RetroMagazine 04 Eng

A "therapy" for Covid-19? We have the solution!
SUMMARY
When we were kids, even cartoon monsters could scare us to ◊ LM80C Color Computer - part 3 Page 3
death. Did this ever happen to you?
◊ The TMS9918A video chip Page 5
And nowadays, now that we are grown men and women, this ◊ Software compatibility between ZX 81 Page 8
virus has scared us in springtime and still frightens us. And it and ZX Spectrum: monsters & ghosts
paralyses us in many different ways, because it is also a "social" ◊ Alien Attack! From the Amstrad CPC to Page 11
and a "multimedia" virus. A virus that first spread through the C64 equipped with Simons' Basic
rumours and then actually became part of our lives. How can we ◊ Bombs Away! Page 17
get out of this situation? At the moment, we don’t have a vaccine,
a safe therapy. This will require the help of time and medical ◊ A bit of rarity: a treat without trick Page 24
science. Meanwhile, we can at least "fight" the psychological part ◊ The Haunted House ...how to play the Page 27
of the virus with our beloved video games and our glorious same game on 3 different platforms!
vintage computers. ◊ C64: how to disable the keys Page 42
corresponding to joystick switches
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the world of ◊ An introduction to AREXX - part 3 Page 44
video games has an effective "therapeutic" power for all of its
users. Dedicating yourself to video games allows you to get ◊ Happy Birthday Monkey Island! Page 47
distracted, you end up engaging yourself in activities that involve ◊ True Lies (SNES) Page 49
and bring social interactivity (just think about the multiplayer ◊ Billy Masters Was Right (PC) Page 50
platforms such as Kaillera). Playing together and sharing
experiences prevents contagion. In fact, it prevents a particular ◊ Project Firestart (C64) Page 51
contagion, which is underestimated but equally dangerous: ◊ Luigi's Mansion (Game Cube) Page 53
loneliness, depression and anxiety. It is not just a question of ◊ Cannon Fodder (Amiga/PC) Page 55
"playing games", but interacting with this incredible universe,
thanks also to the many initiatives that arose during this crazy ◊ Micro Mages (Nes) Page 57
and unexpected pandemic. ◊ Doom (PC) Page 59
◊ Nintendo VS Takeshi (FamiCom) Page 61
In the world of retrocomputing, we have witnessed with interest
the several online challenges on the old classics, the ◊ Stormlord (C64) Page 63
programming competitions using languages such as BASIC (for
example, the competition based on the theme of Alien Attack!
that we at RMW have personally promoted) and the relentless
retro-hardware recovery of so many enthusiasts who repair and
regenerate real gems of the past. All this has allowed us to stay
away from those terrible psychological monsters, even more
frightening than those of horror films or the damage to health
that the virus itself can cause to us and our beloved ones. It is
these fears that we must fight, those same monsters that have
accompanied us over these last hard months.
Well, just a few years ago the WHO stated alarmistically enough People involved in preparing this issue of
that addiction to video games was to be considered as a disease, RetroMagazine World (in no particular order):
they named it "gaming disorder". And now something once
labelled dangerous is becoming a valuable tool that can help us
deal with something much more dangerous. We consider it very • Alberto (Ghostbuster) • Graphics support
Apostolo Irene G. Valeri
positively that the deep qualities of the video games are being
rediscovered , now seen as a means of communication designed • Gianluca Girelli • Cover
Flavio Soldani
to unite rather than isolate. Especially in such a difficult time • Michele "Conte Ugolino"
where we are all indiscriminately subjected to fear and • Proof-reading
• Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini Francesco Fiorentini,
uncertainty.
• Daniele Brahimi David La Monaca,
Alberto Apostolo,
Come on, then! The time has come to defeat this "monster" too. • Flavio Soldani Gianluca Girelli, Carlo N.
We now know what to do! Let's start by pressing the power Del Mar Pirazzini,
• Francesco Fiorentini
button of our console or favorite home computer. You'll see that Michele Ugolini
slowly you can turn into a mustache plumber, a spaceship pilot, a • Attilio Capuozzo/RPI
knight in armor, a warrior... We can be all these characters. And ITALIA
we'll also know how to defeat the end-of-level monster. After all, • Querino Ialongo
think about it, haven't we done it hundreds of times yet? ;-) • Leonardo Miliani
Carlo Nith Del Mar Pirazzini • Edoardo Ullo
Page 2 of 64 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4

HARDWARE
LM80C Color Computer

A 2019 self-built Z80-based home computer - part 3
by Leonardo Miliani
In the previous part, we analyzed how, thanks to the
address decoders, the CPU can select certain chips to
exchange data with. It is in fact the whole set of integrated
II or the SID of Commodore 64) it would not only have
circuits that work together that form a computer, it is not
linked me to a certain architecture but, given the demand
just the CPU. The CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the
on the second-hand market for these highly sought after
main component but is not the only one. The CPU is
chips and no longer in production for years, it would have
basically like an orchestra conductor. The orchestra is
put me in front of a large economic outlay that I did not
composed of many instruments that are played in a
want to face in any way.
synchronized and harmonious way with the others precisely
thanks to the conductor who decides the rhythm and the
As we have already seen in previous articles, the LM80C
moments when each and every instrument has to play.
is a system based on the Zilog Z80 microprocessor.
Bringing the analogy to the level of a computer, therefore,
Alongside this I have added auxiliary chips that manage
the many instruments are the peripherals that compose
different computer subsystems, following the philosophy
it and the CPU our “conductor”.
in vogue in the 80s, namely to lighten the work of the CPU
by delegating part of its tasks to other subsystems. One
Choosing certain instruments instead of others leads to
of the supporters of this approach was Jay Miner, a US
the composition of a certain type of orchestra, just as
engineer who designed the graphics chips at the base of
integrated circuits create the characteristics of a system
the Atari 2600 console and the Atari 8-bit computers of
as a whole. The choice I had in front of me for the LM80C
the 1980s (figure 1) as well as the creator of the Amiga
was the same as in the late 70s and throughout the 80s
project. Assigning burdensome tasks such as, for example,
of the 20th century the manufacturers of computers and
managing audio and graphics to specialized chips not
consoles: to make a computer completely on their own,
only allows you to recover a good slice of computational
also manufacturing the various individual components,
power from the CPU to be diverted to other tasks but also
or to choose the way of assembly and create a system
engages in those specially designed chip tasks. Many
using parts produced by others. For some manufacturers,
inexpensive computers, such as the ZX80, went a different
the first was a paved road: for example, Commodore owned
way, optimizing costs but not performance: the CPU, in
MOS Technology, and so his computers were based on
fact, also dealt with video signal generation, and this task
chips designed and built “in-house”. Texas Instruments,
drastically reduced the performance of the system. By
with its TI-99 series computers, also followed the same
introducing the FAST instruction in the ZX81, which
path, being a manufacturer of integrated circuits. Others,
deactivated the video while performing particularly heavy
on the other hand, relied on what they found on the market:
tasks, Sinclair tried to put a piece to this problem, allowing
the most famous example are the well-known MSX
the CPU to disengage from image generation and devote
computers, based on components available on the price
itself completely to mathematical calculations. Precisely
lists of various manufacturers. Since I do not yet own my
because the generation of graphic elements of the image
own production plant, I have opted for the assembly of a
is one of the heaviest tasks, some manufacturers did not
machine, but resorting to components produced not
just design chips capable only of generating the video
exclusively for a single system. This has allowed not only
signal but also worked to integrate additional functions
to choose chips that are still easily available in circulation
into their products. One of these is the management of
but also to draw on resources such as documentation and
particular elements that were very popular at the time
software that have accelerated and simplified the design
because they were widely used in games: sprites.
of the computer. Furthermore, if I had opted for chips
created exclusively for a certain system (for example VIC-
When I laid the foundations for the LM80C project, I
immediately wanted the computer not only to be able to
generate a reproducible video image on a common TV set
but also to manage colorful graphics and sprite. I therefore
needed a chip dedicated exclusively to the video sector.
However, it must also have been a chip at the time quite
widespread so that bones are now easily available at an
economic price. The choice fell on the TMS9918A from
Texas Instruments, which meets all the requirements. The
TMS9918A was born in 1979 as a graphics chip for the
Texas Instruments TI-99/4 computer. The first version of
this chip is simply called TMS9918 (without the final “A”)
Figure 1: The Atari 800XL mounted the custom ANTIC, GTIA and is a good chip at the time. It has 3 video modes: a
and POKEY chips to lighten the CPU from video and sound 40x24 character textual mode, a 256x192 pixel graphics
management. based on "tile” and a 64x48 pixel multicolor mode.
RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4 Page 3 of 64
HARDWARE
Shortly afterwards the project is reviewed and the chip, instead at a high level because of the WR signal which is high.
which becomes TMS9918A (figure 2), sees the addition
of a graphical mode of type "bitmap” (ie with individually Ultimately, we analyze how THE VDP “MODE” pin enters
manageable pixels). The chip is referred to as "Video
Display Processor”, VDP, in the official documentation.
The chip is easily interfaced to any CPU. In fact, it requires

only 3 electrical signals to be driven: CSW/CSR/MODE,
i.e. a “write” signal, a "read” signal and one that sets the
mode, i.e. whether the current operation involves VRAM
memory or one of the internal registers.
Figure 3: Logical ORs for selecting read and write

signals for VDP
the field (figure 4). This pin, depending on the level it

assumes, indicates whether the operation refers to the
VRAM or if it is directed to one of the internal registers of
the video chip. The first case occurs when MODE assumes
a low level, while the second when the level is high. At this
point it is easy to have this behavior by connecting the
pin MODE to a CPU address bus pin, so as to obtain the
Figure 2: TMS9918A Video Display Processor status change with the simple setting of the I/O port
number. In the case of the LM80C the connection is made
The VRAM, the video memory, is separate from the system with pin A1. Since THE VDP is mapped to logical port 48
memory and the only way the CPU can access it is through (0011 0000 in binary), reading or writing to that port sets
THE VDP. Usually the connection is made by banally the pin MODE to low level, thus enabling data exchange
connecting the CSR and CSW pins of THE VDP to the RD with the VRAM. If instead we access port 50 (0011 0010
and WR pins of the Z80. To make the signals safer, instead in track: note the status of the 2nd bit, highlighted in bold),
of making these connections directly, I used the logical the selection of the VDP does not change but the presence
ORs, the 7432 chips. The choice of ORs is not random: in of a high signal on pin A1 simultaneously generates a high
Boolean logic, the result of an OR is true when at least one level on the pin MODE, which the VDP interprets as an
of the two operands is true. Similarly, a 7432 returns a exchange of data with one of its registers.
high signal with even a single high input. Since the signal Surely there would be much more to say about the VDP
is active low, I need a low output: for the output to have but the purpose of this article was to examine how the
this level it is therefore necessary that both inputs are at CPU manages to exchange data with the graphics chip,
a low level. Since the activation signals are all at a low not as much as this works.
level, the ORs ensure that CSW or CSR pins are only selected
when a correct combination of signals on the inputs is Well, again this time we have arrived at the greetings, I
composed. Figure 3 helps us understand this better.
The first OR on the left is used as a "main switch”: only if

THE VDP is selected from the address decoder (seen the
previous time) and the CPU is actually trying to access an
I/O device (state defined by the IORQ pin) will we have
two low level inputs and, consequently, also the output of
the OR at low level. At this point the output of the first OR
becomes one of the 2 inputs of both downstream ORs that Figure 4: VDP pin "MODE"
oversee the activation of the read or write signal. Let's
take a practical example. Imagine you want to send data
to THE VDP (so we want to write on the graphics chip). will wait for you in the next issue.
The signal on VDP_SEL is low thanks to the upstream
action of the device selection decoder. Now, since this is
an I/O operation, the signal on IORQ is also low: having USEFUL LINKS
2 inputs at low level, the output is also at low level. This
signal enters the 2 OR downstream. Since we intend to • Project reference website:
send a data to THE VDP, the signal on WR (“write”) becomes http://www.leonardomiliani.com/en/lm80c/
low and at the same time the signal on RD (“read”) becomes • Electrical diagrams and firmware source code:
high. It is easy at this point to check that only the CSW https://github.com/leomil72/LM80C
signal is low since only the output of the OR port marked • Hackaday page:
as U20C (pin 8 in the figure) is low because only here do https://hackaday.io/project/165246-lm80c-color
you have 2 signals at low level on both inputs. CSR is

HARDWARE
The TMS9918A video chip

by Leonardo Miliani
Starting from this issue, we introduce a series of articles console, it had the ability to run cartridge games. Later it
about the components that have formed the backbone of was also added the connections for a keyboard and an
our beloved retro-systems, be they computers or consoles. expansion port in order to connect additional peripherals.
The TI-99/4 needed a video processor and so TI developed
What made a certain system distinctive was its hardware the TMS9918 (note the absence of the ending "A” in its
architecture: unlike today, where computers share the name) and they called it Video Display Processor (VDP),
same architecture (basically a direct evolution of that PC a chip with good technical specifications: the TMS9918
marketed by IBM in 1981), in the 70s and 80s of the last generated a 60 Hz video signal in standard NTSC with a
century each manufacturer marketed a computer by graphical resolution of 256 rows, 192 columns and 15
elaborating custom projects according to its own choices. colors. It could also handle a 40x24 character text mode
Starting from the selection of the CPU up to the different and a 64x48 pixel multicolor mode. The chip designers
custom chips, each component went to assemble a system decided to ship it with a VRAM (video memory) separated
that, good or bad, stood out from the others and was, so from the 4 KB system RAM: due to this choice, the CPU
to speak, unique. Despite this, many computers resembled could only write to the video buffer through the VDP. The
each other because, as mentioned in the previous series advantage proposed by this architecture, however, was
of articles dedicated to my LM80C self-built computer, not the fact that the VDP did not “steal” memory from the
all manufacturers were also manufacturers of ICs, so those system in order to manage the video buffer.
who were not, they were forced to select what the market
offered then. And after the CPU, one of the definitely most Sprite
important components was the video processor, which The TMS9918 supports hardware sprites, special graphical
was entrusted with the task of generating the video image objects often used in games to represent elements such
to be sent to the monitor or the TV connected to the system. as the player's character, enemies or other moving
The video processor often had the task of managing not animations. Interestingly, the term "sprite” was coined
only the text modes but also the low- and high resolution by an IT manager, Dave Ackley, and officially appeared for
graphic modes. The chip we are going to analyze in this the first time in the VDP documentation. Sprites are
first article of the series, is the TMS9918A from Texas graphical objects managed by the video chip that move
Instruments, used in lots of computers and consoles of around the screen independently of the background,
the time. without altering it. Initially it had been decided to support
only 4 monochrome sprites for technical reasons (limited
TMS9918 Video Display Processor VDP access time to the VRAM and little bandwidth of the
In the second half of the 70s, the 8-bit computers on sale latter to pass more information) but Matthew Hagerty and
were no longer intended purely for amateurs because they Pete Macourek, a couple of the VDP designers, managed
had to be assembled by the user (such as the Apple I, the to expand the number to 32, adopting a hack based on a
Altair 8800 and the like). They finally were complete user- “sprite stack” and a "pre-processing sprite”: during the
friendly systems, with their own case equipped with a course of the video raster to the edges on the side of the
keyboard and ready to use: in fact, the user only had to screen (an area of the screen with no information to display)
connect the power supply and a monitor or, more widely, the chip retrieves the sprite information (pre-fetching)
a common TV at home. So the Commodore PET, the Apple and saves it into a stack. When the image is generated,
II and the TRS-80 invaded the homes of millions of users. the VDP checks the stack for the 4 sprites that can be
Texas Instruments (TI), noticing the remarkable success displayed for each individual row and retrieves their data.
obtained by those home computers, decided to enter the However, the limit of the 4 sprites per row remains: in
market and began, in 1977, the development of its own Figure 1 you can see how the parts of the 5th sprite onwards
home computer called the TI-99/4: this was similar to a are not correctly rendered on screen because they occupy
the same scanning line as the first 4.
The sprites have dimensions of 8x8 or 16x16 pixels (they
are actually composed of 4 side by side sprites), which
can be doubled: in this case the pixels assume a dimension
of 2x2 pixels, so the dimensions of the sprites become,
respectively, 16x16 and 32x32 pixels.
TMS9918A
The TI-99/4 was not a very successful computer. So TI
Figure 1 - TMS9918 displays only 4 sprites per scan line
improved the design and released the TI-99/4A in 1981,

