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From: Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: B.A.T. Dongle - what's in it?
Message-ID: <40119@cup.portal.com>
Date: 14 Mar 91 02:39:57 GMT
References: <7513@skye.cs.ed.ac.uk>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 25

Al Crawford asks:
>I'm intrigued by the fact that the French (Infogrammes?) game _B.A.T._
>appears to contain a hardware dongle that provides a) protection and b)
>enhanced sound.

>Can anyone who has the game tell me exactly what the 'enhanced' sound
>facilities are? I read something in an ST mag about it giving 16 sound chann
>and there being some sort of sequencer/sound editor program on the way for i
>but quite frankly I find it difficult to believe that they could include as
>complex (and presumably expensive) piece of hardware in a game costing just
>#34.95 ...

Unfortunately I don't have that specific game, so I can't say anything
directly about it, but from the description it sounds a lot like the
enhanced sound "device" that FTL plans to include with the IBM version of
Dungeon Master..  essentially it's a D to A (digital to analog) converter
that plugs into an IBM's printer port.  The device is extremely simple,
consisting mainly of a set of resistors and the connector.  An audio
amplifier plugs into the additive output of the resistor ladder to play
the digitized sound.
 
If this is the sort of thing the French game is including, it would
essentially give us a one-channel version of the STe digitized sound.
 
BobR