CASTLES OF SAND
By Martin Hollis
Castles Of Sand is an original game where you don't have to leave your home to experience the frustration of building a sandcastle only to have it washed away by the sea!
The game begins with attractive titles displayed followed by instructions and the level of play option - level 3 being the hardest.
The screen is then drawn with your empty sandcastle - red with blue crosses - in the centre. There are piles of yellow sand on either side which you must collect and use to fill in your sandcastle.
When you have done this, suitable congratulations are issued and a harder beach displayed.
The sand at the top of the screen acts as a barrier to the sea, which is slowly advancing to drown you. Beware any gaps in this barrier - fill them in quick or the sea will come rushing through.
The sea cannot harm your castle or kill you by reaching the bottom of the screen - it only drowns you if you are foolish enough to go for a paddle!
Any sand touched by the sea - except that in the castle - will slowly be eaten away so if you are not quick enough you may need extra sand from the barrier to complete your castle.
If so, beware the hungry sandworm. It will eat any sand you may be carrying if it catches you or any left in its path. Once lost, it cannot be recovered.
At the bottom of the screen your SCORE (25 points for each block of the castle filled in), BONUS (slowly declining) and BEACH (screen you are currently playing) are displayed. With each new BEACH the sea eats the sand away quicker and the barrier is smaller.
When you are eventually killed, either by drowning or loss of bonus, a hi-score table is displayed. Enter your name then press RETURN.
If you wish to save the names and scores for another day, press CTRL-SPACE and you will be given a load/save option.
| Variables | |
| A%, B%, C%, N%, Z% | General loop counters |
| CR% | TRUE if you are carrying sand |
| H% | Level of difficulty |
| S% | Score |
| WP% | Wave now being moved |
| X%, Y% | Coordinates of man |
| BONUS% | Amount of time left |
| DEAD% | TRUE if you are dead |
| FAST% | TRUE if game in fast mode |
| LEVEL% | Which beach is being played |
| LOOP% | General loop counter |
| SAND% | How many blocks to fill in on sandcastle |
| WX%,WY% | Coordinates of worm |
| A$, B$, F$, G$, L$, N$, S$, T$, LE$, RI$, UP$, DO$ |
Left, right, up, down. [You may change the initial values of these which are set at lines 410-440) |
| TT$ | The keys which the computer checks while game is in progress (except Space and SHIFT which are controlled by INKEY (-n)) |
| W$ | Sandworm |
| Procedures |
|
| PROCiinit | Sets up variables for beginning of program |
| PROCinit | Sets up variables for beginning of game |
| PROCtitles | Displays opening titles |
| PROCinstr | Displays instructions |
| PROCc | Switches cursor off |
| PROCend | Called when an error is met |
| PROCtext & PROCnum(N%, X, Y) | Prints BONUS, BEACH, SCORE characters and numbers at bottom of screen |
| PROCmove | Tests for keys pressed and calls appropriate PROCedure |
| PROCleft, right, up, down | Call PROCdraw to move man |
| PROCdraw(D%,DY%) | Moves man in X,Y direction |
| PROCdeadcheck | Checks to see if you are dead |
| PROCscores | Displays hi-score table |
| PROCsave | Gives option to save hi-score table |
| PROCdig/PROCfill | To dig or drop sand |
| PROCrestore | Restores all necessary values when castle filled in |
| Arrays |
|
| P%(19,26) | Stores what is at that position on screen |
| W%(19) | Remembers Y coordinates of nth wave |
| H%(10), H$(10) | Remembers hi-score and hi-score names |
ON YER BIKE!
Pedal power comes to the Electron with David McLachan's clever and amusing graphics program, ON YER BIKE.
It is a well structured, easy-to-follow program that's an excellent example of Electron animation.
| Variables | |
| L% | Road markings |
| X% | Bike's horizontal axis |
| Y% | Bike's vertical axis |
| AA% | House horizontal axis |
| BB% | House vertical axis |
| XX% | Leg positions |
| QQ% | Screen count |
| OLDX% | Old position of bike |
| OLDXX% | Old position of leg |
| Procedures |
|
| PROCINIT | Sets up all variables |
| PROCSCREEN1 | Draws the road |
| PROCCOW | Draws the cow |
| PROCWALL | Draws the wall |
| PROCTRUCK | Draws the truck |
| PROCFENCE | Draws the fence |
| PROCHOUSE | Draws the house |
| PROCLAMPPOST | Draws the lamp post |
| PROCMOVEBIKE | Moves the bike |
KNOCK OUT!
