The InnovSive School: Putting CdmRuters Tb GQOd Use
COMPUTEI's
$2.95
October 1985 ©
Issue 28, Vol. 3, No. 10
02220 $3.75 Canada
FOR COMMODORE PERSONAL COMPUTER USERS
X BASIC:
Add 33 enhanced BASIC commands to your 64 with the program in this issue
Gradebook
A fast, full-featured organizational tool for . . teachers. Both a database and a spreadsheet. For the 64.
C: Language Of The Future?
Fast and flexible, C is
emerging as a popular applications programming language.
Picking The Right Printer
There are dozens of i excellent printers available. Here's how to decide which one's best for you. (And how to set it up when you get it home.)
Also In This Issue:
Hints & Tips: Problem Solvers
Simple Answers To Common Questions
Software Reviews
And More
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1 0
Turnabout
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Offense or defense? Everyone plays this unique 64 strategy game a little differently.
With Commodore 128's instead of Apple lie's, these kids would be on computers
instead of in line.
Meet the Commodore 128.'" The new personal computer that's al- ready destined to be at the head of Its class. It not only outsmarts the Apple" lie in price, it comes out way ahead in performance.
A lower price is welcome news to any tight school budget. But it's not the only way the 128 saves you money You only need to buy one external disk drive to network eight Commodore 128's from a teacher's desk. The Apple lie has a built-in disk drive.
That adds a built-in extra cost for a feature your classroom doesn't really need. There's even more to the Commodore 128 fhan being able to put more students on com- puters for less money
There's more Intelligence.
As your students grow smarter, so does the Commodore 128. It's a computer they'll find more useful because it's capable of expanding from 128K to 51 2K memory The Apple lie doesn't expand, making
It less versatile, it also doesn't hove the Commodore I28's ex- panded keyboard that offers more commands for easier pro- gramming and more varied use of graphics and text. Or o numeric keypad that's o real necessity when using a computer in math or science classes.
More software.
The Commodore 128 Is one new personal computer you won't have to wait for software
You communicate - and the story responds-inM sentences. Which means that at every turn, you m have litei^y thousands of alter- '• ' ' natives. So if you decide it might be wise, for instance , to wTap a towel around youi' head , you just say so:
>WRAP THE TOWEL AROUND MY HEAD
And the stoiy responds:
THE RAUENOUS BUGBLATTER BEAST OF TRAAL IS COMPLETELY BEWILDERED. IT IS SO DIM IT THINKS IF YOU LAN 'T SEE I Tt IT CAN 'T SEE YGU,
But be careM about what you say. Or one moment you might be strapped down, forced to endm-e a reading of the thiitl woi-st poetiy in the galaxy; the next you could be hurtling thitiugh space with Marvin the Pai-anoid Ancboid aboai'd a stolen spaceship.
And simply staying alive from one zany situation to the next will requii'e eveiy proton of puzzle sohing prowess youi' mere moital mind can muster. Even simple tasks can put you at wit's end:
>OPEN THE DUUR And the story responds:
THE DOOR EXPLAINS; IN A HAUGHTY TONE. THAT THE ROOM IS OCCUPIED BY A SUPER- INTFLL I GENT ROBOT AND THAT LESSER 6E tNGS ( BY WHICH I T MEANS YOU) ARE NOT TO BE ADM I I TED. "SHOW ME SOME 1 INV EXAMPLE OF YOUR INTELLIGENCE." IT SAYSt "AND MAYBEt JUST MAYBE I MIGHT RECONSIDER,"
5URCK}SS
i-.rF^ffas-
Other interactive science fiction stories fi-om Infocom include PLAN'ETFALL." in w hi chyouVe stranded on a nivsterious deserted world. STARCROSS," a puzzling clialleiige issued eons ago and light- vears awav. SUSPEXUKD," the race to stabilize an entire planet ,« life support systems. And A .Mi.VI) FOREVER VOYAGING. " a radically new work of serious science fiction in which you explore the future of mankind.
But don't panic. You'll be accompanied eveiy light-yeai' of the way by youi' tmsty
HitchWkei''s Guide, which you can always depend onforup-to-the-nanosecond infonnation. Well, almost always:
>CUNBULT THE HITCHHIKER 'B GUIDE ABOUT THE MOLECULAR HYPERWAUE PINCER
And the storj^ responds:
SORRY* THAT PORT ION OF OUR SUB -ETHA DATABASE WAS ACCIDENTALLY DELETED LAST NIGHT DURING A WILD OFFICE PARI Y-
So put do^vn that beer, take that towel off youi' head, open the door, hitchhilffi down to youi' local softw^ai'e store today and pick up THE HITCH- HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY Before they put that bypass in.
Still not cominced? Tty oui' Sampler Disk which includes portions of four different types of stories for a paltiy $7.95. If it doesn't get you hooked on the addictive pleasm*es of Infocom, retuin it for a full reftind. If it does, you can apply the price towafd any Infocom stoiy. You can't lose!
mpocoiiv
For more information call 1-800-262-6868. Or write to us at 12o CainbridgePark Dr. , Cambridge, MA 02140.
e)9«5 Infomill.THEHtTCHHIKER'SCt.'lDETOTHECAUXT illlridtliutkof JMuglM AdMU. PLA.IETrALL.STAllCIWiaS. SUSPENDED ind A MtSD rOREVEBVOVAOISOU* Inttmjlkt of Infofm.
^
Calc Result cut 10 years out of the mortgage time
for my Iioii<R;e'!
says Tony Muscarella.
^^^^^^^^ Tony is a CPA, and works in Windsor Locks, CT. ■ '"^ rnKKKK^^^M Tony bought his Calc Result two years ago.
He was looking for a spread sheet program for the Commodore and found Calc Result.
7 think Calc Result is the best spread sheet on the market. It is very easy to use and logically built up. I have found the capacity I need in the program, and you can understand I have some de- mands, as I am an accountant. I did not believe that a honiecomputer equipped with Calc Result could be so powerful,
I use the program for business as well as at home. The most frequent business use is loan amor- tization. With Calc Result it is a lot faster to see the status of a loan, and also how a change in the amortization wilt affect the payment time.
Calc Result showed me how a slight increase of 10—20 dollars per month on the house amorti- zation could cut 10 years out of the amortization period for my house. Incrediblel
Calc Result is a program that is very easy to use, and very powerful. I can really recommend it. "
if you want some more information about Calc Result or any of Handle's products for Commodore 64, send in the coupon or call.
Calc Result is available in two versions, the Advanced version with 32 pages (discdrive required), or the Easy version (cartridge-based). Order either of the programs NOW, and we will include the ^^.^ book Applied Calc Result (value $ 14.95) for free.
^^ software inc. ^^^
software inc.
Sweden's leading software maker.
Yes, I want to save time and money. Please rusfi me:
DCalc Result Advanced $ 79.95
n Calc Result Easy S 49.9.5 and include the book Ap[)lied
Calc Result FRHE. N.J. re.sicient.s add 6'Vi sales tax.) n Payment enclosed (check or money order) □ VISA D Master Card D .American Express
Acct.no. .
. Exp. date .
. Sij^nature .
n Yes, please send me your catalogue FREE.
Name.
Address . City
-State.
.Zip.
Hanctic SoftwarL-. inc. '100 Pater.son Plank Rtl. Carlstadt, N.J. 07072 Tot) (ret-' nuiulR-r 1-800-5:^-0484
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©@ffiiil©[fDl^s
October 1985 Vol. 3, No. 10
features
The Innovative School: Putting Computers to Good Use
Commodore in Education
Picking the Right Printer Charles Brannon
C: Language of the Future? Charles Brannon
Selby Bateman
22
27
30
101
reviews
The Evetyn Wood Dynamic Roader Neil Randall
PROMAL Tom Emerson
The Argos Expedition Nell Randall
Know Vour Own IQjKnow Your Own Personality Dan Gutman
Donald Duck's Playground C. Regena
Also Worth Noting
70 71 72 73 73 93
games
The Farm Game Daniel M. Seurer
Turnabout Mark Tuttte and Kevin Mykytyn Atom Shoot George F. Clement
44 64/V/+4/16
50 64
52 64/V/+4/16
education/home applications
Gradebook Stephen Levy and Kevin Myi<ytyn
Computing for Families: In Search of the Computer Sandbox, Part 2 Fred D'ignazio
65 64 110 *
programming
Power BASIC: USR Joystick Reader Tim Gerchmez
X BASIC Kevin Martin
Automatic Syntax Checker Philip I. Nelson
Kaieidoscope Sam Bowne
BASiC iVlagic: Taking Center Stage w/ith Screen Titles Michael $. Tomczyk . . .
Hints & Tips: Probiem Solvers
Machine Language for Beginners: The Creature in its Cage Richard Mansfield
94 64/V
96 64
104 64
107 64/V/+4/16
108 64/V/+4/16 113 64/V/+4/16 116 64/V
departments
Richard Mansfield . Editors and Readers
The Editor's Notes Gazette Feedback
User Group Update
Simple Answers to Common Questions Tom R. HalfhitI Horizons: The Operating System Charles Brannon . . . .
. 6
10
40
111
112
program listings
How to Type In COMPUTEI's Gazette Programs
Automatic Proofreader
MLX: Machine Language Entry Program
Product IVIart . . . Advertisers Index
120 *
121 *
122 64
199 160
*- General, V=VIC-20, 64= Commodore 64, +4= Plus/4, 16= Commodore 16, 128= Commodore 128
COMPUTEI's GAZETTE ii published monlhly by COMPUTH Publlcationl, Inc., Post OffiCf Bon 5406, GriTiisboro, NC 2?4C13 USA, Phonf: (919) 275-9809, Uduonal olfieti Jii; locjied »l 324 W«t Wcndctver Avtnui', Crcensboro, NC 2740B. Dom^Eic SubKriptions; 12 issuer. 524- StntJ i.ubsrriplic)n nrdL^r^ or change of address {P.O. Form 3579) to CiiculjtKin Dept,, COMPUTH'i GAZETTE, PO. l^o^ 10957. Dirs Moint^s, I A 50340. Second cb ^5 jpplirj lion f^'nthtlg ji Crct^rnboro, N'C 27403 dndaddlHottdl mailiti^ officers. Enttrvtonif nit, copyright lOlflt^ bv COMWJIII PuWieati.m!.. Inc All ilKhls irwnrd, ISSN 07J7.,171fi U|t
COMMTn PubllCiitlDnt, Inc. One ot the ABIT Publlihing Csmpinin: ABC Publithing, Ptnldenl. Rabcn C. Button; 13J0 Aicnuir of the Ainiiicji. N'm Vork. Ntw fmk lOUIV,
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The Commodore 64, first intro- duced in 1982, went on to be- come the world's most popular computer. Now, nearly four years later, a new generation of computers is just arriving at the retail stores. What will this mean to the millions of 64 owners?
There's been a great deal of excitement recently over Com- modore's new Amiga computer. It has extraordinary graphics and sound capabilities, great speed, multitasking, a large memory, and sophisticated op- erating systems and language support. Will this new machine eclipse the best-selling com- puter of all time? Will Commo- dore continue to support the 64, or turn it into an "orphan?"
Commodore will not re- lease sales figures, but the 64 ad campaign shows no signs of slowing down, and reliable in- dustry insiders observe that sales of the 64 and associated software and peripherals contin- ue to be strong. Commodore has officially stated that it will con- tinue to sell the 64 and continue to support it with software and replacement parts.
Other personal computers have withered relatively quickly after the introduction of a strong, new-generation chal- lenge. The original Commodore PET computer, for example, was relegated to obscurity by the in- troduction of the VIC and later the 64, It is now nearly impossi- ble to find software, magazine articles, or books for the PET.
6 COMPUTED Gazette October 19B5
However, this phenome- non is dependent on scale; A large base of owners gives a ma- chine impetus. The VIC, of course, is still covered in this magazine and others, and is still supported by books and soft- ware. Sales of the VIC continue overseas. What is true of the VIC is even more true of the 64. With an estimated installed base of over three million, the 64 will continue to be supported, re- gardless of the market per- formance of the new Amiga.
This support will, of course, also continue in the GAZETTE and in COMPUTE! Books. We will continue to bring you the best utilities, the most exciting games, the most informative columns, and fullest coverage of the 64 available. In this issue, "X BASIC" will greatly expand your 64's BASIC. It adds 33 commands that make program- ming graphics and sound much easier. If you're a teacher, you'll doubtless find many uses for "Gradebook," a powerful orga- nizational tool for teachers. It's fast, flexible, and has many fea- tures usually found only in spreadsheets and databases.
Also, there are three excel- lent games: "The Farm Game," "Turnabout," and "Atom Shoot." There are versions of "Farm" and "Atom" for four different computers — -64, VIC, Plus/4, and Commodore 16.
Upcoming issues will in- clude a short and extremely powerful assembler; "Preview- 80," a SpeedScript enhancement program which lets you see on screen exactly what your docu- ment will look like when print- ed; "Backgammon" and "Power Poker," full simulations of the popular traditional games; use- ful disk utilities, and much more.
Commodore expects sales of the 64 to continue to be strong and COMPUTE! Publications will continue its coverage of this computer. Although the Amiga is an extraordinary computer, it cannot collapse the huge audi- ence of 64 owners. The 64 is, after all, the most popular com- puter ever.
Senior Editor
SYLVIA PORTETS PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNER
DOES MORE THAN MANAGE YOUR MONEY
IT PLANS YOUR FINANOU HHURE TOO
Sylvia Porter, and the editors of Sylvia Porter's Persona! Finance Magazine, now combine witii all the computer tools you'll ever need to help manage your money on a day-to-day basis and plan your financial future, too. in Syivia Porter's
style, without complicated financial jargon or "computerese".
Volume 1
Your Personal Financial Planner:
Helps you track your day-to- day financial data, then com- bines this information with your future financial objectives to produce the most comprehen- sive and easily-understood finan cial planning program available.
For Your Doy-to-Day Affairs:
• Maintains your electronic check- book and credit card system.
• Writes your checks and balances your checkbook. (We even built in a calculator and memo pad for you.)
• Prepares and monitors your budget.
• Classifies and tracks your taxable income and expenses.
• Calculates your net worth and gener- ates customized personal financial statements.
• Tracks your financial assets - and your insurance policies.
• Graphically generates supplemental data, such as percentages, ratios and charts.
• You get bur Toil-Free Hotline and our Cus- tomer Technical Support Team at no charge.
• You get Timev^^orks' Money Back Guarantee (Details in each package.)
For Your Financial Future:
• You'll be led step-by-step through a series of questions regarding your life and lifestyle, your financial goals, and your current financial condition. Your answers will enable a cortiputer to determine and print a summary of the amounts you must save each year to meet your financial objectives • in both real and inflated dollars. • Helps you plan for protection against major medical adversities and other financial setbacks. Each program interfaces with others in this series. Your information can be incorporated into letters and reports produced by Timeworks' Word Writer. • Everything is integrated. You need to enter data only once.
Available for Apple, IBM and Commodore computers.
Moderately Priced - from your favorite Dealer or contact Timeworks for the Dealer closest to you.
Next in this integrated series:
Youf Personal Investment Manager.
Other Timeworks Programs: The Evelyn Wood Dynamic Reader- Word Writer with Spell Checker Data Manager 2 ■ SwiftCalc with Sideways ■ Business Systems ■■ Swiftax Cave of the Word Wizard- Vtell Street
^.^^
More power for your dollar.
TIMEWORKS, INC., 444 Lake Cook Rd., Deertield, IL 60015, 312-948-9200
t- ^964 Sylvia Potter's P$r$or>^ Finance K^igaiine Co. k TimoMirtiis, Inc. All fi^1$ res«^ed
COMPUTE! Publications Jnc, ®
Publisher James Casella
Editor In Chref Robert C, Lock
Director of Administration Alice S. Wolfe
Senior Editor Richard Mansfield
Managing Editor Kathleen Martinek
Editor Lance Elko
Assistant Editor Todd Heimarck
Production Director Tony Roberts
Address all advertising materials to;
Patti Stokes, COMPUTER'S GAZETTE
324 West Wendover Ave., Suite 200, Greensboro, NC 27408
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Yakal, Feature Writer; Mark Tuttle, Submissions Reviewer
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Martin
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Joan Rouleau, Ann Davics
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Kretlow
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Lonnie Arden, Warehouse Manager; Staff: Howard Ayers, Steve Bowman, David Hensley, Larry O'Connor
Data Processing
Leon Stokes, Manager; Chris Cain, Assistant
Accounting
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Credit
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Fuller, Doris Hall, Linda Miller, Mary Waddell, Jane Wiggs
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el ClrcalittoDi
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TOLL FREE
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In NC 919-275-9809
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(12 Issue Year): US (one ;^ear) $24. Canada, Mexico and Foreign Surface Mail S30. Foreign Air Mail $65.
