Commodore Free 18/Commodore_Free_Issue_18_2008_Commodore_Computer_Club.d64/t.what time 2

Text File | 2008-01-01 | 8.6 KB | 310 lines

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"What Time Is It?"
ReadMe for Commodore 64 Version (C)
Copyright 2008 Bill Buckels All Rights
Reserved.

         CONTINUED FROM PART 1


The Aztec C Compiler for the C64 is
not as sophisticated as its Apple IIe
counterpart, and provided no Graphics
Library or Sound Routines at all. All
this was written "from scratch" for
ue C64. Despite all that, which after
all these years is a given more than a
surprise, Aztec C was still equal to
the task and was close-enough to the
Apple IIe version, that the re-use of
many routines from the Apple version
was possible with fix-ups for the
differences between the two machines.
Because he had already designed the
architecture to run in a low memory
environment, in many ways the C64
version is a "port" & an optimization
of the Apple IIe version, which in turn
was an optimized but original rewrite
of the IBM-PC version that he never saw
the source code for.

System Requirements - C64 Version
"What Time Is It?" requires a
C64 with 64K of memory & a floppy disk.
It runs under the BASIC 2 Operating
System.

It can also be run from a disk image
file in an C64 emulator. It has been
tested in Windows XP using WinVICE, &
probably works in others using the d64
disk image format.

Starting: Put the "What Time Is It?"
disk in the drive & start the computer.
Type LOAD "*",8" & press [Return].
After the program loads, type "RUN" &
press [Return] and wait until the Main
Menu Screen appears.

If you are running "What Time Is It?"
in an emulator, follow the same basic
steps. In WinVICE just click-on the
disk image if you have file
associations set, or select it from
within WinVICE and auto start, or from
within your cmd window if you have
file associations set, type time.d64
press enter & it will auto start.

Keys and Navigation
The Arrow Keys are used to navigate
the menus and to select choices during
activities (Game Play).

The [RETURN] Key or the SPACEBAR can be
interchangeably used to enter
selections.

The X Key is used to return to the
Main Menu and to Exit the program.
The Sound Toggle Key - S toggles the
sound on or off at the Main Menu or
during any of the activities.

The 3 Key - Pressing the number 3 at
the Main Menu will use 3 digital
clocks for the first 10 screens of
multiple choice answers during
activities

(Game Play). This is "level 1". After
the first 10 screens, 5 digital clocks
will be used. This is "level 2".

The 5 Key - Pressing the number 5 at
the Main Menu will use 5 digital
clocks for 20 screens of multiple
choice answers during activities

(Game  Play). This effectively skips
"level 1" & goes directly to "level 2".

Note: Each time the Main Menu is
displayed the default of 3 digital
clocks is reset. There should be no
need to press the 3 key unless the 5
key has been pressed and needs to be
reset back to 3 digital clocks before
starting a new activity (Game).

The AlphaNumeric Keyboard keys are
used when required to enter info during
activities (Game Play) in all programs
in the "Collection Les Petites
espadrilles" including "What Time Is
It?". A mouse is not supported.

Title Screen
When the program loads the Title
Screen will display during loading,
then the Main Menu will appear when
the program starts after it is loaded.

Main Menu Screen
"What Time Is It?" has 3 Learning
Activities (Games) which can be
selected from the Main Menu by moving
the Snail Cursor with the Arrow Keys
to the desired activity then started
by pressing the [RETURN] Key.

Each Learning activity is a Game based
on a different type of analog clock
formatted as a series of 20 screens
presenting the time on the analog
clock as a question and 3 or 5
multiple choice answers in digital
clock format.

For the first 10 screens 3 digital
clocks are displayed. This is "level 1"
For the following 10 screens 5 digital
clocks are displayed. This is "level 2"

The student selects the answer for
each screen, and when 10 screens are
complete, the Student is presented
with a musical reward. After the reward
for completing 20 screens, the student
is returned to the Main Menu.

Activities followed by musical rewards
is the basic format of all the programs
in the "Collection Les Petites
espadrilles".

