Ahoy! (August 1984)

Source: Ahoy! – Issue Number 8 – August 1984

Ahoy! was one of several dedicated to Commodore computers in the 1980s. In 1984, the Commodore 64 was very popular and the VIC-20 was still hanging on.

The August 1984 issue of Ahoy! (issue number 8) included the following:

Departments

A View from the Bridge – An overview of the contents of this issue.

Scuttlebutt – News about the continuing management exodus at Commodore that started with Jack Tramiel in January; new Commodore compatible Sakata SC-100 monitor; new graphics programs including Flying Colors and Flexidraw 3.0; new word processors including Word Writer, Wordsmith 64, Quickwriter II and C64 Type Right; new education programs including Square pairs, Turtle Tracks, Bannercatch, Spelldiver, and more; new games including Spy vs. Spy (C64), Hot Wheels (C64), G.I. Joe (C64), Barbie (C64), Ankh (C64), Jet Boot Jack (C64), Mychess II (C64), Polar Pierre (C64), Video Vermin (VIC-20), Forbidden Forest (C64), Caverns of Khafka (C64), Aztec Challenge (C64, VIC-20), Spider Invasion (C64, VIC-20), and Slinky (C64, VIC-20); new “science simulations” including Project: Space Station (C64), Life Force (C64), Ocean Quest (C64), Cel Defense (C64), Reflections (C64), and Calmpute (C64); new Okidata Okimate 10 printer; and more.

Reviews
- Paint Magic – A paint program for the C64.
- Pitstop – Classic racing game for the C64 kind of like Pole Position but expanded with pit stops and more.
- The Heist – A game in which the object is to steal all the objects from a museum. Looks like it plays like a cross between Impossible Mission and Pitfall.
- Math SAT I – Designed to prepare students for the math portion of the SAT.
- Word Processor, Professional Version – Word processor with a rather generic name.
- Ultrabasic 64 – An enhanced BASIC for the Commodore 64.
- CIE IEEE-488 Interface – An IEEE-488 interface for the C64. Useful for interfacing certain disk drives and other things.
- Edumate Light Pen – Once upon a time, light pens were all the rage.
- Commander Ultra Terminal-64 – A cartridge based terminal program designed to work with a VIC Modem.
- Rootin’ Tootin’ – A musical instrument themed arcade game.
- C232 RS-232 Interface – An RS-232 interface for the Commodore 64. Useful for connecting modems and printers.
- Synthy-64 – A program to simplify music creation on the C64.
- Cohen’s Towers – An arcade style game in which you must collect mail in an office building.

Commodares – Small programming challenges to find a certain character on the screen, calculate letter frequency and more.

Flotsam – Letters from readers about BBSes run on Commodores, type-in programs, and more.

Features

Editorial – Buying technology (specifically computers) in a swiftly moving market.

In Search of a Word Processor – An overview and comparison of the various word processors on the market at the time for the Commodore 64. Software covered includes 3+1, The Bank Street Writer, Better Letter & Writer, Biztext 1.1, Circascript, Copy-Writer, C64 Type-Write, Cut and Paste, Heswriter, Homeword, Insta Writer, Janewrite, Magic Desk, Omniwriter, Paper Clip, Script 64-PCS, Script 64-Richvale, SM-Text 64, SuperText, Textmaster, Totl Text 2.6, Word Commander 64, Wordcraft 40, WordManager, Wordpro 3 Plus/64, Word Processor (Professional), The Word Processor-PCS, WordProcessor 64, Wordsmith, Write Now!, and The Writer’s Assistant.

Rupert Report: Computational Wizardry – Calculating Mersenne prime numbers with a Cray-1 and determining the mega-flop rating of a Commodore 64. In BASIC it is about 184 flops or 0.0002 mega-flops. Not quite up to Cray-1 standards but then a Commodore 64 cost about $15 million less at the time.

Unraveling the Mysteries of Sound – A look at how sound works with the SID chip on the Commodore 64.

Educational Software Guide, Part VI – This part talks about the characteristics of good educational software as well as the social effects of computer usage for education.