Diskovery

^CFirst things first

We've received an overwhelming positive response about our new
interface.  I would like to thank everyone who wrote to me via
US Mail, Prodigy (RSHK84D), GEnie (JJJ), Compuserve (76646,2631)
or America Online (CYCLES) to express their satisfaction with
our efforts.  I would also like to thank everyone who has taken
the time to resubscribe because of our new software and
direction.

Of course there were several people who expressed concern.  The
information available to me indicates that there were two major
complaints.

1. So much disk swapping with the 5.25" 360k disks.

2. The typeface (font) in graphic mode is hard to read.

Here are some answers.

1-a. Disk swapping.

The new interface is so advanced we had to devote almost all of
Disk 1 to the new shell.  We did include an install feature that
will copy the entire issue to your hard drive and kick off the
newly installed version.  I suggest that you install right now
to see how easy the new shell works from your hard drive.  Press
ESC twice and then press I to activate this feature.

1-b. Disk swapping--an alternative

If you currently receive ODM on 5.25" 360k disks and have the
ability to use 3.5" 720k disks or 5.25" 1.2mb disks please call
1-800-831-2694 and have your subscription status changed.  There
is NO CHARGE for this service, and it will make disk swapping a
thing of the past.

2. The typeface is hard to read in graphics mode.

We include the ability to override our video card detection
routines and run the shell in text mode.  If you find our
graphic text hard to read press ESC three times, answer Y to the
"QUIT Y/N" question, and run ODM from the DOS prompt with the
following command: GO /C.  If you would like to increase the
contrast of the new interface even further add an "M" to the go
command (GO /CM), and you'll be running the new shell in text
monochrome mode.

Now back to our regularly scheduled Diskovery.

^CDiscovery

^Cby Jay Wilbur

Do you know where high tech comes from?--not the origin of the
phrase, but the actual technology that makes something high
tech.

The past has proven that most high tech developments have come
from the military.  When the cold war was at its coldest, the
governments put trillions upon trillions of our tax dollars into
military pursuits.  This money went to research and develop new
boom-boom toys that could kill anything on Earth at any time.
With all that money being dumped into the defense/offense
budgets you would expect that the military would be on the
leading edge of high tech.

Now that the cold war is warming up, our military's
defense/offense budgets are being chopped down to a respectable
size.  Does this mean that there will be no more high tech?
Will this concept go the way of disco or the hoola-hoop?  I
should say not--at least not as long as computer game developers
are around.

In my opinion the computer gaming industry has taken over as the
new developers of high tech.  Gone are the days in which some
laser guided, warp speed, 50 megaton rocket (that could
single-handedly destroy the entire Earth 5 times over) is king
of the high tech mountain.  The new gee-wiz kings are the
developers of games like Links, Wing Commander, Wing Commander
II, and Strike Commander for the PC.  These people are not only
making high tech, they are making high tech fun!

Links by Access Software is a 256 color VGA golf simulator that
looks and feels so much like the real thing that you will break
out into a sweat as you play the game.  Access Software has
engineered a method of digitizing (bringing actual pictures and
sounds onto the computer) different well known golf courses.  So
much detail went into the development of these golf courses that
even the ball washers are in the correct places.  If you like
golf, you'll love this high tech simulation.

If action is your cup of tea, Origin has set a new definition
for the brewing process with Wing Commander, Wing Commander II
and Strike Commander.  Chris Roberts, Origin's high priest of
high tech, has taken the flight simulator out of the realm of
filled polygon shapes and into a more naturally chaotic reality.
Gone are the sharp-edged space-fighters of the past.  To make
things more realistic Roberts used a technique that takes a
graphic bit-map (buzzword for graphic image) and had the
computer take pictures of it at every possible angle.  When
you're playing the game the computer decides which view needs to
be displayed in relation to the players current perspective.
This technique provides for unparalleled detail.

Roberts didn't just stop there.  Another area that flight
simulators are lacking in is ground effects.  The terrain in
your regular flight simulator is comprised of the same
sharp-edges filled polygons that make up the planes.  Roberts
used the mathematics of chaos, the nuttiness inherent in natural
geologic formations, to refine the polygon system.  Using this
new technique Roberts was able to reproduce terrain so real
you'll swear you've been there before.  Though I have yet to see
the game, I have read that you can actually see the waves lap
against the shore in the coastal areas and the mist rise off the
snow covered peaks in the mountainous zones.

Personally I find it ironic that the military monopoly on high
tech is giving way to the entertainment field.  For the sake of
game players everywhere (and mankind), I hope it's a trend that
lasts!

Products mentioned:

Normally this is the place where I tell you how much and where
to buy each product mentioned in Diskovery.  This time I need to
change the format--almost every software dealer sells these
hot titles.

If you want to buy these games, pick up ANY PC oriented computer
magazine and thumb through it until you find a software ad.
Look though it long enough and you'll find the products
mentioned above.  If you would like to price shop--flip the
pages to the next software ad.





END