GEMini Atari

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Text File | 1990-05-27 | 15.7 KB | 352 lines

Albert Baggetta P.O. Box 351 Feeding Hills, MA 01030-0351 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Baggetta Shareware If you obtain a copy of this program please send $3 to the above address. Registration will entitle you to: -- Update information -- Information about other Shareware products -- Claim that you are supporting Atari developers -- A clear conscience ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Who Stole the Peanut Butter? By Albert Baggetta It never fails. Seems like every time you go to make a peanut butter sandwich the peanut butter is gone. Oh, the jar might be there, but it's usually empty. The walls are scrapped clean with maybe a little swirling kiss of peanut butter left in the bottom center of the jar. It almost seems as though there is some little PB gremlin that hides in the cabinet. Put a new jar back, and next time it is gone. This gave me an idea for a great-peanut-butter-mystery for the Atari ST, "Who Stole the Peanut Butter?" This diversion "puts the blame" on one of eleven fugitives from the Most Wanted list of peanut butter criminals. Here is a brief description of each of these potential culprits: Roller -- Don't let this cute face fool you. He has a nutty record that is veiled by his boyish look. Zipper -- This rather weird creature looks like your typical deranged individual that would indulge in peanut theft. So right you are. Next to Roller, he holds the record for the most peanut butter jars stolen in one week. Clio -- Clio is a fetching, little blond whose passion for peanuts far exceeds that of all the starving elephants in the circus world. Viper -- This bandit escaped from a laboratory where the government was performing experiments on the benefits of peanut oil on the eyelids of humans. The tests not only marred his vision but snapped his mind so that he feels he must remove all peanut butter from circulation. Wave -- He got his name because he is always listening to the radio waves. His favorite commerials? You guessed it -- peanut butter jingles. Not much is known about him and why he has such a passion for the nutty paste. Coco -- This frightning creature took first place in a contest that mixed peanut butter with liver. Unfortunately the success went to her head, and she has been ever since looking for more peanut butter to create more fascinating recipes. Tex -- This peanut butter thief comes from Texas. As a boy he was taught that Texans have the biggest and most of everything. So he decided to accumulate the biggest stash of peanut butter around. It is believed that he stores it all under Guadalupe Peak. Lime -- This crazy girl becomes "green" with envy every time she sees someone with a jar of peanut butter. If she is in the same room, don't turn your back on her (or at least keep a good grip on your peanut butter jar.) FeeFee -- Acting sultry and diminutive, this lady is known in peanut crime as the French Confection, since she uses her stash of peanut butter to make peanut-flavored candy. Most of her creations end up on the foreign market. Uncle -- This likable "gentleman" is an old-timer when it comes to sneaking peanut butter. He sort of fancies himself a "Robin Hood" of the geriatric peanut butter world, since all of his thefts are distributed amongst the over-sixty generation. Professor -- This is the English Godfather of the peanut underworld. His erudite and refined manner beguiles the unsuspecting owner of peanut butter into thinking that this substance is no good for one's health. After a thorough brain washing by this clandestine fiend, people have been known to abandon all their peanut butter for litchi nuts and barley seeds. So there you have it, the notorious peanut butter felons that inhabit the game of "Who Stole the Peanut Butter?" Object and Rewards of the Game In each round of the game your objective is to discover the peanut butter thief, selecting from the array of unsavory individuals listed above. If you are feeling lucky you might take a wild guess, but it is probably more sensible to look for evidence, first. If you are successful, you will receive ample reward for your accomplishments, but, as is often the case in the real world of crime, the thief will get off with a slap on the hand and will be back in circulation within a short time. Like many law enforcement officials in the real world, you begin to feel the magnitude and frustration of stopping crime. Game Play "Who Stole the Peanut Butter?" is a compiled, GFA, low resolution game. Your disk should contain the following files: PEANUT.PRG -- The main program file HEAD_2.PI1 -- Graphic screen #1 NOTES.PI1 -- Graphic screen #2 If any of these files is missing, the program will not run properly. Boot up the