• Tag Archives Amiga

  • Info (September 1990)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Info – Issue Number 32 – September 1990

    At this point in time, this magazine was actually titled “.info for Amiga Users”. In the past it had covered both Commodore 8-bit machines like the Commodore 64 and the Amiga but by late 1990 it was focused on the Amiga. Info was notable for being entirely produced on Commodore machines. The September 1990 issue includes:

    Features

    • Computer Magic – Photography with the Amiga. The art of digitizing photos and adding digital effects.
    • Interview – An interview with Laurence Gartel, an artist known for his computer artwork and how he enjoys working with the Amiga more than million dollar systems.
    • Multiplayer Games on GEnie – GEnie was an early online pre-Internet service similar to CompuServe, Delphi, and others. This article looks at some of the multiplayer games that can be played via GEnie as well as some of the specialized Amiga front ends for the service.
    • CDTV – A look at the new CDTV (Commodore Dynamic Total Vision). Essentially, this was an Amiga 500 in a different form factor and including a CD-ROM drive. It was meant to be a “set top box” similar to the Philips CD-i for example. It did not fare well but I guess you could say the idea evolved into the smart TV.

    The Amiga Pro

    • Brush Mapping in Turbo Silver – A guide to using the 3D renderer of Turbo Silver.
    • .info Preview: Power PC Board – A preview of an expansion board that plugs into the memory expansion slot of the Amiga 500 and provides both memory expansion and an IBM PC clone featuring a NEC V3 CPU @ 8.0 MHz and 1 MB of RAM. It allows your computer to boot in Amiga mode and use the expansion RAM or to put in PC mode which basically transforms your Amiga into a PC.
    • .info Review: PageStream 1.8 – A review of this desktop publishing program for the Amiga from Soft-Logik.
    • Video – A look at a VHS video tape tutorial series for the Amiga.
    • .info Tech Section – A detailed look into the various graphics modes of the Amiga and what format you should be using for your goals.

    Departments

    • Editor’s Page – Thoughts on the new CDTV.
    • Reader Mail – Readers write in about Info’s new monthly format, dropping 8-bit coverage, playing PC games on the Amiga using a bridgeboard, and more.
    • New Products – A brief look at new products including The Art Department (image manipulation), Saxon Publisher (page layout software), Professional Draw 2.0, TSSNet (ethernet networking), TV*Show Version 2 (allows you to combine animation and sound into a presentation), Tiger Cub (music), Digital Landscape (wireframe landscape generator using real data), and much more.
    • News & Views – New products from Commodore including the A2065 Ethernet Adaptor, A2060 ARcnet Adaptor, AS220 Amiga Client for Novell Netware, TCP/IP and NFS software for the Amiga, educational Amiga 3000 bundles, and more; Broderbund celebrates 10th Anniversary; Compute! merges titles; and more.
    • Rumor Mill – Disney might become top software developer for Amiga; new product from NewTek called LightWave 3D; IRS buys Amiga 3000 systems through Sears; C65 development still active; and more.
    • Public Domain – A brief look at tons of recent public domain software available for the Amiga on GEnie, American People/Link, and via various disk collections.
    • Show Reports – Reports from the World of Amiga Show at Pier 92, New York, and CES Chicago.

    Cyberplay

    • Adventure Road – This column was formerly published in Commodore Magazine and features adventure games. This month there is discussion of Starflight on the C64, Amiga and MS-DOS.
    • 17 New Diversions – Reviews of a bunch of games including Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess (Data East), Tunnels of Armageddon (California Dreams/EA), Aquanaut Miles Computing/EA), Day of the Viper (Accolade), The Game of Harmony (Accolade), ChronoQuest II (Psygnosis), Infestation (Psygnosis), TV Sports Basketball (Cinemaware), Jugsaw Puzzlemania (Artworx), Courtroom (FairBrother & SoeparMann), Pipe Dream (Lucasfilm), Breach 2 (Omitrend), Iron Lord (UBISoft/EA), Leisure Suit Larry III (Sierra On-Line), Hoyle’s Book of Games (Sierra On-Line), Hero’s Tale I (Sierra On-Line), and Manhunter 2: San Francisco (Sierra On-Line).
    • Player Tips – Tips and tricks for Drakkhen, Infestation, Batman, Sim City, Indiana Jones, Space Ace, Forgotten Worlds, and Chop N’ Drop.
    • Coming Soon – Tons of games are listed as coming soon from Accolade, Avatar, Broderbund, Data East, Eagle Tree, Electronic Arts, Electronic Zoo, Innerprise, Interplay, Konami, Media Technology, Microprose/Microplay, Origin, Psygnosis, Sierra, Software Toolworks, Spectrum Holobyte, Tengen, Tiger Media, and Virgin/Mastertronic.

    …and more!


