InfernalKeith

It works well in conjunction with CALL KEY (HOTEL).

Ah, is that what causes it? Gave me a little grief on the RPG as well. Nice to know I wasn't just hallucinating, which is the usual case. No, that's reality. When you type RUN at 4AM and Owen appears on your screen, wearing a loincloth and singing a country-fied version of "Happy Birthday, Mr. President"... THAT'S a hallucination. I hope.

This is the guy who's developing Manic Miner? Yer talkin' oot yer arse, mate. Step up to the plate!

That was Simon's Saucer. 99'er Magazine released it on tape with a little flippy-book thing, to teach you programming fundamentals while you checked out the listing. It's amazing how mesmerizing the most basic game concepts (Simon, Space Invaders, Breakout, Tetris) can be, even after all these years and advancements in technology. Gameplay is everything - that hasn't changed since Pong and Colossal Cave.

OK, difficulty level two. Higher scores, potentially bigger bonuses... but as we can see here, the poor little SOB has nowhere to go. Makes for a much more tense game, with ice cracking behind, in front of, and right underneath you, and whole sections of the screen that you have to just write off as too dangerous to mess with. I like it! I'll zip and upload this modified version later.

*smacking forehead* That makes about 9,000 times more sense than running it backward. I'm gonna give that, and the higher difficulty level (2x the number of new cracks per move, but 2x the score per chest and 2x bonus increments), a try later tonight. Shouldn't be hard to implement. (though adding 2x the cracks will pretty much make CPU Overdrive essential)

41,700! Woo hoo! I actually think this game needs an adjustable difficulty level. I still have one open line, so maybe I'll add that. I think it's too easy to get all the chests and still have a viable way to the right side. There needs to be more of a chance that when you go for those last couple out-of-the-way chests, you'll get blocked off and not be able to make it to shore. Any thoughts?

It's actually not that clever. Had I not been constrained by 30 lines, I would have made the ice breaking patterns much more planned -- water follows water, so the weakest areas would be more likely to go than a relatively strong piece. I do love the effect as it is now, though. For what it is, this game turned out way better than I'd hoped. It's given me a lot of ideas for my adventure game, too, so it was a great exercise all around. The level of quality entries in this contest is pretty staggering overall. I haven't seen one yet that wouldn't be as good as, or better than, the average third-party commercial software from 'back in the day.' This is the most community I've seen going on in the TI world in a long time, too - it's not two or three people carrying the ball, people are coming out of the woodwork with entries and apparently having a blast. Awesome times.

BTW, my high score so far is 33,400.

The penguin will be fine if he falls in. He'll merely suffer financial ruin. Perhaps I should add a walrus in a top hat that comes in and takes all his 'doubloon-backed securities' if he falls in? I like the idea of the game being continuous - as it is, it's more strategy than arcade, with the stopping for each move before the ice cracks. Just playing to the strengths of the language, and working around my own relatively crude abilities. I've always been more interested in strategic games, so even when I was younger and doing this more often, I didn't mess with sprite collisions and timing that much. If I ever actually finish all my strategy, board, and adventure game ideas, I'd like to tackle some more arcade-like stuff, but I'd probably just wait till I learn assembly first.

Dude, if you can do this in 30 lines in XB, I want to put money down now to pre-order your real CRPG! Impressive and a lot of fun.

The look and feel of this game! I know it's just a simple concept, but man, the presentation is amazing. We'd have paid $40 for that on a cart back in 1982.

