YourCommodore07-Apr85.pdf

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An Argus Specialist Publication

I 1985

YOUR BEST

MODORE MAGAZINE

ND,EPENDENT

t4t1 0

A MONOPOL

OF GOOD

IDEAS

FOR THE

COMMODORE

Bored

games?

Wy compu

board ga2

Prism

breakout -

a modem to

make contact

EUSTON

ROAD

110

PE NIONVILLE

ROAD

2.120

•

with outside 1

Bank on it -

home accounts

program to

type in

FIRST

AID

for your 64

Computers, like people, are fallible. They need the right

combination of code and care to perform effectively in the

business or the home. And that requires ﬁrst hand knowledge

from you to create a healthy operating environment for your

Commodore 64.

Knowledge about machine language, about the lesser known

qualities of the 64, about the disc drives, graphics, and about the

tricks and tips to keep your 64 on line. That's why First Publishing

has now launched in the UK a series of high quality books and

software packages to provide a complete health care kit for your

64. Commodore 64 users throughout Europe have already found it

a tonic. We think you will, too.

Fir s! Publishing. please ﬁll in tlw coupon and send to Amanda 'rink, First Publishing. 1

I Unit 2013. Horseshoe 14ael. litirsohoe Park. Panghourni; Berkshire,

I Same

Add re,

)r ring Amanda Vita

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gvilitiENT

FIRST THE GOOD NEWS. IF YOU OWN A

64, software for your machine is not likely

to dry up for some years yet. How do I

know? Just look at the recent

Commodore launches in the Stales (see

this month's data statements).

The new C128 is compatible with the

64 and can ruin all its software. This alone

should be enough to make the C128 a very

popular machine -a brand new computer

with vast amounts of available software

plus an extra 64K. This in turn will extend

the life of the 64.

Of course, compatability is a

fashionable catchword at the moment.

MSX computers have very little else other

than compatability to recommend them -

and even that's not been 100% proved.

They certainly don't offer the latest in up-

to-the minute technology. They're chips

off a very old block - the Z80.

On the other hand, the C128 is a new

and powerful machine (BASIC with over

140 commands, 80 columns, twice the

memory) which, nevertheless does not

deny its roots. Commodore realises that it

is software which holds the key to success.

for a new machine: a computer which can

tap the wealth available for the 64 is

already half-way there.

There is a belief, widely held, that as

soon as a computer is no longer

manufactured, everyone loses interest in

it. That's just not true. We know that at

Your Commodore from the number of

letters we receive from Vic owners asking

for more programs, more articles, more

anything. But you'll have noticed that

software houses are no longer as

productive as they once were. You must

let them know that you don't want to be

forgotten. Only when you stop badgering

us will we stop writing about the Vic and

that's a long way off yet.

Plus/4 price slashed

because you hoped it would soon rival the

Spectrum and the 64 in games, then

prepare to ﬁnd other ways of using your

machine to the full. There will be software

- after all, software houses can't ignore

the170,000 C16 owners - but most of it will

be conversions of the popular games from

other machines.

designed for ﬁrst time buyers. We think,

at this price, the Plus/4 is head and

shoulders above its rivals". He reckons

that the Plus/4's in-built software and

advanced speciﬁcation put it in the same

bracket as competitive machines costing

about £400.

Why this sudden change in pricing

policy? "We have always been able to

assess and react to rapidly changing

situations and the dramatic events of this

week are opening up a gap which we are

moving fast to ﬁll". What dramatic events

could those be? As the saying goes (with,

of course, allowance for a little

journalistic licence...) 'From little Acorn

(ﬁnancial difﬁculties) grow mighty.. .price

reductions'!

So, what's the bad news? Well, I'm just

not convinced that the C16 and the Plus/4

will ever be adequately supported by

commercial software. Now I know that's

not everything. They are both good

machines and if you bought the Plus/4,

for example, for the built-in packages

then you won't be disappointed. On the

other hand if you got a C16 at Christmas

The road ahead

The tide is turning towards more powerful

machines and Commodore are inevitably,

though not unwillingly, being swept

away. The two American machines are

examples but there is also the Com-

modore Amiga which is to be launched

this year.

Commodore haven't got their strategy

worked out yet. It's fairly easy for a

company like Atari which is 're-

launching' to release all their new

machines at once, but Commodore have

to ﬁt new models into an existing range.

It all promises to be an interesting

year.

The even better news, if you are planning

to buy a Plus/4, is that Commodore have

announced a 50% price reduction on this

machine. Commenting on this dramatic

decision, Howard Stanworth, boss of

Commodore UK, said: "At £150, we're

offering the public a really powerful and

versatile computer at a price which, until

now, has only applied to machines

1k7"

FEATURES

IT'S FOR YOO-HOO 17

Compunet has received a lot of publicity

recently but the Commodore modem isn't the

only means to connect Commodore to

Commodore. We disclose the secrets of two

more magical black boxes - the Prism and

Protek modems.

VN,

VOLUME 1 NUMBER 7

APRIL 1985

Editor: Wendy J Palmer

Deputy Editor: Kevin Cox

Editorial Assistant: Alison Nu!

Advertisement Manager: Mike

Segrue

Advertisement Copy Control:

Laura Champion

Publishing Director: Peter

Welham

Chairman: Jim Connell

Origination: Ebony Typesetting

Design: MM Design

Editorial & Advertisement Ofﬁce

No 1 Golden Square,

London W1R 3AB

Telephone: 01-437 0626

Telex: 81311896

FLASH 5 4

There's no denying it - the 1541 disc drive is

slow. But Supersoft have tried to inject a little

more life into it with their 1541 Flash. Although

our review may be revealing, we can't

guarantee that Flash will make your disc drive

move at the speed of light!

Your Commodore is a monthly

magazine appearing on the ﬁrst

Friday of each month.

Distribution by: Argus Press

Sales & Distribution Ltd, 12-18

Paul Street, London EC2A 41115.

Printed by: Alabaster Passmore

& Sons Ltd, Tovil, Maidstone,

Kent.

Subscription rates upbn

application to Your

Commodore Subscriptions

Department, Infonet Ltd. Times

House, 179 The Marlowes,

Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP1

1B13.

The contents of this publication

including all articles, designs,

plans, drawings and programs

and all copyright and other

intellectual property rights

therein belong to Argus

Specialist Publications Limited.

All rights conferred by the Law

of Copyright and other

intellectual property rights and

by virtue of international

speciﬁcally reserved to Argus

Specialist Publications Limited

and any reproduction requires

the prior written consent of the

Company.101985 Argus

Specialist Publications Limited.

BOARD STIFF 94

SCRABBLE your way from KENSINGTON to

Mayfair with a MONOPOLY of computerised

board games for your Commodore. Can you

MASTER the MIND of your computer? If you

haven't a CLUE how to DO this, then delve into

our review of Leisure Genius' board games.

RELOCATOR

And a utility for CM machine code fans.

104

SERIES

GAMESMANSHIP 22

games.

THE BASIC FACTS 32

Using your Commodore as a ﬁling system.

PROGRAMMING

PROJECTS 46

We throw some light on creating windows on

the Commodore 64.

1SETTING OUT ON

AN ADVENTURE 86

Writing your own adventure games? We help

you step out of the unknown.

MASTERING

MACHINE CODE 98

Using the BASIC facts to m'aster machine code.

1 The last in our series on writing your own

REGULARS

DATA

STATEMENTS

The latest news, views and gossip of interest to

you and your Commodore.

IN ARCADIA 12

All the fun of the fair in our look at the best in

arcade action.

REFERENCE

LIBRARY 2 6

Book into our regular reading round-up.

INPUT/OUTPUT 44

Send us a letter, drop us a line ...about your 64

(or VIC 20 or C16).

SENSE OF

ADVENTURE 68

Invest in a large bottle of ink and type in a book

adventure game.

SOFTWARE

SPOTLIGHT 72

Our reviewers show they're no soft-touch!

SOFTWARE

CHART 8 5

The top-selling Commodore 64 and VIC 20

games.

BUSINESS FILE

GAMES AND UTILITIES

RESTORE TO A

LINE

Not one, but three versions of Selective Restore.

SINGLE KEY

ENTRY 30

We unlock another handy utility for your 64.

YEHTZEE 3 7

Shake up your 64 with our version of this

traditional dice game.

CONFLICT 50

Battle it out on your VIC 20 with this strategic

war game.

BILL BOARD

A home accounts package you can count on

TEDMON

C16 machine code made easy.

A short procession of word

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