[HEA] _____________________ ___ _ |___ ______________| | | | | | | _ | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | ____ _ _ _ _ ______ | | | || | | | / __ \ | | / \_/ \ | ___ \ | | | || |__ ____ | | / / \ | | /\ /\ \ | | \ \ | | | || _ \ | _ \ | | \ \__/ | | | |_|| | | |__/ / | | | || | | || |_|| | | \___/|_| |_| |_| | ____/ |_| | || | | || |__ | |____________________ | | _ |__||_| |_|\____/ |________________________| | | |_| | | Lighting Your Apple II Path | | |_| ----------------------------------- >>> WELCOME TO THE LAMP! <<< ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BEST OF THE A2 BULLETIN BOARD ON Syndicomm Online AND THE BEST OF THE DELPHI A2 AND A2PRO MESSAGE BOARDS "Teaching the Apple II user how to fish since 1998" :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The Lamp! An Onipa'a Software Production Vol. 7, No. 1 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Publisher................................Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W., L.S.W. Editor.....................................................Lyle Syverson Internet Email, Publisher.........................thelamp@sheppyware.net Internet Email, Editor................................lyle@FoxValley.net :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: TABLE OF CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ January 15, 2004 HIGH ABOVE THE ROCK RIVER---------------------------------------------[OPN] Canned Meat Requires no Refrigeration :) A2 FORUM AT Syndicomm Online (A2Central.com) DISTILLATIONS------------[DAS] TextEdit Update (or) New Word Processor--------------------------[TEP] Gopher Celebrates Birthday---------------------------------------[GCB] NDAs to do IIgs Email?-------------------------------------------[TDE] Spam, Spam and More Spam-----------------------------------------[SSS] KEGS Now Compatible With SIS 1.2---------------------------------[KNC] Main Page for The Lamp! Updated----------------------------------[MLU] Good Year for Juiced.GS------------------------------------------[GYJ] Panther/Bernie Slowdown------------------------------------------[PBS] ILLUMINATING THE LAMP-------------------------------------------------[ITL] An overview of GEnieLamp A2 and The Lamp! Wolfenstein 3D ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM SYNDICOMM------------------------------------------[ANS] To Sign up for Syndicomm Online----------------------------------[TSU] LETTERS TO THE EDITOR-------------------------------------------------[LTE] No Letters to the Editor This Month An Invitation KFEST COMMENTS--------------------------------------------------------[KFC] Woz KansasFest - In Apple II History-----------------------------[WKF] KFest Endorsed---------------------------------------------------[KFE] KFEST 2004------------------------------------------------------------[KFF] KansasFest 2004--------------------------------------------------[KF4] KFest 2004 Talk--------------------------------------------------[KFT] Watch for More Information at the KFest Home Page----------------[VKF] EXTRA INNINGS About The Lamp! ------------------------------------------------ [INN] [*] [*] [*] READING THE LAMP! The index system used by The Lamp! is designed to make """"""""""""""""" your reading easier. To use this system, load this issue into any word processor or text editor. In the index you will find something like: EXTRA INNINGS About The Lamp! ------------------------------------------------ [INN] To read this article, simply use your search or find command to locate [INN]. There is a similar tag at the end of each article: [EOA]. [OPN]------------------------------- HIGH ABOVE THE ROCK RIVER | ------------------------------------ From The Editor """"""""""""""" by Lyle Syverson Canned Meat Requires no Refrigeration :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From High Above The Rock River we can see that the unseasonable warm weather has melted most of the snow. Brings to mind hot Summers some sixty years ago. Now the hot weather was welcome on the farm... "good corn growing weather". No electricity... no refrigerator. The ice man stopped by every other day. He harvested ice from a nearby lake in the winter and sold ice door to door for people's ice boxes. A little boy could depend on a free chunk of ice to melt in his mouth... a real treat on a hot summer day. (That ice was really refreshing when you didn't stop to think that it was from a lake!) Since refrigeration was limited to an ice box, people were always on the lookout for foods that didn't require refrigeration... canned meats for example. One of the products that we used was... uh... Spam. We never had any idea that someday this product would lend its name to unwanted email. Email has been a very useful means of communication. But it has become rather tedious to wade through all those unwanted messages and sort out those that you want. Just think... you can send off for a device that will reduce the gasoline consumption of your automobile by 27% or more... and it is easy to install... just clamp it on the outside of the fuel line. Duh. As you can see in this issue, spam is a topic of conversation in the A2 Forum at Syndicomm Online. [EOA] ASCII ART BEGINS _________ _ _ _ |__ __| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |___ ____ | | _____ __ ___ _ _ _____ | | | | | ___ \ / __ \ | | /____ \ | v v | | v ___ \ | | | | | | | | | /__\ \ | | ____| | | /\ /\ | | / \ \ | | | | | | | | | _____| | | / ___ | | || || | | | | | |_| | | | | | | | |_____ | |____ | |__| | | || || | | \___/ / _ |_| |_| |_| \______| |______| \____^_| |_||_||_| | |\____/ |_| | | | | |_| ASCII ART ENDS [EOA] [DAS]---------------------------------------------- DISTILLATIONS FROM The A2 FORUM at Syndicomm.com | (A2Central.com) | --------------------------------------------------- by Lyle Syverson [TEP] TextEdit UPDATE (or) NEW WORD PROCESSOR """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" If TextEdit was to be updated, the two big things I can think of that would be needed are multiple rulers and tables (where anything can go in a cell). And it would also be neat if a graphic bitmap could be inserted anywhere in the text. All of this would easily increase the HTML rendering of SIS. But for a new word processor, I would think the easiest solution is to port Open Office Word Processing module over to the IIgs. This isn't a trivial task by any stretch of the imagination, but you get the following already done for you: - standard Word Processing features and tools - all the algorithms are already coded - standard XML file format - import/export of MS Word Geoff (GEOFF, Cat 8, Top 22, Msg 18) [EOA] [GCB] GOPHER CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY """""""""""""""""""""""""" Gopher celebrated its 12th birthday yesterday. It is amazing to see how quickly a technology provided a wealth of information and now is mostly abandoned. Geoff (GEOFF, Cat 11, Top 5, Msg 1) [EOA] [TDE] NDAs TO DO IIgs EMAIL? """""""""""""""""""""" I have not yet had a chance to work on my NDA send only email client (aka Emily) which I showed at KansasFest 2003 since I got back. All of that said. . . The modern email client on other platforms is a very complex thing; it involves an address book, an editor, a database to store messages in, searching and sorting utilities, file encoders and decoders. . . while SAM has much of this built in, I'm wondering what folks think of the approach of using FExts and NDAs to handle some of the separate duties. For instance, having an address book NDA to serve as the address book, or use GSCii+ or StolenBase NDA for encoding and decoding. Your thoughts? Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 18) >>>>> """"" I think the idea of using separate NDAs for the various tasks modern email programs perform is a good idea. It saves memory by letting people only install the DAs for the stuff they use, and allows for great customization. I've been talking to Burger about getting the ContactsGS source so support for sending a message to an email program to send a message could be added. He's agreed to do it but finding the code may take some time. :) Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 19) >>>>> """"" That's what I think too, but I can't conceptualize how to do an email reading NDA that makes sense. Email sending, I can see, and will get back to working on it soon. Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 20) >>>>> """"" There are a lot of different ways to implement the pieces. As discussed, having the different pieces available to use by multiple applications would be really cool. Options include: * NDAs - using any number of APIs to transfer data back and forth * Control - use the control manager to transfer data * Tool set - design your own functions * Library - design your own functions Each have their own advantages and disadvantages which can be discussed in another section if desired. I sort of skipped writing an address book interface for SIS so I could hopefully leach off of something else. And now there is some mutterings that there may be that "something else" :) Having a common database of address entries which can be shared across multiple mail clients would be a positive user experience. Geoff (GEOFF, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 22) >>>>> """"" >> Having a common database of address entries which can be shared across multiple mail clients would be a positive user experience. << I think so too. I am seeing some light in the time window in March, I'm going to get back to work. Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 24) >>>>> """"" An email reading NDA, I think, could be done nicely I think. Just set up a task that periodically (or on command, I guess) fetches the email and parses it out. Maybe use a file format where each mailbox folder gets a file in which each message's text goes into a resource, and which maybe has its key headers parsed into other resources. Like... resource rText(messagenumber) contains the body of the message resource rSubjectText(messagenumber) contains the subject of the message resource rFrom(messagenumber) resource rTo(messagenumber) resource rCc(messagenumber) And so forth. That would make it relatively easy to manage the mailbox using Resource Manager calls. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 25) >>>>> """"" I don't like the resource method you are suggesting. It breaks any compatibility to access email messages from command line tools. I suggest instead to store messages using the standard mdir format (each message is a separate file complete with all the headers as retrieved from the POP/IMAP/whatever server). But, there should be an indexed database which has stored the byte locations of key header lines and the start of the body (and I would recommend also tracking the start of the .sig using the format suggested by emacs--which coincidently SIS follows :). It even makes sense to duplicate some of the key headers (From, To, CC, Subject, Date, etc.) to be also stored in the indexed database for quick sorting (otherwise you will have to open a lot of mail files to do any sorting or header searching). As far as I know, there are no database libraries for the GS so that would require some work to implement. I have no idea how hard it would be to port newdb. And since each message is stored in mdir format, one can use any number of existing tools to access the messages to do cool stuff (i.e. spam blocking, etc.). So Ryan, I'm not sure which aspect of mail reading you have trouble deciding how to implement. But I hope this idea helps you in some way. Geoff (GEOFF, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 26) >>>>> """"" >> I suggest instead to store messages using the standard mdir format (each message is a separate file complete with all the headers as retrieved from the POP/IMAP/whatever server). << That's probably a wise idea. mbox format would result in some huge files even for the average email user unless they pruned their mailboxes extensively. >> So Ryan, I'm not sure which aspect of mail reading you have trouble deciding how to implement. But I hope this idea helps you in some way. << For me, it's more in the interface concept. I guess something that just threw up a database on the screen and allowed for checking would work, then if you chose a message to read brought up a reader would work, but that sounds kind of big for a NDA to me. This has been a productive discussion so far, let's keep it going :) Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 27) >>>>> """"" Well, you'd know better than I about good email formats, Geoff. :) At Be, we used individual text files for the messages, with attributes attached for easy indexing based on from, to, subject, and so forth, but that was very Be specific. Having an index file makes sense. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 28) >>>>> """"" There is no one real good email format. What is considered is a "better email format" based on the application. I actually prefer the mbox format on the user side. But this really needs a fast processor, lots of RAM, etc. to take advantage of efficiently. I completely forgot about attachments until you brought it up Sheppy. I prefer having attachments as part of the message file just to keep things better organized. It just seems cumbersome with some email programs where to delete an email, you have to remove the "message part" and then go through and remove the "attachment part". Of course, you could have message where the MIME parts are like this: text file text file file text All of the text segments will need to be displayed in the body of the message. And since the attachments can be pretty long, one would need to track the start and length of each MIME segment for quicker display and attachment handling. That information can be stored in the index database as well. Geoff (GEOFF, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 29) >>>>> """"" >> For me, it's more in the interface concept. << Let's look at three different styles of how email clients handle the reading of messages. There are a few more (and variations), but this will help you to get started to think about where to start. 3-PANE APPROACH This is considered the modern the interface for an email client. The email window is split into three areas: folder list, message, list, and message (or message preview). Typically, the list of folders appear in the left window pane, the list of messages in that folder (inbox, outbox, to-be-deleted, user-folders) appear in the top-right window pane, and the message content in the bottom-right pane. Advantages: easy access to all the messages--content is available all in one window. Disadvantages: lots of scrolling since everything is all in the same screen, requires lots of screen real estate which the GS does not have. Notes: works great if you have lots of folders, cumbersome if you have lots of messages in a specific folder. This option is not basically optimal for the GS due to 640x200 resolution. You want the width of the screen just to view a message. 2-PANE APPROACH Basically, you have some sort of menu to select which folder you want to access (menu bar, select via a dialog box, etc). Once the folder is selected, you then display a window with two panes--the top has the list of messages and the bottom has the message content. Advantages: message content fills the width of the screen, folder content is wider so more information can be displayed (from, subject, date, size, etc.). Disadvantages: Height of panes is very short--around 10-11 lines of text is visible in each pane. Requires several steps to switch to a different folder. This provides the most information based on the GS screen real estate space. But how often do you need to be viewing the list of messages in the folder at the same time as viewing the message itself? TEXT-SCREEN APPROACH Depending on which font is used, you typically have less characters available on the super hires screen than you do with the Apple II text screen. So it may be better to start thinking how text-screen email programs operate since they are designed to fit in a 80x24 character space. Two feature-rich programs are pine and elm. Between these two, I am more familiar with pine. It might be better to take a look at something like pine and "Gui-ify" its operation for the GS. Since you are looking at making an NDA instead of a regular application, you could get away without having a menu bar and just have a bunch of buttons to navigate among the menus/screens. Emulating the pine or elm structure would allow a UNIX Apple II to easily adapt to a GS email client. The NDA windows will have to be the size of the GS screen anyway--there is no point to make it any smaller--you have to assume after a bit of use, there will be lots of folders, lots of messages in a folder, and large messages to be read. If you really want a more Apple GUI look and feel, then you will have to look at really old versions of Pegasus, Eudora, etc. When the email app starts up, you display a window with a list of folders. The user then double clicks on the folder to bring up a new window with a list of messages. The user then double clicks on the message to bring up a new window with the message content. At this point, there are three windows open--all the size of the screen. Things get messy fast once you start moving a window so you can see the one behind it and opening additional windows. Forcing everything into a single window using a text-like-email interface will prevent that from happening. There are ways to GUI-ify something like pine or elm to work within a single pane and single window interface (menu bar with menus, etc.). But I'll let that be an exercise for the student. Geoff (GEOFF, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 30) >>>>> """"" >> If you really want a more Apple GUI look and feel, then you will have to look at really old versions of Pegasus, Eudora, etc. << I've been kind of looking at those, as well as thinking that looking at other email clients for platforms with small screens (Palm, Newton, maybe even something like the Danger Sidekick) might give some ideas. I'm wondering if a GS interface with tabs (pioneered by Geoff Weiss on the IIgs :) might be usable in this case. Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 32) >>>>> """"" You're ignoring my personally favorite interface for email -- The multi-window approach. One window with a list of folders in one pane and a list of messages in another, and when you double-click a message, a new window opens with that message's content. I think this approach would work the best on the Apple IIgs screen. It optimizes the use of the screen for each thing you're looking at. As for attachments, what about creating a structure like this: Mail/ Inbox/ Index <-- index of messages Message1 <-- text file Message2 <-- text file Message3/ <-- folder Body <-- text file Attachment1 Attachment2 Message4 <-- text file And so forth. This keeps messages and attachments together and you can keep in your index whether or not the message is a text file or a folder, and that's also easy enough to determine when reindexing. This would be pretty fast, and it would be relatively efficient. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 31) >>>>> """"" >> I'm wondering if a GS interface with tabs (pioneered by Geoff Weiss on the IIgs :) might be usable in this case. << I'm not sure I see how tabs would work well for an email program. Can you expand on that a bit? Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 33) >>>>> """"" Well, if, building on Geoff's idea about GUI-izing pine or elm, we took the major components of the main menu in pine: Compose message, message index, folder list, address book, setup, and quit then gave each of them (but probably not quit) its own tab on the top of a window, that might be a space efficient way to do some of the interface. Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 34) >>>>> """"" See, I think all those things should be windows that you can open and close independently. Just have a "Window" menu to let you open them as desired. Plus we'd been talking about keeping some of those things as separate DAs anyway. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 35) >>>>> """"" >> You're ignoring my personally favorite interface for email -- The multi- window approach. << I mentioned it briefly, concluding that there wasn't enough screen real estate for it to be truly functional. For less savvy users, the "text-screen" approach will be less confusing to operate and hence, more useful. The Apple II population is an aging crowd (with a few exceptions, there is no young blood to propagate the youth spirit) so software development should be targeted best to how the older crowd wants to use software: * Avoid confusion. * Avoid fanciness. * Keep it simple. Even though I can navigate in a windows environment with a lot of windows open, I am finding that I operate better with fewer windows open. If I'm seeing that change now (and I'm not even at middle-age), then those who are older than I am would have feelings even more intense. If you design something which can lead to confusion, then no one will use it. I don't claim to be an expert with user interfaces...all I can do is apply what people (those who are older) have said in my experience and guess what a good compromise would be. Geoff (GEOFF, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 36) >>>>> """"" I don't see a problem with a multiwindow approach; you can actively use only one at a time, filling the entire screen if you wish. You don't have to be able to see both the message and the message/folder lists at the same time. