Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Compute!’s Gazette (December 1985)

Compute!'s Gazette was one of the most popular Commodore 8-bit magazines that existed in the U.S. I read Commodore Magazine and later Run myself but Gazette was easily on par with those. The December 1985 issue includes:

Features

New Approaches to Computer games: Designers with a Difference - An interview with video game designers John O'Neill, Tom Snyder, and others about the future of gaming.

Building Your Own Games - A talk with Pinball Construction Set designer Bill Budge about creating games.

Games at the Speed of Light - While it was thought for a while that laserdisc technology would have a big impact on home computers and gaming, this article also looks ahead to CD-ROM technology which would eventually become huge in another 8 years.

Reviews

The Epson HI-80 Plotter - A plotter for the Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 that works well in the Commodore 128's CP/M mode.

Calc Now! - A simple to use spreadsheet program for the Commodore 64.

Charles Goren: Learning Bridge Made Easy - Software that teaches you to play Bridge. It includes various quizzes, tutorials and examples.

The Halley Project - A game with educational properties in which you explore the solar system.

_{Table of Contents from the December 1985 issue of Compute!'s Gazette}

Games

Whirlybird - A type-in game that is a sort of breakout clone with the bricks being on the bottom of the screen.

Quickchange - A type-in puzzle game.

Education/Home Applications

Banners - A type-in program that lets you print your own custom banners on the Commodore 64 Plus/4, Commodore 16 and VIC-20.

The Construction Set - A type-in program for the C64 that provides a sort of virtual lego set with which you can build things.

Programming

SpeedCheck: Word Processor Spelling Checker - A type-in spell checker that works with SpeedScript, WordPro, and PaperClip.

Power BASIC: List Pager - A short utility for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 that allows you to divide printouts into pages, insert headers, and print page numbers.

Variable Saver - A technique for automatically saving variables with your program along with an example short program for budgeting.

Hints & Tips: Loading and Saving - All about loading and saving files and directories.

Soundpix - A demo/tutorial that gives a visual representation of waveforms and envelopes on the Commodore 64.

Disk File Archiver - A short machine language program that helps with versioning and backing up your programs.

Departments

The Editor's Notes - The editor writes of waiting for the soon to be released Amiga.

Gazette Feedback - Feedback from readers about strings, formatting disks, the readability of programs, scanning the keyboard, programming function keys, VIC-20 support, RELative files, hexadecimal conversions, and more.

Simple Answers to Common Questions - Questions answered about 80 column display on the C64 and printer buffers.

_{Back cover of the December 1985 issue of Compute!'s Gazette}

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