Arcadian, Volume 1, Issue 01

OCR'ed and cleaned up
by Richard C. Degler
on February 16, 2011
[note: _underscore_]


------------------------- [arcadian Vol. 1, Issue 01] -------------------------
Page 1 - [numbers originally centered at the bottom of each page.]

                        ARCADIANS
                        ---------
[Volume I]                                                  Nov. 6, 1978

     Since this is the 'premier' issue in the subscriber format, I thought
a few words about myself would be in order.  Right off, I'm not the best
typist, so bear with me.  My interest in computers lies in the hobby-home
area, with 110v AC control, lists, conference calling, and such being of
prime concern.  I work for Lockheed Missiles & Space Co, doing interface
engineering, which is a four dollar word for making sure things go together.
I have access to a Tektronix 4051, a _basic_ language desktop unit with lots
of capability and off-line accessories.  My other hobby pursuits lie in model
railroading, N scale using heavy electric locos, and a collection of high-
performance radio receivers, epitomized by E.H. Scott radios.  As a ham,
I have some knowledge of electronics, and am self-tought in the area of
computers.  I certainly don't understand all I know, and am acting as a
reporter in this Arcadian endeavor.

FORMAT will settle down after a while, right now it will be somewhat
mixed up.

SUPPLIER of Bally equipment in Ohio is DigiTrends, Inc. located at
1813 E. 12 St. Cleveland 44114, who tell me they plan to be a compre-
hensive source.

FOOTBALL cartridge is now going into production.  It takes 6 - 12 weeks
for the chips to be produced, so they may be out by the holidays.

ADD-ON will be on display at the Las Vegas electronics show in January,
It is planned to have the unit working with a disc memory and with a
printer at the show, but there is also a rumor that the mass memory
device will be a cassette-loaded RAM.

BALLY is taking the novel approach (at least in the hobby computing
industry) of planning to identify what non-Bally equipment will work
with the base units, with little or no modification.  Any such discoveries
on your part may be mutually beneficial.

DESIRES by correspondents are listed below.  There are a few things that
will take a lot of work, but eventually...  If you can help out in any of
these work areas, we can set up a project system and publicize the efforts
of a team that would result.   These are in no particular order.
     voice control          direct TV entry          RS 232 interface
     telephone modem        video tape recorder control for storage
     TTY interface          chess games              interactive games
     computer conferencing                           word processing
     direct 'toy organ' keyboard entry

JS&A has not shipped any hardware lately.  What has been shipped is a pair
of letters to their mailing lists, one to owners of the basic unit and the
other to those still waiting.  A copy of each is enclosed for your info.

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Page 2 -

This is a copy of the letter that was sent to those who have yet to receive
the machine:

                                              (312) 564-9000 Telex: 72-4498

JS&A NATIONAL SALES GROUP [logo]
One JS&A Plaza, Northbrook, Illinois 60062


Dear Customer:

     As you are well aware, there has been a delay in the shipment of your
Bally unit.

     The delays have been caused by almost every problem imaginable and have
lasted almost one year now.  Bally, however, is now in full production,
and there appears to be no production problems.

     In addition to the delays, there are serious doubts in our mind as whether
Bally will produce the add-on module we referred to in our advertisements.

     Bally refuses to make a commitment to us to produce the add-on module,
and they indicate that if they do proceed with the system, it won't be until
June, 1979 when their unit will be available.  Even the cost of the system is
yet undetermined but is estimated to be around $600 -- well above the price
they led us to believe the unit would cost

     Bally feels 90% positive that they will complete their commitment to us
despite their reluctance to sign a definitive agreement.  JS&A, on the other
hand, refuses to continue a business relationship with them, without the
positive assurances that the add-on module will indeed be produced soon.

     Every fact presented in our advertising literature was verified by the
Bally organization prior to its publication.  We tried our best to offer what,
in our opinion, was the best product of its kind on the market, but the Bally
organization let us down.

