FMV board with the SX-1 THE TESTS Upon unpacking the SX-1 the first thing I did was to consult the manual. This was rather a disappointment as it is merely 4 sides of A4, but it covers the information needed to get the SX-1 up and running, albeit slightly brief. The only real complaint with the the manual is a reference to an appendix which contains the pin outs for the external IDE interface, but the appendix is not included. The first thing was to install a memory module (SIMM) and a 2.5" Harddrive. This both went in easily, although the harddrive is mounted underneath the pcb whereas the connector is on the reverse side. In order to connect these a cable must be run down the side of the unit. In order for this to be achieved, the entire unit must be removed, which is slight tricky although not much of a problem. I was able to connect my C= 1942 to the SX-1 and the quality was superb. Watching FMV movies on a monitor certainly shows the quality off and this is a very useful feature. The manual warns that if too many units are connected the power supply might fail, but I connected a hard drive & floppy drive and there were no problems at all. Functionally, the serial and parallel ports are the same as the Amigas and I was able to ParNET to my A4000 whilst using a modem on the serial port to download some files. Owing to lack of documentation I was unable to test the Audio In connector or the external IDE. THE PROBLEMS 1) I was unable to get an AT keyboard that worked with the unit, although I have been told by other people that there are keyboards which work. This was not a problem to me as I used my A4000 keyboard. 2) When booting from hard disk without a floppy drive connected, a requester appears asking for DF0:. In order to carry on booting the requester must simply be cancelled. This is presumably a fault of the kickstart and not the SX-1's, but Microbotics have not documented it anywhere. THE VERDICT Overall this is an excellent unit offering a CD32 user the ability to expand their unit beyond that of a 1200 and CD-ROM. Apart from the minor problems which were probably down to it being from the first batch, the unit is of the highest quality. Overall it should be a must have upgrade for any CD32 owner. (C) 1994 James Wright @endnode @node zapp "Zappo CD-Rom Drive for the A1200" The long awaited PCMCIA CD-Rom drive for the 1200 is finally here, but has the hype been worth it. Well, first impressions indicate yes. The unit looks the part, and seems sturdely constructed. The first thing you notice is the fact that the Zappo is indeed a totally rebadged Archos unit. The case says Archos on the back of it, the instruction manual says Archos on it, and the installation disk has Archos all over it, so it is safe to assume that it's not a Zappo invention! :-) The case doesn't totally match the A1200's colour, so looks a little out of place. If you take a closer look, you can see needless imperfections like a piece of cork covering up wiring at the back, a piece of silver paper screwed into the unit to act as an earth, and a very unstable component on the back of the machine. These are all external problems, but many of you wont be bothered about these. You want to know how the unit functions.. Well... The first unit I had blew up, taking the PCMCIA slot with it, which was rather annoying to say the least. After speaking to many people, it appears that my unit was not the only one to have done this. It seems like an inherant problem. Hopefully this matter will be rectified before the next batch is shipped. The second unit however performed rather better. The installation of the driver software is very simple, and once installed, the unit performs as well as any normal CD-Rom drive. Part of the software is used to allow the booting of CD32 titles. Upon a reset, the left mouse button has to be held down, and a requester appears, with options to boot from CD or to softkick in a 3.1 romfile. I have not seen this function working though. When using the Boot CD option, the system seems to slow down quite a lot disk wise, but that's no real problem. I attempted to run all of the titles reviewed in this issue, and they all worked apart from Simon The Sorcerer. Hopefully this will not be a regular problem. Also included on the installation disk is software for playing audio tracks and photoCD's. Both of these are quite basic programs, but do the job. All in all, the Zappo unit is quite an adequate solution to the A1200 CD-Rom problem, although I would be hesitant over buying the unit until Archos actually release theirs. At the moment, it's release has been held back due to some technical problems, and one would suggest that the unit popping as above may be one of them. @endnode @node nong "Non-Game Titles For The CD32" There are an increasing amount of non-game titles becomming available for the Amiga.. Here are just a few of this months releases.. @{"Aminet 3 " link amin} @{" CDPD 4 " link cdpd} @{"Photolite" link phot} @endnode @node amin "Aminet 3" The latest release in the Aminet collection comes in two formats: Share and Gold. Share is the cheaper of the two, whereas Gold's price includes a nominal amount for contribution to the administrator of Aminet. I very much doubt that many of the Gold disks will be sold. For software content, the disk cannot be beaten, plus it has three issues of CD32Bits on it! :-) It has a marvellous front end if you are using it on a PCMCIA/SCSI CD Rom drive you can use an Amiga guide interface to find the programs that you want, unpack them and view them. It is highly likely that you can find any program on here that you would ever need. All you need to know is the name, then do a search. Chances are, the program will be there. NB THIS TITLE WILL NOT BOOT ON A CD32 CD32Bits Rating ***** @endnode @node cdpd "CDPD 4" The latest disk in the CDPD collection is rather dissapointing to say the least. The amount of useful, and quality software is minimal, although there is quite a large section for Imagine users. It has the usual spattering of Fred Fish disks, ranging from 891 to 1000, a large text section containing Amiga Report and UseNET postings, a few utilities and a collection of the AMFM disks. Naturally the disk is ready for networking. I suppose at £20, the disk is value for money, but I can't help thinking that Almathera are running out of things to put on their disks. @endnode @node phot "Photolite" Photolite is a purely CD based piece of PhotoCD viewing sofware for the CD32. It allows you to easily view and convert the high quality images found on PhotoCD disks. At £20, Photolite is a bargain for such a piece of software. If you have a CD32 and want to see your own photo's on it, this title is a must. @endnode @NODE INDEXNODE "Index" @{b}INDEX@{ub} @{"Banshee " link "bans"} @{"David Pleasance Int. " link "plea"} @{"Games " link "game"} @{"Gossip " link "goss"} @{"Hardware " link "hard"} @{"Movies " link "movi"} @{"Non-Game " link "nong"} @{"SX-1 " link "sx-1"} @{"Emerald Mines " link "emer"} @{"CD32Bits. " link "cd32"} @{"CDPD 4 " link "cdpd"} @{"Commodore " link "comm"} @{"The Crying Game " link "cryi"} @{"Zappo CD-Rom " link "zapp"} @{"3DO Hits UK " link "3do"} @{"Aminet 3 " link "amin"} @{"Autumn ECTS " link "ects"} @{"Communcator II " link "comm"} @{"Fatal Attraction " link "fata"} @{"Games And Goodies 3 " link "g&g3"} @{"Indecent Proposal " link "inde"} @{"Introduction " link "intr"} @{"Photolite " link "phot"} @{"Simon The Sorcerer " link "simo"} @{"Viking Computers " link "viki"} @endnode