Supercode

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 8/10

John Gilbert 8/10

SOFTWARE SCENE While some software houses are taking the Spectrum to its limits and beyond others doggedly continue to churn out ever more diabolical pieces of programmed junk. John Gilbert present a personal pick of the bunch, and Chris Bourne take an irreverent look at the dwindling ZX-81 software scene. Their talents are combinedd in listing the Top Ten Turkeys of 1984. Let the reader be warned. SPECTRUM SOFTWARE A cynic may argue that development within the software market in 1984 was non-existent. The same type of game appeared as those which took the lead in 1983, the most popular being of the arcade variety. The programs were written in the same style and to please the same type of customers. That is only a superficial view, however, and if you look at the games market as a whole, dividing it up into sectors such as strategy, arcade and adventure, you will see that substantial and sophisticated changes have taken place. Despite what some pundits have said you will find that the world of computer games is still buzzing with life. SUPERCODE £9.95 CP Software Although their releases were not so noticeable as those of the game companies several software houses brought out utility programs which went a long way in helping Spectrum owners write their own programs. The ultimate in such utilities was Supercode which contained routines for doing everything from scrolling the screen to producing sound effects, containing 102 machine code programming aids. Many of the routines are useful in games writing, letting you scroll in eight directions in highor low-resolution or the attributes. Other routines produce a number of sounds and there are also six ways of protecting a program, including ON ERROR, GOTO and ON BREAK GOTO. All the usual toolkit of routines are available, block delete, remkill, compress and two kinds of re-number, plus other useful utilities such as hex-dec converters, hex loader, tape head reader and many more. There is even one which accents letters.

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 8/10

Memory: 16K Price: £9.95 Supercode for the 16K/ 48K Spectrum by CP Software is aptly named. What else could you call a collection of 102 machine code programming aids? Details of each routine are given in the instructions, including the start addresses, so that you can use them in your programs. Eighty-eight of the routines are re-locatable. Many of the routines are useful in games writing, letting you scroll in eight directions in high- or low-resolution or the attributes. Other routines produce a number of sounds and there are also six ways of protecting a program, including ON ERROR, GO TO and ON BREAK GO TO. All the usual toolkit type of routines are available, block delete, remkill, compress and two kinds of re-number, plus other useful utilities such as hex-dec converters, hex loader, tape head reader and many more. There is even one which accents letters. There are one or two omissions, such as trace, but it must be the most comprehensive collection available. Even Microdrive users are not forgotten, as there is a routine included to save the whole thing to cartridge.

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