Sinclair Survival Column

Before you get the idea that we have abandoned the T/S 1000/1500 and T/S 2068 computers in favor of the QL, let me reassure you. As long as there are new products and developments concerning these micros you can count on Computer Shopper to bring you the news.

When Timex originally announced its second computer, it was nothing more than a Sinclair ZX Spectrum with the Timex/Sinclair 2000 name. All of the software written in Great Britain for that very popular home computer would be available for our new computer. However, thanks to the Spectrum’s inability to pass FCC tests, the T/S 2000 was redesigned totally. Improvements were made in the ROM during this redesign which caused any software written in machine code to be inoperable on the T/S 2068. Since most games are written in machine code, this virtually eliminated the vast assortment of popular software available in the U.K.

At first it seemed as if some of the earliest games released by Quicksilva would be modified for the T/S 2068. Quicksilva had established an office in Texas and had actually released a few games, but when Timex pulled the plug, so did Quicksilva.

But Knighted Computers (707 Highland Street; Fulton, NY 13069; 315-593-8219) came to the rescue. Obtaining the rights to Quicksilva’s entire line of Spectrum software, continued the process which Quicksilva began.

Those of you who have been reading this column since its inception might remember my attempt to order Trader Trilogy from Quicksilva upon obtaining my T/S 2068. This adventure was extremely popular on the T/S 1000 when it was the only Timex computer, and when it appeared in one of Quicksilva’s flyers for the T/S 2068 I ordered it only to find out that the translation had not yet been completed. I wound up purchasing another adventure (Smugglers Cove) and awaited Trader’s release. As you may have figured out by now, this translation was never completed-by Quicksilva. However, it is now on Knighted Computer’s list of Spectrum games which have been modified to work on a standard T/S 2068.

Knighted Computer’s translations have a number of benefits over using a ROMSWITCH, Spectrum Emulator or Spectrum ROM. First of all is the obvious advantage of not having to spend the extra money for one of those add-ons for your American computer. The second benefit is what makes these translations so worthwhile. The games on the Spectrum do not utilize the joystick ports built in to our T/S 2068’s although you can have joystick control by adding one of the many joystick interfaces available for the Spectrum, such as the Kempston which has become the standard. Knighted Computer has very logically modified these games to be able to read input from the T/S 2068’s joystick ports.

One of the first of these games which I had the opportunity to try was Trashman. A very simple premise, you are a prospective trash collector and have been given a street in which to collect and empty the trashbins. Along the route you will have to beware of obstacles such as cars, bicycles and dogs. Running into one of these can slow you down (as in the case of the bicycles and dogs) or kill you (if you get hit by a car). Your truck arrives with you and slowly heads down the street. You must collect the trash from both sides of the street and empty each trash can into the truck before it finishes its trip. You may gain extra points along the way by helping the housewives with the small chores they may ask you to do. If you successfully complete your assigned street, you get assigned to another, more difficult street. As with most games of this type, there is a high score table into which you may enter your name upon completion.

Although it doesn’t sound as spectacular as some of the newer arcade type games, Trashman has proved very addictive. So addictive, in fact, that a sequel has been released-Travels with Trashman. Both Trashman and Travels with Trashman have been translated and are available from Knighted Computers.

Two of the more exciting games translated by Knighted Computers are Fighter Pilot and Night Gunner-both from Digital Integration. Fighter Pilot is a realtime flight simulation based upon U.S. Air Force’s F-15 Eagle. This simulation offers many of the features found on modern flight simulations including 3-D view from the cockpit, full aerobatic performance, air-to-air combat, crosswinds, turbulence and blind landing. There is a training mode for each of the options in Fighter Pilot which allows you to learn the controls and their effects under less than the most demanding conditions. You are also offered different pilot ratings for varying levels of skill. Night Gunner is based on the Avro Lancaster four-engine bomber, although it is not intended to be a true simulation of flying this plane.

Night Gunner is an action packed arcade-style game based on a Second World War scenario. You are the gunner and bomb aimer whose task is to defend your plane against enemy attack and destroy the ground targets in 30 different missions. The rewards are high for the expert marksman and the going gets tougher on each new mission.

Both games have a large number of controls which you must learn as well as some fairly technical aspects connected with flying. As in the U.K. where they are played on the Spectrum, you have the option of choosing either joysticks or keyboard controls. The controls are complex and offer quite a challenge for those willing to accept. There are also a number of cockpit readouts which you must monitor and respond to.

Knighted Computers latest coup has been the obtaining of the U.S. rights to Durell’s line which include their popular games Turbo Esprit and Saboteur. Also distributed by Knighted Computer is a program entitled Thoroughbred Handicapper. This program applies handicapping techniques and the power of a computer to the rating of thoroughbred horses. It is not a magic formula, but the author claims that using the computer wisely should improve your performance at the track.

