Source: Your Commodore – Issue Number 4 – January 1985
Your Commodore is a magazine that was published in the U.K. and covered the Commodore line of computers, including the Commodore 64 and Amiga. It was published from October 1984 through October 1991 for a total of 84 issues. The January 1985 issue includes:
- Plus/4: How Does It Add Up? – A review of the Commodore Plus/4. It wasn’t meant to be a replacement for the C64 exactly but more for people who wanted something a bit better suited for business/professional uses. The problem is that it was not significantly better than the C64 even for that. One of its features was that it came with four built in applications (word processor, spreadsheet, database, and graphics). These were ok but there was better software on the C64 already and since these were in ROM, there was no updating them. Shipping with applications is fine but they should have been on disk or at least a cartridge. The Plus/4 and its little brother the C16 were among Commodore’s biggest failures.
- Data Statements – News and new products related to Commodore including a Commodore sponsorship for the 1985 British Computer Society Schools’ Computer Quiz, a new word processor for the VIC-20 (TOTL.TEXT 2.0), Wildest Dreams offers game rentals, The Staff of Karnath coming for the C64, Ghostbusters for the Commodore 64, Alien for the Commodore 64, four new titles from Beyond Software (Ankh, Aztec, Mr. Robot, and My Chess II), games featuring speech from Tymac (Gandalf, Pegasus and the Trials of Perseus and DEADZONE, and others), and much more.
- Input/Output – Letters from readers with questions about how to program the function keys on the Commodore 64, using sound on the PET, reading keyboard input on the PET, moving graphics using keyboard input, speeding up the disk drive on the Commodore 64, finding software and RAM expansion for the VIC-20, and more.
- Screen Clock – A type in program for displaying the time on the screen while you do other things.
- Graphics Solutions – A guide to graphics software on the Commodore 64. Some of the products mentioned include Doodle, Paintpic, Panorama, Picture Builder, UltraBASIC 64, Games Creator, Graphics Master, Graphics Designer, and Go Sprite.
- Calling Compunet – Compunet was an online service for the Commodore 64 in th U.K. One interesting thing about it was that anyone could put up content and charge for it.
- Gamemanship – The first part in a series on writing games for the Commodore 64. This part focuses on handling foreground objects and includes code examples.
- Laser Track – A type-in game for the Commodore 64 that is a sort of Space Invaders/Galaxians/Galaga clone.
- Mastering Machine Code – An ongoing series on using machine language on the C64. This part focuses on branching and the status register.
- The Wall – A type in-action game in which you must guide Pinky through multiple waves of walls and ladders while avoiding those that are out to get you.
- Sense of Adventure – A guide to mapping in adventure games, especially when things are not straightforward.
- Software Spotlight – Reviews of several recent games for the Commodore 64, including House of Usher, Car Journey, Terrorist, Borzak, Ghouls, Bristles, Ant Attack, High Noon, Secret Agent, Cybertron Mission, Falcon Patrol, Magic Micro Mission, Ballooning, Phase 4, See-Saw, Boulder Dash, Strontium Dog and the Death Gauntlet, Time Zone, Chiller, Punctuation Pete/Wordfinder, Cuthbert Enters the Tombs of Doom, Summer Games, and Swoop.
- Drawn Together – A look at a couple of tools for drawing on the Commodore 64 including the Koala Pad Touch Tablet with Koala Painter and Designer 64.
- 64 Symbols – How to input the various symbols in your code to to do things like change colors, clear the screen, etc.
- 4 Crowns of Adelim – A type-in action/adventure game for the Commodore 64.
- Doing It Yourself – Part four in a series on creating your own business software for the Commodore 64. This part deals with the best way to store and retrieve data on disk.
- Turn Turtle – A look at Valiant Turtle and LOGO. LOGO is an educational programming language that seemed to be very popular for about 5 minutes.
- Light Fantastic – A review of lightpens including the Datapen lightpen and Stack Lightpen.
- VIC Games Programming – The fourth in a five part series on BASIC games programming for the VIC-20. This part deals with creating User Defined Graphics on the VIC-20.
- All Clear – A machine code routine that will automatically add comments via REM statements for lines with control characters.
- Business Files – Reviews of some spreadsheet and database software for the Commodore 64 including Practicalc, Practifile, and Inventory 64.
- BASIC Facts Part 5 – A continuing series on BASIC programming. This part deals with the INPUT statement and using arrays.
- Computers In Business – A look at Minehead Radio, a small electronics shop that has started selling computers as well.
- Reference Library – A look at some of the Commodore games books on the market including Winning Games on the Commodore 64, Crazy Games for Your Commodore 64, Games Commodore 64 Computers Play, Challenging Games for the Commodore 64, The Commodore 64 Program Book, and more.
…and more!
