Loadstar 128 18/q18.d81/t.diskovery 18

Text File | 2022-08-28 | 9KB | 170 lines

                 D I S K O V E R Y : Where Do We Go From Here?

                               by Fender Tucker


     Let me start with the bottom line.  I love programming the C-128 in 80
columns.  I didn't at first -- the commands didn't work right, none of the
ML routines I had collected worked, the BASIC is slow, and on top of that,
the tiny letters were blurry -- but I soon came around.  Here, in order of
importance, are the things that changed my mind about the C-128.

 (1) CONTROL80 by Jon Mattson.  This incredibly handy BASIC extension allows
me to PEEK and POKE the VDC chip, save screens, do easy block cursors, dump
screens to the printer, and many other tasks that I needed to do, but had no
idea how to on the C-128.  Published on LOADSTAR 128 #10, it's used by 80%
of the programs published on LS 128, and 100% of my programs.

 (2) The 1084 monitor.  The 640x200 mode requires a good monitor (as well as
a good video chip).  Once I saw how crisp and legible the 80-column mode
could be I knew I wanted to program for it.

 (3) The 80-column screen itself.  A constant hassle when programming for
the C-64 is how to get all of the information to fit on the screen.  80
columns is a natural for databases and puzzle programs that need style AND
space.

 (4) JiffyDOS.  Even with a 1571 drive the stock C-128 is pretty slow.
WarpSpeed sped things up but was too incompatible with certain necessary
software.  JiffyDOS is the way to go for bringing the C-128 into the 90s.  I
recommend it for anyone who is serious about his C-128.

     That's why I like the C-128.  I'm sure all of you who are users, not
programmers, have your own reasons for preferring the C-128 mode over the
C-64.  It's a great machine that deserves a lot better treatment than it got
from Commodore.

     But what is going to happen to the C-128?  Refurbished units are still
available from Software Hut and other places but mainly the only way to get
one is to buy one at a garage sale or from someone who's moving into the
murky IBM world.  Luckily, they're not too hard to find -- at this time.
Still, we have to look forward to days when hardware and replacement parts
aren't available.

     The good news is that day is still a long ways off, relatively
speaking.  I have no doubt that the C-128 (and for that matter, the C-64)
has a good five to ten more years of life in it.  Strangely enough, that's
about how long I give the 486s that everyone with $3000 is buying today.
Judging by the pace that the DOS field is keeping, the software that's big
today for the IBMs will be worthless in five years.  IBMs are like the
gas-guzzling chrome behemoths of the 50s; changing every year just for the
hell of it.  C-64/128s are more like Volkswagon Bugs -- always staying
compatible, forewards and backwards.

     Our little 8-bit computers don't change -- the peripherals do.
Creative Micro Designs comes out with new chips or new drives, not new
computers.  Antigrav Toolkit doesn't make a new computer; they just make a
new chip that makes your C-128 seem like a new computer, yet is still
compatible with old software.

     Speaking of software, what is happening in the C-128 world?  I'm sorry
to report, not much.  The market just isn't large enough for the big
software companies to produce C-128 specific programs.  But I never cared
too much for the big companies' products anyway.  The best stuff for the
C-128 comes from small companies like Eric Lee's Busy Bee Software,
producers of THE WRITE STUFF, or BASIC 8 by David Darus, or IPAINT by Rick
Kane.  Need I mention LOADSTAR 128 by the mom and pop company, Softdisk?

     I just received a program from Alf Jonassen of Norway called THE
SERVANT.  It's a shareware program that adds quite a few useful features to
your C-128, including a great file copier, C-128 to C-64 capabilities,
un-NEW, Datamaker, Quick Brown Box utilities and more.  The program
demonstrates its features very well but its best functions are limited
because it takes up so much RAM.  But that's not what Alf is really selling.
The program is a working demo of what you'll be able to do if you get his
chip that has THE SERVANT in it.  With the chip, very little RAM is used and
the full capabilities of this utility can be appreciated and used.

     You can either burn the chip yourself (not for beginners) or send him a
chip and let him burn it for a very reasonable $10 or so.  I plan on having
a lot more information (and more) on LOADSTAR 128 #19.

     So now we know that there is an empty socket in your C-128 just waiting
for you to fill with a chip.  What's on this chip is the future of the
C-128.  I anticipate that the next year or so will bring numerous chips that
will do all sorts of things.  Who knows?  We may all be cutting holes in the
tops of our C-128s so we can pop chips in and out of this socket at a
moment's whim.

     Randy Winchester's KeyDOS ROM V2 uses this socket.  It has more serious
programming tools than THE SERVANT does.  It also comes with an excellent
manual that doubles as a tutorial on programming.  I plan to give you a more
complete review of it next issue.

     John Brown, of Parsec and Twin Cities, is emerging as the #1 guru of
the C-128.  His Twin Cities bi-monthly magazine is already bigger than
Gazette and RUN (R.I.P) put together.  I don't see how anyone who has a
C-128 (or C-64 for that matter) can do without it.  We plan to start
allowing advertisement on LOADSTAR 64 and 128 soon but until then Twin
Cities is the place to look for companies that support our machines.

     GEOS fans the world over are happy to see Grady Brown (editor of
geo-JOURNAL when it was good) editing his own GEOS-oriented magazine,
geoVISION.  GEOS is a subset of the C-128/64 world and has fanatical
followers.  I expect to see more GEOS support on LOADSTAR, maybe even on
LOADSTAR 128.

     Speaking of LOADSTAR, where do we fit in?  We have traditionally been
the purveyors of the best homegrown software for the C-128/64.  Every month
you get new, original software that's better than what's in the public
domain.  Our mission is to entertain you, and at the same time, provide you
with programs that are useful and educational.  Because Jeff and I both
prefer programming over using, we have a definite bent towards programming.
In the past we left the game and productivity reviews to those who actually
play games and use applications.  That may change.  We will start handling
anything that Twin Cities can't do better.

     We're still a small group.  If it weren't for the great programmers
like Barbara Schulak, Dick Heckert, Robert Cook and Jon Mattson, LOADSTAR
128 would be a non-entity.  I spend about two weeks every three months
frantically editing submissions and writing text, leaving LOADSTAR 64 in the
capable hands of Jeff Jones.  Sure, LOADSTAR 128 could be better if we threw
more resources at it, but we, like everyone else in the U.S., are still
trying to recover from 12 years of trickle-down economy that never made it
down to the lower-middle class.  Hiring people and spending big bucks on a
magazine with less than 1000 subscribers is not good business sense.

     So all we can offer you is our loyalty and dedication -- and a promise
that we will not abandon you.  We will not RUN away.  The programs are
getting more sophisticated.  The ideas are as original as ever.  The quality
of programming is getting better.  The usefulness of the C-128 has not
diminished an iota.

     Check out the programs on this disk and ask yourself: Is it worth $40 a
year to get 25 or 30 programs like MAGIC 128 or LUNACY?  If I were a cynical
sort I'd add: Can I get anything comparable elsewhere?  But I'm not cynical.
I'm proud to be the editor of the programs that C-128 lovers write and look
forward to sending you all of the LOADSTAR 128s you have coming.  If you
want to keep getting LOADSTAR 128 every three months, all you have to do is
renew your subscription.  If you know someone with a C-128 who doesn't know
about us, lend him a copy.  We're all in this together.  There's no
competition and that suits me just fine.

FT

Addresses of companies who support the C-128

 Creativ