The coMPL'TEls GAZETTE subscriber list is made available to carefullv screened organizations with a product or service which may be of interest to our readers. If you prefer not to receive such mailings, please send an exact copy of your subscription label to: coMPUTlii't GAZETTE, P.O. Box 10957, Des Moines, lA 50340. Include a note in- dicating your preference to receive only your subscription.
Authors of manuscripts warrant that all materials submitted to COMPUTERS CAZETTi; are original materials with full ownership rights resident in said authors. By submitting articles to compltteis gazette, authors acknowledge that such materials, upon acceptance for publication, become the exclusive property of COMI'WTEI Publica- tions, Inc. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Entire contents copyright © 1985, COMPUTEI Publications, Inc. Rights to programs developed and submitted by authors are explained in our author contract. Unsolicited materials not accepted for publication will be returned if author provides a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Where programs are included in an article submission, a tape or disk must accompany the submission. Printed listings are optional, but helpful. Articles should be furnished as typed copy (upper and lowercase, please) with double spacing. Each article page should bear the title of the article, date, and name of the author. COMPUTEI Publications, Inc., assumes no liability for errors in articles or advertisements, Opinions expressed by .Tiithors are not necessarily those of COMPUTEI Publications, Inc. COMPUTEI Pubhcations as- sumes no responsibility for damages, delays, or failure of shipment in connection with authors' offer to make tape or disk copies of pro- grams published herein.
PET, CBM, VIC-20, and Commodore 64 are trademarks of Commo- dore Business Machines, Inc., and/or Commodore Electronics Limited. Other than as an independent supplier of qualitj' information and services to owners anci users of Commodore products, COMPUTEI Publications, Inc., is in no way associated witti Commodore Business Machines, Inc., or any of its subsidiaries.
B COMPUTEI's GazBttB October 1985
"If you know BASIC and want to learn macMne language, this is tlie place to start .... Building on your experience as a BASIC programmer, Mansfield very gently takes you tlirougli the fundamentals of macliine language."
— Whole Earth Software Catalog
COMPUTE! Books'
Best-selling Machine Language Books
"Understandable" — The BTew York Times
"Preaents the machine language novice with a very good tutorial in simple, understandable terms."
— Antic
"I Hlgbly recommend Machine Language for Begin- ners as your first Introduction to the world of machine language." — Commodore Power /Play
The LADS Disk
LADS, the assembler used In The Second Book of Machine Language, is available on disk for only $12,95. This is a great accompaniment to the book, saving you hours of typing time by providing the complete source and object programs for ail versions of the assembler, and more. And LADS disks are specific to your Apple, Atari, or Commodore computers.
Machine Language for Beginners
(Richard Monsfleld Most commercial software Is written in machine longuag© be- cause it's far faster and more versatile than BASIC, Machine Language for Beginners is a step-by-step introduction. In- cludes a simple ossembler, a disossembler, and utilities, to help beginners write programs more quickly and Boslly, S 14.95 ISBN M42386-1 1-6
Machine Language for Beginners and The Second Book of Machine Language: everything you need to learn machine language programming on your Apple. Atari, and Commodore personal computers.
The Second Book of fv^achlne Language
Richord Mansfield Tti© follow-up to the best-selling Machine Language tor Begin- ners, this book leads the pro- grammer deeper Into the most powerful and efficient program- ming techniques avalloble for personal computers. Fully tu- torlol, with easy step-by-step explonotlons, the book shows how to construct significant, effective machine languog© programs. Included Is a high- speed, professional-quality, la- bel-based assembler, E\/erythlng that's needed for optimized programming on the Com- modore 6d, Apple. Atori, VIC-20, and PET/CBM computers. $14.95
ISBN 0-942386-53-1
To Order: Call Toll Free 800-334-0868 (in NC 919-275-9809) or moll this coupon with your pay- ment to COMPUTE! Booi<s. P.O. Box 5058, Greensboro, NC 27403,
The Second Book of Machine Language, $14.95
— Machine Language for Beginners, $14.95
_ LADS Disk (Apple) $ 1 2.95
_ LADS Disk (Man) $12.95
LADS Disk (Ccmmodore). $ 1 2.95
|
D Payment Enclosed (check D Charge D MasterCard Ar-r-t Nri |
or money order) D Visa n American Express |
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Slfjr^q+i If A |
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hJnmp |
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Aflirlrof? |
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City |
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Rtntn |
7\o |
1 Book for
2 Books for LADS Disk for
SI 4.95 S 25,00 $12,95
NC residents add 4.6% soles tox
Shipping and handling (S2,00 per book $1,00 per disk)
Total Paid
All orders must be prepoid. Piecse oSow 4-6 wi&eki for ii<vety.
COMPUTE! i;^ublications,lnc.^
75A5112
Editors and Readers
Do you have a question or a problem? Have you discovered something that could help other Commodore users? Do you have a comment about some- thing you've read in computei's ga- zette? We want to hear from you. Write to Gazette Feedback, cOMi'UTEi's GAZETTE, P.O. Box 5406, Greensboro, NC 27403. We regret that due to the volume of mail received, we cannot respond individually to programming questions.
Safety Saves
The "MLX" program allows you to type part of a machine language program, save it to disk, and return later to com- plete it by listing the new line. Are there any commands available to do this with BASIC programs?
An eel W. Norris
It's a good idea to pefiodkall]/ save a copy of a program you're working on, whether it's in BASIC or machine language. Com- puter memory is active only as long as the power IS on. If the power were to fail, even for a brief moment, you would lose every- thing you had typed since the last save. Some people make a safety save every len minutes, while others may wait half an hour.
The "MLX" program does two thitigs when you type SHIFTS to save. First, it takes the progratn name you've chosen and tries to scratch a program by that name from the disk (if there's no program under titat name, nothing happens). Then it saves the new copy of the program.
The reason for scratching first is that the disk drive does not allow you to save a program if there's another program with the same name already on the disk. If a disk contained two programs named "ad- venture" and you tried to LOAD"0: ADVENTURE", 3 the disk drive wouldn't know which program you wanted.
So if you're accustomed to using tlie satne name for partially typed MLX pro- grams, you'll liave problems saving unfin- ished BASIC programs. You could scratch the earlier version before saving, or jtist number the different versions of a pro- gram: ADVl, ADV2, ADV3, and so on. When you've finished, use the question mark wild card to scratch all of the earlier
10 COMPUTEI'S Gazette October 19B5
versions fOPEN 15,8,15, "S0:ADV7" tvill scratch all programs with a four letter name beginning with the letters "ADV"). But make sure you don't scratch the final version—give it another name or save a copy to another disk.
foystick Rapid Fire
Several months ago, "Gazette Feed- back" said POKE 650,128 makes keys repeat when they're held down. Is there a POKE to give rapid fire for the joystick?
Brian Patz
The fire button i$ an electrical switch. As long as you hold down tlte button, the cir- cuit is live. So, in a sense, the joystick but- ton already repeats.
So why do some games make you press the button again and again to get rapid fire? Many such programs look first for the button to be pressed and then take the appropriate action (a character jumps, a laser is fired, or whatever). The progratn then wails for the button to be released. You would fiave to rewrite parts of the software to allow a rapid fire effect. It might also be possible to alter the wiring of the joystick to cause the button to send pulses rather than a steady current. A modification like this would cause the button to repeat. But there isn't a single POKE you can enter; you have to change either the softivare or the joystick.
Unusual Lines
I have two questions about "Dynamic SID Editor" in the Jure issue. How is it possible to use just one quote mark in a PRINT statement (line 50310)? And what is the purpose of starting a line with a colon (line 50330}?
Dennis R. Waldron
Quotation marks signal the beginning and end of a string to be printed, PRINT "LIKE THIS" for example. The second quotation mark is required if you want to add a colon and another command to the line. But if it's the last item on a line, the second quote is unnecessary. Tlie com- puter assumes that the end of aline is also the end of a print statement. The tech- nique of leaving off the final quotation mark is often found in programs for the unexpanded VIC because it saves one byte of memory.
Colons, like quotes, are also delimit- ers; they separate commands on a line. BASIC automatically throws away extra spaces bettoeen a line number and the first command on tlie line. But if a line begins iviih a colon, you can add as many spaces as you want. Some programmers like to indent FOR-NEXJ loops using colons fol- lowed by spaces because it makes listings easier to read. You can also put a single colon on an othenvise blank line or two, to separate different sections of a program.
Starting A User Group
There are 20-30 Commodore owners in my area, but no user groups in sight. I was wondering if you could give me some tips on starting one.
Mike Scott
All you need to start a user group is sever- al interested people, someone who is will- ing to do the initial organizing, and a place to meet. It sounds like you already have the first two requirements.
Set a time and place for your first meeting. It could be at sotneonc's home (if you think the group will be small enotigh), a school classroom, the back room of a lo- cal computer store, or anyplace else that is available. Advertise the meeting by post- ing notices in public places — stores, laun- dromats, restaurants, schools — and try to get the notice printed in your local news- paper or announced on a radio station. Also, some cable TV systems have a public notice channel for various announcements.
Your first meeting will probably be spent determitiing the group's interests and goals. Officers will need to be ap- pointed or elected. They'll be responsible for planning and leading future meetings, and taking care of other administrative tasks. You cotdd have everyone fill out a sheet indicating what kind of equipment they own, what they want from the group, and also what they feel they could con- tribute. Suggestions for content of future meetings is also itnportant.
Each meeting should allow time for ttvo things: Information for the group members (software reviews, news from Conunodore, demonstrations of peripher- als, tutorials, speakers on topics of inter- est, etc.); and input and questions from the group members. Stay in close touch with the group, and modify the structure when necessary (breaking off into sub- groups for special interests, or starting a
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Another Way To Quash Question Marks
In the March issue someone asked about how to get rid of the question mark in an INPUT statement. Your sug- gestion of OPENing a file to the key- board is one way to do this. Here's another:
10 POKEig.l
20 INPUT"=>":A9
30 POKE19,0:PRINT:PHINTA?
Location 19 controls whether or not a question mark is printed. The PRINT is needed to move the cursor to the next line. I hope this method is use- ful to your readers.
Louis M. Rastelli
Thanks for the tip.
Reading Trivia Randomly
How can I READ random items in DATA statements to make a trivia program?
Dan Lackey
Reading from DATA statements is se- quential, which tJieans the computer starts reading at the beginning and con- tinues until there are no more DATA statements. It's possible to reset some pointers, to jump into the middle of a group of DATA statements (see "Hints & Tips" in the September issue for more de- tails), but there's a much easier way.
First, put all the data into an arra]^. An array is like a numbered list. You can then pick a number at random and look up that item in the array. Here's a simple trivia program:
10 HEADA5:ll'-A5<>"KNI)"Tin';NT=T+l
20 T=T/2!DIMQ$(T, 1 )
30 REST0RE!F0RJ=1T0T!READQ$(J,
3) ,Q$(J,1) jNEXT 40 R=INT(RND(1)*T+1) !PRINT05(R
,3) 50 FORJ=1TO2500:NKXT 60 PRINTQ5(R, 1) :PRINT!aOT04B
12 COMPUms Gazstta October 1965
100 DATACAPITAL OF NEBRASKA, LI
NCOLN 110 DATAMOUNTAINS BETWEEN FRAN
CE AND SPAIN, PYRENEES 120 DATAPRESIDENT AFTER TRUMAN
(EISENHOWER 130 UATAENU
Each DATA statement has one ques- tion followed by a comma and the answer. You can add to or change the data as you like, as long as the last statement contains an END. Line 10 READs through all the DATA statements until it finds "END." Line 20 DlMensions the array according to hoio many questions and answers were found in line 10. In line SO the two- dimensional array is filled with the ques- tions (QS(!M and answers (QS(J,1)).
Line 40 prints a question, 50 is a de- lay loop (time enough for someone to call out an answer), and line 60 prints the an- swer. Add a scoring routine and some more questions and you'll have a workable trivia program.
VIC Expansion
I've been looking for 8K or 16K memory expansion for my VIC-20. A mail order company lists them but doesn't have them in stock. The May GazettI; re- quires at least 8K for the VIC programs. Where can I find VIC memory? I don't want a 64.
Robert Day
We called the toll-free Commodore cus- tomer support line at 800-247-9000. They said Commodore has VIC expanders in stock, and you can order directly from Commodore in Pennsylvania (or ask your Commodore dealer to order for you). Also, some stores still carry 8K and 16K VIC memory expanders.
One Letter At A Time
I write programs that use a lot of print- ed messages. In several commercial programs I have seen messages that are printed letter by letter, wiiich looks bet- ter than just having messages appear. How would I add this feature to a program?
Kevin Smith
What you're asking for is fairly easy to do with the MtD$ function and a delay loop. M!D$ breaks a string into a smaller string. For example. N$ = "ABCDEFG": PRINT MID$(N$,2,3) would print "BCD" because the MID$ function started at the second position within N$ and con- tinued for three characters. To pull out in- dividual characters, use a 1 as the second number. Here's the subroutine you need:
10 A? =" LETTERS ONE BY 0NE":GOS UB500
499 END
500 TORJ=1T0LEN(A5) :PRINTMID5( A$,J,1); :FORK=1TO500:NEXTK .JlPRINTsRETURN
Whenever you ivant to print a string one letter at a time, put it into AS and GOSUB 500. Change the length of the K loop for longer or shorter delays. If you're feeling ambitious, you could add a short sound after you print each letter and a random length delay loop, to make it sound like a typewriter.
Adding And Subtracting Line Feeds
1 typed in one of your programs that al- lovvs you to print out the results. The problem is that everything prints on the same line. The paper doesn't advance. How can I add a line feed instruction? Joseph O'Kcefc
I own a daisywheel printer. Regardless of the software I use, I'm unable to print a spreadsheet or letter without it being double spaced. Is it possible to suppress the extra linefeed?
Ronald J. Belanger
The problem of too many or too few line- feeds is fairly common. To fix it, you'll have to adjust one of the DIP switches on your interface. Check the interface man- ual for the e,\act settings.
Pressing RETURN causes the screen cursor to move lo the beginning of the next line down. But the term "carriage return" for this action originally described the re- turn of the printer carriage (the part that does the printing) to the beginning of a line. Some printers need two instructions: first return the carriage, then feed the pa- per one line up. The ASCI! code for a car- riage rettirn is CHR$(13), ASCII for a linefeed is CHRSdO). But on other print- ers, the two actions are combined— a CHR$(13) causes a carriage return plus a linefeed.
Because printers use one or the other method, most interfaces allow you to set xohether or not a linefeed is added to every carriage return.
PEEKing The joysticks
I have both a VIC-20 and a 64, and would like to know how to PEEK the joystick inside a program,
Patrick Toal
The following statement can be used to read the value of joystick port 2 on the 64 (for port 1, change'the 56320 to 56321):
J = a5-(PEEK{56320) AND 15)
The values of j can be interpreted as follows:
0 - nothing
1 - up
2 - down
4 - left
5 - up and left
6 - down and left
8 - right
9 - up and right 10 - down and right
To read the joystick fire button, use
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this expression (for joystick 1, chauge 56320 to 56321):
IF (PEEK{S6320) AND 16)=0 THEN the fire butten is pressed
The VIC joystick is a little more com- plicated to read because one of the memo- ry locations is needed for reading tiie keyboard. Use the following line to read the VIC joystick (the values of] will be the same as above):
POKE 37139,0: POKE 37154,127: J = 15-((PEEK(37137) AND 28) + (PEEK07152) AND 128)/4)/4i POKE 37154,255
Use lite foUowing expression to find out if the fire button is pressed:
IF (PEEK(37137) AND 32) = 0 THEN the fire button is pressed
The Plus/ 4 and 16 have a built-in BASIC statement. }OY(n). to read the joysticks.
Writing Adventure Games
One of my friends is writing a text ad- venture game like Zork. I would like to write one of my own, but don't under- stand how to use random files, Please explain random files.
Brant Phillips
SAVE and other file handling commands like WAD, OPEN, PRINT*. INPUTS, and GET» are high-level commands, be- cause a single command does a lot of work. The computer takes care of the details like reading through memory from the begin- ning to the end of the program. The disk drive gets the signals, transfers them to the disk, puts a new entry in the directory, and protects the sectors used by the program.
Random files, on the other hand, are low-level because you have to do all the work. They're not even really files, they're just reading and writing directly to disk.
Let's say you want to create a random file. First, you would open a memory buff- er in the disk drive, write to it. and copy the buffer to a sector on disk. To read it, open a buffer, copy from disk to the buffer, and read the buffer.
