HPAVC/HPAVC CD-ROM.iso/pc/P_ROBO31.ZIP/P-ROBOTS.DOC

Text File | 1993-05-30 | 140.0 KB | 3,752 lines

                                      P-ROBOTS


                            A Game For PASCAL Programmers


                                     Version 3.1


                                         By


                                   David Malmberg







                                   Distributed by

                                      Softworks
                                  43064 Via Moraga
                         Mission San Jose, California 94539
                                   [phone]

                                    _______
                               ____|__     |               (tm)
                            --|       |    |-------------------
                              |   ____|__  |  Association of
                              |  |       |_|  Shareware
                              |__|   o   |    Professionals
                            -----|   |   |---------------------
                                 |___|___|    MEMBER


                       Copyrighted 1993 -- All Rights Reserved
                                  By David Malmberg





JUST WHAT IS P-ROBOTS?

P-ROBOTS ("pee-robots") is a game based on computer programming in PASCAL.
The object of the game is to design and program a "robot" that can triumph
over similar robots designed and programmed by others in a real-time battle
of wits and flying missiles.  You control your robot by writing a procedure
in PASCAL to specify your robot's behavior and strategy in its efforts to
vanquish up to three other robots in a battle to the death.  A variety of
pre-defined P-ROBOTS PASCAL functions and procedures allow your robot to
track its position on the battlefield, monitor its health or damage
condition, and calculate the distance and angle to opponents from its
current battlefield position.  Each robot is equipped with a cannon to fire
missiles, and a motorized drive mechanism to either close in for the kill
of a hapless opponent or flee from a fierce foe. Optionally, robots may be
equipped with bombs, a repair kit, different types of armor and warheads, a
deflection shield, and/or a cloaking device.

P-ROBOTS is an excellent way for the novice programmer to sharpen his/her
PASCAL skills and have fun at the same time.  However, P-ROBOTS does assumes
that the robot designer/programmer already knows the fundamentals of
programming in PASCAL.  For the experienced programmer, P-ROBOTS offers a
chance to see just how well you program in a programming environment where
"bad" code can lead to graphic and ignoble defeat and "brilliant" code can
bring triumph and glory.

In addition to being enjoyed in thousands of homes, P-ROBOTS has been
successfully used in a number of classroom settings -- from high school PASCAL
programming classes to graduate level courses in Artificial Intelligence.  "The
competitive environment that P-ROBOTS creates has really sparked my students'
desire to learn.  Our weekly robot contests are great fun and enjoyed by all --
including me," said one high school PASCAL teacher.  Another teacher has
challenged his PASCAL students by offering a unique reward: any student who can
design and program a robot that can beat the teacher's robot consistently, does
not have to take the final exam.

Version 3.0 of P-ROBOTS has a number of significant improvements over prior
versions including an optional "Integrated Development Environment" or IDE,
that can be used to create, edit and test (i.e., compile) your robots.  When
you test/compile a robot using the IDE, the compiler will identify any errors
you have in your robot source code by positioning the cursor within the editor
where the error occurred within your source code -- so you can very easily make
the appropriate correction(s).  The IDE can also be used to set up
"tournaments" of robots, select various match options (such as animation speed,
number of obstacles, unlimited fuel, etc.), and conduct the tournament
according to the robots and options you have selected.

P-ROBOTS can be run with as little as 384K of memory and a monochrome or CGA
monitor.  However, if your system has more memory and a better monitor (EGA or
VGA), P-ROBOTS has been designed to take advantage of your hardware's greater
capability.



                                          1





TABLE OF CONTENTS


JUST WHAT IS P-ROBOTS?  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   1

TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2

P-ROBOTS REGISTRATION/ORDER FORM  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4

LICENSE TERMS (Shareware Rules) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

DISTRIBUTION OF P-ROBOTS BY DISK VENDORS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6

P-ROBOTS PRODUCT/TECHNICAL SUPPORT  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8

INTRODUCTION  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9

FILES ON THE DISK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10

GETTING STARTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10

INVOKING A CONTEST  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12

USING THE "INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT"  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13

CONTROLLING YOUR ROBOT'S MOVEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15

ATTACKING OTHER ROBOTS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16

OTHER SPECIAL P-ROBOTS FUNCTIONS AND PROCEDURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
     TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
     DISTANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
     ANGLE_TO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
     RANDOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
     TRIG FUNCTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19

INFLICTING DAMAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20

ROBOT PROGRAMMING RULES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23

ADVANCED P-ROBOT FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
     CONTROLLING THE ANIMATION SPEED  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
     PROTECTIVE SHIELDS AND CLOAKING  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
     FUEL CONSTRAINTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26

                                          2




     RUNNING OUT OF FUEL  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
     AN EXAMPLE USING A SHIELD AND FUEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
     OTHER OPTIONS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29
          RADAR RANGE OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  30
          FUEL OPTIONS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  30
          ENGINE SIZE AND SPEED OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  31
          ARMOR OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  31
          MISSILE WARHEAD OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32
          ELECTRONIC BOMB OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  33
          SHIELDING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34
          CLOAKING OPTIONS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34
          REPAIRING OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  35
          AN EXAMPLE USING CLOAKING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  35
          AN EXAMPLE USING BOMBS AND CLOAKING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38
          ROBOT TEAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  42
          AN EXAMPLE OF A ROBOT TEAM  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  43
          OBSTRUCTIONS ON THE BATTLEFIELD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  46
          AN EXAMPLE DEALING WITH OBSTRUCTIONS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  47

APPENDIX I: COMPILER ERRORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  52

APPENDIX II: RUN-TIME ERRORS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  55

APPENDIX III: COMMON PROBLEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  57

APPENDIX IV: THE P-ROBOTS PASCAL LANGUAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  58

APPENDIX V: A BLATANT "PLUG" FOR ANOTHER SOFTWORKS PRODUCT  . . . . . . . .  62

APPENDIX VI: ABOUT THE AUTHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  65






















                                          3




   P-ROBOTS REGISTRATION/ORDER FORM
                Remit to:   Softworks
                            43064 Via Moraga
                            Mission San Jose, California  94539

   OR order by phone using your Mastercard or VISA.  Call [phone],
      6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., (PST ONLY!!!), Monday to Thursday,
      and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., (PST) on Saturday and Sunday.

P-ROBOTS Registration (with printed manual)..........@ $ 30.00   $ ______

P-ROBOTS Registration (without printed manual).......@ $ 20.00   $ ______
    Registration entitles you to the following:
     (1) Notice of all future P-ROBOTS upgrades.
     (2) Latest version of the program, with a collection of the
         most recent and best robots, a new "integrated development
         environment," and (optionally) a nicely printed and bound manual.
     (3) Turbo Pascal source code for P-ROBOTS.
     (4) Turbo Pascal source code for the multi-tasking PASCAL compiler
         used as the basis for developing P-ROBOTS.
     (5) Telephone support 7 PM to 9 PM, Monday to Thursday and 9 AM to 5 PM,
         on weekends...PST ONLY!!!
     (6) A warm glow from having supported at least one of the many
         Shareware products you probably use.
     (7) The P-ROBOTS author's eternal gratitude.

USA orders are shipped First Class US mail at no additional charge.
 UPS shipment for lower 48 is $5., AL and HA is $13.............    $ ______
All packages outside USA are sent Airmail at these rates:
 Mexico & Canada $6; UK & W Europe $10; all others $14..........    $ ______
(Airmail outside USA: please halve rate if ordering disks only)
                                                         Subtotal   $ ______
       (California residents please add 8 1/4% sales tax)     Tax   $ ______

                        >> U.S. Dollars only, please!!! <<  TOTAL   $ ______
   Payment by:    ( ) Check    ( ) MasterCard    ( ) VISA    ( ) Cash

        Name: _______________________________________________________________

     Address: _______________________________________________________________

       State: ______________________________ Zip:____________________________

   Day Phone: ____________________________ Eve: _____________________________

      Card #: _________________________________ Exp. Date: __________________

   Signature of cardholder: _________________________________________________

   Disk Version Desired:    _____ IBM 5 1/4   _____ IBM 3 1/2


                                          4





LICENSE TERMS (Shareware Rules)

P-ROBOTS is NOT public domain or free software, but is being distributed as
"Shareware".  This means that if you are a regular user of P-ROBOTS, you should
pay for your copy and become a registered user.  Only from the income from your
registration fees can the author continue to provide product support, make
enhancements to P-ROBOTS, and stay in business.

Non-registered users of this software are granted a limited license to make an
evaluation copy for trial use on a private non-commercial basis, for the
express purpose of determining whether P-ROBOTS is suitable for their needs.
At the end of this trial period, the user should either register his/her copy
of P-ROBOTS or discontinue using it.

Registered users of P-ROBOTS may use P-ROBOTS on any computer, provided that
P-ROBOTS is used on only one computer at a time, and that the copy is not
routinely used on that computer by other people.  If other people use the copy
of P-ROBOTS routinely, they should become registered users themselves.

Registered P-ROBOTS users may make archival and working copies of the P-ROBOTS
program disk to back up their software and protect their investment.  They may
also make evaluation copies of P-ROBOTS for trial use by non-registered users,
subject to the terms outlined above.

Operators of electronic bulletin boards (Sysops) are encouraged to post
P-ROBOTS and related ROBOT game files for downloading by their users.

This license to use P-ROBOTS does NOT include the right to distribute or sell
P-ROBOTS.  Distribution terms are detailed below.

P-ROBOTS may be uploaded to and downloaded from commercial systems such as
CompuServe, GENIE, and BIX, so long as the only charge paid by the subscriber
is for on-line time and there is no charge for the program.  Those copying,
sharing, and/or electronically transmitting the program are required not to
delete or modify the copyright notice and restrictive notices from the program
or documentation; anyone doing so will be treated as a contributory copyright
violator.

The P-ROBOTS documentation may not be modified by users. The program may not be
separated from the documentation when distributed.  Printed or "Xeroxed" copies
of the P-ROBOTS documentation (i.e., this manual) may not be distributed or
sold without the written permission of Softworks.

NOTE:  This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware
Professionals (ASP).  ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works
for you.  If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP
member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help.  The ASP
Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but
does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the
ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Rd., Muskegon, MI USA, or send a Compuserve message
via CIS MAIL to ASP Ombudsman 72050,1433.

                                          5




DISTRIBUTION OF P-ROBOTS BY DISK VENDORS


Distributors of "public domain" or user-supported software libraries must
obtain written permission to distribute copies of P-ROBOTS and related robot
game files.  No one may use P-ROBOTS as a promotion for any commercial venture
or as an enticement for the user to pay for any program, product, or service
unless they have received the express written permission of the program's
author.

In order to distribute P-ROBOTS, a dealer or disk vendor must comply with the
following conditions:

     (1)  You must obtain written permission from Softworks to distribute
          P-ROBOTS.  If you receive no reply, write again: our silence does NOT
          constitute permission, and you may not distribute "pending" receipt
          of permission.

     (2)  A fee of not more than $7 may be charged for each disk sold.
          P-ROBOTS may not be included on any disk sold for more than $7,
          including CD-ROM or optical disks, without express written permission
          from Softworks.

     (3)  Vendors may not modify or delete ANY files on the disk.  Vendors may
          add a "GO" program, and/or a reasonable number of small text files
          designed to assist or provide a service to the user, but these added
          files must be easily identifiable and end-users must be allowed to
          delete the added files.

     (4)  Vendors must make a reasonable effort to distribute only the most
          recent versions of P-ROBOTS.  All vendors who have requested and
          received written permission to distribute P-ROBOTS will be notified
          of updates as they are released.

     (5)  All disk vendors must comply with any and all vendor guidelines or
          vendor requirements set forth by the Association of Shareware
          Professionals (ASP); for more information about ASP, contact its
          chairman, Jim Button, at Buttonware in Seattle.  Violation of any ASP
          guideline or requirement automatically revokes permission to
          distribute P-ROBOTS.

Until formal requirements are adopted by the ASP, you must comply with the
following guidelines: Vendors must make an attempt to educate users on the
nature of Shareware.  Catalogs, advertisements, order forms, and all disks sold
should contain ASP-approved or recommended wording describing the nature of
shareware, and should explicitly state that no part of disk sale revenues are
paid to the programs' authors.  When vendor catalogs or advertisements carry
both Shareware and PD programs, the Shareware programs must be differentiated
from the public domain programs in some way (in the description, with an
asterisk, by listing the registration fee, etc.).


                                          6




P-ROBOTS PRODUCT/TECHNICAL SUPPORT


Softworks will make every reasonable effort to fix P-ROBOTS bugs, and to help
registered users by answering technical and other P-ROBOTS related questions.
This Product/Technical support for P-ROBOTS is available to registered users
(only) in several forms:

     (1)  By telephone to David Malmberg at Softworks, Monday through Thursday
          from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time) and weekends from
          9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (PST) at [phone].  Please respect these
          hours!

     (2)  By CompuServe E-Mail to David Malmberg, CompuServe ID 73435,1277.

     (3)  By GEnie E-Mail to D.MALMBERG.

     (4)  By letter to:

                  Softworks
                  43064 Via Moraga
                  Mission San Jose, California
                                      94539

If you send disks or listings that you wish returned, be sure to enclosed a
self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with sufficient postage.  If you do not
enclose a SASE, your material will not be returned.

Regardless of the method you use to solicit P-ROBOTS support, if you are having
a problem and you can not get P-ROBOTS to do what you think it should do,
please provide background information on the following:

     (1)  The version of P-ROBOTS you are using.

     (2)  The computer system you are using.

     (3)  Your system's configuration, i.e., amount of RAM, number and type of
          disk drives, the type of monitor you are using, the amount of free
          disk space you had (when the problem occurred).

     (4)  Any memory resident programs you have installed at the same time you
          are using P-ROBOTS and a "rough idea" of what they do and how much
          memory they take.

     (5)  Your problem, i.e., what is happening vs. what you think should be
          happening.






                                          7




ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


P-ROBOTS owes a great deal to many people and to several previous programs.

The P-Code PASCAL compiler that was used in P-ROBOTS has a long history.  It
was originally developed and published in 1976 by Nicklaus Wirth, the "father"
of PASCAL.  In 1982, M. Ben-Ari developed and published a book describing how
to make the compiler capable of multi-tasking.  Over the years, this compiler
has been converted to many, many different computers and to many different
dialects of PASCAL.  In 1986, Charles Schoening converted the compiler to Turbo
Pascal version 2.0 on the IBM and released his version to the public domain.  I
have enhanced and converted the compiler to the most recent releases of Turbo
Pascal, as well as, to Microsoft's QuickPascal.  This version was then adapted
to be the compiler "engine" for P-ROBOTS.

The inspiration for P-ROBOTS and the initial design of the program came from a
similar program called C-ROBOTS by Tom Poindexter, which was first published in
1985.  As might be expected from the name, C-ROBOTS allows the programmer to
design and program his/her robots in the C language, rather than PASCAL.  If
you are interested in C-ROBOTS, Tom is selling it as Shareware for a $20
registration fee.  The registration fee entitles you to the latest version of
the program, a large collection of excellent robots, and the source code for
the C-ROBOTS (written in C -- of course).  C-ROBOTS can be ordered from Tom at
the following address:

             Tom Poindexter
             6864 Amherst Court
             Highlands Ranch, CO
                            80126

C-ROBOTS can NOT be ordered from Softworks; it must be ordered from Tom
directly at the above address.

