Megalextoria

Source: Commodore Disk User – Volume 1, Number 2 – January 1988

Commodore Disk User (CDU) was published in the U.K. in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It covered primarily the Commodore 64 but also the Plus/4 and Commodore 128. It was unique in that it came with a cover floppy disk and disk drives were not nearly as common in the U.K. as they were in the U.S. at the time. The February 1988 issue includes:

In The Magazine

• Disk Info – How to use this month’s disk
• Update – The latest news from the world of Commodore
• Letters – Your chance to air your views
• Shoot ’em Up Construction Kit – A look at this superb program from Outlaw
• Reviews – We look at the latest games to hit the streets
• Strategic Simulations – The Strategy games specialists
• Disk Dungeons – Our regular delve into adventure games
• Scroll Your Own – How to create your own scrolling backdrops
• Puzzles – Light relief and a chance to win a binder
• Definitive Programming – How to use User Defined Graphics
• Contributions – How to write for Commodore Disk User
• Evesham Competition – Your chance to win a disk drive or a slimline case

On The Disk

• Disk Librarian – Keep track of what’s on which disk
• Disk Mate – Handy pop-up disk functions
• Noluxe Paint – A superb low-res drawing package – great for title screens
• Text Cracker – Grab those character sets you like for your own use
• Quad – New life for the brick/bat game
• Five UpCan you win at this dice game?
• Ram Disk C128 – Our first program for the C128

…and more!

Source: RUN – Issue Number 32 – August 1986

RUN, subtitled “The Commodore C-128/C-64 Home Computing Guide”, was one of a few magazines I spent my scarece resources on as a kid. I loved my Commodore 64 and essentially learned BASIC programming with magazines like this and got “free” software via the type-in programs provided. The August 1986 issue includes:

Features

• Enter The On-Line World of Lucasfilm – Lucasfilm and QuantumLink have teamed up to bring you a new concept in on-line interactive game-playing.
• Disk Keeper – Do all your diskkeeping chores, from formatting to making disk jacket labels, with this one program.
• Bootmaker 128/64 – If you like the autoboot capbility of the C-128 in 128 mode, you’ll love this program that lets you autoboot in 64 mode, too.
• Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker – Choose a software package that will point you toward the right career and then help you shine in it.
• Add Some Character to Your C-64 – Run this program and you’ll whip up some “instant” custom characters.

Departments

• RUNning Ruminations – Discover ReRUN
• Magic – The original column of hints and tips that lets you perform computing wizardry.
• Software Gallery
• Grover’s Animal Adventures
• Superscript
• Elite and the Silver Disk Series
• Leader Board
• Bank Street Filer
• WillWriter
• Second Annual RUNaway Contest – Here’s your chance to be a winner in RUN’s giveaway sweepstakes worth over $25,000 in prizes. And, just for entering, you’ll receive a free QuantumLink terminal program!
• Basically Speaking – An exploration of Basic programming fundamentals.
• Telecomputing Workshop – Advice and answers to your questions on modems, terminal programs, on-line networks, bulletin boards and more.
• Q-Link Happenings – This month we introduce a new feature that keeps you informed about the latest services on QuantumLink.
• The Resource Center – Teachers, administrators and students are getting on-line as the nation’s schools enter the telecommunications age.
• New Products RUNdown
• How To Type In Listings
• RUN Amok – We run corrected.
• Coming Attractions

…and more!

As a side note, Quantum Link was an onlin-service designed specifically for Commodore users. It would later become America On-Line. The second feature above mentions a collaboration between Quantum Link and Lucasfilm. This would be Habitat which was way, way ahead of its time. Basically, it let you control an avatar and you could go to different rooms for different activites. Chat, play games, etc. Sadly, I never had a chance to try this.