Editing STOS BASIC

{{Infobox programming language
 | name                   = STOS BASIC
 | screenshot             = [[Image:STOS BASIC loading screen.png|250px]]
 | screenshot caption     = Loading screen
 | paradigm               = 
 | released               = {{Start date and age|1988}}
 | developer              = [[François Lionet]], [[Constantin Sotiropoulos]]
 | influenced by          = [[BASIC]]
 | influenced             = [[AMOS (programming language)|AMOS]]
 | website                = 
}}

'''STOS BASIC''' is a dialect of the [[BASIC|BASIC programming language]] for the [[Atari ST]] personal computer. It was designed for creating games, but the set of high-level graphics and sound commands it offers is suitable for developing multimedia software without knowledge of the internals of the Atari ST.

STOS BASIC was developed by Jawx–[[François Lionet]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iCrx2IErdE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/2iCrx2IErdE| archive-date=2021-12-13 |title=STOS & Amos - Francois Lionet {{!}} Retro Tea Break|last=Thomas|first=Neil|date=19 Aug 2019|website=[[YouTube]]|url-status=live|access-date=11 Mar 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and [[Constantin Sotiropoulos]]–and published by [[Mandarin Software]] (now known as [[Europress Software]]).

==History==
Although the first version of ''STOS'' to be released in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] (version 2.3) was released in late 1988 by [[Mandarin Software]], a version had been released earlier in [[France]].

Version 2.3 was bundled with three complete games (''Orbit'', ''Zoltar'' and ''Bullet Train''), and many accessories and utilities (such as [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprite]] and music editors). Initially implemented as a [[BASIC interpreter]], a [[compiler]] was soon released that enabled the user to compile the ''STOS Basic'' program into an executable file that ran a lot faster because it was [[compiler|compiled]] rather than [[interpreter (computer software)|interpreted]]. In order to be compatible with the compiler, STOS needed to be upgraded to version 2.4 (which came with the compiler). STOS 2.4 also fixed a few bugs and had faster [[floating point]] mathematics code, but the floating point numbers had a smaller range.

STOS 2.5 was released to make STOS run on Atari STEs with [[Atari TOS|TOS]] 1.06 (1.6), and then STOS 2.6 was needed to make STOS run on Atari STEs with TOS 1.62. STOS 2.7 was a compiler-only upgrade that made programs with the STOS [[music tracker|tracker]] extension (used to play [[Module file|MOD]] music) compile.

There was a 3rd-party hack called STOS 2.07 designed to make ''STOS'' run on even more TOS versions, and behave on the [[Atari Falcon]].

Around 2001 [[François Lionet]] released via the [[Clickteam]] website the [[source code]] of STOS BASIC.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071130053321/http://clickteam.com/eng/downloadcenter.php?i=58 Amos & Stos » Main Download] on clickteam.com (archived 2007)</ref>

On the 4th of April, 2019 [[François Lionet]] announced the release of AMOS2 on his website [http://amos2.tech/ Amos2.tech] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923044846/http://amos2.tech/ |date=2020-09-23 }}. AMOS2 replaces STOS and AMOS together, using [[JavaScript]] as its code interpreter, making the new development system independent and generally deployed in web browsers.

AMOS2 is now known as AOZ Studio.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aoz.studio/|title=AOZ Studio to create your apps and games|website=AOZ Studio|language=en|access-date=2020-03-12}}</ref>

==Extensions==
It was possible to extend the functionality of ''STOS'' by adding extensions which added more commands to the language and increased the functionality. The first such extension to be released was ''STOS Maestro'' which added the ability to play sampled sounds. ''STOS Maestro plus'' was ''STOS Maestro'' bundled with a sound-sampler [[ROM cartridge|cartridge]]. Other extensions included ''TOME'', ''STOS 3D'', ''STE extension'', ''Misty'', ''The Missing Link'', ''Control extension'', ''Extra'' and ''Ninja Tracker''. These extensions kept ''STOS'' alive for many years after its release.

