ROCKFALL
by B. Andrews
from ZX Computing Feb/Mar.1984

Watch our for the falling rocks in this Spectrum
game from B. Andrews of Charlton.


This is a game for the ZX Spectrum which follows the general
'chase' theme. Although written in BASIC, and so not up to
arcade game speed, the game is fun to play and should
provide a springboard for you to improve upon it.

The idea of the game is that you manoeuvre your character
around the rocks trying to gather the six tokens which are
scattered around the playing area. It's not quite as easy as
it sounds as you are being chased by a number of ghouls
intent on stopping you fulfilling your quest. There are nine
levels of play, level nine being the easiest and perhaps the
level you should start at when you first get to grips with
the game. As you might have guessed, as you go up in level
so the ghouls become faster and chase you with more fervour.

Once you have collected all six tokens, you move
automatically to the next level and the game begins again
complete with another six tokens for you to collect. Extra
points can be gained by maneuvering your character so that a
rock falls on a following ghoul - not too easy, but with a
bit of practice it can be done!

The game includes a high score readout once you have either
cleared all nine levels or failed in your task.


Too many variables?

Here is a general guide to the variables used throughout the
program:

Z, Q, G and S   General variables.
X and Y         The position of your character.
X(G) and Y(G)   The position of the ghouls.
SCORE           The score.
HS              The highest score so far.
C               The number of tokens collected by your character.
SK              The skill level you have chosen.
GHOUL           The level of the ghouls arranged to chase you.
S$ and Z$       General reply variables.


Line by line

Here follows a brief breakdown of the program:

Lines 10-70     Hold the user-defined graphics.
Lines 90-290    Set the screen display.
Line 300        Sets the variables.
Line 310        Prints the scores and sets the level.
Lines 320-360   Await the keyboard inputs.
Lines 370-400   Update the score and print the man.
Lines 410-440   Ask you if you would like to play another game or not.
Lines 450-480   Ask you for your skill factor; ie. which level
                you would like to start on.
Lines 490-590   Move the ghouls and test whether or not the
                ghouls have caught up with you.
Lines 610-760   Contain the subroutines which move your character.
Lines 770-880   Contain the subroutine which makes the rock
                fall should your character pass underneath.
Lines 900-910   Print the rock as it falls on your character's head.
Lines 930-1180  Give you the instructions for playing the game.
Lines 1190-1300 Contain the subroutine for a rock falling on a
                ghoul's head.
Lines 1310-1400 Contain the 'finish game' subroutine and the
                subroutine which works out your final ranking.
Lines 1410-1500 Contain the 'live or die?' subroutine should a
                rock fall on your character's head.
Lines 1510-1820 Contain the 'death' subroutine.
Lines 1830-2030 Contain the subroutine which sorts the game
                out once you have finished a level.


--
Another Fine Product transcribed by:
Jim Grimwood (jimg@globalnet.co.uk), Weardale, England
--
