• Tag Archives DOS

  • 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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  • Zephyr (DOS, 1994)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Zephyr is a relatively obscure game that was released by New World Computing in 1994 for DOS based PCs. This is essentially a first person vehicular combat game. New World Computing was much better known for its Might and Magic series and this game certainly didn’t change that.

    The plot of the game is that you are in the 24th century and resources are fought over via vehicular combat. You represent one of several massive corporations (New World Computing is one of the choices). Your vehicle is best described as a kind of hover bike. You must do battle against representatives from other corporations in various arenas.

    Game play is pretty straight forward. Before each match, you get to configure your “drone” with various weapons and equipment. Resource management is an important aspect of the game as things like ammunition are not unlimited. However, there are various power ups that can be collected during battle.

    The graphics in sound aren’t terrible but they were nothing spectacular either, even for the time. A combination of polygons and sprites were used which was common for the time. While not overly impressive, the game was not hampered by the graphics as your environment, enemies, power-ups, etc. can all be clearly identified. Sound effects and music were pretty generic. They were functional but definitely didn’t stand out.

    The one somewhat innovative aspect of this game was the multiplayer option. It allowed for both LAN and modem play against other players. While not entirely unique for the time, this was not yet commonplace either. This really adds to the playability of the game, at least if you had friends you could play against via modem/LAN.

    Reviews were at best average for this game. The mediocre graphics, sound, and music were a factor but it was the repetitive nature of the game that really hurt it. There wasn’t really enough variety in terms of weapons, arenas, or enemies for any long term replayability. As mentioned above, the multiplayer was the one bright spot. “Online” multiplayer games weren’t all that plentiful in 1994 so if you were looking for another, this wouldn’t have been a terrible choice. At least as long as you weren’t too concerned about the single player game.

    Your probably better off sticking with games like Doom, Doom II, Heretic, Descent, etc. if you are looking for a similar type of game with online play from that era. However, if you want some variety, this wouldn’t be a terrible choice for some retro multiplayer action. As far as I know, you’ll have to pick of an original and play on an original DOS based PC or use something like DOSbox. You can in fact pick this game up on GOG ($6.99) and probably Steam which provides the advantage of working on modern platforms. However, I don’t think these versions support multiplayer and that happens to be the best part of the game.

    The ad above is from the May 1994 issue of Compute.


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  • PC Magazine (August 1982)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    The IBM PC was a year old when this issue of Pc Magazine was on the stands. Going by page count, which was over 225 pages for this issue, there was already a ton of advertising behind PC products. The August 1982 issue of PC Magazine includes:

    PC Interview

    • An Interview with VisiCalc Entrepreneur Daniel Fylstra – A look at the history of VisiCalc and VisiCorp.

    Business

    • The More PCs the Merrier – IBM offers discounts on very large purchases (in the hundres or thousands of units).

    Events

    • NCC Roundup – A look at what was to be seen at the National Computer Conference in Houston, Texas.
    • Of Camesl and Tents – A look back at the past five years of the NCC and personal computing.

    Finance

    • How Much Are You Really Worth? – Calculating your net worth with a PC and spreadsheet.

    Software

    • Calc Wars – Testing SuperCalc and comparing it to VisiCalc.
    • The Challenger: Multiplan – A review of Multiplan, Microsoft’s new spreadsheet program.

    Marketplace

    • Mega Forces Unite – Sears introduces 45 new business centers with the IBM PC as the lead item.

    Operating Systems

    • The Bithood Question – 8- vs. 16- vs. 32-bit CPUs.
    • IBM Updates DOS to 1.10 – DOS 1.10 added features such as the ability to handle dual-sided 320K disk drives, improved disk I/O speed, improved copy and dir commands, and more.

    PC profile

    • The Computer that’s Literally for the Birds – How one ornithologist uses a custom database program and VisiCalc to keep track of bird data.

    Communications

    • PC-Talk – A free communications program for the PC.

    Books

    • A Tool for the Layperson – A review of the book IBM Personal Computer: An Introduction to Programming and Applications.

    Product Reports

    • PC Reviews the Smith-Corona TP-1 Printer – A letter quality daisy wheel printer for about $700.

    PC Lab

    • PC Takes a Look at IBM’s Pascal Compiler – A review of this early Pascal compiler for the PC.

    Follow-Up

    • EasyWriter Resurrected – A look at this improved version of the EasyWriter word processor.
    • New Software Submission Guidelines from IBM – Highlights of IBM’s new software submission guidelines for those that want to try to have their software sold by IBM.

    At Home

    • The Computer Workstead – Working at home with your PC.

    Book Exerpt

    • VisiCalc and Your Stock Portfolio – An excerpt from VisiCalc Home and Office Companion.

    Age of Altair

    • The Grand and Glorious Crusade – One in a series of articles about the history of the Altair computer.

    Columns

    • David Bunnell – The software publishing jungle.
    • Zero Base Thinking – How e-mail systems help to keep things from falling through the cracks.
    • Jean Yates & Dr. Rebecca Thomas – An idea for a low-cost dedicated VisiCalc machine.

    Departments

    • Letters to PC – Letters from readers about adding a customer service card, copy protected software, IBM employee sales, adding a an MP1 B51 drive to the PC, speeding up disk drive access, and more.
    • PCommuniques – Keeping your PC cool; reduced price 64K expansion board; Zork released for the PC; electronic greeting cards; King James Bible released on disk; successor to the PC may have 8087 math coprocessor; four new computers announced that are software compatible with the PC; and more.
    • User-to-User – A look at the bugs fixed in the V1.05 update to BASICA, BASIC programming tips, PASCAL tips, printing with the NEC Spinwriter 3530, and more.
    • Book Briefs – A look at new books including A User Guide to the UNIX System and Introduction to WordStar.
    • New on the Market – A brief look at new PC related products including 64K-256K memory boards from Micro Match, the Intel 8087 Chip, the DataSouth DS180 dot matrix printer, a joystick from TG Products, the Move-It communications program, and more.
    • PC Tutor – Using an autoexec.bat file, solving double character problems with The Source and the IBM Asynchronous Communications Support program, and more.

    …and more!


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