_{Cover of the August 1984 issue of Ahoy!}

Ahoy! was one of several dedicated to Commodore computers in the 1980s. In 1984, the Commodore 64 was very popular and the VIC-20 was still hanging on.

The August 1984 issue of Ahoy! (issue number 8) included the following:

Departments

• A View from the Bridge - An overview of the contents of this issue.


• Scuttlebutt - News about the continuing management exodus at Commodore that started with Jack Tramiel in January; new Commodore compatible Sakata SC-100 monitor; new graphics programs including Flying Colors and Flexidraw 3.0; new word processors including Word Writer, Wordsmith 64, Quickwriter II and C64 Type Right; new education programs including Square pairs, Turtle Tracks, Bannercatch, Spelldiver, and more; new games including Spy vs. Spy (C64), Hot Wheels (C64), G.I. Joe (C64), Barbie (C64), Ankh (C64), Jet Boot Jack (C64), Mychess II (C64), Polar Pierre (C64), Video Vermin (VIC-20), Forbidden Forest (C64), Caverns of Khafka (C64), Aztec Challenge (C64, VIC-20), Spider Invasion (C64, VIC-20), and Slinky (C64, VIC-20); new "science simulations" including Project: Space Station (C64), Life Force (C64), Ocean Quest (C64), Cel Defense (C64), Reflections (C64), and Calmpute (C64); new Okidata Okimate 10 printer; and more.


• Reviews
• Paint Magic - A paint program for the C64.
• Pitstop - Classic racing game for the C64 kind of like Pole Position but expanded with pit stops and more.
• The Heist - A game in which the object is to steal all the objects from a museum. Looks like it plays like a cross between Impossible Mission and Pitfall.
• Math SAT I - Designed to prepare students for the math portion of the SAT.
• Word Processor, Professional Version - Word processor with a rather generic name.
• Ultrabasic 64 - An enhanced BASIC for the Commodore 64.
• CIE IEEE-488 Interface - An IEEE-488 interface for the C64. Useful for interfacing certain disk drives and other things.
• Edumate Light Pen - Once upon a time, light pens were all the rage.


• Commodares - Small programming challenges to find a certain character on the screen, calculate letter frequency and more.



_{Table of Contents from the August 1984 issue of Ahoy!}

Features

• Editorial - Buying technology (specifically computers) in a swiftly moving market.


• In Search of a Word Processor - An overview and comparison of the various word processors on the market at the time for the Commodore 64. Software covered includes 3+1, The Bank Street Writer, Better Letter & Writer, Biztext 1.1, Circascript, Copy-Writer, C64 Type-Write, Cut and Paste, Heswriter, Homeword, Insta Writer, Janewrite, Magic Desk, Omniwriter, Paper Clip, Script 64-PCS, Script 64-Richvale, SM-Text 64, SuperText, Textmaster, Totl Text 2.6, Word Commander 64, Wordcraft 40, WordManager, Wordpro 3 Plus/64, Word Processor (Professional), The Word Processor-PCS, WordProcessor 64, Wordsmith, Write Now!, and The Writer's Assistant.


• Rupert Report: Computational Wizardry - Calculating Mersenne prime numbers with a Cray-1 and determining the mega-flop rating of a Commodore 64. In BASIC it is about 184 flops or 0.0002 mega-flops. Not quite up to Cray-1 standards but then a Commodore 64 cost about $15 million less at the time.



Programs

• Micro-Minder - A type-in calendar program for the C64.


• Creating Your Own Games: Words Worth - An article from Orson Scott Card on creating quality games, focusing on the Commodore 64 and VIC-20.


• Directory Assistance - A type-in program for generating hard copies of directory listings on the Commodore 64 and VIC-20.



_{Back cover of the August 1984 issue of Ahoy!}

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