     In the course of trying to get a commitment from Bally, JS&A was
approached by a major US Corporation whose name is more recognizable than
Bally's.  The company has come up with a similar concept to Bally's using a
two part system -- part A similar to the basic Bally unit and part B similar
to the add-on module.

     The part A has been developed and FCC approved.  Part B will be ready in
February.  We feel that their part A far exceeds Belly's basic unit and that
their part B will be very similar to Bally's add-on module.  Prices are quite
competitive to Bally's prices.

     This major Corporation has asked us to keep their name confidential
until we are ready to introduce their product nationally sometime in January.
We feel a great deal of confidence that the new unit will be right on time as
we have already been given firm commitments as to delivery, something we have
yet been unable to do with Bally.

     Prior to our national introduction, we wish to give you the opportunity
to select the new unit which, in our opinion, has several advantages over the
Bally unit.

     We will hold your order and advise you in December, prior to our national
announcement.  We will offer you, in advance of our introduction, the
opportunity to purchase the new unit at a price below what we intend to offer
it nationally, and we feel confident that our promises to you will be backed
by a very responsible and competent manufacturer.

     If, when the new unit is announced, you would rather purchase the Bally
unit, we will he happy to supply it to you but without a firm commitment to
supply the add-on module from Bally.

     In either case, we are indeed sorry for the delay and inconvenience
caused you. Enclosed is a questionnaire and postage-paid reply envelope so you
may express your decision to us regarding our offer.  We would appreciate it
if you would fill out the questionnaire and return it in the enclosed envelope
so we may determine your intentions.  Again, thank you for your patience,

                                              Sincerely,

                                              JS&A NATIONAL SALES GROUP
                                              [signature of...]
                                              William Mitchell
                                              Group Marketing Director
WM/ms

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Page 3 -

This is a copy of the letter that was sent to previous recipients of the
machine:

                                              (312) 564-9000 Telex: 72-4498

JS&A NATIONAL SALES GROUP [logo]
One JS&A Plaza, Northbrook, Illinois 60062

[stamped as Received on:] OCT 16 1979


Dear Customer:

     We trust you have your Bally Home Library Computer and have found it
quite satisfactory.

     Very shortly, Bally will be releasing some of their new game cartridges
and educational programs, and we plan to advise you of those upon their
release.

     You've no doubt realized that practically the entire Bally program has
been delayed.  The problems with production, FCC approval delays, and late
delivery of parts are past and we don't want to rehash history.

     We clearly made a mistake by offering the basic unit in advance of seeing
an actual production model.  And quite frankly, we've never experienced a
backorder problem like the one we've had with this unit.

     Because of this bad experience with the Bally unit, we have been quite
concerned with Bally's future plans concerning the add-on module.  To assure
our customers of a reasonable delivery date, we requested, long ago, that
Bally supply us with a firm commitment to supply us with the add-on module
along with its final price and features.

     The delays in the basic unit caused Bally to delay any commitment to
produce the add-on module for us.  We have therefore taken the position with
Bally that if they do not produce the unit, they permit us to manufacture it
ourselves to assure our customers of our commitments to them.  Bally has
agreed and we are presently working out a final agreement in this regard.

     Bally has reassured us that although they are not willing to make a
firm commitment to us, they do feel 90% confident that they will definitely
go through with the production of the unit.  However, they have further
advised us that:

1) The add-on module will not be available until June of next year.

2) The cost will be higher than they led us to believe -- probably around $600.

3) The unit will have more features than was originally proposed.

     The purpose of this letter is to advise you of the circumstances regarding
the delay of the add-on module and the information that we have been receiving
from Bally.

     We were told by Bally representatives that all the statements we made
in our advertisements were correct.  Because of delays and (in our opinion)
inexperience on their part, they have obviously let us down.  We feel it our
obligation to advise you and question your interest in the add-on module.

