I've retained the original formatting so you may have to adjust it to get the file to display and/or print correctly. Noisy phone lines caused the occasional glitch or truncated file. I replaced some, but not all, instances of line noise with "[ERROR]" where applicable.

                        PERSPECTIVES by Pioneer Software
                          Documentation by [REDACTED]

These instructions are based solely on our experiences with the program.  They have nothing to do with the original documentation, and are intended for reference only.  You should note that, in some instances, they may be wrong.

From the MAIN MENU, you have the following choices:

D) Drawing board
W) Write object data
M) Manipulate object
V) View object
F) Film studio

The Drawing Board lets you use the cursor keys and the "^" key to change the X, Z, and Y coordinates respectively.  Unless you have some experience in drawing objects in three dimensions, it is suggested that you use the <W> option instead [from the Main Menu] for entering the coordinates of your object.

When in the Write Object Data mode, you must specify the following information for each point:  Whether it is a new object, a new line, or a continuation of the previous line, and the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the point.  If you wish the line to be of a different TYPE [solid, dash, or dotted] you must specify this before you begin the point.

All points should be at least 2 units away from each other, since small lines tend to "blend" on the screen, making the object unclear.  Also, points which are too close together sometimes don't show up at all.  One way to get around this is to design your object in any scale you wish -- even one in which the points ARE close to each other -- and when you are done, enlarge the entire object from the Manipulate Object menu [more on this later].  All you need to know know is that if the points aren't at least 2 units away from each other, your object may not look right on the view screen until you fix it later.

The first point should be of type "N", meaning a New Object.  From there, every point afterwards of type "C" [Continue Line] will have a line drawn from the previous point to the current point.  If you wish to start a line from a point OTHER than the last point, specify "O" to Originate a new line, and then give the coordinates from where it is to begin.

If you want to be able to change the position of certain objects in relation to other objects, you must choose "N" [New Object] for the FIRST point on the new object.  Note that you only have to specify "N" for the FIRST point in the new object.  You only need to do "N" if you are STARTING a new object.

The View Screen, accessable from various parts of the program, lets you see your object(s) in three dimensions.  If you don't see anything on the view screen, go to the Main Menu by pressing "Q" until you get there, and then go to to "View Object".  Then type "C" to change colors, and specify the following: Line color = 01, background color = 00, border color = 00.  Then type "V" to view the object again.

The more points your object consists of, the longer it takes to be drawn on the screen.  The longest should be about 20 seconds, so if after 20 seconds you don't see the object, wait another minute.  If the position of the object is such that it fills the screen and goes past the border, the program will take about 30 seconds LONGER to draw it.  You'll probably want to change its position like this:

You begin with your "viewpoint" being such that the X and Z axes are horizontal and vertical, respectively, and the Y axis being perpendicular to the screen, pointing towards your face.  You will never see these imaginary coordinates, but the object will always be manipulated relative to them.

Azimuth means the angle at which YOU are from the ORIGIN [coordinates 0,0,0], usually where the objects are.  If you change the azimuth, it does NOT change the position of the object; it DOES change YOUR position relative to the ORIGIN.  Imagine a house as the object, with the X-axis running through the ground floor, parallel to the sides and exiting underneath the front door.  The Y-axis would cut through the bottom of the left and right walls [if you were facing the front door], and the Z-axis goes straight up through the chimney.  You begin with a view from the ground, facing the front door.  If you change the azimuth, you will see the house from a different angle.  Going from 0 to 360 degrees, you would see the house from the front, then the side to the left of the X-axis, etc., until you were at the front again.

The elevation is the "vertical" angle from which you see the object.  Imagine a string tied down at coordinates 0,0,0 [the middle of the house] and the other end tied to the tip of your nose.  Now, if you stay on the ground and run around the house, keeping the string tight, that's what you see when you change the AZIMUTH.  When you change the ELEVATION, you are keeping the string tight but you are NOT moving along the X and Y axes.  You ARE moving towards the Z-axis.  At 90 degrees elevation, you are ON the Z-axis, and because the string is tight, you are facing down towards the roof, with a bird's-eye-view.  If you keep increasing the elevation, you will begin to see the house appear to turn upside-down.

