Commodore Free Magazine

http://www.commodorefree.com/
Issue 99
Free to download magazine dedicated to Commodore computers
Available as PDF, ePUB, MOBI, HTML, TXT, SEQ and D64 disk image
Commodore Free

Editorial

While I set out with good intentions, I was side-tracked knowing my son and I were attending Insomnia
gaming event at the month’s end. With this in mind I decided that was the deadline, and had to focus my
efforts on getting a review of Insomnia before the hype had faded down too much.

Also in this issue…

Well its dedicated to the wonderful game of elite, and a quick look t the games history, if your someone who
has never played or heard of the game then I suggest it should definitely be something to bucket list.

I was recently asked bout my time as an employee for Silica (prodis, SDL) Silica was a uk mail-order com-
pany that became very successful, but as always they were slow to move with the times and other companies
caught up and over took them. Silica was great to work for and I look back with fond memories of my time
there. However when commodore went into liquidation, Silica being the importer of Commodore products
into the uk suffered and slowly died with them.

You will see in the news that Doom or variations have been released for the Commodore 64, and while there
is a great port of the game, sadly its very slow, and I do hope that this can be enhanced (sped up) as visually
it looks great, and after being told for years that a port of doom on the Commodore 64 was impossible then
to actually be able to play the game on real hardware beg the question of what next 1

Hope you enjoy reading the issue, I am still looking for helpers, to convert text, help compile the disk ver-
sion and as ever writers and even text is more than welcome .

Email is still down we suffered a massive denial of service attack yet again and it is getting difficult to fend
these of, both time wise and in resources, so although email is still down you can but PM me on lemon

Regards,
Nigel
www.commodorefree.com

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Commodore Free

CONTENTS

Page 4 Editorial Editor

Nigel Parker
Page 5 News Amiga
Spell Checking
Page 7 News Commodore 64 Bert Novilla

Page 8 News Plus 4 TXT, HTML & eBooks

HELP NEEDED
Page 11 News PET
Page 11 News General D64 Disk Imag

Page 13 review Corespace C64 PDF Design

Nigel Parker
Page 14 CBM 264 Machine line
Contributors
Page 16 Silica Shop
Website
Page 19 Gina sisters 264 review www.commodorefree.com
Page 21 Elite game history Email Address
Page 24 Insomnia Game festival commodorefree@commodorefree.com

Submissions
Articles are always wanted for the magazine. Contact
us for details. We can’t pay you for your efforts but you
are safe in the knowledge that you have passed on details that
will interest other Commodore enthusiasts.

Notices
All materials in this magazine are the property of
Commodore Free unless otherwise stated. All copyrights,
trademarks, trade names, internet domain names or
other similar rights are acknowledged. No part of this
magazine may be reproduced without permission.
The appearance of an advert in the magazine does not
necessarily mean that the goods/services advertised
are associated with or endorsed by Commodore Free
Magazine.

Copyright
Copyright © 2024 Commodore Free Magazine
All Rights Reserved

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 Commodore Free

NEWS

AMIGA NEWS

Dungeonette The New Adventure Roadshow 1.15 released

Adrian Cummings. Creator of original titles such as (Delayed by only 18 months), the free Roadshow
Cyberpunks, Tin Toy, Doodlebug, and more an- TCP/IP stack 1.15 update is now available to all cus-
nounced a high-quality game coming to the Amiga tomers, and is focused on improving installation and
AGA/CD32 called Dungeonette. maintenance tasks, as well as making the installation
Adrian Cummings Dungeonette - The New Adven- documentation more useful and accessible.
ture started it pretty much after CyberPunks 2 was
released, so it's a slow-burner project, I guess. I'm New commands have been added to automatically
about a third of the way through mapping the game, find and install network device configuration files
which is pretty big and set in the lands of Amigea. and fix errors & defects in the many configuration
files Roadshow uses.
Dungeonette will run on stock Amiga AGA and
CD32 with 2Mb ChipRAM and of course Amiga 500 By request, a "compact" Roadshow installation disk
Mini, etc. In reality it is a hybrid of many games and image (1.76 MByte high-density) is available for the
has some roots in Diablo for sure, but also many oth- first time, containing a "reduced" version of the full
ers as a hack & slash dungeon crawler. Just for the installation archive. The "compact" installation is
record... the basic game was written originally for restricted to software built for all Amigas (68000
Apple Watch (many years back) and then also a ver- CPU or better) and omits the large reference docu-
sion was released for Spectrum Next back in mentation
2017/18. This version is all new just for Amiga how-
ever and only resembles those previous titles in name
only.

https://softwareamusements.com/MutationSoftware/i https://www.amigashop.org
ndex.html
Roadshow ist available in three formats:
- As a digital download
- On CD-ROM
- On USB card (FAT32-formatted medium)

http://roadshow.apc-tcp.de
https://www.amigashop.org
http://www.apc-tcp.de

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Commodore Free

Duke Nukem 3D Amiga pi keyboard

Released on Aminet THEA500 Mini console is something to write home

This is an Amiga 68k port of Duke Nukem 3D based about if you’re an Amiga fan – until you realise you
on the old Atari/Amiga ports with some newer fea- can’t use its keys . In the brand new issue of The
tures from Chocolate Duke added for extra flavour. MagPi, David Crookes discovers a solution. Happy
#MagPiMonday!
Requirements:
1) An AGA Amiga.
2) 68060 processor or better.
3) 32 MB of RAM.
4) AHI installed and configured (see links section
below).
5) The Duke Nukem 3D data files (must be the full
PC Atomic version!).

Configuration Options:
The 'CloseWB' configuration option can be used to
close the Workbench.The 'DisplayModePAL' config-
uration option can be used to set your display mode
(PAL or NTSC). When running from the Shell you
must specify a stack of at least 300,000. The AHI
device used will be the one setup in your AHI Prefs
(unit 0). You will need to place the PC game data
files DUKE3D.GRP and DUKE.RTS
in the AmiDuke folder. Any errors *should* be writ-
ten to a file called 'ERROR.TXT' in the game direc-
tory.