HARDWARE
a version revised in many respects and also equipped with The TMS9918A communicates with the CPU through an
a new graphic chip called TMS9918A. The "A” meant that, 8-bit data bus and only 3 other signals connected to as
if compared to its predecessor, it has a new operating many chip pins: read, write and mode. The first two have
mode called “Graphic 2”, which can handle the image in clear meanings while the last one is used to indicate to
bitmap mode, i.e. every single pixel is individually addressable. the VDP whether the data is to be exchanged with the
The TMS9918, in fact, can only handle graphics in tile VRAM or with one of its internal registers. These registers
mode, where a tileset composed of 256 tiles of 8x8 pixels are 8 in total and write-only. They are needed to program
each, is used to manage graphics. The limitation of this the functions of the graphics processor, such as the
mode is that the elements, repeating on the screen, do graphics mode or in which portions of the VRAM to store
not allow to draw complex graphics or images. In order video buffer and sprite data. One register is read-only, the
to support this new bitmap mode, the TMS9918A must status log, which provides information about, for example,
be equipped with 16 KB of VRAM, all necessary to keep in the collision between sprites or the interrupt. The video
memory not only all the information related to the video image is divided into "display planes”. These “levels” are
buffer but also all the data related to the sprites. in number of 35, from 0 to 34: the lower the number, the
closer the plane is to the observer and has higher priority
Versions and usage than the planes below. The first 32 planes are occupied
The first version of the chip, the TMS9918 (without the by sprites, the 33rd floor contains the background image,
"A”) was only used for the TI-99/4. The TMS9918A (with the 34th is the "backplane”, which is as wide as the entire
the "A”) was initially used for the TI-99/4A but then screen image and forms the background of the entire
licensed to third parties: thanks to this commercial move, image and is generally seen as an edge on the central
TI sold many processors and they were widely used in screen sides. Behind it there is a particular plane called
many systems of the time. It has been mounted on "external VDP” that would allow the video signal generated
ColecoVision, CreatiVision and Sega SG-1000 consoles, from an external source to be introduced into the image:
Spectravideo computers and, most importantly, the first the VDP in fact features a video input (only the TMS9918A
series of MSX home computers. Some more modern model actually does) that, in the plans of the IT designers,
consoles, such as the Sega Master System, Sega Game would have served to overprint the objects and text on
Gear and Mega Drive mounted graphics chips derived the image generated by another VDP, even though, to my
from the TMS9918A. To adapt the VDP to different systems memory, I am not aware of systems that have used this
and different video signals, specific versions have been functionality. The last plane, called “default backplane”,
released: the TMS9928A always generates an NTSC signal is a mere black image that appears for example when the
in YPbPr version (with colour components) but for countries VDP is powered but is not programmed by the CPU. Figure
with PAL standards the TMS9929A has been created. 2 shows an example of sprites overlapping each other and
Subsequently the project was revised and the new TMS9118, the text, which occupies one of the last planes of the image.
TMS9128 and TMS9129 were released: these chips are There are 15 colors available, although they are sometimes
identical to the models they replace, apart from the function referred to as 16: actually the 16th color is “transparent”
of a pin and a different management of the VRAM. and it's needed to show the image of the plane dedicated
to the external signal. In the event that there is no pixel
N.B.: henceforth “TMS9918A” for convenience will mean on in any of the planes below and, in the absence of an
globally both TMS9918A and all its derivatives, since they input signal, then the pixel of the last plane (“default
share the technical characteristics. backplane”) will pass through: this is why it is often thought
that this color is also black, because it passes the color
Technical specifications of the last plane which, in fact, is black.
Regarding VRAM management, the VDP divides the video
memory into various “tables” where, depending on the
selected graphics mode, the data necessary for the
generation of the video image and sprites are stored. The
"pattern table” contains the character patterns, the "name
table” contains the pattern codes to load for each cell of
the screen, the "color table” the color information. The
sprite data are also stored in 2 separate tables: the "sprite
attribute table”, which contains the main sprite data (such
as X and Y coordinates and color) and the "sprite pattern
table”, which instead contains the pixel data that must be
turned on or off to compose the objects.
A major chip deficiency is the absence of hardware scrolling,
both vertical and horizontal. When it was designed, at the
end of the 70s, the games were single-screen based and
Figure 2: sprites rendered above the text, which this feature was not required. Then at the beginning of
occupies one of the top planes of the image
HARDWARE
chip can independently handle each individual pixel and

handle an image of 256x192 pixels. Unlike graphics mode
1, in this mode the image is managed with 3 tables of 256
cells of 8x8 pixels each, for a total of 768 different patterns.
The color is also handled differently: each byte (8 pixels)
of the image allows you to use a different primary color
and one for the background. In this mode the pattern table
occupies 6,144 bytes: since each pattern occupies 8x8
pixels, it takes 8 bytes, and since each table contains 256
patterns, it takes 8x256=2,048 bytes for each table. The
same size (6,144 bytes) occupies the color table since,
as mentioned before, each byte of the table indicates the
colors for an 8-pixel video segment. Finally, the name table
Figure 3: the defect known as "color spill" is 768 bytes long (32x24 cells): the screen is divided into
3 horizontal areas (top, middle and bottom), and each
the 80s arcade conversions became popular and they area is composed of 256 cells that can contain 256 different
often featured scrolling as an important element of the patterns. Graphics mode 2 also supports sprites. Since
games: all the conversions were greatly affected by this the colors of the pixels of each byte of the image (8
limitation, because replacing the hardware scrolling with horizontal points) are stored in a single byte, where the
software routines in most cases produced not enough color of the pixels on and that of the pixels off are saved,
good results. it is understood that for each cell of 8 pixels you can only
have 2 colors at the same time: if the user tries to draw
Graphic modes something with a third color, the latter alters the primary
The TMS9918A, as mentioned, supports 4 graphics modes: color of all the pixels of that byte, as can be seen from the
text mode, tileset graphics, bitmap graphics and multicolor. image in figure 3. This defect is known as "color spill”.
Text mode:
in this mode the screen is divided into 40x24 cells of 6x8 Multi-color graphics mode:
pixels, for an image resolution of 240x192 pixels. To This mode allows you to have a medium resolution image
manage this mode, the VDP uses a “pattern table” of 2,048 of 64x48 blocks, where each block actually occupies 4x4
bytes (256 patterns per 8 bytes) and the “name table”, pixels on the screen and can take any of the 15 colors
large 40x24=960 bytes, where each byte represents a available. The name table and pattern table are used for
memory cell: each of these cells contains the character this mode: the color table is not used because the color
code (from 0 to 255) that the VDP will then pick up from information is contained in the pattern table. The name
the pattern table for display. There are only 2 colors table consists of 768 bytes pointing to an 8-byte segment
available and they apply to the entire screen: the main in the pattern table (1,536 bytes). Of this segment each
color, used for the bright spots of the individual patterns, area of 4x4 blocks indicates the colors for different lines
and the background color, used for the off spots and for of the screen and only 2 bytes are used: the first indicates
the edges of the screen. Because the video cell is only 6 the colors of the 2 upper blocks and the second that of
pixels wide, the 2 most significant bits of the patterns are the lower blocks. This mode also supports sprites.
ignored.
Undocumented modes:
Graphics Mode 1: “playing” with the settings of registers you can get some
this mode is a graphical mode that can also be used to undocumented VDP modes. For example, you can get an
represent text. The image is divided into 32x24 cells of intermediate mode between graph 1 and graph 2, where
8x8 pixels, for a resolution of 256x192 pixels. The pattern you only have 256 patterns as in graph 1 but with the
table is large 2,048 bytes (256x8), the name table is 768 ability to manage the colors of the individual bytes of the
bytes because the allowed cells are, as mentioned, 32x24. patterns as in graph 2. Or set a different way for each of
Unlike text mode, colors are handled differently in this the 3 pattern areas on the screen, for example having the
mode, and the color table is 32 bytes long: each byte first 2 areas managed in bitmap mode and the last one in
contains the color of pixels on and off for a block of 8 tile mode, thus allowing you to draw detailed graphics for
characters. Border color is independent. Since the available the game frame on the first two thirds of the screen and
patterns are only 256 while the cells are 768, this mode texts or patterns on the last one, for scores, messages
does not allow you to address the individual pixels of the and more.
image: on the other hand, this mode is also used as a text
mode, because you can define patterns with ASCII codes Well, that's it for this article. See you next time.
and then display them on the screen with a simple byte.
Sprites are supported.
Graphics Mode 2:
Graphics mode 2 is a pure bitmap mode, where the graphics
SOFTWARE
Software compatibility between ZX-81 and the Spectrum: monsters and ghosts
by Alberto (Ghostbuster) Apostolo
As a boy, I used to analyze ingenious little programs

written for ZX 81 (almost always games) but I often
encountered some difficulties in converting
instructions. There is no 100% compatibility between
ZX 81 and ZX Spectrum.
Hardware Differences
The circuits are obviously different. 16 KB memory
expansion for ZX 81 is not usable on ZX Spectrum.
Programs saved on cassettes for ZX 81 cannot be read
on ZX Spectrum. Only the ZX Printer can connect to
both models [Bon83].
The organization of memory is different and
consequently POKE and PEEK commands will also be
different (as well as the machine language routines
and system variables). Figure 1 (above) - Figure 2 (below)
The memory area reserved on ZX 81 for the screen
consists of 768 bytes (24 rows by 32 columns of
characters) and low-resolution graphics (64 x 44
pixels). Figure 3: apex simbol is obtained with Symbol_Shift+7.
The ZX Spectrum model has 6912 bytes divided into:
1) 6144 bytes of graphics (256 x 192 pixels or 24 x 32
characters),
2) 768 bytes (24 rows by 32 columns) reserved for
font colors and other video attributes (brightness and
flashing).
The character set for ZX 81 has its own encoding while
the characters from 0 to 127 in the set for ZX
Spectrum are ASCII. For example, in the ZX 81 model
the "A" character and the "A" character in reverse (Fig.
2) have code 38 and 166 respectively [Bon82] while in
the ZX Spectrum model they have the same code 65
(only the video attributes change). Some graphical
characters not in the ZX Spectrum set can be
implemented through User Defined Graphics (UDGs).
BASIC distinct...
Hardware differences affect their respective versions of
BASIC wired in ROM.
Figure 4
BASIC for ZX Spectrum can be considered an
extension and revision of that for ZX 81. "scrolling" is automatic but with user control with the
FAST and SLOW commands are missing on ZX request "scroll ?" which appears at the bottom of the
Spectrum because it operates at FAST speed and screen. POKE command 23692,255 (system variable
transmits video data in SLOW without interfering with "SCR CT") followed by PRINT AT 21,31;'' emulates
each other's operations and it makes no sense to SCROLL command for ZX 81 (Fig.3).
emulate them (video management is independent).
PAUSE 0 command emulates PAUSE 40000 for ZX 81 UNPLOT command for ZX 81 has been replaced by
[Lis84b]. PLOT OVER 1 command, but care must be taken with
SCROLL command is missing because on ZX Spectrum the graphical resolution and programs for ZX 81 in
SOFTWARE
which PLOT and UNPLOT modify the graphical 5 REM "USELESS"

characters (Fig.4) in place of PRINT AT commands. 10 PRINT "THIS IS ALL IT DOES"
20 STOP
SAVE command for ZX 81 saves programs and data to 100 SAVE "USELESS"
the same file while on ZX Spectrum there are multiple 110 GOTO 10
options for saving arrays and byte sequences (screens,
Figure 5
machine language routines). Another difference is
saving BASIC programs with autostart. On ZX
Spectrum you have SAVE s LINE k command where s is
a string and k is the line number to skip to after
loading with LOAD command. On ZX 81, however, it is a
bit more complicated (Fig. 5). The example is taken
from the original manual for ZX81 (chapter 16). After
starting the recorder in REC mode, RUN 100 command
will save the program (as a benign side effect, the last
letter of the name will appear in reverse). After
repositioning the cassette belt, LOAD command
"USELESS" must be given to load the program. After
loading, processing will continue to line 110.
Figure 6
As an alternative for a RUN command, you can give a
GOTO command if you do not want to delete the
variables (while GOSUB is not recommended because it
does not work properly).
Manage collisions in games written in ZX BASIC
Generally, in a game that uses alphanumeric
characters as graphics, collisions are handled with
BASIC statements and not with strange machine
language routines.
One difficulty that can be encountered in converting a

program written for ZX 81 is due to the technique of
using POKE and PEEK to place characters in the
memory area reserved for the screen.
Fig. 6 shows a small game for ZX 81, which appeared Figure 7

in the Italian magazine LIST no. 1 [Lis84]. The
spaceship at the top of the screen must dodge the
enemies (symbolized by the letter "W"). The
commands are "N" to go left, "M" to go right and "X"
to shoot (each shot subtracts 10 points from the
variable S that stores the score). Fig.7 shows the
version for ZX Spectrum (with changes to lines 20, 70,
75 and THE PAUSE instruction added to improve
gameplay). To manage the collision between the center
of the spacecraft and the enemies, a SCREEN$(row,col)
function was used on line 20 to return the printed
character to the coordinates (row,col) of the screen.
However, a SCREEN$ function has a weakness. For

example, if a high-resolution plotted pixel "soils” the Figure 8: screenshot of the game in Fig.7
character printed at the position (row,col) then
SCREEN$ will return an empty string because it cannot Curious facts
In [Bon83] at page 230, there’s a mistake.
recognize it. Addresses written in row 20 are for ZX81 not
for Spectrum!

