Producer: Eclipse Software
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £7.45
Language: Machine code
Author: J.M. Weightman

A few issues back we reviewed Space Art by Eclipse Software, and received a number of enquiries about it. This new program uses hires graphics to draw a 3D image of the world globe as seen from outer space.

Rotation may be in any direction east/west or north/ south using the cursor keys in incremental steps of 1 degree (slow), 15 degrees (Normal) or 45 degrees (Fast). The screen display shows the current latitude and longitude of the centre of the globe which is indicated by a flashing yellow box, the direction and speed of rotation and the starting point.

The program may be used in two ways by going through the Pick option to choose a start point either by latitude and longitude references, or by choosing the features list which then displays four options - Cities, Countries, Islands or Features. These four pages contain 240 locations. Choosing a location will result in the flashing cursor square being placed centrally on the chosen location, such as a country or an island, or on the discharge point of a river. The inlay card contains a print out of the pages with all the locations listed together with their reference points.

World Globe should make an interesting program in connection with school Geography work. The hi-res drawings are of necessity a little on the crude side, but they do reflect the shapes of the countries well, and show the 3D foreshortening effect as continents disappear over the planets rim quite well. Each rotational scan is redrawn , which lends a flickery aspect to it, and it would have been much nicer to have a continuous, smooth animation, but probably too expensive on memory with all the continuous line calculations being done.

Just two of a series of tapes from Eclipse, who seem to have bent towards the planets and stars. The first of these tapes is World Globe. Written in machine code for the 48K Spectrum it draws the world globe in hi-res graphics as seen from outer space and gives you the ability to rotate it. It also holds a list of 240 locations such as cities, rivers and other important features such as oceans, monuments etc. After choosing one of these features the computer then draws the globe in one and a half seconds and a flashing cursor will pinpoint it. By choosing a co-ordinate (longitude and latitude) you can also pinpoint anywhere on the globe.

The second tape is Stargazer which looks the other way towards the heavens. A fairly comprehensive program which plots 34 constellations containing over 340 stars. It will also tell you what phase and position the moon will be in at any hour between the years 1950 and 2000. There is also a quiz and learning program to help you. The program holds a large database containing facts about the stars such as colour, size and distance from the Earth.

If you are a budding astronomer l think you will find this a very useful tape to have. Eclipse produce a range of tapes such as Meteor Shows, Planetarium, Halley's Comet, Messier List, and The Cosmos.

The two tapes I looked at will cost you £6.95 each and all tapes from Eclipse are written for the 48K Spectrum.