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Date:         Mon, 23 Nov 1992 16:12:00 EST
From:         Jim Loomis <LOOMIS@ITHACA.BITNET>
Subject:      GEnie Weekend News 111392

Long post:  700+ lines.

Warning.  The following contains suggested retail pricing and promotional
information which you may find offensive.  If that is likely, delete now.


                            -*-   IMPORTANT!   -*-

         As long as individual  stories are kept intact  and credit
         is given, this  material may be  reproduced in ALL or PART
         on a  privately owned  BBS or in a  user group newsletter.
         See wording for proper credit at the end of this Newscast.

Thanks to Denny Atkin, Editor, COMPUTE's Amiga Resource, for his generous input.




                       DateLine:  November 13, 1992
           This 5-MINUTE Newscast presents the following stories:
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 1.  Some Music MOD History

 2.  HyperCache Professional Announced

 3.  RedShift Annouces New ISAM Server/Library for Amiga

 4.  Next Week's *StarShip* Amiga Conferences
        [DELETED]

 5.  ADPro and CED Grab Top Honors in 1992 Reader's Choice Awards

 6.  Gold Disk to Support Apple Computer's QuickTime for Windows

 7.  Free Firmware Upgrade Adds Punch to SupraFAXModem(tm) V.32/V.32bis

 8.  "AmigaDOS Reference Guide" Now Covers Releases 2 and 3

 9.  Impressions: Air Force Commander & Discovery - In the Steps of Columbus





                         *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                            1st of 9 Stories


                         Some Music MOD History
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                            by Sylvia Lutnes
 ______
(__  __)       Reprinted from GEnie LiveWire Online Magazine
  / /
 / /
(_/hrough the efforts of various       _                       ____
programmers, Amiga MOD music files    ( )                     |____|
can now be heard on many computer  ___|/________|\____________|____|_______
platforms. Though they're now the |__/|/_)_|____|_______|\__(_)__(_)_______|
rage in many homes and would-be   |_(_|_/__|__(_)_______|\_________________|
music studioes around the world,  |___|____|__________(_)__________________|
they've been enjoyed on Amigas    |________|_________________________(_)___|
for several years. The MOD format                                      |
originated in Europe but its concept pre-dates even the Amiga.         |

Some MOD History

Europe had embraced the flashy and capable Commodore C64 as a means of
artistic expression. Its graphics and built-in sound synthesis capabilities
were ideal for creating what were known as "demos." These demos were
multi-screened extravaganzas of colorful graphics and dancing sprites with
finger-clicking music. The most popular editor in Europe for doing the music for
these demos was called Electrosound. And hundreds of demos were programmed to
use Electrosound files to pump out the background music.  When the Amiga came
along, it was a natural platform for these artists to migrate to. But the sound
was different. No longer were there built-in synthesizers, instead there was the
capability of using sampled sounds and sound effects as instruments... a real
bass instead of a synthesized one. A new type of music editor and file format
were needed to accomodate this new concept. Thus were born the "tracker" editors
and their MOD files.

The best known of the Amiga editors is SoundTracker, which evolved into
NoiseTracker, and then into ProTracker. Most of the MOD files you will come
across in GEnie Libraries mention that they are in one of these three formats.
They're called "Trackers" because the music is laid out in parallel tracks,
one track per voice. Each set of tracks is separated into blocks -- and here's
where some magic lies.

Music Building Blocks

The music file itself contains these block numbers. This allowed the more
sophisticated players to jump around in the music. Ahh, fine. But so what?
Well, this enabled musicians to set up music files with different styles of
music, or even different songs, in separate blocks. Then a programmer writing
a "demo," for example, could use a jump to a specific block number (triggered
by a screen change, for instance) to change the background music on cue.

This block concept, along with bundling the instruments and sampled sounds in
the same, well-documented, standardized file, gave programmers one simple neat
package to work with... the MODule file.

And work they did. Hundreds of "Euro-demos" have been written for the Amiga
which use eye-popping graphics, animation, scrolling text, and MOD music to
dazzle the eye and ear. Many of these demos are put together by professional
graphics artists, programmers, and musicians to show off their abilities.
There are formal and informal get-togethers held all over Europe at which
these artists share their new works, some even offering prizes.

MOD Masterpieces

But it didn't end there. Because of the widespread use and popularity of the
MOD format, more and more musicians began composing their masterpieces using
these editors. The editors became more sophisticated in tempo manipulation,
volume control, effects generation, and number of instruments supported. Since
standalone players were being written by the handfuls it was no longer
necessary for a musician to depend on a programmer to let his music be heard.
The better the editors became, the better the music sounded and the more
musicians used them. MOD files broke their bonds with demos and games and
moved into the realm of pure music.