SOFTWARE
It's a shame SCREEN$ only works with ASCII

characters and can't recognize UDGs and other
graphics characters. The legendary Dilwyn Jones
suggested to circumvent the obstacle by coloring the
graphics and using an ATTR (row,col) function that
returns a number associated with the position
(row,col) equal to Flashing*128 + Brightness*64 +
Paper*8 + Ink. Additionally, ATTR function processing
is 25% faster than SCREEN$ function. Fig.9 shows a
small program written by Dilwyn Jones for ZX
Spectrum in which UDGs are used [Jon83]. The keys to
command the spaceship are: "5" to move left and "8"
to move right.
Conclusions
Why translate a program from ZX 81 to ZX Spectrum
today?
In the world of retrocomputing there are programming
competitions to create software with the least number
Figure 9
of program lines. The small programs created for ZX 81
are a good gym to increase your skill.
Or you want to run a rewritten program on ZX
Spectrum (real or emulated) to take advantage of the
superior features (color, graphics, sound).
There are no fixed conversion "rules". In order not to
hunt monsters and ghosts during the debugging
phase, a preliminary "reverse engineering" is
convenient to understand the behavior of the program
and subsequently improve only the parts related to the
Input-Output, leaving unchanged those consisting of
calculations.
Figure 10: screenshot of the game in Fig.9

Bibliography
[Bon82] R.Bonelli, "Guida al Sinclair ZX81", Gruppo Editoriale Jackson, 1982,

https://archive.org/details/guidaalsinclairzx81zx80enuovarom
[Bon83] R.Bonelli, "Alla scoperta dello ZX Spectrum", Gruppo Editoriale Jackson, 1983,
https://archive.org/details/allascopertadellozxspectrum
[Hew84] A.Hewson, "ZX equivalents", Sinclair User Magazine, n. 25, Apr.1984, pagg.122-124,
https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-025
[Jon83] D.Jones, "Delving deeper into your ZX Spectrum", Interface Publications, 1983.
[Lis84] LIST n.1, Jan-Feb 1984, pag.28,

https://archive.org/details/LIST1984-01
[Lis84b] LIST n.5, Sep-Oct 1984, pag.92,

LIST issues (not complete):

https://archive.org/details/listprogrammi

SOFTWARE
Alien Attack!
from Amstrad CPC to Commodore 64 through Simons' Basic
by Francesco Fiorentini
After the article in the last issue dedicated to the game consequent relative ease they can be added, has caused,
Alien Attack! written in Locomotive Basic for Amstrad CPC, over the years, the proliferation of several Basic extensions
I realized that it's been a while since I wrote anything for for the Commodore 64. Undoubtedly one of the most
my first computer, the Commodore 64. It was a gap that famous is Simons' Basic.
had to be filled and full with goodwill I decided to convert Created by a talented 16-year-old boy, this software was
that game for the Breadbin. At first glance it might seem released in 1983 and has been incredibly successful ever
a rather simple operation, in the end they are two 8bit since. Anyone who has ever owned a C64 has heard of
machines, almost contemporary, very similar in text screen Simons' Basic at least once.
resolution and both equipped with Basic. But, as the wises The program, generally distributed on cartridges, is now
teach, the devil hides in detail. easily available even in D64 format and adds 114 powerful
commands to the standard Basic!
As I have already written several times, the Locomotive
Basic that equips the Amstrad CPC is a truly advanced The purpose of this article is not to illustrate all the
Basic dialect, nothing to do with the limited capabilities capabilities of Simons' Basic, a book would not suffice,
of the Basic V2 that equips the Commodore 64. The but to indicate some peculiarities that have been useful
commands that the two Basic dialects have in common to me for the porting of the game.
are few and, obviously, I had used in my game most of
those specific to the Locomotive. After a quick analysis I Characters redefinition
was still reasonably convinced that I would be able to As mentioned above, the redefinition of the characters on
transfer all the code fairly easily, with the sole exception the Breadbin is quite a long operation; fortunately Simons'
of characters redefinition. Basic greatly facilitates this task: not at the levels of the
Locomotive Basic, but quite close.
Redefining the characters on Commodore 64 is a rather
long and tedious operation, while it is definitely simple on Before the characters can be redefined, however, they
the Amstrad CPC thanks to the SYMBOL statement. must be copied from ROM to RAM. This operation, which
Obviously I would have avoided redefining the entire is quite tricky in Basic V2, translates into Simons' Basic
character set, but to generate the tiles of the game and in just the MEM statement.
the spaceship, as well as the bomb, I would still have to
redesign some characters. When I was resigned to making As reported in Simons’ Basic’ manual: the MEM command
this effort, in order to effectively convert the game, I came transfers a copy of the character set from ROM to RAM,
up with an idea. An idea called Simons' Basic. under the control of the Kernal operating system. The
screen is moved to location $CC00.
Simons' Basic Keep the highlighted part in mind, you’ll see the reason later.
The limitation of the Basic V2’s commands and the
After copying characters from ROM to RAM, they can be
redefined using the DESIGN statement and the connected
@ command. See the attached code from rows 6000 to 6200.
Not as simple as the Locomotive SYMBOL command, but
close enough.
NOTE: I also created an Excel spreadsheet to automate the

writing of rows needed to redefine a single character: if
you are interested to receive it, just let me know.
PRINT AT

SOFTWARE
simply write the corresponding character directly into the

video memory using THE POKE command.
See line 1200 which prints the front of the spaceship.
Line 1220 prints the back of the spaceship (the spaceship

consists of two characters). Line 1230, cleans up the trail
of the spaceship, printing the character 32 (a blank space)
on the screen. Repeating this operation creates the effect
of the movement, from left to right, of the spaceship.
The same logic was adopted for the movement of the
bomb, this time vertically.
Another peculiarity of the Simons' Basic is the PRINT AT

What about the collisions?
command. Completely missing in the Basic standard, it is
In Locomotive Basic collisions were managed using the
comparable to the Locomotive's LOCATE command.
COPYCHR$() command which reveal the value of a character
The choice of Simons' Basic was also made for this reason,
in a defined position indicated through the LOCATE function.
since my Amstrad game makes extensive use of this
But wait a minute, I already know the position of my
command to print objects on the screen. Unfortunately
spaceship... I don’t need the LOCATE this time. Maybe I
due to poor performance, I could benefit of this command
can read the value of the character in that particular
only in some parts of the code. For game animations and
position by directly reading the value of the video memory.
collisions control I had to rewrite the logic from scratch.
How? Using the PEEK statement of course.
See again the line 1110.
PEEK and POKE
In the Amstrad CPC program, the movement of the spaceship
Once done, it is sufficient to check this value and, if different
is generated by a series of characters printed on the screen
from a blank space (character 32) or the spaceship itself
and positioned with the LOCATE command.
(characters 254 and 255), it means that there is a collision.
See line 1140.
Although it was possible to do the same in Simon's Basic,
using the PRINT AT statement, to increase the speed I
IF THEN :ELSE
preferred to print the characters on screen by writing them
Another reason that led me to use Simons' Basic is the
directly in memory using the POKE command. You might
possibility of using the IF THEN :ELSE construct.
think it's hard to calculate all the correct memory locations,
but what at first glance might seem like a complicated
As we all know, Basic V2 lacks of the ELSE condition in
operation is actually quite simple if you have the Commodore
the IF statement. In my opinion, this is a rather important
64 video memory map in mind. Commodore 64's video
deficiency because it forces the programmer to carry out
memory consists of 25 rows and 40 columns that generally
unnecessary checks. Additionally it makes the already
start from the $400 (1024) memory location. But if you
poor readability of the Basic programs even poorer. Luckily
remember, as per the annotiation of the MEM command
Simons' Basic covers this gap by implementing the ELSE
in the Simons' Basic manual, after executing this command
condition through the syntax :ELSE.
the video memory of the Commodore 64 is moved to the
location $CC00 (52224).
The movement of the alien spaceship is managed by two

FOR cycles, one for rows and one for columns. It's pretty
obvious that, in order to print the alien spaceship on the
screen you can use the coordinates provided by the FOR
cycles and sum them to the initial value of the video
memory. Nothing really complex. See the variable AM in
the line 1110.
Once the position of the spaceship has been calculated,

SOFTWARE
I had to rewrite all the IF - THEN - ELSE conditions to fit

the new syntax, but at least I didn't have to rewrite the Useful links:
logic of this part of the code too. From this page you can download the Simons' Basic:
https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Simons%27_BASIC
Well, the game's ready now. Porting it to the C64 cost me
only a couple of afternoons of adaptation, thanks mainly Here you can find the manual in Italian:
to the flexibility of Simons' Basic. https://archive.org/details/simonsbasic_en
Ah, I forgot... The bomb can be shoot with the '1' key.
Have fun!
10 rem **********************************
11 rem alien attack! by francesco fiorentini
12 rem commodore 64 simons' basic
15 rem September 2020
16 rem **********************************
17 hi=5000
18 gosub 10000: rem intro
20 print chr$(147)
29 rem chars redefined

30 gosub 6000
37 rem np=initial palaces numbers th=top high
38 rem vm=starting point of video memory after mem
39 rem it is 52224 but my iterations start at 1...
40 np=6:th=6:lv=1:lf=3:pt=0:ex=15000:vm=52223
69 rem create the background

70 gosub 7000
99 rem initialize game's parameters
100 bf=0:i=0
998 rem ship movement

999 rem r=row am=alienmovement
1000 for r = 1 to 23
1100 for i = 1 to 40
1110 am=vm+i+((r1)*40): ck=peek(am)
1120 rem collision control
1140 if ck<>32 and ck<>254 and ck<>255 then goto 3000
1200 poke am,af: poke am+3072,0
1220 if i>1 then poke am1,ab
1230 if i>2 then poke am2,32
1239 rem controllo della bomba
1240 gosub 5000
1280 next i
1285 poke am,32: poke am1,32
1290 pt=pt+50: if pt>=ex then 1291:else: goto 1298
1291 ex=ex+15000:lf=lf+1
1292 print at(1,23) "level:"; lv ;" lives:"; lf ; " points:"; pt
1293 goto 1299
1298 if lv< 10 then print at(30,23) pt :else:print at(31,23) pt
1299 if sf$="0000000000000000000000000000000000000000" then goto 1330
1300 rem print at(1,23) sf$
1301 next r
1309 rem level completed!!! move to next one
1310 gosub 6500
1320 goto 70
1329 rem level completed before reaching the ground
1330 pt=pt+(23r)*100: goto 1310
3000 rem crash

3005 cr$="***":pr$=" ":x=i2:if x<=0 then x=1:cr$="**":pcr$=" "
3010 print at(x1,r1) cr$
3020 lf=lf1
3030 if lf=0 then goto 3500
3040 for t=1 to 1000: next t
3050 print at(x1,r1) pr$
3061 rem print at(10,25) " hiscore:"; hi; ""
3070 goto 99

SOFTWARE
3499 rem game over

3500 print chr$(147)
3510 print at(9,6) " game over "
3511 print at(13,8) "score: "; pt
3525 for t=1 to 1000: next t
3530 print at(9,10) " play again? y/n "
3531 if pt>hi then hi=pt
3550 get re$
3560 if re$="y" or re$="y" then goto 20
3570 if re$="n" or re$="n" then goto 4999
3580 goto 3550
4998 rem game end
4999 end
5000 rem bomb routines br=bombrow bl=bombline bf=bombflag(0/1=n/y)

5005 get kp
5010 if kp=1 and bf=0 then 5020:else: goto 5025
5019 rem a new bomb
5020 br=r+1: bl=i: bf=1: goto 5190
5024 rem check if a bomb already exists
5025 if bf=0 then 5200:else: br=br+1
5030 if br=24 then goto 5210
5040 poke vm+((br2)*40)+bl,32
5190 poke vm+((br1)*40)+bl,bo
5200 return
5210 br=0:bf=0:poke vm+(22*40)+bl,32:sf$=inst("0",sf$,bl)
5220 goto 5200
6000 rem chars redefinition

6001 rem **** IMPORTANT *****
6002 rem $0400$0757 videoram before mem
6003 rem video memory starts at 1024
6004 rem $cc00$cfff videoram after mem
6005 rem video memory starts at 52224
6009 mem
6010 design 2,$e000 + 254 * 8
6011 @......bb
6012 @.....bbb
6013 @...bbbbb
6014 @..bbb..b
6015 @b.bb.bbb
6016 @bbbbbbbb
6017 @..b...b.
6018 @.b.b.b.b
6020 design 2,$e000 + 255 * 8
6021 @bb......
6022 @bbb.....
6023 @bbbbb...
6024 @b..bbb.b
6025 @bb.bb.bb
6026 @bbbbbbbb
6027 @.b...b..
6028 @b.b.b.b.
6030 design 2,$e000 + 253 * 8
6031 @........
6032 @..b..b..
6033 @...bb...
6034 @..bbbb..
6035 @..bbbb..
6036 @..bbbb..
6037 @..bbbb..
6038 @...bb...
6039 rem palace floors char (230,231,232,233,234,235)
6040 design 2,$e000 + 230 * 8
6041 @bbbbbbbb
6042 @bb.bb.bb
6043 @bbbbbbbb
6044 @bb.bb.bb
6045 @bbbbbbbb
6046 @bb.bb.bb
6047 @bbbbbbbb
6048 @bb.bb.bb
6050 design 2,$e000 + 231 * 8
6051 @bbbbbbbb

SOFTWARE
6052 @bbbbb.bb
6053 @bbbbbbbb
6054 @bb.bbbbb
6055 @bbbbb.bb
6056 @bbbbbbbb
6057 @bb.bbbbb
6058 @bbbbbbbb
6060 design 2,$e000 + 232 * 8
6061 @bbbbbbbb
6062 @bb.bb.bb
6063 @bbbbbbbb
6064 @bb.bbbbb
6065 @bbbbb.bb
6066 @bb.bbbbb
6067 @bbbbbbbb
6068 @bbbbbbbb
6070 design 2,$e000 + 233 * 8
6071 @bbbbbbbb
6072 @bbbbbbbb
6073 @bb.bb.bb
6074 @bbbbbbbb
6075 @bb.bb.bb
6076 @bbbbbbbb
6077 @bbbbbbbb
6078 @bbbbbbbb
6080 design 2,$e000 + 234 * 8
6081 @bbbbbbbb
6082 @bb.bb.bb
6083 @bbbbbbbb
6084 @bbbb.bbb
6085 @bbbbbbbb
6086 @bb.bb.bb
6087 @bbbbbbbb
6088 @bbbbbbbb
6090 design 2,$e000 + 235 * 8
6091 @bbbbbbbb
6092 @bb.bbbbb
6093 @bbbbbbbb
6094 @bbbb.bbb
6095 @bbbbbbbb
6096 @bbbbbbbb
6097 @bb.bbbbb
6098 @bbbbbbbb
6099 rem draw palace top1 (240)
6100 design 2,$e000 + 240 * 8
6101 @........
6102 @........
6103 @........
6104 @........
6105 @...bb...
6106 @..bbbb..
6107 @.b.bb.b.
6108 @b.bbbb.b
6110 design 2,$e000 + 241 * 8
6111 @b......b
6112 @b......b
6113 @b......b
6114 @b......b
6115 @bb....bb
6116 @bbb..bbb
6117 @bbbbbbbb
6118 @bbbbbbbb
6120 design 2,$e000 + 242 * 8
6121 @...bb...
6122 @.bbbbbb.
6123 @.bbbbbb.
6124 @...bb...
6125 @...bb...
6126 @..bbbb..
6127 @.bbbbbb.
6128 @bbbbbbbb
6130 design 2,$e000 + 243 * 8

SOFTWARE
6131 @...bb...
6132 @...bb...
6133 @...bb...
6134 @...bb...
6135 @...bb...
6136 @..bbbb..
6137 @.bbbbbb.
6138 @bbbbbbbb
6139 rem af=alienfrontab=alienbackbo=bomb
6190 af=255:ab=254:bo=253
6200 return
6499 rem dinamic level management

6500 np=np+1:lv=lv+1:pt=pt+500:th=th+1
6501 if pt>=ex then ex=ex+15000:lf=lf+1
6504 if th>14 then th=15:if np>19 then np=19
6505 print at(9,4) ""
6510 print at(9,5) " go to level";lv;""
6520 print at(9,6) ""
6525 for t=1 to 1000: next t
6530 print at(9,7) " r u ready? y/n "
6540 print at(9,8) ""
6550 get re$
6560 if re$="y" or re$="Y" then goto 6591
6565 goto 6550
6591 print chr$(147)
6600 return
7000 rem draw the background

7001 rem al=aleatorio np=numero palazzi p=colore della penna
7002 sf$="0000000000000000000000000000000000000000"
7004 rem print at(1,25) " hiscore:"; hi; ""
7010 x=20(np/2)
7020 for n=1 to np
7022 rem change the top of the palace x=int(rnd(1)*(highlow))+low
7025 a=int((rnd(1)*4)+1)
7026 pp=239+a
7030 hi=int(rnd(1)*(th2))+2
7031 ox=x
7041 sf$=inst("1",sf$,x)
7042 x=ox
7050 for i=hi1 to 0 step 1
7051 rem cambia il piano x=int(rnd(1)*(highlow))+low
7052 a=int((rnd(1)*6)+1)
7053 pf=229+a
7063 pk=vm+((23i1)*40)+x
7065 if i=hi1 then 7066:else:goto 7070
7066 poke pk,pp: poke pk+3072,2
7067 goto 7090
7070 poke pk,pf: poke pk+3072,2
7090 next i
7091 x=x+1
7100 next n
7300 return
10000 rem write the intro

