Atari Mega Archive 2/Atari Mega Archive CD - Volume 2.iso/8bit/cislib_b/ralkng.doc

Text File | 1995-04-22 | 12KB | 392 lines

RAIL KING


by


David H. Neal


copyright 1985 by David H. Neal
Contributed to the Public Domain
for private use only.

for the Atari home computers
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: 48K

Written in compiled ACTION! from
Optimized Systems Software. Use
binary load from DOS to load.

GAME DESCRIPTION
"Rail King" is a railroad empire
 building simulation for one to
 four  players, playing either
 humans or the computer. The
 appropriate age range for this
 game is probably 15 and up,
 although precocious 12-year-olds
 may enjoy it. The objective of the
 game is to be the first to
 accumulate $300 million. This
 objective is accomplished by
 building track (cost) and using
 that track to pick up and deliver
 goods (costs and earnings) to
 markets selected from a list
 randomly generated by the
 computer. Random events inhibit
 operations and increase the
 suspense.
The game alternates between the
 players, presenting information on
 a split screen. The following
 subscreens appear on the same
 screen with a United States map
 representing the current player's
 rail system and his current
 position: Commands, including a
 message area for reporting events
 and errors, and to let the player
 enter his intentions; a listing of
 valid markets for the Player, a
 listing of the products to be
 found in each city, and a help
 listing of the various command
 keys. The Map and the Market
 Listing are unique to the
 individual Player. The information
 presented on each screen is as
 follows:
Commands--this is the "heart" of
 the game system. A Command line
 appears at the bottom of all
 operating screens to allow the
 player to select his next action.
 In the case of a computer player,
 the human player(s) may observe
 the action of the computer player
 and advance the game by pressing
 any key. The commands are
 abbreviated to a single letter. A
 screen displaying a detailed
 listing of the commands responds
 to entering "H" for "Help". There
 are eight options available,
 depending on the Player's current
 Turn Phase (explained below):
G save Game
M view Markets listing
T move Train
L Load train
U Unload train
B Build track
S view Supplier listing
E End turn
Markets Listing--displays 6
 randomly selected cities, each
 with a product demand and a price
 to be paid on delivery. A choice
 to "Continue" with the game or
 draw a new Market List is offered.
 Drawing a new market list
 automatically terminates the
 player's turn.
Markets--each city potentially
 demands all the products that it
 does not supply. The price offered
 for a product is nominally based
 on the number of turns required to
 move from the supply city to the
 market city, with extra incentives
 added for the most distant. Market
 selection is a two-step process in
 the computer. The market city is
 randomly selected, then the
 product demanded by that city is
 randomly selected. In the case of
 the initial draw or a redraw, 6
 markets are thus selected. In the
 case of a delivery (unloading),
 the satisfied demand is deleted
 from the list and a new market is
 drawn to replace it. Only markets
 in the Player's Market List will
 pay off on delivery of the
 specified product. Any other
 delivery location will just result
 in loss of the product. If a
 product is unloaded at a city not
 demanding it, the program will ask
 if the player really means to
 unload.
Suppliers Listing--displays  the
 products available in each of the
 10 cities. Each city offers three
 products representative of that
 region of the country. Some
 products are repeated for two or
 three cities, although most are
 unique to a particular city.
The product list is:
CITY               PRODUCT
----     -------------------------
 #1      fish, imports, lumber
 #2      grain, cattle, sheep
 #3      machinery, fruit, sugar
 #4      cattle, coal, lead
 #5      grain, corn, pork
 #6      cattle, cotton, oil
 #7      machinery, iron, cars
 #8      lumber, fish, machinery
 #9      coal, imports, fabrics
 #0      tobacco, cotton, fruit
Building Track--All city-to-city
 connections are allowed except
 that #8 may connect directly only
 to #9. Track cost is nominally
 based on distance, whether over
 smooth terrain or mountains, and
 with a premium for crossing
 rivers. The line from #3 to #4 is
 considered to cross the Colorado
 River only once. The player builds
 track by selecting the "B"
 command. The program then queries
 him on originating city and
 destination city. If he lacks the
 funds to build the track segment,
 the program so informs him and
 cycles him back to issue a new
 command. The program reports the
 cost of the track and draws it on
 his map. The player's rail system
 appears each time his turn comes
 up, with his current position
 marked by a "sprite" locomotive.
 As presently written, the program
 does not allow the player to
 review the various track costs,
 but he should be able to get a
 good idea of relative costs by
 relative distance, the presence of
 mountains, etc. The text screen
 reports the player's total value
 of track in case he should want to
 keep track of it. Building track
 automatically terminates a
 player's turn, so he can't build
 track and run on it in the same
 turn.
Events-- Five (5) random events may
 occur and remain in effect for one
 full turn. A random event is
 selected each time a market city
 is selected. There is a 1/4 chance
 that an event will be selected on
 any market draw. This does not (as
 might be expected) result in a lot
 of random events that affect the
 player because all but one
 (strikes) occur only in certain
 regions on the map. On the
 occurance of an event, the event
 is chosen randomly. The events
 are:
1. Hurricane--no movement allowed
 to or from City 0.
2. Snow in the West--trains West
 and north of City #4 move at 1/2
 speed. The speed adjustment is
 made automatically.
3. Snow in the East--trains East
 and north of City #5 move at 1/2
 speed.
4. Longshoreman's strike -- no
 loading or unloading in coastal
 cities. Prohibition of loading or
 unloading is automatic.
5 thru 8 -- strike on the
 individual player's lines -- no
 movement for 1 turn.
Train Movement--Speed, including
 1/2-speed, is controlled by the
 program. Speed (movement
 allowance) is a nominal 16 pixels
 per turn. Normal speed results in
 2-4 turns to traverse from one
 city to another. When a train is
 en route, train movement is
 automatic on the selection of the
 "T" command. That is, the player
 defines his destination only once,
 and the destination is remembered
 by the program. A cost is
 associated with movement. This
 cost is reported to the player and
 is deducted from his cash
 position. If a player can't move
 due to lack of funds, the game is
 effectively over for him. The
 player places his train on the
 first move that he moves his
 train. From then on, the  train
 moves from its last stop. Thus,
 the rail system should be
 "head-to-tail" since the train
 can't move where there is no
 track. The train must move to
 distant cities in stages when
 there is not a direct connection.
 For example, suppose the player
 has track from 1 to 2 to 4 to 5.
 His train is at 1 and he wants to
 go to 5. Unless he builds track
 from 1 to 5 he must proceed 1 to 2
 to 4 to 5. The train will stop in
 each city (announced by "YOU HAVE
 ARRIVED" to avoid confusion about
 the train's exact position on the
 map), but, if the movement
 allowance is not used up, the
 player may immediately proceed to
 the next city in the sequence.
Loading and Unloading -- the player
 loads a product on his train by
 using the "L" command. His train
 must be empty and in a city at the
 time and the product he loads must
 be supplied by that city --
 otherwise, he gets an error
 message and is recycled to the
 command screen. A player would
 typically begin his train movement
 on his second move (his first move
 having been expended by building
 track) b