In addition, I would especially like to thank Professor B.J. Gleason of Upsala
College and his students.   P-ROBOTS has benefited greatly from their
suggestions.  Professor Gleason and his students also donated some truly
awesome Robots that are included on the current P-ROBOTS disk.














                                          8




INTRODUCTION

P-ROBOTS is a game based on computer programming in PASCAL.  The object of the
game is to design and program a "robot" that can triumph over similar robots
designed and programmed by others in a real-time battle of wits and flying
missiles.  You control your robot by writing a procedure in PASCAL to specify
your robot's behavior and strategy in its efforts to vanquish up to three other
robots in a battle to the death.  A variety of pre-defined P-ROBOTS PASCAL
functions and procedures allow your robot to track its position on the
battlefield, monitor its health or damage condition, and calculate the distance
and angle to opponents from its current battlefield position.  Each robot is
equipped with a cannon to fire missiles, and a motorized drive mechanism to
either close in for the kill of a hapless opponent or flee from a fierce foe.
Optionally, robots may be equipped with bombs, a repair kit, different types of
armor and warheads, a deflection shield, and/or a cloaking device.

P-ROBOTS assumes that the robot designer already knows the fundamentals of
programming in PASCAL.  Using P-ROBOTS, PASCAL skills sharpen as good code
guides your robot to victory over the competition.  An individual can challenge
the stable of provided robots.  Groups or classes can have contests among
member-created robots. Going through the manual will get you started using P-
Robots and designing your own robot.  There are helpful appendices you will
want to consult that summarize the P-Robot Pascal Language, help with error
diagnosis, and list common problems.

Version 3.0 of P-ROBOTS has a number of significant improvements over prior
versions including an optional "Integrated Development Environment" or IDE that
can be used to create, edit and test (i.e., compile) your robots.  When you
test/compile a robot using the IDE, the compiler will identify any errors you
have in your robot source code by positioning the cursor within the editor
where the error occurred within your source code -- so you can very easily make
the appropriate correction(s).  The IDE can also be used to set up
"tournaments" of robots, select various match options (such as animation speed,
number of obstacles, unlimited fuel, etc.), and conduct the tournament
according to the robots and options you have selected.


HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

If you intend to run P-ROBOTS on an IBM or compatible computer, you will need
at least 384K of memory and DOS 2.1 or later.  Either a color or monochrome
monitor may be used.  If you are using a color monitor, P-ROBOTS will
automatically detect it and use different colors for each robot.  If you are
using a monochrome monitor, P-ROBOTS will display your robots accordingly.  If
you have an EGA or VGA monitor, P-Robots will automatically detect that and use
these enhanced screen capabilities.

If you are using P-ROBOTS' "Integrated Development Environment" or IDE, you
will need at least 512k of memory and a hard disk with at least 512K of free
disk space.  The IDE will use EMS or XMS memory if available for its "swap"
file -- otherwise, the IDE will put its "swap" file on hard disk.

                                          9




FILES ON THE DISK

You should have the following files on your P-ROBOTS disk:

          P-ROBOTS.EXE   The is the main program that is executed whenever you
                         hold  a P-ROBOTS contest.

          P-ROBOTS.DOC   This file contains the documentation for P-ROBOTS.  It
                         is a text file and can be printed by giving the
                         command at the DOS prompt: TYPE P-ROBOTS.DOC > PRN

          PR-DEMO.BAT    This is a file that gives a demonstration of a typical
                         P-ROBOTS contest between three robots.

          ????????.PR         These are other PASCAL source code files for
                              other robots.  All P-ROBOTS robots MUST have .PR
                              file extensions.  Without this .PR extension,
                              P-ROBOTS will not compile the robot and enter it
                              in any robot contests.

If you are using P-ROBOTS' "Integrated Development Environment" or IDE, you
need the following additional files on your hard disk (on the same directory
where the above files are kept):

          IDE.BAT        The batch file used to invoke the P-ROBOTS'
                         "Integrated Development Environment."

          PR-SHELL.EXE   The "shell" program with a built-in full-screen editor
                         and a test compiler that can be used to develop and
                         test your robots.  This program is called by IDE.BAT.

          POPDOS.EXE     A really "nifty" utility program that can be called by
                         hitting the <Alt><F10> key combination to invoke DOS
                         from within another program.   See POPDOS.DOC for
                         details.  POPDOS is loaded by IDE.BAT and is used to
                         run P-ROBOTS from within the "Integrated Development
                         Environment."

          P-ROBOTS.PCX   A graphic title screen for the IDE which will be
                         displayed if you have an EGA or VGA monitor.

          *.HLP          Various help files accessed by hitting <F1> from
                         within the IDE.


GETTING STARTED

To see a typical P-ROBOTS contest, just execute the batch file PR-DEMO.  What
you will see will be the PASCAL source code for three robots being read from
the disk and compiled by P-ROBOTS.  After being compiled successfully (without
any errors), you will then see a battle between these three robots.  The battle

                                         10




will last between one and four minutes and you will be able to see the
individual robots move around the battlefield, fire their missiles and get hit
when the missiles explode too near them on the screen.  The screen and the
battlefield will look something like the following:


          (x=0,y=999)                        (x=999,y=999)

              +------------------------------------+ 1  CHASER F 1156
              |                                    |  D% 015   Sc 218
              |                               1    |  Sp 000   Hd 090
              |                          \^/       |  X= 902   Y= 890
           ^  |     (missile exploding) <-#->      | ------------------
           |  |                          /v\       | 2  M66    F  982
              |                                    |  D% 050   Sc 275
           Y  |              +        (missiles    |  Sp 100   Hd 180
              |                     +   flying)    |  X=  89   Y= 534
           a  |                                    | ------------------
           x  |   2                                | 3  NINJA  F 1192
           i  |                                    |  D% 000   Sc 045
           s  |                                    |  Sp 000   Hd 000
              |                 3                  |  X= 423   Y= 350
              |                /                   | ------------------
              |          (robots)                  |
              |                                    |
              |                                    |
              |                                    |
              |                                    |
              |                                    | CPU
              +------------------------------------+ Cycles:     34512

          (x=0,y=0)           X axis -->     (x=999,y=0)


The battlefield is 1000 meters by 1000 meters with the coordinates 0,0 in the
lower left hand corner of the screen.  The border of the battlefield has a
"fence" or "wall" around it which will cause the robots damage if they run into
it.  Hitting a border of the battlefield will also cause your robot to come
crashing to a halt.  On the battlefield, each robot is represented by a number
from 1 to 4.  (There can be at most four robots in any one contest.)  Flying
missiles will be represented on the screen by + symbols, and explosions by a
flurry of lines and corners -- as can be seen above.

Beside the battlefield are several "status" areas where information about each
robot is displayed.  The number that precedes the robot's name is its symbol on
the screen.  For example, the number 2 represents the robot M66 in the above
display.  To the right of the robot's name (and just to the right of the "F")
is the robot's current number of "jiggers" of fuel.  The "D%" field shows the
percentage of damage that the robot has incurred so far.  When the damage
percentage gets to 100% the robot dies.  The "Sc" field shows the direction in
degrees (from 0 to 359) that the robot's scanner is currently pointed.  The

                                         11




scanner is used to detect the presence of enemy robots and to aim missiles at
them.  The "Sp" field show the robot's current speed.  A speed of zero means
the robot is standing still and the maximum speed is normally 100.  The "Hd"
field show the robot's current heading, i.e., the direction it is moving.  Like
the scanner field, the heading is shown in degrees from 0 to 359.  The "X=" and
"Y=" fields show the robot's current X and Y coordinates on the battlefield,
respectively.  The  X-axis runs from 0 on the left to 999 on the right side of
the battlefield.  The Y-axis runs from 0 at the bottom on the screen to 999 at
the top.

All angles/directions in P-ROBOTS are calculated in degrees from 0 to 359 using
the traditional angle directions you undoubted learned in Geometry.  Due east
is zero degrees, north is 90 degrees, etc.:

              135    90   45
                  \  |  /
                   \ | /
             180 --- x --- 0
                   / | \
                  /  |  \
              225   270   315


INVOKING A CONTEST

Sooner or later, you are going to get tired just watching the DEMO match and
will want to see contests between other robots -- perhaps even your own robot
creations.  There are two types of contests: single games or matches.  In
single game mode, the game is played with animated "graphics" where the
progress of the battle can be watched on the screen.  Match play is when you
want to run a series of contests (maybe as many as 100) between the same group
of robots to see what the winning percentages are for each contestant.  Match
play does not display the actual battles, but just shows the summary of wins
and loses as each individual game is played.  Match play is ideal for playing
overnight.

If you want to stop a P-ROBOTS game (either single game or match), just hit
Control-Break.

To run a single game, at the DOS prompt give the command:

             P-ROBOTS Robot1 Robot2 .. Robot3

For example, to run a single game among the robots NINJA, HOTSHOT, WIMP and
BLASTER you would enter the command:

             P-ROBOTS NINJA HOTSHOT WIMP BLASTER

Or to run a single game between HOTSHOT and WIMP you would enter the command:

             P-ROBOTS HOTSHOT WIMP

                                         12




It is also possible to test your robot against a "default" robot, named TARGET,
that is built into the P-ROBOTS program.  TARGET just sits in the center of the
battlefield waiting to get shot at.  However, TARGET does shoot back -- so be
warned that beating TARGET is not a totally trivial exercise.  TARGET is an
excellent opponent for testing new robots.  For example, to test a robot named
FRED against TARGET, just give the command:

             P-ROBOTS FRED

To invoke a series of contests, i.e., match play, append a "/MNNN" behind the
normal single play command, where NNN represents the number of games you wish
to play in the match.  "/M50" would cause 50 games to be played in the match
and "/M100" would cause 100 games to be played.  To initiate a 20 game match
among HOTSHOT, WIMP and BLASTER you would enter the command:

             P-ROBOTS NINJA HOTSHOT WIMP BLASTER /M20

Or to run a series of 10 games between HOTSHOT and WIMP you would enter the
command:

             P-ROBOTS HOTSHOT WIMP /M10

IMPORTANT NOTE: The actual files on the disk containing the source code for the
various robots MUST have a .PR file extension.  However, when the game is
invoked, the use of this extension is optional.


USING THE "INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT"

An optional feature of Version 3.0 of P-ROBOTS is an "Integrated Development
Environment" or IDE that can be used to create, edit and test (i.e., compile)
your robots.  When you test/compile a robot using the IDE, the compiler will
identify any errors you have in your source code by positioning the cursor
within the editor where the error occurred within your source code -- so you
can very easily make the appropriate correction(s).  The IDE can also be used
to set up "tournaments" of robots, select various match options (such as
animation speed, number of obstacles, unlimited fuel, etc.), and conduct the
tournament according to the robots and options you have selected.  The
"Integrated Development Environment" is invoked by giving the command IDE from
the DOS prompt.  In order to use the IDE you must have at least 512K of memory
and a hard disk with at least 512K of free disk space to store the IDE's "swap"
files.

The IDE has an easy-to-use menu-driven interface.  The menu options include the
following:

     File - Various operations on Robot files (Load, Save, Print, etc.),
     specifically:

          New - Create a new robot
          Open - Open an existing robot file

                                         13



          Close - Close current robot file (without saving)
          Save As - Save current robot file under a different name
          Print - Print current file on LPT1, LPT2, LPT3 or PRN printer
          About - Information about P-Robots, specifically:

               Credits - Display credits for P-Robots and where to order the
               latest version
               Print Order Form - Print the P-Robots Order Form on your printer

     Edit - Robot source file and Robot option (.CFG) file, specifically:

          Edit Robot - Edit current robot program using a full-screen editor
          Edit Configuration - Edit current robots options (i.e., .CFG
          options), including:

               Radar - Change Radar points in .CFG file
               Fuel - Change Fuel points in .CFG file
               Engine - Change Engine points in .CFG file
               Armor - Change Armor points in .CFG files
               Warheads - Change Warheads points in .CFG files
               Bombs - Change Bombs points in .CFG files
               Shielding - Change Shielding points in .CFG files
               Cloaking - Change Cloaking points in .CFG file
               Repairing - Change Repairing points in .CFG file
               Save .CFG Options - Save current robot options in .CFG file

          Test Compile - Test (by compiling) the current Robot

     Tournament - Conduct a Tournament battle of several robots, including
     these choices:

          Select Robots - Select up to 4 Robots to battle one another
          Battle Options - Select options (display speed, unlimited fuel, etc.)
          for battle, including:

               Speed - Select display Speed option
               Match Play - Select Match Play (and number of matches to play)
               Obstructions - Select Obstruction Play (and enter the number of
               obstructions)
               Unlimited Fuel - Select Unlimited Fuel option

          Fight - Start battle of selected robots

     Demo -  Conduct a demonstration robot battle

     Calculator - An easy-to-use calculator

     Quit - the P-Robot Program Shell and return to DOS

While using the IDE, you can always get HELP by hitting the F1 key.


                                         14




CONTROLLING YOUR ROBOT'S MOVEMENT

To move your robot in P-ROBOTS you must use the special procedure "Drive" that
is built into the P-ROBOTS version of the PASCAL language.  (See Appendix IV
for a summary of all built-in P-ROBOTS functions and procedures.)  The Drive
procedure would be used in your program as:

             Drive(degree,speed);

This would cause your robot to move in the direction specified by "degree" and
at the speed indicated by the second parameter, "speed".  The direction will be
forced by the Drive procedure to be between 0 and 359 (i.e., degree := degree
MOD 360;) and the speed will be restricted to between 0 and the maximum of the
built-in P-ROBOTS CONST MaxSpeed (which is typically 100).  Calling the Drive
procedure with a speed of zero, will cause your robot to stop.

For example:

             Drive(90, MaxSpeed);  (* drive north at top speed *)
             Drive(heading,0);     (* slow down and stop *)

In an attempt to simulate some degree of reality, a robot's speed does not
change instantly, but rather has to go through periods of acceleration and
deceleration.  For example, to stop a robot traveling at a speed of 100 will
take between 100 and 200 meters.  Conversely, to get up to a speed of 100 from
a standing stop will also take between 100 and 200 meters.

Also, your robot will not be able to "turn on a dime".  You must be moving at a
speed of 50 or less to change directions.  Attempting to turn while going over
50 will cause your robot's drive motor to "over heat" and your robot will just
coast to a stop on its current heading.

To monitor the status of your movement on the battlefield, the P-ROBOTS version
of PASCAL has several special built-in functions.

The built-in "Speed" function returns the current speed of your robot (from 0
to MaxSpeed).  Remember that the value returned by Speed may not always be the
same as the last parameter used in the last call to Drive, because of
acceleration, deceleration and collisions.

An example of how the Speed function might be used is as follows:

        Drive(270, MaxSpeed);  (* start driving, due south *)
         ; ; ;                 (* other instructions *)
        IF Speed = 0           (* check if stopped, i.e., current speed = 0 *)
            THEN Drive(90,20); (* Probably, ran into the south border *)
                               (* Go north at speed of 20 *)

The built-in "Loc_X" and "Loc_Y" functions return your robots X and Y
coordinates on the battlefield, respectively.  The following shows how these
functions might be used:

                                         15




       Drive(45,50);   (* start driving in north-easterly direction *)
       WHILE (Loc_X < 900) AND (Loc_Y < 900) DO Drive(45,50);
            (* i.e., just keep driving until we are close to a border *)
       Drive(45,0);    (* slow down and stop *)


ATTACKING OTHER ROBOTS

The main offensive weapons available to your robot are its scanner and its
cannon.  Both of these weapons are controlled by using special built-in
capabilities of the P-ROBOTS PASCAL language.

