¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢ EDITOR'S MESSAGE¢¢ Hello, and welcome to another issue¢ of the Ol' Hackers Newsletter! We're¢ somewhat obvlivious to the current¢ political scene, and we're in the¢ mood to start selecting candidates¢ for the next presidential election.¢ Of course, in our country, the way in¢ which this is done varies by party¢ and state. Of course, both parties¢ have conventions at the national¢ level, but the method that attracts¢ the most attention at the statewide¢ level is the primary election. ¢ Soooo, we've started out Side 1 with¢ DARKHORS.BAS, which runs from the¢ spacebar. You become the potential¢ candidate. You'll need pencil and¢ paper to play this game for sure, as¢ you try to go up against a very¢ popular senator in the New Hampshire¢ primary. There's lots of data to¢ gather, and a limited amount of money¢ to spend. Your goal is not only to¢ beat the senator, by getting enough¢ popular and financial support. The¢ first time you try to run this game,¢ read the directions! The screens¢ will guide you. Our member, JOE¢ HICSWA, contributed a TurboBasic¢ program, Draw Poker, which is also¢ found on Side 1. To use it, format a¢ blank disk and write DOS files to it¢ using the "H" option of the DOS menu.¢ Then copy the locked files (those¢ whose filenames have asterisks next¢ to them) from Side 1 to your newly¢ prepared disk. Finally, rename the¢ file "DRAW" to "AUTORUN.SYS" and the¢ file "RAM" to "RAMDISK.COM" on the¢ new disk. Put the new disk in drive¢ 1, reboot your computer, and follow¢ the screen directions. Joe did an¢ exceptional job on this game, with a¢ little help from RON FETZER. You¢ should also look for a file called¢ CHESS.COM. This file came from our¢ copy of Pool Disk Too. It was¢ included in Page 6 disk 80, but came¢ from the SPECTRUM OF ERIE group. ¢ I've decided to put some more BASIC¢ games on Side 1. The following three¢ came from Pool Disk Too, the Colonia¢ Disk 124, side A: SKULLS.BAS,¢ PANZER.BAS and WEBSTER.BAS. ¢ SKULLS.BAS is The Seven Skulls, and¢ involves your positioning a game¢ piece in one of seven positions and¢ pressing the fire button. When you¢ do, three of the seven skulls¢ pictured above will rotate ninety¢ degrees. The object of the game is¢ to get them all facing correctly, but¢ you have a limited number of moves in¢ which to do it! PANZER.BAS is a two-¢ player joystick game in which two¢ tanks must shoot away the X's, and¢ then each other, without coming too¢ close to either! WEBSTER.BAS is a¢ sort of Centipede in reverse. The¢ spider is the hero. He drops on a¢ strand of web to eat up the small¢ bug, but watch out for that big one! ¢ Eating it makes you lose a life.¢¢ Side two puts you into a different¢ kind of fight. You have to protect¢ your territory and the life within it¢ from vultures! You control a¢ vulture-removal device with a¢ joystick plugged into port 0. The¢ opening screen gives you further¢ details. The game VULTURES.BAS runs¢ from the spacebar. In addition,¢ please look on side 2 for OIL.COM, a¢ fabulous demo produced by Atari of¢ England and enhanced with title¢ screens that were added later. Also¢ on Side 2 look for PEGSUS.COM, a¢ pinball game. Use your joystick to¢ control the ball, and your fire¢ button to control the flippers.¢ Finally, look for FF.COM, which was¢ at one time a commercial game. ¢ Excerpt from the docs for this game¢ follows:¢¢ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -¢¢¢ Arrange the blocks within the 4x4¢ grid such that adjacent sides of¢ neighboring blocks have the same¢ color. This condition holds for all¢ sides of each square in the grid. ¢ Example: The solid green block is¢ placed in the top left hand square of¢ the grid. This means that the left¢ side of the block placed in the¢ square just to the right of this¢ solid green block must also be the¢ same green color. Also, the block to¢ be placed in the square just below¢ this solid green block must have it's¢ top half the very same green color.¢¢ I know this sounds a bit confusing at¢ first, but don't worry. The computer¢ will not allow you to make an illegal¢ move. So, place all 16 blocks within¢ the grid. If you can!¢¢ Move the gold cursor with the joy-¢ stick in port #1. Position the¢ cursor over the block that you wish¢ to place on the grid and press the¢ fire button. A brown outline is¢ placed around the selected block.¢ Now move the cursor over the vacant¢ square in the grid where you wish to¢ place the block and press the fire¢ button again. If you change your¢ mind and wish to select another¢ block, just position the cursor¢ over the block with the brown outline¢ and press the fire button to clear¢ your selection. If you wish to¢ remove a block from a square on the¢ grid, simply place the cursor over¢ the block and press the fire button.¢ This action cannot be done while you¢ have a block selected (one with a ¢ brown outline) to be placed in a¢ square on the grid.¢¢ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -¢¢ All three .COM files on Side 2 came¢ from the "Treasure" folder on Pool¢ Disk Too.¢¢ I hope you enjoy this issue.¢¢ o=o=o=o=o=¢¢¢
