Commander (US)

Commander was an American magazine dedicated to Commodore computers, published by Micro Systems Specialities. It covered a wide range of topics including comms, technical issues, programming tutorials and games. At least 18 issues were produced. The editors were Alicia A Linden (issues 1-7), Linda L Linden (issues 8-13), Donald Elman (issues 14-16), Dorinda Anderson (issues 17-18).

Download all programs from this magazine on one disk:

Commander.d64

Note: The game Crazy Scaler (83-08) is not included on this disk because it currently only loads from cassette tape.

30 programs

Program	Author	Requirements	Files	Info
Enterprise Vol 1 No 1 (Dec 1982), Pages 29-30. Vol 1 No 2 (Jan 1983), Pages 23-28.	Tim Parker	3K expansion	enterprise 3k.prg Screenshot	Star Trek game. You are the captain of the Enterprise (E). Explore all 9 quadrants of space and destroy all the Klingons (K). If you are running low on energy or shields then transfer power from the impulse engines. Dock with the starbase (B) to restore your settings to their maximum values. Controls: Follow on-screen prompts.
Gobble! Vol 1 No 2 (Jan 1983), Pages 32-35. Vol 1 No 3 (Feb 1983), Pages 19-22.	Tim Parker	Unexpanded	gobble.prg Screenshot	Pac-Man game. Eat as many dots as you can while avoiding your nemesis, then escape using the exit at the bottom of the maze. You lose points for every dot eaten by your nemesis. Controls: I (up), M (down), J (left), K (right).
DOSPLUS Vol 1 No 3 (Feb 1983), Pages 10-13, 64.	Eric Giguere	Unexpanded	dosplus.d64 Screenshot	Disk utility. Send DOS commands to the disk drive without using the OPEN and PRINT# commands. Controls: Press the right square bracket key (Shift + Semicolon) followed by the desired command, e.g. use ]I0: to initialise the drive. Type ]E to view the drive's error status, and ]K to disable the program.
Solitaire Four Vol 1 No 4/5 (Mar/Apr 1983), Pages 29-34.	Edwin Sund	8K expansion	solitaire4 8k.prg Screenshot	Card game. The replacement pile is dealt by dealing 11 cards face down and turning the top card face up. 4 playing stacks are dealt in a row next to the replacement pile. 1 more card is dealt in the win row, above the playing stacks. The remaining 36 cards are placed face down in the draw pile. The objective is to build 4 stacks of cards of the same suite in ascenting order. Cards are taken 3 at a time from the draw pile. The top card can be put on any play stack in alternating colours and descending order, and the top card from the replacement stack can also be played the same way. The top card of any stack can be put on the win stack of that suite in ascending order. Controls: Play a card by entering its number (2-9, A, T, J, Q, K) and a suite (Shift+A, S, Z, X). Press N to draw the next 3 cards, and B to go back one draw. E restarts the game.
Array Assignment Sort Vol 1 No 6 (May 1983), Pages 40-41.	David Steffes & Art Dudley	Unexpanded	array sort.prg Screenshot	Short and fast sorting routine. It fills an array with random numbers then sorts them into ascending order. Controls: Follow on-screen prompts.
Parachute Landing Vol 1 No 6 (May 1983), Pages 58-60.	Tom Adkins	Unexpanded	parachute land.prg Screenshot	You parachute into the middle of the forest, and you must escape without stepping on any of the 15 invisible landmines. Longer routes achieve higher scores. Note: Your character (*) does not appear until you press one of the movement keys. Controls: Y (up), B (down), G (left), H (right).
Arithmetic at Nursery School (Addition and Subtraction Facts) Vol 1 No 7 (Jun 1983), Pages 26-30.	Dennis G Smith	Unexpanded	add sub facts.prg Screenshot	Mental arithmetic game for young children. You must correctly solve 10 addition or subtraction problems without making any mistakes. Controls: Type the correct answer.
Pie Graph Vol 1 No 7 (Jun 1983), Pages 46-49.	Eric Giguere	Super Expander+3K	pie graph se3k.t64 Screenshot	Two programs for drawing hi-res pie charts. The demo program displays a pie chart for a random percentage. The main program asks you to enter a percentage, then makes a graph using that figure. Controls: Follow on-screen prompts.
