Brainteasers: What's Yours?

By Genevieve Ludinski

Originally published in EUG #57

More highly-rated and puzzling challenges lay in store for you lucky EUG readers in this issue's selection of BRAINTEASERS. As usual, brief instructions appear on screen before play commences.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FOURTH KIND

The aliens have sneaked into this compilation after all - but we believe they are friendly. It's up to you to find out.

Hovering above a field, lights rotating around its outer edge, is a flying saucer. From the saucer comes a sequence of notes which may contain a message of peace. To find out you must repeat the notes in the same sequence as the aliens have transmitted them.

Every time you repeat the notes properly, the saucer will descend one level towards the ground. Try and bring them in carefully as the last time we succeeded the space vessel blew up after landing.

How To Play

The number keys 0 to 9 represent a note in the octave starting with middle C.

Key in S to indicate the start of a tune.

You can either try guessing by starting with S or you can play with the keyboard until you have found the correct note.

The saucer will first emit one note and, if you copy correctly, descend slightly before sounding its next tone which will be a tune of two notes and so on. Each time you have guessed the sequence correctly, the saucer will descend. Remember to start each guess with S.

If you can't find the correct note, press G and RETURN and a new tune sequence will begin.

Programming Hints

The sound buffer is flushed just before you key in a tune when S is pressed by using *FX 15,0 in line 780. This is to prevent the last few notes the player has just keyed in from being played before the tune he is about to key in. Commands commencing with an asterisk may not be included in a line of more than one statement. I have got around this by putting *FX 15,0 in a procedure and calling the procedure.

You could increase the number of possible notes in the tunes by changing the maximum value of N(L) in line 220. Then add lines for larger values of NT after line 750.

WHAT'S YOURS?

Do you know that awful feeling when you've been put in charge of the drinks' purchase at your friend's wedding? You can be sure that you'll get a soft drink for the big fellow in the corner or, even worse, a double whisky with pint chaser for someone's grandmother.

Anyway, it's your turn to buy the drinks and the order is on the bar. If you remember to get everyone the correct drink you'll receive a whisky from each of them as they'll be so pleased with your effort. If you get the total round correct, they'll all pitch in and pay for the drinks themselves.

All the drinks are £1 each so every time you get the round right, you make £1 per drink for yourself.

Oh, we almost forgot; every time you get it right, someone else joins your circle of friends.

How To Play

Five different types of drinks can be ordered as follows:

  Beer Red Mug B
Lager Yellow Mug L
Red Wine Red Glass R
White Wine White Glass W
Whisky Yellow Glass -

Look at the order detail on the bar and key in your copy. As you key in your order, the drinks will appear on the screen. When you finish the first round, a second will appear in a different order and, if the last round was correct, an additional member will be added to your group.

When the drinks run out, you can go home - by taxi!

Programming Hints

This program is a good example of the use of user-defined graphics. Just two shapes are defined, a glass and a mug shape, but as they are displayed in many different colours there appears to be a large number of shapes. Remember to use COLOUR and not GCOL for user-defined graphics, as they are handled in the same way as text.

You may wish to add some more drinks in the appropriate shaped glass or mug. For example, a white beer mug could represent lemonade, or you could define a brandy or sherry glass shape. If you add more drinks, you must allow W in line 320 to have a larger maximum value. Check for the letter that represents the new drinks in line 480. Display the new drinks in line 480. Display the new drinks after line 520.