     It is not our intention to get into a legal battle with Bally.  We feel
that by cooperating with them, in the event that they do not produce the add-on
module, we can still protect our customers' interests by producing the unit
ourselves.

     When the unit is available, because of its higher price, we will discount
it as low as possible to provide the unit to you at the price we originally
quoted you or as close to it as possible.  And we will do all we can to advance
the June delivery date.

     We have already seen a working prototype of the add-on module.  We fully
intend to sell it and Bally feels that they will proceed, but we also felt it
our obligation to advise you of the reason for the delays and to give you a
true picture of the events surrounding this matter.

     We need your commitment to us regarding your desire to purchase the add-on
module so that we may reserve production time with Bally.  Would you please jot
down the answers to the questions listed and return them in the postage paid
return envelope.  If no answer is received, we will assume that you are not
interested in the add-on module.

     If you have any thoughts, feel free to jot them down on the enclosed
questionnaire and we will make sure the Bally representatives see them.
Thank you for your cooperation and we sincerely appreciate your patience.

                                              Sincerely,

                                              JS&A NATIONAL SALES GROUP
                                              [signature of...]
                                              William Mitchell
                                              Group Marketing Director

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Page 4 -

PROJECTS known to be in work include:
  - a breakdown of the cassette interface circuit board and chip data.
    an understanding of this circuit will make it possible to construct
    a telephone modem.
  - half-size lettering on the screen.
  - 3-voice music
  - effort to include decimal notation in the TBASIC
  - a read-out of the information on the game cartridges

INSIDES of the TBASIC are becoming visible.  Three known control characters
are the @ & and %
     % is the PEEK command - this is being worked on now, more later
     @ gives string constants  Try this program
                 10 CLEAR              You will get a bunch of ??? as A
                 20 A=0                progresses from 0 to about 26.  Then
                 30 TV=A               from there to about 120 you will
                 40 @(A)=A             get the character, then???to cycle
                 50 PRINT "A"          until 874 is reached.  But one member
                 60 A=A+1              writes that he has 887 strings.
                 70 GOTO 30
     & does all kinds of things.  I am going to duplicate parts of a letter
just received that has a few things to keep you busy for a while...

MEANWHILE, here are some questions/answers
  * Can I add an IBM-compatible floppy disc system?  All I know is that
    Bally has a floppy disc prototype that was seen with the Add-On
  * Is this computer S-100 compatible?  No, it is supposed to be IEEE.
  * Does the cassette come with the computer?  No, the arrangements differ,
    as follows: with Tiny BASIC, you buy the #6002 TinyBASIC cartridge
    that plugs into the game slot.  The machine is now self-contained.
    To add storage, buy a #10 INTF cassette interface that plugs into the
    right-most hand controller connector and the lightpen power plug.
    It also plugs into your portable recorder (or buy a #M2522) List
    prices of these are $49.95, $49.95, and $55. as of this date.
    with the Add-On, the cassette interface will be built in, and then
    you just plug in your own player.
  * WHICH reminds me that BALLY has told me that the problem I had writ-
    ten about last time, where I was having difficulty loading a tape
    made on one recorder through a different recorder, has been fixed,
    and all interfaces should work with 99% of recorders.
  * Does graphics use SET (x,y) or a PRINT statement?
    There are two commands, LINE and BOX.  LINE X,Y draws a line from
    where you are to the new point x,y.  You can draw a line in white, black,
    none (just to move the cursor), and reverse (where the line is black
    or white depending on what the background is).  The center of the
    screen is 0,0 with four quadrants.  The x dimension is from -80 to 79,
    while y is from -44 to 43.  BOX draws a square or rectangular box
    around a point, with the same color arrangements.
  * Does the original unit have any cassette WRITE ability?  No, the
    TinyBASIC provides the access through the :INPUT command.