The 4th Main Menu choice exits the Main
Menu, ends the program & returns to
BASIC. It is the equivalent of pressing
the X Key.

Sound can be toggled ON or OFF at the
Main Menu or during any of the
activities by pressing S.

Activity 1: 12 Hour Analog Clock -
Hours Only
Background:
The 12-hour clock is a convention of
time keeping in which the day runs
from midnight to noon, then from noon
to midnight, and is divided into 2
periods of 12 hours, numbered from 0
to 12.

The 12-hour clock is only dominant in
a handful of countries,  particularly
the U S & Canada (except Quebec). The
24-hour clock is the most commonly used
time notation in the world today.

Game Play
This activity teaches hours in the
12-hour clock time format. For each
screen, a random time is displayed on
the 12-hour analog clock.

To the right of the analog clock is a
multiple choice menu of different
times in digital clock format, with
only one that matches the time that is
displayed on the analog clock.

For each screen, when the Snail Cursor
is to moved to the digital clock that
matches the analog clock, & [RETURN]
is pressed, a section of the Drain Pipe
on the left of the screen will fill
with water. For every 10 screens the
water will empty from the drain pipe, &
give the Snail a "bath".

Activity 2: 24 Hour Analog Clock -
Hours Only
Background:

The 24-hour clock is a convention of
time keeping in which the day runs
from midnight to midnight and is
divided into 24 hours, numbered from 0
to 23. This system is the most commonly
used time notation in the world today.
The  12-hour clock is only dominant in
a handful of countries, particularly
the US & Canada (except Quebec).

24-hour notation is in the US & Canada
also referred to as military time or
astronomical time, & in Australia as
army time. In some parts of the world,
it is called railway time. It is also
the international standard notation of
time (ISO 8601).

Game Play:
This activity teaches hours only in the
24-hour clock time format. For each
screen, a random time is displayed on
the 24-hour analog clock. The analog
clock is in the form of a "cuckoo
clock". To the right of the analog
clock is a multiple choice menu of
different times in digital clock
format, with only one that matches the
time that is displayed on the analog
clock.

For each screen, when the Snail Cursor
is to moved to the digital clock that
matches the analog clock, & [RETURN]
is pressed, a section of the Hour Glass
on the left of the screen will fill
with sand.

After the first 10 screens ("level 1")
the hourglass will be half-filled with
sand & the cuckoo will come out of the
clock & "sing".

After the next 10 screens ("level 2")
the hourglass will be completely
filled with sand and the cuckoo will
come out of the clock & "sing", then
the student will be returned to the
Main Menu.

To make the activity more challenging
in "level 2", the higher-order numbers
on the clock face will disappear every
time the time changes. If the wrong
answer is pressed however, they re-
appear until the time changes again.

Activity 3: 12 Hour Analog Clock -
Hours and Minutes
Background:

The other 2 activities in "What Time Is
It?" present time in an "Hours Only"
format. Adding a second objective of
minutes introduces an additional base
of 60 to the base 12 & base 24
arithmetic that the student must
perform in order to tell time in hours.

The approach that "What Time Is It?"
uses is to break the minutes into
5 minute intervals which allows the
student to count by 5's and 10's to
gain a relative framework for the base
60 arithmetic that minutes & seconds
require.

Game Play

This activity teaches hours & minutes
in 5 minute intervals. For each screen,
a random time is displayed on the
analog clock.

To the right of the analog clock is a
multiple choice menu of different
times in digital clock format, with
only one that matches the time that is
displayed on the analog clock.

For each screen, when the Snail Cursor
is to moved to the digital clock that
matches the analog clock, & [RETURN]
is pressed, a light bulb on the left of
the screen will be "turned-off". There
are 10 light bulbs.

After the first 10 screens ("level 1")
all the light bulbs will be turned-off
and the Snail will take a "bite" out
of the apple on the lower left of the
screen, an angry worm will appear from
the apple, music will play, & all the
light bulbs will re-appear.

After the next 10 screens ("level 2")
all the light bulbs will be turned-off
again and the Snail will take another
"bite" out of the apple on the lower
left of the screen, then the student
will be returned to the Main Menu.