The scanner is an "electronic eye" that enables your robot to look for enemy
robots in any chosen direction from 0 to 359 degrees.  The scanner has a
maximum resolution of +/- 10 degrees.  This allows your robot to quickly scan
the battlefield at a low resolution, then use finer resolution to pinpoint a
foe's precise position.  The scanner would be accessed by a reference to the
"Scan" function, as follows:

             Scan(degree,resolution)

This function invokes the robot's scanner, at the specified degree and
resolution.  This function returns an integer value of 0 if no enemy robots are
within the scan range or a integer value (greater than 0) representing the
distance to the nearest robot in the scan area.  The value passed as the
parameter "degree" will be forced to be in the range 0 to 359.  Likewise, the
"resolution" will be forced to be in the range of +/- 10 degrees.  The number
returned will range from 0 (if nothing is within scanner range) to a maximum of
"MaxRadarRange".  MaxRadarRange will be determined by the options selected for
the robot.  Robot options will be described later.

Some examples:

       Enemy := Scan(180,10); (* scans the area from 170 to 190 degrees *)
       Dist_To_Foe := Scan(180,2); (* scans the area from 178 to 182 degrees *)
       Target_Range := Scan(90,0); (* scan 90 degrees, with no variance *)

Once an enemy robot is found with the scanner, you would use your robot's
cannon to fire a missile at the enemy.  This is done by using P-ROBOTS special
"Cannon" procedure:

             Cannon(degree,range);

This will fire a missile in the direction specified by the parameter "degree"
and for a distance specified by the value of "range".  Your robot's cannon has
a maximum range of MaxRadarRange (default is 700) meters.  There are an
unlimited number of missiles -- so you need not worry about running out.
However, it will take some time to reload between firing missiles; so that, the
number of missiles in the air at any one time to limited to two.  The cannon is
mounted on an independent turret, and therefore can fire in any direction,
regardless of the robot's current movement direction.

                                         16




For example, the following "chunk" of code will cause your robot to constantly
scan for enemies and blast away at them as long as they are in sight.  When
they are no longer in sight (or in range), the scanner will move to the next 20
degree segment of the circle:

       Angle := 0; (* initialize to east *)
       REPEAT
         Enemy_Range := Scan(Angle,10); (* Get range to target -- if any *)
         WHILE (Enemy_Range > 40) AND (Enemy_Range <= MaxRadarRange) DO
           BEGIN (* Enemy in sight and in range *)
             Cannon(Angle,Enemy_Range); (* Blast it! *)
             Enemy_Range := Scan(Angle,10); (* Still there? *)
           END;
           Angle := Angle + 20; (* move search to next segment *)
        UNTIL Dead or Winner;

The "Dead" and the "Winner" in the UNTIL statement are special pre-defined
Boolean functions in P-ROBOTS.  Dead will have a value of FALSE while your
robot is still alive (i.e., its damage is less than 100%) and TRUE when it
finally dies.  Similarly, Winner will be TRUE if your robot is the last
survivor of the battle and FALSE otherwise.

If your robot utilized the basic "Sitting Duck" strategy given above, its
opponents would undoubtedly make short work of it.  To make the strategy a
little smarter, we need some way to determine if we are under attack.
Fortunately (and not surprisingly), P-ROBOTS has another special function that
can assist us -- the "Damage" function.  Whenever you use this function in your
code, it will return an integer value of your robot's current damage
percentage.  If this value changes, then we know the robot is under attack and
it probably should run for safety.

As an example, let's see how the Damage function could be used to make the
above code a little smarter:

        Old_Damage := Damage; (* Get initial value of damage *)
        Angle := 0; (* initialize to east *)
        REPEAT
          Enemy_Range := Scan(Angle,10); (* Get range to target -- if any *)
          WHILE (Enemy_Range > 40) AND (Enemy_Range <= MaxRadarRange) DO
            BEGIN (* Enemy in sight and in range *)
              Cannon(Angle,Enemy_Range); (* Blast it! *)
              Enemy_Range := Scan(Angle,10); (* Still there? *)
            END;
          Angle := Angle + 20; (* move search to next segment *)
          IF Damage > Old_Damage THEN
            BEGIN (* Under attack *)
              Old_Damage := Damage; (* Get latest Damage value *)
              Move; (* Get out of here!! *)
            END;
        UNTIL Dead or Winner;


                                         17




The "Move" reference above would call a separate procedure that would move the
robot to another position on the battlefield where it will hopefully be safer.
This procedure will be given a little later as another example.


OTHER SPECIAL P-ROBOTS FUNCTIONS AND PROCEDURES


TIME

The built-in Time function returns the current time as measured by the
P-ROBOTS' CPU cycles.  By using this function, you should be able to calculate
the speed of your enemies.  The value returned by this function is restricted
to being in the range 0 to 32767 and when it gets to 32767 it starts again at
zero.  An example of how you might get this value is as follows:

             Start_Time := Time;


DISTANCE

Since your robot will frequently find it useful to be able to calculate
distances from one point on the battlefield to another, P-ROBOTS provides a
built-in function to do it:

             Distance(X1,Y1,X2,Y2)

would return the integer distance from the point X1,Y1 to the point X2,Y2.


ANGLE_TO

The Angle_To function will return the angle to a point on the battlefield from
your robot's current position.  The value returned will be an integer in
degrees from 0 to 359.  As an example of how both the Distance and Angle_To
functions might be used, consider the following procedure that will move your
robot to the point X,Y on the battlefield:

     PROCEDURE GoTo(X, Y : Integer);(* Go to location X,Y on playing field. *)
       VAR
         Heading  : Integer;
     BEGIN       (* Find the heading we need to get to the desired spot. *)
       Heading := Angle_To(X, Y);

       (* Keep traveling at top speed until we are within 150 meters. *)
       WHILE (Distance(Loc_X, Loc_Y, X, Y) > 150) DO Drive(Heading, MaxSpeed);

       (* Cut speed, and creep the rest of the way. *)
       WHILE (Distance(Loc_X, Loc_Y, X, Y) > 20) DO Drive(Heading, 20);

       (* Stop driving, should coast to a stop. *)

                                         18




       Drive(Heading, 0); (* i.e., Stop *)
     END; (* GoTo(X,Y) *)


RANDOM

The function Random(limit) returns a random integer between 0 and limit.  As an
example, the following procedure will cause your robot to move to a random spot
on the battlefield:

       PROCEDURE Move; (* Move to a random spot on the playing field. *)
         VAR
           x, y       : Integer;
       BEGIN
         x := Random(900) + 50;
         y := Random(900) + 50;
         GoTo(x, y);
       END; (* Move *)

Notice that the Move procedure makes use of the GoTo(X,Y) procedure developed
in the previous example.


TRIG FUNCTIONS

P-ROBOTS has several standard Trig functions that will be of value to a clever
robot, specifically:

             Sin(degree)

will return the real value of the Sin of an angle of degree where degree is an
integer from 0 to 359.

             Cos(degree)

will return the real value of the Cos of an angle of degree where degree is an
integer from 0 to 359.

             ArcTan(ratio)

will the angle in integer degrees that has a Tan of ratio.


INFLICTING DAMAGE

Your robot can be damaged by only two things: collisions and explosions.  The
"normal" level of damage is given by the following table:

     2%  --    A collision with another robot (both robots in a collision
               receive damage) or one of the battlefield walls.  A collision
               also causes the robot to stop cold, i.e., its speed is reduced

                                         19



               instantly to 0.

     3%  --    A missile explodes within a 40 meter radius.

     5%  --    A missile explodes within a 20 meter radius.

     10% --    A missile explodes within a 5 meter radius.

The actual damage is determined by the options (Armor, Shielding, etc.) for the
robot being attacked as well as by the options of the attacking robots (Missile
type, Bombs, etc).  The values given above are the defaults for "normally"
equipped robots.  The impact of the options on the damage will be discussed
later.

Damage is inflicted on ALL robots within these distances.  That means that if
one of your own missiles explodes within 40 meters of your robot, it causes
damage.  Using sloppy programming logic, it is possible for your robot to
commit suicide by firing missiles too close to itself.  For example, your robot
would not last long with this code:

                  Drive(Angle, 50);
                  WHILE (Loc_X < 999) DO Cannon(Angle,Scan(Angle,10));

Damage is cumulative, and cannot be repaired.  However, a robot does not loose
any mobility, fire potential, etc. at high damage levels.  In other words, a
robot at 99% damage performs equally as well as a robot with no damage.
However, when the damage level gets to 100% your robot is dead and it is out of
the current competition.


PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Here is a complete sample robot named HotShot:

     PROCEDURE HotShot;
     {
      Author: David Malmberg

      Strategy:  Stay in one place.  Find a foe.  Take a shot.
      Keep improving aim and shooting until foe is lost from sights.
      Then move sights (scanning) to adjacent target area.  If
      hit, then move to another random position on playing field.
      If the Robot scans two complete circles (720 degrees) without
      finding a foe in shooting range, move to another spot on the
      field.  (This will avoid "stand-offs" where opponents stay
      just out of range of one another.)

      This Robot should be VERY effective against foes which
      are stopped or are moving slowly.  It will be less effective
      against Robots traveling at high speeds.
     }

                                         20




     VAR { HotShot "Global" variables }

       Angle, { Scanning angle }
       Last_Damage, { Robot's Last damage value }
       Range, { Range/Distance to foe }
       Sweep, { "Sweep count" -- when = 36, Robot has scanned 720 degrees }
       Delta          : Integer; { Scanning arc }


     PROCEDURE Aim(VAR Ang : Integer; VAR Arc : Integer);
   {
    Improve aim by doing a binary search of the target area,
    i.e., divide the target area in two equal pieces and redefine
    the target area to be the piece where the foe is found.
    If the foe is not found, expand the search area to the
    maximum arc of plus or minus 10 degrees.
   }
       BEGIN
         Arc := Arc DIV 2; { Divide search area in two. }
         IF scan(Ang-Arc, Arc) <> 0 { Check piece "below" target angle. }
           THEN Ang := Ang-Arc { If foe found, redefine target angle. }
           ELSE IF scan(Ang+Arc, Arc) <> 0 { Check piece "above" target angle.}
             THEN Ang := Ang+Arc { If foe found, redefine target angle. }
             ELSE Arc := 10;
         { Foe not found in either piece, expand search area to maximum arc. }
       END; {Aim}


     PROCEDURE BlastThem;
       BEGIN
         Angle := 10;
         REPEAT
           Delta := 10; { Start with widest scanning arc. }
           Range := scan(Angle, Delta);
           WHILE (Range > 40) AND (ObjectScanned = Enemy)
             AND (Range < MaxMissileRange) DO
           { Must be far enough away to avoid self-damage. }
             BEGIN
               Aim(Angle, Delta); { Improve aim. }
               Cannon(Angle, Range); { Fire!! }
               Range := scan(Angle, Delta); { Is foe still in sights? }
             END;
           Angle := Angle+20; { Look in adjacent target area. }
         UNTIL Angle > 360;
       END;






                                         21




     PROCEDURE GOTO(x, y : Integer);
         { Go to location X,Y on playing field. }
       VAR Heading    : Integer;
       BEGIN
         { Find the heading we need to get to the desired spot. }
         Heading := Angle_To(x, y);

         { Keep traveling at top speed until we are within 150 meters }
         WHILE (distance(loc_x, loc_y, x, y) > 150) DO
           BEGIN
             Drive(Heading, MaxSpeed);
             BlastThem;
           END;

         { Cut speed, and creep the rest of the way. }
         WHILE (distance(loc_x, loc_y, x, y) > 20) DO
           BEGIN
             Drive(Heading, 20);
             BlastThem;
           END;

         { Stop driving, should coast to a stop. }
         Drive(Heading, 0); {i.e., Stop}
       END; {GoTo(X,Y)}


     FUNCTION Hurt  : Boolean;
         { Checks if Robot has incurred any new damage. }
       VAR Curr_Damage : Integer;
         Answer         : Boolean;
       BEGIN
         Curr_Damage := damage;
         Answer := (Curr_Damage > Last_Damage);
         Last_Damage := Curr_Damage;
         Hurt := Answer;
       END; {Hurt}


     PROCEDURE Move;
         { Move to a random spot on the playing field. }
       VAR x, y       : Integer;
       BEGIN
         Sweep := 0; { Reset Sweep counter to zero. }
         x := Random(900)+50;
         y := Random(900)+50;
         GOTO(x, y);
       END; {Move}





                                         22



     BEGIN {HotShot Main}
       Angle := Angle_To(500, 500);
       { Start scanning for foes in center of field. }
       Sweep := 0; { Initialize Sweep counter to zero. }
       REPEAT { Until Dead or Winner }
         Delta := 10; { Start with widest scanning arc. }
         Range := scan(Angle, Delta);
         WHILE (Range > 40) AND (Range < 700) DO
           { Must be far enough away to avoid self-damage. }
           BEGIN
             Sweep := 0; { Found foe, so reset Sweep to zero }
             Aim(Angle, Delta); { Improve aim. }
             cannon(Angle, Range); { Fire!! }
             Range := scan(Angle, Delta); { Is foe still in sights? }
           END;
         Angle := Angle+20; { Look in adjacent target area. }
         Sweep := Sweep+1;
         IF Hurt OR (Sweep = 36) THEN Move;
         { If hit or have scanned two full circles, move elsewhere. }
       UNTIL Dead OR Winner;
     END; (* HotShot Main *)


ROBOT PROGRAMMING RULES

There are several things in the above example that you should think of as rules
that your robots should ALWAYS observe.

     1.   Your robot should be in a "self-contained" PROCEDURE with the
          following basic structure:

                   PROCEDURE RoboName;

                     {"Global" Variables}

                     FUNCTION A;
                        ....
                     PROCEDURE B;
                        ....
                     FUNCTION Z;

                   BEGIN {RoboName Main}
                        ....
                   END; {RoboName Main}

          Failure to follow this basic structure will cause the P-ROBOTS
          program and your robot to both meet a fiery death.  Notice that your
          robot procedure ends with a ";" -- not a "."




                                         23




     2.   A robot should have its PROCEDURE named exactly the same name as the
          file with the code for the robot (except for the .PR extension);
          i.e., the HotShot robot procedure should be in a  file named
          HOTSHOT.PR.  Again, failure to follow this rule will cause your robot
          program to crash.

     3.   In the "main" routine for your robot, you need to have some kind of
          "infinite" loop that is repeated endlessly.  In the sample robot,
          HOTSHOT, this loop is the REPEAT ... UNTIL structure:

                  REPEAT (* Until Dead or Winner *)
                    ....
                  UNTIL Dead OR Winner;

          Another "infinite" loop that would works equally well is:

                  WHILE (NOT Dead) AND (NOT Winner) DO
                    BEGIN
                      ....
                    END;

     4.   Your robot source code should be very well documented with comments.


ADVANCED P-ROBOT FEATURES

All of the robot programming ground rules and robot-specific language presented
up to this point correspond to features found in C-ROBOTS by Tom Poindexter --
which was the inspiration for P-ROBOTS.  After  P-ROBOTS had been released for
several months, users began to make suggestions for improvements and new
features.  In the current version 3.0, I have tried to incorporate the best
suggestions.  Specifically, version 3.0 adds the following improvements and new
features:

             *    Animation Speed Options
             *    Protective Shields and Cloaking
             *    Fuel Constraints
             *    Options for Radar Range, Engine Size, Armor, Missile types,
                  Bombs and Repairing
             *    Robot Teams
             *    Obstructions on the Battlefield

NOTE: All of these new features are optional.  Your old (Versions 1.0 and 2.0)
robots can still be used just as they have always been used.


