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Put the squeeze on your Quill adventure databases with yet another addition to the Gilsoft adventure generator stable.

The main function of The Press is to compact and compile the code created by Quill or Illustrator so that you can put more text and graphics into your games - 48K worth.

There are two compilation modes. The first, compile and compress, generates the code for an adventure and compresses that code simultaneously. It can be used by loading The Press into memory on its own and loading the Quill database. Once the database has been loaded select 'fast' or 'slow' compression. Fast can take up to an hour to do its work while slow crunches code ten times more slowly.

Alternatively you can use the utility in conjunction with Quill. Load The Press into Quill using the Load Database option. Compile the code using the in-built Quill commands and select Use Dictionary from The Press. It'll compress code in one to two minutes.

The Press package also contains a utility called Expander, which works on text-only adventures. It compiles and compresses your code so that you can continually add locations and messages to it on-line. Expander optimises your adventure code and can make room for up to 11K more code. The Press also adds several new facilities to your adventures. You can now switch between graphics and text-only mode, use a Ram disc, and switch between two user-defined character sets at any point during a game.

A pre-defined set of sound effects can be accessed using some of the 23 utility routines within The Press. Each routine - numbered between zero and 23 is set up by entering its number into a status file within memory. You can create sound effects such as telephones, electric shocks and white noise, crash the computer. Pause, increase the number of objects a player can carry and even change the click of the keyboard into a Beep.

The Press puts the 'super' into an already fabulous system of adventure writing utilities. It is the final brick in a professional quality programming system. If you already have Quill, Illustrator and Patch, go out and buy The Press - if you haven't buy them all or wait till Gilsoft's PAW comes out.

You won't regret it.

Label: Gilsoft Author: Phil Wade Price: £6.95 Memory: 48K/128K Reviewer: John Gilbert

*****

Another example of Gilsoft genius. The Press text compressor completes the Quill system brilliantly.