Modified version 1.1 code and file added March 16, 2010. 80 INPUT "DIFFICULTY(1=EASY 2=HARD)?" :: IF D<1 OR D>2 THEN 80 90 CALL CLEAR :: CFL,SCORE,BONUS=0 :: FOR X=97 TO 109 STEP 2 :: READ X$ :: CALL CHAR(X,X$) :: NEXT X :: CALL COLOR(9,16,5,10,16,5,11,3,2) 95 RANDOMIZE :: CALL SCREEN(5) :: CALL CHAR(112,"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF") :: CALL COLOR(11,3,2) :: XP=89 :: YP=9 100 FOR X=1 TO 23 :: PRINT "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" :: NEXT X :: CALL VCHAR(1,2,112,23) :: CALL VCHAR(1,31,112,23) :: PRINT "THIN ICE V1.1 (C) K. BERGMAN"; 105 FOR Z=4 TO 11 :: CALL HCHAR(Z,1,ASC(SEG$("THIN ICE",Z-3,1))) :: CALL HCHAR(Z,32,ASC(SEG$("THIN ICE",Z-3,1))) :: NEXT Z 107 FOR Z=1 TO 20 :: X=INT(RND*23)+1 :: Y=INT(RND*28)+3 :: CALL SPRITE(#Z,107,11,((X-1)*+1,((Y-1)*+1) :: NEXT Z :: CALL SPRITE(#21,109,2,XP,YP) 109 DISPLAY AT(24,1):"1UP:";STR$(SCORE) :: DISPLAY AT(24,29-(LEN(STR$(BONUS))+6)):"BONUS:";STR$(BONUS) 110 W=(INT(RND*20)+1)*D :: FOR Z=1 TO 10+W :: X=INT(RND*23)+1 :: Y=INT(RND*28)+3 :: CALL GCHAR(X,Y,Q) :: Q=Q+2 :: IF Q>105 THEN Q=105 120 CALL HCHAR(X,Y,Q) :: CALL SOUND(10,-5,0) :: NEXT Z :: COUNT=COUNT+1 :: BONUS=BONUS+(100*D) 130 CALL GCHAR(((XP+7)/8),((YP+7)/8),W) :: IF W=105 THEN 1010 140 CALL KEY(0,K,S) :: IF S=0 THEN 140 150 X$="WERSDZXCQ" :: ON POS(X$,CHR$(K),1)+1 GOTO 140,190,200,210,220,230,240,250,260,160 160 DISPLAY AT(24,1):"QUIT? PRESS Y/N" 170 CALL KEY(0,K,S) :: IF S=0 THEN 170 ELSE IF K=78 THEN DISPLAY AT(24,1):"" :: GOTO 109 ELSE IF K=89 THEN CALL CLEAR :: STOP 180 GOTO 170 190 IF XP<2 OR YP<10 THEN 2000 ELSE XP=XP-8 :: YP=YP-8 :: GOTO 1000 200 IF XP<2 THEN 2000 ELSE XP=XP-8 :: GOTO 1000 210 IF XP<2 OR YP>240 THEN 2000 ELSE XP=XP-8 :: YP=YP+8 :: GOTO 1000 220 IF YP<10 THEN 2000 ELSE YP=YP-8 :: GOTO 1000 230 IF YP>240 THEN 2000 ELSE YP=YP+8 :: GOTO 1000 240 IF XP>176 OR YP<10 THEN 2000 ELSE XP=XP+8 :: YP=YP-8 :: GOTO 1000 250 IF XP>176 THEN 2000 ELSE XP=XP+8 :: GOTO 1000 260 IF XP>176 OR YP>240 THEN 2000 ELSE XP=XP+8 :: YP=YP+8 :: GOTO 1000 1000 CALL SOUND(200,880,0) :: CALL SPRITE(#21,109,2,XP,YP) :: CALL GCHAR(((XP+7)/8),((YP+7)/8),Z) :: IF Z<>105 THEN 1014 1010 FOR X=1010 TO 110 STEP-25 :: CALL SOUND(-30,X,0) :: NEXT X :: CALL CLEAR :: PRINT "YOU FELL THROUGH THE ICE ANDDROWNED -- NO SCORE!" :: STOP 1014 IF YP<>241 OR CFL<>1 THEN 1020 1015 CALL CLEAR :: CALL SOUND(400,880,0,1047,0) :: CALL SOUND(800,1175,0,1319,0) :: PRINT "YOU DID IT!":"FINAL SCORE:";SCORE+BONUS :: STOP 1020 FOR Z=1 TO 20 :: CALL POSITION(#Z,X,Y) :: IF X=XP AND Y=YP THEN SCORE=SCORE+(2000*D) :: CALL DELSPRITE(#Z) :: CALL SOUND(100,1568,0,1760,0) :: CFL=1 1030 NEXT Z :: GOTO 109 2000 CALL SOUND(200,110,0) :: GOTO 109 10000 DATA "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF","FFFFFDE7DFEFDFFF","DFBDDBE7DFEDDEFF","4E9DC96702E9CA17","0000000000000000","081020407C7C7C7C" 10010 DATA "60FC60705838F07C" THINICE1-1.zip

Our hero stands on the left bank, pondering why he ever got to a point in his life where his material wealth was scattered across a frozen pond. Venturing out, as the cracks begin to widen. Well, this could get worrisome... Damn this global warming!!

