Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Compute!’s Gazette (August 1983)

Compute!'s Gazette was the Commodore 8-bit spin-off of Compute!. It covered mainly the Commodore 64 but also the VIC-20, Commodore 128, and Plus 4 / Commodore 16 depending on the time period. It was published for about 12 years in one form or another. The August 1983 issue includes:

Features

Your First Hour With A Computer - Setting up and trying out your new (Commodore) computer.

Should You Join a Users Group? - A short history of user groups and what to look for if a new one is forming in your area.

A Guide to Commodore User Groups - A list of Commodore related user groups around the country and their contact information.

Games

The Viper - A type-in game for the C64 and VIC-20 in which you control a snake to eat and grow but you must avoid running into your tail.

Cylon Zap - A type-in game for the C64 and VIC-20 in which you must defend your space station from kamikaze spaceships.

Reviews

Vanilla Pilot - A PILOT programming implementation for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20.

Kickman - A conversion of the Bally/Midway arcade game of the same name by Commodore for the Commodore 64.

Frogger - An excellent conversion of the Sega arcade game for the Commodore 64 by Sierra On-Line.

_{Table of Contents from the August 1983 issue of Compute!'s Gazette}

Education/Home Applications

Computing for Kids: Build a Computer Friend - Writing a program that talks back.

VIC/64 Mailing List - A type-in program for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 to store mailing list data.

Computing for Grownups: Revolution in the Nursery - The impact of computers in education and of kids teaching adults this new technology.

Programming

Machine Language for Beginners: The Easy Way - Teaching machine language with an example program. The included type-in program for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 is called RAMTest and tests your Random Access Memory.

Hints & Tips: VIC Title Screens - A short type-in program that creates nice title screens on the VIC-20.

Commodore 64 Hi-Res Graphics Made Simple - Adding commands in BASIC to access the Commodore 64's high resolution graphics mode.

The Four-Speed Brake - A type-in program that allows you to control the speed of the output of the LIST command.

Departments

The Editor's Notes - An overview of this month's issue and a look ahead and some of the new things coming out for Commodore computers.

Gazette Feedback - Letters from readers about Commodore 64 and VIC-20 memory locations, assigning functions to function keys, monitors for the VIC-20, using a 1540 drive with a Commodore 64, using two disk drives with the Commodore 64, using standard cassette recorders with the VIC-20 and Commodore 64, and more.

Compute!'s Gazette Author Guide - A guide for submitting articles and programs to Compute!'s Gazette.

Simple Answers to Common Questions - Questions answered about saving programs and disk errors and entering BASIC programs.

HOTWARE: This Month's Best Sellers - A look at the best selling software for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 in various categories.

_{Back cover of the August 1983 issue of Compute!'s Gazette}

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