Applesoft BASIC coding

["Miles Attacca" <milesattacca@gmail.com>]

I'm starting to get into Applesoft programming now, and the first
program of my own I'm writing is a screensaver of sorts that plots
randomly-generated points and colors, then refreshes after a certain
time.

My first issue is with the four lines of text still available at the
bottom of the screen in GR lo-res mode. I'd ideally like to display a
few lines of text naming the program and instructing the (imaginary!)
end-user how to BREAK out of the screensaver, but then have it
disappear after a few seconds so it won't slowly burn in and defeat the
point. The only solution I've found for this so far would be an
incremented variable that goes up along with the plotting before the
text is finally cleared, but I'd ideally like to find a time-dependent
function to do this in a more elegant fashion.

My second problem would actually negate the first (although that still
might be handy to know). I've read in an FAQ online that it's possible
to boost the lo-res mode from 40x40 to 40x48 (cutting out the last four
lines of text), but the FAQ concerned doesn't detail this. I could
always jump into full hi-res mode, but having 16 colors is a tad more
exciting. Any code that can accomplish this?

I've written pages in HTML before, and some basic web scripting, but
BASIC on an Apple is a nice back-to-"basics" toy to play with. :) And
sketching new ideas gives me something to do in Geometry, too! So, help
in furthering my endeavours is naturally appreciated. Thanks, all!