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 37) >>>>> """"" >> I'm wondering if a GS interface with tabs (pioneered by Geoff Weiss on the IIgs :) might be usable in this case. << Heh. I was too lazy to draw all the necessary stuff to make it look like notebook pages which is what Finder uses (and several other apps at that time). I'm still not happy with how it got implemented--a custom control would have been better. But it was cool that I could make a passable attempt work based on what was available with Spectrum 2.1. Back to the email discussion... There really is no point to make a tabbed interface when a menu bar would work better and be more familiar for a GS application. A menu bar and a tabbed interface takes the same number of lines so might as well use something that is already built in the IIgs toolbox. The only reason to not use a menu bar if you needed the screen real estate. That would then force a text-like interface operating much like pine or elm. I would argue that a menu bar is pretty much necessary. It should be noted how much vertical screen real estate is already used up (assuming the NDA is the size of the desktop): System Menu Bar NDA Window Edges NDA Window Title NDA Menu Bar That gives you about 15 lines of Shaston text to work with. If you decide to display emails using Courier, you are down to 12 lines of text. If you want more lines of text, you will have to seriously consider to make your email client an application instead of an NDA. And you would only get 1-2 more lines. The menu bar approach is more intuitive then a bunch of tabs. The trick comes down to what you use for the menus and menu items. The approach I would take is look at the different versions of Eudora from 1.x to the latest. See what was added, removed, changed, etc. Compare it to other email applications such as Netscape, Outlook Express, etc. Make sure you look at systems other than Macs too--looking at Palms and other PDAs is good, but also other mainstream Operating Systems too (don't forget to look at SAM too). Compared to PDAs, you have a lot of horizontal space so make sure you take advantage of that (assuming 640 mode--you might not want to support 320 mode). But at this point, menu design is less important considering the list of features need to be decided on. Modern-day email clients are much more feature-full than older ones--all those features take time to implement. For example, right clicking on an email address may throw a pop-up menu where one of the options is to add that address to the address book. That doesn't have to be implemented when the user can easily copy the address, select a menu option to add an address, paste the address in a field and click an add button. This is much simpler development and you can consider adding user interface shortcuts in later releases. Trust me on this, you will have a difficult enough time parsing MIME encoded messages that you don't want to get bogged down with too much user interface implementation. Geoff (GEOFF, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 38) >> As for attachments, what about creating a structure like this << Lets look at the operations needed to be written: - add message to folder - delete message to folder - move message to another folder - read message in folder - save attachment With my proposed solution, this is what has to be written (order of operations aren't necessarily correct here): - add message to folder. - write message to disk. - parse message for headers and MIME segments. - add to index. add headers and MIME segments to index. - delete message. - delete file. - remove item from index. - move message. - write file to new folder. - delete old file. - delete old index entry. - write new index entry (may need to parse message again if it wasn't saved). - read message. - read index entry. - read file (may be multiple operations if multiple text segments exist). - write to screen. - save attachment. - pull start and length of attachment from index. - read and write bytes. With your proposed suggestion: - add message. - write message to disk (do you really want to assume there is enough memory to download a large message. Remember, this is a NDA and there could be a memory-hog application running). - parse message for headers and MIME segments. - if multiple segments, rename file, create a directory. - create new segments of the message and write those files. - delete the original file. - add to index. add headers, MIME segments, MIME segment file names, etc. to index. -move message - you get the picture. - delete message. - if a file, delete file, delete index entry. - if a directory, delete files, delete directory, delete index entry. - read message. - exercise left to the reader. More steps needed. - save attachment - read filename from index - read and write bytes. I just see that your proposed solution is more complicated and longer to write which results in more debugging time. I think using a standard format such as mdir would allow existing applications to access the content of the email messages (as suggested before, such as spam filtering). There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Geoff (GEOFF, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 39) >>>>> """"" OK, point taken about the mdir format. I was just kicking ideas around. :) As for user interface... here's a weird idea, but bear with me. The GS screen is roomier horizontally than vertically. What about creating a vertical menu bar along the left edge of the NDA window? Use bitmaps of sideways text for each of the menu titles, and use a custom menu, or a custom control that pops up menus, whatever, to bring up popups off them. _________________ | || Mail NDA +---------------- | | |M | |e | |n | |u | |s | | | Like that, except with the text of the menu titles rotated 90 degrees. It would be unusual, but it might be a better layout for a program that needs the vertical space. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 40) >>>>> """"" Human interface guidelines generally say that is a Bad Thing for many reasons (at least for English text--see http://www.cblt.soton.ac.uk/design/pdf/ChinoMenu.pdf as an example). There are much better user interfaces to consider, but would take much longer to develop. And considering Ryan's programming depth of knowledge (I'm assuming he's still doing all the work, right?), it's probably a good idea to keep things simple from a programming perspective too. Based on development time alone, it is well worth taking around 5% of the screen space and allocate it for a menu bar which we all know how to use. I know I sound pretty negative with my replies in this thread. It should be interpreted as an exercise of caution, not to discourage innovation. Geoff (GEOFF, Cat 11, Top 21, Msg 41) >>>>> """"" I'll be the first to admit I'm not a programming expert, but this discussion's purpose (since I was the one who started the thread) was not so much to figure out what I'm going to work on (since I know I have limited time and even more limited ability) as much as to generate some discussion on the topic. While SAM is a full featured (but script based) email client, there are limited other choices (SIS can send mail, for instance), and email is still a very basic and needed function on any platform. It's pretty clear that even our "star" programmers have their hands full with other projects, so others need to help out where they can More choices for email and perhaps a DA based FTP client would really push the TCP/IP applications along on the IIgs. >> I know I sound pretty negative with my replies in this thread. It should be interpreted as an exercise of caution, not to discourage innovation. << Largely taken as that, by me, anyway. Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 21) [EOA] [SSS] SPAM, SPAM AND MORE SPAM """""""""""""""""""""""" Bush signs anti-spam bill Tuesday, December 16, 2003 Posted: 2:23 PM EST (1923 GMT) WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush signed legislation Tuesday meant to stem the flood of unwanted e-mail pitches, a problem he believes is hurting the economy. Story continues at (KGAGNE, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 93) >>>>> """"" Nice to see something's being done, but I'll be pretty surprised if we can legislate Spam to death. Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 94) >>>>> """"" >> Bush signs anti-spam bill << I understood that this was being described as the CAN-SPAM bill, as it puts the end recipient in an opt out position on spam, rather than an opt in. The UK press has been calling the bill an open charter for the spammers, which will actually increase dramatically the amount of spam being sent, as the spammers can now legally send it out unless you ask them to stop. It may seem easy to respond to a message asking them to stop, but you would have to respond to hundreds of messages a day to achieve anything, and it would probably not make any difference at all to the amount of spam you receive. I do hope I have got this wrong, but fear I have not. In the EU, we have taken a different approach, and so it is now illegal to send SPAM at all from within the EU, whether a recipient has opted out or not. However welcome such an approach is, it will not stop the avalanche of spam that we now expect to emanate from the US! Not forgetting the various other countries round the world who do not care about it. There may of course be a side effect, and we shall see more and more servers being blacklisted. Already in the UK we are getting genuine servers being regularly blacklisted by others, and genuine mail not getting through. I think the future is as black as it has ever been. Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Sun 21 Dec 2003 - 212 days till KFest '04 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR 1.0b11 Setup: IIgs running at 95Mhz thanks to Bernie ][ the Rescue 3.0 http://www.ewannop.btinternet.co.uk/ (CONDUCTOR, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 95) >>>>> """"" The CAN-SPAM law actually establishes rules and standards for emailed commercial mail that make it work essentially the same as physical snail mailed commercial material. The material may not be fraudulent. It must provide valid contact information to let the sender know you don't want to get any more, and that must actually work. No pornographic material can be sent without being requested. The subject must not be misleading; it must not pretend to be a personal message. The headers may not be forged. In addition, it has a provision that allows the FCC to establish a do-not-spam list similar to the new do-not-call list, although this has not been done yet. And the penalty for violating this law involves massive fines and even prison time. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 96) >>>>> """"" Thanks for the detailed explanation, it has made the law clearer to me. However I still do not see how this is actually going to stop the flood of spam in the long run. Certainly you should now be able to opt out of spam emanating from the US, but are the spammers going to pay any attention to those receiving their spam who live outside of the US? The US law does not apply to us. The new EEC law only applies to spam originating in the EEC and being sent to recipients in the EEC. It does not apply to spam being sent from the EEC to the US. So you may well get new spam coming from over this direction that cannot be opted out from. Unless every country that has Internet mail servers outlaws spam completely, I see the situation as being exactly as it was before, except that it is now legitimate to send spam from the US. Unless we laboriously trawl through the spam, and reply to each message that we want to opt out, I see it just the situation to be exactly the same as it was, except it is now legal to send unsolicited mail. I would suggest that only a central opt out list being held somewhere by a government agency, would actually stop you getting unwanted spam in the first place. Local lists held by each spammer, would certainly not be cross referenced to other spammers. Interestingly, my ISP applies spam filters at their POP3 servers, so probably a hundred or more spam messages each day never make it to my computer. This is a good thing obviously, but I never then see those messages so I have the chance to opt out of them. These messages are probably going to continue to increase clogging the Internet arteries, as spammers can now legally send me spam, but the spam they will be sending will just go into thin air. Only a total ban on spamming can stop that flow and clear the net of useless garbage... Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Mon 22 Dec 2003 - 211 days till KFest '04 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR 1.0b11 Setup: IIgs running at 95Mhz thanks to Bernie ][ the Rescue 3.0 http://www.ewannop.btinternet.co.uk/ (CONDUCTOR, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 97) >>>>> """"" It seems that the amount of spam I receive has increased since the bill was signed. >> I still do not see how this is actually going to stop the flood of spam << I agree with Ewen. Spammers don't care about laws anyway. Cindy (CINDYADAMS, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 98) >>>>> """"" Ewen, >> Only a total ban on spamming can stop that flow and clear the net of useless garbage... << Or an enhancement/replacement for SMTP, such as the ePrivacy Group's proposed new standard for e-mail called TEOS: Trusted E-mail Open Standard, an add-on to SMTP using cryptography which will verify the sender's identity and categorize the type of message that is being sent. http://www.eprivacygroup.com/teos -Ken (KGAGNE, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 99) >>>>> """"" Well, CAN-SPAM only got signed six days ago, and I don't think enforcement has begun. I expect it will take some time to have any effect, and even then, we'll see how effective it is. However, if they can send a few of the worst spammers to prison, that may scare off the rest of them. As for ISPs blocking spam, Syndicomm is one of them -- we filter spam as best as we reasonably can. For the week ending December 13, for example, Syndicomm's servers processed 146,939 email messages. Of those, 47,267 were either rejected as spam or were tagged with the "{Spam?}" header before being delivered. A few hundred more had viruses stripped off of them. 73,735 messages were delivered to the recipient without a spam or virus warning attached. Just over 39% of the messages received were handled as either spam or a likely spam candidate. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 100) >>>>> """"" >> Or an enhancement/replacement for SMTP, such as the ePrivacy Group's proposed new standard for e-mail called TEOS: Trusted E-mail Open Standard, an add-on to SMTP using cryptography which will verify the sender's identity and categorize the type of message that is being sent. << I went through the PPT show and still don't understand it. Does it mean I have to buy a license to send email? Carl Knoblock - Telephone Tech - Mon 22 Dec 03 11:15:59 pm cknoblo@cox.com - Via Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR v1.0b10 KFest 2004, July 20-25, 2004 - 211 days till KFest On cable via LANceGS & Marinetti 2.0.1 - Thank you, Richard. A2 RTC Staff - Sunday Night House Party - carlk@syndicomm.com (CARLK, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 101) >>>>> """"" That proposed standard does require that ISPs get a secure certificate to process secure email, but individual users I don't think would have to. I may be wrong. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 102) >>>>> """"" It's January 1. Do you know where your Spam is? So far, CAN-SPAM hasn't seemed to have made a dent. Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 104) >>>>> """"" I was offline from Christmas until yesterday. I had 319 email messages, and only 1 of those was legit. Most were marked as spam. Cindy (CINDYADAMS, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 105) >>>>> """"" I get about half my real mail through Syndicomm, and the tagged spams usually amount to 3 or 4 a day. My total Spam has been over 100 lately. Carl Knoblock - Telephone Tech - Fri 2 Jan 04 9:23:25 pm cknoblo@cox.com - Via Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR v1.0b10 KFest 2004, July 20-25, 2004 - 200 days till KFest On cable via LANceGS & Marinetti 2.0.1 - Thank you, Richard. A2 RTC Staff - Sunday Night House Party - carlk@syndicomm.com (CARLK, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 106) >>>>> """"" The worst thing about spam is getting stuff that's so offensive or gross that you wonder how any human being could be willing to send it when they know it could be going to a kid. My niece had her own email address for about two days before her parents had to take it away because she was getting pornographic spam. That's just awful. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 110) >>>>> """"" Sadly, they don't care. It makes a very useful tool into something close to useless nowadays. Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 111) >>>>> """"" >> It's January 1. Do you know where your Spam is? So far, CAN-SPAM hasn't seemed to have made a dent. << If anything a steady increase of SPAM is arriving in my mailboxes. The flow will not stop until it is illegal to send the stuff, in the way it is now illegal to send it in Europe. Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Thu 8 Jan 2004 - 194 days till KFest '04 Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR 1.0b11 Setup: IIgs running at 95Mhz thanks to Bernie ][ the Rescue 3.0 http://www.ewannop.btinternet.co.uk/ (CONDUCTOR, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 112) >>>>> """"" >> The flow will not stop until it is illegal to send the stuff, in the way it is now illegal to send it in Europe. << I'm unconvinced legislating it to be illegal will stop it. It would also take substantial enforcement. None of the Spam I've received since CAN SPAM has come into effect has been legal under the new law. The law is useless without enforcement. Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 113) >>>>> """"" >> If anything a steady increase of SPAM is arriving in my mailboxes. The flow will not stop until it is illegal to send the stuff, in the way it is now illegal to send it in Europe. << Sadly, the new law makes Spam legal, as long as it follows certain rules. Some kinds of Spam are not allowed at all. So far, I see nothing following the rules, and no reduction of the illegal stuff. Only vigorous prosecution of violators will make a change. Every day that goes by without news reports of arrests is another day of growing Spam. Carl Knoblock - Telephone Tech - Thu 8 Jan 04 10:39:04 pm cknoblo@cox.com - Via Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR v1.0b10 KFest 2004, July 20-25, 2004 - 194 days till KFest On cable via LANceGS & Marinetti 2.0.1 - Thank you, Richard. A2 RTC Staff - Sunday Night House Party - carlk@syndicomm.com (CARLK, Cat 11, Top 26, Msg 114) [EOA] [KNC] KEGS NOW COMPATIBLE WITH SIS 1.2 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Move over Bernie, KEGS can now be added to the list as a compatible emulator for SIS 1.2. After setting my system up for a Marinetti TCP/IP connection, I could browse the Web just like a real IIgs. You are still limited by the speed of the serial port (or serial communication device), but the rest of SIS is very speedy. I'd be interested if anything runs too quickly in a hyper-accelerated environment that an emulator provides. Geoff (GEOFF, Cat 11, Top 36, Msg 13) [EOA] [MLU] MAIN PAGE FOR The Lamp! UPDATED """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Well, it took a heckuva lot longer than two weeks, and it's not exactly thrilling to look at, but the main page for The Lamp! over at http://lamp.a2central.com/ has been updated. No more broken links, Lynx friendly, and even has a banner ad. The color needs to be changed, though. . . Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 20, Top 20, Msg 112) [EOA] [GYJ] GOOD YEAR FOR Juiced.GS """"""""""""""""""""""" Well, my Christmas is finally complete. I've subscribed to Juiced.GS 2004. It's my gift to myself. Here's to yet another year:) Dain Neater (A2.DAIN, Cat 23, Top 2, Msg 504) >>>>> """"" Should be a good year -- to those of you who haven't renewed yet, don't forget! :) Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 23, Top 2, Msg 505) [EOA] [PBS] Panther/Bernie SLOWDOWN """"""""""""""""""""""" I think that I have discovered the Panther/Bernie slowdown-- In Bernie Preferences on Bernie 2.6, I changed "Bypass Quickdraw when Possible" so it's now -unchecked-. It's supposed to be faster checked, but it seems now to be actually usable unchecked and not very usable checked. It then appears I have to quit Bernie and restart it for this to make a difference. Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 29, Top 21, Msg 141) >>>>> """"" Thanks for the great tip, Ryan! Bernie is now usable for me with Panther. Tony Ward (A2.TONY, Cat 29, Top 21, Msg 142) [EOA] [ITL]------------------------ ILLUMINATING THE LAMP | ----------------------------- An overview of GEnieLamp A2 and The Lamp! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By Steven Weyhrich DER FUEHRER'S FACE - Wolfenstein 3D We are going to diverge this month from our regularly scheduled review of The Lamp! for 1999. Instead, I want to focus on the story of Wolfenstein 3D, which has been mentioned several times in this series so far. This time, the information I can share is gathered from sources other than the Lamp publications, so I will be indeed "illuminating" the Lamp. Previously you have heard bits and pieces of the tale; but you've never heard the entire story before now. Consider it a sidebar off of the last column. The story will be presented in four major parts. The first looks at Castle Wolfenstein, the game that inspired it all; the second deals with the PC development of Wolf 3D on the PC; the third with the Apple IIGS development; and the fourth with comments about the game itself. THE SAGA BEGINS The games you play when you first learn how to use a computer are sometimes the ones that stay with you the longest. They may have been simplistic, stupid, or even annoying by your standards of today, but they were special to YOU, because you spent hours and hours playing them and learning about your computer, sometimes by hacking them. This is especially the case for those who were introduced to a computer while they were in school, and "grew up" with it. And if you started with your Apple II in the early 1980's, you had some great games on which to spend your time. One of the pioneering Apple II companies that provided games for the platform was MUSE Software. Founded in 1978 by Silas Warner and Ed Zaron, they got their start by selling software on cassette tape for the Integer BASIC-only Apple II. As the technology advanced, they moved on to disk-based and assembly language programs. Several key events occurred in the early 1980's that had an impact on what was to come later. In the area of sound, two significant things happened. First, MUSE released a program called "The Voice", which allowed the recording and playback of sound on an Apple II. It was very low quality, since the speaker on the Apple II could produce 1-bit sound (clicked "on" or "off"), but the results were intelligible. At about the same time, the company had been able to improve the production of their software cassettes by making use of Flight 3, a professional recording studio. This studio had developed techniques of enhancing the audio signal for MUSE's data cassettes by running it through a graphic equalizer. This improved the tapes so much that MUSE advertised them as "Super-Load" cassettes. Hi-resolution graphics had been part of games produced by MUSE software from the very beginning. One of their non-entertainment products was a word processing program called "Super-Text", which as a text-based program was limited to the 40-column resolution inherent to the Apple II and II Plus. As a possible enhancement, Warner had designed a hi-res character generator to allow 70 columns of upper and lowercase text to be displayed on the graphics screen. Unfortunately, the hi-res screen took up 8K of RAM, nearly one fourth of the available RAM on a disk-based Apple II, and so this plan was abandoned. Finally, MUSE had worked on some new techniques to access data on an Apple DOS disk more rapidly than was typically possible. In early 1981, at the time these technologies had been completed and were available at MUSE, Silas Warner visited his local 7-Eleven one evening. There, he saw for the first time a new Williams Electronics arcade game, "Robotron: 2084". This color game had the player running around a two-dimensional field, shooting in any of eight directions at robots that were threatening the world's last family of humans. As he looked at the Robotron game, "...[I] realized that this would do really nicely if I built it with the hi-res character generator. But it was such a cliche' ... just robots and science-fiction gadgetry and all the trappings of that era. The whole concept of the game was just a big cliche'. And I wondered, 'what else could you do with it?' And then I saw 'The Guns Of Navarone' and realized what you COULD do with it." The 1961 World War II movie, "The Guns Of Navarone" involved the use skill and cunning for an elite force to break INTO a heavily guarded Nazi fortress; Warner's game would require use of strategy to break OUT of a heavily guarded Nazi prison. The player could shoot (in eight different directions) at Nazi soldiers, or hold a gun on them and interrogate them, or even go though the pockets of a dead soldier to look for loot. It was not necessarily the point of the game to shoot at everything that moved to successfully complete it. Warner put everything into the game. The hi-res character generator was used to manipulate the graphics; the new disk routines helped speed up disk access; and "The Voice" was used to make guards that actually spoke to (or yelled at) the player when spotted. To create the voices used in the game, he went to the same recording studio that recorded their "Super Load" cassettes, and spent a morning saying phrases like "Achtung!" into a microphone. Six months later, MUSE released Castle Wolfenstein. The resulting game was unique in several ways. Softalk magazine made a brief first comment on the game in the September 1981 issue: "Castle Wolfenstein from Muse (Baltimore, MD) combines an arcade-type game with a more complex adventure/fantasy game. Scenario puts the player in the role of an Allied soldier as World War II rages across Europe. Player is captured but must find the Nazi war plans and escape from the castle. Sound effects include guns firing and Nazis shouting -- in German." Their later more comprehensive review was enthusiastic about the game, and it soon appeared at the top of the Softalk Top 5 Strategy list at the end of each issue, right ahead of Warner's other popular game, Robot War. Their brief description of the game when the top software of 1981 was listed mentioned that it was the first game to successfully fuse strategy, home-arcade, and fantasy. That description also mentioned that the room layout would change with each new game. It was simply a great game idea that had not yet been tried, and it resulted in a best seller that MUSE later translated to several other platforms, including the Atari 800, Commodore 64, and the IBM PC. As with many hit games (or books or movies), Castle Wolfenstein spawned a sequel. In 1984, MUSE released "Beyond Castle Wolfenstein", which Warner helped design but did not directly write. The premise of this game was not significantly different from the first, although this time the goal was to infiltrate Hitler's headquarters, plant a bomb, and then escape before it went off. More strategy and stealth was needed than in the first game; it was necessary to collect security passes and bribe guards to progress through the game. Doing TOO much shooting would draw attention and increase the odds that you would be caught and arrested. It was also possible to search a guard at gunpoint, rather than killing him. (Strategy features like this have unfortunately NOT survived to the present day.) FAST FORWARD MUSE Software did not survive past 1987, mainly due to management problems that resulted in the loss of the company's marketing department. As time passed, players moved on from the two Wolfenstein games and on to the next big thing. Nevertheless, a good concept is always ripe for another sequel, and this did eventually come about. When it did appear, the programmers again demonstrated break-through concepts. John Romero got his start writing Apple II software, which he submitted to Nibble, inCider, and A+ Magazine. He badly wanted to work with a company in the computer industry, and eventually managed to get jobs first at Origin (the company that produced the Ultima series of games), then Inside-Out Software, and eventually at Softdisk. Although he did have some submissions of games for the Apple II edition of Softdisk, he told the owner that he wanted to learn how to program for the IBM PC (since the Apple II platform was dying out), and so worked on their disk magazine, "Big Blue Disk", and later helped start another disk publication, the "Gamer's Edge". Working with Romero at Softdisk was John Carmack, who had likewise previously written programs for the Apple II before starting at Softdisk. Both were focused primarily on game playing and design. However, the work they did for Gamer's Edge eventually began to feel restrictive. They wanted to create games for the PC that were more complex, games that had better graphics and sound. Unfortunately, it was necessary in writing for Gamer's Edge to program for the lowest common denominator computer that most subscribers owned, which precluded writing games that made use of the latest video and sound cards and computer power. Doing work on their own terms began to be an attractive option. Apogee was a small shareware software company that created games more advanced than those Romero and Carmack could do at Softdisk. They used a unique concept in selling their games, one in which the game was written as three large parts or chapters. The first part was completely unlocked, not crippled in any way, and was freely available for download from the thousands of computer BBS systems across the country (and the world). To play the second and third parts and complete the game required payment of a shareware fee. This method made it possible for potential customers to get a good feel for the game play and to spur the desire to buy the rest of the game and finish it. (Like a good multi-part story, the end of one part of the game often involved a crisis that required the playing the next part to resolve.) The success of this method resulted in good sales for Apogee and good royalties for its programmers. Romero and Carmack, under the name of "id Software" (a company that didn't yet officially exist), sold a successful shareware game in 1990 through Apogee called "Commander Keen: Invasion Of The Vorticons". Starting in 1991, they made the company name official, and continued to write games that they sold through Apogee using its shareware model. For a while, they had to continue to help with Softdisk, while new programmers came up to speed on taking over the Gamer's Edge (which Romero and Carmack had started). They created several side-scrolling games, including Dangerous Dave (first on the Apple II and then later a conversion to the PC) for Softdisk, and the Commander Keen series for Apogee. With the help of Tom Hall and Adrian Carmack (no relation), who also had worked at Softdisk, Romero and Carmack began to work on an entirely new concept. They had previously done games that involved moving through a 3D environment (Hovertank and Catacombs 3D), but they wanted a more exciting game, one that involved using the 3D environment to shoot at enemies. Viewing the screen would be like looking through the eyes of the player; turning to the left or the right, or moving forwards or backwards would cause things to move in perspective