EXCERPTS included herein identify some areas of research that any of us
can do at our TinyBASICS.  Try everything and if you get different responses,
let us know.  I'd appreciate everything of this nature to be typed or
neatly printed so that direct reproduction is possible.  Also, I may
eventually go to a reduced size, such as the included letters.  Any comment?

THANKS for your support.  The subscription sheet is enclosed this time.

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Page 5 -

              10 For A=0to 174
              20 &(10)=A
              30 Next A

List it a couple of times to fill the screen with words, run it, watch the
words disappear and then from top to bottom uncover _one-half a pixel_ at a
time!  Put in a timer loop to slow the action down.  A great tool for games
where one can squeeze the trigger of the hand controller and the screen will
blank out or rotate the knob and turn the screen on or off in layers.


I had a couple of professional programmers from the University where I work
stop by yesterday to look at the Bally and TB and they were intrigued by the
above.  They had both seen TB at the computer faire in Anaheim earlier this
year and were very impressed by the power and potential of the Bally.  Anyhow,
it wasn't long until they got into the more serious side of &(n)=n statements.
For instance, they found that the keyboard is configured as follows:

                      23  22  21  20   <--- M: Keypad input (only) port number
Try this:            +---+---+---+---+
                     [_1_|_1_|_1_|_1_]      &(M)=N appears to set output
10 PRINT &(23)       | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |      decimal port #M to the value of N
20 GOTO 10           |__7.__8.__9.___|       [there's no write examples here!]
                     | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |      and... N=&(M) appears to read the
* Run the program.   |__4.__5.__6.___|      value of the M input port into the
In turn press each   | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |      variable N.   [good assumptions!!]
key in the left hand |__1.__2.__3.___|
row and see the      |16 |16 |16 |16 |             +------+
appropriate #'s      |___|__0.___|___| <--- where: |value |
appear.              [32 |32 |32 |32 ]             |___key.
                     +---+---+---+---+      (only Basic overlay numbers shown)

So, &(23) [returns] 1 if the "GO" key is depressed [was '=' meaning a write],
and &(20) [reads a] 32 [known as a function] if the "WORDS" key is depressed.

They also discovered that n=&(k) where k is 28 for knob on controller 1
                                            29 for knob on controller 2
[These were both port writes, not reads!]   30 for knob on controller 3
                                            31 for knob on controller 4
and that n is from O (clockwise) to 255 (counterclockwise)          (17)
                                                             (21)    1    (27)
Joystick and trigger use n=&(j) where j is 16 for joystick 1     5   ^   9
                                           17 for joystick 2      \  |  /
Use this program for checking out your     18 for joystick 3       \ | /
controller joystick operation to see that  19 for joystick 4        \|/
it functions in all positions:         ,--->               (20) 4<---x-->8 (24)
     10 &(l6) = 5x(1) [write TONMO?]  /    n is 1 for up            /|\
     20 PRINT &(l6)                   |         2 for down         / | \
     30 GOTO 10                       |         4 for left        6  v  10
                                      |         8 for right   (22)   2    (26)
Pulled triggered #'s in () + moved ---'                            (18)
joystick combination.                      and 16 for trigger pulled.

Personally, I don't know what to do with the above information because TB has
built in all the capabilities I can think of for applications.  Someone,
somewhere will think up uses for it, however, so I hope they will let us know.

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Page 6 -

If one wants to produce weird sounds or the equivalent of multiple notes use
the instruction &(20)=n  If n is equal to O or 64 or 128 or 192 or 256 the note
is the note that is usually heard when reset is pushed.  So, if you have a few
minutes key in this program, run it and pick out a sound you would like to use
in a program for special effects.

              10 NT=50      (slow it down so you can hear what's happening)
              20 FOR A= 0 TO 256
              30 &(20)=A
              40 Print "A"                (play something)
              50 NEXT A

The basic note stays throughout the program but the supplemental notes vary in
effects.  All start at the lowest position of the 64 note chromatic scale and
go to the highest.


