Byte Power November 1986

Tape-based magazine. The November 1986 issue (Issue 4) of Byte Power, the TS2068 tape magazine of Eric and Kristian Boisvert. The magazine program carries the editors’ Christmas note (with a fix for the previous issue’s Charts: every prompt must be answered with an upper-case letter), chapter 4 of the “Better Programming!” sound-effects series, a preview of the next issue (chapter 5, a review of the Tomahawk helicopter simulator, Lost In 3D and The Desk), a review of the HS68 Speech Development System, an empty classified-ads page and a call for program submissions. The programs follow it on the tape.

The sound-effects chapter explains the “false echo”: instead of silencing the AY chip during a rest, the volume register is turned down from 15 to 10, and to 13 between notes, so the tune seems to echo and the click between notes disappears. A short example program on the tape plays a tune this way, and the same note format (254 for a rest, 255 for the end) is used by MUSIcomp’s data files. The HS68 review is strongly negative: the reviewers rated the $39.95 digitizer poor overall for its uncased board, fragile output cable, on-board microphone and slow, awkward editing software, though they found the recording quality good.

Programs on the Tape

• FALSE: False Echo, the example from the sound-effects chapter, a tune read from DATA and played with the false-echo technique (Kristian Boisvert) (also #63287 False Echo Example)
• PLUKKERS: Plukkers Hunt, shoot down Plukkers with a duo-disk blaster on the planet Zirmak; joystick or keyboard (Eric Boisvert) (also #63288 Plukkers Hunt)
• TOWERS: Towers of Hanoi with up to 15 disks; the computer gives the number of moves needed, and a game in progress can be saved (Kristian Boisvert) (also #63289 Towers Of Hanoi)
• MEMORY: a children’s matching game, pair up eight pictures in as few turns as possible (Kristian Boisvert) (also #63290 Memory)
• CHECKBOOK: Checkbook Balancer, reconciles a bank statement with the checkbook, allowing for uncleared checks and unrecorded deposits (Kristian Boisvert) (also #63291 Checkbook Balancer)
• MAX: Diamond Max, collect diamonds in a mine before time runs out while avoiding falling rocks; 20 levels and a level editor (Eric Boisvert) (also #63292 Diamond Max)
• TRACE: shows the number of the BASIC line being executed at the bottom of the screen; RANDOMIZE USR 65298 starts it and RANDOMIZE USR 65305 stops it (Eric Boisvert) (also #63293 Trace)
• BUDGET: Super Budget, monthly budget and expenses for 60 items over a year, with totals, averages, line and bar graphs, file save/load and TS2040 printout (Kristian Boisvert) (also #72151 Super Budget)
• MUSIcomp: a music writer: notes are typed as letters with octave, sharp/flat, duration, rest, repeat and first/second ending signs, then compiled to 3-byte-per-note data at 60000 (Eric Boisvert) (also #72153 MUSIcomp)
• SOLFEG EX.: Music Example, a sample MUSIcomp working file
• MUSIC PLAY: a short BASIC program showing how to play compiled MUSIcomp data (Eric Boisvert) (also #63294 Music Play)
• BUBLOID: collect crystals and energy rings while avoiding energy-sucking plants and the Electric Bubloid, using a rocket to stay in the air (Kristian Boisvert) (also #63295 Bubloid)
• DERBY: horse-race betting for up to five players, with win, place, show and parlay bets (Kristian Boisvert) (also #63296 Derby)
• CHARACTER: 3X3 Character, an editor for twenty 24×24-pixel characters (3×3 character cells) with scroll, rotate and mirror (Eric Boisvert) (also #63297 3X3 Character)
• The End: closing program

The download has a TAP and a TZX file for each item, numbered in tape order, and a WAV recording of the whole original tape. Tracks 08 Super Budget and 09 MUSIcomp were previously only in the download as a snapshot and a WAV recording. Both are now included as TAP files converted from a Larken disk copy and tested in ZEsarUX. The file issue4.tap is not a tape image: it is the magazine’s text extracted from the first program, saved as plain text under a .tap name.