SINCLAIR USER #2, MAY 1982
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ENGULF

SU8205w002032Engulf.o is for the ZX80, and should be playable with Xtender 2
(not tested), and is playable in z81 2.0 if you use `-o' and rename the file
to `zx80prog.p'.


Instructions:

"ENGULF is for the 1K ZX-80, by Graham Charlton of Rise Park, Romford.
It sets you against a vengeful computer. After you press RUN, a large
black square will appear. That is the playing area. You have five
controls:

7 - UP
6 - DOWN
5 - LEFT
8 - RIGHT
9 - SCORE.

After pressing 5, 6, 7 or 8, followed by NEWLINE, you will appear as
an addition sign (+) with an inverse space, CHR$(128), next to it.
Every time you move, the computer will place a black square next to
your piece. The idea is to avoid being trapped, or engulfed, for as
long as possible. Once you have been caught, press 9 to see your final
score.

Charlton's best score is 154. You can make the game slightly easier by
deleting line 280, which prevents the computer placing a black square
where a black square already exists. The game shows PEEKing and
POKEing to the display file in action. The crucial line is 100, which
finds the beginning of the display file."


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Sinclair User, May 1982, page 33

GALAXY PATROL

Galaxy Patrol, written by R Stubbs of Shearing Hill, Nottinghamshire, places
you in command of a Galactic Patrol ship which bears an uncanny resemblance
to the letter V.

        Your V-Wing fighter starts with 50 gallons of fuel which decreases
slowly. The amount of fuel remaining is in the top right of the screen; in
the screen printout the fuel figure is 33.

        You refuel your fighter by hitting any of the random fuel dumps
(inverse spaces). Each time you run through a fuel dump you receive 25
gallons. You control your craft by touching the M key. Holding down the M
moves you to the right; leaving the keyboard untouched allows your craft to
drift sideways.

        The game ends and your score is displayed either when you run out of
fuel or hit an asteroid (asterisk).

        Line 130 looks at the PRINT position - set by the last PRINT AT in
line 110 - and if it finds a 23 (asterisk) stops the game there, printing the
score (S) and using an unassigned variable (D) to halt the game. If it finds
a 128, the computer knows that you are running into a fuel dump, so the fuel
is incremented by 25 - LET F=F+25. Line 145 stops the game if you are out of
fuel; ie. if F equals zero.


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Sinclair User, May 1982, page 37

LARGE LETTERS

This program is a development of one which appeared in the October 1981 issue
of Interface. It is copyright Christopher Lowe  1982.

        Thirteen-year-old Christopher Lowe, who lives in Edinburgh, says of
his program "Large Letters", which fits a 1K ZX81, that it will allow you to
obtain a large version of any character: ordinary, inverse (as in the sample
printout) or graphic.

        Keywords or function commands are not possible. The program just
squeezes into 1K, using such tricks as line 40 to do so. To obtain a printout
of your words, insert the following lines:

215 COPY
235 COPY
and change line 190 to:
190 IF LEN M$<9 THEN GOTO 235


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MINFIELD (ZX-81)
by Tim Hartnell
from Sinclair User 2 (May 1982) page 31

You are in command of a squadron of tanks in Minefield, the 1K ZX-81 game.
Before you lies and enemy minefield through which you must pass. How many
of your tanks will be lost finding a safe route?

When you run the program, the computer will generate a minefield - a
different one each time you play. Drive your first tank across the screen,
using the forward, up and down keys. Be careful not to use other keys.

If you hit a mine the tank blows up and you must try again with the next
tank. They are multiple mines and will destroy every tank which hits them.
Your score is displayed at the top of the screen. If you are successful in
finding a way across, the program stops.

You will find you become proficient at avoiding the littered battlefield as
the game progresses. The program was adapted by Tim Hartnell from the
original program written by I S Howson.

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MONSTER MUNCH (ZX-81)
by Tim Hartnell
from Sinclair User 2 (May 1982) page 34

There are two versions of Monster Munch, written by Tim Hartnell, in which
you - the inverse H - have to escape the monster - the inverse M - on a 10 x
10 grid of full stops.

Beware, however, because your task is hopeless. No matter what you do, you
will be unable to evade it forever and will be utterly and completely
munched.

You enter your direction of move - N, S, W or whatever, as shown in line
210. The second version of the program is a little more elaborate in its
display and has a scoring mechanism. You can convert the listing easily
for game one into game two. You will need more than 1K on your ZX-81 for
the game.

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JACKPOT (ZX-81)
by Daniel King
from Sinclair User 2 (May 1982) page 36

Daniel King, of Headington, Oxford, suggests that the 1K ZX-81 jackpot
program could be used for school fund-raising days, charging five pence for
people to press NEWLINE for a spin on the ZX-81 fruit machine. They are
paid eight pence for two identical symbols and 15 pence for three. That,
King assures us, means a profit of 25p on 20 games. Simply RUN the program,
then press R to roll or return.

If you have more than 1K, enter a routine to total your money - wins and
costs - automatically. A HOLD would also enhance the game.

Running the program gives a very effective impression of reels of symbols
spinning, before settling on one in each window.

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CATCH (ZX-81)
by Andrew Lovering
from Sinclair User 2 (May 1982) page 37

Andrew Lovering has spent many hours with his 1K ZX-81 in Maidenhead in
producing the fine game of Catch. You will see, when you press RUN, an open
box near the bottom of the screen. Pressing 8 moves you to the right, 5
moves you to the left. You have to try and catch a rapidly-descending ball
dropped from a random position at the top of the screen.

To confuse you, and to introduce a little luck into the game, a lid appears
at random places above the box. If the ball hits the bottom, or the lid, the
game ends and your score is printed.

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NOUGHTS AND CROSSES (ZX-81)
by Stuart Roberts
from Sinclair User 2 (May 1982) page 38

Adapted for a ZX-81 with more than 1K from a ZX-80 program written by Stuart
Roberts, this Noughts and Crosses gives you a chance to win now and then,
unlike many computer Noughts and Crosses which are unbeatable.

Usually, the best for which you can hope with such programs is a draw from
time to time. You move by entering the number of the square into which you
wish to move. According to the book "Computers, their impact and use", by
Robert E Lynch and John R Rice, there are 362,800 possible games of Noughts
and Crosses, if all games are continued until all spaces are filled.

This program will play some 40,320 of the possible games. You will find the
program will run almost without change on a ZX-80, although you will need
to change the PRINT arrangements slightly and you will have to delete line
110 completely and replace it with a CLS.

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