CONTROLLING THE ANIMATION SPEED

Since not all computers operate at the same speed, it is very desirable to be
able to control the animation speed of the robot contest.  This can be done by
using another command line parameter, the "/SN" parameter, where N can be

                                         24




either 1, 2, 3 ... up to 10.  A value of 1 corresponds to the slowest animation
speed and 10 is the fastest.  The normal default setting is 7 which will
normally look fine on a 80286 or 80386 computer.  If you are using a 486
machine, you will probably want to use one of the slower animation speeds.  For
example, to run a single game among the robots: NINJA, HOTSHOT, WIMP and
BLASTER at a moderately slow animation speed (i.e., a speed of 3) you would
enter the command:

             P-ROBOTS NINJA HOTSHOT WIMP BLASTER /S3

If you are playing a series of contests (i.e., match play), you should not slow
down the speed since these games are not displayed/animated anyway.


PROTECTIVE SHIELDS AND CLOAKING

In version 3.0 of P-ROBOTS, your robot can use a protective Shield by using the
command "RaiseShield".  When your robot's Shield is up, your robot will not
incur any damage from collisions or missile explosions.  The Shield may be
lowered by using the command "LowerShield".  The status of your robot's Shield
can be determined by using the built-in Boolean function, "ShieldRaised" which
will return a value of TRUE or FALSE based on your robot's shield condition.
For example, you might want to use the following statement in a robot program:

             IF NOT ShieldRaised THEN RaiseShield;

You may also check to see if your robot has a Shield option by using the built-
in Boolean Function "HaveShield".

NOTE: Unlike the Starship Enterprise, your robot has only one Shield (i.e.,
singular) not multiple Shields (plural).  If you use "Shields" (plural) in your
robot programs, you will get a compiler error for an "Unknown Identifier".

In version 3.0 of P-ROBOTS, your robot can also use a protective "Cloak" by
using the command "RaiseCloak".  When your robot's Cloak is up, your robot will
be invisible to other robot's scanners/radars (except if they are equipped with
an "Anti-Cloaking" Device).  The Cloak may be lowered by using the command
"LowerCloak".  You may also check to see if your robot has a Cloak option by
using the built-in Boolean Function "HaveCloak".

If your robot has its cloak raised, this fact will be shown by having your
robot "blink" on the screen.  At the same time, the robots name on the status
panel will also blink.  When you lower the cloak, the blink will stop.

Of course, there must be a "catch" to using a Shield or a Cloak -- or there
would not be any real challenge to a robot contest.  The catch is that Shields
and Cloaks use scarce fuel resources as explained in the following section.





                                         25




FUEL CONSTRAINTS

Many people have commented that P-ROBOTS (and C-ROBOTS before it) seemed to
favor robots that used "brute force" rather than "raw cunning" -- i.e., all
other things being equal, robots that fired often seem to beat robots that
fired accurately.  In an effort to create a more level playing field for smart
robots, I have added fuel constraints to P-ROBOTS.  Under these constraints,
robots that fire indiscriminately will waste valuable fuel and will ultimately
run out of fuel and find themselves defenseless and at the mercy of their wiser
and more fuel efficient opponents.

When having a robot battle that has fuel constraints, each robot normally
begins the contest with 1250 "jiggers" of fuel.  Then, during the contest, fuel
is normally used up at the following rates:

             *  Firing a missile takes 3 jiggers
             *  Traveling 100 meters takes 6 jiggers
             *  Having a shield up for 1000 CPU cycles takes 6 jiggers
             *  Having a cloak up for 1000 CPU cycles takes 5 jiggers

These fuel usage rates are the "default" values.  Your robots specific usage
rates will depend upon the options you have selected for your robots.  The
details will be explained in the next few sections.

In addition, if your robot's Shield is up, whenever your robot would have
incurred damage from a missile or a collision, it uses twice the number of
jiggers of fuel to absorb the damage as it would have incurred in damage had
its Shield been down.  For example, when your robot's Shield is up, absorbing a
direct missile hit uses 20 jiggers of fuel (normally); absorbing the impact of
a collision with another robot uses 4 jiggers of fuel (normally), etc.  So, it
is prudent for your robot to take care to avoid missiles and collisions even if
its Shield is raised.

The number of jiggers of each robot's fuel is displayed continuously next to
the robot's name on the screen.  This value may be accessed from within a robot
program by using the built-in function "Fuel".  For example, you might want to
use the following logic in a robot program to begin a special "End-Game"
strategy when your fuel gets low:

             IF Fuel < 200 THEN End_Game;

There are several other built-in P-ROBOTS functions that may be useful when you
have fuel constraints.  Specifically, "LimitedFuel" will return a TRUE or FALSE
based upon whether the contest your robot is playing in has fuel constraints or
not.  The built-in function "Meters" is like an Odometer on a car -- only it
returns the number of meters your robot has traveled since the beginning of the
contest.  For example, you might wish to use the following command in your
robot's program to invoke your "End-Game" strategy:

             IF LimitedFuel
                THEN IF (Meters > 20000) OR (Fuel < 200) THEN End_Game;

                                         26




To have a robot contest without fuel constraints, you should use a "/U" command
line parameter when you invoke your contest.  For example, to run a single game
among the robots: NINJA, WIMP and BLASTER without fuel constraints, you would
enter the following command at the DOS prompt:

             P-ROBOTS NINJA WIMP BLASTER /U

If you wish to have a series of 50 matches without fuel constraints among the
same group of robots, you would add a "/M50" parameter to the command as
follows:

             P-ROBOTS NINJA WIMP BLASTER /U /M50


RUNNING OUT OF FUEL

When your robot runs out of fuel it does everything you might expect: it stops
cold and can no longer move; it can no longer fire its cannon; and it can no
longer maintain a raised shield.  In other words, it is totally and absolutely
defenseless.  Other robots which still have fuel will make quick work of any
robot that is unfortunate enough to become a sitting duck by running out of
fuel.  If all of the robots in the game run out of fuel, the game is over and
the robot with the least damage (i.e., the strongest of the survivors) is
declared the winner.


AN EXAMPLE USING A SHIELD AND FUEL

Here is an example of how the previous example robot, HOTSHOT, might be
modified to use its Shield and consider Fuel constraints:


     PROCEDURE HotShot2;
     {
      Author: David Malmberg

      Strategy:  Stay in one place.  Find a foe.  Take a shot.
      Keep improving aim and shooting until foe is lost from sights.
      Then move sights (scanning) to adjacent target area.
      If the Robot scans a complete circle (360 degrees) without
      finding a foe in shooting range, move to another spot on the
      field.  (This will avoid "stand-offs" where opponents stay
      just out of range of one another.)  RaiseShield when standing
      still and lower them when moving.

      When damage gets to 70 (or more) or fuel (if using fuel) gets
      below 200 adopt an "End-Game" strategy of moving to the lower
      left corner, lower shield, and continue to scan and shoot in
      the corner's 90 degree range.

      This Robot should be VERY effective against foes which

                                         27




      are slow and/or tend to stay in one place.}

     PROCEDURE GOTO(x, y : Integer);
         { Go to location X,Y on playing field. }
       VAR Heading    : Integer;
       BEGIN
         { Find the heading we need to get to the desired spot. }
         Heading := Angle_To(x, y);

         { Keep traveling at top speed until we are within 150 meters }
         WHILE (distance(loc_x, loc_y, x, y) > 150) DO
           BEGIN
             Drive(Heading, MaxSpeed);
             BlastThem;
           END;

         { Cut speed, and creep the rest of the way. }
         WHILE (distance(loc_x, loc_y, x, y) > 20) DO
           BEGIN
             Drive(Heading, 20);
             BlastThem;
           END;

         { Stop driving, should coast to a stop. }
         Drive(Heading, 0); {i.e., Stop}
       END; {GoTo(X,Y)}

     PROCEDURE Move;
         { Move to a random spot on the playing field. }
       VAR x, y       : Integer;
       BEGIN
         Sweep := 0; { Reset Sweep counter to zero. }
         x := Random(900)+50;
         y := Random(900)+50;
         GOTO(x, y);
       END; {Move}


     PROCEDURE End_Game;
     BEGIN {End_Game}
       GoTo(0,0); {Lower Left Corner}
       Angle := 10; {Sweep arc from 0 to 90 degrees only}
       REPEAT
         Delta := 10; { Start with widest scanning arc. }
         Range := scan(Angle, Delta);
         WHILE (Range > 40) AND (Range < MaxRadarRange) DO
           { Must be far enough away to avoid self-damage. }
           BEGIN
             Aim(Angle, Delta); { Improve aim. }
             cannon(Angle, Range); { Fire!! }
             Range := scan(Angle, Delta); { Is foe still in sights? }

                                         28




           END;
         Angle := Angle+20; { Look in adjacent target area. }
         IF Angle > 90 THEN Angle := 10;
       UNTIL Dead OR Winner;
     END; {End_Game}


     BEGIN {HotShot2 Main}
       RaiseShield;
       Angle := 0;
       GoTo(500, 500); { Move to center of field. }
       Sweep := 0; { Initialize Sweep counter to zero. }
       REPEAT { Until Dead or Winner }
         Delta := 10; { Start with widest scanning arc. }
         Range := scan(Angle, Delta);
         WHILE (Range > 40) AND (Range < MaxRadarRange) DO
           { Must be far enough away to avoid self-damage. }
           BEGIN
             Sweep := 0; { Found foe, so reset Sweep to zero }
             Aim(Angle, Delta); { Improve aim. }
             cannon(Angle, Range); { Fire!! }
             Range := scan(Angle, Delta); { Is foe still in sights? }
           END;
         Angle := Angle+20; { Look in adjacent target area. }
         Sweep := Sweep+1;
         IF Sweep >= 18 THEN
           BEGIN { If robot has scanned a full circle, move elsewhere. }
             LowerShield; {Don't need shield (as much) when moving}
             Move;
           END;

         RaiseShield; {Standing still so use shield}

         {"End" game strategy}
         IF (Fuel < 200) OR (Damage > 70) THEN End_Game;

       UNTIL Dead OR Winner;

     END; {HotShot2 Main}


OTHER OPTIONS

One of the best suggestions that I received from previous users of P-ROBOTS was
the idea of allowing robots with different configurations and/or options.  This
capability has been added to version 3.0.  Specifically, with the latest
version of P-ROBOTS, it is possible to allocate a total of 10 "configuration
points" to select among options for : Radar Range, Fuel Capacity, Engine Size
and Speed, Armor, Missile Warheads, Electronic Bombs, Shielding, Cloaking, and
Repairing.  These configuration points are specified in a separate .CFG file
for your robot.  For example, if your robot is named BOMBER, then you would

                                         29




create a separate BOMBER.CFG file that contained something like the following
lines:

        {Option Points must total 10 points!!}
        Radar := 2;          {Maximum range for robot's scanner -- 600 meters}
        Fuel := 2;           {Maximum fuel for robot's -- 1250 "jiggers"}
        Engine := 2;         {Type of engine for robot -- Standard engine}
        Armor := 1;          {Type of Armor for robot -- Medium armor}
        Warheads := 1;       {Type of Missile for robot -- Normal warheads}
        Bombs := 0;          {Determines the number of Bombs for robot -- no
        bombs}
        Shielding := 2;      {Default -- Robot has Shielding}
        Cloaking := 0;       {Default -- Robot has NO Cloaking}
        Repairing := 0;      {Default -- Robot has NO Repair Kit}

Incidently, the above option values are the normal defaults.  Specifically, if
you do not specify different options in a separate .CFG file, your robot will
have the above options.  These defaults were chosen to be consistent with both
C-ROBOTS and version 1.0 of P-ROBOTS -- so your "old" robots do not need a
separate .CFG file (except, of course, if you want to change their
configuration to something new).

Each of these options will be discussed in separate sections below.


RADAR RANGE OPTIONS

You can allocate from 0 to 5 points for differently equipped radars as follows:

     0 points -- Radar range is limited to 200 meters
     1 points -- Radar range is limited to 400 meters
     2 points -- Radar range is limited to 600 meters  <-- Default value
     3 points -- Radar range is limited to 800 meters
     4 points -- Radar range is limited to 1000 meters
     5 points -- Radar range is limited to 1200 meters -- with Anti-Cloaking

If you allocate 5 points (out of your total possible of 10) to your radar, you
will get a "bonus" Anti-Cloaking Device that will enable your robot to
scan/detect enemy robots even if they are Cloaked.

Your robot's maximum radar range is specified within your robot program by the
built-in P-ROBOTS function MaxRadarRange.


FUEL OPTIONS

You can allocate from 0 to 5 points for different "gas tanks" and fuel capacity
as follows:




                                         30




        0 points -- Fuel capacity is 750 "jiggers"
        1 points -- Fuel capacity is 1000 "jiggers"
        2 points -- Fuel capacity is 1250 "jiggers"  <-- Default value
        3 points -- Fuel capacity is 1500 "jiggers"
        4 points -- Fuel capacity is 1750 "jiggers"
        5 points -- Fuel capacity is 2000 "jiggers"

Your robot's current fuel level is specified within your robot program by the
built-in P-ROBOTS function Fuel.


ENGINE SIZE AND SPEED OPTIONS

You can allocate from 0 to 4 points for different robot engines as follows:

        0 points -- Economy engine -- maximum speed of 60
        1 points -- Compact engine -- maximum speed of 80
        2 points -- Standard engine -- maximum speed of 100  <-- Default value
        3 points -- Large engine -- maximum speed of 120
        4 points -- Extra-Large engine -- maximum speed of 140

Bigger engines not only go faster, but they burn fuel faster.  Specifically,
below are the number of "jiggers" of fuel that each type of engine uses to
travel 100 meters:

        Economy engine -- 4 "jiggers"
        Compact engine -- 5 "jiggers"
        Standard engine -- 6 "jiggers"  <-- Default value
        Large engine -- 7 "jiggers"
        Extra-Large engine -- 8 "jiggers"

Your robot's engine type can be determined within your robot program by the
built-in P-ROBOTS function Engine which will return one of the built-in P-
ROBOTS CONST values: Economy, Compact, Standard, Large, or ExtraLarge.

Your robot's maximum speed is specified within your robot program by the built-
in P-ROBOTS function MaxSpeed.


ARMOR OPTIONS

You can allocate from 0 to 2 points for different armor options as follows:

        0 points -- Light armor
        1 points -- Medium armor  <-- Default value
        2 points -- Heavy armor

As might be expected, heavier armor provides greater protection against damage
from collisions and missile explosions as given by the following table:



                                         31




                                                  DAMAGE PERCENT
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                     Light Armor   Medium Armor   Heavy Armor
                                     -----------   ------------   -----------
        Explosion within 5 meters       16              8             4
        Explosion within 20 meters       8              4             2
        Explosion within 40 meters       4              2             1
        Collision                        3              2             1

For example, with light armor a robot would suffer 8 units (i.e., percent) of
damage if a missile exploded within 20 meters of the robot -- versus only 2
units of damage if the same robot were equipped with heavy armor.