Crazy Scaler (Crazy Climber) Vol 1 No 9 (Aug 1983), Pages 146-152. Vol 1 No 11 (Oct 1983), Pages 82-84.	Jun Yukawa & Daniel Stoner	Unexpanded	crazy climber.t64 Screenshot	Crazy Climber game. Climb up the side of the building avoiding falling objects and open windows. There are five levels to complete. Note: this game only loads from tape. It crashes with an 'out of memory' error when loaded from disk. Controls: I (up), J (left), L (right).
An Introduction to Finances Vol 1 No 9 (Aug 1983), Pages 154-159.	Howard Rotenberg	Unexpanded	intro finances.t64 Screenshot	Seven programs to perform various financial calculations. Calculate discounts, effective interest rates, the yield from a rate of interest, etc. Controls: Follow on-screen prompts.
The VIC Clock Vol 1 No 10 (Sep 1983), Pages 92-97. Vol 2 No 2 (Feb 1984), Page 111.	Arthur J Dudley	Super Expander+3K	vic clock se3k.prg Screenshot	Learn how to read an analogue clock. The menu has six modes: (1) Type a time (hh:mm) to display it on the clock face. (2) Press any key to advance the time by 5 minutes. (3-6) You must type the time shown on the clock face. Controls: Type the time. If the hours are single digit (1-9) press space for the first character. Press X to display your score and return to the menu.
Knight Roller Vol 1 No 11 (Oct 1983), Pages 47-52.	Colin F Thompson	Unexpanded	knight roller.prg Screenshot	Generate new characters for the board game Dungeons & Dragons, without all the dice rolling to determine their characteristics such as strength & wisdom etc. It uses the 3d6 method, i.e. three six-sided die to produce a random number from 3-18 for each characteristic. Controls: Follow on-screen prompts.
Evaders 1.2 Vol 1 No 11 (Oct 1983), Pages 54-60.	Eric Giguere	Unexpanded	evaders12.prg Screenshot	Shoot as many aliens as you can in one minute. The invaders will try to evade your shots. Controls: Joystick or L (left), ; (right), A (fire).
That Troublesome Times Table Vol 1 No 12 (Nov 1983), Pages 12-19.	Dennis G Smith	Unexpanded	times table.t64 Screenshot	Mental arithmetic game comprising two programs. Electro Flash 9 is for children to practice their multiplication skills. Mult Facts Quiz helps teachers work out which pupils need more help. Controls: Type the correct answer to each problem.
Boxed In Vol 1 No 12 (Nov 1983), Pages 91-92.	Tom Adkins	Unexpanded	boxed in.t64 Screenshot	Run around the boxes waiting for an opening to appear, then dash inside to grab the money. Openings only appear if you keep moving. If you get trapped inside then press fire to restart the level, but this does not reset the clock. You have three minutes to collect all the money. Controls: Joystick.
Xmas-Card Vol 2 No 1 (Dec 1983/Jan 1984), Pages 35-36.	Donald Elman	Unexpanded	xmas-card.prg Screenshot	Displays a festive message while playing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". The Christmas poem in the magazine was written by Ian & Linda Adam. Controls: None.
BASIC Education: Programming for Learning (Times Tables) Vol 2 No 1 (Dec 1983/Jan 1984), Pages 44, 49, 108-112.	Andy Van Duyne	Unexpanded	times tables.prg Screenshot	Educational program. Practice your mental arithmetic by solving 100 multiplication problems. Controls: Type the correct answer for each problem.
Road Race Vol 2 No 1 (Dec 1983/Jan 1984), Pages 104-107. Vol 2 No 3 (Mar 1984), Page 124.	Cal Overhulser	Unexpanded	road race.prg Screenshot	Drive down a forest road to reach the finish line in the shortest possible time. Avoid the edge markers, oil slicks and oncoming vehicles. Controls: Joystick. Note: The joystick controls do not seem to work in WinVICE.
BASICMON Vol 2 No 1 (Dec 1983/Jan 1984), Pages 132-140. Vol 2 No 2 (Feb 1984), Page 111.	Eric Giguere	3K expansion	basicmon 3k.prg Screenshot	Machine language monitor, written in BASIC. Controls: Use the following commands: :1234 aa bb cc (store hex values in memory) M ssss ffff (list the memory contents for those locations) R (show registers) G xxxx (execute program) L "filename",dv (load file) S "filename",dv,ssss,ffff (save file) C (show directory) D command (send command to drive) D E (show drive status) X (exit)
