's optical art and general glitchy aesthetics.  I   
   think DUBCRT bridges the gap between retro enthusiasts more into games and   
   nostalgia, and the electronic music / chip-music community who have more of   
   an interest in the sounds of the SID.  I think that is ultimately what we   
   set out to achieve, an interest product / format that has some broad appeal   
   in terms of graphics and sound and "gameplay" mechanics.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  Are there any comments you would like to end with?   
      
   TK:  Thanks a lot for the interview questions - much appreciated!  Also I   
   would like to thank the guys for such an amazing effort in developing the   
   cart, something which I think we were all passionate about in trying to do   
   something a little different that perhaps has not been done in quite this   
   way before with the Commodore 64.  Stay tuned for DUBCRT V2 and potentially   
   some other mini cartridge projects for the C64.   
      
      
      
   *************************************   
          GROWING PAINS PART SEX   
       "The Program That Never Was"   
            By Lenard R. Roach   
   *************************************   
      
   If I understand my agriculture correctly, when planting a seed you first   
   dig a hole in the ground and bury it, then water and sunlight are added.   
   In a few weeks a startling metamorphosis occurs as the apparently dead and   
   buried seed cracks open and out of the cracked seed comes new life.  Very   
   soon the new life conquers any vestige of the seed until all that can be   
   seen is the new life.  Such was the work in coding the program "Obligator   
   Coordinator." It was also a work of Commodore vengeance.   
      
   Let me start from the beginning ...   
      
   "Obligator Coordinator" was a work of anger and ego.  If anyone has read my   
   book, "Run/Stop- Restore:  10th Anniversary Edition," then you can read   
   about the combat over copyright control of my work, "Check It Out."   
   Basically, the people who bought all the software rights from the defunct   
   "Run" magazine now owned it and I wanted to publish upgrades I made to the   
   code.  The new owners said that they would not release the rights of "Check   
   It Out" to me without a monetary fee.  I coded the cussing thing; I should   
   have some rights!  No.  According to the "work for hire" contract I   
   (hastily) signed, I surrendered *all* rights to the program in exchange for   
   money.  This also means that any upgrades I code for the program become the   
   immediate and undisputed rights of the contract holder.   
      
   This includes "Checkmate," which is a derivative of the code I wrote for   
   "Check It Out." Expletive!  There were two choices at this point:  Drop my   
   5 1/4" disk of work on "Checkmate" and "Check It Out" upgrades into the   
   shredder or file it away never to be seen by another human eye.  I chose   
   the latter.  This was not going to stop here, oh no!  I'm going to sit down   
   at my Commodore and code an awesome piece of software so fantastic that it   
   will make my last two projects look like the handiwork of kindergartners!   
   I crossed the house to the computer room, sat down at the Commodore,   
   trusted a blank 5 1/4" disk into the 1541-II disk drive, booted the system,   
   poised my fingers on the keyboard, and ...  banged my head on the computer   
   desk with a wood cracking thunk.  What was I thinking?  "Check It Out" and   
   "Checkmate" *were* my greatest Commodore achievements!  Who was I fooling?   
      
   I leaned back in my computer chair and stared at the Commodore home screen   
   and flashing cursor.  Dover, my yellow striped tabby cat, came into the   
   room and rubbed her head on my dangling right hand.  I looked down while at   
   the same time she looked up.  She mewed.  I scratched her head.  I watched   
   her as she walked over to the open cubby built into the computer desk where   
   I store all my 5 1/4" disk files.  She stood on her hind legs with her   
   front paws supporting her on the ledge of the open cubby.  A crouch, and a   
   leap, and she was in the cubby, but there was no room for her and the two   
   disk files so when laid down in the cubby, all four of her feet pushed both   
   files out of the cubby and onto the floor, where the files cracked open and   
   about forty 5 1/4" disks spilled onto the computer room carpet.   
      
   I looked at the mess, and then looked into the cubby.  Dover licked her   
   right front paw, stretched out, and got comfortable.  This is an amazing   
   thing about cats:  They can destroy your entire living room, put it all in   
   a pile right in the middle, climb to the top of said pile, lay down on top   
   of said pile, look you square in the face with a look that says, "I didn't   
   do a thing." Dogs:  They make one piddle mark the size of a pence on your   
   carpet and they *know* they have committed the greatest sacrilege.  The dog   
   looks at you with that face that says, "Oh snap!  He's gonna kill me now!"   
   Nonetheless, that stupid cat was not going to help me pick up those disks,   
   so I got out of my chair and started picking up.  About half way into clean   
   up I came across a disk label that caught my eye.  "Bill Attack Workdisk"   
   it read.  What was this?  It had my handwriting on it so it was something   
   important.  I sat back down, popped the blank out of the 1541-II, inserted   
   the "Bill Attack Workdisk," and loaded the directory.  The monitor showed   
   me several different versions of this program, so I booted the latest   
   version on the disk (I think it was "8") and waited.  Very quickly I saw a   
   data base style program used for mainly recording information and storing   
   that information onto disk.  I didn't see where the "attack" part of the   
   program was; it was more like a coordinator than anything else.  I exited   
   the program and listed the code.  Hmm.   
      
