Subject:  Moria replies
 
I beleive Multiple attacks are controled by only by DEX while STR is merely
damage and to hit.
The best way of dealing with creatures that drain abilities is to either
        1) attack from a distance with a bow or magic
        2) use the bashing attack, as this will stun your opponent so can not
attack back(and thus can't drain you)
        3) run away and find easier prey.
 
As for scoring, Gold is not counted towards EXP, but the final score does
include it.  I think it is on a 1:1 basis with EXP added in.
 
Sorry, no info on the Wizard mode.
 
I challanged The BALROG one time with a 29th level ranger, 80 mana, 300hp
He whipped me.
Bad.
 
I then decided to modify my character a bit using a resource editor.
I gave him 18/100's on everything, 4500 HP. 500 mana, and level 38.
This effectivly gave the character 4 attacks per round and the full complement
of spells.
 
I didn't win.
 
The Balrog is one mean character.
 
----------------------Joseph Philip

Sender:   INFO-ATARI16 Discussion <INFO-A16@EARN.DEARN>
Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was INFO-A16@MARIST
From:     INFO-ATARI16-REQUEST@MIL.ARMY.WSMR-SIMTEL20
Subject:  INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 #656
Comments: To: INFO-ATARI16@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL
 
INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Wed, 15 Nov 89       Volume 89 : Issue 656
 
Today's Topics:
                          Asst. Dribble....
                     atari ABC  yea or nay  ????
                            MAC emulators
                           Multitasking TOS
                             PC DITTO II
                         Self-Modifying Code
                          TCP-IP status (?)
                             TeX and Mice
                             Trip-a-Tron
                      What's wrong with the AMY?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 15 Nov 89 08:49:24 GMT
From: portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@uunet.uu.net
Subject: Asst. Dribble....
 
Eric Hobbs sez:
 
>Some people are giving me the impression that Sam and Jack Tramiel
>bought Atari for tens of millions of dollars just so they could lose
>money on it and drive the corporation into the ground. Somehow that
>doesn't strike me as reasonable.
 
Er... read up on your Atari Inc/Atari Corp history... Jack Tramiel obtained
control of the Atari company with VERY LITTLE cash outlay...   essentially
he took over control of a bankrupt division of Warner Communications and
sold off the existing warehouse stock at a fraction of its list price value
to raise cash...  he then used that cash to finance the debut of the ST onto
the marketplace.  When the ST appeared to be going places, he went "public"
and sold stock in the Corp and used the proceeds to pay off outstanding
debts...
 
Jack has since "retired" and let his sons run Atari Corp... with the
results that we see today...
 
(I won't reiterate those ramifications in deference to those who would rather
think everything is just rosy in the Atari world...)
 
 
Bottom Line: "Sam and Jack"  *NEVER*  paid "tens of millions" for Atari,
and nothing they've done strikes me as "reasonable"...
 
BobR
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 15 Nov 89 07:30:32 GMT
From: portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@uunet.uu.net
Subject: atari ABC  yea or nay  ????
 
Pete Ikusz says:
 
>Sorry, Bob,
> I've worked with, sold, and used Amstrads. I wouldn't let my worst enemy
> buy one. They are junk.
 
Whew... I've been learning a lot about the way Amstrad is perceived in the
U.K. and Europe...
 
Here in the U.S., Amstrad computers seem to be among the "second line" of
third-party machines, along with names like Blue Chip and Packard Bell...
we don't have Amstrad stereos and other things.
 
Since the original question came from the U.K., I'll have to defer to the
experience of those in that marketplace...  I think my point was clear
though, even if the comparison with Amstrad was flawed...
 
BobR
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 15 Nov 89 00:34:53 GMT
From: portal!cup.portal.com!buggs@uunet.uu.net  (William Edward JuneJr)
Subject: MAC emulators
 
ANYONE know of a mouse 'accelerator' utility that performs like the one on
the Mac Control Panel?
I believe it's called proportional control?
 
