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 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 ^^^^^^^^^^*by JACK SUGHRUE, Box
 459, East Douglas, MA 01516*

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^#9	

     COMPRODINE, Part One

     Okay, I've been hearing about
 JIFFY CARD and ARTIST PRINT SHOP and
 JIFFY FLYER and GIANT ARTIST POSTERS
 for some time now, but I just never
 got around to demoing the materials
 for NEW-AGE/99 reviews.  Not because
 I'm unfamiliar with the work of
 COMPRODINE owner Rodger Merritt.  On
 the contrary, I own and use and
 thoroughly enjoy PICTURE IT and PRINT
 IT.  They are two superb
 graphics/text packages that most
 TIers would not want to be without
 once they got using them regularly
 (particularly the handy and very
 professional disk catalog printer
 program).

     Sister Pat Taylor of Dubuque,
 Iowa, has been the leading fan of
 COMPRODINE materials in the world the
 past few years.  When I was in for
 repair last year following an
 accident, Sr.^Pat and her contingent
 of TIing nuns at the hospital where
 she lives inundated me with unique
 and colorful "get well" cards and
 banners and signs.  They also sent me
 a nice gift of a package of
 delightful greeting cards for all
 occasions. Everything was made on the
 TI with COMPRODINE software.

     Now when Sr.^Pat finds something
 useful, user friendly, and fun, it
 gets used and used and used.  Her use
 of COMPRODINE goodies is the best
 review there is.  But I've been lax
 inmyreviewer duties.

     So it was with great pleasure
 when Rodger Merritt called me from
 his home in California to see if I'd
 be interested in demoing some
 COMPRODINE software at the Boston
 Fayuh.

     "YES! YES! YES!" I screamed
 before he changed his mind.

     I had never met Rodger, so he
 didn't know what kind of TI maniac he
 entrusted his masterpieces with.
 Phil Townsend of the Kawartha group
 in Canada knew I'd be at the Boston
 shindig and recommended me.  (It's
 obvious that Phil, a fellow
 elementary teacher, had never met me,
 either.) Anyway, Rodger ran up a
 two-hour phone bill explaining each
 of the pieces of software.

     I could hardly contain myself
 waiting for the mail the next few
 days.

     Then... THE DAY!  When I came
 home from work, my wife informed me
 thatthepackage had arrived from
 COMPRODINE.  She did require my
 attendance at the dinner table under
 penalties of Doom, Death, and
 Destruction (though not necessarily
 in that order).  So I complied with
 She Who Must Be Obeyed and waited
 impatiently to open the treasures
 until after cleanup.

     I'm not sure my little
 fifth-graders didn't suffer much the
 next day because of that Merritt
 fiend.

     I took my package to my Computer
 Room, opened it, and played with the
 new toys - er, tools, I mean - until
 almost 4 AM.  As I have to get up at
 5 to go to work, I didn't get much of
 a beauty rest.  (I was a
 realbeautyat work next day, I can
 tell you.), but did not learn a
 lesson.  I was at it again when I got
 home; once again to the wee hours
 (this time 2 AM).  But what fun!

     Fortunately, I already owned
 PRINT IT and PICTURE IT and all of
 the Great Lakes Software in the
 package also distributed by
 COMPRODINE: JOYPAINT 99, JOYPAINT
 PAL, CLIP ART, EXTENDED BUSINESS
 GRAPHS, BANNERS 99, and the superb
 CERTIFICATE 99 with its companions).
 Otherwise, I'd still be at it.

     Because I'd like to spend next
 month's "Part Two" article entirely
 on the graphics' programs for which
 COMPRODINE is justifiably famous
 (ARTIST PRINT SHOP, JIFFY CARD and
 FLYER [including color versions],
 FORM SHOP, GIANT ARTIST POSTERS, and
 all the various companions), I'm
 going to use the rest of this article
 to examine a couple of COMPRODINE's
 other programs: LIVING TOMB and WAR
 ZONE.

 These are games by a decidedly
 fiendish 14-year-old lad, Quinton
 Tormanen.  Because both have
 permanent scoring systems built in
 (which I  ), I'd suggest making
 backup copies and store the
 originals.  Actually, I'd suggest you
 do that with all COMPRODINE
 materials, as they are unprotected.

     These fast auto-load assembly
 games are so good, so professional,
 that I have a hard time picturing
 anyone so young devising them.

     WAR ZONE ($10), a futuristic
 arcade game, is almost as fascinating
 for the instantaneous status and
 scoring boxes along the right side of
 the screen as the game itself.  Not
 quite.  But they are well designed
 and ingenious, if you have time to
 view them.  ("P" gives you pause when
 you need it.) Mostly, your time will
 be taken up trying to get your M15
 through 6 levels (each a 2500-mile
 flight over rough terrain - rough,
 because you are being attacked in 5
 different ways by 5 different enemy
 vehicles) to the enemy bases which
 must be destroyed.  This is no easy
 task.  However, you will be rewarded
 with an extra craft added to your
 one-at-a-time fleet for every 1000
 miles you survive (2 levels).  There
 are color and attack pattern changes
 as you move over new terrain.  The
 enemy gets more vicious the better
 (farther) you get.

     Though you have unlimited
 firepower (including bombs for the
 land vehicles), your greatest asset
 is maneuverability.  It's one of
 those frantic type games that raise
 havoc with your blood pressure.

     LIVING TOMBS ($15), a graphic
 adventure, is quite different.  It's
 a "Tunnels of Doom" type of game with
 lots of excellent differences.  (If
 you don't like TOD, just wait a
 second.  LIVING TOMB has some
 interesting features, including an
 ability to view all kinds of stats
 and make all kinds of smart decisions
 BEFORE you make a fool of yourself by
 getting killed.)  The multi-level
 tomb you travel through is a series
 of very complex 3-dimensional mazes.
 This 3D aspect is neat.  Unless you
 make a map, you will get lost.  I
 even had to drop some items along the
 way (like Hansel) to make sure I
 could find my way back to the trap
 doors to get to different levels. LT
 is rich with menued features,
 windows, and treasures, weapons, and
 monsters galore.  You start with
 nothing but can gather up the right
 equipment left by previous brave but
 dead adventurers.  And then only if
 you slay some demonic monsters to get
 them.

     What are you doing in this tomb?
 Well, an evil Alchemist from days of
 yore was buried here.  It is his
 tomb.  A gem of suspected power was
 buried here, too.  A curse was put
 upon this land of Ryder, and, though
 many have tried to enter the tomb and
 remove the evil gem to stop the
 curse, all have failed.  Your
 mission, succeed.

     The windowing menus, alone, are
 worth the price of this
 user-friendly, addictive, satisfying
 adventure.  LIVING TOMBS: an
 excellent investment in intellectual
 and visceral fun.  I hope Quinton
 continues to program for the TI.

     COMPRODINE (which, by the way,
 stands for COMputer PROgrammers'
 DIsktribution NEtwork) is at 1949
 Evergreen Ave., Fullerton, CA 32635.
 Ask for a catalog.  Shipping and
 handling is $1.50 for one item,
 $3.00 for two or more.

 [If you use NEW-AGE/99 please put
 me on your exchange list.]
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