SINCLAIR PROGRAMS, April 1984
=============================


ANT RAID for Sinclair Spectrum
by Graham Ramsden
from Sinclair Programs, April 1984


GRAHAM RAMSDEN, aged 14, of Reddish, Stockport is the writer of this
month's program of the month. He has had his Spectrum for five months
and is now enjoying the frustrations of writing machine code programs.

Ant Raid, for the 16K Spectrum, is an original game in which you play
the part of a foot. The ants are intent on stealing your fruit. It
takes four ants to carry away a piece of fruit and you have to squash
them with your foot before they sabotage your picnic. The only hazards
are butterflies, which appear every time you stamp your foot.

The main variables used by the program are: a, the position of the
foot across the screen; ant, the position of the ant across the
screen; sc, your score; fr, the amount of fruit you have left; bop,
the number of ants to cross the screen; a$ to s$, the user-defined
graphics.

Lines 7 and 8 set the main variables to their initial values.
Line 9 displays the title page.
Lines 10-40 set up the UDGs.
Line 50 calls the subroutine which displays the second title page.
Line 60 calls the subroutine which sets up the display for the game.
Lines 80-82 display the fruit at the bottom of the screen and call the
relevant routine to clear the old fruit.
Line 90 finds what keys are being pressed and moves the foot in the
proper direction.
Line 100 - if "1" is being pressed, calls subroutine.
Lines 120 and 130 move ant across screen.
Line 140 - if the ant has crossed the screen, update the variable bop
and move the position of the ant back to the start.
Line 145 - four ants have crossed the screen; decrease the amount of
fruit left, re-set the variables and GOTO 81.
Line 150 prints the scores.
Line 155 - if there is no fruit left, GOTO 4030.
Line 160 returns to start of loop.
Lines 200-220 print the foot going down and check to see if it has hit
a butterfly or an ant. If a butterfly, update bop - this will lose you
a fruit when back in the main loop. If an ant, score either two or
four for accuracy.
Lines 1000-1030 print the game heading.
Lines 2000-2030 print the end of game message, BEEP, and re-RUN the
program.
Lines 3000-3096 - the second title page routine.
Lines 4000-4010 and 4015-4020 - these routines clear the old fruit and
put in lines 4030-4040 the new, depending on the level.

If you want to speed the game you will have to do a fair amount of
re-programming. The simplest method is to remove some of the BEEPs,
particularly in line 120. To speed it further you will need to take
lines 7 to 80 and put them at the end of the program, replacing them
by a single call to the routine.


**********************************************************************


PARACHUTING (aka. Air Drop)
-----------
YOUR AEROPLANE contains five women, each of whom must jump to safety on the
landing spot below. Guide each parachutist, using keys O and P, and taking
wind direction into account, to land as close to that spot as possible. Air
Drop was written for the 16K Spectrum by Simon Housden of Stroud,
Gloucestershire.


**********************************************************************


PIRANHA for Sinclair ZX-81
by W.C. Keen
from Sinclair Programs, April 1984

You are the "*" stuck at the top left-hand corner of the grid and the
object is for you to work your way round the grid to reach the bottom
right-hand corner. As you move along the walkway, the walls are
continually crumbling and sometimes that compels you to re-trace your
steps and choose another path. If you step off the wall or move along
a walkway which has crumbled you will fall into the water below and be
eaten by a piranha.

Piranha was written for the 16K ZX-81 by W.C. Keen of Cubbington,
Leamington Spa.


**********************************************************************


RACE TRACK
----------
RACE TRACK was written for the 16K Spectrum by Lyndon Price, aged 14, of
Cwmbran, Gwent. You have 50 to bet on the athlete you think will win a race.
You also have a chance to win 20 extra by predicting the colour the winning
athlete will be at the finishing line.


**********************************************************************


RESCUE for Sinclair Spectrum
by C Wakelin and T Partlett
from Sinclair Programs, April 1984

Steer your helicopter, using S and W. Rescue the man on the mountain
by flying just above him, pick up as many fuel drums as possible, and
avoid the poison clouds. Once you have the man you can land on screen
two by pressing B. Reaching screen two without the man will result in
loss of all your points.

Rescue was written for the 48K Spectrum by C Wakelin and T Partlett of
Tamworth, Staffordshire.


**********************************************************************


REVOLVING TETRAHEDRON
---------------------
IN ONE revolution the corners which make up the base of the tetrahedron all
lie on the same ellipse. The computer compiles a look-up table containing the
co-ordinates of the corners during one revolution. Those values are poked
into the memory and once in position increase the speed of execution.
Revolving Tetrahedron was written for the Spectrum by Tim Gilpin of Bishop
Steignton, Devon.


**********************************************************************


SPIDER
------
YOU PLAY the part of a spider and have to trap as many flies as you can in
the time allowed. The flies are trapped in the web and you must use the
cursor keys to catch them. Spider was written for the 16K Spectrum by A
Culling of Barton Turf, Norwich. The user-defined graphic in lines 30 and 390
is a graphic A and in lines 45 and 6050 it is a graphic B.


**********************************************************************


SUPER SQUARE (aka. The Square Game)
------------
MICHAEL WARD of Padstow, Cornwall, wrote The Square Game for the 16K
Spectrum. Using the cursor keys you have to fill the bigger box with smaller
boxes, being careful not to leave the screen. That is not so easy as it
sounds. On completion, press 1 and the computer will check to make sure you
have finished without cheating.


**********************************************************************


