but it's playable!



*************************************
REVIEW: GET THE CAT
For the unexpanded VIC 20
By Commodore Free
*************************************

Name: Get the Cat
Author: Peter van der Woude
Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20
(joystick required)

Description: A simple game: Step on the bricks to save your cat.

Reported in a news item last issue was the release of a Peter van der Woude game called "Get the Cat." Created for the Unexpanded VIC-20 (joystick required), the game's description says "It's a simple game: step on the
bricks to save your cat."

You can download the file here: drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz1hF7VZSV-UdGx1dk1maXI4cmc/edit?usp=sharing

Thread: sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6942

While this game may not be that original, it adds a new twist to the
formula by making you "get the cat." The game is written in Commodore BASIC
but the speed doesn't seem to relate to this fact. It's very responsive -
you use the joystick to move left or right and the fire button to place a
block under your character (assuming you have blocks left to place). You
can only step up one block, but can fall from any height. More blocks fall from the sky (seemingly) at random, but the thread says that every fifth
block will fall over your head, and every 5th level you gain an extra life.

The object of the game is to drop or move your man so he can get to the cat
and save him. The cat is in the lower left of the screen sitting on a tree
or small plant.

As the levels move on, so does the height of the plant the cat sits on (if that's what cats do on plants), so the first level one block is enough to
get the can. The next level you need to step up 2 blocks etc. and so on.

SCORES

Graphics: 5/10
lacking animation
Gameplay: 5/10
Sounds: 1/10
it has some
Overall: 5/10

SUMMARY

A decent game reminding me of those type-in listings you used to get in magazines, and although you typed everything as printed they never worked.
I presume they added errors so you bought the issue next month for the amendments and corrections from the last issue.



*************************************
CATCH-UP CHAT WITH ARTHUR JORDISON
C64prgGen Creator
By Commodore Free
*************************************

It's been quite some time since Commodore Free interviewed Arthur Jordison about his c64PrgGen application, and during that time development of the application has moved on by some leaps and bounds. Commodore Free thought
it was time we caught up with Arthur to find out what developments have
been implemented in the application and what others are planned.

www.ajordison.co.uk/download.html

FEATURES:

* Multiple source files (assembly or BASIC) can be built to one
destination,

* 6502/6510/65816 Assembler/disassembler/Integrated Debugger,
* Program import (.prg, .T64 or .D64/.D71/.D81),
* Program export (.prg, .p00),
* Sprite editor,
* Character editor,
* Screen Designer,
* A Screen Code Builder, for using those pesky print control characters,
* Memory Viewer,
* Binary file import/export,
* .D64/.D71/.D81 Creation Tool,
* BASIC Constants,
* Code formatting and renumbering,
* Automatic assembly code formatting,
* Tabbed MDI interface,
* Comprehensive help, including tutorials,
* Plus many others.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Hi, Arthur Jordison. Thank you for agreeing to the catch-up. First,
for the new readers - can you explain C64PrgGen and what it can do for our readers?

AJ. Well, first let me clarify things by saying that "C64PrgGen" has
become "CBM prg Studio" now, but more on that later. Basically it's an application that allows you to type in (or load from a text file) a BASIC
or machine code program into a windows environment and then generate a .prg file which you can use in an emulator or with real hardware. It also lets
you create and edit sprites, characters, and screen layouts, and then
create the DATA statements you need for your programs.

The application also has an extensive 6510/65816 debugger, and comes with
most of the sample programs taken from the Commodore user guide and programmer`s reference manuals. There are also some simple formatting
tools built into the application, such as program renumbering and keyword
auto completion. If you're more interested in how other people's programs work, it's possible to import and disassemble programs and also import character and sprite graphics.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Is this just a Commodore 64 tool or could all 8-bit Commodore users
benefit from your work?

AJ. In addition to the C64 you can use CBM prg Studio to generate code for
the VIC20, C128, C16, and Plus/4 and PET (BASIC 2 and 4).

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. How much feedback have you had with previous versions of the
application?

AJ. I get a lot of feedback (not always positive!) after a new version
release and then it tends to tail off to a few emails a week, usually from
the same people. I like it this way as I can focus on getting things fixed
or create new tools for them. I tend to get more feedback from Europeans (Germans, Dutch, and Swedes mostly) but most of the downloads are from
America.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. We looked at C64PrgGen quite some time ago in Commodore Free, way back,
in fact, to 2008, issue 23 (www.commo dorefree.com/magazine/vol2/issue23.ht
m). As you are continually developing the product, can you outline some of
the milestones the program has now gone through?

AJ. I can't believe it was so long ago! The biggest change (in functional terms) moving from C64prgGen to CBM prg Studio (apart from the name) was
the addition of new machines to develop programs for. Before the release
of CBM prg Studio there was C64PrgGen and also VIC20PrgGen. As you can
guess, they were 99% the same - the only difference was the lack of the
sprite editor and SID tools in VIC20PrgGen. Fixing bugs meant fixing them
in both versions (which was crazy), and also at the time I was thinking
about creating a version for the PET machines, which would have meant three programs to support. Eventually I merged the C64 and VIC20 prg Gens into
one and of course the application name had to change to reflect that. The
two biggest additions are the screen designer and more recently the
6510/65816 debugger.

- - - - - - - - - -

Q. Were these all suggested by users - or have you had some additions left
out because of time restraints etc.?

AJ. The bulk of the new features added over the years have come as
suggestions from users. The developers in the Commodore community know
their machines far better than I do and so the requests are usually
something like "wouldn't it be good if there was a tool to..." and then I
take it from there. The major new feature in the current version (support


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.01 (GNU/Linux-i386)
* Origin: Dragon's Lair ---:- bbs.vk3heg.net -:--- (39:901/280)