as it would in real life. Additionally, the ability to move would also allow aiming at an enemy. After tossing around various ideas, they decided to reach back to their Apple II roots and do Silas Warner's Castle Wolfenstein in 3D. They conceived a game that had the same premise as the original game, escaping from a Nazi stronghold. During the game, it was necessary to collect weapons and kill bad guys (Nazis), while trying to stay alive by finding food and ammunition. Because their new game added a weapon at the bottom of the screen pointing forward with the movements of the player, id created the genre of the "first person shooter". (They had also considered adding features from the original Castle Wolfenstein, such as opening chests and capturing guards, but eliminated them as it slowed down the pace of the game.) The programmers contacted Silas Warner, and he did give permission to use the Wolfenstein concept in a game. id Software was ready to release "Wolfenstein 3D" in 1992, after six months of game development (oddly, the same time as it took Warner to create the original game). As with most of their other games, it was written to run under MS-DOS on Intel-based PCs. Following their desire to make games that pushed the frontiers of computing, Wolfenstein 3D was more hardware intensive than previous games they had written. For best game play it required a fairly fast PC and capable video card; in fact, it is likely that games like Wolfenstein 3D and its successor, DOOM, were responsible for motivating PC users to upgrade their machines in order to get best game play. The game was a very popular download, and quite profitable for id; at one point, it was bringing in $120,000 a month in shareware fees. Additionally, people learned how to hack into the game and create their own levels that could be used with the original game "engine", extending the game play further and enhancing its popularity. Building on the first person shooter concept, Romero and his partners pushed it further with their next hit game. In DOOM, it was possible for rooms be nearly any shape (Wolf 3D required all rooms to be composed of right angle corners) and allowing multiple floors in a single level (although it was not possible to cross underneath or over an area). DOOM II added new weapons and the ability to play competitively or cooperatively with other players on a network. They then used their growing expertise to write a new, more powerful 3D game engine for "Quake", which increased the complexity of the virtual world and of the game play, as well as improving network play. RETURN TO THE APPLE II As with the original Castle Wolfenstein, the popularity of Wolfenstein 3D and its descendants from id Software resulted in requests for conversions to enable the games to play on other platforms. Even console game manufacturers were interested in having it ported to their machines. In January 1994, a company called Imagineer released (under license) a version of the game for the Super Nintendo (SNES). However, Nintendo insisted on removal of the Nazi references, blood (which was changed to sweat), and rabid dogs (changed to rats). The 16-bit graphics available on the SNES also decreased the quality of the appearance of the game. In August, a version for the Atari Jaguar was released, in which the graphics were much improved. By October 1994, MacPlay released a conversion for the Macintosh. As versions of the game appeared on these other platforms, and the knowledge that the SNES ran on the same 65816 processor as did the Apple IIGS, it was speculated that a IIGS port was entirely possible. By mid-to-late 1994, rumors were surfacing that this was actually going to happen. The production of this IIGS version of Wolfenstein 3D did not come easily, however. Vitesse, an Apple II software company that had produced several utilities for the Apple IIGS, had also begun to publish games. In August 1994, Vitesse released "Ultima I GS", a conversion and enhancement of the older Apple II DOS 3.3 classic. They had announced and promised two other games, "Mind Shadow" and "Tracer Sanction" for the IIGS for 1995 (but never actually released them). But the one game that they hoped would be a huge seller for them was a IIGS port of Wolfenstein 3D. To bring this about, Vitesse contacted id Software and asked them for a license to do a port of the game. This part of the story gets somewhat complicated. Interplay had handled some of the Wolf 3D conversions for id Software, and assigned "Burger" Bill Heineman to do the Super Nintendo version of the game. Heineman actually used an Apple IIGS to do his SNES development, and so was simultaneously doing work that would allow a IIGS port to be done in the future. Unfortunately, he and Interplay disagreed with this parallel work, and he was dismissed from the company. Heineman and Steve Parsons then founded a new company, Logicware, to do similar work. At this point, Heineman's Logicware, Vitesse, and id together agreed to allow Logicware to work on a IIGS port of Wolf 3D, which Vitesse would market. However, the agreement apparently did not involve a significant monetary compensation for Logicware up front, and after he had completed about ninety percent of the game conversion, other better paying projects began to demand his attention. By this time, a post made by Lowell Erbe of Vitesse in December 1994 had generated considerable excitement. He stated that an Apple IIGS conversion of the hit Wolfenstein 3D was soon to be released. He stated, "We're just wrapping up Wolfenstein 3D and should begin shipping within the next two weeks." (This confident statement was likely made based on a progress report from Heineman.) A pre-release price of $39.95 was offered if ordered before January 1, 1995, with a price increase to $49.95 after that date. Vitesse was also at that time struggling to get a IIGS fax program, Faxination, completed and shipped, but that had been falling behind schedule and did not appear until March 1995, and that as a less-than-full release version (v0.1.5). Scott Everts worked at Interplay, and had previously done the artwork for the Macintosh version of Wolf 3D. He was a big fan of the Apple IIGS, and really wanted the company to do a IIGS version of the game. After Heineman began the IIGS version, Everts worked during his Christmas holiday in 1994, downsampling the Mac version's artwork from 128x128 pixels to 64x64 pixels and 16 colors for the IIGS. He made a number of posts on GEnie about the coming game; he confirmed in January that Bill Heineman was the programmer doing the conversion, and that this port of Wolfenstein 3D was based on the Macintosh "Third Encounter" version of the game. Because the game play and graphic manipulation was highly processor-intensive, an accelerator was STRONGLY recommended. He also promised that the IIGS version would be true to the original PC game, and would not be like the Super Nintendo "sanitized" version that had been so disappointing to fans of the game. It was to be as much like the original as was technically possible. The various previous translations of the game that had appeared had not necessarily included the same levels as were in the original PC game. The Super Nintendo and Jaguar versions came with thirty levels that were MODIFICATIONS of levels in the original game. The Macintosh version of the game used these thirty modified levels, plus the original sixty PC levels. In fact, the Macintosh release of Wolfenstein 3D came in three different flavors: One with three levels (the shareware trial), one with thirty levels, and one with all ninety levels. It was planned that the Apple IIGS conversion of the game would include ALL of these levels, the sixty levels of the original PC game (divided into six missions of ten levels each), and the thirty modified levels that appeared in the Super Nintendo, Jaguar, and Macintosh shareware versions. Customization of the game was, as mentioned above, a popular feature for PC gamers. These level files (which contained the maps, items, and artwork for a series of levels) would have a quite different format on the IIGS than it had on the PC, and so it was not possible to play existing customized PC Wolf levels. However, Everts said that Heineman was including in the IIGS version the ability to load new levels, if a programmer created them (although a level editor was not planned for the final release). Soon after Everts made his post, Lowell Erbe of Vitesse again posted a promise that the game release was imminent: "We're working out some final details and a few bugs." He could not promise a specific date it would be available, but hoped to begin shipment of it by February 1995. DELAYS, DELAYS In February, posts began to appear indicating that there were problems with the conversion process. It appeared that the sixty additional levels were causing problems. There was also mention of a dispute of some sort regarding that contract for the game, a dispute that was contributing to the delay. This problem was still ongoing in April. Heineman himself posted a message on GEnie in May to explain part of what was going on. He said that there was a disagreement between he and his former employer, problems that required involvement of lawyers and the need for him to at least temporarily stop working on Wolf 3D (it was indirectly involved in this legal matter). No further posts about this appeared on GEnie until August; Vitesse then claimed that they were still waiting for Heineman to fix bugs, and this was holding up the game release. By September, Everts again came online stating that he had heard that if Heineman didn't get the game completed by the end of the month, Vitesse planned to cancel the project and refund those who had pre-paid for it. He also expressed frustration about having done work on the art of the game, and then to learn that it would not be shipped. A later post by Everts in November reiterated that statement that Vitesse was NOT to blame for the cancellation of the project, and "they have been doing everything possible to get Bill to finish it." Then in December 1995 it was announced that Vitesse was contacting customers who had earlier paid in advance for Wolfenstein 3D for the IIGS, asking if they were still interested in the game. A representative of the company had gone to far as to (again) predict a release date (unofficial), this time for late January 1996. However, after two days of making these phone calls, Vitesse had to stop the process and rescind the predicted January date. The reason given was that a different programmer had been contacted to complete Wolf 3D, and that id Software now insisted on a new contract. SHEPPY TAKES OVER Eric Shepherd had a reputation as a talented programmer for the Apple IIGS, and had released a number of utilities, under his shareware