Now things get complicated. There will be no entry in the disk directory, you'll have to remember which track and sector you used. If you accidentally choose a sector that's pari of a program file, the program will be overwritten. If you choose a safe sector, it may later be scrambled by a file (because the block has not been allo- cated). You could use the block-allocate command (B-A), but it contains a bug. If you try to allocate a block that's already allocated, the whole track will be allocated.
Random files are complicated and messy. There's no real advantage to using them in an adventure game. You'd be bet- ter off with either sequential or relative files.
14 COMPUTERS Qaiam October 1985
49152— The Magic Number
Why do so many of your machine lan- guage programs start with SYS 49152? Isn't it possible to use other areas of memory or SYSes? When two programs use the same locations, you can't merge or append one ML program with anoth- er to get the maximum use from your computer.
G. Gorham
There's nothing magic about the number 49152. You can put a machine language program almost anywhere in memory. But many machine language (Mi) program- mers use location 49152 because it's a safe place to put a program. Vie 4096 bytes of memory from 49152 to 53247 (hexadeci- mal SdooO-CFFF) were intended to be a safe zone; BASIC doesn't use this area for anything (although many programs on cartridge use this part of memory). Locat- ing ML programs here helps ensure that they won't get in the way of BASIC, and vice versa.
Another good place for machine lan- guage is the cassette buffer, located at 828-1019 ($033C-03FB) on both the 64 and the VIC. BASIC uses the cassette buff- er for temporary storage during tape oper- ations. At other times, it's just free memory. However, this area is much smaller than the one mentiotied above, and its contents are destroyed whenever the cassette drive is used.
A third option is to locate a routine somewhere in the BASIC program space, which stretches from 2049 to 40959 ($O801-$9FFF) on the 64, or 4097-7679 ($W01-1DFF) on the unexpanded VIC. Using part of BASIC memory can be haz- ardous, though, since BASIC programs need it for storing variables. If you're careless, it's easy to crash your computer by putting ML into locations already used for something else. Or, you may cause a crash if you let part of your BASIC pro- gram (like dynamic strittgs) write over the machine language.
You can prevent interference by carving out a protected zone for your ML program within the BASIC program area. Locations 55 and 56 hold a two byte point- er address that tells the computer where BASIC user RAM ends. By lowering the value in this pointer, you can keep BASIC from using any of the locations between your new top of memory and the "real" top of memory. Another thing you can do is move up the bottom of BASIC program memory by changing the pointers at 43 and 44.
Finally, you can use an advanced method called bank switching, which lets you use the RAM memory locations un- dertieath the BASIC or KERNAL ROM. Theoretically, you could write a program for the 64 that uses all 64K of available memory. The probletn with bank switch- ing is that since BASIC is turned off, the
program must be written entirely in ma- chine language.
So ML programmers like to start pro- grams at 49152 because the cassette buffer is often too small, BASIC RAM can be haz- ardous, and batik switching is complex.
Your last comment points up a pe- rennial problem— where to put ML pro- grams (especially utilities). The memory at 49152-53247 and 82S-1019 is conven- ient, so most ML programs are put there. If both of your favorite utilities start at lo- cation 49152, however, you probably can't use them together.
If one of the programs is relocatable, you may be able to move it to a different part of memory. It's difficult to make pro- grams completely relocatable because you have to avoid two useful instructions: jMP and ISR (similar to BASIC'S GOTO and COSUB). And even if you have a re- locatable program, it may interfere with the operation of the other program.
Color Nybbles
I think there's something wrong with the PEEK command. If I enter POKE 1024,2: POKE55296,l, a white "B" ap- pears in the upper lefthand corner. But PRINT PEEK(55296) results in 193, 81, 241, or some other numbers. If you POKE a 1 into color memory, shouldn't PEEK show that there's a 1 there? Is the computer defective or am I doing some- thing wrong?
Austin J. Moe
There are a few cases, including color memory, where PEEKing doesn't give you quite the right number. A Commodore 64 has 16 colors, numbered 0-15, so color memory is wired for only four bits rather than eight. Four bits, half a byte, is called a "nybble." When you PEEK color memo- ry, the low nybble is correct, but the high nybble will contain random values be- cause those four bits are not hooked up.
To strip off the top four bits, enter a modified PEEK: PRINT PEEK(55296J AND15. The AND function should take care of your problems.
Another instance where PEEK won't work IS the SID chip (the chip that creates sound on the 64). You can't PEEK into the registers there. The POKEs to make a sound do not go to regular memory, they're fed directly into the SID chip. PEEKing that area yields numbers unre- lated to the values POKEd there. You might call it write-only memory.
Moving BASIC Around
I'm writing a 64 program that uses cus- tom characters, but the program is over- running the character set. The Programmer's Reference Guide says the highest location for the start of a char- acter set is 14336, but it's still not high enough in memory. I tried POKE
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56,48:CLR and got an out of memory error. How can I move the bottom of BASIC up to 4096 or thereabouts so I can put the characters at 2048?
Walter Wright
On a 64. BASIC programs fit into memory beginning at 2049 (the "bottom" of BASIC) and ending at 40959 (the "top"). Whatever memory is left over can be used by vari- ables. It's (^uite possible that your vari- ables are interfering with the custom character set.
Om the VIC. 64. Plus/4, and 16, loca- tions 43-44 point to the botto>n of BASIC, while 55-36 point to the top. By POKEing a 48 into location 56 (followed by a CLR, which is necessary when you lower the top of memory), you moved the top of BASIC all the way down to 12288 (48*256), which leaves ot\ly about lOK of memory for your BASIC program.
It tvould be preferable to leave the top of BASIC untotiched and move the bottom up. This litte will do just that:
POKE 44,64: POKE 64*256,0; NEW
Now you can load the custom charac- ters program: the variables won't interfere with the character definitions. The begin- ning of BASIC has been moved to 64*256, tvhich is 16384. If you prefer to put BASIC at 4096 (16*256), 'change the 64 to 16 in the two POKES.
The Save-With-Replace Bug
In your February issue you wrote about the save-with-replace bug. I too have come across the problem,
1 was working on a program called "ESF" when I remembered that I needed to change something in another program called "ARTILLERY." So 1 used save-with-replace on the current copy of "ESF," loaded "ARTILLERY," made a change, and saved-with-replace, Later, 1 tried to load "ESF" but got "AR- TILLERY" instead. My best guess is that the program is still there, but I can't get it off the disk,
Matthew Whiting
The Commodore save-with-replace com- mand (SAVE "@:filename",8> has been the focus of controversy for years. Some experts have steadfastly denied that there is anything wrong with it.
There was no hard proof of a bug— until now. The full details will be pub- lished in an upcoming issue of our sister magazine, COMPUTE!. Here's a brief explanation:
Save-with-replace does several things. First, the new copy is saved (if there's not enough room on the disk for a complete copy of the program, you'll have problems, of course). Each filename in the directory contains a pointer that indicates where to find the program, so the directo- ry is changed to point to the new version of the replaced program. Finally, the block
ia COMPUTED GazMB October 1985
allocation map (BAM) is updated. Disk sectors used by the old version are marked as free, while the sectors occupied by the new version are marked as allocated. The routine to update the BAM is where the bug happens.
In certain situations, the BAM is in- correctly written back to the disk. Right after a faulty save-with-replace, the pro- gram name is in the directory, the pointer to the program is correct, and the new version is on the disk. You can load the program and even verify it. But the blocks used by the program are not allocated. The next time you save a program, it may be put into those blocks, and your previous (replaced) program is gone and cannot be recovered. If you load the directory, the number of blocks used by programs plus the number of free blocks should total 664. When the bug happens, the total is often more than 664.
The roots of the problem go back to the PET dual drives (drives 0: and 1:), The disk operating system (DOS) of the 1541, a single drive, was translated and modified from the original dual drive DOS. So there's a sort of "phantom" drive 1 in the 1541. One expert on the Commodore DOS has said the 1541 spends half its time con- vincing itself that it's drive zero and not drive one. Sometimes the 1541 mistakenly sets aside a buffer for the phantom drive, ivhich can, under certain circumstances, lead to the SAVE@ bug.
There are three ways to avoid the bug, and safely save-ivith-replace. First, you can validate the disk after every save- with-replace. This isn't such a good solu- tion because it often takes more time than scratching the old version and doing a regular SAVE.
The second solution is to always use the "0:" prefix when you itse the disk. Here are some examples:
LOAD "0;programname",8 LOAD "$0",8 SAVE "0 [program name", 8 OPEN 1S,8,15,"[0"
r^ie third solution is to turn the disk drive off and then on right before a save- with-replace. And be sure to include a zero (SAVE "@0:programname",8J. Another way to reset the disk drive is to enter these two lines (they should be on separate lines, don't put them on a single line with a colon between them):
OPEN 15,8,15,"UJ0" CLOSE IS
Seeking Status
Where is the status register located? I don't mean the I/O status register,
John McNamara
It's deep inside the chip that runs your computer; it does not have a memory loca- Hon you can PEEK, although after a ma- chine language program exits to BASIC,
you can find the most recent value of the processor status register (P) by PEEKing 783. Individual bits ofP correspond to the carry, zero, interrupt, decimal, break, overflow, and negative flags. So, if you clear the carry flag with CLC, then add two numbers to get a result that's more than 156, the carry flag (one of the bits in P) will be set afterwards, indicating a number that won't fit into eight bits (in decimal, for example, 9+1 = 0, with a carry of 1). Most machine layiguage in- structions directly affect the A, X. and Y registers, and many will also set or clear individual flags in P.
It's sometimes necessary to preserve the processor status during a subroutine or interrupt, so there are instructions to push it on the stack (PHP) and pull it off the stack (PLP). If you'd like to read the status register, use PHP followed by PIA (push P on the stack, and pull the number back into the Accumulator).
Opening Multiple Files
We're trying to write a farm manage- ment program for our sow herd. In order to run the program efficiently, we have to be able to have two files open at once. After a lot of research, we still don't know how to do this. Can vou help?
Delle deSwart
Theoretically, up to ten different files can be open at the same time. But there are certain rules to follow, and there are limits.
With the exception of relative disk files, once a file is open, you can read or write, but not both. In addition, certain devices have one-way communication — you can only read from the keyboard, and you can only write to a printer. If you owned two cassette drives, you could read from one and write to the other (Cotnmo- dore PETs had this capability), but there's only one cassette port on the VIC, 64, Plus/4, and 16. So you can only talk (read or write, but not both) to one cassette file at a time.
You can communicate with more than one disk file, though, as long as you open them with different logical file num- bers and different channels. So you could OPEN 3,B,5, "0:FIRSTFILE,S,R" and OPEN 5,8,9, "0:OTHERFILE,S,W" to read (INPUT=!:5 or GET^3) from file 3 on disk channel 5 and write (PRINT~5) to file 5 on channel 9.
It's also possible to use more than one disk drive, as long as they have different device numbers. The same applies to printers (the MPS-803, for example, has a switch on the back for choosing device number 4 or 5).
Relative disk files are a special case. You cannot have more than one relative file open at any one time (although you can open other types of disk channels).
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Checking A Disk For Free Blocks
How do you find out how many blocks are left on a disk? Is there a program to access the disk drive (maybe PEEKs or POKEs) and then print the number?
David Ross
Here's a short routine you can add to your program. First, it opens a file to the part of the directory ($) containing all USR files named "Z." Because there are probably >w such files on your disk, the subdirectory will be empty, containing only the header (disk name) and the number of blocks free. (Incidentally, the program jvon't work if you do have a USR file named "Z.") Next, the first 34 bytes are thrown away, which leaves the answer in low-byte /high-byte format. In line 50, the number of blocks free (variable BF) is printed.
10 OPENl, 8,0, "50:2 = 11"
20 F0RJ=1T035:GET#1,X$:NEXT
30 GET*1,Y5:CL0SE1
40 BF=ASC{X$+CHRS(0) )+256*ASC(
Y$+CHR5(0) ) 50 PRINT BF "BLOCKS FREE"
Animating Sprites
How cnn you make a sprite that has moving parts — a sprite person that walks along with legs that move, for example?
Geoff Hill
Once you've defined a sprite shape, and POKEd the information into memory, you have to tell the computer where in mem- ory it can find the shape. The sprite shape pointers are located at 2040-2047 (corresponding to sprites 0-7). The num- ber in 2040. times 64, is the beginning of the shape for sprite 0. for example.
To create an animated sprite, you'll have to design two or more shapes for that single sprite. A walking sprite might need four shapes: Dfeet together on the ground, 2) one fool forward in the air, 3) feet apart, both on the ground, and 4) one foot be- hind, in the air.
You could put these four shapes ijtto 26128, 16192. 16256, and 16320 (each sprite shape needs 63 bytes). These num- bers divided by 64 are 252, 253, 254, and 255. To give sprite 0 the first shape, POKE 2040,252. To give it the last shape, POKE 2040,255. With a single POKE to the sprite pointer, the lohole shape of the sprite changes. Cycling through the dif- ferent shapes would make it look like the sprite is walking in place. If you then gradually increase the X-coordinate, it XL'outd seem lo be walking across the screen.
Can You Rearrange A Directory?
1 would like to change the order of pro- gram and filenames in some of my disk 20 COMPUTEI's Gazgne October 1985
directories. Is this possible? Or will I have to copy the files onto a new disk in the desired order?
David Voelker
// you scratch a program from disk and then save a different program, the neiv program shows up in the saine place in the directory as the program that was scratched. So you could load a program, Sfjye it under a different name (to the same disk), and then scratch the original. The next program or file would go into the empty slot.
But there's a simpler way— the COPY command, which makes an exact copy of a file on the same disk, under a different name. The syntax is OPE Nl 5,8,15: PRINT#1S, "C0:newname = O: oldname": CLOSEIS, Let's say you have a sequential file and a program on a disk in this order:
lO-'FlLEl"
23 "PROCRAMV
SEQ PRG
To switch the order, enter the follow- ing commands in immediate mode:
0PEN15,8,1S
PRINT#15,"C0rTEMPFILE = OiFILEl"
FRINT#I5,"S0:FILE1"
PRINT#1 5,"C0:TEMPPRG = OrPROGR AMI
PRINT#15,"SO;PROGRAM1"
PRINT#15,"RO:PROGRAM1 = 0:TEMPPRG
PRINT#15,"C0:FILE1 - 0:TEMPFILE"
PRINT#1S,"S0:TEMPFILE"
CLOSEIS
firsf, FILEl is copied (CO:) to a file called TEMPFILE (in the third spot on tlie disk). The directory now contains FILEl, PROCRAMl, and'TEMPFILE, in that or- der. Scratching FILEl (SO:) leaves a space open at the beginning. Next, PROCRAMl is copied to TEMPPRC (which is now in the first slot). After the second copy, the direc- tory should took like this:
23 -rEMPPRG" PRG
23 "PROCRAMV PRG
10 "TEMPfHE" SEQ
Now. PROGRAMl is scratched Oeav- ing the second slot open), TEMPPRC is re- named (RO:) to PROGRAMl and TEMPFILE is copied to FILEl. Finally, TEMPFILE is scratched.
Converting A Number To ASCII
How do 1 convert a numher to ASCII codes that can be printed? If I have a byte containing a 65 and try to print it, won't it appear as an "A"? How can I make a 65 into the characters "6" and "5"?
Lonnie De Cloedt
As you've noted, LDA »S41:I5R SFFD2: RTS will put an "A" on the screen. The ASCII values for "6" and "5" are 54 and 53 (hex $36 and S35). So the routine you need will have to PEEK a byte and trans- late it to one or more ASCII numbers.
Since the number may be anything from 000 to 255, you'll need to set aside
three memory locations. First, put 4Ss(hex $30) into the three locations because the character "0" is ASCII 48. Load the Accu- mulator with the number to be translated, and compare it with 1 00 (CMP «S64J, If the carry is set, the numbe'r is higher than 99, so you can subtract 100 (SEC:SBC ^$64} and increment the first of the three memory locatioyts (representing the hun- dreds column). Keep comparing the num- ber to 100 and subtracting 100 as lotjg as the carry is set. When the carry is clear, the number will be in the range 0-99. Then do the same for the tens column: compare to ten (CMP #$0A) and if the car- ry is set, subtract ten and increment the tens column. When you've gotten to a number less than 10, you can just add it to the third memory location. Now print the three ASCII numbers you've generated.
Not surprisingly, there's a ROM rou- tine that translates numbers to their ASCII equivalents and prints them. To call it, load the Accumulator with the low byte, load the X register with the high byte, andJSR SBDCD on a 64 (SDDCD on a VIC). The number will print wherever the cursor happens to be.
Peculiar Vectors: A 6502 Bug
Machine language programmers should exercise caution when using an indirect jump on the 64.
