.IF DSK1.C3 .CE 2 *IMPACT/99* by Jack Sughrue 1988 BLUE RIBBON WINNER .IF DSK1.C2  The first annual IMPACT/99 Blue Ribbon Software Winner is given this year to Asgard Software! Asgard continues to provide unusual and exciting programs and specialty files for the TI owner, while moving right into the Geneve upgrading. This software house has provided some peculiar - if not downright eccentric - pieces of software for many years now. Just when you think nothing new can possibly come out for our little marvel, Asgard leaps to the fore with something new, at the least, and mind-boggling, at the best. There are a lot of excellent software companies out there - most Mom 'n Pop type (even though run, usually, by VERY YOUNG people - who are producing or distributing wonderful things for the wonderful TI; companies like TIGERCUB (the granddaddy of the TOP QUALITY FOR LOW PRICE companies), Databiotics, Genial Computerware (a branch of the GENIAL TRAVelER diskazine, one of the best buys in the industry), DOS (Disk Only Software), and many others. So coming to this choice with this award was not an easy matter. The idea to even CREATE such an award came from John Zittrain and Ron Albright. Last year they named Asgard "Computer Software Company of the Year." I thought a lot about the idea of giving an award as a way of announcing to the software companies that WE'RE STILL HERE and we still appreciate all that is being done to support the 99. Too often these companies (and the long-suffering Fairware authors) hear only the complaints and none of the accolades. Thus, "The IMPACT/99 Blue Ribbon for 1988!" Asgard Software (P.O.^Box 10306, Rockville, MD 20850) is owned and operated by Chris Bobbitt. He is also one of the programmer/artists among a large stable of programmer/artists. He actively seeks programmers to create and develop materials for his company, contracts with the authors, packages and promotes the finished products always in a professional way. There is nothing slipshod or amateurish about anything put out by Asgard. Mr. Bobbitt has maintained one of the highest standards of professional excellence of any software company in the orphaned industry. But it is not just the packaging and distribution that make for a successful software company. Without good-quality software, all else is gesture. It is here - providing that consistent quality - that Bobbitt and Asgard shine. The latest catalog (free) is as ecletic a collection as would please the most demanding connoisseur. The 34 disks include a good share of games (or programmer's dream of utilities to change or create games), a collection of graphics programs that is second to no one, some incredible utilities (EZ-KEYS being one of the most unbelievable I've ever encountered), and some peculiar miscellaneous programs that are for a more discriminating audience. With regard to the latter, Asgard is the only company I know of that would publish such esoteric stuff as a RECIPE WRITER (and follow it up with a series of specialized recipes called ELECTRONIC GOURMET), a STAMP MANAGER, and a freeform database which has nothing like it for any computer I've ever used (TOTAL FILER). I mean, there has to be a very small audience for these specialty items. How many gourmet computer freaks are there? Yet, for those few (Maybe there ARE many!) who are out there, it's really nice to have a company that makes stuff for you and continues to add updates and support disks. Although I look forward to getting catalogs from ANY company that supports TI - (Anybody out there know what ever happened to PILGRIM'S PRIDE?) -, I really love opening up the latest one from Asgard. I never know what to expect. I DO know, however, that I'm not going to be ripped off. Of the 34 disks, more than 20 are under $10. Those are Fairware prices! And all the programs have warranties and exchange and upgrade policies. Bobbitt says he continues to keep the low prices as his way of trying to keep the market viable and to thwart pirates. (It's hardly worth pirating a $5.95 disk, particularly if you miss the excellent manuals that come with the programs.). I like that philosophy. But I particularly like Bobbitt's consistent policy of not putting protections on the disks or files. Hooray! I make backups of everything and salt the originals away. No problem. Then I enjoy peeking and probing the programs, learning all the while and customizing when it suits me. And playing with the thing. This is how many of us learn from the experts. (Almost all I know about computing, for example, came from Jim Peterson of TIGERCUB Software. His