JUMPER
You'd better jump for your life in this exciting arcade action game by Charles Francis
JUMPER is a fast arcade game in wihch the objective is to move the man up through gaps in floors as quickly as possible.
You have to be quick as the gaps keep moving, and if you get caught by a fireball you go back to the beginning.
Line 700 is a delay, controlling running speed - but you may find if you make the program go faster your reactions can't keep up.
| Variables | |
| GP(30) | Position of gap in floor |
| R$(8) | Names in the Hall of Fame |
| R(8) | Times in the Hall of Fame (R(1) can be beaten) |
| X%, Y% | Man position |
| Y1% | = Y%+1 |
| FX%, DY% | Fireball position |
| Z% | Fireball direction |
| T | Time taken in seconds |
| T% | Starting time |
| G$, G%, I%, Q% | Utility variables |
|
Structure |
|
| 30-120 | VDU codes |
| 130-140 | Initialise Hall of Fame |
| 150-280 | Game instructions |
| 300-320 | Colour selection |
| 330 | Sets numeric format |
| 340-490 | Screen initialisation for game |
| 500-710 | Main loop |
| 510-550 | Move man |
| 560-600 | Move gap in floor |
| 610 & 650 | Man caught by fireball |
| 620-670 | Moves fireball |
| 680 | Time taken |
| 700 | Delay (see above) |
| 750-920 | Game end including Hall of Fame |
| 950-1030 | PROCDOWN Man falls through gap in floor |
| 1040-1080 | PROCtune1 |
| 1090-1130 | PROCtune2 |
SPELLING
Test your spelling with this entertaining and educational game by Steve Lucas
This program was written to help children with their spelling.
Very young children find difficulty relating the capital letters on the keyboard to their equivalent small letters so the only response required by them is hitting the space bar.
When the program is run you will be asked how many children are to use it. The program stores details of the performance of each child so that the teacher or parent can check their progress. You are given the option of turning off the sound effects.
Each child is presented with ten questions chosen at random from the 60 data lines in the program. These can be adapted for children of different ages by changing the vocabulary.
A dictionary definition of the word appears at the bottom of the screen and four alternative spellings of the word appear in turn. The pupil should hit the Space bar when the correct alternative is displayed.
A wrong answer causes the computer to display what the correct response should have been, together with the alternative selected. A correct answer increments the score.
| Variables | |
| X | Pupil number |
| SC(X) | Scores |
| AD | Random choice of start question |
| DX | Number of answer selected |
| A$(X,Y) | Holds the words |
| N$(X) | Pupil's name |
| XX,YY | Used for sound effects |
| AA$ | Holds keyboard response |
| B$(X) | Holds definitions |
| A%(X) | Holds number of correct answer |
|
Procedures |
|
| PROCtitles | Gives instructions |
| PROCread_data | Reads data into arrays |
| PROCerror | Error handling |
| PROCcorrect | Correct response |
| PROCwrong | Wrong answer |
| PROCspacebar | Waits for space bar to be pressed |
| PROCyes | Prints results to printer (if available) |
| PROCno | Prints results to screen in paged mode |
STARFIGHTER
A brilliant 3D action game by Roland Waddilove
DOOM RUN by Allan Morriss published in July edition of The Micro User inspired me to write this game.
I couldn't fully understand DOOM RUN - there were about seventy variables! - but I managed to grasp the basic principles used in creating the 3D effect which allowed me to crete my own 3D space game, STARFIGHTER.
The ground appears to move below the ship although nothing actually moves at all.
It is made up of three colours, two are set to green and one to black. By changing the one set to black the ground appears to move.
By selecting the colours carefully, the enemy ship appears to pass under and over certain objects rather like a sprite.
The ship is exclusive-ORed with the background. The resulting colour is either the same as the ship - making it appear to pass over the object - or the same as the background - making it appear to pass under it.
A game like STARFIGHTER must be made to run as fast as possible, so the procedure names have been kept short and the resident integer variables have been used. Unfortunately this makes the program difficult to follow.
When typing in the program, some lines will be apparently too long to fit in. All the abbreviations for the Basic key words must be used.
If you still have trouble, use two lines - it will not make any difference to the program.
| Variables | |
| D% | Whether it is day or not |
| P% | Power left |
| S% | The enemy ship |
| Z% | Score |
| H% | How many ships hit on screen 1 |
| G% | Which ground colour is black |
|
Procedures |
|
| PROCscreen | Draws the screen - delete PROCcolour-off to see it being done |
| PROCinstructions | Uses text windows to display the title and instructions |
| PROCinitialise | Sets up the arrays, sets the high scores and names, defines the characters and the envelopes used |
| PROCa | New ship |
| PROCb | Enemy ship fires back |
| PROCc | Moves ground forward |
| MOVEd | Move enemy ship |
| PROCe | Fire laser |
URBAN SPRAWL
Take on the planners and fight to save the green belt with this fast-moving and original game from Patrick Heighes.
Stop the planners building on the green belt round the edge of the screen. The city starts in the middle of the screen and sprawls outwards.
You are the Lone Conservationist, running around the screen blasting each building as it gets too near the belt.
Whenever you get one, the builders go back to the Town Hall in the centre and start again, giving you a breather. Then you're back in action.
The controls are simplicity itself:
Z - Left, X - Right, * - Up, ? - Down, RETURN - Fires blaster
Your score is based on the length of time you keep the buildings off the green belt. Good luck!
