Compute!'s Gazette (November 1984)

avatar
(Edited)


Cover of the November 1984 issue of Compute!'s Gazette

Compute!'s Gazette was one of a few popular Commodore 64 magazines that were published in the U.S. Though it covered other 8-bit Commodore computers at times like the VIC-20, Commodore 128 and Plus/4, the bulk of its coverage through the years was for the Commodore 64. The November 1984 issue includes:

Features

  • Bulletin Board Fever - An introduction to BBSing. BBS systems had been around for a while at this point but Commodore specific ones were rapidly gaining in popularity. This article guides you through your first call to a BBS.

  • A Buyer's Guide to Modems - A comparison of more than 20 different modems ranging in price from $49 (Commodore VICmodem) to $289 (Hayes Smartmodem 300). All are only 300bps.

  • GAZETTE Telecommunications Software, Part 1: C/G Term - A type-in terminal program for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64.

Reviews

  • EasyDisk - A utility designed to make managing disks (formatting, renaming files, etc.) easier.

  • MusiCalc - A difficult to use but powerful music program for the Commodore 64 and SID.

  • Adventure Creator - A cartridge-based program for the Commodore 64 that allows you to design your own adventure games.


Table of Contents from the November 1984 issue of Compute!'s Gazette

Games

  • Bagdad - This type-in game for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 reminds me a bit of games like Joust.

  • Jump - This type-in game for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 is sort of a cross between Space Invaders and Missile Command.

  • Supertank - In this type-in game for the Commodore 64 you must destroy other tanks before they destroy you.

Education/Home Applications

  • Computing For Families: A Look At New Books From "Reggie" D'Ignazio - A brief look at various new books including The Commodore 64 Home Companion, Computer FUNdamentals, The Beginner's Computer Dictionary, The Computer Alphabet Book, The Commodore Puzzle Book: BASIC Brainteasers, At the Heart of the Mountain: A BASIC Adventure for the Commodore 64, and more.

  • Budgeteer - A type-in program for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 that helps you balance your budget.

Programming

  • BASIC Magic: The Four Most Important BASIC Commands - A look at four commands that can help you get started quickly with BASIC: PRINT, GOTO, FOR-NEXT, and INPUT.

  • Machine Language for Beginners: Getting Started - An introduction to machine language including a type-in assembler.

  • Power BASIC: Slowpoke - A short machine language program that allows you to control the speed of the PRINT command.

  • Hints & Tips - Tips for adding comments to machine language programs, LISTing BASIC programs to a file, and more.

Departments

  • The Editor's Notes - A commentary on the new Amiga which had just been shown in prototype form at the June CES.

  • Gazette Feedback - Letters from readers on the purpose of DATA statements, reading joystick movements, turning off the disk drive when not in use, implementing cursor control, connecting a printer to the SX-64, and more.

  • Simple Answers To Common Questions - A discussion on troubleshooting modem connections.


Back cover of the November 1984 issue of Compute!'s Gazette

Read more: https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2024/12/10/computes-gazette-november-1984/



Check out my other Social Media haunts (though most content is links to stuff I posted on Hive or reposts of stuff originally posted on Hive):

Wordpress: https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/darth-azrael
X: https://x.com/Darth_Azrael
Blogger: https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/
Odyssee: https://odysee.com/@Megalextoria:b
Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-2385054
Daily Motion: https://www.dailymotion.com/Megalextoria


Books I am reading or have recently read:

Total Power by Vince Flynn
Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg
Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch


Mine Monero in your browser!
Earn Gridcoin while also helping various scientific projects by sharing your computer's idle CPU time!





0
0
0.000
3 comments
avatar

Man, the type in programs that were featured back in the day bring back so many memories for me. I loved this aspect of magazines. I even bought magazines for computers that I didn't own or have access to because the programming stuff was so interesting to me.

I preferred the 'choose your own adventure' style games from the type in sections. I would type their version in then go back and edit it to make my own game. My plan was to save it to disk and come back later when I had forgotten the solutions (I had no friends that were into this genre). Sadly, I don't think I ever went back and tried any out.

0
0
0.000
avatar

It's not too late! At least if you can find the disks hanging out in a closet somewhere, lol.

I always wanted to create a turn-base stats based game. Ideally it would be web based and multiplayer. Sort of like an old BBS door game. A wargame or perhaps RPG of some kind. Later in life I even started writing one that had to do with fleets of spaceships wandering the galaxy and battling each other. Never finished though. I still have it somewhere but I'm sure that I've forgotten what I was doing to the point I would probably have to start over.

I don't know that I ever bough magazines for computers I didn't own but I did enjoy looking at the stuff for other computers in magazines that covered multiple types. For instance, when a Commodore 64 was my main computer I still loved looking at the Amiga and PC coverage in Commodore Magazine.

0
0
0.000