Your reactions to issued software. PROGRAMMERS RETURN NUMBER EIGHT: Program name: Sunrise/Sunset Reviewed by: 275 -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. Good program for what it does, very easy to use. Nice simple layout with clear instructions on what to do, would be nice to have more colour on the screen. Program name: Devils Island Reviewed by: 275 -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. I was unable to get this program to work at first, but after reading the reviews in the issue following the program succeeded. One problem, the writing on the screen is sometimes lost due to the graphics on the top half of the screen, thus unable to read full text for clues to the adventure. I think you can turn off the graphics screen by typing something like TEXT - ed. Program name: Envelope creator Reviewed by: 275 -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. This program is good and simple to use. The screen layout could be better, as when you choose one of the options the screen is pushed upwards. It would be better to have a complete new screen Then the user could go back to the main screen to continue with the program. It would also be nice to have a save routine within the program so that envelopes can be saved for programs written at a later date. Program name: BRAILLE TRANSLATOR Reviewed by: 275 -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. This program is very good if you have poor sight and are starting to read braille. It could also be used for sending confidential notes to friends who possess a list of braille codes to translate back to read. Program name: PERIODIC TABLE Reviewed by: 275 -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. This is a very good program for people studying chemistry at school. It would be nice if more information was given about each subject, so that other people could understand all the information given by the program. Program name: 3 IN A LINE STRATEGY GAME Reviewed by: 275 -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. A very nice game, I think that it would be better if the x and y axes were marked on the game board or if one axis were marked with letters, so a single input could be used for each person per turn. I am not sure whether or not the scoring is working correctly on the game for the BBC Master 128. Very nice screen layout. Program name: BARBARIAN FLOORPLAN 5 Reviewed by: 2GJ -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. This must be a game that I have not heard of. I know and possess Barbarian. However I think there is a problem with the loader, as there seems to be a line of text missed off at the bottom, am I missing anything? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 ED REPLIES: j 5 j 5 Barbarian is a straight combat j 5 Game and so cannot be mapped etc, j 5 Barbarian II is an arcade j 5 adventure and the map is for this j 5 (I think) and I think the text j 5 is to this effect. j 5 ANDY NIBBS j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. <,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 2GJ: 5-A-Side Football j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. This is great! As far as I can see it is bug-free as well (congratulations, Mr. Shakoor!). I have no-one else to play with, but thoroughly enjoyed watching my team win the league - just! The SAVE option is very useful, especially at awkward times. Certainly the best program that he has yet produced! <,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 81R: Cassette Inlay j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. This is a useful program and also very well put together and user friendly, I shall use this program a lot once I have tailored it to my printer. <,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 0E7: NEW ADDRESS PROGRAMME j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. For a serious programme the 'GAMES' type of script does nothing to enhance it's appeal as I find it distracting and not easy to read especially on a TV screen. There tends to be too much colour which gives it a 'GAMES' characteristic. This is a pity because obviously a lot of work has gone into this programme. The MENU is not as tidy as it could be as the functions are mixed and split over two pages. Page two could be allocated to data amendments only leaving page one for INPUT of data. I think that a hundred records for this type of programme are the minimum of requirements. This programme when expanded justifies a disc of its own like SYSTEMS. CHANGE FIRST NAME The programme asks for file number. Not very friendly if you have forgotten to look for such and have to go back into the file to verify it. Why cannot the surname be entered to call up the file or better still why cannot all the amendments be done from the full datafiile presentation without having to have as many seperate entries into data files? CHANGE SEX (Not to be taken literally) If any other amendment is called up e.g. SURNAME and the same SURNAME is entered into the amendment box then the programme goes back to the main menu and carries on. This does not happen when changing the sex and entering same sex in the amendment box. (I hope there are no double entendre's there). In this case the programme packs up and the message NO SUCH FN/PROC at line 610 is received. The programme should behave as per the other amendments? CHANGE POST CODE If get the message NO SUCH FN/PROC at line 240. A bug? ESCAPE How does one 'ESCAPE' safely from the programme or know when it is safe to do so? Couldn't this be put into the MENU as an option? <,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 81R: New address book program j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. This is a much better version of the old program. I am now going to start to enter in all my friends details. Thanks to A. Shakoor for re-writing the program. I find it very difficult to go back and rewrite a program. <,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 0E7: SORTING ARTICLE j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. A very nicely written article that is easy to understand. The main problem I have with it is that without having a printer it is not easy to read if one wants to go back a page to verify a point. This is not the programmers fault of course but is a failing with all text covering more than one screen. I appreciate that the text can be sent to a printer if you have one which makes it very easy to get a permanent record. Looking forward to article two. <,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 81R: Sorting Article j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. This is and excellent package or series, although I don't have any real use for sorting routines I found that this series sparked my interest and I am quite looking foward to the next issue to find out more about these routines. The only thing I would like to see is a menu for the example programs. <,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 994: STD Code SYSTEM Demo j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. Very good and simple to understand. Good layout and menu. Very useful when using a modem. One small improvement would be to include the tariffs that such calls would be charged at. <,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 L1L: 5-A-Side Soccer j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. A very enjoyable simulation, a type of game I have not tried before and I can say that I enjoyed it. However there are a few things which could possibly be improved. There is almost a guaranteed way to win which is to use the automatic selection of players and repeatedly use he pot luck option to raise funds. With high funds the team morale is also high and thus the team tends to win all of it's match encounters. There is, however, always a punishment to fit the crime for those looking for an easy win. Upon approaching the 400,000 pound mark, and not having lost a game in four rounds, I was presented with a No Room at line 110 error. This is not to say that it is a bad program, it is a great program, one which I enjoyed a lot, and I look forward to any sequel that may come in the future. <,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 4RR: Cassette Inlay j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. Well written but it suffered in 2 respects. I didn't like the wrap around effect as the characters spilt onto the next line. I would have preferred a warning beep indicating that the maximum number of characters per row had been reached. Secondly, by better use of the printer's codes more lines could have been printed. <,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 8CT: New Address Book Program j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. Much better than the last version. Comments are as follows: 1) The SEX (M/F) field could do with having it's colour changed from blue to one that is more visable. 2) The information is not justified to a column. 3) An Erase function would be useful. <,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 6JE: 5-A-Side Soccer j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. When playing no matter how many teams are playing it is impossible to get a match in which the first player does not take part in. The questions option seems pointless so far in playing (over 50 matches). I have not seen any use of money so what is the purpose of winning any? Occasionally a SUBSCRIPT error appears making it impossible to play a decent game without having to save your position after every match and having to reload if the game faults. The idea for this game is very good but the game play is at best poor. <,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,l 5 6JE: Periodic Table j -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. This is a brilliant program. It has many uses and it a great help. The author has done very well to fit all of the periodic table onto one screen.