If the indirect vector crosses a page boundary, JMP ($10FF) for example, the low byte of the address will go into one page {$ 1 OFF) and the high byte into the beginning of the next page (SHOO). The JMP instruction, however, will take the low byte from $ 1 OFF, and the high byte from $1000 and not $1100, as it should.
In the three books I've read on the 6502, 1 have never seen this mentioned, and I thought your readers would ap- preciate this information.
Kernie E. Houser
This bug in the 6502 and 6510 chip affects not only the 64, but the VIC, Atari, Apple II, and any other computer built around that family of chips.
Because of this tjuirk of the 6502, you should either avoid indirect jumps alto- gether or put your vectors in a place that you knoio is definitely not a page boundary.
For readers who aren't familiar with indirect jumps, here's a brief explanation. An absolute jump is like GOTO in BASIC. IMP SC200 sends a machine language program to whatever ML program is cur- rently at $C200. An Indirect jump, sig- nalled by an address In parentheses, does something different. The instruction JMP ($0330) does not jump to a program at S0330, it gets an address from S0330-0331 and jumps to that address. So S0330 is a vector or pointer to another routine, and an indirect jump bounces off the pointer to somewhere else in memory. 0
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Putting Computers To Good Use
Selby Bateman, Features Editor
Computer use in the classroom is entering a second stage of development. The frustrations experienced by some school systems are dwindling as more educators learn new ways to integrate the machines into the learning process. A growing number of interested, more experienced administrators, teachers, and parents are proving that computers in the schools can be productive, dynamic tools when used properly.
i
V
''W/M
%
I
Dr. Mary Lou Simon lis- tened to the school super- intendent's voice at the other end of the telephone line. The words were familiar:
I just put 20 computers in two ele- mentary schools, he said. And I want to send a couple of my principals to see how you use computers in your school system.
Why did you buy them? Dr. Simon asked.
The superintendent paused, then said: I want computers in our schools.
But what do you want to do with them? Dr. Simon asked.
Another pause. Well, said the su- perintendent, 1 promised parents in our school system that their children would be using computers 20 minutes a day.
Dr. Simon has had plenty of those telephone conversations in her position as science and com- puter coordinator for the South Brunsvk'ick Schools in New Jersey. She knows that many well-meaning educators and administrators in school systems across the nadon have been trying to do the right things with computers; eagerly launching their new machines only to see them flounder for lack of di- rection, trained staff, and realisdc goals.
Along with other educators. Dr. Simon has witnessed frustra- tion among some teachers, parents, and students as schools attempt to bring computers to the classroom. The problems, say these educators, are almost always the same: too few computers, or machines poorly al-
24 COMPUTE!' 3 GazettB Oclober 1985
located; software inappropriate to particular courses; teachers not giv- en the chance to learn to use the machines; and planning based on too litde computer knowledge.
But these complaints are slow- ly changing as experience grows and educators are better able to in- corporate computers into the curriculum,
"People have just been inter- ested in throwing in the hardware with no sense educationally of what they want to do," says Dr. Simon. "In getting your goals straight, it's critical that you spend a fair amount of time finding out what computers can do. Based on that and based on what your school district's needs are, then set your goals for the microcomputers."
"The first DO is to have a plan," adds Dr. Stanton Leggett, editor of Microcomputers Go to School: Where and How to Get the Most from Them (Teach'em, Inc.}, "Don't be enamored of the ma- chine. Think of it as a useful tool. The whole educational system is what you look at; how the com- puter fits into it. What are the most likely areas where you can get im- mediate gradfication for a minimal amount of money — a cost benefit analysis."
The most common situation for many schools in the past has often been a classic Catch-22 pre- dicament: To effectively use com- puters in the classroom requires sound planning; to initiate sound
planning requires a familiarity with computers.
"What I've found is that schools sometimes need to have a few computers around for a while in order to make a good choice," says Dr. Steve Tipps, West Profes- sor of Education at Midwestern State University in Texas and a leader in training teachers in the Logo computer language.
In other words, administrators and teachers can't be expected to make a plan unless they have some context in which to make choices. Now that many teachers and ad- ministrators have been working with computers — at least minimal- ly— for a couple of years, an in- creasing number of them better understand what the machines can do. Consequently, planning and goal-setting have begun to improve in many schools using computers as a part of the teaching process.
In Kentucky's Jefferson County Public Schools, for example, a long- range computer acquisition pro- gram was recently insdtuted when educators, parents, and business leaders coordinated their efforts. Based on their experience with computers already being used in all of the high schools and some mid- dle schools, community leaders in 1984 embarked on a three-year plan to raise more than four million dollars to equip all 85 elementary schools in the Louisville system with computers. Already, almost a million and a half dollars have been raised.
Much of the success of the pro- gram, both in terms of community support and school system coordi- nation, stemmed from an earlier $150,000 pilot project funded by Louisville-based Humana, Inc., a major health-care corporation. The donation allowed the school system to equip Roosevelt-Perry Elemen- tary School with 75 computers. The benefits of that project are already being felt as students begin to transfer computer skills to writing, language arts, social studies, and math instruction, says Jay Beck, principal of Roosevelt- Perry.
Beck is convinced that the in- troduction of computers has made a major difference in the learning process: "The computer is here to stay. It is not a fad. Understanding computers and how they work for
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us is basic. We need to teach our students the new communication skills. We must augment the three Rs with the three Cs — computing, calculating, and communicating through technology. Students must possess technological literacy. The answer is the computer."
A notherarea of common concern as computers increasingly en- ter the classroom has been how well teachers are able to understand and use the machines.
"For computers to be valuable, teachers must be trained," says Pat Walkington, formerly a teacher for ten years and now manager of edu- cation marketing for Commodore Business Machines. "Teacher train- ing is absolutely the key." (See "Commodore in Education," also in this issue.)
Assisting teachers to under- stand and get the most from their computers is a cornerstone of Com- modore's efforts in the schools na- tionally, says Walkington.
"The burden of change is on the teacher," agrees Leggett, "and the teacher is already overloaded. The teacher can't stop and drop everything and pick up a computer to learn how to use it. We're expect- ing too much from teachers." But he's convinced that, with the right approach, teachers not only can be- come more knowledgeable about computer use, but they can also be- come enthusiastic about it.
At its worst, says Midwestern State's Steve Tipps, a teacher's in- troduction to computers in educa- tion has in the past been the arrival of a boxful of computer equip- ment—no instruction and no pre- determined goals. That, too, is changing.
"Teachers have to get together and ask what goals they're going toward with the computers," he says, "Are we going toward the computer as a problem-solving tool, an applications tool, an in- structional system, computer-aided instruction?"
Teacher support groups, much like computer user groups, have be- gun to spring up in various locales, notes Tipps. The Texas Educational Association has even established a telecommunications network, but teacher use of modems is still quite limited.
26 COMPurera QaneM Octobw 1985
For computers to
be valuable, teachers must be trained. Teacher
training is
absolutely the
key."
"The important thing to realize is that many teachers have been out of college a good many years," says Mary Lou Simon. "Computers are brand new. We might as well be in- tegrating Russian into the school. It takes time for teachers to learn something they know nothing about. The mistake that a lot of dis- tricts make is they think they can give their teachers a day of training and they'll come back and be experts."
In Jefferson County, Colorado, the school system has adopted an effective approach through its cen- tral office, says Tipps. A computer support group — composed of four teachers on leave from the class- room— work with other teachers to carry out in-service computer train- ing, curriculum development, and
related support of computer activi- ties. The results, in terms of morale and productivity, have been impressive.
How can educators, parents, and students help to make sure that computers are used effectively in the classroom? Based on inter- views with innovative educators and computer education specialists, here's a checklist of DO's and DON'T's for your school system:
• Start with specific goals, fol- lowed by step-by-step planning:
Set realistic goals before you begin acquiring hardware and software, and certainly before asking teachers to incorporate the machines into daily use,
• Teacher training: Hands-on in-service training for teachers is a must; teacher support groups also help teachers dealing with similar subject areas to find out what to do.
• Access/scheduling: This is a challenging management problem when too many students and teach- ers are chasing too few computers. Computer literacy classes — no; computers in the regular curricu- lum— yes. Computers should be supplementing and complementing the curriculum, not disrupting it.
• Developing support: From raising funds for hardware and soft- ware to raising the computer con- sciousness among parents, this is a crucial area for most schools now and in the future. Parents can be in- volved as well as community and business groups.
• The computer is a tool, not a second teacher: "Teachers shouldn't be regarding software as the functional equivalent of a reel of 16 mm film that you put on a projector and show to students who just sit there and absorb educa- tion," argues Mark Tucker, execu- tive director of the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy.
• Dispelling the computer- math myth: Educators and parents must realize that computers and mathematics are not one and the same thing. "Teachers have been delighted to find out that they don't have to be mathematicians to get the computer to do wonderful things like word processing," says Tipps.
Commodore In Education
As school systems across the conti- nent race to stay abreast of the educational computing wave, many of them are finding the Education Depart- ment at Commodore Computer Sys- tems Division to be both a knowledgeable coach and a well- connected booster.
Consider the following;
• Donations— Through its CREWS (Commodore Resources in Education With States) program, Commodore has donated well over a thousand computer systems to more than 25 states. The project encourages state departments of education to promote teacher training and curriculum development for micro- computer use.
• Matching Grants— Commodore provides matching grants to schools for the purchase of computer systems. More than a million dollars in grants have been awarded, with over 100 grants so far this year.
• Young Astronaut Program— As the first of 14 national sponsors of this space exploration program for young- sters. Commodore is the official suppli- er (or all microcomputer products. Dr. Dan Kunz, Commodore's executive di- rector of government marketing, is on extended leave to direct the program's activities.
• Telecommunications — Commo- dore's efforts in the educational field will increasingly include the growing area of telecommunications, with sev- eral initiatives still in the planning stages for late 1985 and 1986.
• A Presidential Classroom for Young Americans— Commodore is a primar}' sponsor for this annual week- in-Washington series of seminars, lec- tures, and meetings for selected high school juniors and seniors,
• Olympics of the Mind — More than 150,000 students from 4,500 school districts in the United States and Canada took part during 1985 in this creative problem-solving competition cosponsored by Commodore.
The empha. in all of these efforts is on teacher training, school program incentives, and student hands-on in- volvement, says Pat Walkington, direc- tor of Commodore's educational marketing division.
"We think that schools ought to do their own (teacher) training because each system is unique," she says, "We feel they have the resources for train- ing, and what they need from us is equipment,"
But, she adds. Commodore's ef- forts are aimed at more than simply putting machines in front of teachers and students. That's been the premise behind making the donation, matching grant, and related programs work on an incentive basis. School systems make written proposals for innovative uses of computers, and Commodore tries to work with those schools in a variety of ways.
In Texas, for example, where a re- cent mandate urges all junior high school teachers to become computer lit- erate. Commodore has donated 60 computer systems, including monitors and disk drives. Ail five boroughs in New York City have benefited in some way from Commodore's school pro- grams, including almost 2,000 teachers in the Bronx who have been involved in computer training.
The matching grants program re- flects a similarly widt range of support. In Brooklyn, New York, a Commodore matching grant helped School District 18 begin using the Logo computer lan- guage as an art medium. Another grant is aiding the University of Houston's College of Optometry to develop simu- lation software for the teaching of clini- cal practices in optometries. And yet a third matching grant to the Hillhouse Computer Association in Pittsburgh helped start an inner -city after-school computer club for students as well as evening computer classes for adults.
Commodore's education staff mem- bers, most of whom were teachers or educational administrators, feel that the low price of Commodore computers in addition to the wealth of available software is responsible for recent up- surges of interest in Commodore among school systems. And with the national student-computer ratio stil! at approximately 97:1, Walkington is con- vinced that the biggest growth is yet to come.
One example of the growing mo- mentum in educational computing is
The Young Astronaut Program, notes Kunz. Conceived by nationally syndi- cated columnist Jack Anderson and kicked off in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, this program tries to involve students in grades one through nine in activities related to space exploration under the direction of the Young Astro- naut Council,
Council chapters composed of from 5 to 30 students can be formed through schools or, in some cases, inde- pendent of schools. The cost is $20 an- nually per chapter, with the bulk of the costs being picked up by corporations and other businesses, included are ac- tivity packages, such as model rocket building kits; AstroNet, a telecommuni- cations service for use among chapters; and educational materials to supple- ment school curriculums.
"The key here is the flexibility of the program, and the fact that it's a sup- plement to the curriculum," says Kunz. "Teachers can use it in association with any part of the curriculum."
Beginning September 14, CBS will begin airing a weekly Saturday morn- ing animated educational program for children entitled The Youtis Astromttts, Kunz adds. All of the material used in the series will be educationally and sci- entifically accurate.
Commodore is eager for school systems, teachers, parents, and stu- dents to take advantage of the many programs under way. The following ad- dresses and telephone numbers should help you get started;
Commodore BtisineBS Machines, Inc.
Education Oept.
1200 Wilson Dr.
West Chester, PA 19380
(235) 431-9100
Commodore Toll -Free Hotline:
1-800-247-9000
Young Aslronaul Council P.O. Box 65432 Washington, D.C 20036
Olympics of the Mind OM Association, Inc, Dr. Samuel Mickhis P.O. Box 27 GlassboTO State College Glassboro. N} 08028 (609) 881-1603
A Presidential Classroom For Young Americans 441 N. lee St.
.Alexandria, VA 22314 I
COMPUWs QazeltB (DotoDer 1985 27
• Appropriate software: Pro- grams which can be integrated into the classroom with the current cur- riculum should be a central goal.
The appropriateness of differ- ent types of computer software for education remains one of the most hotly debated topics in the field today,
"Most of the software that we need already exists and it's in the form of what the rest of the worid calls productivity software," says Carnegie Forum's Tucker. "Special databases, word processing pro- grams, spreadsheets." The trick, he adds, is to adapt the programs to particular subjects while at the same time deciding how and when to adapt classes to take advantage of the new materials.
"We don't teach much writing to elementary school children. We don't even start teaching writing before junior high school," he adds. "But it's fairly clear now from the point of what's happening with word processors that we can teach writing in the elementary schools,"
Sophisticated science software is already available to let students simulate laboratory instruments,
Tucker notes. Not only can tradi- tional science instruction be carried out uith this software, but even more complex comparative work can be simulated with a wide range of variables. "You cultivate a real intuitive sense about how these variables are related, not just mem- orizing the stuff that's in the text- book," he says.
It is this conception of the com- puter as tool rather than instruc- tional device which Tucker and others promote as the most effec- tive way to use computers in the classroom. "Whether you're using ready-made applications software, making your own program, or something in-between, you're still using the computer as a tool to get some tasks done. The computer is not a course, it's a tool."
Related to this idea is the fact that computer-aided instruction is currently based around short 15-20 minute programs which are difficult to integrate into a school's standard curriculum format, says Dr. Larry Fedewa, executive direc- tor of the National Education Asso- ciation's (NEA) Educational Computer Services.
"From this derive all sorts of problems — scheduling, equipment access," he says. "So, what's com- ing in the future is curricula on a network system,"
As an aid to teachers and par- ents who want more information on the kinds of educadonal soft- ware available, the NEA publishes The Yellow Book: A Parent's Guide to Teacher-Tested Educational Software (Gariand Publishing, Inc).
Whatever the specific software instruction, Leggett cautions educa- tors to remember that the funda- mental goal is to help teach
students how to think. "So this be- comes a goal — to say that what we're working toward is teaching thinking, teaching sophisticated reasoning. Otherwise," he con- cludes, "it's not worth doing,"
Commodore's Pat Walkington sees three important factors relating to the evolution of this educational software. First, much of the initial "home-school" software available didn't work out, she notes, largely because parents didn't have any better idea than their children what to buy.
Second, the "tool" software programs mentioned by Tucker — word processors, spreadsheets, and databases, for example — are begin- ning to appear in a few schools as real-world teaching tools, she says. However, the number of teachers now using them is small.
And third, Walkington points out that traditional textbook pub- lishers— who know curriculum content — are beginning to produce course materials as textbook- software combinations, a trend which is bound to increase the pres- ence of computers in schools.
As educators continue to find these and other ways to incor- porate the computer into the class- room, the debate over methods and approaches is sure to continue. What is not under debate is the computer's continued presence there.
The fear of computers and technology which many teachers and parents originally exhibited is rapidly disappearing, notes Com- modore's Dr, Dan Kunz, executive director of government marketing and an active proponent of educa- tional computing.