       *StarShip* News Note:  This article is reprinted from the
       November/December 1992 issue of GEnie LiveWire Online Magazine,
       which available free on GEnie*Basic page *LIVEWIRE.

                                   -*-







                          *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                             2nd of 9 Stories


                     HyperCache Professional Announced
    ___  ___         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   (_  )(  _)
    / /_/ /          Regina, SK Canada -- November 1992
   / __  /
 _/ / / /
(___)(__)yperCache is a media caching system for the Amiga series of personal
computers. It uses an intelligent caching system to bring the filesystem
performance up to workstation levels, and far exceeds the capabilities of the
standard system, Addbuffers. While any Amiga user can benefit, the greatest
performance gains are realized in situtations where storage devices are
important, such as compiler operation, database manipulation, manipulating
large word-processng files, etc.

HyperCache Pro Features

  - Works with any AmigaDOS compatible storage device, including
    but not limited to:
          SCSI Hard Drives
          IDE Hard Drive (AT and XT style)
          ST-506 Hard Drives
          Trackdisk-based floppies
          CD-ROM drives (CDTV included!)
          SCSI Tape Backup Units

  - HyperCache employs a pre-fetch technique that intelligently reads data
    BEFORE IT IS REQUESTED. In this way, even first time reads that are not
    in the cache are accelerated.

  - Any number of devices, and any number of units per device (up to
    available memory) may be cached.  Drives may be spread across multiple
    devices (SCSI, IDE, and Trackdisk caches resident in the same machine
    simultaneously).

  - Works with any filesystem, independant of device geometry. Alternate
    systems, such as MessyDOS and most CD-ROM filesystems are supported.

  - User-configurable cache parameters.  The cache is maintained as an n-way
    associative line cache, where the number of lines, line size, prefetch
    size, and overall cache size are configurable independantly for each
    device being cached. Automatic configuration is also supplied for the
    novice user.

Requirements

  - Kickstart 1.2 or higher (fully compatible and tested with 2.
  - 1M RAM recommended (and it screams with 32 bit RAM!)
  - Floppy, Hard Disk, CD-ROM, and Tape supported

Diskspeed Results
                                     A       B       C        D
          512 Byte Transfers       18395  111879  112159   477926
          4096 Byte Transfers      84644  440142  553855  1510893
          32768 Byte Transfers    132297  612320  565127  2112818

          A - A500, Addbuffers 1024
          B - A500, HyperCache Installed, auto-configured
          C - A3000, Addbuffers 1024
          D - A3000, HyperCache Installed, auto-configured

Availability

HyperCache is currently available only directly from the author, Silicon
Prairie Software, for the price of $29.95 US funds. (Canadian GST included).
Residents of Saskatchewan (both of you) add 7% PST. Shipping and Handling is
included in North America. HyperCache is a commerical product. It is not now,
nor has it ever been, public domain or freely-distributable software. Dealer
and Site Licence information available upon request. Mail your Check or Money
Order to:

                        Silicon Prairie Software
                          2326 Francis Street
                      Regina, SK  S4N 2P7  Canada

                                  -*-








                          *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                             3rd of 9 Stories


             RedShift Annouces New ISAM Server/Library for Amiga
   ____      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  (_  _)            Rochester, NY -- October 14, 1992
   / /
 _/ /
(____)SAM 1.01 for the Commodore Amiga(R) has arrived, a shareware product
giving even novice Amiga programmers the ability to easily store and retrieve
information. ISAM is composed of two parts, the server, which does the actual
work, and a resident library of functions that allow access to the server.

ISAM stands for Indexed Sequential Access Method. ISAM files are composed of
two files: the data file, where the records are stored in the order in which
they were received, and the index file, where certain key information from the
record is stored in order.

  A little background information:
   Records are groups of related information. For example: an "Employee"
   record could contain an employee's name, address, age, SS#, salary,
   seniority, and position.

   Keys are specific areas of a record which contain information needed to
   retrieve the records in order. In the above example, the employee's name
   would likely be used as a key, as would his Social Security Number (SS#).

Each ISAM file may contain up to 4G fixed-length records, each of which may be
from 4 bytes to 4GB in size. (The upper limits on quantity and size are, of
course, limited by available memory, disk space, and maximum file size.)