Performance Considerations:
1) If you have a Blizzard you should really be using
BlizKick, Apollo users should be using RemApollo.
2) Fast File System is actually really slow, use PFS3
instead.
3) Use v4.18 of AHI as the later versions are too
slow on a real Amiga.

Limitations: https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/thea500-mini-
1) No network or multi-player support. keyboard-magpimonday/
2) No joystick support.
3) No music support.

https://aminet.net/package/game/shoot/AmiDuke_AGA

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Commodore Free

COMMODORE 64 NEWS

OneLoad64 Games Collection v5

We are told OneLoad64 version 5 is the best Commo-

dore 64 games / roms collection, with all of the in-
cluded games converted to cartridge format for the
fastest loading possible.

The collection is over 2,000 games, including multi-

load conversions. So whatever you're using, be it em-
ulators including the MiSTer FPGA, or real hardware
with the likes of the Ultimate64, EasyFlash, Kung Fu Or
Flash, TeensyROM, SD2IEC, etc. Be sure to down-
load this massive collection of C64 retro gaming https://mega.nz/file/WZUV2ApA#JFoFB3vVCcfiKe0
goodness and check it out, it's completely free! 2TkTqq3JOR2OoWLWBGA2B8m_bxbI
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ef6J- watch a video
yyzE14stEaqjK7XlYuutDDBOCyr/view https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz0CJbkplj0

Bare Metal Emulation on the Raspberry Pi -

Commodore 64

What’s faster than something fast, well it’s something

even faster. If you remove the OS and just run the em-
ulation software, wouldn’t that lead to a more respon-
sive machine, after all -- the OS is taking up valuable
CPU time isn’t it > Well, yes and in this YouTube tu-
torial you are given the answers to the ultimate Com-
modore emulation system.

https://youtu.be/53wHr415LPU?si=QmBuy4huLVzSoNGv

C64 scpu doom

WHAT! You mean I have waited all these years and

listened to people telling me it’s not possible on the
C64 even with the SCPU, then someone releases a
version of Doom for the Commodore 64, ok you
need the Super CPU accelerator to run it, but
DOOM! Well, it is actually running.

The website says:

This is a port of DOOM based on the original ID
software source code release. This port requires a
C64/C128 with a SuperCPU v2 and 16MB RAM.
PAL, NTSC (old and new) it has only been tested on
real PAL hardware.
https://youtu.be/7ZzivzuDOls?si=N5Yk-CMNF-H0Fl_g
While this DOOM port isn't meant to be taken seri- https://scpu.amidog.se/doku.php?id=scpu%3Adoom
ously, it has proven quite useful for testing and im-
proving the MIPS recompiler as DOOM is a rather
complex and large application.

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GREY FOR THE CBM 64

Armed with a pistol and chainsaw and followed by Source:

some very funky music, another Doom-style cone https://csdb.dk/release/?id=239169
hits the Commodore 64
Youtube Video
Grey is an FPS (first-person shooter) still in develop- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36dzAMgu0i0
ment stages but looking very good so far. There are
four levels to explore in this current version. As with
Doom styled games you need to collect a required
door key (doors requiring keys are marked with ver-
tical stripes placed on neighbouring walls) or open-
ing push-walls.

What's new in version 5:

- animated small and medium enemies equipped with
melee and hitscan attacks respectively
- barrels
- shotgun and chaingun pickups
- player can take damage and die
- more game levels

Credits:
Programming and design by Piotr Kózka.
Music, sound effects & textures by Kamil Woln-
ikowski.

C64 - Polish Pixels in Video Games – Book

Funding needed ! You're not just grabbing a book. You're saving a

Explore Poland's C64 Game Development: Vivid slice of digital history and saluting a community that
tales & art in unique gaming history book! made magic in the 8-bit era!

TLDR
This campaign is a deep dive (1980-s up till today)
into the world of Commodore 64 game development
in Poland, spotlighting legendary game developers
and the vibrant demo scene. The coffee-table style
book (already published in Poland, Hardcover, 240+
HQ pages) aims to preserve digital history and cele-
brate the community's contributions. With visuals,
stories, and insights from insiders, it's more than a
book; it's a tribute to the 8-bit era. Support helps the
printing of the English edition, offering various tiers
with unique rewards for backers.
Backing this campaign? https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/c64-polish-
pixels-in-video-games-book#/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTPJG6IZyCs&

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CORESCAPE CBM 64

Released for the Commodore 64 and Priced at $2 for

the download payable via card or paypal or name
your price, here is what the website says about the
game:

Battle your way out through eight stages in a con-

stant race forward – you have not been voted the
"Best-looking blockade runner of the interior sys-
tems" for the last three years to be caught by the au-
thorities. Collect additional lives and credits (score)
on the way out.
https://drmortalwombat.itch.io/corescape

TeensyROM NFC Game Loading System I suppose if it was all embedded into the c64 it could
on the C64 potentially be very useful.

Here is an overview video for the awesome new Video

NFC Loading System on the TeensyROM using real https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqgyiQdGp7o
Commodore 64 hardware. It is inspired by the fantas-
tic TapTo project for MiSTer
https://github.com/wizzomafizzo/tapto
the project uses NFC cards to get the CBM 64 to
load games from SD card device. The NFC cards
don’t hold enough data for the game but just enough
to tell the TeensyROM what game you have put in
the reader and then to load that game. It’s a nice idea
and the gent has printed some nice NFC card games.

PLUS 4 NEWS

Cbm 264 interview bil herd

Great question and answer session with Bil Herd

about how he entered Commodore and his working
relationships within Commodore. The original 264
series of Commodore machines were designed by a
team of engineers at Commodore, led by *

*Bil Herd** He was also the main designer of the

**TED chip** which was an integrated circuit that
provided video, sound, timers, and keyboard input
for the 264 series.

The TED chip was named after **Tramiel, Elliott,

and Darrell**, the three people who initiated the
project.

https://youtu.be/nyKf0cz0BIs?si=YRQuB0DhlQSoAvbU

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Commodore Free

Gina plus 4
Notes: AKA The Great Giana Sisters. A 2D plat-
The Great Giana Sisters is a classic on C64 although former. Guide the Giana Sisters (Giana and Maria)
Nintendo though it was so much like Mario they through the levels, collecting diamonds and
banned the game. There are numerous cracks of the powerups, avoiding or killing enemies.
game online and even a PETSCII version. The C64`s
soundtrack by Chris Hülsbeck is one of the most https://plus4world.powweb.com/software/Giana_Sisters
popular video game soundtracks of all-time. Finally!
thanks to TCFS, the game is now available on the
plus 4 if you have played mario you know the score.