Are there times when no one pays any attention to you and you feel like you are talking to a brick wall?
Well, cheer up, Roland Waddilove's program KNOCK OUT gives you the chance to get your own back!
Row after relentless row of brick walls creep up the screen. Your job is to stop any of them reaching the top.
You do this by sending a ball - which is merrily bouncing across the top of the screen - crashing into the marauding masonry.
It's easy to play as the Space bar is the only control used throughout.
It's also great fun - a simple but thoroughly enjoyable game that will keep you at the keyboard for hours.
| Variables | |
| x%, y% | Ball coordinates |
| score% | Score |
| level% | Maximum number of rows of bricks |
| rows% | How many rows printed at bottom |
| type% | Row of spaces or bricks |
| bricks$ | Row of bricks |
| best% | High score |
| direction% | 1 or -1, right or left |
| speed% | Speed of game |
| next$ | Next row to be printed, either bricks or spaces |
| Procedures |
|
| PROCinitialise | Defines characters, envelope and switches off cursor and repeat |
| PROCinstructions | Prints instructions |
| PROCdifficulty | Inputs speed of game |
| PROCset_variables | Turns cursor off, sets level/score/rows/type |
| PROCmove_ball | Moves ball back and forth along the top until the space bar is pressed |
| PROCdrop_ball | Moves ball down the screen until brick hit at bottom |
| PROCknockout_bricks | Rubs out bricks hit, increments score |
| PROCcheck_top_line | Checks to see whether wall has reached the top |
| PROCmove_wall | Prints either bricks or spaces along the bottom of the screen |
| PROClost | Makes appropriate sound, shows bricks at top |
| PROCanother_game | Shows high score, asks whether you want to play again |
PARACHUTE
Have you ever wondered about the stories behind computer games? I mean, why are the aliens invading? And why is the gorilla so mad? What's it all about?
It's the same with A. G. Martin's game PARACHUTE. For reasons best known to themselves, a group of skydivers are hurling themselves out of a helicopter. Why?
Your job is to catch them on your raft before they perish in the water below.
The trouble is that your raft can only hold one person besides yourself, so every time you catch one you have to take him to one of the jetties to unload him.
You score points for every man you catch, but when you've missed five the game's over.
It's simple and it's fun to play. The instructions are in the game, now it's all up to you. Save the skydivers!
Note: If you would like to be able to use PARACHUTE with handicapped people, the following changes can be made so the game can be played using only the space bar to control the raft:
830 LI=0:CO=0:WC=4:DIR=1:CDIR=1
1020 IF INKEY(-99) XP=XP-DIR:CDIR=0:GOTO 1050
1030 IF CDIR=1 GOTO 1110
1040 IF DIR=-1 DIR=1:CDIR=1:GOTO 1110
1045 IF DIR=1 DIR=-1:CDIR=1:GOTO 1110
| Variables | |
| W1$, W2$, W3$ | Waves |
| SW1$, SW2$, SW3$ | Waves |
| LI | Lives lost |
| CO | Lives saved |
| DIR, CDIR | Raft motion |
| X, Y | Position of parachute |
| XINC, YINC | Movement of parachute |
| IP | Number of movements of parachute |
| C | Colour of parachute |
| XP, OXP | Position of raft |
| mo | Mode |
| C1, C2, C3 | Colour change |
| COL | Background colour to parachute (sky or sea) |
| JL$, JR$, L$ | Jetties |
| XF | Position where parachute will land |
SUPER-SPELL
By Neil Graham
SUPER-SPELL tests your spelling and helps you learn new words.
The core of the program puts a word up on the screen for a brief time. Then you have to type it in, hopefully correctly.
You can choose between words supplied by the program or put in your own words.
You needn't stick to English if you don't want to. Just put foreign words in the program's DATA statements.
You pick how many words you want to be tested on. After the tests, the Electron tells you your score.
One feature of the program is its attempt at user friendliness. It seeks to put the user at his ease by asking friendly questions.
So type it in and try it out. It mite improof yor speling.
