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  • Compute! (September 1987)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Compute! was one of the most popular multi-format computer magazines of the 1980s. In 1987 it was covering the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, PC, Amiga, and maybe others. The September 1987 issue includes:

    Features

    • Computers in the Classroom: Ten Years and Counting – A look back at the history of computers in the classroom and what lies ahead.
    • Computer Learning Month: An Enthusiastic Start – October 1987 was to be the first computer learnig month featuring a wide variety of contests, meetings, and other events across the country highlighting computers in education.
    • Monte Carlo – A type-in solitaire card game in BASIC for the Commodore 64, IBM PC, Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, and Atari 8-bit computers.
    • I Didn’t Know You Could Do That with a Computer! – A look at what computers can do and the software available to do it that goes beyond typical wordprocessing and spreadsheet tasks. Software is mentioned here for genealogy, career management, designing houses, gaming, health and fitness, and more.

    Reviews

    • ProWrite for the Amiga – A word processing application with graphics capabilities.
    • Tornado Notes – A memory resident note taking program for the IBM PC.
    • Warship – A naval combat strategy game from SSI for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and Atari 8-bit.
    • PHM Pegasus – A game in which you command a NATO hydrofoil for the Apple II and Commodore 64.
    • Create a Calendar – A calendar creation program from Epyx for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PC.

    Columns and Departments

    • The Editor’s Notes – Results of a recent survey indicate that the most popular programming languages among programmers are BASIC, Fortran, C, and Pascal.
    • Readers’ Feedback – Letters from readers about text color on the PC, printing with a serial printer using SpeedScript on the Commodore 64, creating an adventure game on the Atari 800XL, programming reference books for the Atari ST, and more.
    • The Beginner’s Page: Interactive Programming – Creating programs in BASIC that rely on user input.
    • The World Inside the Computer: Music, Video, and FOR-NEXT Loops – A look at the classroom of the future.
    • Microscope: The Micros Market Gets Serious – The disappearing distinction betweeh “home computers” and “business computers”.
    • Telecomputing Today: Just When You Though It Was Safe – The FCC adds surcharges for phone line computer use, Worldport display prototype of 2400bps pocket sized modem, Tymnet increases prices, and more.
    • Computers and Society: The Classroom Computer – A Tool For Teachers – Computers as a tool for teachers.
    • INSIGHT: Atari – Machine Langauge Graphics – A tutorial for creating graphics using machine language on Atari 8-bit machines.
    • ST Outlook: One Last Bug – A look at one of the worst BASIC bugs of all time.
    • IBM Personal Computing: Create a Blues Symphony – A look at The Music Feature, a high quality music synthesizer on a full-lenth expansion card for the IBM PC XT, AT, and PS/2 Model 30.
    • AmigaView: The Great Amiga Reboot – Commodore releases the new and lower cost Amiga 500.

    The Journal

    • Smart Alec – A machine language program for the Commodore 64 that simulates human thinking.
    • QuickChange: Easy Color Setting for the IBM PC/jr – A program for the PC and PCjr that allows you to easily customize border, background, and forground colors.
    • Atari BASIC Search and Destroy – A type-in program for the Atari 8-bit that will allow you to search a BASIC program for any string of characters.
    • Audio Recorder for Apple II – A type-in program for the Apple II that will allow you to add digitally recorded sound and music to your own programs.
    • Amiga SuperMenus – A type-in program that enhances Amiga BASIC’s MENU command.
    • Atari XL/XE Hidden RAM – A way to access the 8K of RAM under BASIC ROMs on Atari XL and XE computers.
    • Amiga and 64 Ramdisk Files – Examples for creating RAMdisks on the Amiga and the Commodore 64 with 1764 RAM expansion module.
    • Applesoft Line Lister – A short type-in utility that simplifies BASIC program listings on the Apple II.
    • 64+ – A type-in utility for the Commodore 64 that adds new commands that make editing and programming easier.

    …and more!


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  • Amiga Power – Issue Number 0 – May 1991

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Amiga Power is an Amiga gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. by the publishers of Amiga Format. It had a pretty good run lasting from 1991 to 1996. This is Issue 0 which has a May 1991 cover date. This seems to have been more of a preview issue. For some reason, Issue Number 1 also had the same cover date. Contents of Issue 0 is pretty limited but includes:

    • Amiga Power’s All-Time Top 100 Games – Seems a little odd to start of a new magazine with a greatest games list but that’s what Amiga Power did, at least in their preview issue. The top 10 in order include Rainbow Islands, Lemmings, Speedball 2, Sim City, Virus, Populous, Kick Off 2, Falcon, Indianapolis 500, and Stunt Car Racer.
    • The 100 Greatest Games Wallchart – This is a pull-out poster featuring the top 100 games with a screenshot of each.
    • Bombuzal: Get It Free! – Info on this classic puzzle game for the Amiga that advertised here as being included free with issue number 1.
    • Outrageous Claims – Subscription info and claims they are makind that include Amiga Power having more game reviews than any other magazine, Amiga Power only reviewing finished games, and more.

    …and more!


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  • Ahoy!’s AmigaUser (November 1988)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    While there were a few Amiga specific magazines published in the U.S., it seems like most of them came and went pretty quickly. Ahoy!’s AmigaUser is an example of that. This was a spin-off of Ahoy! which was originally a Commodore 8-bit magazine. However, there were only a handful of issues of AmigaUser. The November 1988 issue includes:

    Departments

    • View from the Bridge – An announcement about AmigaUser going monthly.
    • Scuttlebutt – News about AmigaExpo, Commodore’s net income increasing 6x year over year, the Viking 1 19″ high-resolution monochrome monitor for the Amiga, Supra’s FD-10 10MB 3.5″ disk drive, Star Micronics’ NX-1000 Rainbow dot matrix printer, World of Commodore, the Ergostick joystick from Wico, and more.
    • Entertainment Software Section – A look at movie and TV licenses such as T.V. Sports Football, The Three Stooges, and Shogun among others. Plus reviews of Defcon 5, Superstar Ice Hockey, Bard’s Tale II, Empire, and Joe Blade.
    • Reviews – Reviews of Bus Expander (add expansion slots to your Amiga 1000), Zing/Spell (a spell checker for most word processors), AC/BASIC v. 1.3 (a BASIC compiler), Access-64 (a software/hardware package that allows the Amiga to use Commodore 64 devices including disk drives and printers), and CygnusEd Professional (a programmer’s text editor).
    • Art Gallery – Reader submitted art made with the Amiga.
    • Flotsam – Letters from readers about 1MB chip RAM upgradeability for the Amiga 1000, advertising for Amiga products, and more.

    Columns

    • Exec File – Tips for choosing the right software plus brief reviews of Marauder II, Deluxe Help, CLImate, and more.
    • Amiga Toolbox – Short routines for creating custom pant brushes, generating a BASIC listing of DATA statements from a BOB or sprite file, and more.
    • Eye on CLI – How to get to the Amiga CLI and a guide to creating batch files.

    Features

    • Hard Driving on your Amiga – A look at two SCSI controllers for the Amiga; the OverDrive from Pacific Peripherals and the SupraDrive interface card.
    • ABM – A type-in game for the Amiga that is somewhat like Missile Command.

    …and more!


    Amiga Computer Arcana 📎and tagged