Ed<The GCR is GREAT!>June
 
buggs@cup.portal.com   <-- Is this just an UUCP address? I DON'T understand!
 
------------------------------
 
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 15:04:13 MEZ
From: ONM07%DMSWWU1A.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Julian Reschke)
Subject: Multitasking TOS
 
As Allan mentioned, there are a LOT of problems with existing applications
on a multitasking TOS (example: these programs, taht malloc all the
memory).
 
A good test for well-behaving programs is Michtrons program 'juggler',
which 'simulates' basically a multitasking GEM.
 
So, wouldn't it be a good idea to make a list of "DO's AND DONT's" NOW.
Otherwise, there will never be a multitasking GEM for the ST, because
few programs will run.
 
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 14 Nov 89 21:30:37 GMT
From:
 mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watmath!watcgl!electro!ignac@tut.cis.ohio
-state.edu  (Ignac Kolenko)
Subject: PC DITTO II
 
well, just the other day, i got a bit of mail from avante garde. it seems
like pc ditto ii won't be shipping until late november. at least the
company took the time out to mail me a notice of the delay. i was beginning
to wonder where my $150 went.
 
 
--
=====Ignac A. Kolenko (The Ig)           watmath!watcgl!electro!ignac=====
     co-author of QuickST, and the entire line of Quick Shareware!!!!
       "I don't care if I don't win, 'cause I don't care if I fail"
             from 'Youth Of Today' by SUBURBAN DISTORTION
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 14 Nov 89 21:13:44 GMT
From: portal!atari!apratt@uunet.uu.net  (Allan Pratt)
Subject: Self-Modifying Code
 
7103_2622@uwovax.uwo.ca (Eric Smith) writes:
>In article <89316.201227SML108@PSUVM.BITNET>, SML108@PSUVM.BITNET writes:
>> [...things about self-modifying code...]
>It would have helped if you had included the code that was doing the
>modifications. The 68000 does instruction prefetch.
 
Yeah, and (as Eric points out) on a TT it will get you in BIG TROUBLE.
Writing to something as data and reading it as code is a BIG NO-NO
unless you invalidate the cache in between.  In fact, on the 68030,
writing something in User mode and reading it in Super mode would
confuse the cache, were it not for a side effect of the write-allocate
bit.
 
People who do DMA into memory have to worry about that - the BIOS
tries to help, but you can still get in trouble.  Your DMA driver
should execute the following instructions to clobber the cache
after a DMA read and before anybody actually looks at the data:
 
	movec.l	cacr,d0		; get current cache control register value
	or.w	#$808,d0	; set both "clear" bits
	movec.l	d0,cacr		; write this new value back
 
The clear bits in the cacr are one-shots, so you don't have to clear
them again.  The code above is harmless if the cache isn't enabled in
the first place, as it doesn't change the enable or other state bits.
 
The TT is going to open a whole new can of worms, people.  We've been
dealing with it internally, of course, and TOS runs fine, but there are
things which you could get away with on the ST which you can't do on
the TT.  For example, some programs use the high byte of a pointer for
something; with a 24-bit address bus, that's harmless.  But with a full
32-bit bus, that gets you in trouble.
 
============================================
Opinions expressed above do not necessarily	-- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp.
reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else.	  ...ames!atari!apratt
 
------------------------------
 
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 13:45:54 SET
From: ESC1457%ESOC.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: TCP-IP status (?)
 
