PsL Monthly 1994 July

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GA-13: Other Games -------------------- 27835/1946 Fun Stuff Small Programs Disk -------------------- - various kinds of practical jokes and just-for-fun programs. Does this kind of program encourage people to write virus or Trojan Horse types of programs, as one reader suggested? We don't think so. There's no more reason to hide a virus in this type of program than in, say, a DOS utility of some sort. April is a program for April Fool's Day. It displays a C> prompt until a key is pressed, then it displays a warning message that the system has detected that the picture tube in your monitor is upside down, whereupon it `fixes' the problem by inverting the display. BackTalk Trimble, Timothy $0 displays an innocent A> prompt on the screen, then tells the user to go away because it's sleeping and tired. Bytebrothers Fun (BB-FUN) the Bytebrothers $0 This is a collection of pointless, tasteless programs (that a lot of people seem to like): an obscene sorted directory lister; a funny headline generator; a "spoofy virus checker". We have archived them all into one set so as to offend as few people as possible as quickly as possible. CPrompt this gag file is one that you can add to a friend's (or enemies) AUTOEXEC.BAT. It simulates a C:\> prompt, however any command they enter is disregarded with a curt reply. Drain Aspinwall, Jim $0 this joke produces a "system error" stating that water has been detected in drive C and the cleanup is in progress. Drip 2.00 Masters, G. $0 When text is on the screen, Drip will cause one of the characters to `drip' down the screen, either completely off the bottom of the screen or until it hits another character. Drip is a TSR that takes 1k. HelpMe digitized speech crying "Help! I'm trapped in this computer. Help!" Excellent sound, but only on an 8088. At faster speeds, the pitch of the voice rises to Chipmunk level. Kaboom Leithauser, David $0 uses digitized speech and sound effects to have a little fun with you. KaosKeys 1.0 (KAOSKEY) Maland, Philip $0 is a simple TSR joke program that will cause keystrokes to be randomly capitalized. ParaScan 3.0 (PARASCN) Byte Brothers $0 Ok - all you people who think silly stuff (especially, stuff being silly about *viruses*) doesn't belong on a computer, skip to the next program. The rest of you are in for a pretty good laugh. ShakeIt Julius, Tab $0 is a fun little 18k TSR program that causes the screen to shake after a user-defined number of keystrokes. The user (or should we say perpetrator?) can also specify a number of keystrokes that the effect should last, so the unsuspecting victim will be typing along, get the shakes, and then have them mysteriously quit. Snafu 2.0 Dowst, Ken $0 is a practical joke that may be too much for some people's sensitivities in this day of virus panic. If you are offended by the sight of screaming, fainting co-workers, don't get this program. WPFake Sewell, David $0 is a practical joke program that appears to be WordPerfect 5.1, but no matter what the victim types, the text that prints to screen is text you have selected beforehand. Zappo Green, Phil $0 is a 1k TSR that turns your keyboard into a grenade/phaser/machine-gun sound generator. We were prepared not to like this, but it's actually kinda fun. If someone trots into your office and gives you a hard time, "arm" your phasers by pressing the ScrollLock key and being firing away. Different weapon sounds are generated by different keys. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #1946 -------------------------------- ------------------- 27835/2312 More Fun Small Programs Disk ------------------- Alfie 1.0 Baser, Barbara L. $8 generates fill-in-the-blanks party games similar to the popular Mad Libs commercial product. Party guests are prompted for various nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc, which are then plugged into a basic story line with amusing results. The story framework can be created by you or you can use one of the two on the disk. BugRes Gilbrech, Skip $? sends bugs crawling across your screen. The bugs will then munch every character on the screen they can find until there is nothing left. Bugs Alive (BUGSALI) Acinom Software $10 is an evolution simulation program with the challenge of a game, yet at the same time, teaches about the processes that drive natural selection. It challenges the user of the program to set up an environment and then to explain how and why things change. Interesting EGA color graphics. MegaDoom-III 3.0 (MEGAD) Pinnacle Software $20 If you have ever tried an adventure (slash) role-playing game and thought they were too long and boring, try this one. We won't say any more, other than to express surprise that the author would identify himself. Monster Holroyd, Tom $0 Load this TSR into a friend's computer. When the Cookie Monster gets hungry, he will ask for a cookie (using digitized speech). The user must type the word "cookie" to put the cookie monster back to sleep and regain use of the computer. Assembler source code and speech digitizing info are included. SHELLS Zenka, Jan $10 helps improve you powers of perception by playing the ol' shell game. The object is to remember which shell has the object after being juggled around. You control the speed of the juggling and scoring is given on your correct answers. This program was sent to us from Czechoslovakia, where the author says Shells is a popular game. