Maggie 2

Since Maggie started life over six years ago we have relied on the enthusiasm of Atarians for articles, news and the latest demos. Interviews have always proved popular so from the Maggie archives this time around comes an interview conducted over the internet with Michael Burkley - the man behind the Suzy B's Software Treasury CD. Next up is an informative article from a Norwegian guy called Gard Eggesbo Abrahamsen. Now working over in Toronto, Canada, Gard explains how writing for disk magazines helped improve his writing skills and ultimately helped him get a job. There's an article from a contributor in Hungary, telling us about the Atari scene there. And finally, a review of a new game/demo called Running, which is probably the best Doom style game to hit the Atari scene so far. Disk copies of Maggie are available from most PD libraries including Goodmans, Merlin and Floppyshop. If you have web access do visit our site and say hello:
http://www.cybercomm.nl/~spostma/maggie/maggie.htm

Maggie is also available from 42BBS on 01256 895106 - download a copy today!

Interview with Michael Burkley of Suzy B

Suzy B recently gave us a CD-ROM called 'The Suzy B's Software Treasury.

Here's an exclusive interview with Michael Burkley - the man behind the compilation...

Can you give us a brief description of your early life, school, work and so on?

I grew up in a small town in Southern New Jersey (named Rancocas after the Ancocas Indians who lived nearby). When I say 'small' I mean it, for the town had only about 250 people in it when I was growing up. It was a community of caring and loving people who taught me about the love of God in both word and deed. Believe me, that can make a difference in anyone's life! I was always interested in science, and suspected from an early age my career would be in those fields. In high school I had a wonderful biology teacher and a chemistry teacher. I began the University of Maryland as a Biochemistry major and in my Junior (3rd) year I switched to a Chemistry and Education double major because I was thinking about going into teaching. To cut a LONG story short: I graduated, moved to Massachusetts to go to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, met Suzy B (then Suzy E) and married her a year-and-a-half later, went to school for three years, took some time off from my studies to work as a research chemist in polyurethane coatings for three years, went back to school for a year, did a year's internship in a church in Wheeling, West Virginia, we had a baby boy, and finally graduated, eight years into a degree program that is supposed to take only three years! We had another baby - this time a wonderful girl. Then I bought a second hand 520ST with a single-sided drive, a color monitor, and TOS on disk. It was great, and that leads me straight into an answer to the next question...

How did you get involved with the Atari scene?

I first learned about the Atari ST when I read an article in Byte magazine about the new 1040 ST. It was the cover story and it told about how this Atari was the first computer that was selling for less than $1 per kilobyte of RAM (this 1 meg machine listed for $999 US). It sounded great and so I hunted a store up and drooled over one for quite some time. I finally got my computer (one of a LONG list of them!) and needed some software to use on it. That's how Suzy B's Software was born... One day in 1989 Suzy and I ordered twenty single-sided disks from a major PD disk supplier. After getting the disks and sorting them and discarding the stuff we couldn't use, well, we didn't have much left. And so, an idea was conceived. After nearly two years of work, Suzy B's Software was born. We've been in business for about five years now. Suzy and I run Suzy B's Software from our home. Dividing up the work between us, Suzy runs the administrative end of the business while I comb through the 1000's of online files to bring you the best in Public Domain/Shareware offerings. Suzy manages both home and business while Michael is the pastor of the Niagara Presbyterian Church and the author of 'The Unabashed Atariophile', an ongoing series of articles that were published in Atari Explorer Online disk magazine.

What is your local Atari scene like in your area (for instance, retailers who support the Atari range, local user clubs, etc)

The local Atari scene is rather sparse in Niagara Falls, NY. The closest Atari stores are in Canada some distance away. They are all run by good people whom I like. Our user group is now quite tired. We meet in a local resturant for coffee and talk once a month.

What, in your opinion, is the best Atari show to attend in the US?

Any Atari show that is coming up is the best one to attend. I've only had the privilege to attend four shows, one in Iowa back in 1989, the Toronto Atari Federation's ACE 93 and 95 shows, and last year's show in Connecticut. All were wonderful.

What are your opinions on piracy and the internet?