'MSG:FROM: ESC1457 --ESOC     TO: INFO-ATA--EXTERNAL          89-11-15 13:45:52
 To: INFO-ATA--EXTERNAL
 
 From: Coenen, Jean-Pierre
 Subject: TCP-IP status (?)
 Hi all,
 I have downloaded from SIMTEL20's archives the KA9Q package,
 some basic features doesn't seem to work properly though.
 System in use 520 ST 1 Meg first ROM (0.19), SH205 (20 Meg).
 The problem is in the file interface, that is in the filename
 built using sprintf, the PC use a slash and the atari should
 use a backslash (ie. doubled in fmt string of sprintf).
 As the system was crashing quite a bit when trying to get a
 smtp between the ST and a PC, I transferred the sources
 and it appears that both NET and BM used the same sprintf structure.
 Now I have the prospero C (Pascal and FORTRAN also BTW and I like their
 compatibility, documentation and user friendly interface) and hacked
 the BM sources to have it to work properly (filename) it ... worked
 as I do not want to hack the NET sources I was wondering if
 it was possible to have a more useable version for the ST.
 (BTW I zapped the run time modules trying to change in the code
 the slash in double backslash ... guess what ... Bombs 8-).Any help
 would be greatly appreciated.
 
 
 
                               J.P. Coenen,  NM9L-ON4KCH /I6
                                    ESC1457@ESOC.BITNET
 
 End of Message
?TCP-IP status (?)                                                ?????????
 
------------------------------
 
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 10:08 EST
From: JOHNBARNES@ENH.NIST.GOV
Subject: TeX and Mice
 
TeX on the ST:
 
People who want to get good use out of TeX for the ST should look for the
package soon to be released (hopefully December) in the Current Notes
PD Disk Library.  The Decmber issue of the magazine will also feature a
writeup on TeX.
 
Mice:
 
The Best Electronics replacement mouse for the ST has impressed a number
of my friends.
 
Practical Solutions also offers a "cordless Mouse",
although you'd have to very serious about your mouse to pay the price (over
$100).  The Best mouse is under $50 and is also available from Joppa.
 
 
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 15 Nov 89 07:58:11 GMT
From: portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@uunet.uu.net
Subject: Trip-a-Tron
 
Dave Flory says:
>I hate to waste net space this way, but does anyone else get as tired as I d
>reading BobR's negativistic comments? There are a few righteous points, but
>I've read them all at least a dozen times........
 
Well, there has to be some reason for it all, doesn't there..?
 
If Atari would, just once, give me a reason to be positive, I'd gladly spread
the word..
 
But they've let me (and everyone else) down at least a dozen times...
 
I've been waiting four years for Atari to give me some ammunition for a
nice, positive outlook...  I'd be first in line to let the world know
that Atari had done something really great...    but...
 
It's been lies, and broken promises, and failed expectations for years...
when is Atari going to do something we can all be proud of again..?
 
Give me something to work with, Atari...!
 
BobR
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 15 Nov 89 07:38:54 GMT
From: portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@uunet.uu.net
Subject: What's wrong with the AMY?
 
David Paschall-Zimbel writes:
>Actually, I understood from the rumor mill that ANALOG and ST LOG weren't
>losing enough money for Larry Flint, so he decided to retire them.  (Rumor
>#1 - Larry Flint bought the magazine as a tax write-off and then got disgust
>when it began making money for him...)
 
I hope this is just idle "rumor talk", intended mostly in jest... I know both
Lee Pappas, publisher of ANALOG, and Clay Walnum, Editor, and I'm sure both
of them would be dismayed to hear this...
 
They've both said that LFP invested enough money into the magazine that any
thought of its being a "tax writeoff" was just silly. Everyone tried to make
it a success, but there was just no way to pay the bills in the US Atari
marketplace...
 
BobR
 
------------------------------
 
End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #656
*****************************************
 
Well, there has to be some reason for it all, doesn't there..?
 
If Atari would, just once, give me a reason to be positive, I'd gladly spread
the word..
 
But they've let me (and everyone else) down at least a dozen times...
 
I've been waiting four years for Atari to give me some ammunition for a
nice, positive outlook...  I'd be first in line to let the world know
that Atari had done something really great...    but...
 
It's been lies, and broken promises, and failed expectations for years...
when is Atari going to do something we can all be proud of again..?
 
Give me something to work with, Atari...!
 
BobR
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 15 Nov 89 07:38:54 GMT
From: portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@uunet.uu.net
Subject: What's wrong with the AMY?
 
David Paschall-Zimbel writes:
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