This version of the well-known "Hangman" word guessing game has been specifically designed to meet the needs of teachers, parents and children in the classroom or at home. It is aimed at helping children to discover information about how words are built up. This incldes frequency of letters occurring, common structures, e.g. "...ion", "...ing", etc.

The program is designed to be as flexible as possible. Words can be used from various sources, either from lists on tape, or by entering words one by one - this is popular when the program is used by two children, one turning away whilst the other enters a word, whereupon the first then has the task of discovering what it was,

There are also six pre-recorded lists of words on the tape, which can be loaded as described later. This option then gioves a choice of up to 50 words in each list. Finally there is the facility "WORDSTORE" that allows appropriate lists of words to be created. Thus spelling lists can be readily incorporated in the program. Note that it is also possible to use foreign languages with Wordhang, although care should be taken since accents can not be entered.

The lists on the tape are all in capital letters. This is so that the letters appearing on the screen correspond to the capital letters on each key. If, however, lower or mixed case letters are required then WORDSTORE can be used to store words in lower case. When loaded, all words will appear as they were typed in.

Please note that the program will display the title and copyright message for a few seconds, having completed loading. This allows time for the cassette recorder to be switched off if necessary. No entires are necessary and the program will automatically move on to the main menu screen.

This option can be chosen when two or more are playing Wordhang. It allows children to pit their wits against each other. The child's name should first be entered and RETURN pressed on completion.

The word can then be entered - with the opponent not looking!! Capital letters can be used with CAPS LOCK on, or lower case used by turning CAPS LOCK off (For an explanationn of CAPS LOCK see the User Guide). Entering the word (followed by RETURN) will move the program onto the main screen.

In this option the computer sets the words - selecting them from a list in memory. When the program is first loaded, LIST-1 is automatically loaded in memory. Alternatively, in another list on the Wordhang tape or any list that has been prepared with WORDSTORE can be loaded as described under option 4.

After a name has been entered, a group of words can then be chosen from the menu. LIST-1 as an example is a selection of words from Schonell's "Essential Spelling List" which has been split into six groups according to age group. The appropriate group is chosen (followed by RETURN) whereupon the program moves on to the main screen and words are selected from the group in random order.

The gallows are drawn first and then the word that needs to be discovered is printed as dashes. A letter is chosen by pressing the appropriate key. There is no need to press RETURN after each guess. If the guess was correct then it will be displayed in its correct position in the word. If more than one occurrence of the guessed letter is in the word then all will be displayed - that letter needs to be chosen only once.

If, however, the letter guessed is incorrect then another section of the man will be drawn.

The man has ten lives and when all are lost and he is complete then he will hang! Only with skill and knowledge of word structures can he be kept alive. If the word is guessed before the man hangs then a tune is played and congratulations given.

If the player believes he has guessed the word correctly then in order to avoid frustration, the whole guess can be entered at once. Press the key marked ? to use this facility. Beware though - a wrong guess costs three lives!

The time can be set at between 1 and 60 seconds. In the event of no time limit being set, the program allows infinite time to enter a letter. If no letter is entered within the time limit then a % sign appears in the guessed letter box and a bad guess registered. After setting the time limit the program reverts to the menu. To reset to no time limit use this option and enter zero for no time limit.

To change the list of words in memory a new list should be loaded. The new list may be on the Wordhang tape or may be one that has previously been saved on a different tape by WORDSTORE.

Place the tape in the recorder. Note that if a new list only partially loads the list in memory may be destroyed.

The file name that the list was recorded under is then entered (followed by RETURN). The computer will now search for the file. When it is found it will attempt to load it. If this is successful press the space bar to be returned to the menu. If the list fails to load then first check that the exact file name has been used. If it was incorrect then ESCAPE can be pressed and a new attempt made.

If an error message appears then adjust the volume and rewind to try again. Note that the tape may be recorded at a different level to the program cassette, and therefore could require a different volume setting.

All BES programs contain a performance recording system or MONITOR. Using this, teachers, parents or the child can see how well a task is being performed. Progress can be quantified as a result. Only then can a child's ability and education needs be identified.

Each time a new name is entered after starting the program from the main menu, a new monitor record is created. The facility will hold the record of the last six children (after number siz, number seven will be recorded over number one, eight over two, etc.)

The Wordhang Monitor records the name of the player, length of time taken, the source of the words, the number of correct words and the number of hangings.

Careful analysis of the information stored in these records can provide a valuable guide to the needs and successes of each child.

Sound can be very disconcerting in certain situations and as a consequence Wordhang has a sound control.

The WORDSTORE program, a utility word editing and storage program, follows immediately after the word lists and is loaded by typing in CHAIN"WORDSTO" and RETURN. The program is loaded in the same manner as the main program.

Having loaded the program a menu is displayed featurinjg:

This leads to the ability to create new lists of words as described in the subsequent screen, or to edit a list in memory as loaded by the option (3) below. The editor allows creation of, or changes to, any list by means of the A to Z and DELETE keys. The arrow keys on the top right-hand side of the keyboard act as follows:

Note that the view mode arrow keys only operate to bring a higher numbered entry to the editor line when the existing line has at least one letter already entered.

Words are grouped by entering a % sign followed by the group name in letters only (not numbers, dashes, spaces, etc.). An example of an acceptable list is as follows:

Note that the number of words in any list should not exceed 50, the number of groups within a list should not exceed 50, the number of groups within a list should not exceed 6 and the number of words within a group should not exceed 10.

The words may be entered in upper/lower or mixed case letters. They should be entered as they are required to appear in the main program.

Having made a new list or adjusted an existing one, it is necessary to save it to tape so that it can be used later and loaded into the main program.

An appropriate cassette should be placed in the recorder. The place to record the list should be found. Be careful, you do not overwrite any other file. The program is designed to make this process easy - press PLAY and the tape will be catalogued - any files recordedn will be listed. It is easy therefore to find the end of the last file - where the new list might be recorded.

When the tape is in the correct place press ESCAPE and enter the filename to be used. After RETURN the file will be recorded in the normal manner explained in the User Guide.

To check the the file has recorded properly, then the tape should be rewound and the save option chosen again. Press PLAY and the file should appear in the catalogue list as it plays.

Note that using the LOAD option for this is dangerous since, if a file starts to load but then fails, it can destroy the list in memory.

This option is the same as in the main program. It can be used to load existing files from memory to edit or adjust them. See the section under the main Wordhang program for details.

The cassette is prerecorded with spelling lists which should satisfy most situations.

The first list loads into the computer memory automatically on loading Wordhang and is based on F. J. Schonell's "Essential Selling List".

Subsequent lists are loaded by means of a menu option in the main program of Wordhang. The use of this option overwrites List 1 in the computer memory by the list chosen.

Other lists can be created as described in the program notes for WORDSTORE.

LIST 1

LIST 2 - HISTORY

LIST 3 - GEOGRAPHY

LIST 4 - MATHS

LIST 5 - TRANSPORT

LIST 6 - SPORT