Title: Giana Sisters

Category: Game/Platformer
Release Date: 2024-03-03
Language: English
Size: 64K
Device Req.: Disk only (1 side)
Machine: PAL & NTSC
Code Type: Machine code
Distribution: Freeware
Code by: TCFS
Additional graphics by: Unreal
Music by: Csabo

PET NEWS
Doomed "PETSCII" Pacman - CBM PET version

Looking rather nice if a bit spooky, a petscii version

of pacman for the pet range of machines.
This is the CBM Pet version of my C64 Pacman
clone. It needs 32 Kbyte memory, it works on 4032
and 8032 models.

More information
Published Nov 23, 2023
Status Released
Rating Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Author Ko-Ko

https://ko-ko74.itch.io/cbm-pet-pacman-clone

Spyders for Commodore 8032/SuperPET https://milasoft64.itch.io/spyders-for-commodore-

8032superpet
Blimey this is another superb effort on the Pet
8032 / SuperPET version of the mini space invaders
game Spyders. I was going to add more aliens to
shoot, but I can't compare to Jimbo's Space Invaders
II.

Source code included. Based on Mr. NOP's original

4032 version. Suggested improvements: sound, key-
board matrix reading instead of location 151. But I
know I'll never get to it.

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Commodore Free

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Commodore Free

Commodore Pocket PET

I printed the stickers on a silvery metallic printable paper,
Summary (from the website) but you can use whatever you want, you can find a 3mm
I recommend printing the main body and the bottom and hole punch on amazon to punch the LED hole in the pow-
the volume knob out of beige filament and the side insert er sticker.
bezel and interior parts from black
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6489432
I will upload the stickers in a bit, they're on a different
computer that isn't at hand atm.

the BOM is
-1 theC64 mini
-1 3.5 inch hdmi lcd
-usb c 5v 2a boost converter
-pam 8403 with potentiometer
-two tac switches with longer buttons
-a rii mini wireless keyboard
-3.7 v 956090 lipo battery (this is the big battery)
-a love 4 port usb hub (three ports on top one on side)
-two small oval tablet speakers
-a 3v buck converter
-a 2 inch piece of clear filament
-3mm led color of your choice
-power switch (1x1.5 cm)
-4 m2 inserts and bolts to put the case together

my modeling talents are not perfect by any means so there

will be a little hand trimming you will need to do based
on my modeling and your printers print quality,

GENERAL NEWS
The Ghosts of Blackwood Manor 1 and MSX 2, Commodore Plus/4, SAM Coupé, TRS-80
Model III, TRS-80 Model 4, classic Macintosh and mod-
The Ghosts of Blackwood Manor is an award-winning ern PC. For playing the game on a modern machine, a .z5
interactive horror from Stefan Vogt, the acclaimed author file is provided, which allows you to run the game in a
of Hibernated and The Curse of Rabenstein. Take on the Z-machine interpreter of choice like Frotz, Lectrote or
role of novelist Thomas King and his wife Cora as they Fizmo.
move into a remote Scottish manor house, just days be-
fore Christmas 1986. Seeking inspiration for his next PHYSICAL RELEASE
book, Thomas begins to explore the history of Blackwood The physical release comes in a box that resembles the
Manor, only to uncover a dark secret that dates back cen- original Infocom packaging back from the day. You can
turies to the days of the Great Scottish Witch Hunts. order it through my publisher PolyPlay.
rtro.de/blackwood
The Ghosts of Blackwood Manor is a complex interactive
fiction piece written in Infocom's advanced Z-machine https://8bitgames.itch.io/ghosts
format XZIP. The game has three different endings, a bad,
a neutral and a good ending, depending on the player's
choices. It is very likely that the player, on a first playth-
rough, will not reach the good ending, even though it is
possible. Reaching the bad or neutral ending first is part
of the experience and helps the player understanding the
true intentions of some of the NPCs and the impact of de-
cisions made, so they may be reconsidered.

SYSTEMS
The game is available for Commodore 64, Spectrum +3,
Spectrum Next, Amstrad CPC and PCW, Commodore
Amiga, Atari 8-bit, Apple II, Atari ST, MS-DOS, BBC
Micro, Acorn Electron, Commodore 128, Mega65, MSX

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Commodore Free

Niklaus Wirth,
Visionary Software Architect, Dies at 89

Pascal, the programming language he created in the

early days of personal computing, offered a simpler
alternative to other languages in use at the time. In
1970, while he was teaching at the Swiss university
ETH Zurich, Dr. Wirth released Pascal. He also built
one of the first personal computers and was instru-
mental in helping a Swiss start-up company (Log-
itech) commercialize the mouse The Association for
Computing Machinery honored Dr. Wirth in 1984
with the Turing Award.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/technology/ni
klaus-wirth-dead.html

