• Category Archives DOS
  • The One (December 1989)

    Source: The One – Issue Number 15 – December 1989

    The One was a U.K. published magazine that covered various mostly 16-bit systems over the course of its life. In late 1989, it was covering the Amiga, Atari ST, and PC (DOS). The December 1989 issue includes:

    Departments

    • Play Guide – A guide to Activision’s Fighter Bomber, a combat flight simulator. This game was known as Strike Aces in the U.S. While I don’t see a mention as to what platform this review is for, this game was released on the Atari ST, DOS, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, and Commodore 64.
    • Feature – A preview of the new Ghostbusters II game. While the graphics were nice the game was sadly not as much fun as the original game.
    • Demos – A look at various demos including Interphase, Stay, Magnetic Beats, Ghostbusters II, DTack, and Moonwalker for the Amiga and Batman and UFO for the Atari ST.
      • Graphics – A tutorial for how to create fancy looking text on the Amiga and Atari ST.
      • Arcades – A look at new and upcoming arcade releases including Chase HQ II from Taito, Midnight Resistance from Data East, and X-Multiply from Irem.
      • Feature – A look at the current state and future of Artificial Intelligence. It’s interesting to look back on how AI was viewed 35 years ago.
      • Letters – Letters from readers on subjects such as Xenon 2: Megablast, Populous, PC reviews, Rainbow Islands, Leisure Suit Larry, Police Quest, and more.
        • News – The latest in gaming news including updates on Rainbow Islands, Hawk, a Carrier Command sequel, Xenophobe, Dogs of War, Loom, Stun Runner, and much more. Plus the top games for the nonth of November 1989…For the Amiga the top game is Batman – The Movie, for the Atari ST it’s TV Sports football, and for the PC it’s Jet Fighter.
        • Showcase – A look at reader submitted computer art including Alien, Judge Dredd, and Ghostbusters themed work among others.
        • Work in Progress – Previews of games currently in work including an arcade adventure game called Tusker, a 3D game called Simulcra, an arcade adventure called Myth, and a top down action game called Crack Down.

                        Reviews

                        • Axel’s Magic Hammer – A cutesy platform game for the Atari ST.
                        • F-29 Retaliator – A combat flight simulator from Ocean for the Atari ST.
                        • Ghouls ‘n’ Ghosts – Sequel to the classic Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins for the Atari ST. A great game but not easy.
                        • Hard Drivin’ – Atari’s classic polygonal racing game for the Atari ST.
                        • It Came From The Desert – A review of this classic adventure game for the Amiga. I never played it but I remember the TurboGrafx-CD ads the most.
                        • The Ninja Warriors – Arcade conversion of this side-scrolling action game for the Amiga.
                        • Rock ‘n’ Roll – A puzzle game from Rainbow Arts for the Amiga.
                        • Switchblade – A sci-fi themed platform game for the Atari ST.
                        • The Untouchables – An action game based on the movie of the same name for the Amiga.

                        Tips

                        • 3D Pool – Tips for improving your play in this Pool game from Firebird.
                        • Altered Beast – Tips for dealing with the various creatures in this side-scrolling action game.
                        • Conflict: Europe – Strategies for winning this Cold War era strategy game.
                        • Hybris – How to access the cheat mode of this overhead shooter.
                        • Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade – How to pass various sections of this adventure game.
                        • Interphase – A variety of tips for this early first person shooter that features concepts from Neuromancer.
                        • The New Zealand Story – Codes for two different cheat modes.
                        • OutRun – How to activate the cheat mode for the Amiga version of this racing game.
                        • Populous: The Promised Lands – Tips for several levels of this classic strategy game.
                        • Weird Dreams – A variety of tips for this odd adventure game.

                        …and more!


                      • PC Magazine (January 8th, 1985)

                        Source: PC Magazine – January 8th, 1985

                        PC Magazine was one of the most popular PC magazines in the 1980s and 1990s. The January 8, 1985 issue includes:

                        Cover Stories

                        • Computing – Predictions for the future of personal computing including a computer on every desk by the early 1990s, as many computers as TVs in the home by the end of the century, and lots more.
                        • Other Voices, Other Futures – The opinions of various people on the future of computing. Those surveyed include Ray Bradbury, a theologian, Bob Hope’s personal comedy writer, and many others.
                        • The Best of 1984, and Some of the Worst – Some of the best items include the IBM PC AT, the Lattice C Compiler, the HP Laser Jet printer, MCI Mail, and more.