"As people begin using any kind of technology on a daily basis, it just becomes one more tool," he says. "And a good, well-trained, creative teacher will find good things to do with it." •
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The Right Printer
Charles Brannon, Program Editor
If you're considering buying a printer or don't really understand the one you have, this article can eliminate some of the confusion. It explains current printer tech- nologies, what they offer, and discusses the basic considerations involved in choosing the right one.
Computers are supposed to eliminate paperwork, but it's a fact that paper is still tiie universal medium of communication. Perhaps when everyone has a computer or termi- nal, paper will no longer be necessary.
There's little disagreement, however, that a printer is an excep- tionatiy valuable addition to any computer. But if you decide to buy one, you'll face a plethora of choices. There's a dazzling array of printing technologies, interfaces, paper requirements, DIP switches, ESCape codes, ribbons, and charac- ter sets. And getting your printer to work with your softivare can be tricky at first.
There's an answer to the confusion. It's important to be in- formed before you buy your printer, but equally important to
30 COMPUTES's Qazans October 1985
know how to use it when you bring it home. Get to know the features of printers in general, form a solid idea of what you need in a printer, then consider what options you can afford.
All printing technologies have one thing in common— they use energy (force, heat, or even laser beams) to change the color of the paper.
Impact printers forcibly strike a section of ribbon against the paper, transferring a bit of ink. Inked cloth ribbons are reusable. The entire length of the ribbon can usually be recycled several times, and even re- inked indefinitely. Carbon film rib- bons are not reusable. The thin black coating is removed from the plastic ribbon, leaving a blank hole behind. If that portion of ribbon
comes back around, printing will be spotty and uneven. The additional cost of these ribbons is offset by their high -quality solid impression. Impact printing includes both dot-matrix and letter-quality print- ers. Most "letter quality" printers use a wheel or ball of formed characters. The actual shape of the character is rotated into position and slammed into the ribbon. Most typewriters rely on this method. A few printers (mostly teletype ma- chines) use the IBM hemisphere "ball," The entire ball is twisted and tilted to bring the proper character to the front, then knocked
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like a rapper against the ribbon and paper. The ball was never designed for any speed beyond normal typ- ing rate, so using a Seiectric as a printer can rack up some massive service bills (not to mention war- ranty conflicts).
A superior technique uses a central wheel with radiating spokes, each tipped with a com- plete character. Superficially reminiscent of a flower, these print- ing wheels are known as daisy- wheels. Often a printer using a daisywheel is also called a daisy- wheel, or simply "daisy." The wheel is spun so that the desired letter is in position, then a small so- lenoid (an electromagnetic ham- mer) stamps the tip against the paper. Another formed-character variation is the band printer, which uses something like a high-speed chain. The chain has all the charac- ters arranged serially. As the chain whizzes past, the printer waits for the desired letter to come by, then strikes it against the ribbon and paper.
The formed character printers create beautifully sculptured print, but can be inefficient. Your rep- ertoire of characters is limited to those actually present on the wheel or ball {although you can switch character sets just by replacing the ball or wheel). You can't reproduce graphics (though some daisywheel printers let you "draw" with peri- ods). The printer has to spin each character into place, which takes some time and quite a bit of co- ordination. Many daisywheel print- ers use slow stepper motors (which advance one click at a time), or light-beam links to synchronize the printer's timing with the actual speed of the wheel. It's a com- plicated contraption. And all that slamming, stamping, striking, and rapping is hard on the printwheel (not to mention quite noisy). Metal printwheels are expensive, and plastic ones wear out quickly. At least for now, though, the print quality of daisywheels is hard to beat.
Afar more flexible way to pro- duce characters is to create them a dot at a time. Text is printed within a matrix of tiny squares or dots. A similar technique is used to
34 COMPUTE! s Gazette October 1985
display characters on your display screen, or on marquees. Many dot- matrix printers produce text that looks "computery," although some have such a tight matrix that it's hard to detect the dots without magnification. Some printers can go back for a second pass to fill in the line by shifting over one half- dot, or by moving the paper up a fraction of an inch, before over- striking.
Most dot-matrix printers print by sweeping a thin column of pins or wires across the paper. Impact dot-matrix printers fire tiny so- lenoids against these pins to strike them against the ribbon. The sound of these pins beating across the pa- per is loud and screeching, though recent advances in printheads and soundproofing have reduced this to a bearable level.
But impact isn't the only way to put an image on paper. Why not build the ink into the paper itself? A thermal printer uses a column of "hot spots." The heat-sensitive pa- per darkens when touched by the hot thermal pads. Since there's no impact, thermal printing is very quiet. The printing assembly is quite simple, so thermal printers are relatively inexpensive. An interest- ing feature of thermal paper is that it also tends to change color in your glove compartment on a hot sum- mer day.
Electrostatic printers use a col- umn of minute "spark plugs." As the column sweeps across the pa- per, these little shockers emit tiny sparks that evaporate a silvery coat- ing, revealing an underlying black surface, Reading black on silver is difficult, but the paper photocopies well, giving it a more conventional appearance.
It seems printer manufacturers will try anything. Inkjet printers spray liquid or powdered ink through tiny jets. Again, these jets are ar- ranged in a column, and sweep across as they spray. Ink-jet print- ers are fast and quiet, yet can print on any paper. But because the tech- nology is still a bit new, these print- ers cost more than comparable dot- matrix or thermal printers.
A promising new technology is a variation of thermal printing. In- stead of heating up unusual paper, or smacking against it, thermal-
transfer printers heat up a waxlike ink. The paper, the ink, and the printhead are sandwiched together. The ink melts and fuses with the paper — at least in theory. Many thermal-transfer printers require close contact between ribbon, pa- per, and printhead. Unfortunately, these printers darken only the raised surface of the paper, so nubby paper (like bond) shows a venetian-blinds effect, or worse, looks like it was printed by a worn- out printhead with a used-up rib- bon. Like carbon film ribbons, thermal-transfer ribbons are not re- usable. So although these printers promise to have the quiet manner of thermal printing while not requiring special paper, most ther- mal-transfer printers do require es- pecially smooth paper. New advances in thermal-transfer have solved these problems, but at a higher price.
Laser printers have finally ar- rived. Although they're expensive (S3000-$5000), nothing can match the quality. In fact, laser printers can produce typeset-quality text, like you're reading now. Laser printers use the "engine" from a photocopy machine. A statically charged drum attracts dry ink dust, except when the charge is removed by intense light. The drum rolls the powdered ink impression onto pa- per. In a photocopy machine, the image of the paper is focused onto the drum. In a laser printer, a scan- ning laser writes directly onto the drum, permitting almost any image to be drawn. The laser printers work as fast as a copy machine, spitting out a complete page in seconds.
Your computer is a colorful crea- ture, but printing has always been in boring shades of black. Some printers can accept different colors of ribbon, but can't print in more than one color. However, there are several ways to achieve true color printing. Most work by mixing several primary colors. For example, red plus yellow equals or- ange; red plus blue equals purple. A few years back, a product appeared which added color capability to any printer. It consisted of a supply of red, blue, and yellow carbon paper, plus some graphics printing soft- ware. You taped the red carbon pa-
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Now, TYMAC provides a parallel printer interface designed exclusively for Com- modore Computers, including Commo- dore 64 '".Commodore 128'", Plus/4'", Commodore 16"* and VIC 20* TYMAC s "The Connection" gives you complete control over your printing capabilities and offers you top-notch quality, un- equalled by other interfaces of its kind. "The Connection" is compatible with virtually all Commodore software.
"The Connection" makes your invest- ment In a printer interface worthwhile. "The Connection" simply plugs into the serial disk port to ultimately produce refined, finished documents. TYMAC has applied leading computer technology to equip "The Connection" with two
modes: an emulation mode (imitates Commodore 1 525 printers) and a trans- parent mode (information goes straight through— no interpretation). For a suggested retail price of only $69.95 (non-Epson) orS73.95 (Epson). TYMAC gives you the best printer Interface avail- able for youi money.
With "The Connection, "you can exe- cute standard print commands (OPEN, PRINT*, and CLOSE) and create finished documents and graphics to your own specifications. Various options include column tabbing, dot tabbing, graphic repeat, dot addressable graphics, and more. Full printer self-test, LED status indicator, printer reset switch, skip over perf. margin set, and programmable line length give you maximum flexibility for optimum per- formance. The Connection" also fea- tures a 2K buffer, an exclusive feature offered by no other printer interface on the market, "The Connection" is compat- ible with any parallel printer that is equipped with a standard Centronics interface, including Star, Riteman, Smith-Corona/Epson. Panasonic, BMC- 80, Mannesman Tally, Olympia/Okidata. Canon/C, Itoh, NEOSeikosha, Gorilla Banana/and Universal,
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per to a blank piece of paper, inserted the whole thing in the printer, then printed the portion of the text or graphics that contained red. You next removed the red car- bon, substituted the blue, and over- printed the sections that required blue. You finished it up with the yellow carbon. If you'd properly aligned the paper each time, you'd get a multicolor image.
Most color printers these days use multicolored ribbons. The rib- bon can be made up of a series of yellow, red, and blue strips, each strip the width of the paper. One whole segment of ribbon is used for each line, with three segments nec- essary to print one line. Even if a certain color isn't used, that seg- ment must still be skipped over so that the next line starts with the right color. This uses up ribbon fast. Another trick is to stack several colors verHcally. The ribbon is installed at an angle so that the printhead can print across all the pri- mary colors, creating multiple colors on the same line in a single pass. Rather than using a ribbon installed at an angle, another color printer just shifts the ribbon up and down to get to the right color, but it can't print more than one color in one pass; it must go back and overstrike. In any case, you'll need custom soft- ware to take advantage of the color capability. Some color printers may include the nec- essary color graphics program.
You should also consider the type of paper you'll be printing on. The least expensive printers use a friction feed mechanism to drive the paper through, using a roller (platen) much like a typewriter's. Friction feed can transport almost any paper, including cut-sheet (letterhead) and inexpensive roll paper, but is prone to misalign- ment. All it takes is a few paper slippages to give you skewed print- ing, especially at high speed.
To circumvent this problem, the computer industry developed a special kind of paper, called pinfeed, tractor, or fanfold paper. This paper is bound on both sides with a strip of punched holes. Each sheet is at- tached to the next with a serration.
36 COMPUTE rs Gazgtie Oaober 1385
This lets a toothed cog grab the edges of the paper and roll it through continuously. The perforated strips can usually be pulled off and each sheet detached to transform each page into normal letter-size paper. If you don't want anyone to know it was printed with a computer, you can buy special paper that allows you to tear off the strips and sepa- rate the sheets cleanly with barely visible rough edges.
Your printer must have a tractor-feed mechanism to use this paper, unless the friction-feed car- riage is wide enough to accommo- date the extra width of pinfeed paper. Many printers have both friction- and tractor-feed. With tractor-feed, you needn't worry about paper slippage, although
some tractor-feeds that push the paper through the carriage from be- hind can bunch up the paper. If the paper supply does not flow smoothly, the paper can tear free from the tractor cogs. You must also be careful to prevent the ejected pa- per from rolling back into the car- riage. Paper separators are included with most printers to help prevent this problem. If you need to print wide reports, you may want to look into a wide-carriage printer. Most 80-column printers have a con- densed mode that gives 132 charac- ters per line. Wide-carriage printers can print on 15 -inch wide paper. In condensed mode, you can fit 255 characters on a line.
Whatever type of ribbon your printer needs, make sure it's easy to get replacement ribbons. A printer
ribbon doesn't last as long as you may think it would, especially when printing reams of listings. Many printers use the widely avail- able ribbon cartridge originally used with the Epson MX-80. Others can use ordinary typewriter ribbon spools. Some printers use ribbons only available from the manufac- turer, at a premium price.
When shopping for a printer, always get a printed sample of the character set. Inexpensive dot- matrix printers can be fine for rough drafts and listings, but when you want to make a good impression (especially for business correspon- dence), you must have letter-quaUty, or at least the near letter-quality available on some dot-matrix print- ers. For word processing, you'll probably want to know what fonts and styles are available, such as double- width, condensed, boldface, itahcs, and especially under- lining. Before you buy your word processor, make sure it can support your printer. And if you already have a word processor, check to see which printers it supports before buying. Some word proces- sors will work with any printer, letting you embed printer codes for special fonts and typestyles. If you want to dump screen graphics onto paper, make sure the printer supports the graphics mode used by the screen-dump program.
How patient are you? The speed of a printer is important to many people. The higher-priced printers often can claim no more features than the lower-priced ones, but can print as much as twice as fast. Speed is usually measured in "throughput," not the actual speed of the printhead. Many print- ers print bidirecdonally. Instead of wasting the time spent in returning the carriage, these printers can print from right to left on the return trip. Logic-seeking printers don't waste time printing a space, but skip the printhead to the next non-space po- sition. And instead of feeding paper a line at a time, some printers can eject paper quickly to skip vertically or between pages. For dot- matrix printers, the rated speed is usually
jieii ycni can liave Mb?
Miter Mo turns yoitr Commodore 64
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It^ the best>perf ormlng modem
with upload/download.
Mitey Mo is being hailed as "the best price/periormance com- munications package availablel' Its software has received the endorse- ment ol the U.S. Commodore Users Group, which gives a money-back guarantee to mennbers. It is truly the industry standard, and no wonder. It's the most user-friendly modem you con buy— it will take you ordine faster and easier than anything else.
Mitey Mo opens up a world of practical and exciting uses for your C-64. It lets you send and receive electronic mail, link up with commu- nity bulletin boards, ploy computer games with people in distant places, tap into library resources, and much more. All at your convenience.
Until Mitey Mo, Commodore's 1650 Automodem was the obvious choice when you went looking for a modem tor your computer, like Mitey Mo, it has "auto answer" -it receives data while unattended And both modems are "auto dialers" — you dial right on the computer's keyboard. But that's about where the simi- larity ends.
Mitey Mo can dial up to 9
|
OOMKOIXm |
||
|
MODninuvBis |
MRETUO |
|
|
Auto Dial/Answer |
YES |
YES |
|
Auto Pedial |
YES |
NO |
|
Smart 64 Software |
YES |
NO |
|
Function Keys |
||
|
Programmable |
YES |
NO |
|
Upload/I>ownload |
||
|
Text & X-Modem |
YES |
NO |
|
VT-52/Vr- 100 Emulation |
YES |
NO |
|
Menu Driven |
YES |
NO |
|
28K Software Buffer |
YES |
NO |
|
Easy-to-Use Manual |
YES |
NO |
|
Bell 103 Compatible |
YES |
YES |
|
Multiple Baud Rates |
YES |
YES |
|
Cable Included |
YES |
YES |
|
Single Switch Operation |
YES |
NO |
|
Warranty |
3 years |
90 days |
Some mighty Interesting features— ours and theirs. %urs to decide.
numbers sequentially But suppose you dial Q number and find it's busy Mitey Mo has "auto redial"— it hangs up and redials immediately until it gets through. With the other modem you have to redial each time - and somebody with auto redialing can slip in ahead of you. Mitey Mo is menu driven. It lists the things you can do on the screen. Select a number and you're on your way Since Auto- modem isn't menu driven, you'll be hunting through the manual a lot.
With Mitey Mo, your computer's function keys are program- mable—you can save yourself plenty
of keystrokes, Not so with the other modem. And only Mitey Mo lets you store data to review or print it later.
Mitey Mo has jus! one switch, the Smart 64 software does the rest. With the other modem you'll have to remember to check three switches, otherwise you may be answering when you mean to be originating.
Mitey Mo is half the size of the other modem. The very latest tech- nology allows miniaturization and increased reliability as well. Mitey Mo is so reliable, we gave it a full three-year warranty The other modem gives 90 days, then you're on your own.
Not only will you find Mitey Mo mighty useful, you'll find It mighty reasonably priced. When you buy it, you'll get S15 of CompuServe access time and 2 hours of PlayNet free, as well. See your dealer or call us directly to order your Mitey Mo.
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for the lowest quality but fastest printing draft mode.
No matter how fast your printer is, you still have to wait for printing to finish before you can use the computer. The computer is tied up by sending characters to the printer. This can be alleviated with a printer buffer. The buffer is mem- ory built into the printer or inter- face. The buffer accepts characters as fast as the computer can send them, then sends these characters to the printer at a more leisurely rate. As long as the buffer doesn't fill up, the computer is free to do other things. When the buffer fills up, the computer waits until enough of the buffer is sent out to accept more characters from the computer. If you're printing short letters, a 2K buffer is enough to quickly free up your computer. Otherwise, a buffer only shortens the time the computer is tied up.
Some interfaces include a buffer, some printers offer a buffer as an option (most have a one-line buffer by default), and you can buy a special buffer that attaches be- tween your interface and the printer. Some buffers allow as much as 256K of buffer space, enough for a small book, but they're extremely expensive. These super-buffers often allow you to print selected portions of the buffer. One external buffer even has a video port to let you scroll through the buffer and delete unwanted data before printing.
