Monday, April 25, 2022

Commander (January 1983)

Subtitled "The Monthly Journal for Commodore Computer Users", this was one of the early magazine for Commodore related computers. In 1983 the Commodore 64, VIC-20, and PET/CBM were being covered. The January 1983 issue includes:

VIC-20

Enterprise - A type-in Star Trek themed game. It was supposed to be in the previous issue but the code listing was left out.

Ravings of a Madman - An overview of where to get games for the VIC-20 and what is available.

Gobble - A type in program that generates random mazes that you must navigate while eating dots and avoiding the enemy.

64

Peek & Poke - Programming the SID, the Commodore 64's sound chip.

_{Table of Contents from the January 1983 issue of Commander}

PET/CBM

Review: A ROM for the PET "COMMANDER" - A ROM chip for the PET that could be added to provide additional high level commands that can be used from BASIC. Some examples include RE-DIMENSION which resizes arrays and COMPUTED GOTO which allows a GOTO statement based on a variable.

Special Features

Single Drive Copy - A type-in program for making disk copies with a single disk drive.

RADIX-50: Pack & Unpack - A program for packing ASCII bits (24-bits to 16-bits) in order to save memory and disk space. Originally developed for the PDP-8.

COMAL: A Closer look - A look at the COMAL programming language and a sample program.

Assembly Language Programming on the VIC - Part II - Part 2 of a multipart series on using assembly language on the VIC-20. This part covers assemblers and monitors.

Departments

Letters to Editor - One reader's opinion of various VIC-20 games plus praise for the new magazine.

Editorial - As some computer makers suffer huge loses (Atari lost $1 billion in 1982), they turn to distributing the product in retail chains such as Sears and K-Mart. Just don't expect to get your technical questions answered there...

News Releases - A list of companies and retail establishments supporting the VIC-20.

_{Back cover of the January 1983 issue of Commander}

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