The Range is simply how far away you are from the origin.  FOCUS is like a telescope; the BIGGER the focus, the CLOSER the object APPEARS to be, and respectively, the BIGGER the object appears, too.  If you decrease the focus, the object will APPEAR smaller, and also farther away.

Even though the Range and Focus both seem to make the object larger and smaller, they have different functions.  Imagine yourself standing on the ground, next to the Empire State Building.  Your RANGE [from the building] is small, and so is your focus.  For this reason, if you look up, the building appears DISTORTED-- the top is much "smaller" than the bottom.  Now picture yourself a few miles away from the building, looking at it from the ground.  The RANGE is much larger than before, and the focus is still small since you are using just your eyes.  Now, if you go up a few hundred feet and look at the building again, it will look relatively similar than the view from down on the ground.  If you use a telescope to INCREASE the FOCUS, it will still look relatively the same -- it will NOT be very distorted.

To make the object a reasonable size on the screen, you can either be far away with a large focus, or close to it with a small focus.  The difference is, if you are far away with a large focus, the object will be relatively "normal".  If you are close to the object with a small focus, it will appear "distorted", as though you were actually there.  The closer parts of the object appear larger than those farther away.

Horizontal and Vertical just move you directly up, down, left, or right from your current viewpoint.  Use the CRSR keys to change them.  However, it's less confusing if you leave them at 0.


Note: if you make either the Range or Focus NEGATIVE, strange things will happen to the object.  It will NOT be ruined in any way, but it will just LOOK strange; lines will appear approaching infinity where they shouldn't, and the program may take longer than usual to draw the picture again.  Try to keep the Range and Focus adjusted so the object doesn't go past the screen boundaries.  Also, if your Range from the OBJECT [not necessarily the origin] is, say, 100 units, and your Focus is MORE than 100 feet, it will be as if you are looking "past" the object, in which case it will become extremely distorted.  Try to keep the Focus LESS than the Range.

After you change the Azimuth, Elevation, Range, Focus, Horizontal, or Vertical, you will only see the object from the new position AFTER you press the SPACE BAR.  Remember, it may take a few seconds for the object to be re-drawn, especially if the object is larger than the screen.
Also note: The SHIFT key changes the direction of A, E, R, F, H, and V if you hold it down while pressing them.


Manipulate Object [Option "M" from the Main Menu] shows you the maximum and minimum X, Y, and Z coordinates of your object.  The Center Object option places the object so that the origin is in the middle of it.

Note: ALL objects will be moved if object number 99 is defined on the top of the screen.  To work with just ONE particular object, go back to Write Object Data, type L, and hold down the SPACE BAR until you see the number of the object you wish to move.  Then go back to Manipulate Object and use the "Define Object" option to specify that object number you wish to manipulate.

The "Zero Object to Origin" will move the current object [or ALL of them, if the current object is 99] in such a way that the FIRST POINT of the object is on the ORIGIN.

Enlarging the object is a good idea if it is written in small units.  100 will keep the object at 100% of its old size.  200 will double the size, 50 will halve it, etc.  Remember, if the object number is 99, ALL objects will be enlarged/reduced.

The Film Studio will let you "photograph" different viewscreens, store them, and play them back.  Remember, in order to change your viewpoint, you must press the SPACE BAR after changing coordinates.  If you Run the film, it will display all the viewscreens you saved.  The actual object will not be shown, and Running the film does not change the position of the object when you go back to the view screen.

Tips for designing objects: Keep them SIMPLE.  The fewer points you have, the faster the object will be drawn on the screen, and the "neater" it will look.  Contrary to what one might think, the more lines you have, the more crowded the object gets.  Because hidden lines are not removed, you ALWAYS see ALL the lines of the object, and they can make it hard for your eye to determine what you're actually looking at.  Also, the more points you use, the more memory each frame will take up in your movie, and the longer it will take to re-draw each frame.