Welcome to UpTime for the Commodore 64/128, Volume Two, Number Eight. As captain of this crazy ship, this month I've plotted a course for adventure, fun and productivity.
We begin our journey in the Gulf of Entertainment where we pay a visit to the isle of Elite Software Systems, who has prepared a text adventure for us. In 'Murder Mansion' you are a detective chosen to solve a murder which occured in the mansion of Dr. Davidson. You must search the mansion for clues to identify and accuse the culprit. But don't accuse the wrong person or your job could be forfeit. Also, be forwarned that the butler didn't do it. In this murder mystery the butler is the victim!
'Murder Mansion' accepts two-word commands to direct your investigation. It will also accept some single letter navigational commands: N (North); S (South); E (East); W (West); U (Up); and D (Down). If the parser doesn't recognize a command you enter please be patient. Try re-phrasing your command using different words. If the game still doesn't understand you then what you are trying to do is most likely not neccesary to complete the game. It is obviously not possible for the program to know everything that you may type. To end the game just enter 'quit.'
Moving on we come to the home of Cleveland Blakemore. Cleve invites us in to play his new action game, 'Galactic Cab Company,' on his Commodore 128 computer. Note that this is a C128 mode game and you must have a C128 to play it. To begin, insert Side 2 of your UpTime disk into your 1571 disk drive, and re-set your computer. Alternately, you could type (from 128 mode) RUN "GALACTIC CAB CO." <RETURN>. A more detailed description of the game can be found in the UpTime menu.
As we leave the Gulf of Entertainment we enter the Sea of Productivity. At the isle of Vision Software we find more of Vision's popular educational math series. This time around we have 'Vision Fractions 1' which is composed of five separate programs to help youngsters learn how to work with fractions. In addition to 'Vision Fractions 1,' Vision Software also makes us an offer to purchase more of their quality educational software at a discount.
Next, onward to the home of Tom Truman and Microcraft, where we find 'Recipe Filer,' a helpful utility for those who enjoy working in the galley (otherwise known as the kitchen for you landlubbers). 'Recipe Filer' will allow you to keep a computerized recipe box containing all your favorite recipes. Included on the disk are three sample recipes to get you started with. They are: Apple Pancakes, Oriental Mussels and Rocky Road. You can obtain more interesting recipes such as these by writing to Microcraft at: PO Box 1181, Lisle, IL, 61532. Send them $7.95 and they'll send you a disk full of great recipes.
I suggest that you format a new diskette for storing your recipes on, rather than trying to use the UpTime disk. It is never really a good idea to use your original disk for storing data files. If something happens to the disk, you will not only lose your data but also your UpTime! I also suggest that you copy the sample recipes to the recipe storage disk that you create. You can do this either by using a file copier (any standard file copier will suffice) or by reading them into 'Recipe Filer' from the UpTime disk, then immediately saving them to your recipe disk.
Before you try creating these new recipes however, you should try the next program on our list, 'Astro-Bioprinter.' This program will plot your own personal biorhythms which will tell you about such things as whether today would be a good day for you to try cooking a new recipe!
Lastly, we move to the busy abode of Jon Perregaux. Here we find a new GEOS font called 'Legal Font.' Fonts can be very tedious to design, but Jon doesn't mind. He creates some very attractive looking fonts for use in geoWrite, etc., and 'Legal Font' is no exception. Watch for more GEOS fonts from Jon in future issues of UpTime.
Leaving the Sea of Productivity we find ourselves in the Straits of Judgement. Here we find reviews of three new products for the Commodore 64/128. 'Deskpack Plus' and 'Fontpack Plus,' both upgrades to existing products from Berkeley Softworks, are put to the judgement by Jon Perregaux. Also, Ervin Bobo cross-examines 'A Question of Scruples' from Electronic Arts.
Finally, we dock at the Bay of UpTime where we meet our regular and semi-regular column authors. Jenny Tesar brings us 'Tesar on Track,' Dan Gutman speaks to us in 'Random Access,' Robert Rockefeller teaches us more about machine language in 'Programming with ML,' and Jon Perregaux visits us once again with his 'Tips & Tricks' column.
I hope you enjoy this issue's voyage through the lands of UpTime. If you have any comments at all, whether good or bad, I urge you to communicate them to me through the Reader's Survey. Your comments, suggestions and yes, even complaints are what powers this ship, and without such feedback we will no doubt stand still and stagnate. You CAN help steer this ship in the direction which most suites your tastes/needs. I suggest you print out the Reader's Survey sheet before going through the rest of the issue. This way you can record your impressions, or lack of such, immediately. I thank you now for your cooperation.
