SINCLAIR PROGRAMS February 1985
===============================


ASSEMBLY LINE for Sinclair Spectrum
by Ian Howlett
from Sinclair Programs, February 1985


As Bert the mechanic you have the ultra-boring job of building cars
for a well known manufacturer. Your colleagues are all on holiday, so
the whole process is left to you. Collect the body panels from the
store below and take them to the assembly ramp, taking care to avoid
the runaway tyres.

Type in the BASIC program and SAVE using line 9999, then type
RANDOMIZE USR 0. Enter the second listing, which will redefine the
character set and produce the code for the UDGs. SAVE the second
listing directly after the first, rewind the tape and type LOAD "".

Assembly Line was written for the 48K Spectrum by Ian Howlett of
Portsmouth.


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COUNTING RABBITS
----------------
This is an educational program for children aged two to five. Twenty rabbits
appear on the screen and at the bottom a coloured band is shown. The child is
asked how many rabbits are the same colour as the band at the bottom of the
screen. As the child can see the colour without having to be able to read and
there are never more than eight rabbits of one particular colour the program
is suitable for the younger child. Counting Rabbits was written for the 16K
Spectrum by Alan Pratt of Chelmsford, Essex.


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GUNSLINGER
----------
Your '12'-shooter gun moves down the right-hand side of the screen at
speed. A green bottle is placed in a random position at the left of the
screen. To break the bottle, press '0' when you think the gun is opposite
it. After 12 shots have been taken you will be told how many bottles you
broke. Gunslinger was written for the 16k Spectrum by Paul Williams of
Tamworth, Stafforshire.


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ICE CUBE IVAN
-------------
Splat the red hot sword as it whizzes round the screen, slicing through
the ice cubes. To splat the sword you have to squash it using the cubes.
When you have caught the sword by surprise stand to the left or right of
the cube and depress either the 'I' or the 'P' key. If you are successful
you will receive a bonus before moving onto the next level. There is a
time limit in which you must squash the sword.

Ice Cube Ivan was written for the 16k Spectrum by John Lonsdale of West
Ferry, Dundee.


SP8502w028066IceCubeIvan.tap
 202 LET C$="           ": LET D=1: FOR n=y+1 TO 30: FOR f=1 TO 4
 302 LET c$="          ": LET d=1: FOR n=y-1 TO 1 STEP -1: FOR f=4 TO 1 STEP -1

SP8502w028066IceCubeIvan.tzx
 202 LET C$="          ": LET D=1: FOR n=y+1 TO 30: FOR f=1 TO 4
 302 LET c$="         ": LET d=1: FOR n=y-1 TO 1 STEP -1: FOR f=4 TO 1 STEP -1


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LITTERBUGS
----------
The Litterbugs have been at work, and it is your job to clear up after them.
Two of the litterbugs are still present and will chase you as you pick up the
rubbish. You can protect yourself by dropping litter baskets in their path.
When you have picked up all the litter you can move on to the next screen.
Written for the 48K Spectrum by T. Sherwood of West Bromwich, West Midlands.


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MATCHSTICK PUZZLE
-----------------
Matchstick Puzzle is a version of the well known puzzle in which you have
to force your opponent to take the last match. Your opponent in this case
is the computer. The puzzle starts with thirty matches on the table. Remove
either one, two or three matches in your bid to leave one remaining.

Written for the 16K Spectrum by Kwok Hung Tang, aged 12 of Coalville,
Leicestershire.

This game uses special graphics characters and you should turn to Page 3 to
find out how to enter them. Take care, particularly with the underlined
letters a and b. These are not ordinary letters, as they must be entered by
pressing a and b in graphics mode.

VARIABLES

A variable is a name given to a location in memory used by a program to
store information. As the value of a variable changes, so the contents of
this location are altered. A list of the important variables follows and
will help you to understand how "MATCHSTICKS" works:

graphic "a" is the matchstick head
graphic "b" is the matchstick stalk
ms is the number of matchsticks
t is the number of matchsticks taken

