Micro Adventure No. 4

[accousticguitar]

After seeing these books on a previous thread, I purchased "Time Trap," the fourth in the series. These were apparently originally programmed on the Apple II and then adapted to the other computers of the day. On Atari computers you have to flip to the back of the book to make some alterations to the programs in order for them to work. Even doing this, they did not always work correctly. If you enter a line that doesn't look right to the Atari computer, it gives you an error code and you can then re-enter it again until you get it right (most of the time. Sometimes you don't see the error code until you run the program.) I had to make a few adjustments (like deleting a semicolon at the end of a line of code) that the book did not suggest for Atari computers. Of course, I am running an 800xl with Atari Basic Rev C, and these were written for the 400/800 Atari computers, so maybe that is why I had more problems than I should have had. Another interesting point is that the programs executed vertically instead of horizontally. I had to adjust one program where I had to guess 3 numbers from 1 to 38 (according to the program, even though the book said it was from 1 to 30) down to 20 numbers (1 to 20) so that I could see the whole sequence on the screen. If it had executed horizontally I don't think there would have been a problem. Even with these problems though, the book is a fun concept. I enjoyed reading the book and watching the programs execute after I had typed them in. By the way, the book cost me $4 at Amazon including shipping. You can't beat that!

Edited April 12, 2008 by accousticguitar

[guyjin]

I had to make a few adjustments (like deleting a semicolon at the end of a line of code) that the book did not suggest for Atari computers.

Another interesting point is that the programs executed vertically instead of horizontally. I had to adjust one program where I had to guess 3 numbers from 1 to 38 (according to the program, even though the book said it was from 1 to 30) down to 20 numbers (1 to 20) so that I could see the whole sequence on the screen. If it had executed horizontally I don't think there would have been a problem.

 

The function of the semicolon in print statements is to prevent it from Carriage returning; this is why your number list came out vertical. (The semicolon works on my XEGS, and as far as I know it's revision C)

[Urchlay]

Most of the other home computers of the time (like the Apple) use Microsoft BASIC, which IIRC always adds a space when there's a semicolon in a PRINT statement... the Atari's BASIC doesn't do that, so probably you should edit the line where you removed the semicolon, and add ;" "; (semicolon, quote, space, quote, semicolon) to get the Atari to behave more like an Apple. The BASIC revision (A, B, C) doesn't matter: The language didn't change between the different versions, they just fixed bugs. If you're using revision A there's a small chance of BASIC crashing for no apparent reason, if you're using B there's a much larger chance, and if you're using C it should never crash for no reason (you can still crash it by e.g. POKE to the wrong place, but that'd be your fault, not BASIC's)

 

Alternatively, you could run the programs in Atari Microsoft BASIC (available as disk [image] or cartridge). Most likely they'd run correctly as listed in the book.

 

I've actually never heard of the Micro-Adventure book series... if they're books full of type-in programs, would you consider posting your typed-in versions here (on an ATR image or single SAVEd BASIC files), once you've got them debugged?

[accousticguitar]

This book has 6 short programs in it. One decodes secret messages, another traces credit card purchases, another simulates time travel, two are number guessing games, and the last tells how much weight needs to be removed to end up in the right year. I have APE so I think it is possible for me to save programs but I have never quite figured out how. It's a great program but it's smarter than I am.

[dinosaur]

This book has 6 short programs in it. One decodes secret messages, another traces credit card purchases, another simulates time travel, two are number guessing games, and the last tells how much weight needs to be removed to end up in the right year. I have APE so I think it is possible for me to save programs but I have never quite figured out how. It's a great program but it's smarter than I am.

 

I beleve I saw these back in the '80s!

[accousticguitar]

This book is copyright 1984.

[+Larry]

After seeing these books on a previous thread, I purchased "Time Trap," the fourth in the series. These were apparently originally programmed on the Apple II and then adapted to the other computers of the day. On Atari computers you have to flip to the back of the book to make some alterations to the programs in order for them to work. Even doing this, they did not always work correctly. If you enter a line that doesn't look right to the Atari computer, it gives you an error code and you can then re-enter it again until you get it right (most of the time. Sometimes you don't see the error code until you run the program.) I had to make a few adjustments (like deleting a semicolon at the end of a line of code) that the book did not suggest for Atari computers. Of course, I am running an 800xl with Atari Basic Rev C, and these were written for the 400/800 Atari computers, so maybe that is why I had more problems than I should have had. Another interesting point is that the programs executed vertically instead of horizontally. I had to adjust one program where I had to guess 3 numbers from 1 to 38 (according to the program, even though the book said it was from 1 to 30) down to 20 numbers (1 to 20) so that I could see the whole sequence on the screen. If it had executed horizontally I don't think there would have been a problem. Even with these problems though, the book is a fun concept. I enjoyed reading the book and watching the programs execute after I had typed them in. By the way, the book cost me $4 at Amazon including shipping. You can't beat that!

 

I'm not familiar with these books. Are they in essence a short story/novelette format with programs that must be entered to solve puzzles relative to the story? How long are the programs? I did look on Amazon and saw there is a whole bunch of these. With type-in programs, the major challenge for me is to get the programs working properly!

 

-Larry

[accousticguitar]

I'm not familiar with these books. Are they in essence a short story/novelette format with programs that must be entered to solve puzzles relative to the story?

Yes, that is exactly what they are. This book is a small paperback book with 126 pages.

 

 

How long are the programs?

They are fairly short, in the 25-40 line range.

 

 

With type-in programs, the major challenge for me is to get the programs working properly!

Like I mentioned above, they were not made for Atari computers; they were adapted to Atari computers, so the programs do not always work properly even when they are typed in exactly right. I enjoyed the book and typing in the programs that went along with it, but since they were not made for Atari computers I decided not to purchase any more.

[spookt]

Hmm, I have something similar in concept which I bought here in the UK back in the day. You typed in a listing for each chapter IIRC and the programs helped tell the story. Pretty basic (excuse the pun) stuff but an interesting concept. I'll see if I can dig it out and post details.