main program. The title screen will load from the disk, and you will see a silhouette of the thief scamper across the screen. Don't bother to try and identify the guilty party, the movement is too fast. For users interested in GFA, I want to mention that the silhouette is actually three sprites, created with a sprite editor called Sprite & Mouse Editor, by MichTron. Moving these sprites alternately across the screen creates a brief but amusing animation. It should also be noted that the title screen is not merely cosmetic to this program. While the screen is displayed, the program is utilizing the GET command to take invisible "snapshots" of each of the heads. These will be used later in the program. It only takes a second for the computer to store these images (whew!! what speed), so a pause has been installed to allow you to read the title screen. The next screen that loads is the work area. On first booting this game, the screen loads slowly from a floppy disk (increased speed is noticed with a hard drive). Subsequent rounds that use this screen do not load it from the drive, so it will appear more quickly. The screen is divided into three areas with assorted information, so I will discuss each of these separately. The bottom half of the screen is the general input and message area. A chunk of this area is reserved for messages to the player, and the window is used for player inquisition. More about this later. There is a framework in the upper half of the screen where assorted actions are performed. The left side of this area is called the MUG SHOTS file. The right side is the FACTS-ON-FILE notebook where your discoveries about the fugitive are written. Part of this display shows a container of the ever-popular peanut butter (no brand names, please). Upon first entering the work area, you are presented with one of 11 points of identification: 1. Head Shape (shape) 2. Eyes (color, shape) 3. Mouth (shape, color, other) 4. Nose (shape, color, size, other) 5. Ears (shape, size, other) 6. Adornments (articles - worn, used, etc.) 7. Eyebrows (shape, color) 8. Expression (look on face) 9. Face Features (chin, dimples, etc.) 10. Face Color (assorted) 11. Hair (type, color, etc.) These will be offered after every response until all of them have been used up, or until you correctly guess the thief's name. For example, you might see the prompt: "You may guess the culprit's eyes." These will appear in random order, so you will not always get the same prompt. Also, you will only get one guess at the prompt, until it is offered again (unless the program randomly selects it again, i mmediately). If you make a mistake while typing the response, you can easily change it by using the <BACKSPACE> key to erase all or part of your entry. Along with the prompt, you will be given a hint at possible answers. These can be helpful at times, but since all possibilities are not given, it will take some experimentation to achieve results. In a sense, this works somewhat in the manner of an adventure game. You just keep entering possible words or phrases until something works. If you match a characteristic of the peanut butter thief, the attribute will be entered in the FACTS-ON-FILE window, so that you may refer to this when making a conviction. You may then search for more clues. If you do not make a match, another prompt will be displayed, and you may guess again. But a wrong guess will cost you time points. Notice the meter just below the FACTS window. This will display a numeric account of your time left. It starts at 100 and is decremented every time you make a wrong guess. When this reaches point zero, you will be forced to identify the thief by name, even if you haven't the slightest idea. It is best, of course, to try and garner enough information about the culprit so that you can make an intelligent accusation, before the number of points is depleted. How much is decremented and the amount of the potential reward for a criminal's capture is determined by the round you are in. Basically there are five rounds in a game segment, and the breakdown of ROUND, DECREMENTS, REWARDS, and CHANCES are listed in the chart below. The decrements, called offsets in the program, are shown above the prompt window so that you can quickly identify which round you are in. ___________________________________________________ | | | | | | ROUND | DECREMENT | REWARD | CHANCES | |=================================================| | 1 | 10 | $10 - $20,000| 10 | |---------|--------------|--------------|---------| | 2 | 15 | $10 - $25,000| 7 | |---------|--------------|--------------|---------| | 3 | 20 | $10 - $30,000| 5 | |---------|--------------|--------------|---------| | 4 | 25 | $10 - $35,000| 4 | |---------|--------------|--------------|---------| | 5 | 50 | $10 - $60,000| 2 | |-------------------------------------------------| | Round 5 is the restart round | |_________________________________________________| Notice that in order to get the greatest rewards on a correct accusation, it is best to work toward the last round, although there is still no guarantee you will get the maximum amount. Also, there is a way to start over at an easier round, if you have fears of losing too many time points. At the prompt, during ROUND 5, type 'restart' and press <RETURN>. You will notice the offset number change to 10, indicating you are now working in a round 1 level. Oh...did I forget to mention that the thief has an eye on you at all times and is not a very good sport? Every once in a while the little devil will scurry out from the left side of the screen and steal a chunk of your time points, forcing your hand. Whether or not you are successful guessing the culprit's name, you will be taken to a "rap sheet," which reveals information about the thief. If you are successful with your identification, you will see a stamp on the folder that indicates that the culprit has been CAPTURED. If not, you will see a large WANTED emblem, indicating that the thief is still at large. The "rap sheet" also gives some other amusing but irrelevant information like aliases, weight and age. If you capture a thief, you will be rewarded handsomely with the current prize. These rewards will be accumulated throughout the game until a cache of $200,000 has been achieved. At this point the game will clear, and the weary bounty hunter may work on a new fortune. Your wealth is continually displayed on the work area screen, but if you would like to know exactly how many culprits you have apprehended in a game and how much each has contributed to your financial well-being, you can type 'bank' at the prompt and press <RETURN>. This will take you to your 'bank book', where you can examine all of the above information. Press <RETURN> again, and you can resume the game. This action may be performed at any identification prompt. Game Help By storing characteristics in the FACTS-ON-FILE window, you can easily keep track of the features you have discovered. But the game also has a built-in mug file, just like those used by real law enforcement agencies, that allows the user to flip through a series of pictures of the likely peanut villains. Viewing this line-up sometimes makes it much easier to match the features you are seeking. For example, if you have already found that the culprit has wiry hair, brown eyes and a wide mouth, you can search the mug shots to narrow down the characters that possess these features. To search the mug file, type 'mug' at a prompt. The response window will clear, replaced with a new set of options. A mouse cursor will appear on screen, and the MUG SHOTS window, which displayed the Most Wanted list of names, will now show the first mug shot in the file. The names of these characters will appear in the SUSPECT area, under the FACTS window. Click on the blue bar under the MUG SHOTS window to flip through this file. You may also use the <RETURN> key to move from one picture to the next. This file is most useful in two ways. Flip through the file to look for a characteristic you were just prompted for, or glean them for features in the FACTS file. Careful observation, good guessing and judicious use of the MUG SHOTS can lead to a quick discovery of the culprit From the MUG SHOTS window there are always two possible exits, depending on whether you want to continue with the game or end the round. If you want to return to the last prompt, simply click on the RIGHT mouse button. The MUG SHOTS window will once again show the wanted list, and the last cue will be restored, waiting for your response. There is one catch here. You may only dip into the mug shot file once in each round (we don't want to make the game too easy). A second time in a round, you will only have access to the accusation bar. Of course, you may change your mind and return to the game by pressing the right mouse button, instead. If you think you have discovered the thief and are ready to make an allegation with the accumulated facts, move the mouse pointer to the bar under the FACTS-ON-FILE window. It shows the game label, "Who stole the peanut butter?" Click on this, and you will be given a signal to guess the thief. Type in the name of the thief and press <RETURN> to find out if you are correct. After viewing the "rap sheet", press <RETURN> again, and the game will recommence with you in pursuit of a new crook. If you get tired of accumulating fortunes, outwitting peanut butter thieves, or simply want to quit the game, type 'exit' at a prompt, and press <RETURN>. The game will end, and you will return to the desktop, confident that if your peanut butter is ever missing, you might have an idea of who is to blame.