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Magazines > Commodore Horizons


Commodore Horizons (GB)

Commodore Horizons was a British magazine dedicated to Commodore computers, published monthly by Sunshine Books (issues 1-16) and Scot Press (issues 17-27). Earlier issues covered a broad range of topics including technical issues and video games, and later issues were mostly games oriented. A total of 17 issues were produced, from Dec 83/Jan 84 to Mar 1986. In Apr 1986 the magazine changed its name to Commodore and Amiga Horizons, which was incorporated into Commodore Computing International in Jun 1986. The editors were Graham Cunningham (issues 1-7), Brendon Gore (issues 8-13) and Christopher Jenkins (issues 14-27).

Download all programs from this magazine on one disk:


CommHorizons.d64

59 programs

Program Author Requirements Files Info
Minefield

Issue 1 (Dec 1983/Jan 1984),
Pages 18-20.
Pete Gerrard Unexpanded minefield.prg
Screenshot
Minesweeper game. Find a path to the top-right corner of the screen without hitting any mines. An expanded version was published in Issue 3.

Controls:
I (up), M (down), A (left), D (right).
Moles

Issue 1 (Dec 1983/Jan 1984),
Pages 39-40.
Martyn Frederickson Unexpanded moles.prg
Screenshot
Kill the moles by dropping bombs on their molehills.

Controls:
F7 (drop bomb).
Light Sound

Issue 1 (Dec 1983/Jan 1984),
Page 43.
Richard Barton Super Expander+3K light snd se3k.prg
Screenshot
Graphical demo, produces random noise and high resolution shapes.

Controls:
None.
Creating 3D Graphics

Issue 1 (Dec 1983/Jan 1984),
Page 43.
Marc Sinclair Super Expander+3K create 3d se3k.prg
Screenshot
Tiny program that displays a 3D high resolution pattern.

Controls:
None.
Alien Attack

Issue 2 (Feb 1984),
Pages 26-28.
John Wilson 16K expansion alienattack 16k.prg
Screenshot
Aliens are attacking from the bottom of the screen. Shoot them with your constantly moving ship. You must hit each ship in the centre, otherwise your bullets will bounce off their shields.

Controls:
Z (left), X (right), Return (fire).
UFO

Issue 2 (Feb 1984),
Pages 41-42.
Mark Manns Unexpanded ufo.prg
Screenshot
Shoot the UFO as many times as you can in 2 minutes.

Controls:
Z (left), C (right), M (fire).
Blockbuster

Issue 2 (Feb 1984),
Pages 47-51.
Paul Hope Unexpanded blockbuster.prg
Screenshot
Character editor, uses a 2x3 block of characters in multi-colour mode.

Controls:
Cursor keys (move), C (set pixel to char colour), A (set pixel to aux colour), S (set pixel to screen colour), B (set pixel to border colour), E (return to start menu).
Astro Wars

Issue 2 (Feb 1984),
Pages 51-52.
David Jones Unexpanded astro wars.prg
Screenshot
Galaxians game. Shoot the aliens before they destroy your base.

Controls:
Joystick.
Singing Roller Canary

Issue 2 (Feb 1984),
Page 52.
Richard Barton Unexpanded roller canary.prg
Screenshot
Sound effects demo, sounds like a Roller Canary.

Controls:
None.
Minefield Modified

Issue 3 (Mar 1984),
Page 5.
B R P Wedge & Pete Gerrard 16K expansion minefield 16k.prg
Screenshot
Minesweeper game, updated from Issue 1 to add sound effects. Find a path to the top-right corner of the screen without hitting any mines.

Controls:
I (up), M (down), A (left), D (right).
Acting a Bit Out Of Character
(Custom Characters)

Issue 3 (Mar 1984),
Pages 32-33.
Kevin Bergin Unexpanded custom chars.prg
Screenshot
Graphic demo showing how to use custom, user-defined characters.

Controls:
None.
National
(Mini-National)

Issue 3 (Mar 1984),
Pages 38-41.
Robert Campbell Unexpanded mini-national.prg
Screenshot
Horse racing game, place your bets and find out which of the eight horses will be the winner.

Controls:
Follow on-screen prompts.
Vic Ditty

Issue 3 (Mar 1984),
Pages 43-44.
Richard Barton Unexpanded vic ditty.prg
Screenshot
Musical demo, played with varying pitches and chords etc.

Controls:
None.
Gobbler

Issue 3 (Mar 1984),
Pages 45-47.
Darren Eckersley Unexpanded gobbler.prg
Screenshot
Eat the diamonds by collecting them with your head. If you don't score 300 points within three minutes then a monster will come for you.