name "SheppyWare" as well as with Softdisk G-S. He began to work with Logicware in September of 1995, when rumors were still flying about whether or not the IIGS conversion of Wolfenstein would ever be completed. At this time Heineman had his hands full of projects that Logicware had been contracted to do, beside the IIGS Wolf 3D project. He was completing work on translation of Wolf 3D for the 3DO game console, and then had to move on immediately to create a version of DOOM II, also for the 3DO. Vitesse's contract with id Software had expired by this time. Logicware managed to get a new contract with id, but the new contract did not allow them to sell the game, but rather stated that Logicware had to make it available as freeware. The reason for this odd change was likely what happened in August, 1995. At that time, id Software uploaded to CompuServe the source code for Wolfenstein 3D (not including the graphics or the code for the levels). It would not have then been appropriate to allow Logicware to make the game for sale. Sheppy volunteered to take over the project near the end of 1995. What had already been completed was getting the 3D game engine functional, and it was thought that all that was necessary to complete it was to make the game save function and the sound work. Since the game could not be sold and would therefore not generate any revenue, it was moved to a low priority level, and was worked on amidst as many as four other paying projects. At the time Shepherd took on the Wolfenstein 3D project, he stated on GEnie, "Keep in mind that the last 10% of a program requires 90% of the work. Although Wolf 3D for the IIGS is nearly finished, the part that's left to do is the hardest part -- making sure it works flawlessly and as fast as possible. That's my job here." He also asked to NOT be contacted with e-mails asking about the game or about progress on it, as responding to them would take away from time he could be working on programming. Much of Sheppy's development work was done on a Macintosh running an Apple IIGS emulator, first Gus and later Bernie ][ The Rescue. The primary reason for doing the work had to do with the time needed to compile the source code. On a 10 MHz accelerated IIGS, Wolf 3D took over 90 minutes to compile; when running on the Gus emulator on a 120 MHz PowerPC 604 Mac, it would compile in only 15 to 20 minutes. From the start of the 1996 until spring, he worked (intermittently) on the sound and music drivers, fixed cosmetic bugs and speed problems, and optimized the code. In June he started adding the music to the game, and began to quietly seed beta versions of the game to select testers. FINE TUNING The music presented a particular problem in making this conversion. The first music that they worked with was that used in the Macintosh version of the game, translated into synthLAB format for the IIGS. However, Interplay (not id Software) held the copyrights for this particular music; and since Logicware did not have a license from Interplay for the music, it could not be used. A further problem was that the music slowed down the game play too much. As a result, Sheppy removed the music that played during the game, and then accepted an offer by Tony Gonzales to have new music created for the game introduction. (Gonzales had done music for other games Heineman had written). At this point the game was sufficiently functional to allow a demonstration to be given at KansasFest 1996. It was announced at that conference that open beta testing would begin on Genie "in a few weeks", and that the final version of Wolf 3D would be released as freeware, which had not previously been publicly announced. Beta testing of Wolfenstein 3D for the IIGS was announced during September 1996. An FAQ posted on the Logicware web site at that time stated that a pause mode had been added, the sound effect player was being replaced by a more efficient one, music had been added, and new art work had been added. Sheppy even went so far as to predict that it would be ready for release by Christmas 1996. This testing progressed to the point that a more general beta release was announced for November. By this time, however, Sheppy had realized that not only the music but also the sound effects they were using in the game were owned by Interplay. These also could not be used. Furthermore, when he examined the sounds used in the original PC version, he did not feel that their quality was very good. Therefore, the sounds were completely removed from the demo before it was released. The general beta was released on November 17, 1996. This beta/demo version included the first three levels of the game, did not include the ability to save a game in progress, and of course did not have any sound effects. As on the PC version, the game pushed the computer to its limits, and required an Apple IIGS with a hard drive having at least 2 MB of free space, 4 MB of available RAM, as well as the strong recommendation for an accelerator. The December 1996 issue of GenieLamp A2 included a review by editor Doug Cuff of this beta version of the game. He awarded the game "five lamps", the highest rating a reviewed product could be given. He pointed out that without an accelerator, significant slowdowns would occur; this was especially noticeable especially during combat, when shooting would be delayed. To solve the problem with the sounds, Sheppy accessed the Logicware stock sound library, found some appropriate for the game, and installed them. With that problem taken care of, it would seem that not much was left to complete the game. But then more contributions appeared from a European source. NINJAFORCE When the first screen shots of Wolf 3D for the IIGS appeared on the Internet during 1996, members of a German Apple IIGS programming group named Ninjaforce saw how the artwork had changed from the 256 color originals in the PC version of the game, to the 16 color versions that could be used on the IIGS. One of the Ninjaforce team, known as Clue, felt that he could do better, and so contacted Bill Heineman to ask if he could work on that part of the project, work that he would do for free. By the time he got an initial approval from Heineman, Sheppy had taken over, and Clue had to repeat the process with him. This would be a problem because the original artist, Scott Everts, would likely not be happy about having his work replaced. Additionally, Sheppy knew that it would be a lot of work to make the changes. Initially, Clue sent Sheppy new artwork for the menus in the game. The quality of the work impressed him. Clue then asked permission to re-do that artwork throughout the game. He sent some samples to try, and although Sheppy was not enthusiastic about it initially, he found the improvement in the appearance of the game to be amazing. After the decision was made to make these changes, the promised release in December 1996 had to be delayed. For a game that was to be available in December, every month of delay seemed interminable. Clue would respond to Sheppy's pleas for final artwork that, "It's not perfect yet!" Part of this delay had to do with the process of needing to pixel-edit nearly every graphic in the game, after making a conversion from the original PC art. Finally, by the spring of 1997, this large task was complete. Another part of the game that Ninjaforce impacted was the spoken voices and some of the sound effects in the game. Since the Ninjaforce programmers were from Germany, they were eminently suited to speak the German phrases that appeared in the game. In fact, some of the phrases in the original PC version of the game didn't even make sense. In one place, a guard shouts, "Haben Sie Fhrerschein?" which means "Do you have driving license?" One of Ninjaforce's members, Dreamer, asked his grandfather to speak the phrases that were wanted for the game. These were recorded in April 1997, and appeared in the final version. As a result, the IIGS version of Wolf 3D is the only version in which AUTHENTIC German voices and pronunciations were used in the game. MORE DELAYS So the new artwork was done, the sounds were fixed; why didn't the summer of 1997 see the release of Wolf 3D? According to Sheppy, he and Logicware had "an artistic dispute on another project", and he was fired from the company. For several months, he did not do any work on Wolfenstein 3D. By fall of 1997 he arranged with Heineman to resume work on it. At this point, Sheppy had moved several hundred miles away, and was working for Be, Inc. As he resumed work on it, the major concern was performance. In an online chat on Delphi, programmer Nathan Mates suggested a different technique of graphic rendering; when Sheppy tried it, the speed increase was dramatic. He also implemented additional features, such as the preferences screen, and the Open-Apple-number key combinations to change the screen size (helpful for those with slower processors that needed a smaller screen to update). Further mention of the game in The Lamp! did not appear until January 1998, when the final, true release date was announced: Valentine's Day, February 14, 1998. Then even at this late date, the game almost didn't make it out the door. At 2:30 pm on February 13th, beta tester Tony Diaz found a major bug that would cause the game to crash. Sheppy worked throughout the rest of the day to find and fix the bug. He sent a release build of the game to his testers at 10:00 pm, asking them about whether it should or should not be released. He finally got approval from them all, got the final release packaged up, and uploaded it at 11:58 pm on February 13. THE FINAL PRODUCT The result of all of the work and the delays was a much better game than would have appeared if it had followed the original timeline that Vitesse had wanted back in 1994 and 1995. Rather than simply being done to make a profit, Sheppy and his team of beta testers worked on it as a labor of love, trying to create the very best game they could. Earlier concerns about the game not working with an AppleDesign keyboard on a IIGS turned out to be incorrect. The game had been so greatly anticipated that even the Apple IIGS emulator Bernie ][ The Rescue was modified in such a way as to make it possible to play the game. Sheppy sweetened the deal further by releasing a Wolfenstein 3D Scenario Converter, making it possible to play custom levels that had been designed for the Macintosh version of the game. A feature that didn't appear in the original documentation file for the game was the ability to capture a screen shot of the current game screen and save it in the Wolfenstein 3D game directory. The original game by id Software included some special codes ("cheats") that made it possible to get help if you were in trouble. This attribute was carried through even into the translations that