&(8)=n causes the screen to blank out and wipes out any program.

&(9)=0 to 39 changes the screen to black and uncovers the screen from left to
           right 4 pixels at a time.
&(l3)=n does lots of strange things all of them causing program loss, most of
     them freezing action but some of them displaying a screen full of images
     such as memory and some delete the cursor some leave the cursor displayed.
     24 turns the screen black and a couple displayed the word *OVERFLOW* from
     the calculator function.

&(l8)=n gives more variations of musical tones.

&(l9)=n ditto on musical tones.

&(2l)=n causes the volume of tones to increase for 16 n's and then drop back to
normal level.

I don't know whether all basic units react the same way to all the commands
because in &(13)=n I couldn't get them all to react the same way two days in a
row.


Number 3 hand control plug-in is on the extreme right.  For some reason
Bally numbered them, left to right from the front of the machine.

                         1    2       4    3

                                               Good Luck !

                                      Bob Fabris            408-272-2364 home
                                      3626 Morris Dr.           742-6048 work
                                      San Jose, CA, 95127

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DATAFILE [logo] [Following article is from a NCE/Compumart mail-order catalog:]

The Bally Professional Arcade has transcended the barrier between the
programmed computer game to a user programmed computer system.  The
transformation comes about when you insert the Bally BASIC ROM cartridge and
press RESET.  With the aid of a keyboard overlay card, the 24-key keypad is
transformed into a full alpha-numeric keyboard with four "shift" keys to allow
you to program in an enhanced version of Palo Alto Tiny BASIC.  By forgetting
that you ever used a regular keyboard, you can learn to type programs in BASIC
fairly quickly due to the fact that the keyboard overlay is arranged in a
logical manner.

The keyboard not only allows you to program letters, numbers and special
symbols but it gives you the capability to use the WORD shift key to enter an
entire BASIC command in one keystroke.

Bally BASIC is designed to work with the various elements of the Arcade to give
as much control as possible over the TV screen and speaker (for music) while
allowing you to input from either the built-in keypad or two joysticks.
Here is a block diagram to give you an idea of the elements making up the Bally
Professional Arcade with Bally BASIC:

                 KEYPAD ---\                /--- BASIC ROM
                            \              /
             JOYSTICK 1 --\  \            /  /-- INTERNAL ROM
                           \  \          /  /
             JOYSTICK 2 -\  \  \        /  /  /- PROGRAM RAM
                          ------- Z-80 -------
         TAPE INTERFACE -/  /  /        \  \  \- STRING RAM
                           /  /          \  \
           TV INTERFACE --/  /            \  \-- SCREEN RAM
                            /              \
           INPUT/OUTPUT ---/                \--- MEMORY


Let's take a look at the Input/Output (I/O) side of the diagram first.  The
24-key keypad has four shift keys to produce 93 possible codes to be entered
from this input device.  Each shift key is color-coded on the overlay and the
background color of the screen changes to match this color when the shift key
is pressed.  The keypad can be interrogated with a special variable (KP)
during the execution of a BASIC program.

Two joysticks are able to input to a BASIC program in three ways: TR(1) is
the variable attached to the trigger on the number one joystick.  This
variable is equal to zero until the trigger is pulled when it is equal to one.
The joystick itself has two variables associated with it: JX(1) and JY(1).
Both variables are equal to zero until the joystick is moved.  Here is how
these variables change with the position of the joystick:

                                  JY(1)=1
                      JX(1)=-1        0        JX(1)=1
                                  JY(1)=-1

By combining the information read from JX and JY, you can resolve eight
separate joystick positions (eg. JX=1, JY=-1 would be the Southeast direction).

Continued on pg. 13 [not really]


NCE DATAFILE, cont. from page 11

The third and most versatile input is the knob on the end of the joystick which
goes by the variable name, KN(1).  KN(1) uses the analog to digital circuits
in the Arcade to give you numbers between -128 and +127.  This can be used to
vary colors, position or sound easily and with accuracy.