   All this needs is a little subroutine here and a couple of GOTOs and GOSUBs   
   there and this could be a viable work, but that name "Bill Attack" has got   
   to go.  I'll worry about that later...  It took me a couple of months of   
   working about a hour a day on the program to get it to where I wanted it,   
   but it still needed a name; one that would describe what the program did   
   and still make it sound cool in just a couple of words.  I remembered that   
   I once called this work a "coordinator" but what can I put in front of that   
   word to help make an impact?  Bill Coordinator?  No, that lacked pizzazz.   
   How about "Obligator Coordinator?" It tells what the program does and it   
   even rhymes.  I'll stick with that.  Now to provide a little present for   
   hose head publishers who scam off of hard working coders.  I got onto the   
   PC and pulled down a copy of Form TX from The United States Copyrights   
   Office in Washington DC and printed same.  But this form was for a book and   
   I needed to copyright a program.  What do I do?  I searched my local   
   library's website under "copyright forms" and I found the book, "Legal Care   
   For Your Software" by (name).  I went to my library and checked it out.  I   
   read it not once but twice and decided that this was too valuable of a   
   resource not to have, so I ordered a copy from my local bookseller ($30)   
   and read it again (my new copy had updates and new forms added).  I filled   
   out the TX Form and mailed it, a copy of the program text, and a $25 check   
   to Waahington.  Six weeks later I had a bonafide Ownership Of Copyright   
   paper in my hands.  Eat that you spastic, lard, pickled headed, simpletons   
   of the magazine industry!  You're going to have to deal with *me* now   
   instead of the other way around!  I win ...  or did I?   
      
   It was 1994.  "Run" magazine was out of print for two years.  "Commodore   
   World," a magazine division of CMD Industries had just launched and wasn't   
   willing to deal with me unless I "surrender all rights" to the software.   
   At the time I was too much of an egocentric knucklehead to be dealt with,   
   so "Obligator Coordinator" sat in my files never to be released.  In about   
   2002 I heard about Dave Moorman and "Loadstar" disk magazine and was about   
   to contact him via the Internet and pitch "Obligator Coordinator" to him,   
   but first I'd should boot a copy and see how I can best describe it's   
   functions.  I ran the program and started to tinker with it by creating a   
   false bill note to track.  A few keystrokes into the program and the   
   dreaded "Syntax Error In XXX" popped up.  This is not good.  I ran the   
   program again and inputted different information, but the same message   
   appeared.  Uh oh!  I listed the code line given by the Commodore and that   
   very line did a Harry Houdini on me and disappeared.  I panicked as a   
   solemn thought hit me:  What if I copyrighted a faulty text of program?  I   
   went through my files and found a copy of the text of program I originally   
   sent to the Copyright Office and looked on the printed sheet for the   
   missing code line.  As sure as cow flatulence the code line was gone; I did   
   copyright a flawed program.  For a fleet moment I was madder than a stirred   
   up hornet's nest, then a thought hit me:  I was about to try and sell a   
   flawed program to the general Commodore public and I was prevented in doing   
   so by heaven above and the Caretaker thereof.   
      
   I sat down with the disk and Commodore and slowly started to work through   
   each syntax one at a time.  Some were just missing code lines; others were   
   missing or misdirected GOTOs and GOSUBs.  I don't know how long it took but   
   I finally worked all the "bugs" out of the program, but now I was stuck   
   with a new problem:  What do I do with a wasted copyright notice on a   
   malfunctioning program?  Answer:  Nothing.  I would have to get another   
   copyright for the repaired work and title it under a different name.  I was   
   reluctant to do this since I copyrighted a bogus program in the first   
   place; I didn't want lightning to strike twice, so it sat, never to see the   
   light of day.  Only until recently have I brought this program back to the   
   light of day, and even then I was reluctant for the same aforementioned   
   reason.  I don't mind showing it at expos and club meetings, but to head to   
   the public with distribution was scary.  What would I do to improve   
   "Obligator Coordinator?" Any improvements that could have been done were   
   put into "The Ledger." I basically left "Obligator Coordinator" alone.  I   
   may put "Obligator Coordinator" out as freeware with "The Ledger" as the   
   purchase product.  Either way, what I thought was going to be a legal   
   victory for Commodore coders everywhere turned into a nightmare as the   
   whole thing blew up in my face.  I know now to investigate a copyright for   
   periodicals so I can make improvements to what I code without having to   
   apply for a different copyright each upgrade.  "Obligator Coordinator" was   
   hard to code since I didn't know how to make half of the features I wanted   
   a reality in what BASIC I understood.  I did learn extra commands while   
   coding the work so "Obligator Coordinator" was not a total waste, but a   
   learning experience that was treasured for future Commodore programming.   
      
      
      
   *************************************   
      REVIEW: SPACE CHASE ON THE PET   
   *************************************   
      
   The 35 year old review   
      
   www.spacechase.de/   
      
   Interview with the creator of Space Chase can be found in Commodore Free   
   here:   
      
   www.commodorefree.com/magazine/vol10/issue94.html#ARTICLE9   
      
   Space Chase is a 1 or 2 player split-screen shooter that was specifically   
   developed for the CBM II series of computers (sold as Commodore 610, 620,   
   710 and 720 in Europe and as B128, B256 and CBM B128-80 and B256-80 in the   
   U.S.).  The game has been fully programmed in Assembler, uses the full   
   "PETSCII resolution" of 160 x 50 and features music and sound composed by   
   the famous SID composer Max Hall (CBM IIs have SID chips).  Space Chase can   
   be downloaded for free at www.spacechase.de.   
      
   VICE ISSUE   
      
   "several keys pressed at the same time" issue if you test the game in VICE.   
   This caused somewhere in the chain keyboard -> Windows -> VICE -> emulated   
   CBM2 hardware   
      
   CBM MACHINE HISTORY   
      
   The CBM II series of machines was "text only" and doesn't have any graphics   
   capabilities at all.   
      
   The only option open to the programmer is to use CBM's character set.   
   Space Chase manages to create a 160 x 50 resolution that is fully utilized   
   by the game.  On the CBM I series, only 80   
      
   --- MBSE BBS v1.0.4 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)   
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