• Tag Archives TI-99/4A

  • Compute! (May 1983)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Compute! – Issue Number 36 – May 1983

    Compute! was probably the best magazine for home computer users in the 1980s. It covered a wide variety of machines and included reviews, technical content, type-in programs and more. the May 1983 issue includes:

    Features

    • the New Low-Cost Printer/Plotters – An overview of the latest (relatively) inexpensive printer/plotters on the market. Mostly they were in the range of $200-$400 but many of them were not much more that the equivalent of a receipt printer. Items covered include the Texas Instruments HX-1000, Radio Shack CGP-115, Commodore CBM 1520, and Atari 1020.
    • Jumping Jack – A type-in platform style game for the Commodore 64, Atari 400/800, TI-99/4A and VIC-20.
    • Atari’s New Add-On Computer for VCS 2600 Game Machine – For an extra $90 you could turn your Atari 2600 into a home computer. This package included a snap-on keyboard that plugged into the cartridge port (and included an expansion port to plug cartridges into), 8K of RAM, and built-in BASIC. Peripherals were planned such as a disk drive (which may have actually made it useful) but these were never released.
    • One On One – A type-in game that is sort of like pong but each player must protect a wall. For the VIC-20, Commodore 64, and Apple II.
    • Computers and Composition – The pros and cons of word processing.

    Education and Recreation

    • Deflector – A type-in game for the VIC-20, Atari 400/800 and Apple II that is essentially a very early real-time strategy game in which you must place deflectors to alter the trajectory of a bouncing ball to get it to go where you want.
    • Crosswords – A type-in computerized crossword puzzle for the VIC-20, TI-99/4A, PET/CBM, Atari 400/800 and Apple II.
    • Checkers – A type-in checkers game for the Commodore 64.
    • Programming Multicolor Characters on the VIC – A guide for the VIC-20 on creating multi-color characters including how to select colors for the screen, border, characters and more.
    • Atari Starshot – A type-in BASIC game for the Atari 400/800 that produces a Death Star trench run type game.
    • Guess That Animal – A type-in guessing game for the ZX-81.

    Reviews

    • Atari CX85 Numerical Keypad – An adding machine style numerical keypad with function keys for the Atari 400/800.
    • Three VIC Cartridge Games By Creative Software – Three games for the VIC-20 including Choplifter, Serpentine and Trashman.
    • Hescount for PET/CBM and VIC – A program profiler for the PET and VIC-20.
    • Micro-Systems’ VIE Cartridge: VIC to IEEE Interface – Allows you to connect your 4016, 4032, and 8032 PET/CBM disk drives, as well as other IEEE devices, to your VIC-20.
    • Microteach Teacher’s Aide for the Atari – Software for creating computer based lessons.

    Columns and Departments

    • The Editor’s Notes – The Eighth West Coast Computer Faire, new Compute! editors, and more.
    • Readers’ Feedback – Reader letters about light pens, simulating a clock for the TI, using Atari’s Player/Missile graphics, VIC PILOT, random numbers for the TI-99/4A and more.
    • Computers and Society – The future of domestic robots (meanwhile we still don’t have anything practical except Roomba).
    • The Beginner’s Page – Computer Aided Instruction, home computer applications, and more.
    • Questions Beginners Ask – Questions answered about joystick programming for the Atari 400 and what accessories you need when buying a computer.
    • The World Inside The Computer: Software for Toddlers – The future of software for kids.
    • Friends of the Turtle – The introduction of the Mattel Aquarius computer at the Winter CES and available Logo cartridge; a preview of a turtle graphics package from HES; and a robot called B.O.B.
    • Machine Language: Numeric Output, Part I – Part one of a tutorial for outputting and formatting numbers using machine language.
    • Insight: Atari – Part 2 on writing your own interpreter plus more info on the Atari 1200XL.
    • Programming The TI: Graphics – Drawing pictures, using colors, creating user-defined graphics characters and more.
    • Guest Commentary: Is RAM Memory a Status Symbol? – An argument that the less scarce (and cheaper) RAM is, the less effort should be put towards economizing its use. Plus, ideas for usage of large (like 1 MB!) amounts of RAM.
    • News & Products – Some new games for the TRS-80 Models I and II as well as the TRS-80 Color Computer; a 27K memory upgrade for the VIC-20 for $169; Voice Box II speech synthesizer for the Atari 400/800; and much more.

