Byte Power Spring 1987

Tape-based magazine. The Spring 1987 issue (Issue 7) of Byte Power, the TS2068 tape magazine of Eric and Kristian Boisvert. The editors announce that Byte Power is now also published for the ZX Spectrum on side B of the cassette (Spectrum only; not compatible with the TS2068), that the magazine program can now print in 32 or 64 columns and in the bold font, and two new products: a tape of 36 character sets with a character definer and 64-column print utility, and a tape of nine ZX81 games. They also give a fix for Super Budget from the November 1986 issue (line 190 should load the code at 56658, not 56655) and explain that Ribbit was held over and replaced by Tycoon!.

The “Better Programming!” sound-effects series ends with chapter 7, a BASIC routine that fakes two-voice music on both the TS2068 and the Spectrum by alternating very short BEEPs of the two voices, with the notes read from memory with PEEK. The issue also has a review of Durell’s Spectrum game Thanatos, a reader letter about the Timex FDD disk system, an empty classified-ads page and a call for program submissions.

Programs on the Tape

• INKEY$: an 8-byte machine code routine (IN A,(254) on a chosen half-row) that reads several keys pressed at once, with a menu to save it and on-screen instructions (E. and K. Boisvert) (also #63118 INKEY$)
• DUO-VOICE: the article’s two-voice BEEP routine with a 495-byte tune at 50000 (also #63120 Duo-Voice (Beep))
• TRI-VOICE: the same technique extended to three voices (also #63123 Tri-Voice (Beep))
• QUALIFIER: The Qualifier, works out the highest home price you can afford from the down payment, monthly payment, interest rate and term (Kristian Boisvert) (also #63125 The Qualifier)
• DECISION: Decision Maker, ranks alternatives against weighted factors you enter and rate (Kristian Boisvert) (also #63127 Decision Maker)
• Z-ROW: Z-Row Gravity, a shoot-’em-up against spinning aliens, satellites, galaxies and robots, where your ship cannot stop once it moves (Kristian Boisvert) (also #63129 Z-Row Gravity)
• BUTTERFLY: Mister Butterfly, find five lost children and their balloons in a spider- and bee-infested cavern (Kristian Boisvert) (also #63132 Mister Butterfly)
• EASYprint: word processor for full-size printers, up to 132 columns, with centring, justification, word count and wordwrap (Eric Boisvert) (also #63135 EASYprint Word Processor)
• AERCOdrive: a 60-byte relocatable AERCO-compatible print driver for EASYprint, which returns to the menu instead of stopping when the printer runs out of paper
• TYCOON: Tycoon!, an oil-pumping money-making simulation, with full instructions in the program (Kristian Boisvert) (also #63138 Tycoon)
• The End: closing program

The download has a TAP and a TZX file for each item of the TS2068 side, numbered in tape order (the AERCO driver unnumbered), a WAV of the whole TS2068 tape, and issue7.txt, the magazine’s text extracted from the first program. The Spectrum side B is not in the download.