GW-BASIC - Escape From Monster Caverns - Compute Monsters
12022-01-10. This is the original code as typed from Computer Monsters, by Stephen Manes and Paul Somerson. This was the last program in the book, and the largest.
I was enthralled by this program. I didn't have an IBM PC at the time, but had a TI-99/4A. It required a significant amount of change to get it to work. I ended up coding a bunch of extras -- while I don't have my original TI BASIC code (I am in the process of attempting to recover it from a cassette tape!) -- including a graphical intro scene where the is a side view of an island, and an explosion to open the original cave door. I am unsure if what I remember is what I programmed, or what I intended to program. I am excited to find if I can acquire my source code to find out.
In any case, what you see here is the original from the book. Looking back on it years later, I am also enthralled by it in a different way -- architecture, and data driven design. Instead of tons of IF THEN statements and SWITCH-style statements, most of this stuff could be placed into DATA and then driven by single lines of code. In fact, the number of items to pick up to win the game could be dynamic. I feel like making a mini-series on my The First Pixel blog - http://thefirstpixel.com/ - to show how this can be done. Yes, in GW-BASIC, but the concepts hold true for any style of programming. I find it interesting, because it would take this massive (lines of code) game, left for the very end of the book, and turn it into a very powerful dungeon crawler in few lines of code.
Compute Monsters:
https://amazon.com/Computer-Monsters-Stephen-Manes/dp/0590331779
0:18 - program listing (all at once)
0:23 - play #1 start (3 - EASY)
0:33 - story
1:41 - actual game #1 start, you start in room #1
1:59 - first time you meet the monster, you don't -- you see its magic word!
2:48 - second time you meet the monster, you have to repeat the word!
3:59 - *BEEP* (ah that PC speaker that had no volume; sorry dad!) - you found the ruby (needed to escape)
4:59 - *BEEP* - you found the treasure (you cannot leave without it, since this is why you are here!)
5:18 - you win the game! Room 1 is the start and the escape
5:31 - program listing (bit by bit)
9:02 - play #2 start (1 - HARD)
10:33 - you win the game!
10:40 - play #3 start
11:01 - one way to die; by typing nonsense (not N, S, E, W directions) 5 times within a single play
11:16 - program listing (all at once)
Ways to die:
- type the wrong magic word when you meet the monster
- go in a non-available direction: it triggers a 1 in 5, 1 in 6, or 1 in 7 chance of a bad situation (depending on difficulty level 1, 2, or 3). In this bad situation, you have a 1 in 4 chance of death.
- type a bad direction 5 times in one game
My playlists:
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- Voxel: https://youtu.be/watch?v=XCVWEuhCCDM&list=PLjnbT4UISq0bQF1g85tE9jTrKfEtdRYlY
- Road: https://youtu.be/watch?v=ck5ALX11YU4&list=PLjnbT4UISq0bnfd1RC3M4PgTgkmhlkikV
- Ray Casting 3D: https://youtu.be/watch?v=zjswXUTMP2o&list=PLjnbT4UISq0YcFtRFjFQqK0g6ONNCtrvY
- Side-Scroll Shmup: https://youtu.be/watch?v=fF4X8zN-Raw&list=PLjnbT4UISq0Y_7IAN_zUzxgZnfhXxo_0Q
- MonoGame Tutorial: https://youtube.com/watch?v=WW1dJnfXWb0&list=PLjnbT4UISq0adw__Y9B2eXA0LL35TyORU
My websites:
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- my GitHub: https://github.com/JDoucette
- my company: http://xona.com
- my Blog: http://thefirstpixel.com