HOW IT WORKS
Line Numbers  What they Do
10            Sets up screen colours.
30-50         Read DATA for User Defined Graphics.
              DATA for graphic "a" is in line 40 and "b" in line 50.
60-90         Ask whether instructions are wanted. The program then either
              prints instructions or starts to play.
100-126       Print instructions.
130-180       Set initial number of matchsticks (ms) to 30. The computer is
              then sent to the subroutine at Line 1000. At the start of the
              game this will show 30 matches (with ms =30 and t = 0).
190           Gives either player or computer an equal chance of taking the
              first turn by testing a random number d (this may be 1 or 2).
200-350       This is the main loop in which the player and computer take
              turns at taking matches. Lines 200-220 control the player's
              turn with line 200 giving the "LOSE" message if the player ends
              up with the last match (when ms equals 1). Line 215 ensures
              that the number of matches taken can only be 1, 2 or 3. Line 220
              calls the subroutine at Line 1000 to show matches remaining.
              Lines 295-350 are for the computer's turns. Lines 300,310
              and 320 simply make sure that the computer takes the right
              number of matches to leave the player with the last. Line 330
              means that the computer has been left with the last match and
              gives the player a "WIN" message. Line 335 is a "dummy"
              FOR/NEXT loop which simply slows the program down between turns,
              and creates an illusion of the computer having to think a bit.
              Line 340 is the big let down because here we discover that the
              computer has no strategy at all (except for the last few matches
              lines 300-320).
1000-1040     This is the subroutine for printing the number of remaining
              matches after the screen is cleared. This is done graphically,
              numerically and on a BEEP count. Yet another delay is put in at
              line 1035.

You might like to try improving the game by giving the computer a strategy
to work with. You need to start with 29 matches (instead of 30) and replace
line 340 where the computer starts second.

The idea is quite simple: A player may take 1, 2 or 3 matches at a time.
All the computer has to do is to make this up to 4. Then, after 7 turns,
7x4=28 matches are gone so that it is left to the player (being first to
start) to take the last.


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MICRO MUNCHER
-------------
Moving across the top of the screen, eating all the blue, red and
green micros, is Micro Muncher. Each blue micro is worth ten points to
the Muncher, each green one is worth ten points to both of you, and the
red micros are worth 100 points. There is also a randomly placed yellow
micro which you must destroy before the Muncher reaches it. The yellow
micro is worth 1,000 points and returns the Muncher to the top of the
screen. To destroy the micros shoot at them using Z, X and SPACE.

Written for the 16k Spectrum by Mark Brown of St. George, Bristol.


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MOTORBIKE RIDER
---------------
Increase your speed and power by pressing the P and O keys in sequence.
The table at the top of the screen shows your speed, power and
condition. After a limited amount of time the bike will accelerate
towards the ramp. There are three cones to jump initially, but this
numer is increased by two following each successful jump. Make sure the
Spectrum is in CAPS mode before you play.

Motorbike Rider was written for the 16k Spectrum by M.R. Hughes of
Colchester, Essex.


TZX/TAP differences on lines:
TZX/TAP  :  1, 70, 95, 150, 515, 575, 640, 690, 740, 900,
TZX      :  1010/1020/1025/1028
TAP      :  1010/1011/1015/1020


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REFORMED CHARACTERS
-------------------
When the program is RUN the alphabet is displayed in the new style. Once
this has finished press NEW and ENTER. Then POKE 23606,88: POKE 23607,251
and ENTER. A BASIC program can now be LOADed or typed in and any capital
letters within the program will appear in the new design.

Reformed Characters was written for the 48K Spectrum by T. Sherwood of West
Bromwich, West Midlands.


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SAUSAGE SERVER
--------------
You have just opened a snack bar and your first customer has ordered
twenty sausages. There are three cooking stages to complete before the
sausages are ready. The three stages involve catching the sausages in a
frying pan, heating them up and dropping them onto the moving plate.
Remember, if you take too long your customer will leave.

Sausage Server was written for the 16k Spectrum by John Lonsdale of
West Ferry, Dundee.


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TRAIN DRIVER
------------
Cover as many miles of track as possible, stopping for fuel when instructed
to do so. The speed limits are displayed by signals and should be obeyed. If
you disregard the limits you could be faced with mile reduction or a
derailment. Use 0 to accelerate and 1 to slow down. Train Simulation was
written for the 16K Spectrum by Steve and Marc Sherratt of Newquay, Cornwall.


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UFO ATTACK
----------
A Martian attack fleet is approaching your city. Shoot down the fighters from
your position in the defence tower. The controls for your cannon are 2, W, 9,
O and M. The game features good graphics, sound effects and explosion
routines. Damage to the city is shown on the screen as a percentage and the
affected buildings are set alight. UFO Attack was written for the 48K
Spectrum by Anthony Sherwood of West Bromwich, West Midlands.


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