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 Commodore Free

COMMODRE FREE REVIEW

Corespace CBM 64

REQUIREMENTS so when you push left or right it’s a smooth transition, the
The game has been designed for and tested with PAL on animation adds to this, so it’s not just a jump left or right
various C64 and C64 emulators (e.g. TheC64) your NT- and music plays through the game seamlessly. The actual
SC mileage will vary core coding is very professional then. If you touch the
edges and flying over solid buildings you will die, it takes
Joystick in port 2 a few seconds then you loose a life, you then transported
to the same place less one life and can continue. obvious-
As mentioned in the news section this is a new (ish) re- ly hitting an enemy, bullet or flying into solid objects isn’t
lease for the Commodore 64, having paid my $2 asking recommended but you can collect coins for extra lives.
fee (suggested price, you can pay more if you like and it
is nice to support codes on our platform) I downloaded The game scrolls up the screen at a constant pace and
the game from a secure site and saved the resultant PRG moving your joystick and ship up, of course speeds up the
on an sd card ready to load into my C64. ship, but the action never ceases it’s a relentless pace.
You will have to really think fast as some of the area
The game comes with Various cheats already available needs careful thought, and isn’t at first easy to figure out
that can be activated during gameplay, but using them how to get round or though items, some calculations are
will prevent you from getting a high score: shooting items to create a path through, other times its
just careful flying, but as I said it’s a fast game and I seem
T: Trainer mode grants infinite lives. to have perfected driving into things and dyeing very
L: Gives you another life. quickly
R: Restarts the current level.
S: Skips the current level. Summary
H: Slows the game to half speed. Fast gameplay and great music and graphics, make this
another great commodore release, although the graphics
BOOTS UP are shaded and well-drawn, somehow it seems to lack a
Loading is quick and the initial title screen looks really 3d depth, it could be because the aliens and ship had no
good, so I’m hoping for a rely positive experience from ground shadow, but if this sort of game has you excited
this game having only seen the website, at this point I you certainly won’t be disappointed.
haven’t watched any video playthroughs, I originally be-
came hooked on this because it looked so much like the Commodore Free Score 8/10
uridium style of graphics, and that’s where it ends be-
cause this is a shooter plain and simple.

The main load screen has credits and a funky sid tune
with some scrolling text

FAST PACE Video playthough

Wow don’t expect an easy game here, you need a joystick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-uqijgkWco
in port 2 with the usual left right up down fire. The game
is very smooth I didn’t notice any glitching or pausing in download
my play test review. The graphics look great, everything https://drmortalwombat.itch.io/corescape
is very smooth and the ship has the right amount of inertia

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Commodore Free

Commodores 264 machine line sound. The CPU was the 8501 from MOS Technolo-
By Commodore Free gy. The TED chip allowed Tramiel to bundle multi-
ple features into one chip, cutting production costs
and lowering the overall price to as little as $50 for
the cheapest model.

The C116 would be the low end of this spectrum,

having about 12K of memory. The C264 and V364
would have built in software, 64k of memory, and
the V364 would have speech synthesis built in. Con-
fusion at Commodore following the loss of founder
Jack Tramiel it appered they had no real leader and
resulted in a refusal to follow up on this workable
marketing plan for the machines launches.

The Commodore 116 was designed by engineers at

Commodore-US. The Commodore 16, was adapted
There is a lot of confusion on the 264 range of Com- later from 116 designs by engineers at Commodore-
modore machines, commonly known as the TED Japan. The C16 was meant to be the replacement for
line, lets quickly look at the ending of the product the VIC-20, which had been discontinued a few
line and jack Tramiel’s ultimate Departure from months before. Compared to the VIC, it is indeed an
Commodore then see if I can clear up some confu- impressive machine. With 16K compared to the the
sion or make things worse: VICs 3.5K, better video graphics, and full compati-
bility with VIC peripherals.
In 1984, after a heated board meeting on January 13,
Tramiel made the decision to leave Commodore. His They were designed to be low-cost alternatives to the
resignation was primarily due to disagreements with popular Commodore 64, with built-in software and a
Irving Gould, the chairman of Commodore, regard- new video and sound, Jack saw that Sinclair and
ing fundamental principles and how to run the com- Amstrad had the lower end of the market and wanted
pany. Some claim it was also because Tramiel to clean up as Commodore had done with the Com-
wanted his sons on the board and they were refused, modore 64 at the higher end.
but let’s just leave this as “he was upset and left the The 264 line had already started to be developed and
company he had founded”. A quote from around the in Bil herd (commodore Engineer) words, once the
time states that Tramiel felt that if he couldn’t ap- chip (TED) was designed you were limited on what
proach his office with a smile and happiness, then else could be done as you had a fairly strict design
ultimately it was time to step down and wiser words outline already in place.
have never been spoken, if the job you do doesn’t
bring you joy then its time to leave or change jobs. Bil Joining Commodore:
Bil Herd joined Commodore and initially worked on
The 264 Series and Timing: several projects, including the Commodore Plus/4,
The 264 series was a line of 8-bit home computers C16/116, C264, and C364 machines (with voice syn-
that were developed by Commodore and launched At thesizer for speech output for the first time). His role
the January 1984 C.E.S., billed as the machines to at commodore was that of principal engineer in-
follow up the Commodore 64. only the C116 was volved designing and developing these 8-bit home
released in Europe, though it was redesigned as the computers. The Commodore 264 series was part of
C16 for American consumers. The C264 became his portfolio.
known as the Plus/4, while the V364 was never re- Bil also worked on the Commodore 128, Herd also
leased. worked on the initial architecture of the Commodore
LCD computer, although that product was never re-
The 264 series, was unveiled just days before leased.
Tramiel’s departure from commodore. with only one
of these models reaching the market in its original Post-Commodore Contributions:
form. Tramiel’s exit occurred shortly after this prod- After leaving Commodore, Bil Herd continued to
uct launch. All three computers used the custom design faster and more powerful computers, with a
TED (Text Editing Device). chip for graphics and focus on machine vision. As of September 2020, he