10001 ? chr$(147)
10060 print at(5, 2) "our planet is dying."
10061 print at(5, 3) "our species is in danger."
10062 print at(5, 4) "our future is in danger."
10063 print at(5, 5) "our only purpose is survival."
10064 print at(5, 6) "whatever the cost..."
10065 print at(5, 8) "we do not want to live together."
10066 print at(5, 9) "we do not want to live together."
10067 print at(5, 10) "we want the earth!"
10068 print at(5, 11) "whatever the cost..."
10069 print at(5, 13) "whatever the cost!"
10070 print at(5, 15) "this means war!"
10075 for i=1 to 2000:next i
10080 print at(5,19) ">>> alien attack! <<<"
10085 print at(5,21) "commodore 64 porting"
10090 print at(5,22) "2020 francesco fiorentini"
10100 for i=1 to 3000:next i
10110 return

SOFTWARE
Bombs Away!
by Gianluca Girelli
As Francesco Fiorentini wrote in his article on RMW25 ITA,
a couple of months ago our retro coder hearts beat very
hard during the "challenge" to create a clone of “Air Attack”,
an old game from the 1980s possibly developed for every
platform of the time. After so many years, it's amazing
how this simple game has not only withstood the passage
of time but has actually become an icon that can attract
interest in the modern world as well.
It is even more extraordinary how in non-suspicious times
(about a month before the challenge) I decided to create Figura 1 - Bombs Away! splashscreen
my own version to be inserted as a mini-game inside a
- if the bomb goes off it will destroy the building in its
larger game of next-gen derivation.
entirety (unlike other implementations);
- level of difficulty set to medium easy (high score not
While this idea was forming in my mind, the challenge took
important).
place on RPI pages and so (a FaceBook Italian group of
Retro Programmers), instead of programming the game
The next step was to define the graphics: using Gimp (but
using "advanced" techniques (layers or double-buffering
any other program would do) I designed the tiles and
on a graphic screen), I thought of implementing it using
other graphic elements, trying to give them a look as
as much code as possible that mimicked its original
pixellated as possible (see also Francesco's article on the
behavior (text screen and redefined characters).
subject).
Unlike Francesco, I did not have time to complete the work

As in the original (and Francesco’s implementation) I used
by the due date of September 24, but I hope that the effort
different tiles for the basic shapes of the skyscrapers, a
I made can still be appreciated.
series of "roofs" that could further diversify them, a
chequered base to simulate a lawn (or the basic footing
For the sake of brevity, I will focus here only on the
of the city), and the "bomber" (our ship) which, given the
differences of this specific port (written in Hollywood, the
spatial theme of the game in which “Blast Away!” is set,
Multimedia Application Layer by Andreas Falkenhahn)
I decided to draw with the likeness of the "Colonial Viper"
while leaving to the reader the task to study in detail the
from the old TV series "Battlestar Galactica" of the 1980s.
original implementation (see: RMW Italian edition no. 25,
The work is completed by a stylized man with an open
p. 22).
parachute in case the ship hits a building. The initial splash
screen is instead an artwork by my good friend Marco Riva.
Let us start with the constraints that have been set. As
mentioned before, my implementation consists of a mini-
The code attached to this article is commented enough
game to be activated inside a more complex and larger
to be self-explanatory, but there are a few points that need
game in order to progress with the story-plot. For this
to be clarified. First of all, there are two procedures,
reason, this particular implementation of "Air Attack" (which
p_Update_input() and p_MouseState(), that are not present
I renamed "Blast Away!") could not constitute a real
in the original BASIC implementation. The reason for their
challenge in itself, otherwise the overall level of difficulty
introduction is that today's systems are, of course, much
would have been too high for the occasional user. That's
faster than in the past and a simple mouse click actually
why I chose to restrict it to:
corresponds to multiple "states" that are stored in the
- 1 level only;
input/output buffer. The consequence, regardless of the
- 1 life only;
user's speed in pressing and releasing the button, is that
- a limited number of buildings to be destroyed;
SOFTWARE
Figure 2 - The tiles used in the game
the system will continue to react as if the player were a way transparent for the end-users, the effect of the
continuously clicking to shoot. Without going into detail, existence of the individual columns: thanks to Gimp I so
the aforementioned procedures are meant to limit the
program to reacting only once per click.
Another thing that had to be limited was the "range" of

horizontal positions from where the bomb can be dropped.
Let me explain myself better: unlike the classic implementation
on the text screen, where the ship moves from column to
column, one at a time and over a limited number of columns
(for example 40 on the C64/C128, each 8 pixels wide),
in this case our bomb can fall from any point on the screen
at the resolution of a single pixel, being such implementation
related to a completely graphic environment. This turns
Figure 3 - A partially destroyed building
into the fact that a building can only be partially destroyed
because the bomb, not falling exactly inside the column calculated and stored in a vector the coordinates of the
containing the relevant building, actually "slice it" according left and right extremes of each individual building. The
to the vertical plan(see figure 3). code then, when it detects the mouse pressure and decides
that it is possible to release the bomb (no other bomb
The result is a virtual multiplication of the number of on- already in flight) detects its Y coordinate, compares it with
screen buildings that eventually invalidate the initial those inside the array and, after having corrected it by an
assumptions. The solution I identified was to emulate, in appropriate "offset", drops the bomb.

SOFTWARE
As for the main loop of the game, it is quite simple and

follows the principles already theorized in my article on
"Game Coding Notes" published on RMW ITA 17: the aim
is to keep everything as simple and linear as possible, so
as to facilitate maintenance and future expansions of the
code. The gameplay control section is virtually detached
from the way you implement it on screen, so you can more
easily adapt the program to different development
environments. In more detail, as a first thing you read all Figure 4 - In-game graphic
the inputs and calculate the reactions; only at the end you
do create the graphics with a single rendering cycle. In this Finally, since modern games run in full-screen and it was
way the movement is more fluid and devoid of the "hang- necessary to simulate an old monitor with edges around
ups" that are perceived when the rendering takes place in the screen, I used the Hollywood "clip region" command:
several phases (e.g.: calculate ship position; draw ship; CreateClipRegion(1, #BOX, 190, 53, 928, 623)
calculate bomb position; if there is an impact show explosion SetClipRegion(1)
animation; draw bomb) because during the execution of a
single animation phase the rest is stalled. This command is used to create and activate an area on
the screen (which can also have complex shapes) that acts
Put into "natural language": as a mask: everything inside it is displayed on the screen,
Repeat while the rest is hidden. This way our ship will pop up from
read input the left edge of the screen and then will gradually disappear
determine if it is possible to drop a bomb as it crosses the right edge.
calculate the next ship
position Francesco's code, related to the implementation of his
if the bomb is in flight, calculate the next “Alien Attack” on Amstrad, ends with the redefinition of the
position of the bomb characters necessary to print instructions and scores on
calculate new score in case of bomb/building video. While a port of this code for C64 and C128 will be
collisions published in one of the upcoming issues of RMW, I have
render the screen (ship, bomb, explosion opted to use a third-party futuristic font. This font, called
animation frame etc.) "Neuropol", is free and freely downloadable for non-
check conditions for game over/game won commercial purposes from the link at the bottom of the page.
Until exit=True Although the code shown has not been developed for retro
systems, I hope you will still appreciate its spirit and I hope
With regard to the end-of-game conditions, the mechanism that the programming techniques shown here can be of
is very simple: if the next position of the ship is already use to you in the future. Blast Away! runs on various systems,
occupied (this check is carried out by verifying the color the first of which is the AmigaOS4.1. Through Hollywood
of the first pixel beyond the nose of the ship: if it is black it can be easily compiled for "Classic" systems (AmigaOS3.x)
we have a building in front of us) then we are in collision as long as you lower the size of the graphics assets.
situation(game over); otherwise, if all the buildings have
been destroyed, we won. Like Francesco, I also decided to Source and compiled executable for Win32 systems can
link this check to the content of an array whose number of be downloaded from:
cells is equal to the virtual columns on the screen, and the www.gdg-entertainment.it/rmw/bombs_away.zip
content of the single cell is "1" if a building exists and is Have fun!
still standing.
The code also contains additional controls, the explanation
of which is not important here.

SOFTWARE
/****************************************************************
** **
** Name: Bombs Away! **
** Author: Gianluca Girelli **
** Original Code and Graphics: Gianluca Girelli **
** Additional Graphics: Marco Riva **
** Version: 1.0 **
** Date: 08.09.20 **
** Last update: 19.10.20 **
** Interpreter: any **
** Licence: Creative Common 4.0 (CC BYNCSA 4.0 INT) **
** Function: Hollywood implementation of "Air Attack" **
** 8bit videogame. **
** History: **
** 1.0: (22.09.20) **
** game complete **
** 0.1: (08.09.20) **
** Initial test **
****************************************************************/
@DISPLAY 1, {X=#CENTER, Y=#CENTER, Width=1280, Height=720, HideTitleBar=True,

Sizeable=True, ScaleMode=#SCALEMODE_AUTO, Mode = "ask", FitScale = True, KeepProportions = True}
@FONT 1, "neuropol", 36,{Engine=#FONTENGINE_INBUILT}
state=0 ;must be global variable
Function p_Update_input()
;store previous mouse state and read the new one
laststate=currentstate
currentstate=IsLeftMouse()
EndFunction
Function p_MouseState()
; compare present and previous mouse state to determine action to take.
; Events are triggered only if mouse button was just release (mouse state=3)
If laststate=True
If currentstate=True
state=4 ;still pressed
Else
state=3 ;just released
EndIf
Else
If currentstate=True
state=2 ;just pressed
Else
state=1 ;still released
EndIf
EndIf
EndFunction
Function p_AdjustCoordinates(bomb_x_coord)
;mimics a textonly screen by creating "virtual columns" to channel bomb's flight
If bomb_x_coord>=184 And bomb_x_coord<232 Then result=0

SOFTWARE

Return(result)
EndFunction
Function p_minigame()
LoadBrush(140, "Data/44_2.jpg")
LoadBrush(141, "Data/tile1.png", {Transparency = #WHITE})
LoadBrush(150, "Data/ship.png", {Transparency = #WHITE})
LoadBrush(151, "Data/bomb.png", {Transparency = #WHITE})
LoadBrush(152, "Data/pilot.png", {Transparency = #WHITE})
LoadBrush(153, "Data/bombsaway.png", {Loadalpha = True})
LoadBrush(154, "Data/grass.png", {Transparency = #WHITE})
Local x=328 ;coordinates of first tile to be drawn

Local y=558
Local altpal=0 ;height of current palace
Local whichtype=0 ;defines which kind of palace to be drawn (3 different types)
Local whichtop=0 ;defines which kind of top to be drawn (6 different types)
Local ship_x=94 ;ship initial coordinates
Local ship_y=100
Local bomb_x=bomb_y=0 ;initial bomb coordinates
Local exit=False
Local fire_enabled=True
;all buildings standing + virtual columns
Local a = {0,0,0,1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,1,0,0,0,0}
;virtual columns horizontal boundaries (coordinate in pixels)
Local b =
{184,232,280,328,376,424,472,520,568,616,664,712,760,808,856,904,952,1000,1048,1096,1114}
Local column=0
score=0
sum=0 ;transit variable for standing buidings
DisplayBrush(140, #CENTER, #CENTER) ;background

DisplayBrush(153, #CENTER, #CENTER) ;title
WaitLeftMouse()
Cls
SetFont("neuropol", 48)
SetFontStyle(#BOLD)
CreateTextObject(1, "How to play")
CreateTextObject(2, "Your ship is slowly flying into the ground. Destroy the buildings for a safe
landing. Press left mouse button to drop a bomb.", {Align=#JUSTIFIED, wordwrap=750})
CreateTextObject(3, "Press left mouse button to start.", {Align=#JUSTIFIED, wordwrap=650})
DisplayTextObject(1, #CENTER, 80)
WaitLeftMouse()
Cls
SetFillStyle(#FILLCOLOR)
SetFormStyle(#NORMAL)

SOFTWARE
CreateClipRegion(1, #BOX, 190, 53, 928, 623)

SetClipRegion(1)
;generating world
For Local i=280 To 1000 Step 48
DisplayBrush(154, i, 612)
Wait(3)
Next
For Local i=1 To 13
altpal=Rnd(5)+1
whichtype=Rnd(3)+1
For Local j=1 To altpal
DisplayBrush(140+whichtype, x, y)
Wait(3)
y=y48
Next
whichtop=Rnd(6)+4
DisplayBrush(140+whichtop, x, y)
y=558
x=x+48
Next
SetFontStyle(#BOLD)
SetFontColor(#WHITE)
Locate(200,45)
Print("Score: "..score)
;commencing game
Repeat
laststate=currentstate=0 ; flush mouse buffer
;read input
p_Update_input()
p_MouseState()
;react to input
If state=3 And fire_enabled And ship_x>184 ;fire has been pressed and bomb is still
unreleased
column=p_AdjustCoordinates(ship_x+24)
bomb_x=b[column]
bomb_y=ship_y+48
fire_enabled=False ;bomb released. no more firing until it hits ground
state=0 ;flush mouse buffer
EndIf
;compute next ship position

If ship_x<1115 ;1015
ship_x=ship_x+4
Else
ship_x=94 ;190
ship_y=ship_y+48
EndIf
;if bomb's away, compute next bomb position

If bomb_y<607 And fire_enabled=False Then bomb_y=bomb_y+8
;updates score in case of impact with standing building (p_GameProgress())

If fire_enabled=False And a[column]=1
a[column]=0
score=score+50
EndIf
;render screen
DisplayBrush(150, ship_x, ship_y)
If fire_enabled=False Then DisplayBrush(151, bomb_x, bomb_y)
Wait(1)
Box(ship_x, ship_y, 96, 48, $6953f5)

SOFTWARE
If fire_enabled=False Then Box(bomb_x, bomb_y, 48, 48, $6953f5)
If bomb_y+48>=606
fire_enabled=True
Box(200, 45, 500, 48, $6953f5)
Locate(200,45)
Print("Score: "..score)
EndIf
;termination conditions
sum=0
For Local i=0 To 12
sum=sum+a[i]
Next
If score=650 And sum=0 And bomb_y+48>=606 ;game won
;move ship out of screen boundaries on current row
For Local i=ship_x To 1120 Step 4
DisplayBrush(150, i, ship_y)
Wait(1)
Box(i, ship_y, 96, 48, $6953f5)
Next
;land ship
MoveBrush(150, 190, ship_y+48, 700, 558,{Speed = #SLOWSPEED})
Box(700, 558, 96, 48, $6953f5)
MoveBrush(150, 700, 558, 900, 558,{Speed = #SLOWSPEED})
SetFontStyle(#BOLD)
CreateTextObject(1, "Game Won !", {Align=#JUSTIFIED, wordwrap=750})
DisplayTextObject(1, #CENTER, #CENTER)
If level=1 Then arcade_game_won=1 Else arcade_game2_won=1
Wait(150)
exit=True
EndIf
If (ship_x+97)<1015 ;avoid the following checks go out of boundaries

If ReadPixel(ship_x+97, ship_y+26)=0 ;game over
Box(ship_x, ship_y, 96, 48, $6953f5)
While ship_y+34<607 ;pilot ejecting and gliding toward ground
DisplayBrush(152, ship_x+34, ship_y)
Wait(1)
Box(ship_x+34, ship_y, 34, 34, $6953f5)
ship_y=ship_y+2
Wend
SetFontStyle(#BOLD)
DisplayBrush(152, ship_x+34, ship_y) ;fix pilot on ground
CreateTextObject(1, "Game Over", {Align=#JUSTIFIED, wordwrap=750})
Wait(150)
exit=True
EndIf
EndIf
WaitTimer(1, 40) ; script timed at 25fps

Until exit=True
;resets game state

exit=False
FreeClipRegion(1)
For Local i=140 To 154 Do FreeBrush(i)
EndFunction
StartTimer(1)
p_minigame()

SOFTWARE
A bit of rarity
(rummaging here and there)
A treat without trick

by Alberto (Ghostbuster) Apostolo
In the past, someone complained that RetroMagazine
World often talks about Commodore and Sinclair
computers only. We will never stop repeating that
RetroMagazine World is a magazine open to anyone
who has something interesting to tell about hardware
and software of any computer model. For this issue I
have composed a reasoned list of some programs and
articles published in the Italian magazine LIST for
ORIC-1, Sega SC-3000, Sharp MZ-700 and
MicroProfessor II.
LIST was a very underrated computer magazine (when
I was a high school computer science student, some
professors advised against buying it). Almost all the
articles published were easy to understand and some
were didactically oriented.
I hope I have done some justice to LIST and provided
interesting material to computer owners who have had
little space in the market. Those who do not
understand the Italian language can easily translate
articles and wordings in programs with online
automatic translators.
The (not complete yet!) collection of LIST issues can
be found on the page:
https://archive.org/details/listprogrammi
Pag. 08-08 Sega SC-3000 (technical sheet)
Pag. 50-51 ORIC-1 "La fontana" (The fountain, graphics)
Pag. 56-56 Sharp MZ-700 (technical sheet, part 1)
Pag. 57-61 ORIC-1 "Entertainer Rag" (music)
Pag. 64-67 MPF II "Oroscopo" (Horoscope, astrology)
Pag. 68-70 MPF-II "Enalotto" (Italian horse-racing pools)
Pag. 94-95 "Dentro il computer" (Inside the computer, education, part 1)
Pag. 11-12 ORIC-1 "Tris" (Tic-Tac-Toe, game)
Pag. 15-16 ORIC-1 "Rally" (game)
Pag. 23-27 MPF II "High Driver" (game)
Pag. 37-38 MPF II "Banca" (Bank account, business)
Pag. 39-40 MPF II "Istogrammi" (Histograms, utility)
Pag. 45-45 ORIC-1 "La torre" (The Tower, math game)
Pag. 46-46 Sharp MZ-700 (technical sheet, part 2)
Pag. 47-48 Sharp MZ-700 "Mastermind" (game)
Pag. 48-49 Sharp MZ-700 "Armonia" (Harmony, astrology)
Pag. 60-62 ORIC-1 "Zhorick" (game)
Pag. 81-82 ORIC-1 "Mosca cieca" (Blindman's bluff, game)
Pag. 83-85 MPF II "O-X" (Othello,Reversi, game)
SOFTWARE
Pag. 86-86 ORIC-1 "Conversione da ISSUE binario a decimale" (bin-to-dec, utility)

Pag. 13-13 ORIC-1 "Coder-Decoder" (cryptography)
Pag. 14-14 ORIC-1 "Renumber Line" (utility)
Pag. 21-22 ORIC-1 "Falciatrice" (The mower, game)
Pag. 40-40 Correzioni al programma "Tris" (Bug-List of program "Tris", see List n. 1)
Pag. 41-41 Sharp MZ-700 "Caccia al tesoro" (Treasure hunt, game)
Pag. 42-42 ORIC-1 "Istogrammi" (Histograms, utility, Sharp MZ-700 printed in header is a mistake)
Pag. 43-45 ORIC Atmos 48K (technical sheet)
Pag. 57-58 Sega SC-3000 "Cascatutto" (Everything Falls, game)
Pag. 59-60 Sega SC-3000 "Corso Basic" (BASIC course, education, part 1)
Pag. 69-75 MPF II "Fatturazione magazzino" (Inventory invoice, business, part 1)
Pag. 18-18 ORIC-1 "Tabella" (printing price lists, utility)
Pag. 32-33 Sega SC-3000 "Corso Basic" (BASIC course, education, part 2)
Pag. 34-35 Sega SC-3000 "Bioritmi" (Biorythm, utility)
Pag. 38-38 Sharp MZ-700 "Istogrammi di percentuali" (Histograms and percentage, utility)
Pag. 39-40 Sharp MZ-700 "Riunisci...la musica" (Collecting music, music)
Pag. 68-69 ORIC-1 "Calendario" (Calendar utility)
Pag. 73-74 MPF II "Quattro in fila" (Four-in-a-row, game)
Pag. 88-90 MPF II "Fatturazione magazzino" (Inventory invoice, business, part 2)
Pag. 14-14 Sega SC-3000 "Totocalcio" (Italian football pools)
Pag. 30-30 Sharp MZ-700 "Risoluzione di equazioni con il metodo di Cramer" (Cramer's method, math)
Pag. 64-65 MPF II "Snake" (game)
Pag. 72-73 Sega SC-3000 "Corso di Basic" (BASIC course, education, part 3,4)
Pag. 20-21 MPF II "Viaggio nello spazio" (Space journey, game)
Pag. 29-30 ORIC-1 "Gran Prix" (game)
Pag. 31-34 Sega SC-3000 "Caccia al sottomarino" (Submarine hunt, game)
Pag. 35-36 Sharp MZ-700 "Incontri di calcio" (handling football championship results)
Pag. 66-67 Sharp MZ-700 "Tombola" (handling the Bingo)
Pag. 77-78 Sega SC-3000 "Video Picture" (graphics)
Pag. 87-89 Sega SC-3000 "Corso di Basic" (BASIC course, education, part 5)
Pag. 90-91 Sega SC-3000 "Outline" (how changing your character set)
https://archive.org/details/LIST1985-01/mode/2up
Pag. 08-09 Sega SC-3000 "Morra" (Chinese Morra, game)
Pag. 10-11 Sega SC-3000 "Mastermind" (game)
Pag. 15-17 Sharp MZ-700 "Su e giù per la penisola" (part 1, education, geography of Italy)
Pag. 22-24 Sharp MZ-700 "Attacco aereo" (Air attack, game)
Pag. 27-29 ORIC-1 "Levrieri" (Greyhounds, game)
Pag. 45-48 MPF II "Piramide" (Marienbad, game)
Pag. 49-50 Sharp MZ-700 "Istruzioni POKE" (education)
Pag. 53-56 Sega SC-3000 "Corso di Basic" (BASIC course, education, part 6,7)
Pag. 74-77 ORIC-1 "Break-Out" (game)
Pag. 78-79 Sega SC-3000 "Astro War" (game)
Pag. 80-82 Sega SC-3000 "Paroliamo" (Countdown word game)
Pag. 89-90 ORIC-1 "Salta la rana" (Frog, game)

SOFTWARE
Pag. 91-93 Sharp MZ-700 "Electronic Mastermind" (game)

Pag. 94-96 Sharp MZ-700 "Saliscendi" (Rise-and-Fall, game)
Pag. 26-26 Sharp MZ-700 "Load and Run" (education)
Pag. 28-31 Sega SC-3000 "Corso di Basic" (BASIC course, education, part 8,9,10)
Pag. 32-35 ORIC-1 "Char-constructor" (utility)
Pag. 40-42 ORIC-1 "Smash" (The Wall, game)
Pag. 43-45 Sharp MZ-700 "Su e giù per la penisola" (part 2, education, geography of Italy)
Pag. 57-58 Sega SC-3000 "Uova Spaziali" (Space Eggs, game)
pag. 59-61 Sharp MZ-700 "JAZZI" (Jahtzee, game)
Pag. 67-69 Sharp MZ-700 "Boxe" (game)
Pag. 70-72 Sega SC-3000 "Tiro a volo" (Shooting, game)
Pag. 85-88 Sharp MZ-700 "Slot machine" (game)
Pag. 89-90 Sega SC-3000 "Pianoforte" (music)
Pag. 31-33 Sega SC-3000 "Super Master Mind" (game)
Pag. 37-38 Sharp MZ-700 "Sci alpino" (Skiing, game)
Pag. 40-41 Sega SC-3000 "Real golf" (game)
Pag. 46-48 Sharp MZ-700 "Dispersioni termiche" (Heat loss, science)
Pag. 49-50 MPF II "Contraerea" (Flak, game)
Pag. 53-54 Sharp MZ-7000 "Bioritmi" (Biorythm, utility)
Pag. 55-56 ORIC-1 "Cubi" (Cubes, game)
Pag. 57-58 MPF II "Mastermind" (game)
Pag. 84-85 Sega SC-3000 "Archer" (game)
Pag. 37-39 Sega SC-3000 "Grafica in 3D" (graphics)
Pag. 40-42 Sharp MZ-7000 "Caccia all'U-boot" (U-boot hunting, game)
Pag. 48-49 ORIC-1 "Oric Sequencer" (music)
Pag. 52-57 MPF II "Black-Jack" (game)
Pag. 62-63 Sega SC-3000 "Decisioni" (Choices, mathematical logic)
Pag. 64-65 Sharp MZ-700 "Analisi" (Calculus, math utility)
Pag. 70-71 ORIC-1 "Equazioni di 1° e 2° grado" (math)
Pag. 72-73 ORIC-1 "Semina" (Seeding, game)
https://archive.org/details/LIST1985-08-09
Pag. 74-78 Sega SC-3000 "Math Software" (math utility)
Pag. 79-81 Sega SC-3000 "Fasi Lunari" (Moon phases, astronomy)
Pag. 82-83 Sharp MZ-700 "Ferma il totale" (Stop the total, math game)
Pag. 84-85 Sharp MZ-700 "Biglietti da visita" (business cards printing, utility)
https://archive.org/details/LIST1985-08-09-speciali
Pag. 06-07 Sega SC-3000 "Sega Graphics" (graphics)
Pag. 19-20 Sega SC-3000 "Simulatore di volo" (Flight Simulator, game)
Pag. 21-21 Sharp MZ-700 "Archivio Sharp" (Archive, utility)
https://archive.org/details/LIST1985-10-11
Pag. 67-70 Sega SC-3000 "Bosco maledetto" (The cursed wood, adventure)
Pag. 70-71 Sega SC-3000 "Calcolo dei solidi" (Solid geometry, math)
Pag. 72-75 Sharp MZ-700 "Elenco fornitori" (Suppliers' List, business)
Pag. 75-78 Sharp MZ-700 "Sette e mezzo" (7 and half Italian BlackJack, game)
Pag. 52-54,63-64 Sega SC-3000 "Drawer" (graphics)
Pag. 65-69 Sharp MZ-700 "Gestione Magazzino" (Inventory management, business)

SOFTWARE
The Haunted House

...or how to play the same game on 3 different platforms!
by Francesco Fiorentini
In the closing article of the last issue I mentioned that I

would enjoy porting Basic code on different platforms.
What you have in your hands is only the first of these works
and I hope it can meet your appreciation.
Haunted House is a game, a textual adventure, published

in the book 'Write your own Adventure Programs for your
microcomputers' published by Usborne Publishing in 1983.
The book aimed to teach how to design and write a textual
adventure in Basic, and Haunted House game was one of
the most significant examples of the volume.
You can find the book on archive.org here: https://archive.org/

Figure 2. Haunted House porting on Commodore 64
details/
Write_Your_Own_Adventure_Programs_1983_Usborne/ After pasting the code 'as is' into VICE I received a series
of errors that forced me to review the listing and rewrite
While the GW Basic version of Haunted House I found it part of the logic.
at this address:
https://github.com/robhagemans/hoard-of-gwbasic/blob/ Fortunately, the program already used only two characters
master/AllBasicCode/ADV-OLD.BAS long variables and therefore perfectly compatible with the
limitation of Basic V2; the main problem of the code was
Amstrad CPC that some program lines exceeded 80 characters in length.
After reviewing the code I realized that it could work
without modification on the Amstrad CPC. I then copied Some of the lines could fortunately be compressed simply
and pasted the code into WinAPE and like a charm the by removing unnecessary spaces, but others had to be
adventure started smoothly. split to be shortened and in some cases I had to slightly
change their logic.
I tried to play the game a bit and it seemed to go on without See, for example, the original line 270 that produced lines
any particular problems. 270, 271, and 275 in Commodore 64.
We can therefore say that the porting for Amstrad CPC
was really simple. :-D Another striking example is the original line 460, which
handles a conditional GOSUB by the VB variable. In this
Commodore 64 case I had to split the row and also manage the value of
On the wings of enthusiasm I decided to work on the the variable VB in order for the conditional jump to remain
porting for Commodore 64... And this is where the pain efficient.
started. See rows 460, 461, and 465 in Commodore code 64.
All in all, the conversion for Commodore 64 was quite

easy, once we understood how and where to act.
Visual Basic 6.0

At this point I wanted to raise the difficulty bar and try to
make a much more challenging porting: Visual Basic 6.0.
Some might argue that the VB6 is not exactly retro, but
since it was released in 1998 and is already 22 years old,
I would say that it can be considered retro in all respects.
Of the 3 portings this was definitely the most challenging.
Figure 1. Haunted House runs on Amstrad CPC
Adapting the GW Basic code created as' deconstructed
SOFTWARE
Figure 3. Haunted House porting on Visual Basic 6 with the ''About...'' form
'programming to a Basic' event driven 'such as Visual in from time to time).

Basic 6, I must admit that it was not a joke. However, I A self-fulfilling map could also be added as our hero
wanted to try this conversion to understand what level of advances in exploration. Not to mention transforming a
difficulty it entailed and whether the result, once achieved, textual adventure into a textual adventure with graphic,
was worth the effort or not. adding an image for each location.
Here is a list of the actions I had to take: Obviously these are just ideas that I threw down when I
- I had to make a distinction between the descriptive area wrote the article. But the basis is there and implementing
and the command typing area them, as I wrote earlier, would be relatively simple. My
- due to the removal of line numbering, I had to modify all hands itch already to get me to work...: -D
conditional jumps (GOSUB) to point to labels (to do this
first I kept the line number as the label name) I hope this first article on the porting of Basic programs
- VB does not handle READ/DATA, so I had to transform can meet your interest and above all can be a stimulus to
DATA into Array rediscover the old programs.
- old Basic distinguished between variable names if they
contained the type indication; e.g. WA, WA$ and WA% Coming back to Haunted House adventure: if you are
were three totally different variables. In this case I had to experienced adventurers, solving it will be reasonably
rename all variables to allow the program to work properly simple, however if you need any help, here you can find a
- I also added an 'About' form to give Usborne Publishing comfortable walkthrough that will allow you to complete
the credits due the game:
https://solutionarchive.com/file/id%2C9320/
All in all, the result is pleasant. The textual adventure
reflects the spirit of the games of the past, but with a So I just wish you all a lot of fun and forgive me for the
decidedly more modern look and feel. excessive length of the enclosed code, but it is, I hope,
for a good cause. :-)
In addition, the VB6 offers several potentialities to enrich
our software, and with relatively little effort. Perhaps in
one of RetroMagazine's subsequent releases we could
also think of relaunching Haunted House Enhanced!
You could add a list to represent inventory, or add a series
of buttons to run basic commands (instead of typing them

SOFTWARE
Original GW-Basic code (MS DOS) - also compatible with Locomotive Basic (Amstrad CPC)
10 REM HAUNTED HOUSE ADVENTURE
20 REM ***********************
30 REM THIS VERSION FOR "MICROSOFT" BASIC
40 REM REQUIRES A MINIMUM OF 16K
50 REM SELECT "TEXT MODE" IF NECESSARY
60 REM ***********************
70 V = 25: W = 36: G = 18
73 DIM R$(63), D$(63), O$(W), V$(V)
77 DIM C(W), L(G), F(W)
80 GOSUB 1600 '> DO INITIALISATION
85 REM DESCRIPTION AND FEEDBACK