==Criticisms==
While giving programmers the ability to rapidly create a game without knowing the internals, ''STOS'' was criticised for being slow (especially when intensively using the non-high-level commands), and for not allowing the user to program in a structured manner.

==Other platforms==
In 1990, [[AMOS BASIC]] was released for the [[Amiga]]. It was originally meant to shortly follow the release of ''STOS'' on the [[Atari ST]]. [[AMOS BASIC|AMOS]] was released about two years after the [[United Kingdom|UK]] release of ''STOS''. But this turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the [[Amiga]] community thanks to the extra development time. Not only did [[AMOS BASIC|AMOS]] take advantage of the extra [[Amiga]] hardware and have more commands than ''STOS'', but the style of [[BASIC programming language|BASIC]] was completely different - it had no line-numbers, and there were many [[structured programming]] constructs (at one time, the ''STOS Club Newsletter'' published a program that allowed the reader to program ''STOS'' using that style). While it was often possible to directly convert ''STOS BASIC'' programs that did not heavily rely on extensions to [[AMOS BASIC]], the reverse was not usually true.

A version for [[IBM PC compatible]]s called ''PCOS'' was once mentioned, but that never materialised. Instead, the publishers [[Mandarin Software]] renamed themselves [[Europress Software]]. One of the developers in Jawx, [[Francois Lionet]], was later to form [[Clickteam]] with [[Yves Lamoureux]] and went on to release the [[Clickteam#Products|Klik]] (click) series of games-creation tools (which were dissimilar to ''STOS'' as they use a primarily mouse-driven interface without the need for traditional code). [[Klik & Play]], [[The Games Factory]], [[Multimedia Fusion]] and [[Multimedia Fusion 2]] have been released in this series.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
=== General ===
*[http://www.triumphoverchallenges.com/stos-and-amos-game-creators/ History of STOS and AMOS]
*[http://www.exxoshost.co.uk/atari/STOS_index.htm STOS Time Tunnel] - A site dedicated to STOS
*[https://stoscoders.com/ STOS Coders FB] - Website for the STOS Coders Facebook group
*[http://mattiasgustavsson.com/Blog/stos-basic-language-for-making-games/ STOS - Basic Language for Making Games] - Article about STOS and its extensions (with photos of the products and scans of old ads)

===Publishers===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071130053321/http://clickteam.com/eng/downloadcenter.php?i=58 Clickteam STOS and AMOS page] - Source code for STOS and AMOS in 68000 ASM (archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20120204085925/http://www.clickteam.com/webftp/files/2/5/STOSCompiler206.zip ZIP], [https://web.archive.org/web/20120204085925/http://www.clickteam.com/webftp/files/2/5/STOS206.zip Compiler])

===Patches===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929125319/http://www.btinternet.com/~AnthonyJ/Atari/stos/genfixer.html Generic STOS fixer] - Use this to fix compiled STOS programs so that they run on a greater number of TOS versions.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929135139/http://www.btinternet.com/~AnthonyJ/Atari/stos/basic207.html STOS Basic 2.07] - Use this to patch a version of ''STOS'' to version 2.07. It makes the compiled programs compatible with more TOS versions and hardware. It even makes ''STOS'' work properly on the [[Atari Falcon]]

===Resources===
*[http://3430.free.fr/atari_st/texts/stos.htm MINI DOC POUR LE STOS BASIC (Atari)] - A small documentation of STOS's most simple commands (in French).
*http://www.umich.edu/~archive/atari/Programming/Stos/ - Index of the Atari Archive ''STOS'' section

===Nostalgia===
*[http://www.lynn3686.com/stoswizcoders.html STOS Wiz-Coders]
*[http://www.xbattlestation.com/forgottencreations/ Forgotten Creations] by Simon Hazelgrove
*[http://www.silly-software.com/ Silly Software]

{{BASIC}}

[[Category:Atari ST software]]
[[Category:BASIC compilers]]
[[Category:BASIC interpreters]]
[[Category:Discontinued BASICs]]
[[Category:Video game development software]]
[[Category:BASIC programming language family]]