The program itself uses eight different criteria for rating horses, relying heavily on their performance last time out on a fast track. With a little practice you will be able to handicap a race in only a few minutes. All you need is a copy of the Daily Racing Form and a copy of the track’s program which contains the horses’ post position and jockeys. (This program is only to be used when the track is classified as fast.)

When using this program you will need to know some in- formation which must be entered when prompted. This data includes race distance; half mile time; final time; winner; weight last race; weight this race; current jockey ability; jockey ability last race; post position this race; beaten favorite factor (explained in manual) and class: up, down or same. Given this information, the computer will rank the horses in order. You have a limit of 15 horses each race.

The Wagermaster is a companion program which comes with the Handicapper program. It provides a quick and easy way to calculate racing payoffs at various odds. It will also display a variety of betting options for daily doubles, exactas, trifectas and other multiple bet races.

As with all of Knighted Computers’ software this is well documented. Also available for harness and greyhound handicapping. Knighted Computer also distributes other software for the T/S 2068 that is not in the fun and games area. One of these is The Complete Machine Code Tutor.

Originally written for the Spectrum by New Generation Software of Bath, England, Knighted Computers has applied their expertise to modifying it to be compatible with the T/S 2068. The program takes up four sides of two cassette tapes.

The tutor portion of this program is arranged in 35 lessons. These lessons include all the instructions available on the Z80 processor which runs the T/S 2068. Each instruction is covered on screen and followed by example programs which you may use as exercises and modify them using the knowledge gained in the lesson. There are safeguards built in to prevent a system crash resulting from your modifications. Lessons cover such topics as registers and memory; register pairs; carry flags; zero flag; conditional and unconditional jumps; calls to subroutines; hexadecimal notation; binary; parity; block instructions; interrupts and much more. You can choose the lesson you wish to view and go straight to it without having to start at the beginning until you get to the point you want to start your session.

There is also a simulated editor in which you may try out what you have learned without the possibility of a bad piece of coding producing a system crash.

This machine code tutor comes in a plastic case containing both cassette tapes and a 22 page manual. If machine code has always alluded you as it has me) perhaps The Complete Machine Code Tutor will show you the way.

If you don’t want to learn machine code but want the speed which is derived from such programming, Knighted Computers also distributes the Zip Basic Compiler. A compiler is a program which converts BASIC into machine code. Ideally, the machine code performs in exactly the same way as the BASIC program-but much more quickly.

When you first load the Zip compiler, a demonstration program will occupy lines below number 5000. You can run this program to see how slow it executes in BASIC and then compile it and see how the compiled version runs. A demonstration game which can be compiled is recorded on the tape immediately after the compiler itself.

You can save a copy of the Zip compiler and its library of routines for use with your own programs. The program you wish to compile must be less than 13K in length and contain no lines numbered higher than 4999.

As Zip compiles a program the listing will scroll up the screen as the compiler checks for obvious errors. A message will appear immediately following each error. If no such errors are found Zip will start generating machine code. This time the current line number appears along with the number of bytes of machine code generated. Additional errors may be detected at this stage and error messages are produced. If the compilation takes place without any errors being detected you will see the message “ZIP HAS FINISHED.” User defined graphics may also be saved along with your program.

Zip is sensitive to addons which may produce system crashes, so if this occurs try running your program without each peripheral. Lip Compiler may be used along with other machine code programs such as toolkits or assemblers by following the instructions included with Zip.

The following are benchmark tests performed using Zip Compiler. The results are listed in seconds.

Benchmark Test	ZIP	BASIC
1. For-Next Loop	0.030	4.88
2 If Loop	0.065	9.02
3. Variable Arithmetic	0.197	21.93
4. Constant Arithmetic	0.110	20.68
5. Subroutine Call and 4	0.118	25.22
6. Nested Loop and 5	0.300	62.80
7. Array success and 6	0.470	89.96
8. Math Functions	N/A	25.07

Benchmark tests 5 through 7 contain the coding of the previous test plus some additional statements.

The Zip Compiler occupies about 16K including variables and REMarks. Once loaded you are left with 12.5K for the program to be compiled and 10.5K for the generated machine code. Zip recognizes 45 Sinclair BASIC keyboards so some were omitted in the interests of speed and simplicity. You may use up to 26 single letter numeric variables and 26 arrays. Zip allows all of the usual arithmetic operators (+, -, *, /) but only stores whole numbers between -32767 and 32767. No decimal arithmetic is allowed. Strings and streams may not be used. RND and INKEY$ may be replaced by routines listed in the manual.

A few restrictions must be followed while using Zip and these are described in the appendix.

As with all compilers, you must be aware of its limitations or you will be disappointed. Compilers don’t replace the ability to produce your own machine code programs, but if you stay within the compilers restrictions they can work wonders with your BASIC programs.

Be sure to mention that you read about these programs in Computer Shopper when you write for a copy of Knighted Computer’s catalogue.