Source: Compute!’s Gazette – Issue Number 2 – August 1983

Compute!’s Gazette was the Commodore 8-bit spin-off of Compute!. It covered mainly the Commodore 64 but also the VIC-20, Commodore 128, and Plus 4 / Commodore 16 depending on the time period. It was published for about 12 years in one form or another. The August 1983 issue includes:

Features

• Your First Hour With A Computer – Setting up and trying out your new (Commodore) computer.

• Should You Join a Users Group? – A short history of user groups and what to look for if a new one is forming in your area.

• A Guide to Commodore User Groups – A list of Commodore related user groups around the country and their contact information.

• New Products for Commodore at Comdex/Spring – New Commodore related products introduced at the Spring 1983 COMDEX computer show include the Gorilla Banana printer from Leading Edge, the STX-80 printer from Star Micronics, the DP-8240 printer from Star Micronics, the Supermother expansion board for the VIC-20, the Super 8K and Super 16K memory expansion cartridges for the VIC-20, the VIGOR 3-slot expansion board for the VIC-20, the CC-2064 Centronics printer adapter cable for the C64 and VIC-20, the VIC/64 Switch which allows connecting one disk drive and printer to up to 8 Commodore 64s or VIC-20s, plus lots of software and much more.

Games

• The Viper – A type-in game for the C64 and VIC-20 in which you control a snake to eat and grow but you must avoid running into your tail.

• Cylon Zap – A type-in game for the C64 and VIC-20 in which you must defend your space station from kamikaze spaceships.

• Inside View: Programmer Jeff Minter – An interview with Jeff Minter, author of Gridrunner, Attack of the Mutant Camels and much more.

Reviews

• Vanilla Pilot – A PILOT programming implementation for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20.

• Kickman – A conversion of the Bally/Midway arcade game of the same name by Commodore for the Commodore 64.

• Frogger – An excellent conversion of the Sega arcade game for the Commodore 64 by Sierra On-Line.

• VIC Music Composer – A music composition program for the VIC-20.

Education/Home Applications

• Computing for Kids: Build a Computer Friend – Writing a program that talks back.

• VIC/64 Mailing List – A type-in program for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 to store mailing list data.

• Computing for Grownups: Revolution in the Nursery – The impact of computers in education and of kids teaching adults this new technology.

• Wordspell – A type-in program for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 designed to help teach spelling.

• Global Scan – A type-in geography related program for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 that can compute distance between two sets of latitude and longitude coordinates and give the direction in degrees from one to the other.

Programming

• Machine Language for Beginners: The Easy Way – Teaching machine language with an example program. The included type-in program for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 is called RAMTest and tests your Random Access Memory.

• Hints & Tips: VIC Title Screens – A short type-in program that creates nice title screens on the VIC-20.

• Commodore 64 Hi-Res Graphics Made Simple – Adding commands in BASIC to access the Commodore 64’s high resolution graphics mode.

• The Four-Speed Brake – A type-in program that allows you to control the speed of the output of the LIST command.

• Disk Menu – A type-in program for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 that allows you to create disk menus and load programs via the menus you create.

• Power BASIC: Using A 1540 Disk Drive & Commodore 64 – A type-in program that will allow you to reliably use a 1540 drive with the Commodore 64. The 1540 drive was original designed for the VIC-20 whereas the 1541 was designed for the Commodore 64.

• The Beginner’s Corner: Playing Computer Music – Creating sound and music on the VIC-20.

Departments

• The Editor’s Notes – An overview of this month’s issue and a look ahead and some of the new things coming out for Commodore computers.

• Gazette Feedback – Letters from readers about Commodore 64 and VIC-20 memory locations, assigning functions to function keys, monitors for the VIC-20, using a 1540 drive with a Commodore 64, using two disk drives with the Commodore 64, using standard cassette recorders with the VIC-20 and Commodore 64, and more.

• Compute!’s Gazette Author Guide – A guide for submitting articles and programs to Compute!’s Gazette.

• Simple Answers to Common Questions – Questions answered about saving programs and disk errors and entering BASIC programs.

• HOTWARE: This Month’s Best Sellers – A look at the best selling software for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 in various categories.

• VICreations – How to take care of you disk drives, disks, cassette recorders, and cassettes.

• 64 Explorer – A review of the Commodore 64 Programmer’s Reference Guide plus some info about the 1541 disk drive.

• News & Products – New products this month include Math Escape, Sea Word, Birthday Party and Sub Rescue educational games for the VIC-20; AE, a game from Broderbund for the VIC-20; Sky Blazer, a World War III arcade game for the VIC-20 from Broderbund; Choplifter by Broderbund for the Commodore 64; Serpentine by Broderbund for the Commodore 64; David’s Midnight Magic from Broderbund for the Commodore 64; Script 64, a word processor for the Commodore 64; Word Wizard, a word processor for the VIC-20; and much more.

…and more!