Source: Ahoy! – Issue Number 2 – February 1984
Ahoy! was a magazine dedicated to Commodore computers. In 1984 this meant mostly the Commodore 64 and VIC-20. Ahoy! might not have been quite as popular as RUN or Compute!’s Gazette but it still had a pretty good circulation. The February 1984 issue includes:
Departments
- Editorial – An editorial on the uses and potential uses of home computers by science fiction writer Ben Bova.
- Scuttlebutt – Commodore 64 and VIC-20 related news including info on: Mimic, a device that turns your Commodore 64 into an Apple II compatible computer; Kidwriter, a storytelling tool for kids; Homeword, an Apple Lisa inspired word processor for the Commodore 64; and lots more.
- Book Reviews – Reviews of ‘Writing In The Computer Age, a book all about word processing and ‘Electronic Life’, a book by Michael Crichton that is a sort of intro to home computers.
- Software Reviews
- Jot-A-Word – A Hangman type game with an expandable 5,000 word dictionary for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20.
- Zeppelin Rescue – A game in which you rescue people from rooftops with your Zeppelin for the Commodore 64.
- Protector II – Rescue people under attack from the Slimehordes and other horrors…for the Commodore 64.
- Space Sentinel – Target alien attackers from your orbital platform…for the Commodore 64.
- Mothership – Parts of this game are similar to the Star Wars arcade game but it also features multi-level run and jump play as well…for the Commodore 64.
- Shamus – One of my early favorites for the Commodore 64, you must work your way through a many-screened maze hunting down the Shadow while fighting off Robo-Droids and his other minions.
- Save New York – Fight off alien hordes in this Defender like game for the Commodore 64.
- Dancing Feats – A music teaching program for the Commodore 64.
- Seafox – A submarine sim for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20.
- Database Manager – A…database manager for the Commodore 64.
- COMvoice – A hardware speech synthesizer for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20.
- The VIController – A device for controlling BSR remote control switches. This seems to be a sort of X10 automation alternative.
- Fourth Encounter – A Galaxian inspired game for the VIC-20.
- Mutant Herd – A two-part arcade game in which you must defend the world from radiated mutants for the VIC-20.
- Simons’ BASIC – A popular cartridge for the Commodore 64 that greatly expands its BASIC capabilities.
- Bandits – Another Galaxian inspired arcade game for the VIC-20 with some unique twists.
- To Our Readers – Some corrections to previous issues type-in programs along with an appeal to readers for more letters.
- The Rupert Report – A tutorial on strings and string functions in BASIC.
Features
- The 1541 Disk Drive: A Guided Tour – What’s inside plus how to use and maintain your 1541 disk drive. The 1541 was a 5.25″ floppy dirve for the Commodore 64 that was the primary software format for that system, at least in North America. In Europe and some other places, the Datasette was far more popular due to its lower cost.
- An Interview with Ihor Wolosenko – An interview with the president of Synapse software which produced many of the early hit games for the Commodore 64.
- The Golden Gateway – An article on direct computer/brain interfaces, biochips and their possible future.
- Dare to Join a Users Group – An article on the benefits of joining a computer users group.
Programs
- The 64 Graphics System, Part II – The second part of an overview of the Commodore 64’s graphical capabilities including a type-in drawing program called Multi-Draw.
- Night Attack – A type-in game reminiscent of Missile Command.
- Programming Relative Files – Incorporating RELative files into your programs. RELative files, unlike SEQuential files, allow for random access.
- The Interrupt Music Maker/Editor, Part II – Some corrections as well as some music for the music editor provided the previous issue.
- C-64 Screen Manipulation – A tutorial on how to manipulate screen memory (and hence graphics) via PEEK and POKE.
…and more!
