Modified for the Model 200 CLUB 100 Library - 415/939-1246 BBS, 937-5039 NEWSLETTER, 932-8856 VOICE Grid Runner -- Documentation -------------------------------------- A video-game for the Model 200 by Henry Melton. -------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION: This is a high-resolution game of barriers and entrapment. If you have seen the movie TRON or played TRAP.100, then you know the game already. A pixel belongs to each player and the cursor arrows direct its course. The pixel moves at constant speed and the object is to cause the opponent to crash into either a trail or a wall. In two-player mode, the cursor arrows are duplicated for player A with keys F1-F4. In one-player mode, player A is automatic, played by the "GridBug". At random intervals, the screen is not cleared when a round begins to add a little more complication to the game. --------------------------------------- SCORING: Scoring is handled by counting down from 100 points for each round, deleting one point for each three grid-marks covered, and yes, the score for a round can go negative. In that case, the better course is to back up on yourself and give the negative score to your opponent. A full game might be to play until one player scores over 1000. There is no code to handle this, so it is up to the player(s) to decide what makes a game. -------------------------------------- PLAYING THE GridBug: A human and the bug are two different animals, so the strategy differs. The bug has better reaction time and can shave a wall every time, but he is blind to the whole grid and can only sense his immediate neighborhood. If there is anyone out there who beats the gridbug consistently, let me know your strategy. -------------------------------------- BEGINNING PLAY: The screen will be blanked (most of the time) except for two pixels. One will be blinking, that is player B. Press any key to begin. If it is a cursor key, that command will be ignored. The direction of travel starts up randomly, so if your pixel begins against a wall, there is a real chance that you will immediately run into the wall. If you hit a direction without looking where you are going, you can also horror at the lack of a PPOINT function in BASIC. Using SCDUMP as a starting point, I developed the subroutine in line 36. It works, but I would like something a little faster and something that doesn't blink the cursor. The subroutine tests the pixel at x,y and sets z=0 if that bit is dark. The game as a whole has been extensively tested (played) in the one-player mode. After all, this is definitely a one-person computer, but I have confidence that the two-person game is reasonably functional. --------------------------------------