were done for the Super Nintendo, 3D0, and Jaguar, and of course for the Apple IIGS version. These codes included some "Easter eggs" as well: SARAH Get 100 health back IDDQD Toggle "god" mode on and off BURGER Set max ammo to 999 instead of 99, and gives 999 ammo WOWZERS Get all weapons and max ammo LEDOUX Get both keys and god mode SEGER Gives you both keys MCCALL Immediately jump to next level APPLEIIGS Make secret doors visible on automap (shows player's head) SHEPPY Get an extra life GETAJOB Replaces certain Hitler portraits with Steve Jobs BARBARIAN Replaces certain Hitler portraits with Bill Gates HARDWIRED Replaces certain walls with Tony Diaz LIBRARIAN Replaces certain walls with Tony Ward MEIJERDUDE Replaces certain walls with Dave Miller DONHO Replaces certain walls with Ryan Suenaga (By the way, the appearance of the player in "god" mode is more cool on the IIGS than on the other platforms. On the IIGS he is wearing sunglasses; on other platforms, he has shining red eyes.) SQUASHING BUGS A maintenance update to version 1.0.1 appeared shortly after Wolf 3D's original release. In March 1998 a patch program was available to download, which fixed a crash occurring in certain low memory situations, and changing the startup music to continue playing while a scenario was being selected. In April, Wolfenstein 3D players began to mention that their systems were becoming unstable after playing Wolfenstein 3D. Sheppy eventually tracked down the problem to a bug in the system software that is triggered only when applications attempt to patch the system software following the rules documented in Apple's Technical Notes. Wolfenstein 3D uses a Toolbox patch to work around another system software bug. Sheppy fixed this problem by changing his code to not follow Apple's own rules, but use a different patching method that is more transparent to the operating system. The version 1.1 update that fixed this was released on May 1, 1998, and included a completely rewritten sound code section (which allowed more sounds to be played at once), increased keyboard configuration options. AFTERMATH To say that Wolfenstein 3D for the Apple IIGS was "popular" would be an understatement. It even became an event at KansasFest 1998, with a "KFest Shootout" planned as a contest. In January 1999, Ryan Suenaga listed it as one of the two best freeware products of 1998, tying with Kelvin Sherlock's "GShisen". The Wolfenstein 3D Scenario Converter, a casualty of falling shareware payments in the Apple IIGS community, was changed from a $5 fee to freeware in September 1999. It is safe to say that the game as it was finally released was a far better conversion than would have appeared if it had stayed the commercial product that Vitesse had originally wanted it to be. Certainly, Bill Heineman is an excellent programmer, and would have come up with a great game if he had been able to apply the time to it. However, when Sheppy took over the project and continued to plug away at it even after there was no longer any chance of financial compensation for all of his work, it became a matter of making it PERFECT. Wolfenstein 3D on the IIGS is one of the most complex and demanding games that ever appeared for that computer, and a credit to the dedication to the platform demonstrated by Sheppy and his contributors. THAT'S THE WAY I LIKE IT Next month we will return to the Lamp yearly review, as I have no further side stories that are just itchin' to be told. Until then, pull out your copy of Wolf 3D and blast some bad guys! References: -----. "A Funny Thing Happened...." The Lamp!: Feb through Dec 1998. Beerman, Marcel 'Doc'. "Q&A with John Romero about DOOM (III) Part I". PROJECT DOOM. http://www.projectdoom.com/romero.html (Dec 2003). -----. "Beyond Castle Wolfenstein". HOME OF THE UNDERDOGS. http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?name=Beyond+Castle+Wolfenstein (Dec 2003). -----. "Castle Wolfenstein". WOLFENSTEIN.ORG. http://wolfenstein.org/fanclub/castle_wolfenstein.phtml (Dec 2003). Cuff, Douglas. PD_QUICKVIEW, "Wolfenstein 3-D IIGS (Demo)". GENIELAMP A2, Dec 1996. Kai, Satoshi. "Wolfenstein Fundamentals: The History Of The Game Unprecedented". THE WOLFENMANIA CHRONICLE. http://www1.linkclub.or.jp/~clubey/Mac%20Wolf/fundamentals.html (Dec 2003). -----. "Hey Mister Postman". GENIELAMP A2, Jan through Dec 1995, Jan, June, July, and Oct 1996. -----. "Hey Mister Postman". GENIELAMP A2, Apr 1997. -----. "Marketalk News". SOFTALK, Sept 1981:32. -----. "The History Of John Romero And John Carmack". MICRO MART. http://www.micromart.co.uk/content/features/default.asp?Category=Article&ID =1376 (Dec 2003). -----. MOBY GAMES. http://www.mobygames.com (Dec 2003). Ninjaforce. "Haben Sie Fhrerschein?", Feb 13, 2000. NINJAFORCE WEB SITE. http://www.ninjaforce.com/html/special_wolf_interview.html (Dec 2003). -----. "Interview with Daikatana Creator John Romero". PRIMA GAMES. http://www.primagames.com/news/interview/921/ (Dec 2003). Romero, John. "John Romero's Dangerous Dave Page". PLANET //ROME.RO. http://rome.ro/article_saga_dave.htm (Dec 2003). Shepherd, Eric. Email, Dec 2003. Tommervik, Margot. "Marketalk Reviews: Castle Wolfenstein". SOFTALK, October 1981: 55-58. [EOA] [ANS]------------------------------- ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM SYNDICOMM | ------------------------------------ by Lyle Syverson [TSU] TO SIGN UP FOR SYNDICOMM ONLINE """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Please visit our web site at http://www.syndicomm.com for information or to sign up! (Logon message) [EOA] [LTE]------------------------------- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR | ------------------------------------ NO LETTERS TO THE EDITOR THIS MONTH """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" The mail box for Letters to the Editor remained empty this month. [EOA] AN INVITATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Express your opinions about the comings and goings in the world of the Apple II computers. Send your comments to Lyle Syverson, Editor The Editor reserves the right to edit any material submitted. The Editor reserves the right to reject any material he considers unsuitable for publication in _The Lamp!_. [EOA] [KFC]------------------------------ KFest Comments | ----------------------------------- [WKF] Woz KansasFest - IN Apple II HISTORY """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" So, six months or so later. . . where does the Woz KansasFest fall into Apple II history? Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 2, Top 15, Msg 30) >>>>> """"" He appears at an awful lot of events; it's not exactly historic. But I think it holds a special place in our hearts. I still hope he comes again, as a regular attendee. Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 2, Top 15, Msg 31) >>>>> """"" He does appear at a lot of events (more now than he used to), but I think it's a little more significant than any other event, when more than a quarter century after its debut, he spends a few hours at the event at the center of the Apple II universe. While I don't think there was anything totally new in his keynote address, it was a fascinating speech. Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 2, Top 15, Msg 32) [EOA] [KFE] KFest ENDORSED """""""""""""" The absolutely best place to meet Apple II enthusiasts is at KFest in July. A lot of old timers, programmers and venders are there both US and international. Absolutely the greatest bunch of people you'd ever want to meet. New products are unveiled. For the rest of the season join A2Central.com. Sandy (Sandra Warnken, comp.sys.apple2.marketplace) [EOA] [KFF]------------------------------ KFest 2004 | ----------------------------------- [KF4] KansasFest 2004 """"""""""""""" KansasFest 2004 is planned for July 20-25, 2004 at Avila University in Kansas City, Missouri. (Heading: Cat 5, Top 22) [EOA] [KFT] KFest 2004 TALK """"""""""""""" I recently read on CNN.com about "Camp Foo", an annual camping trip for geeks. http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/01/09/bus2.feat.geek.camp/index.html It sounds remarkably like another event we all know of... (KGAGNE, Cat 5, Top 22, Msg 6) >>>>> """"" Doesn't it? :) Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com Building communities, bit by bit. (SYNDICOMM, Cat 5, Top 22, Msg 7) >>>>> """"" I'm as much an outdoors guy as just about anyone, so I bet that would be a ton of fun. OTOH, doing camping outdoors in the K.C. summer would suck suck suck :) Ryan (A2.RYAN, Cat 5, Top 22, Msg 8) >>>>> """"" ..as someone who has camped in the general area of Kfest in July, I would advise against camping as your form of residence for Kfest. First of all you'd miss all the insanity of the dorms, second of all a low temperature at night in the lower 80's F is about the opposite of fun... Any more words on Kfest 2004 been said officially? Dain Kfest...Disneyland for Apple ][ers. (A2.DAIN, Cat 5, Top 22, Msg 9) >>>>> """"" I guess I can speak officially -- today I finally received the contract from Avila! We will start registrations as soon as we know how much insurance costs have risen since last year. The Big Cheese (CINDYADAMS, Cat 5, Top 22, Msg 10) [EOA] [VKF] WATCH FOR MORE INFORMATION AT THE KFest HOME PAGE """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" KFest Home Page http://www.kfest.org/ [EOA] [INN]------------------------------ EXTRA INNINGS | ----------------------------------- About The Lamp! The Lamp! is published on the fifteenth of every month on """"""""""""""" the WEB at: http://lamp.a2central.com/ This publication produced entirely with real or emulated Apple II computers using Appleworks 5.1 and Hermes. Apple II Forever! * The Lamp! is (c) copyright 2004 by Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W. All rights reserved. * To reach The Lamp! on Internet email send mail to thelamp@sheppyware.net * All issues of The Lamp! are available at The Lamp! Home Page, http://lamp.a2central.com/ >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of A2Central.com, Delphi Online Services, Syndicomm, Ryan M. Suenaga, or Lyle Syverson. Forum messages are reprinted verbatim and are included in this publication with permission from the individual authors. A2Central.com, Delphi Online Services, Syndicomm, Ryan M. Suenaga, and Lyle Syverson do not guarantee the accuracy or suitability of any information included herein. We reserve the right to edit all letters and copy. Material published in this edition may not be reprinted without the expressed written consent of the publisher. Registered computer user groups, not for profit publications , and other interested parties may write the publisher to apply for permission to reprint any or all material. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< [EOF]