Looking for Compute! Vic-20 2nd Book of Games

[CamperJohn]

I'm looking for an old book published by Compute! Mag. for the Vic-20. The title (I believe) was something like Compute's 2nd book of games. Not reall sure of the title, but it had a game listed on the back cover named Heist. The book was soft-bound and had a yellow cover.

[Jeff-20]

ISBN: 0942386574

[CamperJohn]

I am the author of the game Heist which was published in that book (reason for wanting it). I wrote the version for the Vic-20 and I allowed a friend to use my idea/design and re-write the game for the TRS-80.

It was a fun little game where you had to run through 3 levels of bank vaults blowing up walls to gather money bags. But you had to be careful which walls to blow-up...some had alarms on the other side signaling the coppers. If I remember, I put a 3 minute timer on it. Object was to gather as much money as you could, but still make it out before time ran out.

If anyone comes across the book, please let me know.

Thanks
Camper John

[ral-clan]

I am the author of the game Heist which was published in that book (reason for wanting it).
Camper John

Very cool to "meet" you! Next time I glance over my copy of that book I will have a new insight into the creation of that game...

Could you tell us anything about what it was like to get a game published by COMPUTE! back in the early 80s? Did they pay you?

[CamperJohn]

Please let me know if you are interested in selling your copy of the book. My lone copy did not find its way with me after my divorce.

The hardest chore of developing the game was trying to keep it within the memory constraints of the internal memory. I wanted good graphics (at that time) and easy playablity. Many re-writes and I was able to squeze it in. I learned about programing from writing that game. Generating the "maze" concept was easy, but the tesing of all the scenerio's took some time. But in the end, I think it turned out very well and I hope anyone who took the time to type all the code enjoyed it.

Compute! paid me a flat $200 for the rights to publish and then royalties on the published book. Which, over the following 5 years, totaled about another $50 (so you can tell not many copies were sold). But that didn't matter, I had my 15 minutes of fame.

Camper John
www.camperjohn.com

[Jeff-20]

can someone put up a screenshot?

[ral-clan]

Please let me know if you are interested in selling your copy of the book. My lone copy did not find its way with me after my divorce.

I don't want to sell my actual copy, but I have a photocopied version someone gave me at one time back in the 1980s. It's missing the cover and table of contents, but otherwise it's all there. You can have it if you'd like.

Let me know if you are having trouble finding a genuine copy, and I will send you the photocopied version, if you are interested. I'd better check that it's the book with your game in it....but I'm pretty sure they only published one book of vic games called "COMPUTE!s book of VIC GAMES" or something. I don't recall a second book of games for the VIC (although there were three "Books of VIC" published by them).

There are some available of Amazon.com, but they are overpriced:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/094238 ... 6?n=283155

They show up on Ebay from time to time. You could have had one with lots of VIC hardware for $25:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Two-Commodore-Vic-2 ... dZViewItem

[CamperJohn]

I'm not sure, but we may be talking about two different books. The one I'm looking for had a yellow cover and was NOT spiral bound. Check the author of the game Heist and you should see John Clopton...that's me and that's the one.

Jeff-20 was kind enough to locate the ISDN of 0942386574 and the title Compute!'s second book of VIC games.

I would love to have the photocopy if nothing else. I plan on purchasing another VIC on eBay (or somewhere) and re-typing the game in just for nostalgic reasons. I wrote the game in my late 20's and now I'm a little over 50.

Thanks for following-up with the posts. It's nice to see the VIC-20 community is still out there.

Camper John
www.camperjohn.com

[ral-clan]

I'm not sure, but we may be talking about two different books. The one I'm looking for had a yellow cover and was NOT spiral bound. Check the author of the game Heist and you should see John Clopton...that's me and that's the one.

(slaps himself on the forehead)....Sorry! You are correct. I went and dug through my boxes of VIC books, and I do in fact have the FIRST book on VIC GAMES (although I do have the SECOND BOOK of VIC[period]). I guess that's where I was confused.

Well, you've educated me...I didn't even know they published a second book, and I've been looking at VIC ebay auctions for years. You're right that it must be fairly rare.

I think I know why your game title was so familiar to me. There is a ColecoVision game that has the same title - and that I own....that's why it was ringing a bell.

I really hope you find this book. I would love to get a copy now, but if I see one I'll let you know first.