| ★ APPLICATIONS ★ CREATION GRAPHIQUE ★ SALUT L'ARTISTE/SCREEN DESIGNER ★ |
| SALUT L'ARTISTE (Cahier de l'Amstrad) | SALUT L'ARTISTE (AM-Mag HS) | Screen Designer (Popular Computing Weekly) |
Positive To date utility and applications packages for the 464 have been extraordinarily good, with the capabilities of the machine inspiring new heights. Amsoft's pre-publicity for the screen designer suggested that we were to expect a similar world beating package but for once I felt let down by the result. Don't get me wrong - it is a very good package, in parts brilliant, but there is still room for the definitive artist program on this machine. I would have liked to have seen commands such as ‘mirror', ‘rotate', the ability to ‘get' and ‘place' and ‘copy' large areas of the screen (although this can be done with character square size blocks) or to scale up or down graphics and text. Such features have appeared on recent advanced utilities for both Spectrum and Commodore and it is uncharacteristic of Amsoft to have missed them out.
The feel of the package is, however, superb, with very positive cursor movement, and documentation is, as usual with Amstrad, comprehensive, so extremely satisfactory pictures can be produced quickly and easily. Details are also given of the 464 screen map and of how to load and save screens. Of the facilities offered, I feel the most appreciated will be the option of stippling to increase apparent range of colours, the ability to scroll the picture by pixel or character square jumps, the wash command which changes one colour to another where chosen on screen, the chance to magnify areas of the screen for easier drawing and the ability to merge text with the background picture. There are, of course, the obvious things such as a very fast circle and fill. Worth the money, if not as powerful as I first hoped. Tony Kendle , Popular Computing Weekly |
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