After selecting a printer, it's time to hook it up to your com- puter. It's easy with Commodore printers — just plug the round serial jack into the back of your computer or disk drive. Some third-party printers also include a built-in Commodore interface. But most printers are marketed for a broad spectrum of computers.
There are two industry stan- dard interfacing protocols: Centronics parallel and RS-232 se- rial, A parallel interface sends an enrire character at a time, all eight bits of it, through eight parallel wires. Serial interfaces transfer characters one bit at a time over a single wire. Although serial cabling can be less expensive, a parallel interface is usually faster and easier to use. Beware of RS-232 printers
38 COMPUTEI's Gazette October 1985
for Commodore computers. Very little software supports it. Parallel interfaces attached to the user port require special software printer drivers, which are vulnerable to destruction by other RAM-resident software or require a ROM car- tridge that can make the system in- compatible with some programs.
The best interface for third- party printers attaches to the stan- dard round serial port. The interface translates the serial output and sends it out over a standard Centronics parallel cable.
It's important that interfaces also translate the characters coming across, Most third-party printers use the industry standard ASCII (American Standard Code for Infor- mation Interchange) codes for sending characters as numbers. For example, the capital letter A is de- fined as the number 65, B as 66, lowercase a as 97, b as 98, and so on. Commodore, though, uses its own variation of ASCII, a vestige from the days of the Commodore PET. In effect, Commodore ASCII exchanges the position of upper- and lowercase in the character set. The interface must translate these nonstandard characters for the sake of true ASCII printers, or else print comes out in all uppercase or with upper- and lowercase switched.
An exception to this is when the computer is sending graphics bytes across. These bytes represent the shape of a column of dots. The translation will interpret these bytes as characters, switch them, and mangle the graphics image. Most interfaces provide a transpar- ent mode to bypass the translation. Also, many programs were written to work with Commodore printers, especially the 1525 and MFS-801. Some take advantage of the printer's graphics character set, reproducing the graphics characters on the keyboard. Others use MPS- 801/1525 tab setting codes, reverse field, graphics mode, or setting for uppercase/graphics or upper/ lowercase mode. Many printer interfaces can emulate the MPS- 801/1525 for better software compatibility. With the interface, your third-party printer can act just like a Commodore printer. A graphics interface can even re- produce Commodore graphics
characters, MPS-801/1525-style graphics mode, reverse field, and cursor and color control symbols. This emulation, however, can pre- vent you from accessing your print- er's more sophisticated printing features. The transparent or graph- ics mode of an interface can be used to bypass the emulation when required.
Many printer interfaces in- clude bonus features like listing mode, where cursor and color con- trols are spelled out, as in [CLR] for the clear-screen character. Others let you set left and right margins, skip over the paper perforation automatically, and enable/disable linefeeds.
The linefeed can be one of the big- gest headaches you encounter. After a line has been printed, the printer has to do two things: move the paper up a line, and move the printhead back to the left margin. The linefeed just moves the paper up a line. A carriage return, strictly defined, just moves the printhead back to the start of the line. Many computers send a linefeed auto- matically with a carriage return, so the printers don't add a linefeed of their own to prevent unwanted double-spacing.
Commodore machines don't send this linefeed unless told to do so by a program, so the printer must supply these linefeeds automati- cally. If your printer can't do this, most interfaces have a linefeed mode or setting to do this for you. But with all these possibilities, you can get all printing on the same line (no linefeed), unwanted double- spacing (the printer's linefeed plus the interface's or computer's), even triple-spacing (everyone's sending a linefeed). It can be maddening. The solution is to make sure only one of the parties is controlling the linefeed.
Next month, we'll discuss us- ing the printer with various kinds of software. We'll also explore programming your printer in BASIC and machine language, us- ing your printer's fonts and styles, and solving many common printer problems. We'll look at some sam- ple programs, including a graphics screen dump, text screen dump, and techniques for formatted output. •
WiW @M BMl
ooo
COMPUTE! 's
Commodore 64/128 Co
Now for the Commodore 64 and the Commodore 128, this collection brings together some of the best games, applications, and utilities from COMPUTE! Publicotlons. All programs run on the 64 and the 128 running in 64 mode. Addltlonallv, there are sec- tions detailing the advanced special features of the power- ful, new 128 computer.
Edited, $12.95 ISBN 0-942386-97-3
COMMODORE
(SIXTY FOUR &i
COLLECTION
All Ihe excilirg programs from the book are aisc available on an easy-to-use d sk. The Commodore 64/128 cotle 7tlon Disk Is ready to "load Ull i/UUI borrrmodore 64 or 128 running In 64 mode. You can order the Disk directly (rom COMPUTEf Books tor only $12.95 (plus $2.00 shipping and handling.)
To order, COMPUTEI's Commodore 64/128 Collection and Disk, moil trils coupon to
COMPUTE! Books, PO. Box 5058, Greensboro. NO 27403
or call toll-free 800-334-0868 (in NC 919-275-9809).
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PuWoftetj of COMPUrt' COMPUIt'j GoHiiio rr**uTEis &ate!te Dak COMPUIE( Booki. onO COMPUTEi t Apple Apcteononi.
User Group Update
When writing to a user group for information, please remember to enclose a stamped, self- addressed envelope.
Send additions, corrections, and deletions for this list to:
COMPUTE! Publications P.O. Box 5406 GreemboWr JVC 27403 Attn: Commodore User Groups
Announcements And Changes
A group of six bulletin board system operators (sysops) has formed in the Long Island area. Information about LISA (Long Island Sysop's Association) and its boards, which offer only public domain software, may be obtained by contacting the group's public relations officer, Frank Imburgio, 34 Inwood Rd., Port Wash- ington, NY 11050, Phone contact may be made at the following numbers; (516) 883-7017 (home, voice); (516) 944-6860 (business, voice); or (516) 944-6594 (modem).
The Pets Around Livermore computer club (PALS) has a new president, CuUey Union, and a new mailing address; PALS, P.O. Box 1068, Livermore, CA 94550.
The new address for the Napa Valley Commodore Computer Club is P.O. Box 2324, Napa, CA 94558.
Commodore Owners of Lafayette, IN (C.O.O.L.) also has a new address; P.O. Box 5763, Lafayette, IN 47903.
Another group with a new address is Louisville Users of Commodore of Kentucky (L.U.C.K.Y.). Correspondence should be sent to P.O. Box 19032, Louis- ville, KY 40219-0032.
A new club has formed for people interested in meeting other Commodore users around the world. For more information, contact the Commodore Inter- nationa! Users Group, c/o Don Kovatch, 1904 Van Buren, Baltimore, MD 21222.
The Commodore 64 User Group of Southfield, MI has disbanded.
The contact person for the Mid-Missouri Commodore Club is Jim DeMian, Secretary. Correspondence may be sent to him in care of the club at P.O. Box 7026, Columbia, MO 65205-7026.
The Monadnock (NH) Commodore 64 Users Group is now the Monadnock Usere Group (M.U.G.) for Commodore Owners, The new president and contact person is P. Kirkpatrick, 135 Liberty Lane, Keene, NH 03431.
The new contact person for the Tulsa Area Commodore Users Group is Craig Bowman, Secretary. The mailing address remains the same: 7804 N. 117th E. Ave,, Owasso, OK 74055,
Abilene Cursor Control, P.O, Box 6261, Abilene, TX 79608, also has a new contact person, Larry Prince, Mail to the club should now be sent to his attention,
The new address for the Commodore (Houston) User Group (C,H.U,G. Inc.) is P.O. Box 612, TombaiL TX 77375. Contact persons are John and Mary Howe,
The Fredericksburg Commodore Club was incorrectly listed as the Fredericksburg Computer Club in a previous update. The group also has a new address. Send inquiries to the club's president, George Walker, c/o Shelken Associates, 313 William St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401.
In Richmond, VA, The Richmond Area Commodore Enthusiasts (T.R.A.C.E.) also has a new contact person and address: E. M. (Rex) Rexrode, Jr., 2920 Pinehurst Rd., Richmond, VA 23228.
The Lewisburg (WV) Commodore User Society has changed its name to People Addicted to Computers Klub (PACK) Program Exchange, The address re- mains the same: c/o David Haynes, 17 Silo Sq., Lewisburg, WV 24901.
Commodore Hobbyists involved in Personal Systems (CHIPS) has a new mailing address: CHIPS, P.O, Box 1006, West Bend, WI 53095. Contact persons are Terry Westerbeke, President, or Dick Kraemer, Club librarian.
In Canada, the Brantford Hackers have changed their name to STPG (Shop-Taker Programming Guild). For information, write to the club in care of Syd Boiton, 25 Frontenac Ave., Brantford, Ontario, Canada N3R 3B7.
40 COMPUTErs Gaiaae Oclobor 1985
New Listings ARIZONA
Commodore Users Croup of ARizona (COUGAR Inc.), c/o .MargarelH Herr, 933 S. Acorn. Tcmpe, AZ 852S1
ARKANSAS
The Southwest Arkansas Commodore Users Group, David DuBurk, 404 S. Greening St., Hope, AR 71801
CALIFORNIA
Lowest Users Group in Itre United Stales
(LUGITUS), Kuslv Bayno, 650 S. Impi-rial Ave.,
Brawlcy, CA 92227 Wesl Valley Commodore Uiers Group, Ed Drown,
Tresident, 23455 Justice St,, Canoga Park, CA
91306 i'LUG (Plus/4 Users' Group), Box 1001, Monterey,
CA 93940 VacavUte Commodore Users Group (VCUG), E.
Breeht, 530 Burlington Dr.. Vacaville, CA 95688
GEORGIA
Athens Commodore Enthusiasts (ACE), Stanton Robertson, 130 St. lames Dr,. Athens, GA 30606
North East Georgia Commodore User Group, Randy 5huler Rt. 2. Dos 226, Oakwood. CA 30566
ILLINOIS
Fox Valley 64 Users Croup, i'rank Christensen, P.O. Bo\ 28, North Aurora, I L 60542
IOWA
The John Deere Tractor Works Commodore Com- puter Companions, Marshall Nielsen, 7412 W. Bennington Rd., Ci'dar Kails, lA 50613
Syntax Errors Anonymous Commodore User Group, c/o StephiTi K, Graff, K. K. llox6S45, Spirit Lake, IAS 1360
Waterloo Area Commodore Club, t/o Kick Volker, 645 Lowell Ave., Waterloo, lA 50702
KENTUCKY
Commodore Users' Group of Central Kentucky, c/o John A, Rea, 173 Forest Ave,, Lexington, kV 40508
LOUISIANA
Worldwide Commodore User Group, Ark-La-Miss Division, P.O. Box 371, Quitman, LA 71268
MARYLAND
Baltimore Commodore Users Group 4BCUG), Steve .Michalek, 402 VVavcrly Ave., Baltimore, MD 21225-3437
TrlTech's Commodore Users Group, Brent Gold- berg, 10100 Ormond Rd., Potomac, MD 20854
MINNESOTA
Redwood Falls Area Computer Exchange, James
Weiss, President, 815 E. Spring St., Redwood Falls,
MN 56283 NEVADA C-RUN (Commodore Reno Uien Network), Rick
Cooke, Box 8566, Reno, NV 89507
NEW YORK
The Rainbow International C-64 Users' Group,
Victor LaDouceur, Sr„ President, 947 Harrison Ave., Niagara Falls, NY 14305
NORTH CAROLINA
Commodore 64 User Group, Timolhv Macking, PO. Box 1635. Banner Elk, NC 28604'
Raleigh Area Commodore Enthusiasts, ]ahn DeVcre, President, 904 Davidson St., Raleigh, NC 27609-5547
PENNSYLVANIA
Beaver County Area Commodoie Uiefs Group (B.CA.CU.G.), H, J. "Jack" Hemer, Secretary, 112 Spruce Dr., Monaca, PA 15061
SOUTH DAKOTA
Fort 64 User Croup, Ko)<.imi Pappas, Vice President, 929 Lemmon St„ Rapid City, SD 57701
MM/^
COMPUTEt^ FIRST BOOK OF ^COMMODOREbh
AND GRAPHICS
COMPUTB's Reference Guide to Commodore 64 Graphics, John Heilborn, SI 2.95 A complete tutorial on creat- ing graptilcs displays, pictures, and animation on the Com- modore 64,
COMPUTEI's First Book of Com- modore 64 Sound ond Graph- /cj. Edited, SI 2.95 Clear, useful explanations o( the 64 's sound and grophlcs capabilities including tutorials and example programs.
COMPUTEI's Beginner's Guide to Commodore 6d Sound, John Heilborn, SI 2.95 Complete descriptions ond nu- merous examples show you how to program sound ond music on the 64.
COMPUTE! Books offers you three fascinating, informative books on sound and gropi^ics for your COMIVIODORE 64 at a speciai savings.
Buy all three books for only $29.00, VA^^ That's 25 percent off the retail price! ^O^N
jj^ese books give you up-to-date, easy-to-understand tutorials, programs, and
examples to help you maximize th© sound and graphics features on your
Commodore 64, Order today to receive all three books for only $29,00, This offer
expires November 1 0, 1 985.
Order directly from COMPUTE! Books by mailing the attached form with your payment to COMPUTE!
Books P.O. Box 5058, Greensboro, NC 27403. For the fastest service, call toll-free 800-334-0868 (in NC call
919-275-9809).
Order Form Please send me:
COMPUTEI's Beginner's Guide to Commodore
64 Sound (54-X), S 1 2,95
COMPUTEI's First Book of Commodore 64
Sound and Graptilcs (2 1 -3), $1 2.95
COMPUTEI's Reference Guide to Commodore
64 Graphics (29-9). $ ^ 2.95
- SPECIAL SAVINGS— ALL THREE BOOKS FOR
$29.00
Subtotal
NC residents add 4.5% tax
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TEXAS
Sherman Commadote Users Croup <SCUC), J^son
Cillev, President, 827 W, Sears. Denisor, TX
75020 The Crcat Northwest Commodore 64 Users Group,
P.O. Box 380732, San Antonio, TX 7S2B0 TOTCOM (Top of Texas Commodore), Box 2851,
!'.-imp.), TX 79066-2851 WASHINGTON 75S Commodore 64 Users Group, Makah Air Force
Station, Ncah Bay, VVA 90357 Olympic Peninsula User Croup (O.P-U.G.l, Mike
Rvan, President, 836 West Si\lh Si., Port Angeles,
WA 98362
WEST VIRGINIA
The Kanjwha Valley Commodore Computer
Club, Floyd Steele, P.O. Box 252, Dunbar, WV
25064 Northern West Virginia C-64 Club, John W. Bvam,
jr., rresideiu, 228 Grand St., Morgantown, WV
2650S
OUTSIDE THE U. S.
AUSTRALIA
Commodore Computer Users Group IQLD) Inc.,
P.O. Box 274, Springwood Q 4127, Brisbane,
Australia Geelong Commodore Cumpuler Club, c/o 15 )aca-
randa Place, Belmonl 3216, Geclong, Australia The Griffith Computer Association, c/o Secretary,
PO. Box 425, Griffith 2680, Australia Class of 64, c/o Robert Wheeler, 37 Kuran St.,
Chermiside, Queensland 4012, Australia Commodore Computer Users Group (Townsville),
1 Paxton St.. Townsvilk' 4810, Aiislrali,i Australian Computer Education Association, P.O.
Box 194, Corinda 4075, GUI Aiivtrali.i VIC-UrS Computer Users Croup, T.O. Box 1103.
Bootagoon. Western Australia 6IS4
BELGIUM
L'Amiril Club C-64 & C-128, c/o Alain Trinteler, P.O. Box 41. B-1090, Brussels, Belgium
CANADA
Hinton Computer Club, K. Baitlett, Box 2431,
Hinton. Alberta. Canada TOE ICO Medicine Hat Commodore Users Group, P.O. Box
764, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada TIA 7G7 K.C.C.U.G., Ciiris Larson, 195 Mars Rd., Kelowna,
British Columbia, Canada VIX 1H3 International C-64/VIC-20 Users Group, c/o Jason
Belsev, 22559 Minch Cres,, Maple Ridge, British
Columbia. Canada V2X 7HS Beaver Valley Commodore Club, Box 495,
Montrose. British Columtiia, Canada VOG 1 PO Fundy C-64 Users Group, c/o 32A Cannon Rd..
Quispamsis, \ew Brunsivick, Canada EOG 2W0 The Great White North Computer Club, I.E.