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produces videos for Hackaday. In 2021, Herd co-au- its predecessor. It was mainly sold in Europe, where
thored a book titled “Back into the Storm: A Design it had some success in Germany and Italy¹².
Engineer’s Story of Commodore Computers in the
1980s,” sharing inside stories about his experiences - The C116: A smaller and cheaper version of the
designing computers for Commodore. C16, with a membrane keyboard, a smaller case, and
Bill famously pointed out while playing a game on a different power supply. It was only sold in Europe,
the commodore 264 range as he got near the screen and it was not very popular¹².
sparks came out of the joystick, and he was told to
“fix it or your fired” - The Plus/4: The flagship model, with 64 KB of
RAM, a 121-color graphics mode, and four built-in
My View software applications: a word processor, a spread-
The 264 series could I feel have been a success but sheet, a database, and a graphing program. It was
for the marketing department at Commodore, even intended to compete with the Apple II and the IBM
Bil remembers that marketing wanted to sell the PC, but it lacked the features and compatibility of
plus4 for the same price as the Commodore 64, those machines. It was mainly sold in the US, where
However Jacks original goal was to market the plus 4 it flopped¹².
for only $79 usd and Bil says the machines cost only
$11 usd to make at that price point the machines - The 364: A prototype model, with 64 KB of RAM,
would have been a real success, for people without a built-in speech synthesizer, and a numeric keypad.
the purchasing power to buy the commodore 64 that It was supposed to be the top-of-the-line model, with
was retailing at $389 the Sinclair spectrum with 16k advanced features and capabilities, but it was never
of ram sold at around $170. The cost cutting was due released to the public. Only a few prototypes were
mainly to commodore owning and manufacturing the made, and they are very rare and valuable today¹³.
MOS technology chips and so weren’t held to ran-
som on price. The machines still stand up today, if Summing up
you look at some of the plus 4 demos and even re- - The 264 series was a line of low-cost computers
worked games such as we looked at last issue with with built-in software and a new chip TED, four
Commando, they easily would have and do “hold models made up the line: the C16, the C116, the
there own” the plus 4 sells on ebay for around $150 Plus/4, and the 364 (never released prototype). They
usd today and is definitely a machine you should be had different features, prices, and markets, but none
involved with. of them were successful mainly due to the high retail
price.
commercial failure
Ultimately the 264 line failed for several reasons
then. First, the machines were not compatible with
the Commodore 64, which had a large library of soft-
ware and peripherals. Second, the built-in software
was of poor quality and limited functionality, (but
that depends on who you talk to as I know many
owners prise the software) and the machines lacked a
dedicated sound chip. Third, the machines were
priced too high for the budget market, and too low
for the business market. Fourth, the machines faced
strong competition from other 8-bit computers, such
as the ZX Spectrum, the Amstrad CPC, and the Atari
8-bit family. Fifth, the machines were launched at a
time when Commodore was undergoing internal tur-
moil and leadership changes, which affected the mar-
keting and distribution of the products

The models and prototypes in the 264 series were:

- The C16: The most basic model, with 16 KB of
RAM, a 16-color graphics mode, and a built-in BA-
SIC interpreter. It was intended to replace the VIC-
20, but it was less powerful and more expensive than

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SILICA SHOP

Its working like a dream its own photographic studio that could enlarge and
Looking in the local newspaper I saw an advert for a print posters of enormous size as well as scan imag
shop assistant in a shop within Debenhams Manches- es. We saw a machine that could copy tapes and in-
ter store (a concession) I had been a Silica shop cus- lays in seconds, along with another machine that
tomer for years, and having just recently purchased copied floppy disks and inlays and sleeves in literally
an amiga 4000/040 desktop model I was keen to send seconds spewing them into a hopper at the bottom of
off my Curriculum Viti. the machine.

I like all the other eager workers were summoned for Training went well and the last 3 days we were as-
an interview at Salford docks Manchester, entering signed shops, mine was Tottenham court road TCR
the building I was given a pencil and a questionnaire the main silica Shop hub, it was an amazing experi-
to fill out, the questionnaire was more like some Hu- ence, although I knew I had to up my knowledge of
man resources personality test with hundreds of consoles, PC systems and the Amiga, and to some
questions along the lines of “do you keep a diary”, extent the Atari were already under my knowledge
“do you look at a diary daily” I’m led to believe belt, having assessed the Atari falcon before my
some 1000 people attended this test, then we I think Amiga 4000 due to the then supposed DSP the falcon
we’re all lead one by one to a lift with the HR man- would have for music.
ager and up to another level into a suite serving as an
interview room. I was asked the usual questions, why Silica also ran the Amiga helpline, and in training I
did you apply etc then the HR manager asked me the managed to sit in on a few sessions with confused
question, “tell me all you know about Commodore” customers trying to get printers working or change
for over 1 hour I spouted out about the vic, the com- country settings, some had more grand experiences
modore 64, the Amiga and the Amiga 4000 /040 and and problems like genlocking and wanting to know
my history of Commodore and the main people who how to setup the NTSC video toaster for a pal broad-
made up the company. cast!

The interviewer sat amazed at, one I had purchased

an amiga 4000 as he said I was one of the first to or-
der the machine from his records, and Two at the
amount of information coming from this young
mind. He looked at his watch and realised he was
now well behind schedule for his interview list and
had to cut me mid conversation, I think we were
scheduled 15 minutes. So after shaking hands and
myself still spurting on about commodore architec-
ture he said “great to meet you and I will see you on
the next interview sessions” he then went red and
said “oh I shouldn’t have said that”, and as you have
guessed your now onto round 2 which is really a for-
mality with Debenhams”
We opened shop in Manchester on the third floor of
A week letter I had a phone call from Sidcup kent Debenhams next to the toy department, Café where I
and was invited to Round 2 was more as was said an met my soon to be wife of 25 years a café manager,
informal chat with Debenhams security just to check and also nestled next to a discount books and Cd
I wouldn’t steal more than I would sell I suppose, concession. Although pay was meagre to say the
after that chat I went home and waited, sure enough I least you had the opportunity via sales to earn com-
received another phone call “congratulations and mission and items were weighted on a pints system
welcome to the team” I was then advised I had to and via the profit they made, so floppy disks were a
travel to Sidcup to receive a weeks worth of gruel- 9/10 and a printer would be about 2 with a pc 1 , the
ling training, There we met a the directors and had a scaled didn’t relate to a percentage just an arbitrary
quick look at how mail ordering works and how the guide to a points system.
posters are printed for the magazines, Silica owned

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I remember we would get IBM and Hewlett Packard problems and then close the shops and mail ordering
telling us if we sell 10 machines were entered into a completely, I left about 2 years before they closed
draw to win a holiday, although I said I would rather the Manchester branch, they had directors missing a
sell people what they want and not what profited me month’s pay just to keep things going, selling off
the most. This is something currys excel in, guiding shop fittings, but it was fairly obvious even from the
you to something you don’t wat to gain commission news about Commodore administration they
or sell outdated stock. wouldn’t survive.