THIN ICE - version 1.1 program and documentation by Keith Bergman for Orphantech.com © 2010 1. OVERVIEW Thin Ice is a game for the Texas Instruments 99/4A home computer. In it, you must help a penguin pick up treasure chests scattered across a frozen river, which is rapidly thawing, and get safely to the other side with as many chests as possible. Thin Ice was conceived and written in March 2010 for the "30 Line Programming Contest" on the AtariAge.com TI 99/4A Programming forum. Bugs, comments, suggestions, hate mail, love letters, and large cash PayPal transfers can be sent to [email protected] 1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS On original hardware, Thin Ice requires the TI Extended BASIC cartridge. It has been tested and found to work on the Classic99 emulator on a Windows Vista PC. The program is written in 100% "stock" Extended BASIC, so it should have no issues in other emulators. If using Classic99, the "CPU Overdrive" mode may be more enjoyable, but is not required. Thin Ice consists of one, self-contained program, which can be run from any disk. No file access is required during the game. 2. GAME PLAY AND SCORING Your plucky penguin starts out on the grassy left shore of a frozen body of water. Scattered across the ice are twenty treasure chests. Even for penguins, who are notoriously bad at maintaining wealth, this is an unacceptable situation. Oh well, it's simple, though - just pick them up, cross the ice, and head for home on the right bank. But what's this? Tiny blue cracks are beginning to appear in the ice. Our hero takes a step out onto the white expanse, and hears a series of bone-chilling crunching sounds as more cracks appear, and grow wider. Blue water is showing through holes in the ice. Every time the penguin takes a step, the ice gets weaker. One wrong move and it's into the drink, and the penguin loses all his money (and the game). Players get 2000 points for each chest they pick up (4000 on difficulty level 2). In addition, a bonus counter goes up each time the penguin takes a step (100 on easy level, 200 on difficult). The longer you're on the ice, the more points you can earn -- however, if you fall through the ice, you end the game with a score of zero. The player wins by reaching the right bank (the green strip on the right of your screen). You don't have to collect every chest, but you must collect at least one to win and end the game. The penguin can return to the left bank, or walk on the right back without having picked up a chest, but while he's goofing off in the grass, the ice is only getting worse! Player can move N, S, E, W, or diagonally, with the letter keys corresponding to TI's arrows (holding down the FCTN key is not required, but CAPS LOCK is). Movement keys are: W E R S D Z X C In addition, Q can be pressed to quit the game. After each step, a random number of additional cracks will appear in the ice (twice as many on difficulty level 2 as on easy level). If the ice under the penguin gives way, he goes into the water and the game ends. The penguin can walk onto any ice, no matter how fragile it looks, but the more blue you see on a space, the more likely it is to give way completely. The cracking of the ice is accompanied by sound effects. When the cracking sounds have ended, the penguin can take another step. Occasionally, the ice under a treasure chest will give way. While the chest will still be visible in the water, the penguin will fall in if he tries to get it. That chest is no longer obtainable. In some instances, fewer than 20 chests will appear on the screen at the beginning. Treasure chests occasionally get hidden in a snowbank and are invisible to the penguin. If he stumbles across an invisible chest, he get the points for it. Invisible chests sometimes appear as the game progresses and the snow melts. It is also possible for two chests to be in the same area, one in front of the other -- the penguin gets both if he finds such a lucky setup. In a few very unlikely cases, the penguin himself may disappear into the snow... so keep your eye on the guy! If he vanishes, you can still move him normally, and he should reappear, fit as a fiddle, once he steps out of the snow. Obviously, it would be easy to zip across the ice, grab the nearest chest, and end the game. The challenge lies in trying to get all twenty chests, or to see how many you can get before the ice deteriorates too far to get home. What starts off as a serene patch of frozen water quickly turns into a slushy mess, and usually well before you've gathered all your treasure!

You know what, I withdraw the idea. It'd probably need an existing DV/80 file with zeroed out scores to read and compare. I don't know how to make it detect that the file doesn't exist on its first run, except in a clumsy way via ON ERROR, so let's skip the high score thing for the contest purposes. If I release the game after the contest, I'll add it then - no biggie. I shoulda thought it through a little more. Hope to have the game, or at least screenshots, up tonight.

Question for the judges (or, well, Owen).\ I am nearly finished with a game and I have a couple lines left over. I'd like for the game to save and load high scores to disk. Is that kosher, since it's not loading numeric or string data to get around the 30-line requirement?

This contest has gone viral! By 99'er standards, anyway. Some great entries here. I think my idea to make a tiny adventure game in 30 lines might actually work. I won't have time to work on it till midweek, but I hope to dazzle ya (or at least hold my own with these great submissions) by then. I'm psyched that I started Enemy Lines, too - even though it quickly outgrew the contest requirements, I think it's gonna be a good game, and the AI will make it fun to play. This is all the hooky I get today. Back to work. :/

Get your paws off my farm, you damn dirty ape!!

Aw, COME ON! I've got one idea that ballooned out of control and one that looks like crap, and you're over here cranking out an entire 99'er issue full of good-looking XB games like it's nothin'. You're kicking my ass over heah! I don't even have time to play this right now, lest I leave all this stock on my dining room table and face the wrath of She in the morning. But as soon as I get this work caught up I'll be checking it out. I haven't been this jealous since I walked out of my first rudiments lesson in high school and watched some other kid my age busting out Neil Peart drum solos. Bastard!

And here I thought you were that dashing Latin coder, Marca Registrada.

It could not have told you that... for it has a Speech Synthesizer that only says "ni!"

My TI has asked that, in reply, I run SUB FARTINYOURGENERALDIRECTION(X), where X=infinity.

Yeah? After running my game, your TI will take one look at your code and turn itself into a Timex-Sinclair 1000* !!! * ZX-81, for you third world non-Amurricans.

Glad I'm not the only one, Adam. I had a CALL SPRITE that wrapped over to the next line, and actually read "C ALL SPRITE". As soon as I looked at the code pasted into the forum here, I saw the error. If I can get the graphics drawn and get the movement to work right, I'll post some pics of this game later today. It's a pretty simple 'walk down the screen as it scrolls upward with PRINT statements' deal, but with gold to collect and monsters to fight, and increasing difficulty levels. It's not gonna be an all-time classic, but it should fit in 30 lines.