Compute!’s Gazette, April 1985
Compute!’s Gazette was Compute!’s Commodore 8-bit dedicated magazine. It mostly covered the Commodore 64 but depending on the time period it also covered the VIC-20, Plus 4/Commodore 16 and Commodore 128. The April 1985 issue includes:
Features
- The Winter Consumer Electronics Show: New Life in the Home Computer Market – After a slump in the home computer market and a period of consolidation, several interesting new computers appeared including the Commodore 128 and Commodore LCD (which never saw the light of day).
- What is CP/M? – In short, it is the OS that dominated offices before DOS came along. In fact, whereas CP/M was designed for 8-bit computers, DOS could be though of as a 16-bit version of CP/M. They are very similar. Various home computers (like the Commodore 128) had the ability to support CP/M built-in and others could support it with hardware add-ons.
- CES Perspective: Much More for the 64 – Lots of new hardware and software was shown at the Winter CES including printers, disk drives, music keyboards, games from Activision, Mastertronic, Epxy, Synapse, SSI and more, as well as productivity software from Batteries Included and others.
- Inside View: Douglas Adams and Steve Meretzky – An interview with the creators of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy game. Douglas Adams of course being the author of the book.
Reviews
- Dream House – A sort of educational game in which you get to design your own house.
- Sargon III – The sequel to the Sargon II chess program featuring more difficulty levels, setting and options than its predecessor.
- Turbo 64 – A racing simulation with a lot of features. You can think of it as a much more sophisticated version of Pole Position.
- Stealth – An arcade action game from Broderbund in which you fly a stealth aircraft. It looks a lot like Space Harrier but has a bit more depth.
- Mind Prober – Profiling software meant for entertainment purposes.
- Financial Cookbook – A collection of financial tools from Electronic Arts to help you calculate things like marginal tax rate, how much savings you need, etc.
- Reach for the Stars – A computer strategy game inspired by the Stellar Conquest board game.
- Seastalker – A text adventure by Infocom that is a bit simplified compared to something like Zork so that it might appeal to a younger audience.
Games
- Pool – Type-in programs for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 that lets you play a simple game of pool.
- Apple Hunt – A simple arcade game in which you must eat as many of the apples scattered about the screen as you can while avoiding trees and monsters. Type-in versions are here for both the VIC-20 and Commodore 64.
- Astro-PANIC! – A graphically simpler variation on Galaga or Galaxian. This type-in program is for the VIC-20.
Education/Home Applications
- Computing for Families: The World of Mimi the Ant – Overview of an educational program for younger kids that helps them to learn French.
- Number Quest – Type-in programs for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 that teach math. You must save the skydiver by getting the correct answers.
Programming
- Hints & Tips: Programmer’s Notebook – Programming tips and shortcuts for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 including how to figure out where your program is in memory, a one line GET statement, automatic load and run, and more.
- Power BASIC: Triple 64 – A short type-in program to create three independent 12K blocks of memory that are easy to access.
- BASIC Magic: Putting Computer Math to Work For You – Writing short programs to test math skills.
- Machine Language For Beginners: Customizing BASIC – Using machine language routines from within BASIC programs.
- NoZap: Automatic Program Saver – Use this type-in program to automatically and periodically save your programs so you don’t lose your work if, for example, you lose power.
- 1526 Hi-Res Screen Dump – This type-in program does a screen capture and prints to Commodore 1526 or compatible printer.
- MetaBASIC: Programmer’s Problem Solver – This type-in program adds 32 new debugging and testing command to the Commodore 64’s build-in BASIC.
Departments
- The Editor’s Notes – On programming and documentation. Often, programs printed in magazines to type-in omitted comments to save space.
- Gazette Feedback – Readers ask for advice including what hardware and software to use and what kind of tapes to use among other questions and comments.
- Horizons – A short type in game program for instructional purposes, including details on what each line of code does.
- News & Products – New products listed this month include The Tax Advantage, New Improved Mastertype, BASIC-64 Compiler, C Language Compiler, Video Basic Development, Cadpak-64, Chartpak-64, Datamat-64, HomeText, HomeFind, HomeTerm, Graph Now, Animation Station, Adventure Construction Set, and more.
…and more!