Controls:
U (up), M (down), H (left), K (right), Space (jump to next level).
Convert
(Conversion Tables)

Issue 3 (Mar 1984),
Pages 47-49.
Mark Manns Unexpanded convert.prg
Screenshot
Utility, converts various units from Imperial to Metric and vice versa.

Controls:
Follow on-screen prompts.
Sounds

Issue 4 (Apr 1984),
Page 49.
Abtar Bangar Unexpanded sounds.t64
Screenshot
Five programs that produce interesting sound & colour effects.

Controls:
None.
Meanies
(Astro Meanies)

Issue 4 (Apr 1984),
Pages 49-51.
Colin Duncan Unexpanded astro meanies.prg
Screenshot
Defender game played on a single, non-scrolling screen. Destroy as many of the alien ships as you can.

Controls:
W (up), X (down), A (left), D (right), S (fire).
Drawing

Issue 4 (Apr 1984),
Page 53.
Michael Reeve Super Expander+3K drawing se3k.prg
Screenshot
Art program, draw high-resolution pictures.

Controls:
Joystick.
Ghostie

Issue 5 (May 1984),
Pages 47-49.
Philip Seward Unexpanded ghostie.prg
Screenshot
Pac-Man game. Eat as many dots and diamonds as you can within two minutes, but avoid the ghost.

Controls:
2 (left), 4 (right), 6 (up), 8 (down).
String
(String Craft)

Issue 5 (May 1984),
Pages 49-50.
Tony Piper Super Expander+3K string se3k.prg
Screenshot
Graphic demo, produces interesting shifting patterns of lines.

Controls:
None.
Pools
(Pools Check)

Issue 5 (May 1984),
Pages 53-55.
Rob Morrison Unexpanded pools check.prg
Screenshot
Utility, check for winning lines on the football pools.

Controls:
Follow on-screen prompts.
Nuclear War
(Global Thermonuclear War)

Issue 6 (Jun 1984),
Pages 18-21.
Paul Hearn 3K expansion nuclear war 3k.prg
Screenshot
You are engaged in a nuclear war against the USSR. First you must work out the three-digit code to access the launch computer, use your radar to set a target, then launch a counter-attack.

Controls:
Follow on-screen prompts.
Beginning in Basic
(Keyword Demonstration)

Issue 6 (Jun 1984),
Pages 23-26.
Kevin Bergin Unexpanded keyword demo.prg
Screenshot
Programming demo, shows how various keywords work.

Controls:
Follow on-screen prompts.
Dec/Hex
(Universal Dec/Hex Convert)

Issue 6 (Jun 1984),
Pages 52-55.
M C Hart Unexpanded dec-hex convert.prg
Screenshot
Utility, convert decimal numbers into hexadecimal and vice versa.

Controls:
SYS 850,xxxxx (dec-hex)
SYS 940,$xxxx (hex-dec)
Gunfight

Issue 6 (Jun 1984),
Pages 57-59.
Neil Thacker Unexpanded gunfight.prg
Screenshot
Boot Hill game for 2 players. Which cowboy will shoot the other first?

Controls:
Player 1: A (left), D (right), W (up), X (down), S (fire).
Player 2: L (left), ; (right), P (up), . (down), : (fire).
Feenix
(Alien Attack)

Issue 7 (Jul 1984),
Pages 49-53.
Abtar Bangar Unexpanded alien attack.t64
Screenshot
Horizontally-scrolling space shooter. Kill as many as aliens as you can in two minutes, but aim carefully because you lose points for every shot that misses.

Controls:
B (fire).
Inserts

Issue 7 (Jul 1984),
Pages 53-54.
Ian Ganderton Unexpanded & 1520 plotter inserts.t64
Screenshot
Two utilities that require a 1520 plotter. The first program prints a blank cassette inlay for programs, the second a blank inlay for music.

Controls:
None.
Letters
(Letter Seeker)

Issue 7 (Jul 1984),
Pages 54-55.
Andrew Turner Unexpanded letter seeker.prg
Screenshot
Reaction time game. The computer displays a random letter and you must press the same key as quickly as possible.

Controls:
Press the displayed key.
Medians+

Issue 7 (Jul 1984),
Page 56.
P H Armstrong Unexpanded medians.t64
Screenshot
Two short mathematical utilities. Angle Sums displays information about polygons. Medians calculates the mode of a set of numbers.

Controls:
Follow on-screen prompts.
Character Worksheet

Issue 8 (Aug 1984),
Pages 37-39.
David Shepherdson Unexpanded char worksheet.prg
Screenshot
Character editor.