    The Journal

    • VIC Kaleidoscope – A type in program for the VIC-20 that provides a kaleidoscope-like graphical display and music.
    • Instant Commodore 64 Art – Two type-in programs for the Commodore 64. One creates random art for you, the other lets you create your own.
    • Graphics on the Sinclair/Timex – A graphics tutorial for the Timex/Sinclair with examples.
    • PET/CBM POP – Using the POP command to cancel a GOSUB in BASIC.
    • Bootmaker for VIC, PET and 64 – Automating the boot process.
    • Basic Atari BASIC Sorts – Bubble Sorts, Insertion Sorts and other sorts for the Atari in BASIC.
    • PET Super Editor – A screen editing subroutine for the PET with numerous options.
    • VICSTATION: A “Paperless Office” – A type-in text editor for the VIC-20.
    • Screen Printer for the Atari Wedge – A new command to send screen output to the printer.
    • Commodore 64 Video – A Guided Tour, Part IV – Part 4 of a detailed guide to the Commodore 64’s video capabilities.
    • VIC File Case – A type-in program to help you keep track of your files.
    • The Atari Musician – A couple of type-in programs to compute pitch values to play major and minor chords, generate scales, and more.
    • Visiting the VIC-20 Video, Part I – The first in a multi-part series about the VIC’s video chip, it’s structure, and how to use it.
    • General-Purpose Data Base, Part II – The second part in a two-part series on creating a database for the TI-99/4A and TRS-80 Color Computer.
    • TCON: The Apple Writer Processes Programs – Use the search capabilities and other functions of Apple Writer to help you with your program.
    • Apple Fast Sort – A sort routine for the Apple II that can sort 1000 random strings in one minute and 45 seconds (whereas a standard bubble sort takes it 8 hours and 57 minutes).
    • 64 Odds and Ends – Several tips and tricks for the Commodore 64.
    • Atari Times – Knowing the time it takes the Atari to perform various operations to help you improve the speed of your programs.
    • Versatile Data Acquisition with VIC – Adjusting the speed of the VIC-20’s internal clock to match timing needs for data acquisition hardware…or to speed up games.
    • Optimizing PET Speed – Making your programs faster my carefully choosing the line numbers for GOSUB and GOTO routines in BASIC.
    • TI BASIC One-Liners – How to use the TI BASIC DEF statement.
    • Disassemble to Printer or Disk for Atari – How to store disassemblies of machine language programs on disk or print them out.
    • The Apple Hi-Res Painter – A type-in art program in which you can use one of 6 colors (or combinations) and three different drawing pens.

    …and more!


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  • Timelost: A Computer Adventure (1983)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Ok, so this game, if that is the right way to refer to it, is kind of interesting. I’ve never read or played this so I’m not exactly speaking from experience. When I first saw the cover image and read the description, I assumed that this was some sort of interactive fiction game similar to Zork only with comic book style graphics. However, that’s not exactly the case.

    It turns out that this title from Que Publishing is not exactly software at all. Instead, it is a comic book with a series of stories. As part of each story, there is an arcade style game that must be typed in that is somehow related to the story or part of it. This is a pretty novel concept and I’m not sure there was much else like it.

    From the description on the back of the book:

    Timelost is the first book in a new unique series of integrated comic adventures and computer action games.

    A teenage computer whiz and his young sister are swept through Time Holes and meet attacking Warbirds of the past, a mysterious man from the future, and a sinister Time Wizard.

    Each lost-in-time adventure is combined with an arcade-type computer action game. Explanations help new users to learn programming and suggested variations challenge young users to create more game fun.

    There doesn’t seem to be a lot of info out there on this title, however the Internet Archive does have the book that can be downloaded in full. I found an Atari version for Atari 8-bit computers and a Commodore 64 version. A list in the first few pages of the book indicates that there were Timex/Sinclair 1000, TI-99/4A, and VIC-20 versions as well. The stories would of course been the same but the type in code is a little different for each platform.

    I can’t speak to the quality of the games as I haven’t seen them yet. Type-in games are going to be relatively limited but that doesn’t mean they can’t be fun. There are six stories and six games that must be typed in to go along with them. While the games are designed to go with the story they are associated with, you don’t really need to read the stories to be able to play the games. I would expect that would have given you the best experience though. To make it even more interesting, there are descriptions of the code and suggestions of things you can modify to change the behavior of the games in different ways.

    Back when I first got my Commodore 64, I think this is something that I would have thoroughly enjoyed. Anyone who has spent hours typing in programs from a magazine can probably sympathize :). The description seems to imply that there would be other titles in the series. However, the series seems to have been cut short. I did find references to a second title called Timelost II: Techmagic, including ISBN numbers and references to Commodore 64, Apple II, and PCjr versions with a publication date of June 1985 (the original was published in 1983). However, I haven’t been able to find a cover photos, scan of the book or anything else about it. Either it never actually made it to publication or it must be pretty rare.


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  • TI-99/4A: Axiom Peripherals

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Home Computer Magazine – Vol. 4, No. 2

    The TI-99/4A was a powerful computer for its time, featuring what was technically a 16-bit processor. However, some poor marketing decisions by TI along with their inability to match Commodore’s prices ultimately drove them out of the market. Third party peripherals were few and far between as the TI-99/4A didn’t have a very long life. But there are a few and here are a couple from a company called Axiom.

    The first is a printer designed for the TI-99/4A witht the catchy name “Direct Connect Printer, GP-100TI”. Like many home computers, the TI didn’t have a standard printer interface built in so it required an adapter for most printers. However, the GP-100TI had this interface built-in. In addition, it had an edge connector so that additional peripherals could be chained. As far as the printer itself, it seems to be a pretty standard dot matrix printer for the time and the price really isn’t too bad considering how expensive printers could be. Having said that, I’m not sure what the quality was like.

    The other item here (with another catchy name, the “ParallAx TI Expansion Interface”) is a standalone interface for printers and other peripherals. It could be used, for example, to attach a standard parallel printer to the TI. TI made an expansion box for the TI-99/4A but it was expensive and bulky. This device appears to offer an alternative cheaper and more compact option. Like the interface built in to the printer above, devices could be daisy chained with the edge connector. At $99 it seems like a good deal, especially compared to TIs bulky option.

    I had a friend that had a TI-99/4A but I never had one. I had a Commodore 64 instead (no regrets there). Certainly if you needed a printer or to attach other various peripherals then these seem like they would have been pretty good options. This ad is from Volume 4, Number 2 of Home Computer Magazine from 1984. I didn’t have my Commodore 64 until 1986 and by then things were cheaper anyway. For example, printer interfaces were in the neighborhood of $30-$40 vs. the $99 for the one in this ad. But one of the biggest problems the TI had was the expense of add-on hardware.


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