Steve!

It's all in the name!

I love trolling through the Atari ST archives looking for anything that might entertain this old man I have become. Not only games but anything - just look at sections of my website like Software or Other STuff Out There.

Well, 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 is an acronym for ST EVent Editor which is a multi-function program. It does just about everything we dreamt about 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 without clicking any of the links down below? Here ya go, mister lazy pants...

"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 to see something like this today. Using the program is complex so take a gander at the online manual - especially because of the keyboard commands. The potential is massive and I can only imagine how this program was utilised back in the day - read "The usage of STEVE" in the interview below.

Let me know if you boot up STeve and what you think of it in the comments below. My greetings to Primož for his time over the months since summer. I certainly enjoyed hearing all about his fascinating stories, ST program and history.

Are you interested to know more about Primož and the ST EVent Editor? Then check out these links:

• 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

Master CAD

A Day in the Life

Master CAD is a program by MichTron that I've had gathering dust on my shelf for ages. I nabbed it off eBay but have never booted it up. Hmm, I should rectify that to see what professional software was like in 1987.

After brushing away a thick layer of dust, I opened the box and lifted out a weighty manual. "Time for a good read", I thought. Well, no, it wasn't anything close to good. Yep, it wasn't long until I almost fell into a coma! Wow, such dull reading and confusing - so I decided to stop and power on the ST. Installation was a stumbling block: it insists on being stored on Drive C, which is doable but means cluttering up my boot partition. The next problem was a lack of examples to work from (and yes, that means stealing).

With little guidance, I continued the best I could. Don't laugh, but I had foolish plans to map of Doom's E1M1. I've no idea why, I just did. However, it was clear that MichTron wrote this manual for the established designer. Not somebody like me. I soon got to that stage where I wanted to pull out all my hair!!

After many hours, my map looked nothing more than a cluttered mess. In fact, it looked like something a child would have done, embarrassing! This program tortured me every step of the way. It wasn't fun and I had nothing to show for the time wasted. Another day of my life gone and I wondered why I did this. Madness!

Do you want to see how badly Master CAD affected me?

You should scroll down then...

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