90 CLS : PRINT "HAUNTED HOUSE"
100 PRINT ""
110 PRINT "YOUR LOCATION"
120 PRINT D$(RM)
130 PRINT "EXITS:";
140 FOR I = 1 TO LEN(R$(RM))
150 PRINT MID$(R$(RM), I, 1); ",";
160 NEXT I
170 PRINT
180 FOR I = 1 TO G
190 IF L(I) = RM AND F(I) = 0 THEN PRINT "YOU CAN SEE "; O$(I); " HERE"
200 NEXT I
210 PRINT "========================="
220 PRINT M$: M$ = "WHAT"
225 REM INPUT AND INPUT ANALYSIS
230 INPUT "WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW"; Q$
240 V$ = "": W$ = "": VB = 0: OB = 0
250 FOR I = 1 TO LEN(Q$)
260 IF MID$(Q$, I, 1) = " " AND V$ = "" THEN V$ = LEFT$(Q$, I 1)
270 IF MID$(Q$, I + 1, 1) <> " " AND V$ <> "" THEN W$ = MID$(Q$, I + 1, LEN(Q$) 1): I = LEN(Q$)
280 NEXT I
290 IF W$ = "" THEN V$ = Q$
300 FOR I = 1 TO V
310 IF V$ = V$(I) THEN VB = I
320 NEXT I
330 FOR I = 1 TO W
340 IF W$ = O$(I) THEN OB = I
350 NEXT I
355 REM ERROR MESSAGES OVERRIDE CONDITIONS
360 IF W$ > "" AND OB = 0 THEN M$ = "THAT'S SILLY"
370 IF VB = 0 THEN VB = V + 1
380 IF W$ = "" THEN M$ = "I NEED TWO WORDS"
390 IF VB > V AND OB > 0 THEN M$ = "YOU CAN'T '" + Q$ + "'"
400 IF VB > V AND OB = 0 THEN M$ = "YOU DON'T MAKE SENSE!"
410 IF VB < V AND OB > 0 AND C(OB) = 0 THEN M$ = "YOU DON'T HAVE '" + W$
420 IF F(26) = 1 AND RM = 13 AND FIX(RND(1) * 4) <> 3 AND VB <> 21 THEN M$ = "BATS ATTACKING!": GOTO 90
430 IF RM = 44 AND FIX(RND(1) * 3) = 1 AND F(24) <> 1 THEN F(27) = 1
440 IF F(0) = 1 THEN LL = LL 1
450 IF LL < 1 THEN F(0) = 0
455 REM BRANCH TO SUBROUTINES
460 ON VB GOSUB 500, 570, 640, 640, 640, 640, 640, 640, 640, 980, 980, 1030, 1070, 1140, 1180, 1220,
1250, 1300, 1340, 1380, 1400, 1430, 1460, 1490, 1510, 1590
470 IF LL = 10 THEN M$ = "YOUR CANDLE IS WANING!"
480 IF LL = 1 THEN M$ = "YOUR CANDLE IS OUT!"
490 GOTO 90
495 REM VERB 1

500 PRINT "WORDS I KNOW:"
510 FOR I = 1 TO V
520 PRINT V$(I); ", ";
530 NEXT I
540 M$ = "": PRINT
550 GOSUB 1580
560 RETURN
565 REM VERB 2

570 PRINT "YOU ARE CARRYING:"
580 FOR I = 1 TO G
590 IF C(I) = 1 THEN PRINT O$(I); ", ";
600 NEXT I
610 M$ = "": PRINT
620 GOSUB 1580
630 RETURN
635 REM VERBS 3 TO 9 INCLUSIVE

640 D = 0
650 IF OB = 0 THEN D = VB 3
660 IF OB = 19 THEN D = 1

SOFTWARE
670 IF OB = 20 THEN D = 2
680 IF OB = 21 THEN D = 3
690 IF OB = 22 THEN D = 4
700 IF OB = 23 THEN D = 5
710 IF OB = 24 THEN D = 6
720 IF RM = 20 AND D = 5 THEN D = 1
730 IF RM = 20 AND D = 6 THEN D = 3
740 IF RM = 22 AND D = 6 THEN D = 2
750 IF RM = 22 AND D = 5 THEN D = 3
760 IF RM = 36 AND D = 6 THEN D = 1
770 IF RM = 36 AND D = 5 THEN D = 2
780 IF F(14) = 1 THEN M$ = "CRASH! YOU FELL OUT OF THE TREE!": F(14) = 0: RETURN
790 IF F(27) = 1 AND RM = 52 THEN M$ = "GHOSTS WILL NOT LET YOU MOVE": RETURN
800 IF RM = 45 AND C(1) = 1 AND F(34) = 0 THEN M$ = "A MAGICAL BARRIER TO THE WEST": RETURN
810 IF (RM = 26 AND F(0) = 0) AND (D = 1 OR D = 4) THEN M$ = "YOU NEED A LIGHT": RETURN
820 IF RM = 54 AND C(15) <> 1 THEN M$ = "YOU'RE STUCK!": RETURN
830 IF C(15) = 1 AND NOT (RM = 53 OR RM = 54 OR RM = 55 OR RM = 47) THEN M$ = "YOU CAN'T CARRY A BOAT!":
RETURN
840 IF (RM > 26 AND RM < 30) AND F(0) = 0 THEN M$ = "TOO DARK TO MOVE": RETURN
850 F(35) = 0: RL = LEN(R$(RM))
860 FOR I = 1 TO RL
870 U$ = MID$(R$(RM), I, 1)
880 IF (U$ = "N" AND D = 1 AND F(35) = 0) THEN RM = RM 8: F(35) = 1
890 IF (U$ = "S" AND D = 2 AND F(35) = 0) THEN RM = RM + 8: F(35) = 1
900 IF (U$ = "W" AND D = 3 AND F(35) = 0) THEN RM = RM 1: F(35) = 1
910 IF (U$ = "E" AND D = 4 AND F(35) = 0) THEN RM = RM + 1: F(35) = 1
920 NEXT I
930 M$ = "OK"
940 IF F(35) = 0 THEN M$ = "CAN'T GO THAT WAY!"
950 IF D < 1 THEN M$ = "GO WHERE?"
960 IF RM = 41 AND F(23) = 1 THEN R$ = "SW": M$ = "THE DOOR SLAMS SHUT!": F(23) = 0
970 RETURN
975 REM VERBS 10 AND 11

980 IF OB > G THEN M$ = "I CAN'T GET " + W$: RETURN
985 IF L(OB) <> RM THEN M$ = "IT ISN'T HERE"
990 IF F(OB) <> 0 THEN M$ = "WHAT " + W$ + "?"
1000 IF C(OB) = 1 THEN M$ = "YOU ALREADY HAVE IT"
1010 IF OB > 0 AND L(OB) = RM AND F(OB) = 0 THEN C(OB) = 1: L(OB) = 65: M$ = "YOU HAVE THE " + W$
1020 RETURN
1025 REM VERB 12

1030 IF RM = 43 AND (OB = 28 OR OB = 29) THEN F(17) = 0: M$ = "DRAWER OPEN"
1040 IF RM = 28 AND OB = 25 THEN M$ = "IT'S LOCKED"
1050 IF RM = 38 AND OB = 32 THEN M$ = "THAT'S CREEPY!": F(2) = 0
1060 RETURN
1065 REM VERB 13

1070 IF OB = 30 THEN F(18) = 0: M$ = "SOMETHING HERE!"
1080 IF OB = 31 THEN M$ = "THAT'S DISGUSTING!"
1090 IF (OB = 28 OR OB = 29) THEN M$ = "THERE'S A DRAWER"
1100 IF OB = 33 OR OB = 5 THEN GOSUB 1140
1110 IF RM = 43 AND OB = 35 THEN M$ = "THERE'S SOMETHING BEYOND..."
1120 IF OB = 32 THEN GOSUB 1030
1130 RETURN
1135 REM VERB 14

1140 IF RM = 42 AND OB = 33 THEN M$ = "THEY ARE DEMONIC WORKS"
1150 IF (OB = 3 OR OB = 36) AND C(3) = 1 AND F(34) = 0 THEN M$ = "USE THIS WORD WITH CARE 'XZANFAR'"
1160 IF C(5) = 1 AND OB = 5 THEN M$ = "THE SCRIPT IS IN AN ALIEN TONGUE"
1170 RETURN
1175 REM VERB 15

1180 M$ = "OK '" + W$ + "'"
1190 IF C(3) = 1 AND OB = 34 THEN M$ = "*MAGIC OCCURS*": IF RM <> 45 THEN RM = FIX(RND(1) * 64)
1200 IF C(3) = 1 AND OB = 34 AND RM = 45 THEN F(34) = 1
1210 RETURN
1215 REM VERB 16

1220 IF C(12) = 1 THEN M$ = "YOU MADE A HOLE"
1230 IF C(12) = 1 AND RM = 30 THEN M$ = "DUG THE BARS OUT": D$(RM) = "HOLE IN THE WALL": R$(RM) = "NSE"
1240 RETURN
1245 REM VERB 17

1250 IF C(14) <> 1 AND RM = 7 THEN M$ = "THIS IS NO TIME TO PLAY GAMES"
1260 IF OB = 14 AND C(14) = 1 THEN M$ = "YOU SWUNG IT"
1270 IF OB = 13 AND C(13) = 1 THEN M$ = "WHOOSH"
1280 IF OB = 13 AND C(13) = 1 AND RM = 43 THEN R$(RM) = "WN": D$(RM) = "STUDY WITH A SECRET ROOM": M$ =
"YOU BROKE THE THIN WALL"
1290 RETURN
1295 REM VERB 18

1300 IF OB = 14 AND C(14) = 1 THEN M$ = "IT ISN'T ATTACHED TO ANYTHING!"
1310 IF OB = 14 AND C(14) <> 1 AND RM = 7 AND F(14) = 0 THEN M$ = "YOU SEE THICK FORREST AND CLIFF

SOFTWARE
SOUTH": F(14) = 1: RETURN

1320 IF OB = 14 AND C(14) <> 1 AND RM = 7 AND F(14) = 1 THEN M$ = "GOING DOWN!": F(14) = 0
1330 RETURN
1335 REM VERB 19

1340 IF OB = 17 AND C(17) = 1 AND C(8) = 0 THEN M$ = "IT WILL BURN YOUR HANDS"
1350 IF OB = 17 AND C(17) = 1 AND C(9) = 0 THEN M$ = "NOTHING TO LIGHT IT WITH"
1360 IF OB = 17 AND C(17) = 1 AND C(9) = 1 AND C(8) = 1 THEN M$= "IT CASTS A FLICKERING LIGHT": F(0) = 1
1370 RETURN
1375 REM VERB 20

1380 IF F(0) = 1 THEN F(0) = 0: M$ = "EXTINGUISHED"
1390 RETURN
1395 REM VERB 21

1400 IF OB = 16 AND C(16) = 1 THEN M$ = "HISSSS"
1410 IF OB = 16 AND C(16) = 1 AND F(26) = 1 THEN F(26) = 0: M$ = "PFFT! GOT THEM"
1420 RETURN
1425 REM VERB 22

1430 IF OB = 10 AND C(10) = 1 AND C(11) = 1 THEN M$ = "SWITCHED ON": F(24) = 1
1440 IF F(27) = 1 AND F(24) = 1 THEN M$ = "WHIZZ VACUUMED THE GHOSTS UP!": F(27) = 0
1450 RETURN
1455 REM VERB 23

1460 IF RM = 43 AND (OB = 27 OR OB = 28) THEN GOSUB 1030
1470 IF RM = 28 AND OB = 25 AND F(25) = 0 AND C(18) = 1 THEN F(25) = 1: R$(RM) = "SEW": D$(RM) = "HUGE
OPEN DOOR": M$ = "THE KEY TURNS"
1480 RETURN
1485 REM VERB 24

1490 IF C(OB) = 1 THEN C(OB) = 0: L(OB) = RM: M$ = "DONE"
1500 RETURN
1505 REM VERB 25

1510 S = 0
1520 FOR I = 1 TO G
1530 IF C(I) = 1 THEN S = S + 1
1540 NEXT I
1550 IF S = 17 AND C(15) <> 1 AND RM <> 57 THEN PRINT "YOU HAVE EVERYTHING": PRINT "RETURN TO THE GATE
FOR FINAL SCORE"
1560 IF S = 17 AND RM = 57 THEN PRINT "DOUBLE SCORE FOR REACHING HERE!": S = S * 2
1570 PRINT "YOUR SCORE = "; S: IF S > 18 THEN PRINT "WELL DONE! YOU HAVE FINISHED THE GAME": END
1580 INPUT "PRESS RETURN TO CONTINUE"; Q$
1590 RETURN

1595 REM GAME INITIALISATION ROUTINE
1600 REM DIM R$(63), D$(63), O$(W), V$(V)
1610 REM DIM C(W), L(G), F(W)
1620 DATA 46,38,35,50,13,18,28,42,10,25,26,4,2,7,47,60,43,32
1630 FOR I = 1 TO G
1640 READ L(I)
1650 NEXT I
1660 DATA HELP,CARRYING?,GO,N,S,W,E,U,D,GET,TAKE,OPEN,EXAMINE,READ,SAY
1665 DATA DIG,SWING,CLIMB,LIGHT,UNLIGHT,SPRAY,USE,UNLOCK,LEAVE,SCORE
1680 FOR I = 1 TO V
1690 READ V$(I)
1700 NEXT I
1705 '> Possible movements (they are associated with the location, sharing the same index)
1710 DATA SE,WE,WE,SWE,WE,WE,SWE,WS
1720 DATA NS,SE,WE,NW,SE,W,NE,NSW
1730 DATA NS,NS,SE,WE,NWUD,SE,WSUD,NS
1740 DATA N,NS,NSE,WE,WE,NSW,NS,NS
1750 DATA S,NSE,NSW,S,NSUD,N,N,NS
1760 DATA NE,NW,NE,W,NSE,WE,W,NS
1770 DATA SE,NSW,E,WE,NW,S,SW,NW
1780 DATA NE,NWE,WE,WE,WE,NWE,NWE,W
1790 FOR I = 0 TO 63
1800 READ R$(I)
1810 NEXT I
1815 '> Description of the location

1820 DATA DARK CORNER,OVERGROWN GARDEN,BY LARGE WOODPILE,YARD BY RUBBISH
1830 DATA WEEDPATCH,FOREST,THICK FOREST,BLASTED TREE
1840 DATA CORNER OF HOUSE,ENTRANCE TO KITCHEN,KITCHEN AND GRIMEY COOKER,SCULLERY DOOR
1845 DATA ROOM WITH INCHES OF DUST,REAR TURRET ROOM,CLEARING BY HOUSE,PATH
1860 DATA SIDE OF HOUSE,BACK OF HALLWAY,DARK ALCOVE,SMALL DARK ROOM
1865 DATA BOTTOM OF SPIRAL STAIRCASE,WIDE PASSAGE,SLIPPERY STEPS,CLIFFTOP
1880 DATA NEAR CRUMBLING WALL,GLOOMY PASSAGE,POOL OF LIGHT,IMPRESSIVE VAULTED HALLWAY
1885 DATA HALL BY THICK WOODEN DOOR,TROPHY ROOM,CELLAR WITH BARRED WINDOW,CLIFF PATH
1900 DATA CUPBOARD WITH HANGING COAT,FRONT HALL,SITTING ROOM,SECRET ROOM

SOFTWARE
1905 DATA STEEP MARBLE STAIRS,DINING ROOM,DEEP CELLAR WITH COFFIN,CLIFF PATH
1920 DATA CLOSET,FRONT LOBBY,LIBRARY OF EVIL BOOKS,STUDY WITH DESK AND HOLE IN WALL
1925 DATA WEIRD COBWEBBY ROOM,VERY COLD CHAMBER,SPOOKY ROOM,CLIFF PATH BY MARSH
1940 DATA RUBBLESTREWN VERANDAH,FRONT PORCH,FRONT TOWER,SLOPING CORRIDOR
1945 DATA UPPER GALLERY,MARSH BY WALL,MARSH,SOGGY PATH
1960 DATA BY TWISTED RAILING, PATH THROUGH IRON GATE,BY RAILINGS,BENEATH FRONT TOWER
1965 DATA DEBRIS FROM CRUMBLING FACADE,LARGE FALLEN BRICKWORK,ROTTING STONE ARCH,CRUMBLING CLIFFTOP
1980 FOR I = 0 TO 63
1990 READ D$(I)
2000 NEXT I
2010 DATA PAINTING,RING,MAGIC SPELLS,GOBLET,SCROLL,COINS,STATUE,CANDLESTICK

