• Tag Archives apple

  • Compute! (December 1981)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Compute! was one of the earliest home computer magazines. Early in its history, it focused on 6502 based machines. In 1981 that meant the Commodore CBM/PET, Apple II, Atari and OSI. The December 1981 issue includes:

    • The Editor’s Notes – The conflict between brick and mortar computer dealers and mail order.
    • Ask The Readers – Automatic line numbers, a Pet/CBM bug, the Atari BASIC COM command, and more.
    • Computers and Society – Using the computer as a tool for creativity.
    • Guest Commentary: The World Computer Revisisted – Why computer standardization would be a good thing.
    • The Beginner’s Page – How computers use checksums to ensure data is saved correctly.
    • Basically Useful BASIC: A Quick-Fix Approach To Calculating Tables – A simple program for generating conversion tables.
    • Window Analysis: Saving Fuel $$ With Your Computer – A type-in program to calculate how much energy you will save by shading windows in the summer.
    • Subscript Heap Sort – A BASIC type-in one-level-deep, ascending, alphanumeric subscript heap sort for the PET/CBM.
    • Review: SYZYGY RS-232 Condition Testers – A look at a couple of RS-232 line condition testers from SYZYGY.
    • Unscramble – A type-in game in which you must unscramble the words.

    • Maze Generator – A type-in BASIC program for randomly generating mazings on the Commodore PET and Atari 400/800.
    • Part Two: An Introduction To Binary Numbers – The second part in a seven part series on basic computer arithemetic.
    • Book Review: Microprocessors For Measurement and Control – A book on real-time control applications.
    • Console Input/Output – Non-serial console input and output on the KIM.
    • MTU-130: A New 6502 Microcomputer – A look at a new 6502 based computer from Micro Technology Unlimited.
    • Animating Applesoft Graphics – A method for animating high-resolution and low-resolution graphics in Applesoft BASIC.
    • Programming The Reset Key The Easy Way – Making the RESET key do anything you want on an Apple II+.
    • A Simple Printer Interface For The Apple II – A guide to building a simple printer interface for the Apple II along with a driver program that works in DOS 3.3.
    • INSIGHT: Atari – A look at extended disk operations on the Atari and a disk file manager.
    • Discovering Atari’s Hidden Graphics – Experiments in undocumented graphics commands on the Atari 400/800.
    • String Art – A type-in BASIC program that will generate art based on mathematical patterns using basic characters.
    • Billiard Bounce – A type-in program that generates patterns by simulating the movement of a billiard ball.
    • Blinking Characters – A more efficient way to produce blinking characters and other text effects on the Atari 400/800.
    • Make Your Atari Keyboard A Little Friendlier – Some tips and tricks to help prevent you from accidentally entering inverse video mode, locking the keyboard into character graphics mode, clearing the screen, etc. while typing on the Atari keyboard.
    • Adding High Speed Vertical Positioning to P/M Graphics – A small gneral purpose vertical positioning routine written in 6502 assembly which can be called via BASIC’s USR instruction on the Atari 400/800.
    • A Poor Programmer’s Word Processor – A very simple word processor written in BASIC for the Atari 400/800.
    • Super Cursor V1.3 – A type-in program to give you more advanced editing functions on the Ohio Scientific Superboard II.
    • Memory Recall Test – A type-in program for the OSI to help test your memory.
    • A Look At SuperPET – A look at Commodore’s latest and last major entry in the PET lineup of computers. This interation included both a 6502 and 6809 CPU, 96KB RAM, a variety of programming languages, and more.
    • Supermon: A Primary Tool For Machine Language Programming – A machine lanugage monitor for later PET machines.
    • PET To PET Communication Over The User Port – A guide to creating a simple interface between two PETs using the parallel user port, 12 wires, and BASIC.
    • Replacing The INPUT # Command – A machine language routine to replace the built-in INPUT# command to allow all characters and improve performance.
    • Typing Foreign Language Text With The Commodore Printer – Printing special characters with the CBM series 2022 and 2023 printers.
    • Three Reviews: Superchip, Spacemaker, Sort – Superchip: new firmware that adds 18 new functions to the PET; Spacemaker II: a device that plugs into an empty ROM socket on the PET and allows you to switch between up to four different ROMs; Sort: A sort routine on EPROM for the PET.
    • Machine Language Jumbo Numbers – Techniques for handling large numbers on the PET by using multiple bytes.
    • File Recovery – Recovering deleted files on the 2040 or 8050 disk drives.
    • Looney Line Numbers – A guide to fixing bad line numbers in program on the PET.
    • Mine Maze – A two player maze game for the PET. One player tries to make it through the maze while the ohter controls a minse that is trying to stop them.
    • COMAL: Another Language? – A look at this public domain programming language.
    • New Products – A collection of 10 programs from Advance Operating Systems; TSMART terminal program for the Atari; TRW opens 38 service centers for Commodore computer repair; Okidata offers IEEE 488 and current loop interfaces for its printers; EduWare releases Counting Bee for kids 3-6; new educational software for the PET; and more.

    …and more!