Controls:
Type the YX coordinates of the pixel to change (a letter followed by a number), S (show data values).
Solitaire

Issue 8 (Aug 1984),
Page 42.
Andrew Shand Unexpanded solitaire.prg
Screenshot
Patience game, remove all the pegs so that you only have one peg remaining. Pegs are removed by jumping over them to land in an empty space.

Controls:
Q (up), A (down), < (left), > (right), S (pick up peg), F (put down peg).
Fruits
(Fruit Machine)

Issue 8 (Aug 1984),
Pages 45-47.
Frank Bingley Unexpanded fruit machine.t64
Screenshot
Fruit machine game.

Controls:
Space (spin wheels), 1-3 (hold).
Mines
(Minefield)

Issue 8 (Aug 1984),
Pages 50-53.
Scott Graham Unexpanded mines.prg
Screenshot
Clear as many mines (O) as you can in forty seconds, but don't touch the bombs (*).

Controls:
Z (left), X (right), L (up), , (down).
Meteors
(Meteor Attack)

Issue 8 (Aug 1984),
Pages 53-55.
Issue 9 (Sep 1984),
Pages 45-46.
Andrew Lovatt Unexpanded meteor attack.prg
Screenshot
Destroy the meteors as they fly across the screen towards you. You lose a life each time one gets past.

Controls:
A (up), Z (down), . (fire).
Hangman

Issue 8 (Aug 1984),
Pages 55-56.
Andrew Shand Unexpanded hangman.prg
Screenshot
Hangman game for two players. The first player enters a word, which the second player has to guess before his man is hanged.

Controls:
Type your guess for each letter, press * to display the full word.
Connect 4

Issue 8 (Aug 1984),
Page 56.
Andrew Shand Super Expander+3K connect4 se3k.prg
Screenshot
Connect 4 game for two players. Take it in turns to drop a counter into one of the seven columns. The first person to get four in a line (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) wins.

Controls:
1-7 (position of next move), S (end the game and tell the computer who won).
Mission X

Issue 9 (Sep 1984),
Pages 29-31.
Richard Clark Unexpanded mission-x.t64
Screenshot
Horizontally-scrolling shooter. Use your ship to knock flags from the tops of enemy buildings, then fly through the fuel gates, and finally land your craft on the landing pad.

Controls:
F1 (thrust), F3 (keep ship level).
Lettersort

Issue 9 (Sep 1984),
Pages 41-45.
Frank Bingley Unexpanded lettersort.prg
Screenshot
Boss puzzle game. Slide the tiles to arrange the letters into alphabetical order.

Controls:
Joystick, or W (up), Z (down), A (left), D (right), * (when finished).
Melody

Issue 9 (Sep 1984),
Page 45.
Dominic Gordon Taylor Unexpanded melody.prg
Screenshot
Plays a tune using all three voices.

Controls:
None.
Ski Slope

Issue 10 (Oct 1984),
Pages 43-45.
Niall Murphy Unexpanded ski slope.prg
Screenshot
Vertically-scrolling downhill ski game. Collect the hearts and diamonds but don't hit the trees.

Controls:
Crsr-Down (left), Crsr-Right (right), X (slow speed), Z (medium speed), C (high speed).
Bongo Maniac

Issue 10 (Oct 1984),
Page 45.
Iain Gartside & Stephen Ward Unexpanded bongo maniac.t64
Screenshot
Three short programs to demonstrate sound & colour effects. Computer Manic is the sound of the computer going mad. Sound and Colour displays a synchronised sound and colour effect. Bongo Drums plays the bongos wildly.

Controls:
None.
1520 Data

Issue 11 (Nov 1984),
Pages 20-22.
Sarah Cotton Unexpanded & 1520 plotter 1520 data.t64
Screenshot
Series of programs demonstrating how to use the Commodore 1520 plotter. All programs assume you have changed the device number from 6 to 4.

Controls:
None.
Graphics
(Graphic Designs)

Issue 11 (Nov 1984),
Page 59.
Ashley Woodhams Super Expander+3K gfx design se3k.prg
Screenshot
Graphical demo, displays a number of different effects.

Controls:
None.
Pulling the Switch on Vic Joysticks

Issue 12 (Dec 1984),
Pages 15-17.
Colin Walls Unexpanded joystick.t64
Screenshot
Series of BASIC and machine code routines for reading the joystick.

Controls:
None.
Doubler

Issue 12 (Dec 1984),
Page 75.
Andrew Tilley Unexpanded doubler.prg
Screenshot
Switches the screen to display double sized characters.

Controls:
None.
Space Mines

Issue 12 (Dec 1984),
Pages 75-77.
Issue 13 (Jan 1985),
Pages 76-77.
Kevin Hughes Unexpanded space mines.t64
Screenshot
Guide your ship to the landing pad at the bottom of the screen, avoiding the mines and lasers. On the bonus screen (after three successful landings), hit as many mines as you can before docking with the mothership.