2012 DATA MATCHES,VACUUM,BATTERIES,SHOVEL,AXE,ROPE,BOAT,AEROSOL,CANDLE,KEY
2014 DATA NORTH,SOUTH,WEST,EAST,UP,DOWN
2016 DATA DOOR,BATS,GHOSTS,DRAWER,DESK,COAT,RUBBISH
2018 DATA COFFIN,BOOKS,XZANFAR,WALL,SPELLS
2060 FOR I = 1 TO W
2070 READ O$(I)
2080 NEXT I
2090 F(18) = 1: F(17) = 1: F(2) = 1: F(26) = 1: F(28) = 1: F(23) = 1: LL = 60: RM = 57: M$ = "OK"
2100 RETURN
Commodore 64 version - adapted by F. Fiorentini

10 rem haunted house adventure
20 rem ***********************
30 rem this version for Commodore 64
40 rem requires a minimum of 16k
50 rem F.Fiorentini Ottobre 2020
60 rem ***********************
70 v = 25: w = 36: g = 18
73 dim r$(63), d$(63), o$(w), v$(v)
77 dim c(w), l(g), f(w)
80 gosub 1600 '> do initialisation
85 rem description and feedback

90 print chr$(147): print "haunted house"
100 print ""
110 print "your location"
120 print d$(rm)
130 print "exits:";
140 for i = 1 to len(r$(rm))
150 print mid$(r$(rm), i, 1); ",";
160 next i
170 print
180 for i = 1 to g
190 if l(i) = rm and f(i) = 0 then print "you can see "; o$(i); " here"
200 next i
210 print "========================="
220 print m$: m$ = "what"
225 rem input and input analysis
230 input "what will you do now"; q$
240 v$ = "": w$ = "": vb = 0: ob = 0
250 for i = 1 to len(q$)
260 if mid$(q$, i, 1) = " " and v$ = "" then v$ = left$(q$, i 1)
270 if mid$(q$, i + 1, 1) <> " " and v$ <> "" then goto 275
271 goto 280
275 w$ = mid$(q$, i + 1, len(q$) 1): i = len(q$)
280 next i
290 if w$ = "" then v$ = q$
300 for i = 1 to v
310 if v$ = v$(i) then vb = i
320 next i
330 for i = 1 to w
340 if w$ = o$(i) then ob = i
350 next i
355 rem error messages override conditions
360 if w$ > "" and ob = 0 then m$ = "that's silly"
370 if vb = 0 then vb = v + 1
380 if w$ = "" then m$ = "i need two words"
390 if vb > v and ob > 0 then m$ = "you can't '" + q$ + "'"
400 if vb > v and ob = 0 then m$ = "you don't make sense!"
410 if vb < v and ob > 0 and c(ob) = 0 then m$ = "you don't have '" + w$
420 if f(26)=1 and rm=13 and fix(rnd(1)*4) <> 3 and vb <> 21 then goto 425
421 goto 430
425 m$ = "bats attacking!": goto 90
430 if rm = 44 and fix(rnd(1) * 3) = 1 and f(24) <> 1 then f(27) = 1
440 if f(0) = 1 then ll = ll 1
450 if ll < 1 then f(0) = 0
455 rem branch to subroutines
456 if vb > 14 then goto 465
460 on vb gosub 500,570,640,640,640,640,640,640,640,980,980,1030,1070,1140

SOFTWARE
461 goto 470

465 on vb14 gosub 1180,1220,1250,1300,1340,1380,1400,1430,1460,1490,1510,1590
470 if ll = 10 then m$ = "your candle is waning!"
480 if ll = 1 then m$ = "your candle is out!"
490 goto 90
495 rem verb 1

500 print "words i know:"
510 for i = 1 to v
520 print v$(i); ", ";
530 next i
540 m$ = "": print
550 gosub 1580
560 return
565 rem verb 2

570 print "you are carrying:"
580 for i = 1 to g
590 if c(i) = 1 then print o$(i); ", ";
600 next i
610 m$ = "": print
620 gosub 1580
630 return
635 rem verbs 3 to 9 inclusive

640 d = 0
650 if ob = 0 then d = vb 3
660 if ob = 19 then d = 1
670 if ob = 20 then d = 2
680 if ob = 21 then d = 3
690 if ob = 22 then d = 4
700 if ob = 23 then d = 5
710 if ob = 24 then d = 6
720 if rm = 20 and d = 5 then d = 1
730 if rm = 20 and d = 6 then d = 3
740 if rm = 22 and d = 6 then d = 2
750 if rm = 22 and d = 5 then d = 3
760 if rm = 36 and d = 6 then d = 1
770 if rm = 36 and d = 5 then d = 2
780 if f(14)=1 then m$="crash! you fell out of the tree!":f(14)=0:return
790 if f(27)=1 and rm=52 then m$="ghosts will not let you move":return
800 if rm=45andc(1)=1andf(34)=0 then m$="a magical barrier to the west":return
810 if (rm=26 andf(0)=0) and (d=1 or d=4) then m$="you need a light":return
820 if rm = 54 and c(15) <> 1 then m$ = "you're stuck!": return
830 if c(15)=1 and not(rm=53 or rm=54 or rm=55 or rm=47) then goto 835
831 goto 840
835 m$="you can't carry a boat!": return
840 if (rm > 26 and rm < 30) and f(0) = 0 then m$="too dark to move":return
850 f(35) = 0: rl = len(r$(rm))
860 for i = 1 to rl
870 u$ = mid$(r$(rm), i, 1)
880 if (u$ = "n" and d = 1 and f(35) = 0) then rm = rm 8: f(35) = 1
890 if (u$ = "s" and d = 2 and f(35) = 0) then rm = rm + 8: f(35) = 1
900 if (u$ = "w" and d = 3 and f(35) = 0) then rm = rm 1: f(35) = 1
910 if (u$ = "e" and d = 4 and f(35) = 0) then rm = rm + 1: f(35) = 1
920 next i
930 m$ = "ok"
940 if f(35) = 0 then m$ = "can't go that way!"
950 if d < 1 then m$ = "go where?"
960 if rm = 41 and f(23) = 1 then goto 965
961 goto 970
965 r$ = "sw": m$ = "the door slams shut!": f(23) = 0
970 return
975 rem verbs 10 and 11

980 if ob > g then m$ = "i can't get " + w$: return
985 if l(ob) <> rm then m$ = "it isn't here"
990 if f(ob) <> 0 then m$ = "what " + w$ + "?"
1000 if c(ob) = 1 then m$ = "you already have it"
1010 if ob>0 and l(ob)=rm and f(ob)=0 then goto 1015
1011 goto 1020
1015 c(ob)=1:l(ob) = 65: m$ = "you have the " + w$
1020 return
1025 rem verb 12

1030 if rm = 43 and (ob = 28 or ob = 29) then goto 1035
1031 goto 1040
1035 f(17) = 0: m$ = "drawer open"
1040 if rm = 28 and ob = 25 then m$ = "it's locked"
1050 if rm = 38 and ob = 32 then m$ = "that's creepy!": f(2) = 0
1060 return
1065 rem verb 13

SOFTWARE
1070 if ob = 30 then f(18) = 0: m$ = "something here!"

1080 if ob = 31 then m$ = "that's disgusting!"
1090 if (ob = 28 or ob = 29) then m$ = "there's a drawer"
1100 if ob = 33 or ob = 5 then gosub 1140
1110 if rm = 43 and ob = 35 then m$ = "there's something beyond..."
1120 if ob = 32 then gosub 1030
1130 return
1135 rem verb 14

1140 if rm = 42 and ob = 33 then m$ = "they are demonic works"
1150 if (ob=3 or ob=36) and c(3)=1 and f(34)=0 then goto 1155
1151 goto 1160
1155 m$="use this word with care 'xzanfar'"
1160 if c(5) = 1 and ob = 5 then m$ = "the script is in an alien tongue"
1170 return
1175 rem verb 15

1180 m$ = "ok '" + w$ + "'"
1190 if c(3)=1 and ob=34 then goto 1195
1191 goto 1200
1195 m$="*magic occurs*": if rm<>45 then rm=fix(rnd(1)*64)
1200 if c(3) = 1 and ob = 34 and rm = 45 then f(34) = 1
1210 return
1215 rem verb 16

1220 if c(12) = 1 then m$ = "you made a hole"
1230 if c(12) = 1 and rm = 30 then goto 1235
1231 goto 1240
1235 m$ = "dug the bars out": d$(rm) = "hole in the wall": r$(rm) = "nse"
1240 return
1245 rem verb 17

1250 if c(14) <> 1 and rm = 7 then m$ = "this is no time to play games"
1260 if ob = 14 and c(14) = 1 then m$ = "you swung it"
1270 if ob = 13 and c(13) = 1 then m$ = "whoosh"
1280 if ob=13 and c(13)=1 and rm=43 then goto 1285
1281 goto 1290
1285 r$(rm)="wn":d$(rm)="study with a secret room":m$="you broke the thin wall"
1290 return
1295 rem verb 18

1300 if ob=14 and c(14)=1 then m$="it isn't attached to anything!"
1310 if ob=14 and c(14)<>1 and rm=7 and f(14)=0 then goto 1315
1311 goto 1320
1315 m$="you see thick forrest and cliff south": f(14)=1: return
1320 if ob=14 and c(14)<>1 and rm=7 and f(14)=1 then goto 1325
1321 goto 1330
1325 m$ = "going down!": f(14) = 0
1330 return
1335 rem verb 19

1340 if ob=17 and c(17)=1 and c(8)=0 then m$="it will burn your hands"
1350 if ob=17 and c(17)=1 and c(9)=0 then m$="nothing to light it with"
1360 if ob=17 and c(17)=1 and c(9)=1 and c(8)=1 then goto 1365
1361 goto 1370
1365 m$="it casts a flickering light": f(0)=1
1370 return
1375 rem verb 20

1380 if f(0) = 1 then f(0) = 0: m$ = "extinguished"
1390 return
1395 rem verb 21

1400 if ob = 16 and c(16) = 1 then m$ = "hissss"
1410 if ob=16 and c(16)=1 and f(26)=1 then f(26)=0: m$="pfft! got them"
1420 return
1425 rem verb 22

1430 if ob = 10 and c(10) = 1 and c(11) = 1 then goto 1435
1431 goto 1440
1435 m$ = "switched on": f(24) = 1
1440 if f(27) = 1 and f(24) = 1 then 1445
1441 goto 1450
1445 m$ = "whizz vacuumed the ghosts up!": f(27) = 0
1450 return
1455 rem verb 23

1460 if rm = 43 and (ob = 27 or ob = 28) then gosub 1030
1470 if rm=28 and ob=25 and f(25)=0 and c(18)=1 then goto 1475
1471 goto 1480
1475 f(25)=1: r$(rm)="sew": d$(rm)="huge open door": m$="the key turns"
1480 return

SOFTWARE
1485 rem verb 24

1490 if c(ob) = 1 then c(ob) = 0: l(ob) = rm: m$ = "done"
1500 return
1505 rem verb 25

1510 s = 0
1520 for i = 1 to g
1530 if c(i) = 1 then s = s + 1
1540 next i
1550 if s=17 and c(15)<>1 and rm<>57 then goto 1555
1551 goto 1560
1555 print "you have everything": print "return to the gate for final score"
1560 if s = 17 and rm = 57 then goto 1565
1561 goto 1570
1565 print "double score for reaching here!": s = s * 2
1570 print "your score = "; s: if s > 18 then goto 1575
1571 goto 1580
1575 print "well done! you have finished the game": end
1580 input "press return to continue"; q$
1590 return
1595 rem game initialisation routine

1600 rem dim r$(63), d$(63), o$(w), v$(v)
1610 rem dim c(w), l(g), f(w)
1620 data 46,38,35,50,13,18,28,42,10,25,26,4,2,7,47,60,43,32
1630 for i = 1 to g
1640 read l(i)
1650 next i
1660 data help,carrying?,go,n,s,w,e,u,d,get,take,open,examine,read,say
1665 data dig,swing,climb,light,unlight,spray,use,unlock,leave,score
1680 for i = 1 to v
1690 read v$(i)
1700 next i
1705 rem possible movements (associated with the location, same index)
1710 data se,we,we,swe,we,we,swe,ws
1720 data ns,se,we,nw,se,w,ne,nsw
1730 data ns,ns,se,we,nwud,se,wsud,ns
1740 data n,ns,nse,we,we,nsw,ns,ns
1750 data s,nse,nsw,s,nsud,n,n,ns
1760 data ne,nw,ne,w,nse,we,w,ns
1770 data se,nsw,e,we,nw,s,sw,nw
1780 data ne,nwe,we,we,we,nwe,nwe,w
1790 for i = 0 to 63
1800 read r$(i)
1810 next i
1815 rem description of the location

1820 data dark corner,overgrown garden,by large woodpile,yard by rubbish
1830 data weedpatch,forest,thick forest,blasted tree, corner of house
1840 data entrance to kitchen,kitchen and grimey cooker,scullery door
1845 data room with inches of dust,rear turret room,clearing by house,path
1860 data side of house,back of hallway,dark alcove,small dark room
1865 data bottom of spiral staircase,wide passage,slippery steps,clifftop
1880 data near crumbling wall,gloomy passage,pool of light
1881 data impressive vaulted hallway, hall by thick wooden door
1885 data trophy room,cellar with barred window,cliff path
1900 data cupboard with hanging coat,front hall,sitting room,secret room,closet
1905 data steep marble stairs,dining room,deep cellar with coffin,cliff path
1920 data front lobby,library of evil books,study with desk and hole in wall
1925 data weird cobwebby room,very cold chamber,spooky room,cliff path by marsh
1940 data rubblestrewn verandah,front porch,front tower,sloping corridor
1945 data upper gallery,marsh by wall,marsh,soggy path,by twisted railing
1960 data path through iron gate,by railings,beneath front tower
1965 data debris from crumbling facade,large fallen brickwork
1966 data rotting stone arch,crumbling clifftop
1980 for i = 0 to 63
1990 read d$(i)
2000 next i
2010 data painting,ring,magic spells,goblet,scroll,coins,statue,candlestick

2012 data matches,vacuum,batteries,shovel,axe,rope,boat,aerosol,candle,key
2014 data north,south,west,east,up,down
2016 data door,bats,ghosts,drawer,desk,coat,rubbish
2018 data coffin,books,xzanfar,wall,spells
2060 for i = 1 to w
2070 read o$(i)
2080 next i
2090 f(18)=1:f(17)=1:f(2)=1:f(26)=1:f(28)=1:f(23)=1:ll=60:rm=57:m$="ok"
2100 return