Vicira, President, 358 Grenville St., Oritlia,
Oniario. Canada UV 2K7 Niagara Commodore Users Croup, ISA Neilson
Ave., St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada L2M 5V') Midland Commodore Users Group, c/o Franl^
Murphy, P.O. Box 375, Victoria Harbour, Ontario,
Canadii [.OK 2A0 TRACK 36 Users' Club, Wayne Chapman, 491
Kenilworth Ave. North, fiamilton, Ontario,
Canada L8H 4T6 C.U.G.S., Gordon Clew, 1635 Fleet St., Regina,
Saskatcheivan, Canada S4N' 5S2 The POKEr's Club, Kris Finnestad, Box 75, St. Louis,
Saskatchewan. Canada SO) 2C0
COLUMBIA
Columbia 64 Group, c/o Rodrigo Chaves, V.O. Box
6713, Call, Columbia, South America FINLAND
User's Club of PTT, c/o Sakari Natri, Tele lutk! n:\uslaitok5en, Mikrotietokonekerho, Kiviaidank.iiu 2 F, 00210 Helsinki 21, Finland
IRELAND
CLUB64, 85 Upper Drumcondra Rd., Dublin 9,
Ireland
ITALY
IHT Division: User«, c/o Massimiliano Lisa, Via
Borgonuovo 19, Milano 20121, Italy Commodore 64 Computer Users Croup of Rome,
c/o Pluchinotta Via di S. Agnese 22, 00198, Rome,
Ilalv
JAPAN
Commodore Users Club of Yokosuka Japan,
Dennis ii. Vickland, COMNAVFORJ (N-34) Box 12, FPO Seattle, WA 9S762
MEXICO
Commodore 64 User's Group, APDO 86, Calle Zaragoza 414, Puerto Vallarta. Jalisco, Mexico 48300
NEW ZEALAND
East Coast Bays Commodore User Group, P.O. Box 35-034. Browns Bay AuckLind 10, New Zealand
Marlborough Commodore Users Group, Robin Vercoe, 42 Rogers St., Blenheim Marlborough, New Zealand
PAKISTAN
Commodore Computer User Club, altn: Khahd Khanani, P.O. Box 6121, Karachi-2, Pakistan
SWEDEN
Computer Club Sweden, Hans Engstrom, Sec- retary. P.O. Box 7040, S-103 86 Stockholm, Sweden
SWITZERLAND
C-64 Anwender Club, Postlach 194, 8029 Zurich, Sw'it?.erland
WEST GERMANY
Eifel Commodore Users Group
(Bitburg/Spangdahlcm/Pruem), MWR Division,
APO New York 09132 SEMBACH AB Commodore Users Group, Attn^
Z,ic Thomas, Box 939, APO N'ew York 09130 Zwelbrucken Commodore Computer Club, Hank
While, PSC Box 2312, APO N'ew York 09860
WEST INDIES
Saturn Software User Group 64, ,Mario Flores, Alablancaweg 71, Curacao, .'sietherland Antilles
HEW UPDATED VERSIOH
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The complete 1541 enhancement system
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The 1541 is the slowest disk drive on planet earth. Even simple operations seem to take forever Quickloaders and Fastioaders that software-patch the operating system are vulnerable to being knocked out of memory, rendering them totally useless. Even Flashier products that require permanent modifications to the 64 and 1541 can't compete with the blinding speed of STARDOS.
STARDOS accelerates every (yes, we said every) function of the 1541 disk drive. Other fast loaders only load PRG files faster. STARDOS also speeds up SEO, REL, USR and DIRECT ACCESS files. Everything including FORMAT, VERIFY, SCRATCH, VALIDATE, INITIALIZE and COPY are much faster. In addition STARDOS adds a vast array of easy to use commands all at the touch of a key.
A sampling of STARDOS features:
• Accesses ALL types of files up to 1,000% faster!
• Saves up to 300% faster than normal (with extended verify)
• DOES NOT CHANGE THE SPEED AT WHICH THE DRIVE MOTOR SPINS
• Makes your 1541 MORE RELIABLE and LESS PRONE TO BREAK DOWN or OVERHEAT!
• STARDOS is fully expandable for multiple fast disk drives
• Easy (5 minute) plug in installation. User friendly manual
• 100% compatible with software and serial bus peripherals
• Adds years of life to your disks and drive In reduced weat-
• Cures a number of bugs In the Commodore 64 and 1 541 disk drive including :
• The damaging 'Head Knock' that can misalign your 1541
• Tf\e(fi : Save with replace bug!!
• The Editor lock-up bug
Simply the best. $74.95 [Take advantage of our introduction special at $64,951
• Harness the full power of your disk drive with the built In DOS wedge
• LocWunlock files and protect/unprotect disks from the keyboard
• Powerful sector editor allows direct viewing of diskette
• Upgrades computer and drive to the latest Commodore specifications
• Instant access to the built in mini-wordprocessor (or short notes and memos
• Built in copier copies all tile types (even relative) easily and effectively
• Built In disk duplicator copies an entire diskettte in less than 3 minutes
• Fully expanded machine language monitor, always on line
• Quality hardware. Full 120 day repair or replace warranty
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I
Personalize your C64! lor a $10 (non-refundable) charge we will include a 21 character power-on message with your favorite screen, border and text colors. Example.
:^li i^.g
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Write of phone for additional information.
WRITE OR PHONE
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When ordering by mail:
• $64 95 + 3 00 shipping
• S64 95 -► 4.0O COD orders
• Shipping out ol USA S6 00
* Call I residents add 6% sales tax
• VISA or Mastercard accepted PieasE allow 4-6 weeks lor delivery
a
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H
The
Farm Game
IT
"D"
M
Daniel M, Seurer
What's it like to manage a farm? How are your decisions affected by an ever-changing market? When is the best time to sell? How much of your crop should you store? This educational and entertaining simulation puts you in the shoes of the American farmer. For the 64, VIC (16K re- quired), Plus/4, and Commodore 16.
You're the owner of a 200-acre farm in the Midwest. You have $20,000 to invest and must make sound de- cisions if you're to survive — what and when to plant, how much insecticide and herbicide to use, when to store or sell crops, and so on.
"The Farm Game" is more than a game, it's a simulation based on real decisions facing the farmer. Along the way you'll learn that making money at farming isn't that easy. The program was written after researching crop market prices, the futures market, and' the factors which affect crop prices and yields. My father-in-law, a farmer, also provided valuable first-hand experience to help make this simulation realistic.
You own five fields, each 40 acres, to be planted with wheat, com, or soybeans. Inflation affects the cost of everything, and the prices paid for your crops will vary
with the changing market con- ditions. If crop prices at harvest time are not high enough to cover your expenses, or you just want to gamble for higher prices, you can store your crops and sell them at a later time on the futures market.
Plant And Harvest
The program is divided into two parts: Planting Time and Harvest Time. After typing in the program, save a copy. It's written completely in BASIC, so just type RUN to start play. {It might be helpful to have a pencil and pad on hand to take notes before you begin play^ — 'it's probably too difficult to keep track of all the numbers in your head as the game develops.) You are first asked how long you wish to man- age the farm. The answer should be in number of years. You can type in any number, but you should start with five years until you become more familiar with the program.
COMPUTE!' s Gazette October 1985
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. Copies normal & PROTECTED data up to track 40 . 3 New MPROVBD copiers! Includes FAST Copier, VARI-SECTOR Cooier, and AUTO-LOGIC NIbbler . Actually copies a FULL disk in only 2.75 minutes!
Includes one FREE Masterkey Module! Inexpensive MODULE releases keep you up-to-date MODULES available individually or by subscription Works with DiskMaker TOOLKfT and FAT-TRACK Kit Requires standard 1541 disk drive or SX-64 Special version available for INDUS GT drive! PRODUCT SUPPORT tel, M & future module updates You've tried the rest, now get the BESTI!
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Next, the Planting Season menu is displayed. You have four choices, each selection made by pressing one of the function keys:
Planting Season
fl... Market news f3...Your financial status
fS...PlanHng
f7„.Sell crops on futures
Market news (fl) contains essential information for playing the game. You should always con- sult this item first. You'll see: 1. Yearly inflation rate, which affects all costs and can vary from 0 to 5 percent; 2. Fuel cost per gallon; 3, Herbicide and insecticide costs per unit; 4. Overhead costs (which in- clude expenses for machinery, re- pairs, etc.); 5, Basic cost per acre (which includes taxes, land improvements, etc.); 6. Cost per bushel of grain seed (wheat, corn, and soybeans); and 7. Futures mar- ket price for each of the three crops. This last item is very important later in the game when it comes time to sell your stored crops. Press any key to return to the planting menu.
To review your current finan- cial status, press f3. The screen dis- plays the money currently in your bank account, the amount you owe the bank, the number of bushels of grain {wheat, corn, and soybeans) you have in storage, and your monthly grain storage fees (one and
Although the money siiuatioii is tight, this farmer has grain to sell later.
a half cents per month for each bushel). Again, pressing any key re- turns you to the planting menu.
Planting (f5) puts you into the main part of the game, which we'll look at a bit later. To sell crops, press f7. The going price was noted in the futures market item dis- played in market news (fl). On your first year of play you'll have
46 COMPUTEfs Gazette Octotwr IMS
no grain in storage and therefore none to sell. When you do have grain to sell later in the game, this screen will display how many bushels of each of the three crops you have in storage as well as the current futures market prices for each of the crops.
You'll then be asked if you wish to sell wheat (fl), corn {f3).
■jiswauitiMa
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G«*4lLn fFFJ cost per bushel
Cirm: £«vbpan.£ :
5 J. 51
6 1.3-4
$ BT.19
s J.ni
Based on the futures market, planting wheat looks like the smartest move.
soybeans (f5), or none (f7). If your response is "none" (f7), you're re- turned to the planting menu. Otherwise, select the crop to be sold. You're then prompted to enter the number of bushels you wish to sell (up to the total you have in stor- age). You can sell any amount. If you suddenly decide not to sell at this point, enter 0. After entering the amount of grain you wish to sell, you're asked if you want to sell more. Press Y if you do, otherwise, N returns you to the planting menu. The main part of the game is Planting (fS), Unlike the other menu options above, you can't re- turn to the menu once you've committed to planting. If you wish to look at your financial status, the market news, or sell crops on the futures market, do so before planting.
After selecting Planting, a mes- sage appears explaining that you have five fields of 40 acres each and that fields 1,2, and 3 are average or slightly above average in yield, while fields 4 and 5 are slightly less than average producers.
For each of the five fields, you choose which of the three crops to plant. For field 1, enter 1 for wheat, 2 for corn, or 3 for soybeans, then repeat the process until all five fields have been planted. (It takes 1.5 bushels of seed to plant an acre of either wheat or soybeans, and
0.334 bushels of seed to plant an acre of corn.)
Next, the total acreage planted in the three crops is displayed and you're asked how many units per acre of insecticide and herbicide you wish to apply. Not applying enough herbicide and/or insec- ticide can drastically reduce your yields, but applying these chemi- cals beyond a certain level will not result in further benefits. The proper amount lies somewhere be- tween 15 and 35 units per acre, but I'll leave it up to you to determine the optimal amount. Even with the correct amount applied there's still a slim chance that weeds, insects, or inadequate rainfall may reduce your yield.
After crops have been planted and the chemicals applied, the planting costs (seed, chemicals, and so on) are automatically deducted from your bank balance. If your balance drops below zero, you'll have to borrow money from the bank. The bank will let you have up to $50,000 at a yearly interest rate of 12 percent. The minimum loan payment, due at harvest time, amounts to one- third of the loan balance. If you need to borrow over the $50,000 limit, you are consid- ered bankrupt, thus ending the game.
Reaping What You've Sown
After planting, the game moves di- rectly into harvest time. At this point, you may sell or store your crop harvest, pay bills, and receive your futures crop check (if any).
A lot of important information appears on the screen at this time:
1. Selling price per bushel of each crop at the current market rate and the yield of each crop planted; 2. Your bank balance (after deducting planting expenses); 3. The amount of money you received from the sale of any stored crops on the fu- tures market; 4. The value of this year's harvest if all were sold at the current market prices; 5. The mini- mum loan payment due; 6. Harvest- ing costs; 7. Fuel expense; 8. Cost per acre charges; 9. Overhead ex- penses; and 10. Crop storage fees. Also displayed are your total assets (bank balance + futures crop check + this year's harvest if sold at the current market late) and your total
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debits (loan payment due + har- vest costs + fuel expense + over- head expense + basic cost per acre -\- crop storage fees).
Take special note of tnis infor- mation (again, writing it down can be the key to making careful de- cisions), then press any key to begin selling or storing your crops. You may sell all, none, or any portion of your total yield. You're asked how many bushels of each grain you wish to sell at the current market price. You may enter any number up to the total yield of that crop. Next, you're told how much money you would receive for that much grain. To change the amount, press fl and reenter the number of bush- els of grain to be sold. If the amount
Several crucial decisions are made at harvest time.
you first entered is OK, press f3. The unsold crop balance (if any) is automatically put into storage.
After all the grain has been sold or stored, you are asked to make at least a minimum payment on your loan (if you owe the bank any money). If, after selling or stor- ing your crops and deducting all ex- penses, your bank balance dips below zero, you will again need to borrow money. The minimum amount you need to borrow is also displayed. Provided you're still sol- vent, the program cycles back to the planting menu and the game continues into the next year.
After playing for the number of jrears selected at the beginning, the final screen appears. The display includes your current bank balance,
the number of bushels in storage with their cash value, and the amount of money you owe the bank. These figures determine your ending bank balance. If the tinal balance is at or above the $20,000 you started with, you've managed to make money (or at least to break even) and can be considered a good farmer. If your balance is below $20,000, you were not successful.
Playing Strategies
Those who playtested this simula- tion during its developmental stages commented that this game is too much like real life — it's hard to make any money. True, it's not too easy to win, but it's not impossible either. With some thoughtful plan- ning and good decision making (and maybe a little luck), you can make some money and win. Here are some suggestions that vrill help you succeed.
The amounts of herbicide and insecticide applied are crucial in determining your crop's success. As mentioned above, you should ap- ply somewhere between 15-35 units per acre to get the best yield. The data in the table will help you decide if you've been applying enough of these chemicals. In the harvest cycle, the yield (in bushels per acre) of each crop planted is dis- played. The table shows what the average yields of each of the three crops should be. Other factors can affect crop yields, but if you're get- ting consistently poor results, check to see if you've been applying enough insecticide and/or herbicide.
Your decision to sell or store your crops will depend on the price being paid for your crops at harvest time. If it's below the base prices for the crops shown in the table , or if you just want to gamble on even higher prices, you may want to store some or all of your harvest. But storing too much grain over a period of years can easily lead to bankruptcy, so be careful. Even though you sell your crops on the
|
Crop |
Base Price |
Base Yield |
Fuel Costs |
|
Per Bushel |
Bushel/Acie |
Gallons/Acre |
|
|
Wheat |
$2.80 |
62 |
50 |
|
Com |
$2.33 |
100 |
65 |
|
Soybeans |
$6.30 |
31 |
60 |
futures market at planting time, you won't receive payment until har- vest time. So if your planting ex- penses push you over the $50,000 limit, you'll be bankrupt and the game will end.
Each of the three crops has its own special characteristics which you may want to consider at plant- ing and selling time. Wheat and soybeans are the least expensive crops to plant while com is by far the most expensive. However, your chances for a bumper crop (and therefore greater profit) are best with a judicious com planting. Soy- beans tend to be a steady producer, but the prices can vary greatly. The prices paid for wheat and com tend to be the most steady.
Sometimes it will be necessary to store most, if not all, of your har- vest and hope for a better price on the futures market in order to turn a protit. In this case, it may be nec- essary to go into debt temporarily to make money in the long run. Waiting for higher prices on the fu- tures market can be a good way to earn a handsome profit, but if prices remain depressed for several years in a row it can be very costiy (with high crop storage fees and the in- terest on your bank loan). Playing the futures market can either make a lot of money or result in bankruptcy.
Typing In The Program
The Farm Game, originally written for the 64, also mns on the VIC, Plus/4, and Commodore 16. All versions are in BASIC, so after typ- ing in the program for your com- puter, save it, and type RUN. You should see the title screen within seconds. If you own a VIC, be sure to insert at least 16K memory expansion. Plus/4 and Com- modore 16 owners must type in the Commodore 64 version and then add the substitution lines in Pro- gram 3.
If you'd rather not type in the program, I'll make a copy (64 ver- sion only). Send a tape (with at least five minutes per side) along with a self-addressed, stamped mailer and $3 to:
Daniel M. Seurer
68W Schroder Rd., Apt. 5
Madison, Wl 53711
See program listings on page 130. •
COMPUTEfs ObzbUb October 1985 49
Turnabout
Mark Tuttle and Kevin Mykytyn
This fast-moving strategy game finds you in quick retreat from the intelligent but unpredict- able "whirligigs." Your only hope is to trap them. For the Commodore 64. A joystick is required.