BASIC Education II: The Quiz (Quizzer) Vol 2 No 2 (Feb 1984), Pages 37-43.	Andy Van Duyne	Unexpanded	quizzer.t64 Screenshot	Two programs that create multiple choice quiz tests. Quiz Writer is used to enter the questions and save them onto tape. Quizzer reads the file and asks the questions. Controls: Follow on-screen prompts.
Deathstar Vol 2 No 2 (Feb 1984), Pages 73-77.	Alan L Keyser	Unexpanded	deathstar.prg Screenshot	Fly down the narrow channel on the surface of the Deathstar, shooting enemy ships and avoiding debris. Controls: Joystick.
Portable Screen Control Symbols Vol 2 No 2 (Feb 1984), Pages 83-85.	Noel Nyman	Unexpanded	format.t64 Screenshot	Programming template. The first program sets up strings that can be used instead of control characters (e.g. cu$ for "cursor up") to make listings easier to read. The second program demonstrates this within a program. Controls: Follow on-screen prompts.
Invasion Vol 2 No 2 (Feb 1984), Pages 86, 112-114.	Gene Buckle	Unexpanded	invasion.prg Screenshot	Shoot the invaders, and avoid their bombs. You get five lives. Controls: Z (left), C (right), B (fire).
BASIC Education III: Simulations (Series Resistance) Vol 2 No 3 (Mar 1984), Pages 58-66.	Andy Van Duyne	Unexpanded	series resist.prg Screenshot	Electronics utility to simulate a circuit with 1-3 resistors connected in series. Enter the value of each resistor to calculate the voltage drop and power dissipation. Controls: Follow on-screen prompts.
Mancala Vol 2 No 3 (Mar 1984), Pages 82-88.	Arthur J Dudley	Unexpanded	mancala.prg Screenshot	Board game for 2 players. Capture your opponent's pieces and place them in your scoring pit. Move the marker to select which counters you want to move. Deposit the counters anti-clockwise, you must deposit at least one counter in your opponent's section. To score, you must deposit your last counter in your opponent's space that contains no more than one counter. You will then acquire all the counters in that space, plus any counters going backwards on your opponent's side until you encounter a space with three or more counters. The game ends when a player can no longer reach his opponent's side. It does not have an "end of game" message, so you must press Run/Stop to end. Controls: Press F1 & F3 to move the marker, and F5 to pick up your counters. Then press F3 to deposit your counters one at a time.
Super Speed Joystick Vol 2 No 3 (Mar 1984), Pages 92-98.	Cal Overhulser	Unexpanded	super joystick.t64 Screenshot	Machine code & BASIC routines for reading the joystick. Both programs let you draw simple pictures on the screen. Controls: Joystick.
Cyrillic Screen Letters Vol 2 No 3 (Mar 1984), Pages 102-103.	Thom Robertson	Unexpanded	cyrillic chars.prg Screenshot	Custom character set that simulates Old English script. Controls: None.
BASIC Education IV: Getting into Inputs (Ears) Vol 2 No 4 (Apr 1984), Pages 21-30.	Andy Van Duyne	Unexpanded	ears.prg Screenshot	Musical program. A short melody is played, and you must enter the scale degree/notes in the proper sequence. Controls: 1-8 (enter notes), Return (accept answer), T (play tune).
Rescue Vol 2 No 4 (Apr 1984), Pages 88-91.	Mike Scharland	Unexpanded	rescue.t64 Screenshot	You are an angel. Rescue the people trapped on the ledges. Do not touch the skull creatures, hit your head on the underside of a ledge, or fall into the sea. A warning alarm sounds when you are running out of time. Controls: Joystick.
Apple Pick'n Vol 2 No 6 (Jun 1984), Pages 20-23, 93.	Robert L Bloomer	Unexpanded	apple pickn.t64 Screenshot	Collect the magic apples from the underground maze, while avoiding the rocks and Fuzz monsters. There is a time limit of 58secs. Controls: Joystick. When the game begins, move the joystick down to leave the mountain.