However, not surprisingly, there are trade-offs with heavier armor.
Specifically, the type of armor has the following effect on the maximum speed
of the robot:

                 MAXIMUM SPEED ADJUSTMENT
        ----------------------------------------
        Light Armor   Medium Armor   Heavy Armor
        -----------   ------------   -----------
           + 25         none or 0       - 25


For example, a robot with an extra-large engine that would normally have a
maximum speed of 140 would be slowed down to a maximum speed of 115 if it were
equipped with heavy armor (i.e., 140 - 25).  Conversely, the same robot would
have a maximum speed of 165 if it were equipped with light armor (i.e., 140 +
25).

Your robot's maximum speed is specified within your robot program by the built-
in P-ROBOTS function MaxSpeed.  Your robot's armor type can be determined
within your robot program by using the built-in P-ROBOTS function Armor which
will return one of the built-in P-ROBOTS CONST values: Light, Medium, or Heavy.


MISSILE WARHEAD OPTIONS

You can allocate from 0 to 2 points for different missile warheads as follows:

        0 points -- "Wimp" warheads
        1 points -- "Normal" warheads  <-- Default value
        2 points -- "Premium" warheads

Naturally, different types of warheads have different missile ranges:

             MAXIMUM MISSILE RANGE
        -----------------------------
        "Wimp"   "Normal"   "Premium"
        ------   --------   ---------
          350      700        1500

                                         32





Not unexpectedly, different types of warheads also cause different levels of
damage -- depending upon the kind of armor the robot being attacked has.
Specifically, the following units (percent) of damage are added to the damage
normally incurred:

                                         ADDITIONAL DAMAGE DUE TO WARHEAD
                                     ----------------------------------------
                                       "Wimp"        "Normal"      "Premium"
                                     -----------   ------------   -----------
        Explosion within 5 meters       0              3             6
        Explosion within 20 meters      0              2             4
        Explosion within 40 meters      0              1             2


For example, a robot with light armor would suffer 12 units (i.e., 8 + 4) of
damage if a "premium" missile exploded within 20 meters of it -- versus 8 units
(i.e., 8 +0) of damage if it was hit with a "wimp" missile.

Your robot's maximum missile range is specified within your robot program by
the built-in P-ROBOTS function MaxMissileRange.  Your robot's warhead type can
be determined within your robot program by the built-in P-ROBOTS function
Warheads which will return one of the built-in P-ROBOTS CONST values: Wimp,
Normal, or Premium.


ELECTRONIC BOMB OPTIONS

You can allocate from 0 to 5 points for electronic bombs as follows:

        0 points -- Robot is equipped with 0 bombs  <-- Default value
        1 points -- Robot is equipped with 3 bombs
        2 points -- Robot is equipped with 6 bombs
        3 points -- Robot is equipped with 9 bombs
        4 points -- Robot is equipped with 12 bombs
        5 points -- Robot is equipped with 15 bombs

These bombs attack the robot's electronics.  As a result, shields, cloaks and
armor offer no defense against these bombs.  The amount of damage incurred by a
robot within the 300 meter range of one of these electronic bombs is given by
following formula:

        Damage points = 75 - (Distance from explosion)/4

For example, a direct hit (i.e., the distance from the explosion is zero)
causes 75 (i.e., 75 - 0/4) units of damage.  At 100 meters, a robot would incur
50 (i.e., 75 - 100/4) units of damage from an electronic bomb.  No damage is
caused if the robot is more than 300 meters away from the bomb explosion.

NOTE:  Like missile explosions, electronic bombs cause damage to all robots in
the explosion area -- whether they are friend or foe.

                                         33




Your robot's number of bombs (currently left) can be determined within your
robot program by the built-in P-ROBOTS function BombsLeft.  Bombs are placed at
the robot's current location by invoking the built-in P-ROBOTS procedure
PlaceBomb.  Once a bomb has been placed, the bomb will be shown on the screen
as a blinking "male" symbol, i.e., a small circle with a curved "fuse" sticking
out of it.  Bombs are exploded at the bomb's location (where previously placed
using PlaceBomb) by invoking the built-in P-ROBOTS procedure Detonate.
Warning:  Be sure to have your robot over 300 meters away from its bomb when
you Detonate the bomb.


SHIELDING OPTIONS

You can allocate from 0 or 2 points for Shielding as follows:

        0 points -- Robot has no shielding capability
        2 points -- Robot is with a Shield  <-- Default value

NOTE:  The above is not a "typo" -- it takes 2 points to get a Shield!

Keeping the Shield up uses fuel.  The amount of fuel used (per 1000 CPU cycles)
depends on the type of armor the robot has, as follows:

        FUEL USED FOR SHIELD PER 1000 CPU CYCLES
        ----------------------------------------
        Light Armor   Medium Armor   Heavy Armor
        -----------   ------------   -----------
             3             6              9

Your robot should raise (or lower) its Shield by invoking the built-in P-ROBOTS
procedure RaiseShield (or LowerShield).  Whether or not your robot has a Shield
can be determined by using the built-in Boolean function HaveShield.


CLOAKING OPTIONS

You can allocate from 0 or 5 points for Cloaking as follows:

        0 points -- Robot has no Cloak  <-- Default value
        5 points -- Robot is equipped with a Cloak

NOTE:  The above is not a "typo" -- it takes 5 points to get equipped with a
Cloak!

Like Shields, Cloaks use fuel.  Specifically, cloaking uses 5 "jiggers" of fuel
per 1000 CPU cycles -- regardless of the kind of armor the robot has.

When a robot has it Cloak raised, it is "invisible" to other robot's radar
scanners (except in the case of a robot equipped with an "Anti-Cloaking"
device).  However, unlike shielding, a Cloak will not protect a robot from
damage.

                                         34




Your robot should raise (or lower) its Cloak by invoking the built-in P-ROBOTS
procedure RaiseCloak (or LowerCloak).  Whether or not your robot has a Cloak
can be determined by using the built-in Boolean function HaveCloak.

If your robot has its cloak raised, this fact will shown by having your robot
"blink" on the screen.  At the same time, the robots name on the status panel
will also blink.  When you lower the cloak, the blink will stop.


REPAIRING OPTIONS

You can allocate from 0 or 2 points for Repairing as follows:

        0 points -- Robot has no capability to repair itself  <-- Default value
        2 points -- Robot can repair itself

NOTE:  The above is not a "typo" -- it takes 2 points to get a Repair "Kit!"

In order to make repairs, the robot must be stopped (i.e., its speed must be
zero) and its repair "kit" must be activated.  While making repairs, the robot
reduces damage by converting fuel.  Specifically, it takes 4 "jiggers" of fuel
to reduce the robot's damage by 1 point.  It also takes time to make these
repairs -- each 1 unit of damage being repaired takes 100 CPU cycles.

Your robot should make (or stop) Repairs to itself by invoking the built-in P-
ROBOTS procedure MakeRepairs (or StopRepairs).  Whether or not your robot has a
Repair "Kit" can be determined by using the built-in Boolean function
HaveRepairKit.


AN EXAMPLE USING CLOAKING

Here is an example of a robot that uses Cloaking, named (aptly enough) Stealth
Fighter.


     PROCEDURE SFighter;  {Stealth Fighter}
     {
      Author: David Malmberg

      Strategy:  Move slowly around the field -- bouncing off of walls,
      obstructions, and other robots -- as necessary.  If you find a foe,
      take a shot and keep improving aim and shooting until foe is
      lost from sights.  Then move sights (scanning) to adjacent target
      area.

      When robot incurs damage, raise cloak and move away.  Keep cloak
      raised until robot has not had any damage for at least 3000 cycles.
     }



                                         35




   (* Below are the SFighter options as specified in the SFIGHTER.CFG file

   REMEMBER THIS IS A SEPARATE FILE THAT YOU MUST CREATE!!!

   Radar := 2;          {Maximum range for robot's scanner -- 600 meters}
   Fuel := 2;           {Maximum fuel for robot -- 1250 jiggers}
   Engine := 0;         {Type of engine for robot -- Economy}
   Armor := 0;          {Type of Armor for robot -- Light}
   Warheads := 1;       {Type of Missile for robot -- Normal - 700 meter range}
   Bombs := 0;          {Determines the number of Bombs for robot}
   Shielding := 0;      {Default -- Robot has Shielding}
   Cloaking := 5;       {Default -- Robot has Cloaking}
   Repairing := 0;      {Default -- Robot has NO Repair Kit}

   *)

     VAR { SFighter "Global" variables }

       Angle, { Scanning angle }
       Range, { Scanning range to foe -- hopefully! }
       Last_Damage, { Robot's Last damage value }
       D_Speed, { Robot's desired speed }
       D_Heading, { Robot's desired heading }
       LastTime, { Last Time cycles were measured }
       Delta          : Integer; { Scanning arc }


     PROCEDURE Bounce;
         { If stopped, then move away at an angle.  Designed to allow
           robot to "bounce" off of walls, obstructions and other robots. }
       BEGIN
         IF Speed = 0
           THEN BEGIN
             D_Heading := D_Heading + 120; { Bounce off at an angle }
             Drive(D_Heading, D_Speed);
           END;
       END; {Bounce}


     FUNCTION Hurt  : Boolean;
         { Checks if Robot has incurred any new damage. }
       VAR Curr_Damage : Integer;
         Answer         : Boolean;
       BEGIN
         Curr_Damage := damage;
         Answer := (Curr_Damage > Last_Damage);
         Last_Damage := Curr_Damage;
         IF Answer THEN LastTime := Time;
         Hurt := Answer;
       END; {Hurt}


                                         36



     PROCEDURE Aim(VAR Ang : Integer; VAR Arc : Integer);
   {Improve aim by doing a binary search of the target area;
    i.e., divide the target area in two equal pieces and redefine
    the target area to be the piece where the foe is found.
    If the foe is not found, expand the search area to the
    maximum arc of plus or minus 10 degrees.}
       BEGIN
         Arc := Arc DIV 2; { Divide search area in two. }
         IF scan(Ang-Arc, Arc) <> 0 { Check piece "below" target angle. }
           THEN Ang := Ang-Arc { If foe found, redefine target angle. }
           ELSE IF scan(Ang+Arc, Arc) <> 0 { Check piece "above" target angle.}
             THEN Ang := Ang+Arc { If foe found, redefine target angle. }
             ELSE Arc := 10;
         { Foe not found in either piece, expand search area to maximum arc. }
       END; {Aim}

     BEGIN {SFighter Main}
       Angle := Angle_To(500, 500);
       D_Heading := Angle;
       D_Speed := 50;
       { Start scanning for foes and moving to center of field. }
       LowerCloak; { Start off with Cloak DOWN! }
       LastTime := Time;
       REPEAT { Until Dead or Winner }
         Bounce; { If stopped, move off at angle }
         IF Fuel < 250 THEN LowerCloak;
         IF NOT Hurt {If not hurt and no damage for 3000 cycles}
           THEN IF (Time > (LastTime + 3000))
             THEN BEGIN {Safe to lower cloak and slow down}
               LowerCloak;
               D_Speed := 50;
             END;
         Delta := 10; { Start with widest scanning arc. }
         Range := scan(Angle, Delta);
         WHILE (Range > 40) AND (ObjectScanned = Enemy) DO
           { Must be far enough away to avoid self-damage. }
           BEGIN
             Aim(Angle, Delta); { Improve aim. }
             Cannon(Angle, Range); { Fire!! }
             Range := scan(Angle, Delta); { Is foe still in sights? }
           END;
         Angle := Angle+20; { Look in adjacent target area. }
         IF Hurt THEN { Raise cloak and flee! }
           BEGIN
             IF Fuel > 250 THEN RaiseCloak;
             D_Heading := Angle + 180; { Run away from foe! }
             D_Speed := MaxSpeed;
             Drive(D_Heading, D_Speed);
           END;
       UNTIL Dead OR Winner;
     END; {SFighter Main}

                                         37





AN EXAMPLE USING BOMBS AND CLOAKING

Here is an example of a robot that uses Electronic Bombs and Cloaking, named
(again aptly) Stealth Bomber.

     PROCEDURE SBomber;  {Stealth Bomber}
     {
      Author: David Malmberg

      Strategy:  Place bombs in the middle of the field then go to a random
      corner with cloak raised.  Scan for an enemy near the bomb.  If you
      spot one, then detonate the bomb and begin again with another bomb.

      If you see an enemy in missile range (but not near the bomb) blast 'em.
     }

   (* Below are the SBomber options as specified in the SBOMBER.CFG file

   REMEMBER THIS IS A SEPARATE FILE THAT YOU MUST CREATE!!!

      Radar := 3;
      Fuel := 0;
      Engine := 0;
      Armor := 0;
      Warheads := 1;
      Bombs := 1;
      Shielding := 0;
      Cloaking := 5;
      Repairing := 0;
   *)

     CONST
       NW_Corner = 1;
       NE_Corner = 2;
       SW_Corner = 3;
       SE_Corner = 4;

     VAR { SBomber "Global" variables }

       Angle, { Scanning angle }
       Last_Damage, { Robot's Last damage value }
       D_Speed, { Robot's desired speed }
       D_Heading, { Robot's desired heading }
       BombX, BombY, {Bomb's Co-ordinates}
       BombAngle, BombRange, {Angle and Distance from current corner to Bomb}
       LastTime, { Last Time cycles were measured }
       Delta          : Integer; { Scanning arc }

       CornerX : ARRAY[1..4] OF Integer; {X coordinate of Corners}
       CornerY : ARRAY[1..4] OF Integer; {Y coordinate of Corners}

                                         38




       StartAngle : ARRAY[1..4] OF Integer; {Starting scanning angles}

       Corner, { Current Corner }
       Range   { Range/Distance to foe }  : Integer;
       BombHasExploded : Boolean;

     PROCEDURE Initialize;
       BEGIN
         CornerX[NW_Corner] := 10;
         CornerY[NW_Corner] := 990;
         StartAngle[NW_Corner] := 270;

         CornerX[NE_Corner] := 990;
         CornerY[NE_Corner] := 990;
         StartAngle[NE_Corner] := 180;

         CornerX[SW_Corner] := 10;
         CornerY[SW_Corner] := 10;
         StartAngle[SW_Corner] := 0;

         CornerX[SE_Corner] := 990;
         CornerY[SE_Corner] := 10;
         StartAngle[SE_Corner] := 90;
       END; {Initialize}

     PROCEDURE Aim(VAR Ang : Integer; VAR Arc : Integer);
   {
    Improve aim by doing a binary search of the target area;
    i.e., divide the target area in two equal pieces and redefine
    the target area to be the piece where the foe is found.
    If the foe is not found, expand the search area to the
    maximum arc of plus or minus 10 degrees.
   }
       BEGIN
         Arc := Arc DIV 2; { Divide search area in two. }
         IF scan(Ang-Arc, Arc) <> 0 { Check piece "below" target angle. }
           THEN Ang := Ang-Arc { If foe found, redefine target angle. }
           ELSE IF scan(Ang+Arc, Arc) <> 0 { Check piece "above" target angle.}
             THEN Ang := Ang+Arc { If foe found, redefine target angle. }
             ELSE Arc := 10;
         { Foe not found in either piece, expand search area to maximum arc. }
       END; {Aim}