Controls:
Joystick, or < (left), > (right), A (abort).
Jellypuss

Issue 12 (Dec 1984),
Pages 77-78.
P H Armstrong Unexpanded jellypuss.prg
Screenshot
Guide your diver to the marine castle while avoiding the deadly creatures.

Controls:
A (left), D (right).
HEXIT

Issue 13 (Jan 1985),
Pages 64-66.
M C Hart Unexpanded hexit.prg
Screenshot
Programming utility to help relocate machine code.

Controls:
None.
Disassembler

Issue 13 (Jan 1985),
Pages 67-68.
Mark Thomson 3K Expansion disassembler 3k.prg
Screenshot
Utility to disassemble machine language programs. For output device, enter 3 to display the disassembly on the screen. Note: The program will crash with an 'out of data' error if the start address doesn't contain a valid mnemonic code.

Controls:
Follow on-screen prompts.
Breakthrough

Issue 13 (Jan 1985),
Pages 74-76.
James Stopps Unexpanded break through.prg
Screenshot
Breakout game. Use your bat & ball to demolish the bricks so that your ball can escape through the top of the screen.

Controls:
Z (left), / (right).
Cosmic Bugs

Issue 14 (Feb 1985),
Pages 39-40.
Chris Lyon Unexpanded cosmic bugs.prg
Screenshot
Defend the houses from attack by the alien bugs. The mothership is out of range and the white bugs are indestructable so you must kill as many yellow bugs as you can.

Controls:
A (left), D (right), L (fire).
Autorun

Issue 14 (Feb 1985),
Page 40.
John Gundry Unexpanded autorun.prg
Screenshot
Utility to help protect your programs. It saves onto tape a small autorun loader that, when run, disables the Run/Stop & Restore keys and then loads the next program on tape.

Controls:
None.
The Vic 20's Mind at Work

Issue 15 (Mar 1985),
Pages 25-27.
Raeto West Unexpanded/16K prog vic un-16k.t64
Screenshot
Two programming tools. Program1 (unexpanded) shows the contents of a memory block, run using SYS828,start,length. Program2 (16K) changes your memory configuration.

Controls:
Follow on-screen prompts.
Mirror Image

Issue 15 (Mar 1985),
Pages 44-45.
Steve Johnson Unexpanded mirror image.prg
Screenshot
Your space fighter is being attacked from above and below. Shoot the aliens before they crash into your shields and deplete your power.

Controls:
Z (left), X (right), F5 (fire up), F7 (fire down).
VAT Attack

Issue 15 (Mar 1985),
Page 54.
Jack Cohen Unexpanded vat attack.prg
Screenshot
Small business program to calculate the VAT payable (at 15%) on a series of numbers.

Controls:
Follow on-screen prompts.
Derby Day

Issue 16 (Apr 1985),
Pages 43-44.
Martin Kitwood Unexpanded derby day.prg
Screenshot
Horce racing game with a horizontally-scrolling track. Can you bet on the winning horses or will you run out of money?

Controls:
Follow on-screen prompts.
Music Box
(Music Maker)

Issue 18 (Jun 1985),
Pages 43-44.
Michael Turner Unexpanded music maker.prg
Screenshot
Music program. Turn the computer into a music keyboard with a 100-note memory.

Controls:
Enter the voice (1-4) and note duration (0.001-1). Play music using the letter keys, except for N & O (insert pauses). Press F7 for playback.
Checksum

Issue 19 (Jul 1985),
Page 30.
Mike Hart Unexpanded checksum.prg
Screenshot
Utility, displays a checksum on the screen when entering programs to confirm that you typed each line correctly.

Controls:
None.
Rockets
(Rocket Command)

Issue 24 (Dec 1985),
Page 62.
Keith Jennings Unexpanded rocket command.prg
Screenshot
How many UFO's can you shoot down using your bank of ten rockets?

Controls:
A (fire).

Notes

  1. A Spanish version of Minefield (84-01) was published as Campo de minas (Commodore Magazine, Mar 1984).
  2. Moles (84-01) was also published in Pixel (85-02). A Spanish version of Moles (84-01) was published as Piedras a los topos (Commodore Magazine, Jul 1984).
  3. UFO (84-02) was also published in Pixel (85-01).
  4. Ghostie (84-05) appears to be a modified version of Pacman (Computer & Video Games, 82-09).
  5. A slightly different version of Space Mines (84-12) was published in Personal Computing Today (84-11).

With thanks to DLH's Commodore Archive, Internet Archive and Mort and for scanning this magazine.

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