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #2312 -------------------------------- ---------------------- 27835/4221 More Fun #2 Small Programs Disk ---------------------- Adulate 1.8 Cobb, Larry T. $? is a random adulation generator. The phrases range from mildly amusing to outrageous. Claude 1.1 McLaughlin, Brian $5 lets you carry on a conversation with your computer. We were going to classify this as Artificial Intelligence, but it is short on Intelligence (rarely responds directly to your questions) and long on Artificial (it generates random comments). Young computer novices might enjoy it, however. FBI Joke (FBIJOKE) Tyler, T. $10 is a joke program to make your friends think you can tap into an FBI computer and scan people's records. Laugh is a digitized laugh box. The quality is about as good as can be expected on a PC. Snoop 1.0 Cohn, Andrew M. $10 offers up a wide variety of screens to fool, inform, entertain and annoy your fellow employees. Requires DOS 3.1+. WhAbuse Howell, W $0 displays random humorous and abusive messages. C source is included. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #4221 -------------------------------- ------------------------------ 27835/2675 "Look Busy" Screens Small Programs Disk ------------------------------ Boss_SW Graham, Keith P. $0 is a TSR which switches to a phony spreadsheet when the boss is looking. You can switch back and forth from even graphics games. Includes MASM source. The source is very comprehensive. Hard at Work 1.3 (HAW) R. K. West Consulting ASP $0 is one of the best "look busy" programs yet. (These are programs that make your computer look like you are "Hard at Work" when you are really asleep with your eyes open.) Reading a romance novel when the boss walks in? Just tell him that you are waiting for the computer to finish one of the many different tasks the program can emulate. One screen looks like Norton's hard disk defragger. Another looks like Lotus 1-2-3 crunching numbers, and so on. HotLot is a resident utility that will pop a realistic looking 1-2-3 template onto your screen without your having to leave the [game] program you are running. Instant Buzzword Generator (IBG) Lancaster, Bob $0 will help you come up with such impressive phrases as: "User-Friendly Desktop Utility", "Integrated Artificial intelligence Techniques", "Advanced Recursive Analysis", and of course, "Comprehensive On-Line Infostructure". Think of how glib and impressive your new-found vocabulary will seem! Inquiring Minds (INQMIND) selects random phrases from the text file to produce headlines such as one might see on "National Inquirer". This is an interesting program, and the text file can be completely altered to your taste to produce anthing from poems to snappy comebacks. Included is the original source code in C. Volapuk-Debugger 491b (VOLAPUK) Gustafsson, Roger $? is a combination "look-busy" and practical joke program. As a look-busy, you can run this program and go to sleep sitting up at your desk, confident in the knowledge that your video display will make people think you are hard at work. Or put it on a friend's computer when he goes for coffee and watch his reaction when he sees "bugs in DOS" being "patched". (This comes to us from Sweden.) -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #2675 -------------------------------- Curses! 2.3 R. K. West Consulting ASP $10 #27720/2140 is an "insult generator" that can be changed into a compliment generator. An editor lets you control the programs vocabulary. The program can be used to generate descriptive phrases on any subject. Requires 360k RAM, and a hard disk is recommended. DOS-Joke Creative Educational Software, Inc. $15 #27720/4178 displays a fake DOS prompt and responds with rude remarks through the PC's speaker when anything is entered. If nothing is entered, it will blurt out comments periodically anyway. Joke Talk 1.3 Creative Educational Software, Inc. $30 #27720/4179 [2 disks] is a comedy package loaded with jokes, gags, sound effects, The Candid Camera Show, Name That Tune game, voice impersonations and more. A real human's voice speaks through the computer's speaker. You can play back any of the jokes, songs and sound effects, and create your own custom joke files. Requires a hard drive and any graphic monitor (EGA/VGA recommended). 