     PROCEDURE BlastThem;
       BEGIN
         Angle := 10;
         REPEAT
           Delta := 10; { Start with widest scanning arc. }
           Range := scan(Angle, Delta);
           WHILE (Range > 40) AND (ObjectScanned = Enemy)
             AND (Range < MaxMissileRange) DO

                                         39




           { Must be far enough away to avoid self-damage. }
             BEGIN
               Aim(Angle, Delta); { Improve aim. }
               Cannon(Angle, Range); { Fire!! }
               Range := scan(Angle, Delta); { Is foe still in sights? }
             END;
           Angle := Angle+20; { Look in adjacent target area. }
         UNTIL Angle > 360;
       END;


     PROCEDURE GOTO(x, y : Integer);
         { Go to location X,Y on playing field. }
       VAR Heading    : Integer;
       BEGIN
         LowerCloak; {Less need for Cloak while moving}

         { Find the heading we need to get to the desired spot. }
         Heading := Angle_To(x, y);

         { Keep traveling at top speed until we are within 150 meters }
         WHILE (distance(loc_x, loc_y, x, y) > 150) DO
           BEGIN
             Drive(Heading, MaxSpeed);
             BlastThem;
           END;

         { Cut speed, and creep the rest of the way. }
         WHILE (distance(loc_x, loc_y, x, y) > 20) DO
           BEGIN
             Drive(Heading, 20);
             BlastThem;
           END;

         { Stop driving, should coast to a stop. }
         Drive(Heading, 0); {i.e., Stop}
         RaiseCloak; {Need Cloak while stopped}
       END; {GoTo(X,Y)}


     FUNCTION Hurt  : Boolean;
         { Checks if Robot has incurred at least 5 points of new damage. }
       VAR Curr_Damage : Integer;
         Answer         : Boolean;
       BEGIN
         Curr_Damage := damage;
         Answer := (Curr_Damage > (Last_Damage + 4));
         Last_Damage := Curr_Damage;
         IF Answer THEN LastTime := Time;
         Hurt := Answer;
       END; {Hurt}

                                         40




   PROCEDURE PlaceTheBomb;
     BEGIN {PlaceTheBomb}
       BombHasExploded := FALSE;
       GoTo(500,500);
       BombX := Loc_X;
       BombY := Loc_Y;
       PlaceBomb;
     END; {PlaceTheBomb}


   FUNCTION EnemyNearBomb : Boolean;
   CONST PlusMinus = 200;
   VAR EnemyDistance : Integer;
       Answer : Boolean;
     BEGIN
       Answer := FALSE;
       EnemyDistance := Scan(BombAngle, 10);
       IF ObjectScanned <> Enemy THEN EnemyDistance := 0;
       IF EnemyDistance > 0
          THEN Answer := (EnemyDistance > (BombRange - PlusMinus))
                            AND (EnemyDistance < (BombRange + PlusMinus));
       EnemyNearBomb := Answer;
     END; {EnemyNearBomb}


   PROCEDURE Do_Corner;
     BEGIN {Do_Corner}
       Angle := StartAngle[Corner] + 10; {Starting angle for scanning}
       REPEAT
         IF EnemyNearBomb
           THEN BEGIN
             Detonate;
             BombHasExploded := TRUE;
           END;
         Range := scan(Angle, Delta);
         WHILE (Range > 40) AND (Range < MaxRadarRange) DO
           { Must be far enough away to avoid self-damage. }
           BEGIN
             IF ObjectScanned = Enemy THEN cannon(Angle, Range); { Fire!! }
             Range := scan(Angle, Delta); { Is foe still in sights? }
           END;
         Angle := Angle + 20; { Look in adjacent target area. }
         IF (Angle > (StartAngle[Corner] + 90))
           THEN Angle := StartAngle[Corner] + 10;
       UNTIL BombHasExploded;
     END; {Do_Corner}






                                         41



     BEGIN {SBomber Main}
       RaiseCloak;
       Initialize;
       Delta := 10; { The widest possible scanning arc. }
       LastTime := Time;
       REPEAT { Until Dead or Winner }
         PlaceTheBomb;
         Corner := Random(3) + 1; {Pick a corner}
         GoTo(CornerX[Corner], CornerY[Corner]);
         { Move to selected corner. }
         BombAngle := Angle_To(BombX, BombY);
         BombRange := Distance(Loc_X, Loc_Y, BombX, BombY);
         { Determine relative location from corner to Bomb }
         Do_Corner;
         IF Hurt THEN
            IF Fuel > 250
              THEN RaiseCloak { Raise cloak and flee! }
              ELSE LowerCloak;
       UNTIL Dead OR Winner;
     END; {SBomber Main}


ROBOT TEAMS

One of the most intriguing suggestions that I received from previous users of
P-ROBOTS was the idea of allowing two robots to act as members of the same team
and to communicate with each other during the course of the battle.  This
option has been included in the current version of P-ROBOTS.

NOTE: For consistency and better understanding, if your robot is a member of a
two robot team, the other team member is referred to as your robot's "Ally".
Similarly, within your Ally's robot program, your robot would be referred to as
its Ally.

Robot teams may use the following special built-in P-ROBOTS functions:

          AllyLoc_X -- returns the current X coordinate of your Ally

          AllyLoc_Y -- returns the current Y coordinate of your Ally

          AllyDamage -- returns your Ally's current Damage level

          AllySpeed -- returns your Ally's current Speed

          AllyHeading -- returns your Ally's current Heading

          AllyMeters -- returns your Ally's current Meters

          AllyFuel -- returns your Ally's current Fuel level



                                         42



          AllyShieldRaised -- returns TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your
          Ally's shield is raised or not

          AllyDead -- returns TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your Ally is
          Dead or not

          AllyAlive -- returns TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your Ally
          is Alive or not

In addition to using these built-in functions to learn about your Ally's
status, it is also possible for robots to exchange information by accessing the
"global" array COMM[1..20].  All robots may access this array and both retrieve
and store values to any of its 20 elements.  Be warned however, that stuffing
"garbage" into COMM's elements to sabotage the communication between opposing
team members is NOT considered to be fair play!!

One other piece of information is necessary in order for two robots to work
together effectively as a team -- there must be some way to tell if a robot is
friend or foe.  The way this is done is to define a special function called
"ObjectScanned" which is reset whenever your robot scans the battlefield.  The
value returned by ObjectScanned will be one of four specially defined
values/constants:  Nothing, Ally, Enemy or Obstruction.  For example, to make
sure that you only fire your cannon at enemy robots when you are part of a
team, you might want to use statements like the following:

             Dist := Scan(Angle, Delta);
             IF ObjectScanned = Enemy THEN Cannon(Angle, Dist); {Blast 'Em!!}

To tell the P-ROBOTS compiler that you have an Ally and are part of a team, you
need to include a statement within your robot's program that looks like:

             TeamAlly = "Blaster";

This statement tells the P-ROBOTS compiler that your Ally is named "Blaster".
To work correctly, the robot "Blaster" must have a similar statement within its
program that identifies your robot's name as its Ally.


AN EXAMPLE OF A ROBOT TEAM

Here is an example of one member of a robot team.  Notice, that this robot and
its Ally (named "TagTeam2") communicate by passing information through COMM[10]
and COMM[11].


     PROCEDURE TagTeam1;

     TeamAlly = "TagTeam2";




                                         43




  {
   Author: David Malmberg

   Strategy: Go to a random corner, raise shield, and blast away at any
             robot in range.  Improve aim after every successful scan. If the
             robot scans 20 times unsuccessfully, move to another random
             corner.  Lower shields when moving; raise them when stopped.

             This robot can act individually or as part of a team with another
             robot that follows an identical strategy, i.e., TagTeam2.  If
             operating as a team, the two robots communicate their corners
             to each other by setting COMM[10] to TagTeam1's corner and
             COMM[11] to TagTeam2's corner.  They try to always pick different
             random corners.

             WARNING: This Robot has not been designed to deal with
             Obstructions effectively.
  }

     CONST
       NW_Corner = 1;
       NE_Corner = 2;
       SW_Corner = 3;
       SE_Corner = 4;

     VAR { TagTeam1 "Global" variables }

       CornerX : ARRAY[1..4] OF Integer; {X coordinate of Corners}
       CornerY : ARRAY[1..4] OF Integer; {Y coordinate of Corners}
       StartAngle : ARRAY[1..4] OF Integer; {Starting scanning angles}

       Corner, { Current Corner }
       Times,  { Number of times robot as scanned without success for enemy }
       Angle,  { Scanning angle }
       Delta,  { Scanning angle width }
       Range   { Range/Distance to foe }  : Integer;


     PROCEDURE Initialize;
       BEGIN
         CornerX[NW_Corner] := 10;
         CornerY[NW_Corner] := 990;
         StartAngle[NW_Corner] := 270;

         CornerX[NE_Corner] := 990;
         CornerY[NE_Corner] := 990;
         StartAngle[NE_Corner] := 180;

         CornerX[SW_Corner] := 10;
         CornerY[SW_Corner] := 10;
         StartAngle[SW_Corner] := 0;

                                         44



         CornerX[SE_Corner] := 990;
         CornerY[SE_Corner] := 10;
         StartAngle[SE_Corner] := 90;
       END; {Initialize}


     PROCEDURE GOTO(x, y : Integer);
         { Go to location X,Y on playing field. }
       VAR Heading    : Integer;
       BEGIN
         LowerShield; {Moving target is hard to hit - so lower shield}

         { Find the heading we need to get to the desired spot. }
         Heading := Angle_To(x, y);

         { Keep traveling at top speed until we are within 150 meters }
         WHILE (distance(loc_x,loc_y,x,y) > 150) DO Drive(Heading, MaxSpeed);

         { Cut speed, and creep the rest of the way. }
         WHILE (distance(loc_x, loc_y, x, y) > 20) DO Drive(Heading, 20);

         { Stop driving, should coast to a stop. }
         Drive(Heading, 0); {i.e., Stop}

         RaiseShield; {Still target is easy to hit - so raise shield}
       END; {GoTo(X,Y)}


     PROCEDURE Aim(VAR Ang : Integer; VAR Arc : Integer);
   {
    Improve aim by doing a binary search of the target area;
     i.e., divide the target area in two equal pieces and redefine
    the target area to be the piece where the foe is found.
    If the foe is not found, expand the search area to the
    maximum arc of plus or minus 10 degrees.
   }

       BEGIN
         Times := 0; { Found enemy -- so set unsuccessful scan count to zero )
         Arc := Arc DIV 2; { Divide search area in two. }
         IF scan(Ang-Arc, Arc) <> 0 { Check piece "below" target angle. }
         THEN Ang := Ang-Arc { If foe found, redefine target angle. }
         ELSE IF scan(Ang+Arc, Arc) <> 0 { Check piece "above" target angle. }
         THEN Ang := Ang+Arc { If foe found, redefine target angle. }
         ELSE Arc := 10;
         { Foe not found in either piece, expand search area to maximum arc. }
       END; {Aim}





                                         45




   PROCEDURE Do_Corner;
     BEGIN {Do_Corner}
       Times := 0; {Count of unsuccessful scans}
       Angle := StartAngle[Corner] + 10; {Starting angle for scanning}
       REPEAT
         Delta := 10; { Start with widest scanning arc. }
         Range := scan(Angle, Delta);
         WHILE (Range > 40) AND (Range < MaxMissileRange) DO
           { Must be far enough away to avoid self-damage. }
           BEGIN
             Aim(Angle, Delta); { Improve aim. }
             IF ObjectScanned = Enemy THEN cannon(Angle, Range); { Fire!! }
             Range := scan(Angle, Delta); { Is foe still in sights? }
           END;
         Angle := Angle + 20; { Look in adjacent target area. }
         IF (Angle > (StartAngle[Corner] + 90))
           THEN Angle := StartAngle[Corner] + 10;
         Times := Times + 1;
       UNTIL Times > 20; { Leave after 20 unsuccessful scans }
     END; {Do_Corner}


     BEGIN {TagTeam1 Main}
       Initialize;
       COMM[11] := 0; {Set Ally's corner (if any) to zero}
       COMM[10] := 0; {Communicate My corner to Ally}
       REPEAT
         REPEAT
           Corner := Random(3) + 1; {Pick a corner}
         UNTIL Corner <> COMM[11]; {Need different corner than Ally}
         COMM[10] := Corner; {Communicate My corner to Ally (if any)}
         GoTo(CornerX[Corner], CornerY[Corner]);
         { Move to selected corner. }
         Do_Corner;
       UNTIL Dead OR Winner;

     END; {TagTeam1 Main}


OBSTRUCTIONS ON THE BATTLEFIELD

Another new feature included in version 3.0 of P-ROBOTS is the possibility of
randomly placed Obstructions on the battlefield.  This option is selected by
using the "/ON" command line parameter, where N can be 1, 2 up to 5 --
corresponding to 1, 2 up to 5 Obstructions.  Each Obstruction will be a
randomly sized and placed rectangle.

Be warned however, that using Obstructions in your battles will slow down the
speed of the battle.  The logic required for P-ROBOTS to deal with Obstructions
is fairly extensive and very computationally intense.  So the more Obstructions
your battle has, the slower it will run.

                                         46




If your robot runs into one of these Obstructions, it will be stopped cold and
incur Damage (if its Shield is down) -- just as if it ran into one of the
battlefield walls.  A scanner will not be able to see beyond an Obstruction;
nor will it be possible to shoot a missile past an Obstruction.  Therefore, it
will be possible for a robot to "hide" from enemy scanners and missile by
"hugging" the walls of an Obstruction.  More often than not, a scanner will
only "see" the Obstruction and not the robot.

Obstructions add a whole new dimension to the possible problems and
opportunities that a robot may face!!

Your robot will be able to determine where the Obstructions are by scanning and
then checking the value returned by the function "ObjectScanned".  For example,
you might use the following Boolean function to determine if the direction your
robot is traveling (denoted below by the variable "Heading") is clear of
Obstructions for the next 100 meters:

             FUNCTION ClearAhead : Boolean;
             BEGIN
               ClearAhead := (Scan(Heading,2) > 100)
                              OR (ObjectScanned <> Obstruction);
             END; {ClearAhead}


AN EXAMPLE DEALING WITH OBSTRUCTIONS

Below is our old friend, HOTSHOT, adapted to deal with the problem of
Obstructions by using logic to move around them.  Notice, that we can no longer
use the same routine we have been using to go to a point X, Y on the
battlefield -- because that point might be inside an Obstruction or in a direct
line beyond an obstruction -- in which case our robot would commit suicide by
repeatedly "banging its head" against the wall of the Obstruction.  To see how
this problem is overcome, see the Procedure "Ramble" in the listing.


     PROCEDURE HotShot3;
     {
      Author: David Malmberg

      Strategy:  Stay in one place.  Find a foe.  Take a shot.
      Keep improving aim and shooting until foe is lost from sights.
      Then move sights (scanning) to adjacent target area.
      If the Robot scans a complete circle (360 degrees) without
      finding a foe in shooting range, move to another spot on the
      field.  (This will avoid "stand-offs" where opponents stay
      just out of range of one another.)  RaiseShield when standing
      still and lower them when moving.

