64/128 VIEW
TOM NETSEL
For some time we've been thinking about providing a showcase for 64 and 128 artists, a place to display their computer masterpieces. Beginning with this month's Gazette Disk, we'll be publishing some of your best submissions in what we call "Gazette Gallery."
By selecting COMPUTE's Gazette Gallery Viewer from the disk menu, you'll see some of the best 64/128 artwork available in a slideshow format. Each piece will be presented just as the artist created it and as it was meant to be seen, on a computer monitor.
We pay $50 for each picture that we select for display in "Gazette Gallery." From those selected, we'll name one Picture of the Month and award it an additional $50. So if you have original computer artwork that you're proud of, send it in. We want to see your best work. Pictures may be in Koala, Doodle, or any other popular format. Send no more than five entries per disk per month to Gazette Gallery, COMPUTE Publications, 324 West Wendover Avenue, Greensboro, North Carolina 27408. Be sure to put your name, address, and daytime telephone number on your disk. And enclose a self-addressed, stamped disk envelope if you want your artwork returned.
For years we've done our best to provide Gazette readers with outstanding type-in programs for the 64 and 128. Whether they're games, programming utilities, or productivity or educational programs, we try to publish a variety of the best programs submitted to us each month.
Occasionally we come across programs we like but which are just too large to offer as type-ins. By adding so many outstanding features, the programmer has made the program too big. The listing would run for pages and pages, and it would take weeks for the average reader to type it in. In the past we've been forced to reject these programs, but now we've found a way around this problem.
Each month on the Gazette Disk, we're presenting these larger programs and certain others as bonuses. We started with the October disk with a program called geoGammon. This computer version of backgammon for GEOS and GEOS 128 was simply too large for us to offer as a type-in, but we felt it was an excellent program that our subscribers would appreciate. The game, with complete documentation, appears only on the October disk. There's nothing to type in; it's ready to run. Two other programs, Multi-Color Lister and 64-Shell, rounded out last month's bonus package on the Gazette Disk.
This month's disk features two bonus programs. Bastion is a futuristic, one- or two-player arcade-style shoot-'em-up in which your spaceship tries to blast its way through layers of rotating shields. Eye Catcher is a scrolling text utility that's handy for announcing special events and the time they're scheduled.
Speaking of utilities, we've noticed a shortage of them recently. Most of our recent submissions have been games. Many of these are excellent, but the 64 and 128 are more than just great game machines. So if you have a programming utility—a piece of software that helps out around the house or office or is educational in nature—we'd like to look at it. We especially need programs for the 128 that take advantage of its unique features. Now's a great time to send your best original programs to our submissions reviewer.
In an effort to allot more magazine pages to type-in programs, we won't be printing The Automatic Proofreader and MLX in every issue of Gazette as we have done in the past. These programs will still be used, however, to help readers enter the programs correctly. Copies of these handy programs can be found in back issues of the magazine, and we'll print them whenever space allows. If you don't have access to back issues and you need a copy, we'll be glad to send you a free listing. Simply write to Typing Aids at the address listed above. Be sure to enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope and remember to mention which program listing you need.