Subject: REVIEW: For Adults Only CD-ROM discs
From: [email-masked] (Reviewer with no e-mail address)
Date: 3 Feb 1993 19:41:11 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

[MODERATOR'S NOTE:  This review is by Thomas Baetzler, who does
	not currently have an e-mail address.  He may be reached on FidoNet
	on the Medic BBS, 2:241/7509.2, or by mail:
		Thomas Baetzler, Herrenstr. 62, 7500 Karlsruhe, FRG.
	- Dan]

PRODUCT NAME

        For Adults Only ("FAO") CD-ROM discs, volumes 1-3

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

	A set of three CD-ROM disks containing "adult" erotic material like
.gif graphics, .fli and .gl anims as well as text files and programs.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

	Name:		Profit Publishing
	Address:	2956 N. Campbell Ave.
			Tucson, AZ  85719
			USA

	Telephone:	(602) 577-9696 (Information/International)
			(800) 843-7990 (Orders - Visa/MC - US & Canada only)

	Fax:		(602) 577-9624 (24 Hour FAX)

	BBS:		(602) 299-0693 (Profit Press BBS) 
			(602) 577-6969 (FAO BBS)

LIST PRICE

	The suggested retail price is $199 (US) for the complete set.  I have
seen it advertised in Germany for as low as DM 198 ($130 US).

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

	Since these are CD-ROM disks, you'll need a CD-ROM drive and CD-ROM
filesystem software.

COPY PROTECTION

	None, except for its large size. :-)  Each volume of FAO contains
over 600 MB of data.

MACHINE USED FOR TESTING

	Amiga 2500/30 running OS 2.04.
	GVP Series II SCSI interface
	NEC CDR-74 CD-ROM drive
	AsimCDFS CD-ROM filesystem software

	Since the FAO discs are standard ISO 9660 discs, they should be
readable on any CD-ROM drive under any OS revision.  I have not tested these
discs on a CDTV.

REVIEW

	The FAO discs have been produced with the IBM PC user in mind.  Most
of the supplied support software is for MS/DOS and Windows, with some Unix
and Mac viewer programs thrown in for perks.  Consequently, the discs are
mastered in ISO 9660 Level 1, which means that filenames are limited to
MS-DOS length (8 characters plus 3-character suffix).

	The picture files are arranged thematically into different
directories, where they are subdivided according to their graphic resolution.
According to one's tastes, there's the usual assortment of G- to R- and
X-rated pictures, as well as themes like Orientals, gay males/females or
"Studs for Ladies".  Directory names tend to be a one or two letter
abbreviation like "GM" or "X".  The pictures come in the usual (S)VGA
resolutions from 320x200, 640x480, 800x600 and 1024x768 up to 1280x1024.
Most are 256 color, although there is a fair share of black-and-white
pictures, too.

	The digitizing quality is up to the "standard" set by the notorious
alt.binaries.pictures.erotica newsgroup.  That is, there is some good
material, and lots of blurred and badly cropped images of doubtful origin.

	The animations are of about the same quality: it's all you've come
to expect from an "adult" BBS.  A small quirk is the inclusion of a
.fli player program with every archived .fli animation.

	I have not tried any of the supplied "adult" PC software.

	And last of all, there's a collection of about 1,500 adult story
files [text].  The real number of stories is somewhat lower, since many
stories have been split into multiple files, and some are delivered in
duplicate and even triplicate.  Most of the stories seem to be gathered from
BBSes, which accounts for missing title and author information.  The disc
has no reference which maps file names to story titles, and it is sorely
lacking.

DOCUMENTATION

	The FAO set comes without any kind of printed information.  There
isn't even a cover leaf for the CD-ROM case. 

	There are some ".doc" files scattered around the discs describing
how to set them up in a PC-style BBS environment, as well as some short
descriptions what to find where.

LIKES AND DISLIKES

	My impression of the FAO collection is that it was thrown together
because the material was there.  I mean the data's there, but it's not too
well organized.  Whoever did the FAO didn't invest much effort besides the
special access software. 

	Putting together a better collection would involve a better
selection of the images as well as other editorial changes like giving
directories longer, more descriptive names.  Of course there really should be
an Amiga directory containing the usual utility software.  It's not really
needed, but it would be a courtesy.

	[MODERATOR'S NOTE:  "GIF" files can be viewed on Amigas by a
	number of different freely distributable programs.  - Dan]

BUGS

	The volumes of the FAO collection have "long" names like "FAO_1",
with *27* trailing "_" characters!!  The Device List function in SID 2.0
crashes immediately when such a volume is mounted.  However, this is Timm
Martin's problem.  As a registered SID user, I would have reported it, if
only his "support" BBS was online...

CONCLUSIONS

	The FAO collection is probably nothing you'll ever be missing if
you're not an avid collector of "adult" GIF images or a BBS sysop
starving for users.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

	Copyright 1993 Thomas Baetzler.  All rights reserved.

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   Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews
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