Each ISAM file may have multiple keys (up to 64K in number), each of which may
order the records differently. Each key may have values which are in
increasing or decreasing order, and each key may have unique values or values
that are allowed to repeat. A key may overlap another key. Key types are:
integer (signed or unsigned), floating point, text (case insensitive), and
ascii. Keys may be up to 499 bytes in length.

Program size is kept to a minimum, since a resident library is used. The
library code used is just a small section of code (< 8K) providing
communications with the server. The server is a background process that is
only installed in memory once per boot cycle - thereafter, any and all
programs ("users") that have the library open may use the server
simultaneously - thus making ISAM multi-"user".

ISAM is efficient. The server code and stack take up less than 53K, and
internal memory structures tracking users and files are dynamically allocated.

Multiple users may access the same ISAM file simultaneously, and may lock
files and individual records, limiting or even denying access to them by other
users, depending on the type of lock used (exclusive or shared).

There is essentially no limit to the number of different ISAM files that may
be open simultaneously (2G - 1), except available memory.

Records may be retrieved many different ways:
   Single record    - single key value (for unique keys)
                    - by record position in the data file (no key involved)

   Multiple records - in order by specific key
        - one key value
        - all key values
        - all key values after one specific key value *, [and/or]
                         before another specific key value *
        - all key values that begin with a specific prefix

        * (before and/or after key values may be included or excluded)

Data file space occupied by deleted records is reclaimed as new records are
stored.

ISAM index files which are destroyed or corrupted may be regenerated from the
data file.

Already existing record-sequential files (files consisting of sequential
fixed-length records) may be converted into ISAM files. They are first
converted into ISAM data files. The same process that recovers lost index
files is then used to create one.


System requirements: any Amiga, AmigaDOS v1.2 or higher, any language that can
access resident libraries such as the system libraries
(Exec/Intuition/DOS/etc).

After 90 days, if the user wishes to continue using ISAM, he/she is required
to REGISTER it. For US $45.00 plus Shipping/Handling[/SalesTax], registered
users receive the registered version, any necessary bug-fixes, information on
upgrades, and our undying gratitude. Complete information on how to register
ISAM is included in the shareware version. ISAM Copyright (c) 1992 Scott C.
Jacobs / RedShift Software. All Rights Reserved. GTDR.

The author can be reached via GE Mail at the address S.JACOBS8 or contacted at
RedShift Software, P.O. Box 10403, Rochester, NY 14610-0403.

                                   -*-







                          *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                             4th of 9 Stories

                                 [DELETED]

                                    -*-





                          *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                             5th of 9 Stories



       ADPro and CED Grab Top Honors in 1992 Reader's Choice Awards
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Two products from ASDG have earned the title "Reader's Choice"
      in a survey conducted by Amazing Computing. ASDG's Art Department
      Professional earned top honors in the Best Image Processing
      category by what Amazing Computing termed "a very wide margin."
      ASDG's CygnusEd Professional(TM) won for Best Text Editor.
    _
   / \               Madison WI, November 10, 1992
  / - \
 / ___ \
(_/   \_)SDG Incorporated, the leading innovator in color imaging technology
for the Commodore Amiga, proudly accepted two 1992 Reader's Choice Awards in
the categories of Best Image Processing Package and Best Text Editor.

Art Department Professional took the top prize in the Image Processing
category. Don Hicks, the Managing Editor of Amazing Computing which sponsored
the awards, said that ADPro had won by "a very wide margin." ASDG noted that
ADPro, the best selling image processing product for the Commodore Amiga, is
often referred to by the media as the de facto standard for color image
processing on that platform.

ASDG Sales Manager, Gina Cerniglia, said that, "We're very proud of our
accomplishments with ADPro but we're not resting on our laurels." ASDG has
recently broadened the ADPro family with the release of MorphPlus(TM), a
breakthrough visual effects package, and the announcement of new scanner
drivers for the HP ScanJetIIC and new color scanners from EPSON.

CygnusEd Professional(TM) was voted the Best Text Editor for 1992. CED,
written by CygnusSoft Software of Vancouver Canada, is published and supported
worldwide by ASDG.

"These awards are especially gratifying to us since they come as a result of
thousands of ballots cast by Amiga owners," said Perry Kivolowitz, president
of ASDG Incorporated. He added, "To us, it reinforces the notion that the
Amiga marketplace is quality driven." Previously, ASDG has been recognized
with an award from Commodore Business Machines (for valuable contributions to
CDTV).