The optional Bally BASIC cassette interface allows you to store and retrieve
programs (but not strings) using a standard tape recorder with earphone and
microphone jacks.  The format used is the Kansas City Standard which runs at
300 baud.  The interface plugs into the jack normally used for joystick number
three when you are playing the Arcade games and it gets power from the jack
provided for the future light pen option.  In operation, an LED tells you when
the signal is present before the loading starts.  When the program loads, it
also lists on the screen to let you see what is loading and if it is loading
correctly.  There is even a command to read information from the tape directly
to the TV screen without disturbing memory so that you can verify that the
program was recorded correctly or so that you can find a blank spot on a tape
to save your program.

The TV interface is the output section for the Bally Arcade; it allows color
graphics, text and musical tones to be controlled from your program.  The
foreground and the background colors are controlled by the variables FC and BC
and there are 256 colors available for each.  The restriction is that only two
colors may be on the screen at one time in Bally BASIC as opposed to the eight
colors available simultaneously in the Arcade games.  Text is read onto the
screen with the PRINT command or the TV variable which will be explained later.
Music is also obtained from the PRINT command since each character has a note
associated with it.  MU is a special variable which plays music without
printing on the screen.

The cursor (a moving block which acts as a screen pointer) can be positioned
with two more special variables: CX and CY.  By setting these variables equal
to the desired coordinates on the screen, you can make the cursor appear
wherever you want it to allow you to print text at that location.  These two
variables may also be used to tell you where the cursor is at any time by
simply reading them (ie. PRINT CX, CY).

Now that you've seen the hardware side of the Bally Professional Arcade,
the input and output devices, let's take a look at the insides which include
the memory circuits and their contents, the software.

The memory "space" in the Bally Professional Arcade is determined by the
microprocessor within the unit, the Z-80.  The normal amount of memory which
can be handled by a Z-80 is 65,636 bytes (a single character takes up one byte
which is 8 bits).  In the Arcade, this memory space is divided into ROM memory
which is set up at the factory for a certain program and RAM memory which
stores your information whether it is the program you write, the music you
compose or the shapes you create on the TV screen.  The full range of the Z-80
microprocessor will not be used until the expansion unit becomes available
with its own RAM and ROM but the Bally BASIC system is impressive when you
weigh its capability against that of anything near its price.


* My unit works only when plugged into the extreme right connector.
                                            [footnote misplaced from above ??]

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Page 8 -

The ROM in the Bally Professional Arcade is primarily dedicated to the
three games and calculator programs but it also contains the operating system
to allow the screen to display shapes and colors as well as play notes through
the speaker.  The ROM cassettes from Bally plug into the unit and attach to
the Z-80 memory bus with a connector inside.  These cassettes may contain
games or, in this instance, Bally BASIC.

When you plug in the Bally BASlC cassette, the ROM inside takes control of the
hardware in the system to allow you to enter your own programs for games or
educational purposes.  Because the Arcade cannot attach to a printer or other
hard copy device and because this version of Tiny BASlC has no floating point
(decimal) numbers, it is not well suited to business use.  The Bally expansion
unit will serve this type of application at a later date.

The RAM is normally dedicated solely to the TV interface so that it can
display 8 colors at once with high-resolution graphics to simulate real-world
situations such as a car driving down a road or a baseball field complete
with players.  When the BASIC ROM is plugged in, the 4096 bytes of RAM are
subdivided into three sections: program, string and screen.  The trade-off is
that you can only display two colors at once but you gain 1800 bytes of memory
in which to store your program, and you can store up to 874 numbers in the
numeric string memory (this is where you store the notes for your piano player
program).