3 Ball Juggler First Magnitude $15 #3918 uses EGA/VGA graphics and accompanying text to teach how to juggle. The program starts with a single toss and leads you on to advanced techniques and tricks. The display can be slowed down for closer study. A juggling game is included. Animal Quest 2.01 [AQUEST20] Alive Software $22 #20357/4087 [2 disks] (01-94 CD) is an unusual game that lets you experience Nature from a very different perspective. First, you can select an animal you would like to become. Then you try to cross the forest collecting as many Energy Tokens as possible by capturing your prey while avoiding your predators and by outsmarting competitors for food. To be successful at this game you must quickly decide who is your prey and who are your predators. Animal Quest has excellent graphics, three difficulty levels, mouse support, sound card support, and extensive information on each animal and plant. This is a very realistic simulation of food chain ecology, based on factual animal relationships. Requires EGA/VGA and 512K. BadLibs Jarrett, Eric $8 #4322 is an interactive text story-maker that is similar to the word game played on paper. It's a great party game, too. Animated Memory Game 1.0 Guthery, Tom IV $6 #27302/3294 tests your memory skills. When you match the correct pairs of pictures from memory, you are "rewarded" with animated graphics. There are several levels of difficulty. This program was written by an artist with over 15 years' experience in the field of classical animation. Requires 640K, EGA or VGA, and a hard drive. Crazy Shuffle 1.5 [CSHUF15] Alive Software $20 #27302/2574 (01-94 CD) tests a players memory and concentration skills as you try to match pictures with pictures or words with pictures. It has five levels of difficulty and excellent graphics Match'em Hardy, Charles A. $15 #27302/2710 is "concentration" type memory game. The object is to match two pictures hidden in an 8 x 8 grid of squares. You select the squares by clicking on them with a mouse. You may play against the computer or a friend. The EGA graphics are attractively done. VGA Concentration 2.10 [VGACON21] Alive Software $20 #27302/2582 (01-94 CD) is a Concentration-type game with excellent 256 color graphics. Four different sets of pictures are included. It requires a 286 or 386 and VGA. Mouse is optional. What Is It Compass Systems $24 #27302/2434 is a "Concentration" type game for up to four players. The objective is to try to uncover Hi-Res EGA images by matching similar game tiles, asking questions about the hidden picture or spinning the chance wheel. Requires a minimum of 512K (640K is recommended) and EGA. Only two pictures come with the program, but even after playing with those, the program can be used as just a straight "Concentration" (match the tiles) game. Chaspuz1 Carr, Charles $5 #12003 is a graphic word/puzzle game. A picture is displayed and you must decipher the phrase it represents. Twenty five puzzles are included. Dr. Freud Patterson, Charles $10 #4327 gives a personality profile of the user based on questions and answers done in a conversational manner. It can also be used as a party game or by an individual just for fun. Dr. Mystic Campbell, George $10 #1590 is a talking oracle. You ask questions and the good Doctor speaks his wisdom to you. Actually, the answers are completely random and may not match the question at all - this is no Eliza. The fun is listening to the very clear, digitized speech through your PC's speaker. This may not work on some portables, such as the Sharp and Compaq. (Note: Do not try to run PLAY.EXE; it is used by the program and is not meant to be run by the user.) EcoMaster 2.03 Cascoly Software ASP $20 #4780 is an ecology simulation in which you try to predict how animals will survive in a series of different environments or biomes. Each round, players bid for animals, using ecopoints that they have earned. This is a game of skill and chance. Some of the areas where skill comes in include learning which animals perform best in various biomes. The program uses ASCII characters for graphics, so it will run on any machine. Green 1.11 Cascoly Software ASP $25 #4255 pits you against mall developers and real estate agents who want to turn farms into parking lots. You must plant hedges, add walls, and destroy pavement. Requires VGA/EGA. Mouse is recommended. ---------------------- 20029/3340 Modem Games Small Programs Disk ---------------------- Gin Rummy Challenge 7.1 (GINRUMC) Cody, Jim $0 pits you against the computer in a game of Gin Rummy. Automatic card rearrangement makes the game more efficient to play, but we felt that it took some of the sport