For more information about ASDG's color imaging solutions contact Gina
Cerniglia at ASDG Incorporated, 925 Stewart Street, Madison, WI 53713 or call
(608) 273 - 6585.


Art Department Professional is a registered trademark and MorphPlus is a
trademark of ASDG Incorporated. Amiga is a registered trademark of
Commodore-Amiga, Inc. Other trademarks or registered trademarks are the
property of their respective holders.

                                  -*-










                            *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                               6th of 9 Stories



          Gold Disk to Support Apple Computer's QuickTime for Windows
     _____~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    / ____)
   / /___          Los Angeles -- (Nov. 10) BUSINESS WIRE
  / /(   )
 / (__) /
(______/old Disk Inc., developers and publishers of desktop presentation and
business productivity products, Tuesday announced that the company will
incorporate Apple Computer's QuickTime for Windows system software extensions
in its multimedia and graphics presentation products.

"Gold Disk is 100 percent committed to support multiplatform environments. By
incorporating QuickTime for Windows in our multimedia products, we are
providing our customers the best possible solution for adding digital video to
their current multimedia applications," said Kailash Ambwani, CEO and
president of Gold Disk.

When implemented, Gold Disk users will be able to use QuickTime the way they
use any other data type, specifying when the clip will be accessed and how
long it will play.

Popular Gold Disk products for the Windows environment include Animation Works
Interactive (AWI); Animation Works for Windows, a non-interactive version of
AWI; and AddImpact!, an Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) server that enables
users to add animated effects, voice narration and sound to OLE-compliant
Windows applications.

No dates have been announced for specific releases, but the company is firmly
committed to maintaining a leading position in multimedia on all platforms.

Gold Disk was founded in 1984 to provide technical leadership to the first
true multimedia platform, the Commodore Amiga. Today, the company offers a
host of critically acclaimed graphics, animation and media products for
Windows, Amiga and the Macintosh, including Animation Works, the 1991 MacUser
magazine Eddy Award winner for best animation product and Animation Works
Interactive, PC Magazine's August 1992 Editor's Choice Award winner.

For more information, contact Gold Disk Inc., Los Angeles, Editors: Michaela
Brehm, 310/320-5080, ext. 125, Multimedia products, technical/marketing: David
Stephenson, 310/320-5080, ext. 124.

                                   -*-









                          *StarShip* Amiga *Flash*
                              7th of 9 Stories



                    Free Firmware Upgrade Adds Punch
              to the Powerful SupraFAXModem(tm) V.32/V.32bis
 ______       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(__  __)               Albany, OR -- October 1992
  / /
 / /
(_/hrough a unique offer from Supra corporation, users of the SupraFAXModem
V.32 and V.32bis can upgrade their modems to the latest firmware which offers
multiple performance enhancements and adds capabilities for error-free faxes
and automatic handling of in-coming calls. A sophisticated caller ID option is
also available for a nomimal fee.

"We are committed to our customers and want them to be able to experience the
benefits of improvements we have made since the product was originally
released last February," said John Wiley, President of Supra Corporation.
"This upgrade will enhance the performance of existing modems and add many new
features that increase productivity -- clearly taking us beyond the
capabilities of most competing modems."

Performance Enhancements

Supra has enhanced the standard Rockwell 144AC chipset by fixing several small
prbolems that customers have discovered and by adding new features and
commands. Some of the performance enhancements are listed below:

  Fall-back in speed upon worsening telephone line conditions
    (V.32bis connections)
  Fall-up in speed when the line conditions get better
    (V.32bix connections)
  Improved DTR signal handling
  Improved busy signal recognition
  Enhanced &V modem settings
  Selection of V.32/V.32bis negotiation
  Enhanced fax machine capability
  Numerous other enhancements

New Features

ECM (Error Correction Mode) fax support allows transmission of error-free
faxes when used with fax software that supports ECM. One of the programs that
does support ECM is FaxTalk Plus(tm) which is shipped with the SupraFAXModem
V.32 and V.32bis.

The Silent Answer(tm) feature enables using the same phone line for voice and
fax communication. If it detects fax "CNG" tones, it routes the call to the
fax software. Otherwise, the modem sits silently on the phone line while the
call is answered by the user or by an answering machine.

Caller ID

The caller ID feature is available for an additional $19.95 plus $5.00
shipping and handling through November 30, 1992. After that date, customers
will be able to purchase the caller ID upgrade for $49. To user this feature,
caller ID service must be available from the local telephone company. When
active, the current date and time and the phone number and name of the calling
party will be sent to the host PC.