Sales were good, very good) we had some real char- Shopping history
acters enter, some miffed at not being picked for the
sales team, but others with genuine interest and ex-
citement about products. Each of the staff had a
strength so we had a PC and upgrade specialist, a
console expert, a programming guru who knew about
amigas an ex magazine writer and myself the Amiga
specialist, Oh and a manager who oversaw us. The
manager later left after some 250k of stock went
missing, stolen out the shop and I was then promoted
to manager, things went well and Debenhams would
come to empty the tills 3 times a day as the cash
wouldn’t fit into them we were taking so much.

The death of my dream

I got on well with the directors, especially well with
one who would ply me with inside knowledge and
also with the head programmer who gave me access
to items on my shop computer menu I shouldn’t have
had like the IN/out system where you could see who
was in or out at head office, so if a director went in at
6am then clocked out at 6.30 and it was now 10 you
could be pretty sure he was going to spy on a shop!

My sources would also called to say “next week is a

spot inspection” or “You have a director coming to
the store with family to do a plain clothes walk
round” Interestingly when directors came they would
normally ware the green Silica tshirts and even if
they were in mid conversation, if a customer needed
help they would break off and help the customer! So you read my take, and there are many other sto-
Not something that happens in forms today, as they ries like, other mail order companies over took them
feel they are above everyone. etc, but it really was the demise of commodore that
killed Silica.
liquidation
On one of my calls I was relayed the sad news History
“commodore is in liquidation” and I am to visit you Silica Shop was a UK-based computer retailer and
tomorrow, the director relayed the news almost in distributor who sold Atari, Amiga, Sega, Nintendo
tears that an era had come and Commodore was in and other platforms in the 1980s and 1990s. It was
real trouble, there may be a buyout but it wasn’t cer- founded by David Martin in 1982, and had its origi-
tain. I was told that the shops relied on Commodore, nal shop in Sidcup, Kent. It later expanded to have
silica tried to invest heavily in a OEM pc they badg- several stores across the UK, including over 19 con-
ed up as Silica pc, and although it gained good re- cession stores within Debenhams. However, it went
views, and was a great price, the company couldn’t into administration in 1996, due to financial difficul-
gain supply of the machines in enough quantity, Sili- ties
ca put more money to get the machines, but eventu-
ally this would lead to Silica with cash flow

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Commodore Free

Silica Shop was popular among Atari fans, as it of- I don’t remember this but.. apparently Silica Shop
fered a wide range of hardware, software, and acces- had a mascot called Silica Sid, a cartoon character
sories for the Atari 8-bit and ST computers. It also who appeared in their adverts and catalogues. He
published newsletters and catalogues, and ran a was a friendly and helpful guide who gave tips and
membership club for its customers. Some of its advice to customers Silica Shop became one of the
former employees went on to work for other compu- largest Atari retailers in Europe.
ter companies, such as Escom, Intel, AMD and Mi-
crosoft. Silica was the Uk importer for Commodore and
would repackage commodore products to better ap-
- David Timothy, the founder and managing director peal to the uk market, so you may remember the var-
-Mason John Woodhams, the secretary of The Silica ious xmas packaged gift sets with free games and a
Shop Ltd lovely designed xmas cover of the commodore com-
- Noel Daniel, a former programmer who worked in puter, this was Silica who would buy up the rights to
the Tottenham Court road branch: the games, reproduce them in house and then re-
package them with the machine to public ad though
trade channels.

The Atari users would be given a shrink wrapped

pack of about 20 games to get them started . Within
Silica there were often competitions to design the
box contents, layout, picture and pack name. the
packs were sent out separate so the shops could
repackage them, so an xmas box would be ripped of
its outer cover and any reference to xmas and pack-
aged as a summer collection etc

- Silica Shop was originally called Prodis, which

stood for Program Distribution Services. The name
was changed to Silica Shop in 1984, to reflect the
company's focus on silicon-based products. Silica
Shop was one of the first retailers to offer a mail-or-
der service for computer games and hardware, which a brief history of a forgotten age, I still have my sili-
allowed customers to order from anywhere in the ca greed tshirt and my silica manager ID badge. Peo-
country. They also had a loyalty scheme called Silica ple now don’t remember this passing phase but just
Points, which gave customers discounts and free for a brief few years of time Silica had the world of
gifts. Silica Shop was involved in the development computer retail at its feet.
and publishing of some Atari games, such as
Sidewinder, Thunderfox, and Foundations Waste. Can you add to this story, Did you work in one of the
Some of their staff were former or current program- many Debenhams outlets or directly for Silic itself?
mers, such as Noel Daniel and Eroll Elliston. Let me know

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Commodore Free

Commodore Free review

Gina sisters for the 264 range (+4 CBM 16)

History Port to Commodore Plus/4:On March 3rd, 2024, a

If you have seen Mario the Nintendo plumber then coder named TCFS ported the original game from
you get the basics of this game, a right to left scroll- 1987 to the Commodore Plus/4 platform
ing landscape, but you can only move right, you can
only go back to the edge of the screen, the screen Gameplay and Features
doesn’t scroll left to right and just stops! You are to The Great Giana Sisters C64 is a 2D side-scrolling
collect items and squish the monsters by landing on platform game where the player controls either Giana
them, you can headbutt various items than will give or her sister Maria (supporting alternating two-player
you bonus and energy. mode).
Each level contains dream crystals that give points
Developed by Time Warp Productions, a German when collected, contributing to the game’s high
video game company, and released in 1987 on the score.
Commodore 64 “The Great Giana Sisters” was de-
signed by Armin Gessert and features music com- Power-ups include:Fire Wheel Transforms Giana
posed by the legendary Chris Hülsbeck. The game into a punk with the ability to crush rocks by jump-
was published by Rainbow Arts for the Commodore ing and hitting them from below.Lightning Bolt
64 and was later ported to other platforms such as the Awards Giana “dream bubbles,” a single projectile
Amiga, Atari ST, and Amstrad CPC. shot.Double Lightning: Gives her the ability to shoot
recoiling projectiles.Strawberries Grant her homing
projectiles.Water Drop A defensive item that protects
Head butting releases and item Giana against fire.
Enemies include owls, rolling eyeballs, flesh-eating
fish, and deadly insects.
Special items affect the entire screen, such as the
“clock” (freezes all enemies) and the “magic bombs”
(kill all enemies).

