BASIC 8

BASIC 8 (or BASIC 8.0) — "The Enhanced Graphics System For The C128" — developed by Walrusoft of Gainesville, Florida and published in 1986 by Patech Software of Somerset, New Jersey, USA, was an extension of Commodore's BASIC 7.0 for the C128 home/personal computer. BASIC 8.0 provided commands lacking in BASIC 7.0 to generate (color) graphics in the C128's high-resolution 80-column mode (640×200 pixels) for RGB monitors.

The BASIC 8 package was developed by Walrusoft's Louis Wallace and David Darus, with contributions from Ken French (printer drivers) and indirectly from Richard Rylander (who allowed his 3D solids commands for the C64, originally published in Dr. Dobb's Journal, to be converted to the C128's hi-res mode).

Background and description

The problem

One of the primary critiques of Commodore's computers was that their BASIC programming language dialects lacked easy sound, graphics, and input device commands, like their competitors in the Apple II and Atari 8-bit families – requiring obscure PEEK and POKE sequences, or machine language routines, to generate high-resolution graphics, sound and music, or read from joysticks and paddles. The BASIC 2.0 of the Commodore 64, totally devoid of sound and graphics commands, induced the development of many third-party language extensions, such as Simons' BASIC, enabling non-expert users to enter the world of computer graphics.