      When damage gets to 70 (or more) or fuel (if using fuel) gets
      below 200 adopt an "End-Game" strategy of moving to the lower
      left corner, lower shield, and continue to scan and shoot in

                                         47




      the corner's 90 degree range.

      This Robot should be VERY effective against foes which
      are stopped or are moving slowly.  It will be less effective
      against Robots traveling at high speeds.

      This Robot has been designed to utilize Fuel (if it is available)
      to power its Shield.  It has also been designed to deal with
      Obstructions (if any) by moving around them.
     }


     VAR { HotShot3 "Global" variables }

       Angle, { Scanning angle }
       Last_Damage, { Robot's Last damage value }
       Range, { Range/Distance to foe }
       Sweep, { "Sweep count" -- when = 18, Robot has scanned 360 degrees }
       Delta          : Integer; { Scanning arc }


     PROCEDURE Aim(VAR Ang : Integer; VAR Arc : Integer);
   {
    Improve aim by doing a binary search of the target area;
    i.e., divide the target area in two equal pieces and redefine
    the target area to be the piece where the foe is found.
    If the foe is not found, expand the search area to the
    maximum arc of plus or minus 10 degrees.
   }
       BEGIN
         Arc := Arc DIV 2; { Divide search area in two. }
         IF scan(Ang-Arc, Arc) <> 0 { Check piece "below" target angle. }
           THEN Ang := Ang-Arc { If foe found, redefine target angle. }
           ELSE IF scan(Ang+Arc, Arc) <> 0 { Check piece "above" target angle.}
             THEN Ang := Ang+Arc { If foe found, redefine target angle. }
             ELSE Arc := 10;
         { Foe not found in either piece, expand search area to maximum arc. }
       END; {Aim}


     PROCEDURE BlastThem;
       BEGIN
         Angle := 10;
         REPEAT
           Delta := 10; { Start with widest scanning arc. }
           Range := scan(Angle, Delta);
           WHILE (Range > 40) AND (ObjectScanned = Enemy)
             AND (Range < MaxMissileRange) DO
           { Must be far enough away to avoid self-damage. }
             BEGIN
               Aim(Angle, Delta); { Improve aim. }

                                         48



               Cannon(Angle, Range); { Fire!! }
               Range := scan(Angle, Delta); { Is foe still in sights? }
             END;
           Angle := Angle+20; { Look in adjacent target area. }
         UNTIL Angle > 360;
       END;


     PROCEDURE GOTO(x, y : Integer);
         { Go to location X,Y on playing field. }
       VAR Heading    : Integer;
       BEGIN
         { WARNING:  If the point X,Y is inside an Obstruction then }
         { executing this routine will cause the Robot to commit }
         { suicide by repeatedly running into the wall of the Obstruction. }
         { First, find the heading we need to get to the desired spot. }
         Heading := Angle_To(x, y);

         { Keep traveling at top speed until we are within 150 meters }
         WHILE (distance(loc_x, loc_y, x, y) > 150) DO
           BEGIN
             Drive(Heading, MaxSpeed);
             BlastThem;
           END;

         { Cut speed, and creep the rest of the way. }
         WHILE (distance(loc_x, loc_y, x, y) > 20) DO
           BEGIN
             Drive(Heading, 20);
             BlastThem;
           END;

         { Stop driving, should coast to a stop. }
         Drive(Heading, 0); {i.e., Stop}
       END; {GoTo(X,Y)}


     PROCEDURE Ramble(X, Y : Integer);
         { Move to X, Y (if possible) on the playing field }
         { by avoiding Obstructions - if any.              }
       VAR Heading, Tries, Dist : Integer;
       BEGIN
         Tries := 0;
         Heading := Angle_To(X, Y);
         Drive(Heading, 100); {Start off at maximum speed}
         Dist := Scan(Heading, 5);
         REPEAT
           IF ObjectScanned = Obstruction
             THEN BEGIN
               REPEAT
                 Heading := Heading + 10;

                                         49



                 Dist := Scan(Heading, 5);
               UNTIL ObjectScanned <> Obstruction;
               Drive(Heading, 50); {Minimum speed to turn freely}
             END;
           Heading := Angle_To(X, Y);
           Dist := Scan(Heading, 5);
           Tries := Tries + 1;
         UNTIL (ObjectScanned <> Obstruction) OR (Tries > 20);
         IF (ObjectScanned <> Obstruction) THEN GOTO(X,Y);
       END; {Ramble}


     PROCEDURE Move;
         { Move to a random spot on the playing field. }
       VAR x, y       : Integer;
       BEGIN
         Sweep := 0; { Reset Sweep counter to zero. }
         x := Random(900)+50;
         y := Random(900)+50;
         Ramble(x, y);
       END; {Move}


     PROCEDURE End_Game;
     BEGIN {End_Game}
       Ramble(0,0); {Lower Left Corner}
       Angle := 10; {Sweep arc from 0 to 90 degrees only}
       REPEAT
         Delta := 10; { Start with widest scanning arc. }
         Range := scan(Angle, Delta);
         WHILE (Range > 40) AND (Range < 700) AND (ObjectScanned = Enemy)
           DO { Must be far enough away to avoid self-damage. }
           BEGIN
             Aim(Angle, Delta); { Improve aim. }
             IF ObjectScanned = Enemy
               THEN cannon(Angle, Range); { Fire!! }
             Range := scan(Angle, Delta); { Is foe still in sights? }
           END;
         Angle := Angle+20; { Look in adjacent target area. }
         IF Angle > 90 THEN Angle := 10;
       UNTIL Dead OR Winner;
     END; {End_Game}


     BEGIN {HotShot3 Main}
       RaiseShield;
       Angle := 0;
       Ramble(500, 500); { Move to center of field -- if possible. }
       Sweep := 0; { Initialize Sweep counter to zero. }
       REPEAT { Until Dead or Winner }
         Delta := 10; { Start with widest scanning arc. }

                                         50



         Range := scan(Angle, Delta);
         WHILE (Range > 40) AND (Range < MaxMissileRange)
           AND (ObjectScanned = Enemy)
           DO { Must be far enough away to avoid self-damage. }
           BEGIN
             Sweep := 0; { Found foe, so reset Sweep to zero }
             Aim(Angle, Delta); { Improve aim. }
             IF ObjectScanned = Enemy
               THEN cannon(Angle, Range); { Fire!! }
             Range := scan(Angle, Delta); { Is foe still in sights? }
           END;
         Angle := Angle+20; { Look in adjacent target area. }
         Sweep := Sweep+1;
         IF Sweep = 18 THEN
           BEGIN { If robot has scanned a full circle, move elsewhere. }
             LowerShield; {Don't need shield (as much) when moving}
             Move;
           END;

         RaiseShield; {Standing still so use shield}

         {"End" game strategy}
         IF (Fuel < 200) OR (Damage > 70) THEN End_Game;

       UNTIL Dead OR Winner;
     END; {HotShot3 Main}


























                                         51



APPENDIX I: COMPILER ERRORS

The PASCAL compiler in P-ROBOTS will report any syntax or logic errors that it
encounters during the compilation process.  The program will then terminate
without playing the game.  A listing of the robot(s) source code with the
errors marked in the source will then be found in a file named LISTING.TXT on
the disk/directory where P-ROBOTS is being run.  Because P-ROBOTS is going to
write to the disk, you must NOT have a "write-protect" tab on the disk or you
will get a fatal error whenever you try to run the program.  This file should
be printed out and studied and your corrections made to your robot source
files.  Do NOT make your corrections on the LISTING.TXT file!  The compiler
only compiles robot files (i.e., files with a ".PR" extension).

If your robot(s) source code did not have any errors (that the compiler could
detect) there will not be a LISTING.TXT file created and the P-ROBOTS program
will execute normally and the contest between the various robots will be
played.

The compiler will report the following errors by number:

             0.   UNDEFINED IDENTIFIER
             1.   MULTIPLE DEFINITION OF THIS IDENTIFIER
             2.   EXPECTED AN IDENTIFIER
             3.   PROGRAM MUST BEGIN WITH "PROGRAM"
             4.   EXPECTED CLOSING PARENTHESIS ")"
             5.   EXPECTED A COLON ":"
             6.   INCORRECTLY USED SYMBOL
             7.   EXPECTED IDENTIFIER OR THE SYMBOL "VAR"
             8.   EXPECTED THE SYMBOL "OF"
             9.   EXPECTED AN OPENING PARENTHESIS "("
             10.  EXPECTED IDENTIFIER, "ARRAY" OR "RECORD"
             11.  EXPECTED AN OPENING BRACKET "["
             12.  EXPECTED A CLOSING BRACKET "]"
             13.  EXPECTED ".." WITHOUT INTERVENING BLANKS
             14.  EXPECTED A SEMICOLON ";"
             15.  BAD RESULT TYPE FOR A FUNCTION
             16.  EXPECTED AN EQUAL SIGN "="
             17.  EXPECTED BOOLEAN EXPRESSION
             18.  CONTROL VARIABLE OF THE WRONG TYPE
             19.  MUST BE MATCHING TYPES
             20.  "OUTPUT" IS REQUIRED IN PROGRAM HEADING
             21.  THE NUMBER IS TOO LARGE
             22.  EXPECT PERIOD ".", CHECK BEGIN-END PAIRS
             23.  BAD TYPE FOR A CASE STATEMENT
             24.  ILLEGAL CHARACTER
             25.  ILLEGAL CONSTANT OR CONSTANT IDENTIFIER
             26.  ILLEGAL ARRAY SUBSCRIPT (CHECK TYPE)
             27.  ILLEGAL BOUNDS FOR AN ARRAY INDEX
             28.  INDEXED VARIABLE MUST BE AN ARRAY
             29.  EXPECTED A TYPE IDENTIFIER
             30.  UNDEFINED TYPE

                                         52



             31.  VAR WITH FIELD SELECTOR MUST BE RECORD
             32.  EXPECTED TYPE "BOOLEAN"
             33.  ILLEGAL TYPE FOR ARITHMETIC EXPRESSION
             34.  EXPECTED INTEGER FOR "DIV" OR "MOD"
             35.  INCOMPATIBLE TYPES FOR COMPARISON
             36.  PARAMETER TYPES DO NOT MATCH
             37.  EXPECTED A VARIABLE
             38.  A STRING MUST HAVE ONE OR MORE CHAR
             39.  NUMBER OF PARAMETERS DO NOT MATCH
             40.  INVALID "TeamAlly" NAME FORMAT
             41.  ILLEGAL PARAMETERS TO "WRITE"
             42.  PARAMETER MUST BE OF TYPE "REAL"
             43.  PARAMETER MUST BE OF TYPE "INTEGER"
             44.  EXPECTED VARIABLE OR CONSTANT
             45.  EXPECTED A VARIABLE OR PROCEDURE
             46.  TYPES MUST MATCH IN AN ASSIGNMENT
             47.  CASE LABEL NOT SAME TYPE AS CASE CLAUSE
             48.  ARGUMENT TO STD. FUNCTION OF WRONG TYPE
             49.  THE PROGRAM REQUIRES TOO MUCH STORAGE
             50.  ILLEGAL SYMBOL FOR A CONSTANT
             51.  EXPECTED BECOMES ":="
             52.  EXPECTED "THEN"
             53.  EXPECTED "UNTIL"
             54.  EXPECTED "DO"
             55.  EXPECTED "TO" OR "DOWNTO"
             56.  EXPECTED "BEGIN"
             57.  EXPECTED "END"
             58.  EXPECTED ID, CONST, "NOT" OR "("
             59.  "INPUT"  IS REQUIRED IN PROGRAM HEADING
             60.  ILLEGAL (CONTROL) CHARACTER PRESENT IN SOURCE

Not all of the above error messages will be used in P-ROBOTS because the
compiler has been modified to not allow certain kinds of PASCAL statements.
For example, since P-ROBOTS does not allow READs and WRITEs you will not get
the above error messages that are normally associated with READ and WRITE.  If
you attempt to READ or WRITE in a P-ROBOTS program you will get an error
message number zero -- "UNDEFINED IDENTIFIER".

Remember not to use PASCAL "reserved" words as variable or procedure names.
Variables named BEGIN, ARRAY, DO, FOR, etc. will cause strange error messages.

On very rare occasions, you may get another kind of compiler error if the
robots' source code you are currently trying to compile is so "verbose" that it
causes  one of the compiler's tables to overflow.  When this happens, you will
be given an error message which identifies which specific table has been over
flowed.  The limits for these tables are as follows:






                                         53




        400    Identifiers (Variables, Constants, Procedure and Function names)
         40    Procedures or Functions
         40    Real Constants
         60    Arrays
          7    Levels of "Nested" Procedures or Functions
       5000    "Compiled" P-Code instructions

These limits apply to the total number of identifiers (etc.) for all of the
robots you have in the current contest.











































                                         54




APPENDIX II: RUN-TIME ERRORS


When using P-ROBOTS it is possible to get two kinds of run-time errors.  The
first kind (and probably the most frequent) is an error that occurs within the
P-ROBOTS program itself when you try to do something that the P-Code compiler
within P-ROBOTS objects to -- like trying to divide by zero.  The second kind
of run-time error is generated by Turbo Pascal.  These errors are due to
situations like not having enough memory or disk space to run the P-ROBOTS
program.  Each of these types of errors will be discussed below.


P-ROBOTS RUN-TIME ERRORS

It is possible that the P-ROBOTS compiler will detect an error during the game.
These are known as "run-time" errors and they will cause the game to terminate
and an error message to be printed.  The following kinds of run-time errors
will be caught and reported:

     1.   DIVIDE BY 0

          For example, if Delta_X had a value of zero in the following program
          statement, you would get a "DIVIDE BY 0" error:

               Target_Angle := ArcTan(Delta_Y/Delta_X);

     2.   UNDEFINED CASE

          In the example below, if the variable X had a value of 12 below you
          would get an "UNDEFINED CASE" error:

               CASE X OF
                  1 : .....
                  2 : .....
                  3 : .....
                      .
                      .
                 10 : .....
               END; {CASE}

     3.   INVALID INDEX

          An example of an invalid index would be a reference to the tenth
          element of an array (i.e., Spot[10]) that was only defined to have
          the elements one through five (i.e., Spot : ARRAY[1..5] OF INTEGER;)
          would cause an "INVALID INDEX" error.






                                         55




     4.   STORAGE OVERFLOW

          You would only get a "STORAGE OVERFLOW" error if one (or more) of
          your robots in the current contest was making too many recursive
          calls to the same procedure or function or was evaluating a large
          number of very, very complex assignment statements so that the
          robot's "stack" space was exceeded.  If you get this error, check
          your overall robot logic -- there must be a better way!


TURBO PASCAL RUN-TIME ERRORS

Here are the run-time errors that might be generated by Turbo Pascal:

     101  "Disk Write Error" -- You would get this error (probably) because you
          do not have enough room on your disk to contain the complete
          LISTING.TXT file (i.e., the error listing) or you do not have enough
          room on your disk (at least 512K) for the "swap" file if you are
          using the IDE.

     203  "Heap Overflow Error" -- You probably don't have enough free memory.
          P-ROBOTS needs at least 384K of free memory (i.e, after counting all
          of the memory residents programs).





