Plus 4 version
With an excellent conversion of the original music
the plus 4 is never going to be a SID chip but does a
plausible rendition of the music. The game looks
very colourful and for a moment you forget this isn’t
the C64 version, its smooth glitch free and with all
Released originally on the Commodore 64 and then the game play elements remaining intact, even to the
pulled quickly for copyright reasons, “the great gina point of changing direction while jumping gives an
sisters” still remains a classic on the commodore 64 other world non gravity floating feeling just right for
with many sites offering a download to this piece of the games mechanics, because this helps when tim-
history, and while we can complain all we like it is a ing jumps. You need to get some pixel perfect jumps
very close copy of mario from Nintendo al be it with for this action, but its never frustrating and it’s a little
different main character sprites. more forgiving than some games of this ilk.

Amiga version of this classic platformer: The game is both polished and great to play, as you
the Amiga version was released in 1988. Retaining can tell its one of those frustrating, one more time
the design from the original Commodore 64 version.. games where you wanted to leave but are now late as
The scroll screen melody of The Great Giana Sisters your on your 25th one more time plays
was composed by the talented Chris Huelsbeck and The great Gina sisters is a classic game for he Com-
remains iconic in gaming history. modore range of machines, it’s a shame Nintendo

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Commodore Free

wouldn’t franchise Mario out to be developed for the SCORE 7/10

Commodore range, Its also great to see this game
now available on the plus 4 even if its taken so long Version comparison
to arrive. The Commodore e64 version would re- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnObTaZWR6M
ceive the same score so a very worth 7 isn’t to feel
disappointed about. I think all versions would score Plus 4 version video
the same if I’m pressed into an answer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YqWt3Oq0ek

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Commodore Free

The incomplete history of ELITE

By Commodore Free

Rose tinted glasses comparison, I still look back on Elite as a BBC

Way back in time, when the bbc micro had its own tv game, and still think the BBC version was probably
service on the BBC and the years started with 19 the best, I have included some video of different sys-
(something), a game was released that was so impos- tems playing so you can make u your own mind.
sible to comprehend it became and still is a classic.
The game called ELITE was a space trading game An Unofficial plus 4 has been created that shows
and while on paper it didn’t sound that ground break- what could have been with silky smooth graphics. So
ing, it set a standard still used by many such games plus 4 users can experience the thrill of 1980 they
today. The idea is you collect items from one planet, never had.
then look at the most lucrative planet to travel to and
sell you items at a vast profit. Crammed into a mi- plus 4 (unofficial)
nuscule amount of code and using wireframe 3d https://plus4world.powweb.com/software/Elite_Plus4
graphics the player area was immense. Some ver-
sions like the Amiga featured filled colour graphics, https://www.indieretronews.com/2022/09/elite-4-
but that was processor dependent. flicker-free-classic-as.html

If you started trading contraband then the police you Commodore 64

trail you and shoot you down, here your best option https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhTTpV5qFrs
was to hyperspace and hope to get lucky as you nev-
er knew where such hyperspace would take you and BBC version
what the planet would be like, friend foe or worse! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6m4DwkYgGs
Not only was the gameplay unique, but the game fea- &t=165s
tured a radar that could not only show the position of
the aliens or other space traders, but also the height amiga
and how close they were to you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsuWgLEQBxM

I think because the BBC version was the first version IAN bells (co creator) website
I saw and the C64 version looked quite glitch in http://www.iancgbell.clara.net/elite/

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Commodore Free

Elite: A Pioneering Odyssey in Space GamingIn open-ended gameplay, minimalist graphics, and au-
the early 1980s, when home computers were still dacious design set a precedent for future space sims.
quite a new fad, a groundbreaking game emerged Innovations:
from the minds of two British programmers. Elite
was the brainchild David Braben and Ian Bell. The Wire-frame 3D graphics with hidden-line removal:
two quickly wrote the game as they were scared Elite was one of the first home computer games to
Somone else would do it before them, and so while use this technology. The Dark Wheel: A novella by
they were both studying at the University of Cam- Robert Holdstock was included, providing insight
bridge, they worked together on a game that would into moral and legal codes for players. open-ended
revolutionize the gaming world. gameplay model and revolutionary graphics led to its
Elite was famously described as the game that widespread porting across contemporary home com-
couldn’t t have been written. puter systems.
Players had an Open Universe System, the ability to
Rhome anywhere, Players could explore eight galax- Influence and Legacy:
ies and over 2,000 planets, drawn in 3D wireframe The Elite series is one of the longest-running video
graphics and using clever calculations to remove game franchises, and has served as a model for so
lines that couldn’t be seen by the player, in doing so many other games. originally published by Acornsoft
leaving a clean and uncluttered experience. There are for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in
No High Scores as such, and basically as a Players September 1984. The game was later ported to virtu-
you could choose your own path, be that of trading ally every contemporary home computer system, in-
goods, hunt bounties, smuggle contraband, or mining cluding:
asteroids. Apple II
Amstrad
The original game is said to contain only 22 Kilo- CPC
bytes of code memory. Braben and Bell how they Commodore 64
managed to compressed the game into such a tiny ZX Spectrum
code space is incredible. MSX
Tatung
Gameplay and Legacy Einstein
In Elite, players assumed the role of Commander IBM PC compatible
Jameson, a space adventurer with a Cobra Mk III Acorn Archimedes
starting at Lave Station and armed with 100 credits. Amiga
Players were subject to Combat, Engage in dogfights
with pirates, police, or other traders. With the option
to Upgrade your ships weaponry and shields to sur-
vive these attacks, and the goal really of the game
was to upgrade your rank to become ELITE, al-
though you were free to become just a space pirate
and shoot police, and as they left the planet to track
you down they would destroy you. Most of the ships
encountered in the game were named after snakes or
reptiles.

