Classic Computer Magazine Archive START VOL. 2 NO. 4 / SPECIAL ISSUE #2
DISK INSTRUCTIONS

The three programs on your START disk were selected to complement this Special Issue's theme of Graphics and Music. In addition, we are providing colorful demos of animation programs described in the Desktop Video! article in this issue.

To fit the files onto your START disk, we compressed them using the ARChive utilities set. This is CompuServe's preferred compressor/librarian, and lets you compress many different files together into a single file, reducing the size by 40 percent or more. We have provided the program ARCX.TTP, which will let you expand each file back into its original parts.

GETTING STARTED
Your START disk is not copy-protected, and you should make a backup of it immediately.

* Format a disk for backup.

  1. Put a fresh disk in Drive A. The contents of this disk will be erased, so be sure there is nothing on it you want.
  2. Click on the Drive A icon to highlight it.
  3. Select Format from the File option on the menu bar.
  4. Click on Single-Sided, if it is not already highlighted, then click on the Format button.
  5. When the format is complete, an alert box will tell you how much space is available on the disk. Click on OK, then click on the Exit button to return to the desktop.
* Next, copy your START disk onto your backup disk.
  1. If you have more than one drive, put the newly formatted disk into Drive B.
  2. Put your START disk in Drive A.
  3. Point the mouse cursor at the Drive A icon. Click and drag the icon to the Drive B icon until the Drive B icon is highlighted, then let go.
  4. A message will ask if you are sure you want to copy the disk. Click on OK. At the next dialog box, click on Copy.
(Note to single-drive system users: You will have to switch disks several times so that the computer can complete the copy operation; simply follow the instructions on the screen. Disk A is your START disk. Disk B is your new backup disk.)

* Now place your original START disk in a safe place. Put your new working disk in Drive A and double-click on the Drive A icon to see its contents.

* Copy the ARCed file you wish to run and ARCX.TTP onto another freshly formatted disk.

  1. Find the icon of the file you want to copy and point to it with the mouse cursor.
  2. Click and drag the icon to the Drive B icon so that it is highlighted, then let go.
  3. When the computer asks if you're sure you want to copy the file, click on OK.
(Note to single-drive system users: You will have to swap disks several times when copying files, as you did when copying entire disks. Just remember that your working copy of the START disk is Disk A, and that Disk B is the new disk you want to put the program on.)

* UnARC the file.

  1. Insert the new program disk into Drive A and press the Escape key to see the directory.
  2. Double-click on ARCX.TTP
  3. At the prompt, type in the name of the ARC file you want to use, then press Return. For example, if you wanted to unARC Ear Trainer, you would type EARTRAIN.ARC. The disk drives will turn, and the program will display the names of the new files as it unARCs them.
If ARCX.TTP cannot find the file, it may be because you have misspelled the name of the ARC file. Remember, you must type the filename exactly as it appears in the directory.

That's it! NOW you are ready to run the program. following the instructions in the program's accompanying article.

I Animate, You Animate, We all....
To get a sampling of the kind of flashy animation sequences you can create on the ST, you'll find three animation demos on your START disk. UnArc CYBER.ARC, AEGIS.ARC or MAKEMOVE.ARC onto a new disk. Next, simply double-click on the appropriate playback program (PLAYER.PRG for the Aegis demo. ANIMATE3.PRG for the Cyber sequence and VIEWIT.PRG for the MichTron demo) and then choose an animation file in the file selector box and click on OK. To exit the demos, press the right mouse button and then click on Cancel.

These demos and the player programs are in the public domain and can he distributed freely. All three require a color monitor and must he run in low resolution. The Cyher sequence was provided courtesy of Antic Software, the Animator ST demo was provided courtesy of Dancing Flame and the Make it Move sequence was provided courtesy of MichTron.