Learning Bally BASIC is not hard; most of the commands are the same as you
find in any computer's BASIC, but there are four new commands which provide
new operations which most computers have no way to duplicate.  The standard
BASIC commands available are:

FOR, TO, NEXT, STEP, GOTO, GOSUB, RETURN, INPUT, RND, LIST, IF (no THEN)

Bally set up the following special purpose commands for you to use:

   PRINT - This command operates in the normal way except that as each letter
           or number is placed on the screen, it plays a note whose duration
           is determined by the note time variable NT.  NT=0 turns off this
           music feature.  PRINT #A, B will print A spaces before it prints
           the numeric value of B to provide formatting capability.

   BOX   - BOX X, Y, A, B, C prints a box on the screen centered at location
           X, Y with height A and width B screen units (pixels).  The fifth
           parameter, C, gives you control over how the box affects the screen.
           1 = foreground color, 2 = background color, 3 = foreground color but
           reverse images inside the box, 4 = no box (good for moving over
           images without disturbing them).  The screen has 13,833 separate
           pixels arranged 159 wide and 87 high.

   LINE  - LINE X, Y, C draws a line from the end of the last line (or 0, 0
           which is the origin or  center of the screen) to the pixel at
           location X,Y.  The third parameter C is the same as the fifth
           parameter C for the BOX command.  Both BOX and LINE commands
           operate fairly quickly.

   CLEAR - This command simply clears the screen for more graphics to be
           displayed or text to be printed.

Another interesting special variable, PX (X, Y) allows you to check the pixel
at location X, Y to determine whether it is currently set to the foreground
color (1) or the background color (0).  This is useful if you are moving
something on the screen and you want to check for a barrier, etc.

When using the screen for text, the display consists of 11 lines of 26
characters each.  A program line can extend over four screen lines for a
total of 104 characters.  Statements may be separated by a semicolon on
the same program line.  Integers from -32767 to +32767 may be used.

Three error messages are issued by Bally BASIC:

   WHAT? - This is the syntax error message which tells you when the computer
           doesn't understand your statement.

   HOW?  - This message tells you that the computer knows how to perform the
           command but doesn't have the resources available.

  SORRY! - Out of memory.  You can check the amount of unused memory with
           the special variable SZ to prevent this problem.

Bally BASIC uses the term "string" to refer to a single-dimensioned sub-
scripted variable which is used only to store numbers during program execution.
874 of these strings are packed into a separate memory from the program so
that you don't have to worry about leaving space for these strings when you
write your program.  There is one way to get alpha characters from a string,
and that is using the special variable TV.  When you set TV equal to a number
between 30 and 119, you are able to access most of the keys on the keyboard
to print their corresponding words, numbers, letters or symbols wherever the
cursor is located.

The immediate functions available include GO which serves as a return key
plus it can generate a new line number ten higher by preceding it with the
WORD shift.  HALT halts program execution while PAUSE is a temporary delay
until another key is pressed to resume execution.  An ERASE key is provided
to allow you to backspace for corrections.  To give you an idea of how many
lines you can fit into 1800 bytes, this line could be entered 138 times
before the Bally BASlC said "SORRY":

         20000 CLEAR; INPUT X; LINE X, 9, 4

A key command takes up one byte as does each separate character.  A line number
occupies three bytes of program RAM but the strings have their own memory to
keep from interfering with the program.

As you can see, it is the special variables, music and graphics commands
which make Bally BASlC a powerful tool to use the Arcade's capabilities.
This, along with the low price of less than $350, makes for a perfect system
to get a start in programming microcomputers as well as to give you a reason
to turn off those boring network shows and do something creative with your TV.

Next installment will include an interesting sample program with a lot of
remarks and comments concerning its operation.

[It seems that NCE/Compumart never published the Part Two of this article...]

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [fold on the dotted line] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ARCADIANS                                         [Place US postage stamp here]
3626 Morrie Dr.
San Jose, CA 95127

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------------------------------ [end of Issue 01] ------------------------------