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  • VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (February 1993)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: VideoGames & Computer Entertainment – February 1993

    VideoGames & Computer Entertainment was my favorite magazine in the years that it was published (late 1980s to early 1990s). It was really sort of the successor to the original Electronic Games magazine, at least until Electronic Games was actually rebooted. The February 1993 issue includes:

    Features

    • A Matter of Chaos: Player’s Guide to Dungeon Master, Part I – VG&CE had some pretty great game guides. However, you had to be disciplined about looking at them because they could ruin the game for you. This one covers the first part of Dungeon Master for the Super NES.
    • Much Ado About 3DO: The Real Story – It’s a shame the 3DO didn’t have more success. This article is a first look at the machine with some technical details and a look at its capabilities.
    • VG&CE’s Best Games of 1992 Awards – Sonic the Hedgehog 2 won VG&CE’s Video Game of the Year award with other awards going to Street Fighter II (SNES), Warsong (Genesis), F22 (Genesis), The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES), Loom (TG16), Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun (Genesis), Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators (Genesis), Contra III – The Alien Wars (SNES), Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (computer game of the year), Hardball III, Wolfenstein 3D, Comanche: Maximum Overkill, V for Victory, Star Control II, The Secret of Monkey Island, Wizardry: Crusaders of the Dark Savant, Dune, LINKS 386 Pro, plus numerous honorable mentions and other lists (such as worst games of 1992).

    Previews & Reviews

    • Video-Game Previews – Brief previews of Flashback (Genesis), Bonk 3 (TurboGrafx-16), Street Combat (Super NES), Dungeon Explorer II (TurboGrafx-16), Zen Intergalactic Ninja (NES and Game Boy), Lethal Weapon (NES and Game Boy), Cool World (Super NES and Game Boy), Congo’s Caper (Super NES), Malibu Bikini Volleyball (Atari Lynx), Spot – The Cool Adventure (Game Boy), and Exile 2 (TurboGrafx-16).
    • Video-Game Reviews – Reviews of The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (Super NES) – Capcom made some great Disney licensed games and this was one of them, Mega Man 5 (NES) – and there would still be one more Mega Man game on the NES, Roger Clemens’ MVP Baseball (Genesis), Cybernator (Super NES), Buster Bros. (TurboGrafx-16 CD), Dragon’s Lair (Super NES) – a platform game not really like the arcade version, PGA Tour Golf II (Genesis), Super Strike Eagle (Super NES), Aerobiz (Super NES), Samurai Ghost (TurboGrafx-16), The Adventures of Willy Beamish (Sega CD), Tiny Toon Adventures Cartoon Workshop (NES), and Universal Soldier (Super NES) – another bad licensed game.
    • Computer-Game Previews – Short previews of Ultima VII Part 2: The Serpent Isle, Caesar – I think I actually have this one somewhere though I’ve never played it, Betrayal at Krondor – my roommate in college spent many hours on this game, and Pirates! Gold.
    • Computer-Game Reviews – Reviews of The Terminator 2029 – only a few years away now, The Incredible Machine, Dune II – the first RTS I ever really saw, The Humans, WaxWorks, Mega lo Mania, Amazon: Guardians of Eden, MicroLeague Action Sports Soccer, Discovery, and Task Force 1942.

    Departments

    • Editor’s Letter – A look at what’s ahead in 1993 including the 3DO, Atari Jaguar, the PlayStation (which at the time was essentially an SNES console with CD-ROM), and more.
    • Reader Mail – Letters from readers about RPGs, Nintendo’s 32-bit CD-ROM system, portable systems, and more.
    • Tip Sheet – Hints and tips for Night Trap (Sega CD), The Guardian Legend (NES), and Cosmic Fantasy 2 (TurboGrafx-CD).
    • News Bits – Radio Shack debuts a new interactive CD player called the Memorex MD-2500 VIS, Nintendo cleared of antitrust charges, classic games re-released for the NES (Zelda, Zelda II, Punch-out, Metroid) for $29.99 each, Sunsoft licenses The Pirates of Dark Water, Atari drops price of Lynx to $79.99, and more.
    • Easter Egg hunt – Secrets revealed for Batman Returns (Atari Lynx), Super Mario Kart (Super NES), Dead Moon (TurboGrafx-16), Faceball 2000 (Game Boy), Cobra Command (Sega CD), Toki (Atari Lynx), Alisia Dragoon (Genesis), Magic Sword (Super NES), Wacky Races (NES), and Crystal Mines II (Atari Lynx).
    • Destination Arcadia – A guide to the secrets of Mortal Kombat.
    • Computer Strategies – A strategy guide for The Ancient Art of War in the Skies.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana Retro Games 📎and tagged

  • Compute! (March 1981)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Compute! – Issue Number 10 – March 1981

    Compute! was a popular multi-format magazine that covered various computers throughout its long life which started in 1979 and lasted until the 1990s. Throughout its early life, it strictly covered computers based on the 6502 processor. The March 1981 issue includes:

    Table of Contents

    • The Editor’s Notes – The editor opines on software piracy vs. the right to back-up software that you buy.
    • A 6502 Version of the Winter Consumer Electronics Show: January ’81 – News related to 6502 based computers at the Winter CES. The biggest product introduced that year was the Commodore VIC-20.
    • The Beginner’s Page – Some beginner information about BASIC, operating systems, ROM, RAM and storage media.
    • Computers and Society – A look at communications between user and computer via programming languages. LOGO and PILOT are emphasized while BASIC and PASCAL are also mentioned.
    • Taking the Plunge – Machine Language Programming for Beginners – An introductory guide to machine language on the PET though it is applicable to other machines of the time as well. The differences between BASIC, machine language and assembly code are discussed.
    • Computer Communications Experiments – An article on building an RS-232C interface which can be used for modems and other things.
    • Basics of Light Pen Operation – In the early days of computing, light pens were a fairly common user interface option. This article describes in technical detail how they work.
    • Getting the Most from your Pet Cassette Deck – The kinds of cassettes you should use, how to shorten they time it takes to search for programs, and more.
    • The Mysterious and Unpredictable RND – Part 3 – Part 3 of a multi-part series on random number generation in BASIC on the PET. This part demonstrates a dice rolling program using multiple dice.
    • A CAI Program Called Linear Equation – A type-in program for Computer Aided Instruction of Linear Equations.
    • Hex Conversion Using the 6502’s Decimal Mode – A machine language method for converting to and from hexadecimal numbers.

    The Apple Gazette

    • Clearing the Apple II Low-Resolution Graphics Screen – Several BASIC methods for clearing the screen.
    • Fun with Apple and PASCAL – A type-in PASCAL arcade style shooter game for the Apple II (basically shoot at the falling shapes).
    • Flipping your Disk – A guide to making your single side disks double-sided. Essentially, this could be accomplished just by clipping a notch in the side of the disk that didn’t already have one. This worked for a variety of 8-bit computers. Drives were generally single sided so you still had to flip the disk over to read and write data to the second side.

    The Atari Gazette

    • Designing Your Own Atari Character Sets – Creating custom character sets on the Atari 8-bit.
    • Atari Basic: A Line Renumbering Utility – A type-in utility for renumbering the lines of a BASIC program. This was important sometimes because you could run out of line numbers. Every line of code in basic started with a line number. If you needed to add code in between two lines then there would have to be available numbers to do so. If you were unwise enough to make every line number consecutive, that could be problematic. It was common practice to number lines by 10s (first line is 10 second is 20, etc.). However, you never know when you might need more extra line numbers in between.
    • Atari Memory Dump and Dissassembler – A type-in program that will both dump the contents of memory locations to disk or disassemble lines of code.
    • Formatted Output for Atari BASIC – An article with two subroutines for helping you to produce nicely formatted output from BASIC.
    • Random Color Switching while Idle – A method to prevent Atari’s built-in color switching screen saver from kicking in. Pressing a key resets the time for this but when playing a games, you may not be pressing any keys.

    The OSI Gazette

    • A Small Operating System: OS65D the Kernel – The final part in a series on the OS65D operating system.
    • A Six-Gun Shootout Game for the OSI C1P – A type-in BASIC game that sounds a bit like Outlaw on the Atari 2600.

    The PET Gazette

    • Learning About Garbage Collection – Garbage collection (memory reclamation) was necessary on PET machines with certain ROM revision in order to reclaim memory used by strings. Here are a couple of short routines to do that.
    • PET Machine Language Graphics – A machine language graphics subroutine for the PET that provides a variety of graphics functions.
    • Disk File Recovery Program – A type-in program for the PET that can recover accidentally deleted files.
    • PET Exec Hello – A type-in program for automatically executing commands when booting from disk.
    • A Flexible Input Subroutine – A type-in subroutine in BASIC that can handle various types of input.
    • Universal Tape Append for PET/CBM – A type in program that allows for one program to be appended to another on cassette.

    The SBC Gazette

    • Experimenting with the 6551 ACIA – Information for interfacing, operating and controlling a 6441 ACIA with a 6502. The 6551 is used primarily for communications.
    • A Vocal Hex Dump for the KIM-1 – A program designed to work with a speech synthesizer to speak the data in a given memory location.
    • Expanding KIM Style 6502 Single Board Computers – Part 3 of 3 – The final part in a series on expanding the KIM (and KIM-style) single board computers. Basically a series on how to use the bus expansion connector of these machines.
    • Cassette I/O with AIM-65 BASIC – How to make your BASIC program read and write to/from cassette on the AIM 65.

    New Products

    • New Products – Commodore releases disaster relief software used during the fire at the MGM Grand Hotel on November 22, 1980, Personal Software Inc. releases MicroChess and Checker King for the Atari 400/800, Cimarron Corp. announces Legal Time Accounting (accounts receivable and matter tracking for the legal profession) for the Commodore 8032, Microcomputer Software Inc. releases The Landlord apartment management software for the Apple II, Microware releases Scientific Plotter graph producing software for the Apple II, Axlon announces 32K RAM expansion for the Atari 400/800, and much more.

    …and more!


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