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Loadstar 241
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2022-08-26
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u
D I S K O V E R Y
by Dave Moorman
As you probably have guessed,
putting together NICKEL GAMES has been
my "passion of the month." Also, Holly
has its town fair in September, which
meant a lot of real work for the old
pastor.
Our church always does a float for
the parade. It's not too hard. We save
our props and sets from Vacation Bible
School and use them for the float.
This year, our VBS theme was "The
Circle G Ranch," and (by pure good
fortune) the fair theme was "Cowboy
Up!" So with a power screw driver and
a staple gun, we got the float up in a
couple of days -- and won Grand
Champion! How 'bout that?
We also do the Fair Dinner at the
church, which is not my problem. I
just help take the money. But Marty
Campbell called me earlier in the
month and asked if I would head up the
Fair Breakfast he usually put
together. Like a fool, I said "Yes." I
had help finding help for the morning,
but Sheri and I wound up frying 20
pounds of link sausages the night
before. Next year, we will have
sausage gravy!
And in between, I rushed to get
NICKEL GAMES ready to sell at the
fair. I am becoming kind of adept at
Visual Basic (for the Windows/PC),
though the zillion commands are still
somewhat a mystery. I found a good web
site that explains about 90% of the
commands:
www.officecomputertraining.com/
vbtutorial/tutpages/
Everything else I needed was in my
Learn Visual Basic in 21 Days -- a
good primer but a poor reference book.
Visual Basic has many good points.
It uses Visual design, so putting
together the buttons and text boxes
and everything is a snap. And it is
Event Driven, which means the program
just waits until the user does
something, like click a button. The
button has its own event handling
routine, which is what the programmer
writes.
Even so, I am glad I have BASIC
2.0 on the C-64. The language is small
-- someone said it has 76 commands,
functions, and operators. I haven't
counted. But I usually don't need to
look up stuff all the time.
The problem with any language is
that it was written by somebody. That
means each command has its abilities
-- and its challenges. We all know how
challenged the INPUT command is -- and
avoid using it whenever possible.
Getting to know the quirks of the
various commands and "methods" is a
process that takes time. And play.
Programming should not be done when
there is a deadline.
And, once we add Mr.Mouse or
DotBASIC to our modest machine, we
have a heck of a computer to play
with. The limitations are there -- but
they don't really get in the way of
creativity. And that is what our
LOADSTAR vault is full of: creativity.
I try not to actually [play] the
programs while putting together an
issue or collection. It takes too much
time. But then I find one that I can't
quit. My current favorites are
BLOCKHEAD'S REVENGE and the solitaire
SHAMROCKS. Way too many minutes (make
that [hours]) disappear when I get
going at either one of these.
So anyway -- here is 241!
I need to make clear how long
LOADSTAR is scheduled to go. We are
definitely good through
ISSUE 256!
This might take a couple of years, at
the rate we are getting issues out the
door. I wish we could hit a monthly
deadline as surely as Fender did for
so many years. But its just not going
to happen. I apologize to those of you
who (like me a number of years ago)
wait with bated breath by the mail box
for the next issue. It is coming! I
promise you that. The only question is
"When?"
Soon enough! We REALLY need your
help with content for LOADSTAR. Take a
look at the graphics we have on this
issue. These are just photos taken off
the Web. Some things work, others
don't. But I am sure YOU have a few
photos you could share with other
LOADSTARites! Just send me a copy --
physical or electronic. I can get them
into C-64 format fairly quickly.
Please, though -- no photos of
your computer system. I know that you
are proud of what you have. And, if
you are like me, want more. But photos
don't tell the story.
Better -- go on a photo safari
around your home or neighborhood. Get
shots of interesting things --
buildings, faces, still lifes, auto
accidents.
DMM