Commander, April 1984

Source: Commander - April 1984

Commander was a relatively short-lived magazine dedicated to Commodore computers. It only lasted about two years, from 1982 to 1984, and was dedicated primarily to the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 but also covered other early Commodore computers. The April 1984 issue includes:
Education Sector

• BASIC Training: Beginner's Introduction to Commodore BASIC Programming - What does a dollar sign mean to your computer? The answer may be worth more than money.

 

• BASIC Education: Programming for Learning, Part IV-Getting Into Inputs - Interactive educational programs require well-defined input techniques to accept student responses. Example routines are presented, along with an illustrative program musical ear-training.

 

• Electronic Blackboard - In honor of springtime, a variety bouquet of software is reviewd - including a computerized introduction to the C-64, a vocabulary building game, and a multi-level math series.

 

• Data Organization for the VIC-20: Part IV - An examination of arrays completes our series on how BASIC stores data variables.

  Reviews and Recreation Sector

• BINGO Caller - A modern way to play one of the most popular games of chance.

 

• Along the Adventure Game Trail - What makes a good adventure game? Some crucial features and a few of the best game programs are described.

 

• The KoalaPad Touch Tablet: How To Bear With It-Part I: Overview - The perfect input device for artistically-inclined non-typists is reviewed.

 

• KoalaPad-Part II: Using "Koala Painter" Picture Files - For advanced programmers-how to make further use of the KoalaPad pictures after they are stored on disk.

 

• Rescue - Our Junior Programmer's contributions this month is a rather sophisticated VIC-20 game with custom characters and a non-violent theme.

  Features Sector

• Colin's Column - A guided tour through the VIC-20's memory blocks provides all you ever wanted to know about the structure of RAM and ROM, but were afraid to remember; plus tidbits for C-64 users.

 

• Command Post - Complementing last month's column, add transmitting capability to your ham-computer setup; also a look at log-in software.

 

• Explorations With Assembly Language - Start our newly-constituted assembly language series with an easy-to-use disassembler/monitor written in BASIC.

 

• Introducing Commodore's B-Series - A restyled keyboard and powerful extended BASIC are among the exciting features of Commodore's new family of business computers.

  ...and more!