Bulletin board systems may use caller ID to positively identify callers
without tedious logon sequences. This not only simplifies the user's logon, it
also provides substantial sercurity for BBS operators. Users may screen calls
to streamline their workday by answering only important calls. Caller ID can
also allow quick look-up of database information on incoming callers and even
facilitate client billing for professionals.

Upgrade Process

The upgrade is available to all registered customers who own SupraFAXModem
V.32 and V.32bis. Products that have shipped since September 15, 1992, contain
the new firmware which includes the performance enhancements, ECM, and silent
answer.

To determine if they need the new firmware, customers may issue the AT I3
command as explained in the SupraFAXModem Reference Manual. This will display
the ROM part number and revision number. The part number for the upgrade
firmware is 1.2H for the standrad upgrade or 1.2J for the upgrade with caller
ID. All part numbers lower than this are eligible for the upgrade program.

Because of high demand, the upgrade is not available to call-in customers.
There are three methods that customers may use for ordering the upgrade:

 1. Request the upgrade on the Supra forum of CompuServe.
 2. Order from the Supra BBS. The phone number for the BBS is 503/967-2444.
    Ordering instructions will be provided online if you order through the
    CompuServe forum or the BBS.
 3. Send a written request for the upgrade to:
      ROM Upgrade
      Supra Corporation
      7101 Supra Drive SW
      Albany, OR 97321

About Supra Corporation

Supra Corporation, based in Albany, Oregon, has provided personal computer
users with high-quality, low-cost peripherals since 1985. The company's first
modem product, the SupraModem 2400, was introduced in 1987. SupraModems have
been popular among consumers for excellent value in a reliable modem, and have
been recommended by a variety of sources, from respected PC Magazine and
MacUser columnist John C. Dvorak to the Boston Computer Society.

                                   -*-









                          *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                              8th of 9 Stories



            "AmigaDOS Reference Guide" Now Covers Releases 2 and 3
    ____    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   / ___)            Greensboro, NC -- November 1992
  / /
 / (__
(_____)OMPUTE Books is proud to announce the release of the fourth edition of
its best-selling guide for AmigaDOS. Updated and completely revised, "AmigaDOS
Reference Guide, Fourth Edition," now covers all versions of AmigaDOS,
including the new Release 2 and Release 3. This is the guide all Amiga users
need to take full advantage of the power of the Amiga.

Author Sheldon Leemon takes the reader, step by step, through the intricacies
of AmigaDOS, from creating a CLI disk to building a personalized command
sequence file. Thoroughly illustrted with practical examples, this book covers
every AmigaDOS command including all the new Release 2 and Release 3 commands.

Sheldon Leemon is a noted Amiga authority and regular columnist and
contributor to COMPUTE magazine's Amiga Resource edition. Mr. Leemon is the
author of more than half a dozen computer books, including the best-selling
"Mapping the Commodore 64" and "Inside Amiga Graphics."

             ________________________________________________
            /                                                \
           |    AmigaDOS Reference Guide, Fourth Edition      |
           |                Sheldon Leemon                    |
           |   0-87455-268-0     $22.95          336 pages    |
           |   7-1/2" X 9-1/8"   trade paper   Available Now  |
            \________________________________________________/


COMPUTE Publications is the leading publisher of Amiga trade paperback books.
Watch for new upcoming titles including "Denny Atkin's Best Amiga Tips and
Secrets" and a new edition of the best-selling "Mapping the Amiga."

COMPUTE Books are published by COMPUTE Publications International Ltd. and are
distributed in the United States by Bob Adams, Inc., 260 Center Street,
Holbrook, MA 02343, 1-800-872-5627 or 617-767-8100; in Canada by Monarch Books
of Canada Ltd., 5000 Dufferin Street, Unit K, Downview, Ont. M3H5T5; in the
United Kingdom by Computer Bookshops Ltd., 50 James Road, Tyseley, Birmingham,
B11 2BA, England; and in Australia and New Zealand by Kirby Book Company, Unit
7, 19 Bowden Street, Alexandria, Sydney, N.S.W. 2015.

                                   -*-









                            *StarShip* NEWS *Flash*
                               9th of 9 Stories



                     Impressions: Air Force Commander
 ______              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(__  __)              Farmington, CT - November 1992
  / /
 / /
(_/he game Air Force Commander is the first sophisticated strategic simulation
of air combat. It is your chance to recreate all the decisive air strikes of
the Gulf War, and to experience combat in a huge variety of different
scenarios. Your mission is to control a vast array of weaponry to protect
yourself and to put the enemy on the defense. Managing the varied resources is
only one of your problems, as if the SCUD attacks aren't enough!