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  • The Australian Commodore and Amiga Review (November 1987)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: The Australian Commodore and Amiga Review – November 1987

    This Commodore specific magazine was published in Australia. It covered both the Commodore 8-bit line as well as the Amiga depending on what time frame we are talking about. This issue from November 1987 includes:

    Hardware

    • Action Replay Mk III – The latest iteration of a cartridge designed to back up copy protected software. It worked by taking a snaphot of memory so it didn’t really work with games that required disk access after loading (e.g. to load additional levels).
    • Comodem – A 1200 baud modem designed to plug straight into the user port of the Commodore 64 (i.e. it didn’t require a separate interface).

    Software

    • Blitz 64 Compiler – A BASIC compiler for the Commodore 64.
    • Book Review – A review of the “How to Get the Most out of GEOS”, a guide to the GEOS operating system which was a GUI for the Commodore 64.
    • Pirates – Review of this classic MicroProse game for the Commodore 64.
    • Boulderdash II: Rockford’s Revenge – Sequel to the classic arcade style game from First Star Software.
    • Bubble Bobble – An excellent arcade game for the C64 in which you must guide a bubble through a maze of various obstacles.
    • Arena – A sports game from Psygnosis for the Amiga that features a variety of sports like pole vault, high jump, long jump, shot put, 100 meter run, etc.
    • Pi R Squared – An arcade/puzzle style game featuring lots of wheels which I guess is where the name comes from.
    • Pro Golf – Yet another golf game…

    Amiga Review

    • Amiga 2000: Top of the Range – A review of the Amiga 2000. This was perhaps the time when the Amiga was furthest ahead of any other home computer on the market, especially for the price.
    • GIZMOS – A set of desktop tools for the Amiga including a calendar, memopad, rollodex, printing utility, calculators, and more.
    • Hints & Tips – Tips for using Pagesetter, customizing your keyboard settings, using Workbench, and much more.
    • Terrorpods – Review of this sci-fi action/adventure game from Psygnosis.

    Programming

    • Sprites in the Border – A technique for getting sprites to display in the border areas on the Commodore 64 with coding examples.
    • C128 function keys for your C64 – A type-in program that allows you to use the Commodore 128 function keys when in C64 mode.
    • Little Invoicer – A type-in program for the Commodore 64 designed to generate simple invoices.
    • Machine Code Tutorial Pt III – The third part in a tutorial on machine language programming. This part implements some examples of instructions discussed in previous parts.

    Regular Appearances

    • Editorial – An overview of what is in this issue and a look ahead to what is to come.
    • Ram Rumblings – News and a look at new products including Midi Master (a package that turns the C64 into a music synthesizer), new titles from Activision including Supersprint, Guadalcanal, Xis, and Wonderboy; Gunship from MicroProse; Avtec Mega Modem, and more.
    • Letters – Letters from readers regarding adventure game help, reset switches, and more.
    • Adventurer’s Realm – Various adventure game news (including info on Beyond Zork), tips, questions and other adventure game discussion. Some games included this month are Dragonworld, ZZZzzz, Holy Grail, Nine Princes of Amber, Knights Orc, and more.
    • Arcade Action – A look at new and upcoming games including Centurions, Deathwish III, T.A.N.K., Space Port, Typhoon, and Garrison.
    • High Scores – High scores submitted by readers for over 50 different games.

    …and more!


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  • MicroIllusions (1987)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Info – Issue Number 15 – July August 1987

    One of the great parts about flipping through old computer or video game magazines are the ads. This particular ad is from the July/August 1987 issue of Info though it no doubt appeared in other issues and other magazine titles. Info was a magazine dedicated to Commodore computers including the Commodore 64 and Amiga so obviously that is what the vast majority of ads in this magazine were related to. This ad features a company called MicroIllusions and some of their software products.

    I am familiar with MicroIllusions mostly via The FaeryTale Adventure. I never actually played it but remember seeing ads for this game many times. This was one of those games that was in my wanted list for a long time but just never got around to obtaining or playing. They must have advertised that game for at least a couple of years. I’m guessing because it was a fairly popular title for them and the releases for the multiple platforms it was available for was probably spread out over time to some degree. I was mostly reading RUN and Commodore Magazine at the time so that’s where I would have seen ads for this game.

    I’m not as familiar with other titles in this ad and don’t really recall seeing ads for them. That doesn’t mean I didn’t of course but these titles definitely weren’t advertised as heavily as The FaeryTale Adventure. The FaeryTale Adventure also had the advantage of being ported to the Sega Genesis.

    The FaeryTale Adventure was a fantasy role playing games along the lines of something like the Ultima series, the Bard’s Tale series or the AD&D Gold Box series. The other titles in this ad include Land of Legends which appears to have been another RPG, and Discovery which appears to have been a space themed educational series. There are also brief mentions of Dynamic CAD 2.3, Dynamic world, Music X, The Planetarium, Micro MIDI, and Dynamic Publisher though I am not really familiar with any of those.

    The ad states that all of these products were currently being developed for the Amiga and would soon be available for the Commodore 64, PC, Apple, and Atari ST though I would be surprised if all of these titles were available for all of those systems.


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