RUN (February 1984)

Source: RUN – Issue Number 2 – February 1984

RUN was one of a few magazines published in the U.S. that were dedicated to the Commodore 64 and it was perhaps the most popular. In its early days, it also covered the VIC-20, it briefly covered the Commodore 16/Plus 4 and added Commodore 128 coverage when that machine was released but for most of its life it covered primarily the Commodore 64. The February 1984 issue (issue number 2), includes:

Features

C-64 Graphics Galore – At the time the Commodore 64 was introduced, it had better graphics capabilities than anything else on the market. This article goes over some of those capabilities and some of the software available to help you take advantage of them.

Shortcut to Color – A type-in program to help you control on-screen colors on the Commodore 64.

Speedy Mosquito – A type-in BASIC game in which you must swat the mosquito.

Database Deluxe – A type-in database program for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64.

Sure-Shootin’ Gallery – A type-in game that emulates the shooting galleries found at carnivals and fairs.

A Taste of Arrays – A tutorial on BASIC arrays for the Commodore 64 with example code.

Fancy Fingering on the Function Keys – A type-in program that lets you assign whatever functions you want to the VIC-20 function keys.

Iron Hand or VIC-20? – A type-in strategy game for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 in which you run your own kingdom.

Be a VIC Memory Miser – A tutorial that provides some techniques for saving RAM on the VIC-20. Given that the stock RAM on a VIC-20 was only 3.5 Kilobytes, I can see how this would be useful.

Mystery of the Black Box Revealed – A look at the Commodore 1541 floppy drive.

Triple Threat – A tutorial to help you convert between Octal, Decimal and Hex number systems.

Tips You Won’t Forget – Another article that provides some tips for managing RAM on the VIC-20.

Disk Master Revisited – A type-in program to help you manage data on your floppy disks.

The Straight A Program – A type-in program to help teachers keep track of grades for a class.

Spriten Up! – A type-in program to help simplify creating sprites on the Commodore 64.

Reach Out and Touch-Tone Someone – A type-in program for the Commodore 64 that gives you a menu-driven touch-tone dialer.

Create a VICasso – Designing custom characters of the VIC-20.

A Cure for the Ailing Doctor’s Office – A case study on using the Commodore 64 to run a small doctor’s office.

Beyond the Manual – Part of a continuing BASIC tutorial, this month focusing on assigning values to variables.

Departments

RUNning Ruminations – Improving program listings.

MAGIC – Short programming tricks including detecting key presses, eliminating extra quotation marks to save memory, using commas and semicolons, creating a frame around your screen, controlling the cursor, and more.

Commodore Clinic – Questions answered from readers about using short commands, listing two separate sections of a program, programming a light pen, database and accounting software availability, Tally brand printers, and more.

Software Gallery – Reviews of Turmoil, a shoot-em-up game for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20; Turtle Graphics II, kid oriented programming language on cartridge; Logo, another computer programming language for the Commodore 64; Vanilla Pilot, providing enhanced programming commands to the Commodore 64; Nukewar, a human vs. computer nuclear war strategy game for the Commodore 64; and more.

Video Casino – A type-in program simply called ‘Draw’ for the VIC-20 that lets you create art.

Mail RUN – Letters from readers, mostly with praise for and questions about the first issue.

Book Gallery – Reviews of the Commodore 64 User’s Handbook, The Elementary Commodore 64, and User’s Handbook to the VIC-20.

Games RUNdown – A brief look at some recently released games, including Quest of the Eagle (Commodore 64), Plasmania (VIC-20), Bumper Bash (VIC-20), Save New York! (Commodore 64), Moondust (Commodore 64), Rat Hotel (VIC-20), Zorloc (VIC-20), Enchanter (Commodore 64), Kid Grid (Commodore 64), Juice (Commodore 64), Beach-head (Commodore 64) – one of my favorites!, Star Battle (Commodore 64), Killerpiller (VIC-20, Commodore64), Speed Racer (Commodore 64), Candy Bandit (Commodore 64), and Seafox (Commodore 64).

Hardware RUNdown – An overview of some of the latest hardware for Commodore computers, including a couple of Panasonic dot matrix printers, the Micro-X64 expansion interface board for the Commodore 64, and more.

Software RUNdown – A brief look at some of the latest software available for Commodore computers, including Note Pro I and Note Pro II music software for the Commodore 64; Spellbound educational (spelling) software for the Commodore 64; Designer Screens, a drawing program for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64; VIP Terminal, terminal software for the Commodore 64; Tax Command, tax software for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64; and more.