Triscroll

TRISCROLLER


by John Allen





A couple of months ago I announced a complete embargo on message


scrolling programs due to saturation of the market. Despite this


embargo, here's another scroller. Y'see, that's the kind of


unpredictable guy I am. The only reason I'm printing this is cos it's


the best I've seen for a long time, and it would be unsporting to keep


it all to myself.





So what's so special about John Allen's scroller? Well, as you might


be able to deduce from its name, it scrolls three messages at once.


Coo, eh? And they're no ordinary messages either, cos this is no


ordinary message scroller. The first is three character squares high,


with its own shadow, the second is over half the screen high, and the


third runs all the way round the edge of the screen. Quite what


advantage this gives you I'm not entirely sure, but it looks darned


impressive. (Well, you can write absolutely massive messages on the


screen and leave them there for your mum to see. Something like, "Id


like a skateboard for Christmas." Ed)





To test the delights of this simultaneous three-message scroller,


first type in the BASIC listing and save it with SAVE "triscroll" LINE


10. (It's a bit long, and mostly decorative, but type it anyway, eh?)


Then use the Hexloader to enter the hex listing. (A tad long, but well


worth the effort). Save the code produced after the first bit, and


then reload. Good, eh? As usual, you can substitute your own messages


for those in the program simply by typing them in at the relevant


places in the program.





Now, I've definitely had it up to here (about level with my nose) with


scrollers. Until somebody comes up with a 3D, parallax, five-way


scroller with musical accompaniment, I think we'd better draw the line


there. And I really mean it this time. Get your Santa-like thinking


caps on and come up with something really awesome. How about a program


to make it snow, or one which enables you to craft expensive-looking


gifts out of nothing. Anything but scrollers!