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^2                          E A S Y   A M O S

^2        First  Impressions  of the Easier AMOS by Len Boyns.

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^6 My  first  efforts at making computer games were made with SEUCK the
^6Shoot-em  up construction kit, I then bought AMOS the Creator but due
^6to  my  lack  of  programming  knowledge,  I  found the manual rather
^6daunting.   Due  to  lack of guidance I like many others did not know
^6where  to  start  and  seemed to be slowly learning from my mistakes.
^6Then  along  came Easy AMOS at last a chance to get a firm foundation
^6to  work  from  and who knows maybe I will at last complete all those
^6fabulous programs still in my head.

^1 Easy  AMOS  comes  on  two discs with a nice fat 424 page ring bound
^1user guide, the guide is very well presented and its 20 chapters will
^1make  a very useful reference work.  I do not see why Easy AMOS could
^1not  have  been  supplied  on  3  discs ready to run as unfortunately
^1before  the  program  can  be  used  you  have to go through a rather
^1tedious  routine  which copies the contents of the two discs to three
^1of  your  own  blank discs.  It is also necessary to write enable the
^1master  disc,  a  procedure which it is always best to avoid, so that
^1your  name  can  be  added to the editor display.  To be fair you can
^1also  format  a  disc for future programs and it is wise to do so, as
^1the  tutorials  involve  a lot of typing that you may wish to save to
^1disc.   Also  included  are some printed labels for your newly copied
^1discs.   I  would  recommend  that you make further spare copies from
^1these discs.

^6 The  editor includes a HELP facility, you can place your cursor on a
^6command  word or even a partially completed word, then press the help
^6key and up will come a description of the command.  The Tutorial disc
^6also  includes a typing tutor which gives you letters or sentences to
^6type and adjusts its speed to yours, so type evenly with no bursts of
^6machine gun fire or it will be racing you at 70 words a minute.

^1 The  section  in  chapter  4 on arrays was interesting with hints on
^1setting  up a simple data base this was also covered in chapter 16 on
^1data.   The  Examples  disc  does  include  a  very  neat easy to use
^1Database.   Chapter  6  on  text  even  tells you how to reshape your
^1cursor.   The Tutorial disc has a good Font Creator but I tried to be
^1too clever and my half meg chip ram was not enough.  As I am a Deluxe
^1Paint enthusiast Chapter 8 graphics was my favourite.  At last I have
^1found out how all those Hex colour values work.  Chapter 9 bobs, lets
^1you  use a very simple bob editor, it does not have all the functions
^1of  Sprite  X  but  it  is easy to get used to.  I very much like the
^1animation  test  screen  which  has  two 8 frame strips of movie film
^1(only  one  strip in NTSC mode) in which to place your bobs.  I found
^1this easier to understand than the Sprite X animation function.

^6 Chapter  10  understanding  screens  has  a  simple  program  which
^6displays  the  other  7  screens  (apart  from  the  default  screen)
^6available  to  Easy  AMOS  and  Chapter  11 shows ways of using them.
^6Chapter  12  sound,  is  another  gem it includes a sound sample bank
^6maker that I hope will be included in AMOS Professional when it comes
^6out.   The most difficult chapter to get interested in was Chapter 13
^6maths,  a very important subject, but you can always read it later as
^6most chapters are independent of each other.  Chapter 14 gets down to
^6constructing  a  game  and  includes Block-Buster a superb version of
^6brickout  by  Ronnie  Simpson  who has included plenty of Rems in his
^6program  to  explain  its  functions.  Francois Lionet, they say Easy
^6AMOS  is  his son, has included a tricycle ball game and put a lot of
^6work  in  to  show you how a game is developed.  There are 8 separate
^6programs  each  fully remned and well worth studying particularly his
^6joystick  control  which  moves  the bobs 5 times in each 90 degrees.
^6Incidentally  the  completed  game is on the Example disc as Tricycle
^6Ball and not TB_Step8.AMOS as shown in the manual.

^1 Easy  AMOS  also includes a SID like disc editor which can be loaded
^1from  the  program  editor screen, this has facilities for copying or
^1formatting discs and moving or making files all within AMOS.  Chapter
^118  example  on  error  proc  HELP  did  not  work as the Resume Next
^1instruction does not seem to be available in Easy AMOS.  A very handy
^1addition  is  the  Tutor,  both  the graphics and written program are
^1available  on  screen  at the same time to help you better understand
^1how  programs  work  or  even  to  test  and debug your own.  This is
^1another must for AMOS Professional.

^6 I  thought  Lprint had raised its ugly head again, this time it came
^6up  in  Chapter 16.  You may remember this was never included in AMOS
^6the  Creator  but was in the manual, I believe it was in the original
^6STOS  version.  I tried the example and got I/O Error just to be sure
^6I  also tried the Block Print facility and also got I/O Error, I then
^6tried  booting  up  from  my workbench 1.3 first and all was ok.  The
^6Block  Print  facility  works  fine from AMOS the Creator without the
^6workbench disc.

^1 Easy   AMOS  has  helped  to  explain  quite  a  few  mysteries  and
^1complicated  programs  can  be  written using it.  Easy AMOS does not
^1support  AMAL  but  you can still animate without it.  I feel it is a
^1program  well  worth getting and wish it had come out before AMOS the
^1Creator.

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