Air Force Commander's ability to emulate the American victory in Kuwait seems
set to place it firmly at the top of the pile for peole wnting a thoughtful
and involving "action replay."

              A World War II Data Disk is also forthcoming!

                                     _____________________________________
Air Force Commander Includes:       /                                     \
  B 52           AV8B Harrier      | Also included:   Quick Start Card     |
  F117 Stealth   Mirage F1         |                  Comprehensive manual |
  F16 Falcon     GR1 Tornado       |                                       |
  Mig 25 Foxbat  AWACS             | Target Audience: Ages 18 and up       |
  Cruise & SCUD  Patriot missle    |                                       |
                                   | Suggested Retail Price: $59.95        |
Features:  Huge play area          |                                       |
           3 Levels of map detail  | Availability:    NOW!                 |
           256 colors VGA           \_____________________________________/
           Simple control system
           Sampled speech

Category      : Strategic Air Combat Simulation
Developer     : Impressions Software, Inc.
                7 Melrose Drive
                Farmington, CT 06032
Systems       : IBM + 100% compatibles
              : Tandy/Amiga
Graphics      : IBM: VGA, EGA, Tandy 16 Color
Sound         : AdLib
Input         : Keyboard or Mouse


You command an entire Air Force in this sophisticaed simulation of modern air
warfare which includes 26 modern Middle East scenarios, a wide variety of
modern planes, satellite, radar and geographical maps, and combines resource
management with strategic command in an easy point and click interface.




              Impressions: Discovery - In the Steps of Columbus
    ______    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   / __   )           Farmington, CT - November 1992
  / /  ) /
 / /__/ /
(______/iscovery - In the Steps of Columbus is the one game for those who want
to experience the thrill of discovering the New World. But before you get
there, you'll first have to cross the treacherous seas of the Atlantic, made
all the more treacherous by plundering pirate ships. If you survive, you can
drop anchor off the mysterious and beckoning coastline, and begin to map the
land beyond it.

But this complex simulation only begins with the exploration of uncharted
lands; you must then build cities and create networks of trade to finance
further exploration, as well as fill your coffers. Computer-controlled
settlers will do your bidding, actually interacting with the landscape, while
you plot your next move into the unknown frontier. Natives and opposing
nations will make this Discovery at least as challenging as it was for
Columbus!

Features Include:                   ______________________________________
                                   /                                      \
Explore an unknown continent      | Also Included:  Quick Start Card       |
Trade between cities              |                 Comprehensive manual   |
Pirate attacks                    |                 Technical Supplement   |
Computer-controlled settlers      |                 Map of Columbus' Route |
Eight ship types                  |                                        |
Four map types                    | Target Audience Aged 18 and up         |
Five computer opponents           |                                        |
Six versions of the New World     | Suggested Retail Price:  $59.95        |
Unique "over-the-horizon" view    |                                        |
256-color VGA graphics            | Availability:   NOW!                   |
Superb music and digitized sound   \______________________________________/
Easy-to-use mouse-based interface
Celebrate Columbus' 500th anniversary
Rediscover America


Category     : Strategic Exploration and Conquest
Developer    : Impressions Software, Inc.
               7 Melrose Drive
               Farmington, CT 06032
Systems      : Amiga, IBM
Graphics     : 256-color VGA
Sound        : AdLib, SoundBlaster
Input        : Keyboard, Mouse
IBM PC       : 5-1/4" and 3-1/2" disks included

In Discover, YOU are the master explorer and adventurer. Set sail into the
distance in search of new lands. Explore new worlds. Piratea are everywhere --
be prepared for sea battles; create cities, fell trees, build farms, forts,
warehouses, schools. Trade the produce from your new world to buy new ships.
Fight the other nations trying to establish their empire.

In 1492 Columbus discovered America -- for God, Gold and Glory! 500 years
later this is your chance to discover a new world!

                                   -*-






Permission is hereby granted to quote ALL or PART of this Newscast on a
privately owned BBS or in a user group newsletter provided you include the
following credit:

            Reprinted by Permission from the 5-MINUTE Weekend
          News Network, a *StarShip*(tm) Production on GEnie(R).


Disclaimer:  My only relationship with GEnie is as a subscriber.  This document
is presented to I-AMIGA without compensation.

                                                Jim Loomis
                                                LOOMIS@ITHACA
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU