_{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}

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

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

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.

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commentrewarder 5 days ago

@darth-azrael, I'm refunding 0.034 HIVE and 0.010 HBD, because there are no comments to reward.

0.00 VYB

triverse 3 days ago

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.

0.06 VYB

1 vote

darth-azrael 3 days ago