Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Compute!’s Gazette (February 1984)

There were a few different machine specific spin-offs from Compute! over the years but the only one that really seemed to have long term success was Gazette which covered Commodore 8-bit machines (which meant mostly the Commodore 64). The February 1984 issue of Compute!'s Gazette includes:

Features

PBS's New Computer Series - An article on a new PBS series called "Bits and Bytes". It was only around for one season but it was followed up by Bits and Bytes 2 in 1991.

The Inner World of Computers, Part 4: The Inside Story - The fourth part of this tutorial on the inner workings of computers covers binary arithmetic.

Getting Started With A Disk Drive, Part 4: Data Files - A guide to reading and writing files in BASIC.

Games

Haunted Mansion - A type-in action game in which you must rescue cats from ghosts. Versions for both the VIC-20 and Commodore 64.

Astro-PANIC! - A type-in arcade style game with a resemblance to games like Galaga for the Commodore 64.

React - An type-in action/strategy game for both the VIC-20 and Commodore 64.

_{Table of Contents from the February 1984 issue of Compute!'s Gazette}

Review

Fourth Encounter (VIC-20) - A pretty generic space shoot-em-up.

Suspended (Commodore 64) - One of many classic interactive fiction games from Infocom.

Cassette Interface for VIC/64 - An interface designed to allow any cassette recorder to be used with a VIC-20 or Commodore 64.

Education/Home Applications

Computing For Families: The New King Of The Mountain - A detailed look at the KoalaPad and KoalaPainter.

Speed Reader - A type-in educational program designed to improve reading skills.

Typing Derby - A type-in program designed to improve your typing skills.

VIC Piano - A type-in music program that turns your VIC-20 into a piano.

Programming

Multicolor Character Generator For VIC-20 - A type-in program designed to simplify the task of designing multi-colored characters.

Machine Language For Beginners: Tapping Into BASIC - Looking at BASIC as a collection of machine language programs and tapping into those from your own ML programs.

The Beginner's Corner: String Variables And Functions - An introduction to string variables and functions in BASIC.

Departments

The Editor's Notes - An introduction to a new editor and new things coming up for Gazette.

Gazette Feedback - Letters from readers about pointers to the top of BASIC memory, how DATA statements are stored, abbreviated IF statements, Apple vs. Commodore variations of the GET statement, mixing upper and lower case letters, rounding errors, the RND function, merging programs, and more.

Simple Answers to Common Questions - Questions answered about printer (and other) buffers and the difference between "coldstart" and "warmstart".

HOTWARE: A Lok At THis Month's Best Sellers - A look at the top software in several categories. The number ones include Jumpman (Commodore 64 Entertainment), WordPro 3 Plus/64 with Spell Right (Commodore 64 Home/Business/Utility), Dungeons of the Algebra Dragons (Commodore 64 Educational), Gridrunner (VIC-20 Entertainment), Quick Brown Fox (VIC-20 Home/Business/Utility), Touch Typing Tutor (VIC-20 Educational).

_{Back cover of the February 1984 issue of Compute!'s Gazette} ...and more!

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