Pirates should be forced to write a heart-felt and hours-spent commercial program and then have everyone else rip it off and brag about it. The internet is wonderful, it effectively pays for my calls to Germany, England, New Zealand and Australia, amazing!

Any other comments?

Thanks for the opportunity to sound off. I'm also glad to tell you a little bit about Suzy BÝs Software. I hope you'll buy one (or more) of our CD set!
Michael R. Burkley, the Unabashed Atariophile at Suzy B's Software

Lucky Break? .... or hard work

I know this sounds a bit far fetched, but disk magazines have played an important role in my life. In 1989, I spent my time playing games and watching then programming simple demos.
Socially I was a loser. At this time, I started at high school and expected to concentrate more on schoolwork and meeting new friends, but several factors influenced the direction I took.
I had just found 'ST Klubben' - the Norwegian ST News clone, which lead me ST-News and Maggie, and I was soon writing articles for various disk magazines. The Atari scene in Norway was thriving - and I was right in the middle of it. The inspiring disk magazine format and my German teacher had given me the writing bug and I started writing short stories and poetry. I continued programming demos and applications which combined with the writing was a very creative lifestyle. I maintained this creativity all through high school and college and I had become an important contributor which gave me lots of confidence. Before I left college, I started working at the public library and city hall and they also appreciated my contributions.
When I think back to shy person I was back in 1989 it's hard for me to believe!

Writing for Maggie and ST News has turned me into an active author, computer engineer and co-editor/programmer of the Atari disk magazine 'Scriba Communis Responsi'. The one remaining hurdle was finding a full time job. I'd no luck in Norway but had recently met an American girl which gave me the idea to look for jobs outside Norway, especially in the US. My experience writing for disk magazines had given me the self confidence to try anything and I received 6 job offers within 4 days from the US through the Internet. Unfortunately, nobody wanted to do the paperwork to get me a green card. However, I was contacted by O'Reilly and Associates, publisher of the UNIX and Internet books - the vice-president was attending an internet conference in Holland and would interview me. I stayed in Holland for a week and after several interviews they offered me a job!
I was offered a one year job as system administrator in Germany but with no guarantees after that. Shortly afterwards Stefan Posthuma, whom I knew via the ST News disk magazine, was now a programmer at Gray Matter in Canada and they were looking for programmers. I eagerly raised my hand was interviewed by Chris Gray, author of 'Boulderdash' and owner of Gray Matter. Once again, it was all the Atari related stuff I had done which interested him and within a few days I was offered and accepted a job in Canada. Four months of paperwork later, I was on a plane to Toronto, where I began a new life and a family.

Writing for disk magazines turned me from a loser into a winner and changed my life in ways I could never have imagined at the time.

Running, Doom clone preview

Running evolved from Doomio, one of many Doom clones in early stages of development shown at the Fried Bits III coding party held over Easter '95 in Bremen, Germany.
The quiet heroes behind Running are Stax Developments who look set to succeed where others have failed by bringing a Doom clone project to a successful conclusion. All the basic elements are already in place including a neat status panel, a first person viewpoint gun (borrowed from Duke Nukem!) and some real bad guys!

Running is an excellent example of the genre with fast, smooth updates and genuine Doom texture maps and bad guys.

To keep things moving along on a standard 16MHz Falcon030 the floors and ceilings are flat-shaded , in contrast to the fully textured walls, but if that's the only compromise needed to keep the game playing smoothly I reckon Stax have done an excellent coding job.
There's an excellent overhead view map function which is well drawn and can be walked through - just like the real Doom. A continuous looped dripping sound sample keeps the atmosphere on a knife edge with the expected groan on opening doors present and correct along with the various kabooms and screams that the genre demands.
There is still some work to do - currently the bad guys are too easy to kill for my liking.
Multiple weapon types seems pencilled in as there's an option on the status panel which doesn't work yet. A level designer, more textures and more bad guys (please tweak the difficulty level upwards) are planned along with a modem/MIDI link Death-match option so you can beat up on your friends via a cable or over the phone. Stax reckoned another six months work should see the project concluded and I, for one, can't wait.
The demo version is available now from PD/Shareware libraries and on-line services.