out of the game, because it makes it impossible to overlook some types of plays. This is still a good implementation, though. You can optionally play the game with a friend over a modem. A mouse is supported, but not required. Linewars (LINEWAR) Aalto, Patrick $24 is a fun shoot-em-up game for one player or for two players on two computers connected by an RS-232 cable or by modems. The purpose of the game is to defeat your opponent with each of you maneuvering a high-speed spaceship. Linewars will work on CGA, but the graphics are much more impressive on EGA compatible video. TeleCards 1.0 (TELECRD) Kohler, Kevin T. $20 allows you to play card games over the telephone. Three games are included: Crazy Eights, Cribbage, and Gin Rummy. Requires a modem or a direct link with a NUL modem. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #3340 -------------------------------- Gemini #20029/101 is a two-PC game played over a telephone modem. Worthy Opponent Future Ideas Today Inc. $15-$20 #20029/2714 is a set of strategy games you play against an opponent over a modem. Games included are Snake Pit (eat your opponent's tail and you grow larger), an Othello-like game, checkers, and Cannonball (fire cannons at moving trains). Message capabilities allow you to taunt and jeer at your opponent in the true spirit of athletic competition. UltraLife CA Software $25 #2487 is the game of Life, first invented by John Conway. It features a "universe" of up to 64,000 by 64,000 cells. EMS memory is used if present. BSX Games BSX International $5-$10 each #27486/2989 [2 disks] is a set of video games, all of which have excellent EGA graphics (work on VGA too). A mouse is supported on all of them, but not required. GUZZLE is a drinking/trivia board game. You travel around the board, testing your luck and trivial skill while drinking yourself into a coma. Up to four players or teams can participate. FORZEE is a cross between Yahtzee and poker. DARNIT is a graphics version of Kings Corner solitaire. Because this is an extremely difficult game to win, Darnit gives you the choice of using Rules for Wimps. SLOTY is a video poker game with an interesting twist - if you win a hand, you you can double your winnings (or lose them) on the cut of a card. GRIDLY is a unique solitaire poker game. TEGAS lets you create and save EGA images for use with the PutImage procedure. AMFLAM is an educational game in which flags of the world must be arranged in correct order. ACES OF THE ENO is a solitaire card game. WOWZEE combines poker, Yahtzee and Mah-jongg. Wizard Games Wizard Games $various #27486/2844 is a collection of games that can be run from one menu: Amaze is a fast action, scrolling-screen maze-based arcade game. Coach turns you into a football coach. Masterbrain is a card guessing game. Millionaire challenges you to make a million dollars. Stockmarket lets you experience the ups and downs of playing the stock market. Greyhound ($25) puts you in charge of a greyhound racing kennel. You must buy and sell dogs, visit the vet and bet on races in your quest to win the Championship Trophy in this unique simulation. Capitalist ($25) is a replacement for Oligopoly, a detailed game of capitalist business management. It incorporates Oligopoly and Punter, a gambling game. Super Game Pak Apogee Software #27486/2431 $various is an entertaining set of seven games of arcade action, adventure, and trivia. All of these games have colorful screens and sound effects. Block Five ($0) is an ancient strategy game in which you try to place five markers in a row while blocking the computer from doing the same. Raiders of the Lost Mine ($0) is an arcade game in which you dig for gold while trying to avoid the deadly Skull. Asteroid Rescue ($0) is an ASCII arcade game in which you guide your ship through asteroids as you save astronauts from being crushed. Use missiles to blast away rocks, and collect fuel and shields to aid your ship. Rogue Runner ($0) is an arcade/maze type game with some deadly creatures thrown in. Shrine of Kroz ($8) is part of the Kroz ASCII-arcade/maze series. You are an archaeologist with a whip exploring a vast underground kingdom searching for a Crown. Word Whiz Volume ($4) is a word challenge game that will rate your ability with lesser known words. ------------------------ 4690 Miscellaneous Games Small Programs Disk ------------------------ CD Dot Challenge 1.4 (CD-DOTS) Cam-Don Group $13 is a computerized version of the old Connect the Dots game. We are somewhat stunned by the amount of promotion this old grade-school game is being given: formal competitions, a newsletter, "customer support", etc. (The authors can no longer be reached at the address provided in the documentation.) Moraff's Monster Memory 1.1 (MON-MEM) MoraffWare $0 is a memory/matching game that uses pictures