Compute!’s Gazette (March 1985)

Source: Compute!’s Gazette – Issue Number 21 – March 1985

Compute!’s Gazette was a Commodore 8-bit spin-off of Compute! which was a multiformat computer magazine published throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Along with RUN, Gazette was one of the most popular Commodore 64 magazines. The March 1985 issue includes:

Features

The Peripheral Connection: Enhancing Your 64 – An overview of available expansions for the Commodore 64. These include hard drives, disk drives, modems, monitors and more.

Peripherals of the Future – A look at input/output devices being worked on for computers in the futures. These include compact discs, laser discs, brain wave input, LCD screens, laser printers and more. Laser discs were never really a big factor but many of the other items sure were. And I guess brain wave input is still coming along.

Commodore Peripheral Ports – A look at the ports available on the Commodore 64 for connecting devices. These include a serial port, memory expansion/cartridge port, the user port (RS-232), control/joystick ports, A/V output, and cassette port.

Inside View: David Crane, The Designer Behind Ghostbusters – An interview with David Crane, primarily about his work on the Ghostbusters game. This was a rare licensed game that was actually good.

Reviews

Microsoft Multiplan – A version of one of the most popular spreadsheet programs at the time for the Commodore 64.

Also Worth Noting – Short reviews of MicroLeague Baseball, U.S. Adventure (an educational game), Up n’ Down (an arcade style game reminiscent of Moon Buggy), Guitar Master (an aid for learning to play the guitar), and Eliza (an AI for your C64).

Games

Heat Seeker – A type-in game for the Commodore 64 and VIC 20 in which you have to destroy a base that shoots heat seeking missiles at you.

Digger – A type-in game for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 in which you must lure goats to their deaths.

Education/Home Applications

Computing For Families: “Easy-Play” Computer Peripherals For The Family – Using personal computers as self-teaching tools.

Alpha Anxiety – A type-in educational puzzle game for the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 in which you must find all of the letters in the alphabet in order.

AVAIL – A short type-in program for the Commodore 64, VIC-20, Plus/4 and C-16 that demonstrates the basic principles involved in creating artificial intelligence.

Programming

BASIC Magic: Computer Math For Beginners – The second part of a tutorial for performing mathematical operations in BASIC.

Machine Language For Beginners: Memory – A look at the memory structure of the VIC-20 and Commodore 64.

Hints & Tips: Abbreviated Printer Codes – Various codes that can be used in BASIC to do special things on your printer (like changing case, inserting a carriage return, enabling reverse text, etc.).

Power BASIC: Quick Character Transfer – A machine language routine that helps you create custom character sets on the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Plus/4 and C-16.

Baker’s Dozen: Part 3 – The third and final part on a series on sound and graphics. This part includes programs for creating random sized blocks on the screen, drawing rectangles, and more sound and graphics routines.

Disk Directory Sort – A short type-in program for sorting your disk directories alphabetically on your VIC-20, Commodore 64, Plus/4 or C-16.

Disk Handler – A type in program that lets you examine and change the contents of a floppy disk on a byte level.

Departments

The Editor’s Notes – A preview of the upcoming Winter CES. New machines were expected from Commodore including the Amiga, the Commodore 128, and an LCD laptop based C64.

Gazette Feedback – Questions from readers are answered about moving multiple things on the screen at the same time, BBS software, INPUT statements without question marks, Commodore file types, the RESTORE key, self modifying BASIC programs, and more.

Horizons – A look at the Blue Chip Printer.

News & Products – New products previewed here include Silicon Slick’s Lowball Draw Poker, Fortress of the Witch King, London Blitz, Breakthru, the Quick Cassette storage system, Broadsides, President Elect, Computer Quarterback, Breakthrough in the Ardennes, Monty Plays Scrabble, and more.