Waiting For Godot
Back in 1952, the Irish-born poet, novelist, and foremost dramatist of the theater of the absurd, Samuel Beckett, wrote his masterpiece piny, "WaitingforC iodot/'Twotrampsspendtheentire pi ay contemplating and waitingforthe arrival of a certain Mr. Godot, who never arrives. Beckett's purpose for writing the play was to show the human need for hope.
Forty years later, two German programmers got tired of waiting for the perfect graphic program and decided to pool their resources and write the best graphic program ever available for theC64/128. Ann It Dettke and Wolfgang Kling were introduced to me as "Children of the Beat lira" (which means they are both in their forties) and classic Commodore freaks.
Arndt still has his first C64. which he bought in 1983, and uses on a daily basis! Asa highly skilled and successful programmer, in 198b he rewrote the well known but buggy "Simon's Basic", which was then released as part of a school software package and called "Tuned Simon's Basic". In August 1987 he joined the staff of the German 64'er magazine and has written articles and software non-stop for this highly successful periodical,
Wolfgang is a graphic expert who conceived the idea for their joint program, showing up at Arndt's door and asking if they could work on the project together. They discussed the concept for the graphic program and came up with some guide lines, first ofall, the program had to have professionalqualitiesand tools which were similar to those of other computer types. Second, the program must be compatible to every C<i4 configuration. Those users who only owned a
C64 with a 1541 should be able to get good results. Users with expensive and extensive peripherals would be able to producc even better results with the program. Third, this had to be the program that all Ciil users have been hoping and waiting for.
Coming up with a name for their program ■ even before it was Written - was relatively easy. Both Arndt and Wolfgang are full time teachers of the arts and familiar with English literature. They figured that just like the two tramps in Beckett's play, all C64 users had been hopefully waiting for a graphic program, which until now has never arrived. Why not name the program aftertMguy the tramps were waitingfor; Godot? Thus for KM fans, the wailing is over. GoDot lias finally arrived!
Wolfgang's program concept began with the transformation of every graphic file into the 4-Bit Format. Almost every other typical graphic editing module uses the same GoDot concept. Godot is so flexible, that ii can then create all other formats. Arndt designed the graphic environment and hardware connections based on Wolfgang's graphic ideas. Arndt and Wolfgang developed GoDot's environmental design by basing their programming on the (then) standard Amiga program Art Department Professional and its GUI. The entire environment was programmed in only 700 bytes! The entire file handling is contained in another 700 bytes. The rest of the program consists mainly of graphic routines.
GoDot allows the user of many graphic programs and platforms the ability to import, edit, and export graphics from and to each other. Every type ofgraphicfilefinds support in GoDot; Commodore 64, Amiga and PC. Those of you that own and workwithihother type of computer along with your C64/128 will appreciate its import and export capabilities. True graphic freaks will go wild with GoDol's editing functions. This baby can do everything from masking to digitizing!
The program supports scanning and color print out and new modules hit the market on a regular basis. Wolfgang is currently working on a full screen animation module and Arndt is working on adapting the program to work with CMD hardware. Thegraphic environment is written in Fuglisli and the handbook will be translated by the US distributor.
Unfortunately, when and where the program will be available in the States has not been determined yet, but we will certainly keep you informed as soon as we know the details. You can expect to hear more about GoDot in this column. Possibly the authors themselves could write a few columns describing the advanced techniques that the program has to offer.
The return of the HD-20 was so successful that we've sold out...
A lot of Commodore users saw the value in our HD-20 offer, and they jumped on it. We're willing to bet that right about now, they're happy they did. But if you're one of the users who missed that great deal, we've put together another outstanding HD bargain that you won't want to miss. You still get the speed, the convenience, the compatibility, and the power. And you get the same reliability and support that all those new HD-20 owners got. But you get even more than that—20 Megabytes more as a matter of fact. Because now you can buy a CMD HD-40 for only $30 more. That's right. Twice the capacity for only 10 percent more. But you'd better hurry—this deal can't iast forever!
The Power of a CMD HD-40.
$329
To Order Yours, Call 1-800-638-3263.
See lull CMD advertisement elsewhere in this issue for shipping prices.
Creative Micro Designs, Inc.
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