                                         56



APPENDIX III: COMMON PROBLEMS


If P-ROBOTS is not doing what you think it should do, check for these common
problems:

     1.   Leaving a "write-protect" tab on the game disk will cause a fatal
          crash.  There needs to be a way for the LISTING.TXT file (i.e., the
          error listing) to be written on the disk.  Also, make sure you have
          enough disk space to contain the LISTING.TXT file.  20K of available
          disk space should be plenty of room.

     2.   Your robot must be a self-contained PASCAL PROCEDURE with the same
          name as the file (but without the .PR extension).

     3.   Your robot must have an "infinite" loop in the "main" routine.

     4.   Don't commit robot "suicide" by firing your cannon for a range of
          zero.  For example:

                  Drive(Angle,100);
                  WHILE (Loc_X < 999) DO Cannon(Angle,Scan(Angle,10));

          will cause your robot to commit suicide.

     5.   You need to have at least 384K of free memory in order to run P-
          ROBOTS.  If you don't have enough memory, you will get a Turbo Pascal
          run-time error number 203.

     6.   Are you playing a game with Obstacles with robots that have not been
          designed to properly deal with Obstacles?  Do your robots "bang their
          heads" against the Obstacles, or waste all of their missiles blasting
          away at the Obstacles?  Reprogram your robots, or stop playing with
          the Obstacles option!


















                                         57




APPENDIX IV: THE P-ROBOTS PASCAL LANGUAGE


"NORMAL" PASCAL

P-ROBOTS allows a relatively rich subset of the "normal" PASCAL language.

Predefined types include REAL, INTEGER, and BOOLEAN.  CONSTants, RECORDs and
user-defined TYPEs are allowed.  ARRAYs are allowed.

Comments may be added to a program by enclosing text with braces { }, or (* *)
pairs.

Variable and other identifier names may have up to 10 significant characters.

Arithmetic operators include: +, -, *, /, DIV and MOD.  Comparison operators
include: >, <, <>, =, <=, and >=.  Boolean operators include: AND, OR, and NOT.

Control statements/structures include:  CASE, FOR-TO-DO, FOR-DOWNTO-DO,
IF-THEN, IF-THEN-ELSE, REPEAT-UNTIL, and WHILE-DO.

Functions and Procedures may or may not have parameters.  If a Function or a
Procedure has parameters, these parameters may be passed by value or by
reference (i.e., a VAR parameter).  Procedures and Functions may be "nested" to
a maximum of seven levels.  Recursion is allowed.

Pre-defined Functions include: TRUE, FALSE, ABS, SQR, ODD, SUCC, PRED, ROUND,
TRUNC, SIN, COS, EXP, LN, SQRT, ARCTAN, and RANDOM.  All of these Functions
have the same interpretation in P-ROBOTS as in standard PASCAL, except for the
various Trig functions which use degrees in P-ROBOTS, rather than radians.

The following are NOT allowed in P-ROBOTS and will generate error messages:
CHAR, STRING, enumerated types, subranges, pointers, variant records, PACKED,
sets, IN, files, input, output, GET, PUT, READ, WRITE, WITH, LABEL, GOTO.


UNIQUE P-ROBOTS PASCAL PROCEDURES AND FUNCTIONS

Alive -- returns a TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your robot is alive or
not.

Ally -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values returned
by the "ObjectScanned" function.

AllyAlive -- returns TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your Ally is Alive or
not.

AllyDamage -- returns your Ally's current Damage level.

AllyDead -- returns TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your Ally is Dead or
not.

                                         58




AllyFuel -- returns your Ally's current Fuel level.

AllyHeading -- returns your Ally's current Heading.

AllyLoc_X -- returns the current X coordinate of your Ally.

AllyLoc_Y -- returns the current Y coordinate of your Ally.

AllyMeters -- returns your Ally's current Meters.

AllyShieldRaised -- returns TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your Ally's
shield is raised or not.

AllySpeed -- returns your Ally's current Speed.

Angle_To(X, Y) -- returns angle in degrees from your robot's current position
to the point X, Y on the battlefield.

Armor -- returns the type of armor with which your robot is equipped.  The
result returned can have the "constant" values: Light, Medium or Heavy.

BombsLeft -- returns the number of bombs that your robot currently has.  If
your robot does not select the electronic bombs option, the returned value will
be zero (obviously).

Compact -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values
returned by the "Engine" function.

Cannon(degree, range); -- fires a missile at an angle of "degree" and for a
distance of "range".

Damage -- returns the value of your robot's current damage level.

Dead -- returns a TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your robot is dead or
not.

Detonate; -- causes the bomb your robot had previous "dropped" or placed (using
the PlaceBomb procedure) to explode.

Distance(X1, Y1, X2, Y2) -- returns the distance in meters from the point X1,
Y1 on the battle field to the point X2, Y2.

Drive(degree, speed); -- causes your robot to move in the direction given by
"degree" at a specified "speed".

Economy -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values
returned by the "Engine" function.

Enemy -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values returned
by the "ObjectScanned" function.


                                         59




Engine -- returns the type of engine that your robot is equipped with.  The
result returned can have the "constant" values: Economy, Compact, Standard,
Large, or ExtraLarge.

ExtraLarge -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values
returned by the "Engine" function.

Fuel -- returns the current value of your robot's fuel level in "jiggers".

HaveCloak -- returns TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your robot is
equipped with a cloak.

HaveRepairKit -- returns TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your robot is
equipped with a repair kit.

HaveShield -- returns TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your robot is
equipped with a shield.

Heavy -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values returned
by the "Armor" function.

Large -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values returned
by the "Engine" function.

Light -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values returned
by the "Armor" function.

LimitedFuel -- returns TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your current battle
has fuel constraints or not.

LowerCloak; -- causes your robot's cloak to be lowered.

LowerShield; -- causes your robot's shield to be lowered.

MakeRepairs; -- causes your robot to begin repairing itself.

MaxRadarRange -- returns the maximum range (in meters) for your robot's radar.

MaxSpeed -- returns the maximum speed for your robot.

Medium -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values returned
by the "Armor" function.

Meters -- returns the cumulative number of meters that your robot has traveled
during the current battle.

Normal -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values returned
by the "Warheads" function.

Nothing -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values
returned by the "ObjectScanned" function.

                                         60




ObjectScanned -- returns the type of object that was found by the most recent
"Scan" call (if any).  The result returned can have the "constant" values:
Nothing, Ally, Enemy or Obstruction.

Obstruction -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values
returned by the "ObjectScanned" function.

PlaceBomb; -- causes your robot to "drop" or place an electronic bomb at the
current location.

Premium -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values
returned by the "Warheads" function.

RaiseCloak; -- causes your robot's cloak to be raised.

RaiseShield; -- causes your robot's shield to be raised.

Random(limit) -- returns a random integer in the range of zero to "limit".

Scan(degree, resolution) -- returns the distance in meters to any other robot
or obstruction that is within the "viewing" arc/angle of "degree" +/-
"resolution".  If nothing is scanned then the function "Scan" returns a value
of zero.

ShieldRaised -- returns TRUE or FALSE depending upon whether your robot's
shield is up or down.

Standard -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values
returned by the "Engine" function.

StopRepairs; -- causes your robot to stop repairing itself.

Time -- returns the current CPU cycle count.  This function can be used to time
various events, speeds, etc., within your robot program.

Warheads -- returns the type of warheads with which your robot is equipped.
The result returned can have the "constant" values: Wimp, Normal, or Premium.

Wimp -- a pre-defined P-ROBOTS "constant" which is one of the values returned
by the "Warheads" function.

Winner -- returns TRUE or FALSE depending upon your robot winning the battle.










                                         61




APPENDIX V: A BLATANT "PLUG" FOR ANOTHER SOFTWORKS PRODUCT

The MASTER'S EDITION of ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT (AGT) lets you design and write
your own high-quality text adventure games.  Using AGT's English-like language,
you can concentrate on the creative side of game writing. even adding optional
graphic illustrations, pop-up hints, sound effects, and music.  The high power
of the Master's Edition gives you sophisticated, professional results.  Your
adventure game can be shared with and enjoyed by others -- even if they do not
have a copy of the Adventure Game Toolkit themselves.


FEATURES OF MASTER'S EDITION OF THE ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT

The Master's Edition of AGT has a number of features that make it the most
comprehensive text adventure game creation product currently available.  Some
of these key features are:

*    Default "look-and-feel" of Infocom adventure games with similar screen
     layout and standard vocabulary and routines.

*    Large standard vocabulary with potential to define many more words unique
     to a specific adventure.  Typical games can have a vocabulary of 1000
     words or more.

*    Sophisticated parser that can understand (1) complex input commands
     including pronouns (IT, HIM, HER, THEM, MY and ITS), and (2) compound
     commands separated by AND or THEN or punctuation symbols, and (3) commands
     addressed to characters within the game.  Here are a few examples of
     commands AGT can handle with ease:

     GET THE FLASH LIGHT AND THEN SWITCH IT ON
     PUT ON THE CLOAK, THEN EXAMINE IT; READ ITS LABEL
     PLACE THE GREEN ROCK AND THE SMALL PEBBLE BEHIND THE TREE
     ENTER THE HOUSE; GET ALL; EXIT; SOUTH; SOUTH THEN DOWN
     SULU, SET A COURSE FOR ALPHA 14
     SCOTTY, BEAM DOWN A TRICORDER AND THE QWERTY MODULE
     DROP THE FOOD, THE KEY AND THE BOTTLE THEN UNLOCK THE DOOR WITH THE
          BRASS KEY AND THEN LEAVE

*    Function and cursor keys predefined to input frequently used commands and
     move directions.  Function keys may also be redefined to input frequently
     used commands like THROW AXE AT DWARF or GIVE MILK BOTTLE  TO BABY.

*    An OOPS feature that allows you to edit/correct your input commands.

*    SCRIPT and UNSCRIPT commands to echo game output to printer.

*    Optional graphic illustrations using PCX formatted pictures for display on
     CGA, EGA or VGA screens.  The PCX format is the most widely available of
     any picture format and is supported by most PAINT and/or DRAW programs.
     Plus -- a great deal of PCX "clip-art" is  available.

                                         62




*    Optional music and sound effects that can be played in the "background"
     during the game.  These sound effects use the PC's internal speaker and do
     not require any special "sound card."

*    Optional user-definable "look-and-feel" interface including a menu-driven
     player input option that displays feasible commands for the player to pick
     from.

*    Optional "pop-up" hints available when the <Alt> and <h> keys are pressed.

*    Optional fonts (EGA and VGA monitors only) that can be changed to suit the
     needs of the game.  The Master's Edition comes with over 30 sample fonts
     including Old English, Scrawl, Computereze.  A  Font Editor is provided
     that allows you to create your own unique fonts.

WHAT THE REVIEWERS HAVE SAID ABOUT THE ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT

"Using the Adventure Game Toolkit, anyone with an ounce of imagination can
create a text adventure game ... similar in layout and sophistication to those
made by Infocom and other commercial developers."
        -- Donald B. Trivette in PC Magazine

"The Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT) acts as a compiler which allows for creating
remarkably complex and sophisticated games in a fairly simple way .... AGT's
parser reminds me of Infocom's."
        -- Scorpia in Computer Gaming World

"If you have ever wondered what it is like to create your own adventure games,
but didn't have the programming knowledge to do it, this product is for you
.... The process is easy ... and you'll have hours of fun doing it."
        -- Resul DeMaria in Public Domain Software & Shareware

"The Adventure Game Toolkit from Softworks ... provides all the tools you need
to build your own text based adventure games .... The Adventure Game Toolkit is
an extremely powerful development package."
        -- Bob Napp in "The Big Blue Disk"

The Adventure & Strategy Club (of England) recently selected the Adventure Game
Toolkit as the Best Utility of 1992.

WHAT YOU PAY AND WHAT YOU GET

The Master's Edition is available from Softworks for $50.  This price includes
six ZIPped disks with over 5 megabytes of goodies including the game writing
system, complete documentation on disk, a bunch of game creation utilities, the
source code to several sample games including the complete AGT source code to
HUMONGOUS CAVE (believed to be the largest text adventure game available on any
microcomputer).  The Master's Edition package also includes the complete source
code to HURRY! HURRY! HURRY!!, a big, brand-new, illustrated, musical text
adventure/mystery that takes place in a circus.   All of Hurry's related font,
music, sound effects and pictures files are included.

                                         63



HOW TO GET A COPY OF THE ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT

         Mail your order to    Softworks
                               43064 Via Moraga
                               Mission San Jose, California  94539-5748

You can also order by phone using your Mastercard or VISA by dialing
[phone], 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM., PST ONLY, Monday to Thursday
                9:00 AM to 5:00 PM., PST ONLY, Saturday and Sunday

Master's Edition of Adventure Game Toolkit purchase.........$ 50.00..$ ________
    The Master's Edition of AGT is for the IBM only and is aimed at
    programmers/game designers with some experience.  The package includes:
    (1) Notice of future AGT upgrades, new AGT Adventures and related AGT
    products.  (2) Latest version of the Master's Edition programs and
    utilities, sample Adventure game source files (HUMONGOUS CAVE, HURRY,
    PORK, SQUYNCH, PIRATE and others), and complete documentation on disk.
    Over five megabyte of program and data files -- ZIPped on six disks.
    (3) Telephone support from 7 PM to 9 PM PST (M-Th) plus Weekends.

US orders are normally shipped by US mail at no additional charge.
 UPS ground shipment lower 48 is $5, Al & HA is $13 UPS (air only)...$ ________
Shipments outside the United States are sent via Air Mail only:
 Canada & Mexico $3/UK & W. Europe $5/all others $7..Foreign orders..$ ________

                                                    Subtotal         $ ________

    (California residents please add 8.25% sales tax)..........Tax...$ ________

               ******** U.S. Dollars ONLY!!! --------->>> Total >> US$ ________

   Payment by:    ( ) Check    ( ) MasterCard    ( ) VISA    ( ) Cash

    Card #: _________________________________ Exp. Date: _______________

   Signature of cardholder: ____________________________________________

   N A M E: ____________________________________________________________

   Address: ____________________________________________________________

     City : ____________________________________________________________

     State: ___________________________ Zip:____________________________

   Country: ____________________________________________________________

   Day Phone: _________________________ Eve: ___________________________

   Disk desired: ______ IBM 5 1/4  ______ IBM 3 1/2


                                         64




APPENDIX VI: ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Dave Malmberg has been active in the world of personal computer since 1977.  He
is the author or co-author of seven published software products.  His most
recent software product is the Master's Edition of the Adventure Game Toolkit,
which is also available from Softworks.

His most successful products were the Turtle Graphics series published by
HESware.  These two programs have sold over 80,000 copies world-wide, were
translated into Spanish, and won two Consumer Electronic Software Showcase
awards as some of the best software of 1983.  These programs are widely used in
schools to teach computer literacy to children and other computer novices.

Dave has also published numerous articles and programs in various computer
magazines.  He has been a Contributing Editor of both COMPUTE!'s HOME &
EDUCATIONAL COMPUTING and MICRO magazines.  He was one of the principal authors
of COMPUTE!'s FIRST BOOK OF VIC, the best selling computer book of 1983.  He
has written regular columns on educational uses of computers and on LOGO for
COMMODORE and POWER/PLAY magazines. He was delighted to receive recognition
from abroad when the British-based Adventure & Strategy Club honored him with
their Golden Chalice Award in 1992 for his adventure game system.






























                                         65