Compute!’s Gazette (December 1984)

Compute!’s Gazette (December 1984)

Compute!'s Gazette was the most successful spinoff of the more general Compute! magazine. It covered 8-bit Commodore computers. For most of its life that really meant the Commodore 64 and 128 but in 1984 it was mostly the VIC-20 and Commodore 64. The December 1984 issue includes:

Features

• What if...? - A feature on simulation games. Games covered here include Ringside Seat (a boxing sim), various Avalon Hill battle simulations, SSI's Rails West! (puts you in the role of a railroad baron), various chess games, and more.


• Electronic Trivia - Trivial Pursuit had been released a few years earlier and had become very popular leading greater popularity of computer based trivia games. This article covers some of them including Trivia Arcade, Trivia Fever, Computrivia, Facttactics, Fax, Master Trivia, Trivia Trek, and Trivial Compute.


• Inside View - An interview with Byron Preiss and Ronald Martinez, software designers for Trillium who create games such as Fahrenheit 451, Rendezvous with Rome, and Dragonworld.

Reviews

• Microfiler - A cartridge based database system for the Commodore 64.


• NATO Commander - A strategy game from MicroProse for the Commodore 64 that pits NATO forces against Warsaw Pact forces.


• Road to Moscow - A strategy game for the Commodore 64 that recreates the Russian/German part of World War II.

Games

• Cosmic Combat - A type-in Space Invaders style game with versions for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20.


• 3-D Labrynth - A 3D maze game for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 in which you must escape the maze (with an optional time limit).

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

Education/Home Applications

• Computing For Families: An Adventure in Telecommunications - A look at SkiWriter II, a combination word processor and telecommunications program.


• Word Guess - A type-in hangman style game for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20.


• Letter Attack - An educational type-in game for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 that teaches typing.

Programming

• BASIC Magic: A Christmas Assortment - A Christmas themed BASIC tutorial for both the Commodore 64 and VIC-20. Basically a sort of electronic Christmas card with sound.


• Machine Language for Beginners - This tutorial guides you through creating a customized directory command for the Commodore 64.


• Hints & Tips - A guide to controlling the keyboard buffer on the VIC-20 and Commodore 64.


• Auto Line - A type-in program that will automatically number the lines in a BASIC program.

Departments

• The Editor's Notes - A summary of recent happenings at Commodore as well as a look ahead to the year to come.


• Gazette Feedback - Letters from readers about reducing disk drive chatter when using copy protected disks, typing in programs on the VIC-20, programming the SID, cooling the 1540 and 1541 disk drives, and more.


• Simple Answers to Common Questions - Questions answered about converting Atari BASIC programs to the Commodore 64 and transferring files between the Commodore 64 and IBM PC via and RS-232C interface,
  
• Horizons 64 - A guide to drawing on the Commodore 64 including a look at programs like Tech Sketch and Peripheral Vision as well as options for controllers including a mouse, light pen and KoalaPad among others.

_{Back cover of the December 1984 issue of Compute!'s Gazette}

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