programs, too, are all unprotected. His NUTS 'n BOLTS series is the single biggest influence on TI XB programmers that has EVER existed. And like Bobbitt and Asgard, it has always been a policy of Peterson and TIGERCUB to sell only top quality stuff at very low prices.) I almost never buy anything that has super protections on it, like the QS stuff. I know it's a way of looking at the piracy thing to be on one side of the fence or another, and I can appreciate other points of view. For me, I buy lots and lots of hardware and software every year and encourage lots of other people to do the same directly, by mail, and by these reviews. I don't give anybody commercial software. But if I can't get inside, I personally do not want it. Anyway, I particularly like the Asgard policy. The PROGRAMS!!!! Yes, the programs. That is, after all, how my decision finally came to be made. There are six games listed (plus some that come with the Tunnel of Doom Editor) and they are superb. And quite different from one another. BALLOON WARS is an old favorite that has been updated. You fly a balloon across enemy lines in WWI Europe. It's very tricky business, this balloon version of the flying programs (for airplanes) making the rounds these days. Ingenious. Missile Wars (by the great programmer John Behnke) is an alien-attack game that is VERY fast and very well designed. It is tough, fun, and a little frantic. The manual is a model of philosophy. Kirkegard might have approved. HIGH GRAVITY was, until very recently, my very favorite game of all time after DIABLO. The former is as wonderfully ingenious as anything I can think of. It is not spectacular, has no special effects, is simple in concept, has the added feature of incredible cleverness. Is addictive. I keep it right on my PLUS! disk to automatically sit in my RAM disk for any time I need a fix. Then along comes Donn Granros and Ed Johnson to put out the remarkable LEGENDS. This is a graphic/text adventure. More in the slash and hack style of D && D than in the ruminating style of Infocom. I've never seen a D && D type of game for the TI that was anywhere nearly in the same class. LEGENDS is simply teriffic! I love it. It is addictive. I'm one of these people who plays a lot of games. A game freak. No matter how hard I try to be a grownup, responsible person, I am doomed to failure. Thank goodness. I have all sorts of work to do. Papers need correcting. Articles need writing. Letters, too. All kinds of things NEED to be done on my computer. And time is scarce, as it is for everyone. But before I do anything worthwhile, I decide to play LEGENDS "for just a few minutes to unwind." It doesn't work. I don't work. I don't care! LEGENDS is more fun. This fast (and fast-paced) two-disk game is colorful and animated. You (and up to three others) visit a strange island. It has inns, a training area for experiened war-party members, a store for weapons, another for magic items. When you travel this land of forests and rivers and inns and mountains you will need to be constantly on the alert. For much awaits you. So after you and your party explore and experience the island, hopefully gaining much wealth along the way, stopping at inns for a much-deserved break, you might hop the nearest teleporting rock to a reasonable facsimile of civilization where you may train and develop and prepare yourself for... .CE THE DUNGEONS! ...on Disk Two. You still have slash and hack adventures, but there is a new twist in this maze-like atmosphere: friendly encounters. All along the way - on island or under island - you'll encounter weird creatures. The graphics are exceptional. The patience you'll need to get through them must also be exceptional. You must fight, cast spells, negotiate, and run at the right times. The better you get at this game, the more the challenge. LEGENDS is one of the few superior games that came out for the TI this year. It is a game for many. There are two other games listed in the Asgard catalog (THE HAUNTED MINE II and THE VOLCANO FORTRESS). I've never played either of them, but I wouldn't hesitate getting them, as I've never gotten anything from this company that didn't exceed my expectations. Next IMPACT/99 I'll review three of the best (and, for me, most-used) programs I own. They are all Asgard and all exceptional: EZ-KEYS, FONTWRITER II, and TOTAL FILER - lest you think life is all fun and games for me. CONGRATULATIONS, ASGARD! Keep up the great TI efforts! [Jack Sughrue, Box 459, E.Douglas, MA 01516] If any newsletter editor prints these articles, please put me on your mailing list. Thanks - JS ՋՀ