From the moment you start, you're running to escape the menacing whirligigs, intelUgent boomerang- like objects that home in and try to destroy you. There's no time to catch your breath. But surviving isn't the real goal. As you avoid them, you must be planning a strat- egy to trap them.
Swinging Doors
Before beginning the game, be sure to have a joystick plugged into port 2 on the 64. When the game starts, you're positioned near the middle of the screen, and the whirligigs be- gin their relentless pursuit immedi- ately. The screen has a gridlike appearance with green lines con- necting vertically aligned dots. Each line represents a door you can swing in any of four directions (up, down, left, or right) provided the space to which you push it is vacant.
To swing a door, simply push it away from you. (Fortunately, the whirligigs cannot move the doors.) There are two very good reasons why you need the doors to work for you: first, as temporary makeshift barriers when the whirligigs are very close on your tail; and second, to box them in.
The whirligigs are almost pure energy and must keep moving to
50 COMPUTE !s Gazette Oaobef 1985
survive. If one is forced into a sta- tionary position for even the slight- est amount of time, it disintegrates. Thus, your job is to surround a whirligig by hemming it in on all four sides. Each whirligig must be surrounded by four adjacent doors — you won't destroy them if you trap two or more together.
If you wish to pause the game at any time, press SHIFT or SHIFT- LOCK. Press it again to resume play.
Increasing Difficulty
You begin the game at level 1 with three lives. At this point, there are only two whirligigs to contend with, but two are a handful as you'll see. By eliminating all whirligigs on one level, you progress to the next level and earn points, Each succes- sive level (through 6) introduces one extra whirligig. At levels 7 and higher, the number of whirligigs re- mains the same (seven), but their speed increases while yours re- mains the same.
Scoring is directly related to the speed of your success. You re- ceive 50 points for each whirligig eliminated. If you succeed in com- pleting a level, you are awarded points equal to the time remaining on the bonus timer plus an extra 100 points multiplied by the num-
ber of the current level. You do not receive any points for just surviving.
The bonus timer starts at a number 100 times the current level and slowly winds down. If it reaches zero, the speed of both your player and the remaining whirligigs will increase until you lose a man or clear the screen of whirligigs.
The number of lives remaining is represented by the figures at the lower left of the screen. These fig- ures include your current life. You gain an extra life after the comple- tion of two levels, but you can never have more than three lives at any point. If you advance two levels and still possess three lives, you re- ceive a bonus of 250 points. Any contact with a whirligig results in the loss of one life. The game is over when you've exhausted your supply of lives.
Two ■whirligigs are temporarily trapped, but the thirii is hot on the player's trail.
Remember, whirligigs are ex- tremely intelligent and never relin- quish their pursuit. It is recommended that you constantly move about to temporarily confuse the whirligigs, thus allowing time to plan your strategy.
Typing It In
Since "Turnabout" is written en- tirely in machine language, you must use MLX to type it in, MLX is pub- lished frequently in the GAZETTE. First load and run MLX, then when prompted for the starting and end- ing addresses, enter 49152 and 51569, respectively.
After typing it in, be sure to save a copy. To load, type LOAD "filename",S,l and to run, enter SYS 49152.
See program listing on page 124. ■
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Atom Shoot
George F. Clement
The rules are simple, but you can't win without some intelligent deductions— and maybe a little luck. A challenging game of logic for the 64, Plus/4, 16, and unexpanded VIC.
In this game, you're a physicist en- gaged in important research into subatomic particles. As part of the research, you must find 25 quarlcs within a superthin quartz crj'stal.
The rules are fairly simple: You shoot atoms into the small crystal (which is only 15 atoms wide, 10 atoms deep). If there are no quarks blocking the path, the atom follows a straight path and comes out the other side. But if a quark is in the way, the atom bounces away at a right angle. And it's possible for atoms to ricochet off several quarks. They might even exit exactly oppo- site the entry point, making it look like the atom followed a straight path.
If you think you've found a quark, you can take a guess about the quark's location and type. You gain points for a correct guess, but lose points if you're wrong. There are more points available at the be- ginning of the game, when fewer atoms have been used up. You have a supply of only 25 atoms, so they must be used wisely. When you've used them all, the game is over and you'll be shown any quarks you didn't find.
|
The |
quarks act |
like a two-sided |
|
mirror: |
||
|
Atom |
New |
|
|
Shot From |
Direction |
|
|
Left-Handed |
Quarks |
|
|
North |
East |
|
|
South |
West |
|
|
East |
North |
|
|
West |
South |
|
|
Right-Handed Quarks |
||
|
North |
West |
|
|
South |
East |
|
|
East |
South |
|
|
West |
Norih |
Two Types Of Quarks
Atoms shot into the grid can be de- flected by one of two kinds of quarks, left-handed or right-hand- ed. If you shoot an atom upward (from south to north), a left-handed quark changes the atom's direction to the left (or west). A right-handed quark deflects the atom to the right.
52 COMPUTEfs GazBtia October 1965
Typing Instructions
There are two versions of "Atom Shoot," one for 40-column Com- modore computers (64, Plus/4, and 16) and one for the 22-column VIC.
Illl.llli k
!
Some quarks can be found easili/— others are more elusive (64 version).
Commodore 64 owners should en- ter Program 1 and save to tape or disk before running it. For the Plus/4 and 16, type in Program I (the 64 version), but substitute this line:
10 COLOR0,1 iCOLOR4,l:POKE1344, 128:CLR:KB=239:POKE2025,255
The VIC version runs without memory expansion. Remove or dis- able memory, type in Program 2, and save it to tape or disk. The rules
Jr
n
'i
1
Left-Handed Quarks
Right-Handed Quarks
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"The unknown surprises lurking behind closed doors keep you pk^ng. . . on and on'.'
-Computer Entertainer Newdetter
" . . RoadBace is now the best racing game on the market" -Edward Semrad/Milw'aukce Journal
A spectacular journey through space and time. The king is dead and you must help the young prince prove his mental and physical worth. Reassemble the ma^c lamps and return the mis- chievous genies to their netful place and the prince to the throne. Designed by Russell Liebhch and Peter Kaminsld.
Created for the Commodore 64/1 28, the Apple 0 series and Atari 800, XE, XL and compat- ible computer systems.
Enter Alca^ar The crowTi jewel of castles in a mysterious moorish landscape. To reach the coveted fortress, you must venture through a broad countryside of ancient castles. But beware, each is filled to the turrets with fantasy, magic and danger. Designed by Tom Loughiy.
Created for the Commodore 64/128 and the Apple II scries.
An underground energy plant powers all of North America. But, somewhere deep within its core, a tiny ghtch threatens a transcontinental blackout. You must assemble a force of skilled robot commandos, investigate the problem and repair it before the shutdown activator counts down to zero. Designed by Creative Sparks.
Created for the Commodore 64/1 28 and the Apple D series.
Strap yourself in! You're about to start the race of a lifetime. A high speed, coast-to-coast rally up, down and across three thousand grueling miles of changing weather, chan^ng tenrain and traffic, traffic, traffic. Monitor changing road conditions, speed, fuel, RPM's, destination times and, of course . . .your police radar deteaon You just may drive yourself into the top ten finisher board at the end of the race. Designed by Alex DeMeo.
Created for the Commodore 64/128, the Apple n scries and Atari 800, XE, XL and compat- ible computer systems.
The Next Generation.
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ACTIVISION
HOME CO.MFUTER SOFTWARE
are somewhat different to accom- modate the VIC's 22-column screen and the smaller amount of memory. See the VIC Programmer's Notes for details.
Shoot Or Guess
You have three options at the be- ginning of each round: shoot, guess, or quit. Press S, G, or Q ac- cordingly. If you choose to shoot, a letter appears in the top left comer. The letters start at A, and end at Y, They represent the 25 atoms you have in supply. Use the greater-
than (>) and less-than (<) keys to move the letter around the edge of the grid. When you've reached the spot you've chosen, press RETURN to shoot the atom.
The atom flies into the grid, bounces off quarks, and exits at an- other position, which will be marked with the same letter. The entry point will always be different from the exit (except in the VIC ver- sion— see Programmer's Notes).
After shooting an atom, you again have the option of shooting or guessing. Remember that the early guesses are worth more
points. If you choose to guess, press G. The computer asks where you think the quark is: which column and which row. Next, a pointer ap- pears in the corner. Use the "<" and ">" keys to position the point- er to the type of quark you think you've found. If the guess is right, the quark appears on the grid. If not, a checkerboard shape is printed.
The Quit option ends the game, with an invitation to play again, The game also ends after you shoot the last atom (letter Y). Either way, the undiscovered quarks are
VIC Programmer's Notes
John Krause, Assistant Technical Editor
Atoms are so tiny that we can't see them, but we know they exist. How do we know? By observing the way they affect other things.
In the VIC version of "Atom Shoot," you try to deduce the posi- tion of five atoms within an 8 X 8 matrix by bombarding the matrix with electron beams, and observing how they're affected by the atoms. The object is to use the least num- ber of beams.
When you run the program, you'll see the space matrix in the center of the screen. It appears as a square array containing 54 possible positions for the atoms. You send a beam into the matrix by using the joystick to move the cursor to one of the 32 locations on the perimeter of the matrix, and pressing the fire button.
An Invisible Beam
Since electron beams are invisible, you can't see the beam as it travels through the matrix. All you see is the end result. It takes about one second for the beam to complete its journey, at which point the com- puter records the result by placing color-coded squares on the perimeter.
Once a beam enters the matrix, three results are possible. One is that the beam exits the matrix at one of the other positions on the perimeter. This is a miss. The beam
may go straight through to the oth- er side, but if an atom is close to the beam's path, the beam will be de- flected as shown in Figure 1. It may deflect off of several atoms before finally exiting the matrix. A miss is indicated by two red squares — one marking the entrance and another, the exit. To avoid confusing the squares of one miss from those of other misses, each miss is assigned a unique letter, and the paired squares are labeled with the corre- sponding letter.
Another possible result is that the beam doesn't exit the matrix. This is called a hit and is indicated by a purple square at the entrance. It occurs when an atom is directly in the beam's path as shown in Figure 2. The atom stops the beam by ab- sorbing all of its energy.
A third possibility is that the beam exits the matrix at the same position that it entered, This is known as a reflection, and it can occur in two ways. One is if two at- oms are on both sides of the beam's path as in Figure 3. The beam de- flects off of both atoms simulta- neously, causing it to reverse direction and retrace its path back to the entrance.
A reflection can also occur if an atom is adjacent to the entrance as shown in Figure 4. In this case, the beam barely enters the matrix before being deflected back out.
Winning requires strategic shots and logical thinking (VIC version).
Both types of reflections are indicat- ed by a yellow square at the entrance.
Only One Guess
You can guess the position of the atoms at any time, but you get only one guess. If you're wrong, you lose the game, so it's best to wait until you're pretty sure you know where they all are. You make your guess by placing atom markers on five of the 64 positions within the space matrix. A marker appears as a white ball and is placed by moving the cursor to the appropriate position and pressing the fire button. If a marker is already there, it will be removed, allowing you to reposi- tion a marker if you change your mind.
You don't have to place all five markers down at once. It's a good idea to place one down as soon as you think you know where an atom is. Your guess is not complete until
S8 COMPUTE' 's Gezelta October 19B5
Yome Stumbled Into
M Unknown Computer System
NowWhat?
WelcomeToThe Next Generation Of Home Computer Software.
'Tlunge into every hacker's dream'.'
—Rick Mann ing/Louisvilli: Times
". . . the most rr^steriousgame ever!'
-Rjiwson Stovall/'TEe Vid Kid"
"An open screen says 'logon please! That's it, no instructions'.'
—Technology Notebook/Gannett News Service
Hader
TM
TEMPTrtnON.
SiniKrtilclmo g«toilartwtth, "unebodydstfs ThaftltFram mmputw syitwn. there, ffs up to you. ti^"^' ■^Ifytx/redever
'Just like in real life, there are no rules, no clues, no instructions."
-David Greisin^Ibchnology Memo
onait enough,!
VOUOHlfd
flKovwavwifW
I'^^mtfSx^ J!^w> never
What more can we say? Well, someone as clever and smart as you certainly wouldn't want any hints, right? So all well say is it was created by legendary designei; Steve Cartwright.
i.'raried/ar thr Cdmmoiiore 64fI^Ji, Apple II aenei mndAtan #W, X£, XL
and compt^ttbit jyitenu.
JACTIVISIQN
HOME COMPLITER SOITWARE
The Next Generation.
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Flip-n-File Rom 17.25
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C.128 NEW CALL
1571 Drive CALL
1572 Drive CALL
1902 Monilor ....CALL
1670 Modem CALL
C-64 Computer CALL
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Simon's Basic 24.75
Assembler 64 34.75
Super Expander 22.75
Logo 64 49.75
Pilot 64 38.75
Easy CalO 34 75
Easy Script 3B.75
SPINNAKER (C-64ROM)
Cosmic Life ROM 19 7S
J(jl<eboi 19.75
Ainhabet Zoo 17.75
All in Color Caves 19.75
Up tor Grabs ....,,,,,..19.75
Delta Drav^ing 19.75
Kids on Keys 16 75
Kmdercomp 54.75
Pacemaker 17.75
Fraction Fever 17.75
EASTERN HOUSE
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Rabbit VIC-SO 19 95
MAE C-64 ,,.27.95
Telstar 64 19.95
M.L. Monitor 64 ..,16,95
KOALA
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CARDCO
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32K Printer Suffer 59.95
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S'More Basic Rom 49.95
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Mail Now-64 ,,, .29,00
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File Now-64 29.00
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Calc Now-64 290O
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Super Printer Utility .27.95
Write Nov(-Vic-20 29.95
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Omni Wfilor/Sooll 34.95
HES Mon 64 33.95
Microsoft Multlplan 55.00
Type N Write 19.95
TunieGraptiicsll 23 95
Call Defense 22.95
Paint Brush 12.95
TrI tilatti Z2.95
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HES Kit 29.95
Millionaire 23.95
64 Fonn 24.95
NFS Writer 64 24.95
CONTINENTAL
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Home Accounlant 44.75
1984 Tax Advantage 35.75
1935 C-64 Boot of Sottwara 16 95
ADVENTURE
Dilkey 32.95
Ultra Disassembler 32.95
MICROPROSE (C-64)
Kennedy Approach 21.75
Crusade in Europe 24.75
Decision in Desert 24.75
Solo Fligtit 20.75
Nato Commander 20 75
Spitfire Ace 18.75
F-IS Sinke Eagle 20 75
Hellcat Ace 18.75
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Build A Book .2475
Irriproved Maslertype 23.75
NET WORTH 48,75
Mastertype Filer 22.75
SSI (C<64)
Colonial Conquest 24,75
Wings of War 24.75
Computer Ambush 34.75
FieWof Fire 24.75
Fighter Command 36 75
Kampfofuppe 36.75
Mecn Brigade 36.75
Market Garden 29.75
Six Gun Shootout 24.75
Computer Baseball 24.75
Computer Quarterback 24 75
Imperium Galactum 24.75
PbantasiB 24.75
Cartels & Cutthroats 24,75
50 Mission Crush 24.75
Questron 24,75
EPYX
(C-64)
Fast Load 26.75
Breakdance 23,75
Greatest Baseball 24.75
Summer Games 26.75
BATTERIES INCLUDED
Paper Clip. 59.95
Spell Pak 34.95
Consultant 59.95
Paper Clip
w/Spell Pal( 75,95
Home Pak 34.9S
Bus Card 129,95
80 Column Board 109.9S
BRODERBUND (0-64) The Print Shop 29,75
Graphics Library 18.75
Graphics Library II 19.75
Karateka.. 19.75
Castles Dr. Creep 19.75
Bank St. Writer 32.75
LodBrunner..„... 20.75
Mask of the Son 24.75
Spelunker 19.75
Serpent's Star 24.75
Whistler's Brother 18.75
Raid Bungeling Bay 18 75
SUB LOGIC (C-64)
Flight Simulator ll... 32.75 Nigtil Mission Pmball 20 76
OR & D
Copy 0 27.95
GPC Printer Interface. ...65 00
PERSONAL PERIPHERALS
Super Sl<etch 64 32.75
Printer Utility, 18.75
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GP550AI (Alaii) GP550CD C-64 GP550PC (IBMI GP550AP (Apple] GP700AT (Atari) GP?OOAP (Apple) ELITESCO (CM) GP100AT (Atan)
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59
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680
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CORONA
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