Sales
The original game Elite sold an estimated one mil-
lion units. Of course, Sequels and Spin-offs wouldn’t
be far behind to follow on this success: Two popular
sequels followed: Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First
Encounters. Then In 2012, Elite Dangerous rebooted
the whole franchise and interest in the game for the
21st century, pulling in a new generation of players
.
Conclusion and summary
Elite defied conventions, transcending its 22-kilobyte
origins to become a game legend in its own right. Its

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Commodore Free

Atari ST
Nintendo Entertainment System (PALonly)

Commodore 64 Version: Unofficial Commodore Plus/4:

The Commodore 64 version of Elite received critical Elite was indeed converted for the Commodore
acclaim. With Zzap!64 awarded it an impressive Plus/4, thanks to the efforts of dedicated
97%, calling the game a brilliant game of blasting hackers.These hacker conversions allowed players to
and trading and one of the best games of the year in experience the space trading and combat simulation
1985.Amiga Version:The Amiga version of Elite, on the Plus/4 platform. The game retains its core fea-
released in 1989, continued the games success, When tures, including wire-frame 3D graphics and the
Zzap!64 awarded it a high score of 98%. Elite Plus quest for Elite status.
(known as Elite Plus in the US and EU) was an en-
hanced version of the original Elite for the Amiga.

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Commodore Free

Commodore Free Insomnia

Birmingham NEC review
28 March - 1 April 2024

If you thought insomnia was just some sleeping dis-

order, then your missing out on an exciting exhibi-
tion of all things gaming.

meet new people, form communities, and immerse

History The Insomnia Gaming Festival, originally
oneself in the vibrant gaming scene.
known as the i-Series, was founded in 1999. It began
as a small LAN (Local Area Network) event where The festival quickly outgrew its initial confines and
gamers could come together, connect their own com- now takes place at the Birmingham NEC (National
puters, and play games as part of a vibrant communi- Exhibition Centre) in the United Kingdom. The NEC
ty. From these humble beginnings in a small office in is the largest exhibition center in the UK, providing
Swindon, England, with just a few hundred attend- ample space for gaming enthusiasts, exhibitors, and
ees, it has now grown significantly over the years. stage shows. if you're passionate about esports, LAN
The festival was primarily cantered around LAN parties, stage performances, and all things gaming,
gaming, where participants competed in tournaments Insomnia is the place to be!
to win prize money.

Evolution and GrowthInsomnia slowly expanded

beyond LAN gaming. It transformed into a compre-
hensive gaming extravaganza that celebrates all as-
pects of gaming culture, so today, it's not just a
gaming expo; it's a celebration of all things gaming.
Attendees can explore brand new game releases, in-
dulge in cosplay, discover indie games, engage with
gaming content creators, and more. However Insom-
nia isn't only about playing games; it's also a place to

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Commodore Free

Review encers will chair a tv show and be catapulted into

Each venue or event is given a number prefixed by fame. To be honest they were all very polite and
an I so this event is (I72) and while on the face of none had heard of C= Free, many knew little of com-
things, an 8 bit r even 16 bit gamer may be looking modore, but again with their age that’s not so sur-
else where for fun, Insomnia has something to offer prising.
every type of gamer, Dressing up or cos play seems
to be a big thing at this years event, and while I onlyConclusion
booked one day, its enough for a casual gamer. If I Billed as a Lan party, and that’s still seems to be the
was hardcore, I would be taking my own gaming rig, focus, to play with friends, and fellow game enthusi-
hooking it up to the lan, booking my tent into the hallasts online gaming, Insomnia tries to cater for all
area for a sleep over and be blasting scum until its needs and while the retro section feels like its an af-
time to leave. ter thought there were a number of systems recom-
mended. As a retro users, you probably will not feel
On entrance it can feel at first overwhelming, a large your well catered for but if you’re a more all round
stage area has guest speakers though the day talking gamer then it’s a great event to meet, greet and catch
about all gaming, games and testing, while other cen- up with the latest gossip, friends’ and influencers.
tral areas are filled with small to large companies
selling their wares, anyone with enough money can The place is huge and although we did meet some
sell items at the show, paying a fixed price per meter influencers I have no clue who they were, my son
squared. Prices can be higher than normal, costing in however did seem to know them and they were not
the retailer’s travel expenses but… you can find adverse to talking about gaming, although none had
some gems and items being sold off. New releases heard of commodore or of commodore free.
especially tend to be heavily promoted and so heavi-
ly discounted at the show. Homeward bound
Coming back via Birmingham motorway you realise
Tucked away to one side is the retro section, al- how bad the state of British roads are, cars swerving
though it seemed a bigger area than usual, this is dangerously to avoid massive holes in the road, une-
were old tv`s are commissioned back into action and ven surfaces, its impossible not to band down into
various consoles are brought back to life. Surprising some pothole, my car suffered and reported a cata-
with all the new glitz happening that gamers are still strophic failure. Next day at the garage I was present-
drawn to the retro games, maybe its nostalgic, maybe ed with a 2k bill for my delves into potholes, the
they come to look at how bad games were or just ap- garage said he had a few bad cars from Birmingham,
preciate some of the coding genius that went into so next year, if its running and not on strike ! we will
beating the best out of these systems. I met a few take the train!
fellow 8bit gamers and we chatted, some new about
C= Free and some are going to look up the website. https://www.insomniagamingfestival.com/

This year it was consoles only, saga, xbox, playsta-

tion, etc no classic gaming computers, no msx, no
spectrum and no commodore, someone I spoke to
said it was because they get stolen. However it would
seem there is little demand for these, the consoles on
display were all locked n boxes and bolted to the ta-
bles, I didn’t delve further for the review.

Other areas have promoters or influencers, common-

ly known as overpaid youtubers who will chat and
sign autographs, having been paid vast sums of mon-
ey to attend, last years even was quiet with hardly
any of these influencers around, this year though and
after lots of criticism they are back in force. To be
quite honest I didn’t know any of them, but as they
are not retro influencers that really isn’t surprising.
Still, I grabbed a few posters and autographs be-
cause, well you never know whe one of these influ-

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