Hello LCD,
Winter is gone, and with it, the long-distance ice skating is over again until next year. Every time such a great winter ends, I feel quite sad. However, I was very glad that I was fortunate enough to participate in one of the toughest of these events. The task was to master a fixed route of 160 km within 10 hours; with a time of 9:15 hours, I actually pulled it off.
It goes without saying that something like this requires quite a bit of preparation (training and so on), which left less time for the computer hobby. And on top of that, that rascal sends me "Indian Patience"! Not that playing the patience game took up all my time, but also the burning question: is this a game from India (Bombay) or of the Indians (Winnetou)? And speaking of "Indian Patience" (man, you just can't get rid of that darn thing once you start), it's a fantastic game. Even though I have already played it 20 times and managed to finish it properly every single time (does that speak for the game or for me?), it still captivates and unnerves me. The fact that it isn't an easy little game is proven by my wife and kids (who have also tried many patience games) needing an entire afternoon just to solve it once. You did it again — you sneaked another one of your games into my top ten. You scamp, there are no words for it!
I also received your letters asking for programs, Screen$ files, and ideas, and put them aside at first, but I haven't forgotten them. Work is underway, so the next disks will follow soon. On this disk, you'll find several (70) Screen$ pictures of animals, the program "VIEW-ROYAL" (a Screen$ viewer, copier, and also dumper/printer for various sizes with an index-dump option). The new menu screen in #12 (the SCENE+ part) was substantially easier to read than the previous ones, but I still think it could look nicer. Hence, there are 5 Screen$ samples with a few tests:
Menu12 $: the old screen from #12.Menu12-1 $: just tweaking the colors a bit (the flag of Austria).Menu12-2 $: now 'SCENE+' is modified, a bit less sharp to read, but still better than #1–#11.Menu12-3 $: M12-2 made a bit prettier...Menu12-4 $: M12-3 with some extras; the "SmallDemo" demonstrates the possibilities to you.
The "SCENE+ logo" demo between the first loader and the cover screen is nice, but it bothers me that I have to press a key to proceed. Perhaps a routine that advances automatically after a brief delay, or putting the demo somewhere else — for instance, right inside the first loader at the top of the screen.
OR (and then my 'menu12 experiments' would be redundant) in place of the top part of the menu screen, since it's waiting for a keypress anyway. Unfortunately, what might look the best requires the most work: displaying "Menu12-4 $" in the style of the "SCENE+ logo" in the upper menu section.
Anyway, as requested: some Screen$ files, a program, and a few ideas, plus a bonus cover image (does that have something to do with Indian Patience, or am I losing my mind? I mean, crazy good, thank you very much). Have fun until next time!
Johan
POSTSCRIPT:
His Excellency Ed Itor, Ambassador of Bull Castle, asked me to announce that on behalf of His Imperial Highness John LionsHeart (or is it LionsHead, I'm never quite sure), Emperor of Minor Visitors Land, King of Bull Castle and the Amazing Grazes around it, Prince of the Fairyland PaperandTong, Lord of the famous SGG Islands, he offers unlimited asylum in PaperandTong to the fugitive (former?) ambassador of Zer, known as Extorminator of the MadGuys.
Hello Johan!
Glad to hear that you took on the challenge — and I don't just mean the ice-skating marathon or Indian Patience, but also helping make my mag look a bit better. Well, I really like the new menu screen and it will be used starting with the next issue, but let's take things from the beginning.
I had already heard about this crazy big skating run on TV and had a hunch you might take part in it. To be honest? Such athletic feats are not for me; I would have thrown in the towel after 40 kilometers and turned in my grave. From your letter, I gather that you do enjoy Indian Patience after all — excellent! However, I'm no rascal: Indian Patience was actually conceived as a kind of virus for the WoMoTeam to see how badly their info would be delayed. Unfortunately, it backfired somewhat, and I became addicted to the game myself. Is IP really better than Napoleon now? Did it kick Pyramid Patience out of your top ten? What rank does Indian Patience hold for you?
Regarding the name: Indian = India, not American Indians! I've never heard of Winnetou playing such a game. The British colonial administrators (= civil servants) used to pass their time in India with IP. Back then, though, they didn't have a Spectrum.
If you beg on your knees, I might stop programming such addictive patience games. But then, to make up for it, I'd have to code "Legacy" much faster — though the endless revisions get on my nerves. No sooner do I finish an entire city using a landscape editor than an idea strikes on how to make it even better, so I rewrite the whole editor, which renders the previous landscape unusable. At least on the graphics front, I am making good progress. At this rate, I'll probably finish it right when the Zer actually launch their attack on Terra Prime.
Awesome, the animal drawings will come in handy! Unfortunately, some parts of the images are identical.
I will reprogram the rotating SCENE+ logo so that it runs in 128K mode and terminates on its own after three rotations, but I will keep the emergency exit via the Space key. There simply isn't enough memory to run it alongside the menu; the animation alone takes up about 25 KB unpacked.
The title picture is insane, but just a few days ago I already drew cover images for SCENE+ issues 15 to 21, so that lovely picture will either appear a bit later or go into its own game. Oh, by the way: Indiana Jones never played Indian Patience! He was far too busy recovering treasures and artifacts as well as saving his own life, and in his spare hours, he taught archeology at a university.
Nice, so Ed Itor is granting asylum to the Ambassador of Zer! I had offered it to X-terminator as well, but then a minor misunderstanding ruined our friendship. No, not the SUC Demo; rather, he morphed into a Battlebeast to defend himself against the tyranny of T. Homas the Eberle, and in doing so, accidentally scratched my Spectrum. Ever since becoming a Genomorph, he thought he was superior and refused to write programs or test demos, as it reminded him too much of his time in the dungeons of SUC. Knowing him, he'll show up at the Cologne meeting and keep T. Homas at bay with a disperser. If Ed Itor grants him asylum, here is a little friendly advice: don't let him copy your genes! Keep your wives and daughters at a safe distance from him after midnight, and whatever happens, no matter how much he whimpers, please keep five running Spectrums near him at all times. This rule applies to all Genomorphs, except for me.
Leszek Chmielewski, Daniel von Korvin
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