                        Features

                        • Graphics That Dress for Success – A look at various busines graphics software, mostly for data visualization. Products looked at include VCN ExecuVison, HyperGraphics, and ExecGraphics.
                        • Charting Your Course on the PC – A look at software specifically for creating charts and graphs including Lotus 1-2-3, SuperCalc, Chart-Master, DR Graph, GrafTalk, and Graphwriter.
                        • PC Systems for Pie Chart Picassos – A look at three buisness presentation graphics software packages, including PictureIt/VideoShow, Presentation Master, and Genigraphics.
                        • Samurai Image Processor – A system that uses software, a graphics card, and a film recorder to produce slies of computer graphics. This was before projectors and PowerPoint.
                        • PC Graphics Challenge the Mighty Cray – Comparing the graphics capabilities of the PC with those of the Cray super computer.
                        • Shuttle Radar and PCs Map the Earth – Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory use radar data collected from the space shuttle Challenger and several PC-XTs to map the Earth.
                        • Zooming in for a Closer Look – A look at Index Technology’s $9,500 Excelerator, a software package designed to create various types of detailed graphics such as complicated flow charts.
                        • Screenbusters – A look at a couple of different touch screen systems including Touch Information Display and Touchpen.
                        • Eek! A Mouse for the PC – An article on adding a mouse to the PC and using it. In the DOS days, using a mouse was not especially common on the PC.

                        Pro Columns

                        • Freehand Graphics – Two art programs for the PC, PC Paintbrush and Dr. Halo, are evaluated and compared to MacPaint.
                        • For Doctors: Windows in the Office – A look at Doctor’s Office Manager, medical software from IBM.
                        • A PC Helps Fight Class-Action Suits – How PCs, along with an Epson FX-100 printer, Hayes 1200B internal modem, R:base Series 4000 database software, PMate text editing software, Multiplan spreadsheet software, WordStar word processor and FYI 3000 text management software, helped to win class-action lawsuits against Burlington Northern, Western Electric, Motorola, and the Chicago City Council.
                        • Up in Smoke – Using Halon 1211 instead of water and other traditional to fight fire in order to protect electronic equipment and magnetic media.
                        • Keyboard Codes – Understanding the PC’s character and scan codes.
                        • Let a Broker Do the Searching – Using an information broker to search online databases for you.

                        Departments

                        • PC News – Data loss becomes an increasing problem as those new to mass storage systems don’t backup their data. Tape backups were the best choice at the time. Infocom releases a database package called Cornerstone. Compaq updates Deskpro line of computers with 10-30 MB hard drives…and more.
                        • The Market Grows Up – How both PCs and users have matured over recent years.
                        • More Than Pretty Pictures – The limitations of current PC business graphics packages.
                        • Letters to PC – Letters from readers about software being sold before it is ready, The Technical Investor, Garland Pathfinder, and mail-order price wars.
                        • Hard Disk Housekeeping – A look at various programs to help organize and keep your hard drive clean.
                        • Checkerboard Challenge – Reviews of Gramps: The Checker Champion and Sargon III.
                        • PC Graphics and Sound: Unlimited Designs – Reviews of two books that teach you how to create graphics on your PC: Graphics Primer for the IBM PC and Games, Graphics, and Sound for the IBM PC.
                        • New on the Market – A brief look at new hardware and software including the NIU-130 (local area network interface), 280 MB Internal Expansion Kit (hard drive for the IBM PC AT), SKY320-PC Digital Signal Processor, MultiModem PC (300/1200 bps modem), Multigraph (high-res monochrome and color graphics adapter for the IBM AT), Bullet-286 (80286-based replacement motheroboard fo the PC-XT), TW-3000 TECwriter (electric typewriter/printer), PortaAPL (APL interpreter written in C), DepoBank (information retrieval service), EasyLink Instant Mail Messenger (EasyLink service software), PC/Survival Kit (utilities for DOS), Excalibur Plus (multi-user accounting system), IMiGIT (color graphics and text editor for the PC-EYE video image grabber board), WYLBUR/pc (development system compatible with mainframes), Rx30 Pharmacy Software System (pharmacy and prescription management system), SoftShell (user interface for UNIX on the PC), and much more.
                        • Club News – A partial directory of PC user groups across the country.
                        • User to User – Questions and answers about finding the size of subdirectories, using commas with integers, getting 50 lines displayed on an RGB monitor, Word Perfect, and more.
                        • PC Tutor – How to define the boot drive with DOS 2.1, change sector size, create simple graphics in CP/M-86 with Pascal on a monochrome monitor, and more.

                        …and more!