Sometimes, especially in the thick of February, it
seems like winter will never end. Days are too
short, night comes too quickly and stays too long,
and -- in some places -- it feels like your toes
will never warm up; they will. Even as you ponder
them, the days are getting longer. Best of all,
you've got your Amiga and the *StarShip* to add a
little warmth to the season.
  
Hot Downloads
  
The fields may be covered with snow, but there's
been a bumper crop of Library uploads. If you're
in the market for a fast-paced game, don't miss
file #21712 MEGABALLAGA.LHA. It's a shareware
variant of Arkanoid, a classic
knock-out-the-bricks kind of game with dazzling
graphics, sensational sound, and great music. The
great sound part will come as no surprise to MOD
fans since the author of MegaBallAGA is none other
than Ed Mackey, who also gave us the great MOD
player EdPlayer.
  
MegaballAGA comes with 50 boards, one tune, and
complete Amiga.guide documentation. More music is
available in file #21713 MBMUSIC.LHA. MegaBallAGA
is freely distributable, and tons of fun to play
as is. But if you want more out of life, send Ed
his shareware fee and you'll get "hundreds" of
additional boards, a board editor so you can
create your own, and some ultra-handy cheat keys.
Oh, and MegaBallAGA works on AGA machines, of
course, as well as all older machines. It's
multitasking-friendly, and has one and two-player
options. (With Valentine's Day coming up, that
two-player option might come in handy!)
  
Speaking of Valentine's Day, if you need to know
how much it's going to take to pay off that
diamond ring (you DID get her a diamond, didn't
you?) or if you want to know how long he's going
to be making payments on that diamond ring (he DID
get you a diamond, didn't he?) you should download
file #21774 ECONOKNOW.LHA. This financial program
will figure the future value of an investment, or
tell you how much you should invest now for a
future figure, or what percentage rate you'll need
to bulk up that nest egg. It's shareware, by
George Kell.
  
As you slog through the slush puddles of February,
take comfort in this: If you can't change the
weather, you can at least change your menus. File
#21780 MAGICMENU-V1.29.LHA by Martin Korndorfer,
can give your menus the same 3D look as the rest
of Workbench 2 or greater. And it offers lots
more, including pop-up menus, press-once menus (a
short click displays the menu), and complete
keyboard control of menus. Best of all, it runs as
a Commodity, so you can hit a hot-key combination
at any time and reconfigure or even remove it.
MagicMenu requires AmigaDOS 2.04 or higher.
  
Warm Feelings
  
When you're looking for heat, check out the
Fighter Duel action in Bulletin Board Category 24,
Topics 1 through 13. With release of Fighter Duel
Pro 2 by JaegerSoft, our resident fighter jocks
have been talking tough (at least online) and the
action has been hotter than ever. If you feel like
you're in need of a rudder, take a look at file
#21692 RUDDERPEDALS.LHA. This short file gives you
the instructions -- complete with an IFF schematic
-- to construct your own rudder pedals for those
flight simulators which recognize them, including
Fighter Duel Pro 2. The total cost should be less
than $30, and you may even have all the parts on
hand already.
  
Perhaps the warmest feelings you can have, though,
come from the sense of community your modem can
bring. The *StarShip* is filled with friendly
folks who are more than happy to exchange messages
with you on the Bulletin Board or talk with you in
Real-Time Conference. Our HelpDesk is staffed
every night starting at 9 PM Eastern AND at 9 PM
Pacific time, for at least an hour. So forget the
snow, forget the chill. Warm up your Amiga and
beam on in to the *StarShip*. See you on board!
