It's all in the name!
I love trolling through the STs archives looking for anything to entertain this old man I've become. Not only games, but anything - just look at sections of my website like Software(s) and Other STuff Out There.
I’ve found a program called (wait for it) Steve, and being the owner of such a cool name, I thought it was funny. The name stands for ST EVent Editor, a multi-function program that does just about everything we dreamed of back then: Text, Graphics, Database, Desktop Publishing, and Computer-Aided Instruction.
ST Event Editor was developed in 1989 by Primož Jakopin, a Yugoslavian (wow, that takes me back), whom I had to contact. He still has an active website, which shocked me, but not as much as finding out that the manual is available to download. Wanna know a little more before you click the links below? Here ya go...
"STeve - ST EVent Editor - is a general-purpose software tool that can handle text, pictures, data records, full pages (in DTP mode) and computer-aided-instruction units. It has been designed to get the most out of the ATARI ST range of computers - to be as fast as possible, to save as much space as is feasible and last, but not least, to be easy on the eyes. Processing of Mega-byte files, containing hundreds of pages with text and graphics, makes sense with STEVE. The program comes from Slovenia, a small country in the northwest of Yugoslavia, situated between the Adriatic Sea, the Alps, the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula."
STeve seems to be all things to all men, but it’s surreal seeing something like this today. Using it is complex, so check out the online manual, especially the keyboard commands. The potential is massive, and I can imagine how it was used back in the day - read "The usage of STEVE" in the interview linked below.
Let me know if you boot up STeve, and what you think of it. My greetings to Primož for his time over the months since the summer - I enjoyed hearing his fascinating stories, ST program, and hiSTory.
Here are lots of links for more about Primož and the ST EVent Editor...
- AtariCrypt interview with Primoz: https://www.jakopin.net/papers/memoirs/On_STEVE_en.php
- His website: https://www.jakopin.net/primoz/
- STeve's manual: https://jakopin.net/steve/STEve_Reference_Manual.php
- Demozoo download: https://demozoo.org/productions/194056/
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primož_Jakopin
- Other Atari ST software featured here: https://ataricrypt.blogspot.com/search/label/Software
Interesting find, the programmer was from yugoslavia, but the 'publisher' Theo Richel is Belgian. Wonder how these two got connected.
ReplyDeleteHi Dirk, my apologies for never getting alerted to your comment. Damn google :/
DeleteVery interesting story about how the program was born and evolved. Quite stunning that some local libraries in his country even used Atari ST and Steve for their professional work!
ReplyDeleteYes I thought so too. Sorry for the slow reply mate, I never got an alert :(
DeleteThat sounds like a fascinating journey through the Atari ST archives! Steve sounds like a versatile program for its time, offering a wide range of functions. It's impressive that Primož Jakopin still maintains an active website. Have you had a chance to try out Steve yourself?
ReplyDeletebmg
I have, it's exactly as you say but you will need to have that manual at hand. The learning curve is quite harsh imho
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