of monsters that inhabit the Moraff's World game series. Supports Hercules through Super-VGA graphics, and the keyboard or a mouse may be used. Puzzler I Bachelder, R.D. $10 challenges you to deduce a word or phrase from a visual clue. For example (not taken from the game): "jobsI'Mjobs" would be "I'm between jobs." Race the Nags 1.3 [NAGS13] (11-93 CD) Olsen, Richard ASP $17 is an animated horse-racing game for up to six players. You start the game with $50 and can bet on over 200 horses. Big winners will have their name added to the Hall of Fame. Requires EGA and 512K. Solar Hockey League 1.1 (HOCKEY) Sports Galifir Developments; $10 is a hockey game with fast, smooth action. You can play against a friend, your choise of computer teams, or try to win the Solar Hockey League itself. Each side controls three men. You can pass and run with the disc (puck), but if you hold onto it too long, the opponent can steal it away. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #4690 -------------------------------- DTQ 2.1 Hamilton, Roger D. ASP $15 #4328 is a Concentration type game with some twists. You play against the computer in 31 stages from four levels of difficulty. You can choose to have to match two, three or four pictures. Tile Match 1.0 Anderson, Nels ASP $17 #4421 is a memory game in which you match pairs from a set of colorful tiles. You can make your own tiles with the provided tile editor. (Frankly, "Concentration" type games have been done to death, but with Nels Anderson, author of Shooting Gallery, SuperFly, Mahjongg, EGAtrek, etc, speaks, we listen!) Several options are available, including background scenes and 48 solitaire variants with different playing and scoring rules. Tile Match can be played with up to four players, or against the computer. A mouse is recommended. Requires EGA/VGA. General Retail Operations Training 3.1 [GROT31] (10-93 CD) P.K. Winter $20 is a simulation game in which players act as managers of competing department stores. Players must make all the financial decisions required to run a successful business. This is an educational game that would be good training for aspiring business persons. FS-Pro Lincoln, Joe $2 #1508 will help track and edit all of the different MODES that can be created using the Microsoft Flight Simulator III program. Since you cannot write any files that can be immediately imported by Flight Simulator, you keep a list of small files that is called ADVENTURES which have the same name as the MODE except for a different DOS extension. With this series, FSPRO becomes your main menu to access other modules, such as the Airport Directory included on this disk. Lucky Numbers 1.01 Ens, Thomas $10 #12006 gives you one year to make a million dollars at the Lottery. As a disgruntled former Lottery employee, you will use every means at your disposal to win. You can bribe officials, get a loan at the bank, and pay sleazy informers for number tips. If your standing in the community falls too low, you may be arrested for cheating. Also included is a utility for selecting a lottery number based on your name and birthdate. Maniac Zimmerman, Ray $25 #3734 is a hand-eye coordination game in which you must click on a block as it moves quickly across the screen in one of the randomly selected rows. Even at the slowest speed on a 386-33, we found it difficult to get many hits. Mouse required. Oakflat Nuclear PPS 3.1sw [OF31SW] GAMTECH/Gamble Technologies ASP $18 #12216 (01-94 CD) Oakflat Nuclear Power Plant Simulator simulates a pressurized water nuclear fission power plant. You are responsible for safely controlling a light-water pressure fission reactor and generating electricity at a profit. The simulator creates random events such as equipment failures, fires, earthquakes, and terrorist attacks. Score is based on amount of power generated, damage to plant, and finances. Quato 1.1 Soleau Software $12 #12073 is a combination word game and sliding tile puzzle. You have 3 minutes to move the tiles around on a 5x5 grid to spell as many different words as you can. (After spelling a word, you get credit for it and can move the letters in it to spell something else.) An 80,000-word dictionary is used to check for words and a list on the side shows the words you have spelled. Requires EGA/VGA and a hard disk. Speculator WestWorld Computer Services $0 #12211 is a strategy game of land acquisition. It uses maps depicting real or imaginary land areas. Five maps are included with different economic models. You compete against 3 computer players for limited investment opportunities. Each computer player has its own unique strategy. You purchase property, start companies, buy and sell stock, expand companies, and buy real estate to try to acquire the most assets and win the game. Requires 512K RAM and EGA/VGA. ]]]]]