SOFTWARE
Visual Basic 6.0 code - adapted by F. Fiorentini

VERSION 5.00
Begin VB.Form About
BorderStyle = 3 'Fixed Dialog
Caption = "About..."
ClientHeight = 2175
ClientLeft = 45
ClientTop = 390
ClientWidth = 4560
LinkTopic = "Form2"
MaxButton = 0 'False
MinButton = 0 'False
ScaleHeight = 2175
ScaleWidth = 4560
ShowInTaskbar = 0 'False
StartUpPosition = 1 'CenterOwner
Begin VB.Image Image1
Height = 1000
Left = 2700
Picture = "About.frx":0000
Stretch = 1 'True
Top = 870
Width = 1680
End
Begin VB.Label Label1
Caption = "Label1"
BeginProperty Font
Name = "MS Sans Serif"
Size = 8.25
Charset = 0
Weight = 700
Underline = 0 'False
Italic = 0 'False
Strikethrough = 0 'False
EndProperty
ForeColor = &H00000080&
Height = 1935
Left = 200
TabIndex = 0
Top = 120
Width = 4095
End
End
Attribute VB_Name = "About"
Attribute VB_GlobalNameSpace = False
Attribute VB_Creatable = False
Attribute VB_PredeclaredId = True
Attribute VB_Exposed = False
Private Sub Form_Load()
Label1.Caption = "HAUNTED HOUSE" & vbCrLf & "Also Known As: La Casa Encantada" & vbCrLf & "Publisher :
Usborne Publishing Ltd"
Label1.Caption = Label1.Caption & vbCrLf & "Release Year: 1983" & vbCrLf & "Original version: GW Basic"
& vbCrLf & vbCrLf & "Visual Basic version"
Label1.Caption = Label1.Caption & vbCrLf & "Francesco Fiorentini" & vbCrLf & "September 2020"
End Sub
VERSION 5.00
Begin VB.Form HauntedHouse
BackColor = &H00E0E0E0&
BorderStyle = 3 'Fixed Dialog
Caption = "HAUNTED HOUSE by Usborne Publishing Ltd 1983 VB6 port by F. Fiorentini 2020"
ClientHeight = 5730
ClientLeft = 8295
ClientTop = 5670
ClientWidth = 10575
LinkTopic = "Form1"
MaxButton = 0 'False
MinButton = 0 'False
ScaleHeight = 5730
ScaleWidth = 10575
ShowInTaskbar = 0 'False
Begin VB.CommandButton Command1
Caption = "About"
BeginProperty Font
Size = 9.75
Charset = 0
Weight = 700
Italic = 0 'False

SOFTWARE
EndProperty
Height = 495
Left = 9600
TabIndex = 3
Top = 5160
Width = 855
End
Begin VB.CommandButton Command_Check
Caption = "OK"
BeginProperty Font
Size = 9.75
Charset = 0
Weight = 700
Italic = 0 'False
EndProperty
Height = 495
Left = 9000
TabIndex = 2
Top = 5160
Width = 495
End
Begin VB.TextBox InputString
BeginProperty Font
Name = "Verdana"
Size = 14.25
Charset = 0
Weight = 400
Italic = 0 'False
EndProperty
Height = 495
Left = 50
TabIndex = 1
Top = 5160
Width = 8895
End
Begin VB.TextBox Testo
BackColor = &H00E0E0E0&
BeginProperty Font
Name = "Trebuchet MS"
Size = 12
Charset = 0
Weight = 700
Italic = 0 'False
EndProperty
Height = 5055
Left = 50
Locked = 1 'True
MultiLine = 1 'True
ScrollBars = 2 'Vertical
TabIndex = 0
Text = "Haunted House.frx":0000
Top = 0
Width = 10455
End
End
Attribute VB_Name = "HauntedHouse"
Attribute VB_GlobalNameSpace = False
Attribute VB_Creatable = False
Attribute VB_PredeclaredId = True
Attribute VB_Exposed = False
Option Explicit
Dim V, W, G, I, VB, OB As Integer

Dim R, D, O, S
Dim Varray, RArray, DArray, OArray, LArray
Dim M$
Dim V_$
Dim W_$
Dim R_$
Dim U$
Dim Q$
Dim RM, LL
Dim FArray
Dim C(36)
Dim F(36)

SOFTWARE
Dim RL
Dim AddString As String
Private Sub Command_Check_Click()

Q$ = UCase(InputString)
M$ = ""
' Controllo dell'azione

V_$ = "": W_$ = "": VB = 0: OB = 0
For I = 1 To Len(Q$)
If Mid$(Q$, I, 1) = " " And V_$ = "" Then V_$ = Left$(Q$, I 1)
If Mid$(Q$, I + 1, 1) <> " " And V_$ <> "" Then W_$ = Mid$(Q$, I + 1, Len(Q$) 1): I = Len(Q$)
Next I
If W_$ = "" Then V_$ = Q$
For I = 1 To V
If V_$ = Varray(I) Then VB = I
Next I
For I = 1 To W
If W_$ = OArray(I) Then OB = I
Next I
Rem ERROR MESSAGES OVERRIDE CONDITIONS

If W_$ > "" And OB = 0 Then M$ = "THAT'S SILLY"
If VB = 0 Then VB = V + 1
If W_$ = "" Then M$ = "I NEED TWO WORDS"
If VB > V And OB > 0 Then M$ = "YOU CAN'T '" + Q$ + "'"
If VB > V And OB = 0 Then M$ = "YOU DON'T MAKE SENSE!"
If VB < V And OB > 0 And C(OB) = 0 Then M$ = "YOU DON'T HAVE '" + W_$
If FArray(26) = 1 And RM = 13 And Fix(Rnd(1) * 4) <> 3 And VB <> 21 Then M$ = "BATS ATTACKING!": GoTo
Stampa
If RM = 44 And Fix(Rnd(1) * 3) = 1 And FArray(24) <> 1 Then FArray(27) = 1
If FArray(0) = 1 Then LL = LL 1
If LL < 1 Then FArray(0) = 0
Rem BRANCH TO SUBROUTINES

On VB GoSub 500, 570, 640, 640, 640, 640, 640, 640, 640, 980, 980, 1030, 1070, 1140, 1180, 1220, 1250,
1300, 1340, 1380, 1400, 1430, 1460, 1490, 1510, 1590
If LL = 10 Then M$ = "YOUR CANDLE IS WANING!"
If LL = 1 Then M$ = "YOUR CANDLE IS OUT!"
GoTo Stampa
500:
Rem VERB 1
AddString = "WORDS I KNOW:" & vbCrLf
For I = 1 To V
AddString = AddString & Varray(I) & ", "
Next I
M$ = ""
AddString = AddString & vbCrLf
Return
570:
Rem VERB 2
AddString = "YOU ARE CARRYING:" & vbCrLf
For I = 1 To G
If C(I) = 1 Then AddString = AddString & OArray(I) & ", "
Next I
AddString = AddString & vbCrLf
M$ = ""
Return
640:
Rem VERBS 3 TO 9 INCLUSIVE
D = 0
If OB = 0 Then D = VB 3
If OB = 19 Then D = 1
If RM = 20 And D = 5 Then D = 1
If FArray(14) = 1 Then M$ = "CRASH! YOU FELL OUT OF THE TREE!": FArray(14) = 0: Return
If FArray(27) = 1 And RM = 52 Then M$ = "GHOSTS WILL NOT LET YOU MOVE": Return
If RM = 45 And C(1) = 1 And FArray(34) = 0 Then M$ = "A MAGICAL BARRIER TO THE WEST": Return
If (RM = 26 And FArray(0) = 0) And (D = 1 Or D = 4) Then M$ = "YOU NEED A LIGHT": Return
If RM = 54 And C(15) <> 1 Then M$ = "YOU'RE STUCK!": Return
If C(15) = 1 And Not (RM = 53 Or RM = 54 Or RM = 55 Or RM = 47) Then M$ = "YOU CAN'T CARRY A BOAT!":

SOFTWARE
Return
If (RM > 26 And RM < 30) And FArray(0) = 0 Then M$ = "TOO DARK TO MOVE": Return
FArray(35) = 0: RL = Len(RArray(RM))
For I = 1 To RL
U$ = Mid$(RArray(RM), I, 1)
If (U$ = "N" And D = 1 And FArray(35) = 0) Then RM = RM 8: FArray(35) = 1
If (U$ = "S" And D = 2 And FArray(35) = 0) Then RM = RM + 8: FArray(35) = 1
If (U$ = "W" And D = 3 And FArray(35) = 0) Then RM = RM 1: FArray(35) = 1
If (U$ = "E" And D = 4 And FArray(35) = 0) Then RM = RM + 1: FArray(35) = 1
Next I
M$ = "OK"
If FArray(35) = 0 Then M$ = "CAN'T GO THAT WAY!"
If D < 1 Then M$ = "GO WHERE?"
If RM = 41 And FArray(23) = 1 Then R_$ = "SW": M$ = "THE DOOR SLAMS SHUT!": FArray(23) = 0
Return
980:
Rem VERBS 10 AND 11
If OB > G Then M$ = "I CAN'T GET " + W_$: Return
If LArray(OB) <> RM Then M$ = "IT ISN'T HERE"
If FArray(OB) <> 0 Then M$ = "WHAT " + W_$ + "?"
If C(OB) = 1 Then M$ = "YOU ALREADY HAVE IT"
If OB > 0 And LArray(OB) = RM And FArray(OB) = 0 Then C(OB) = 1: LArray(OB) = 65: M$ = "YOU HAVE THE " +
W_$
Return
1030:
Rem VERB 12
If RM = 43 And (OB = 28 Or OB = 29) Then FArray(17) = 0: M$ = "DRAWER OPEN"
If RM = 28 And OB = 25 Then M$ = "IT'S LOCKED"
If RM = 38 And OB = 32 Then M$ = "THAT'S CREEPY!": FArray(2) = 0
Return
1070:
Rem VERB 13
If OB = 30 Then FArray(18) = 0: M$ = "SOMETHING HERE!"
If OB = 31 Then M$ = "THAT'S DISGUSTING!"
If (OB = 28 Or OB = 29) Then M$ = "THERE'S A DRAWER"
If OB = 33 Or OB = 5 Then GoSub 1140
If RM = 43 And OB = 35 Then M$ = "THERE'S SOMETHING BEYOND..."
If OB = 32 Then GoSub 1030
If OB > 0 And M$ = "" Then M$ = "NOTHING REALLY USEFUL FOUND..."
Return
1140:
Rem VERB 14
If RM = 42 And OB = 33 Then M$ = "THEY ARE DEMONIC WORKS"
If (OB = 3 Or OB = 36) And C(3) = 1 And FArray(34) = 0 Then M$ = "USE THIS WORD WITH CARE 'XZANFAR'"
If C(5) = 1 And OB = 5 Then M$ = "THE SCRIPT IS IN AN ALIEN TONGUE"
Return
1180:
Rem VERB 15
M$ = "OK '" + W_$ + "'"
If C(3) = 1 And OB = 34 Then M$ = "*MAGIC OCCURS*": If RM <> 45 Then RM = Fix(Rnd(1) * 64)
If C(3) = 1 And OB = 34 And RM = 45 Then FArray(34) = 1
Return
1220:
Rem VERB 16
If C(12) = 1 Then M$ = "YOU MADE A HOLE"
If C(12) = 1 And RM = 30 Then M$ = "DUG THE BARS OUT": DArray(RM) = "HOLE IN THE WALL": RArray(RM) =
"NSE"
Return
1250:
Rem VERB 17
If C(14) <> 1 And RM = 7 Then M$ = "THIS IS NO TIME TO PLAY GAMES"
If OB = 14 And C(14) = 1 Then M$ = "YOU SWUNG IT"
If OB = 13 And C(13) = 1 Then M$ = "WHOOSH"
If OB = 13 And C(13) = 1 And RM = 43 Then RArray(RM) = "WN": DArray(RM) = "STUDY WITH A SECRET ROOM": M$
= "YOU BROKE THE THIN WALL"
Return
1300:
Rem VERB 18
If OB = 14 And C(14) = 1 Then M$ = "IT ISN'T ATTACHED TO ANYTHING!"
If OB = 14 And C(14) <> 1 And RM = 7 And FArray(14) = 0 Then M$ = "YOU SEE THICK FORREST AND CLIFF
SOUTH": FArray(14) = 1: Return
If OB = 14 And C(14) <> 1 And RM = 7 And FArray(14) = 1 Then M$ = "GOING DOWN!": FArray(14) = 0
Return
1340:

SOFTWARE
Rem VERB 19
If OB = 17 And C(17) = 1 And C(8) = 0 Then M$ = "IT WILL BURN YOUR HANDS"
If OB = 17 And C(17) = 1 And C(9) = 0 Then M$ = "NOTHING TO LIGHT IT WITH"
If OB = 17 And C(17) = 1 And C(9) = 1 And C(8) = 1 Then M$ = "IT CASTS A FLICKERING LIGHT": FArray(0) =
1
Return
1380:
Rem VERB 20
If FArray(0) = 1 Then FArray(0) = 0: M$ = "EXTINGUISHED"
Return
1400:
Rem VERB 21
If OB = 16 And C(16) = 1 Then M$ = "HISSSS"
If OB = 16 And C(16) = 1 And FArray(26) = 1 Then FArray(26) = 0: M$ = "PFFT! GOT THEM"
Return
1430:
Rem VERB 22
If OB = 10 And C(10) = 1 And C(11) = 1 Then M$ = "SWITCHED ON": FArray(24) = 1
If FArray(27) = 1 And FArray(24) = 1 Then M$ = "WHIZZ VACUUMED THE GHOSTS UP!": FArray(27) = 0
Return
1460:
Rem VERB 23
If RM = 43 And (OB = 27 Or OB = 28) Then GoSub 1030
If RM = 28 And OB = 25 And FArray(25) = 0 And C(18) = 1 Then FArray(25) = 1: RArray(RM) = "SEW":
DArray(RM) = "HUGE OPEN DOOR": M$ = "THE KEY TURNS"
Return
1490:
Rem VERB 24
If C(OB) = 1 Then C(OB) = 0: LArray(OB) = RM: M$ = "DONE"
Return
1510:
Rem VERB 25
S = 0
For I = 1 To G
If C(I) = 1 Then S = S + 1
Next I
If S = 17 And C(15) <> 1 And RM <> 57 Then AddString = AddString & vbCrLf & "YOU HAVE EVERYTHING":
AddString = AddString & vbCrLf & "RETURN TO THE GATE FOR FINAL SCORE"
If S = 17 And RM = 57 Then AddString = AddString & vbCrLf & "DOUBLE SCORE FOR REACHING HERE!": S = S * 2
AddString = AddString & vbCrLf & "YOUR SCORE = " & S: If S > 18 Then AddString = AddString & vbCrLf &
"WELL DONE! YOU HAVE FINISHED THE GAME": End
Return
1590:
Return
Stampa:
' Stampa risultato del comando
Testo.Text = "YOUR LOCATION IS:"
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf & DArray(RM)
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & "POSSIBLE EXITS:" & vbCrLf
For I = 1 To Len(RArray(RM))
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & Mid$(RArray(RM), I, 1) & ","
Next I
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf
For I = 1 To G
If LArray(I) = RM And FArray(I) = 0 Then Testo.Text = Testo.Text & "YOU CAN SEE " & OArray(I) & "
HERE"
Next I
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf & "========================="
If AddString <> "" Then
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf & AddString
AddString = ""
Else
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf & M$
End If
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & "What is your next move?"
InputString.Text = ""
InputString.SetFocus
End Sub
Private Sub Command1_Click()

About.Show
End Sub
Private Sub Form_Load()

'Load parameters

SOFTWARE
V = 25: W = 36: G = 18
LArray = Array(0, 46, 38, 35, 50, 13, 18, 28, 42, 10, 25, 26, 4, 2, 7, 47, 60, 43, 32)
Varray = Array("", "HELP", "CARRYING", "GO", "N", "S", "W", "E", "U", "D", "GET", "TAKE", "OPEN",
"EXAMINE", "READ", "SAY", "DIG", "SWING", "CLIMB", "LIGHT", "UNLIGHT", "SPRAY", "USE", "UNLOCK",
"LEAVE", "SCORE")
RArray = Array("SE", "WE", "WE", "SWE", "WE", "WE", "SWE", "WS", "NS", "SE", "WE", "NW", "SE", "W",
"NE", "NSW", "NS", "NS", "SE", "WE", "NWUD", "SE", "WSUD", "NS", "N", "NS", "NSE", "WE", "WE", "NSW",
"NS", "NS", "S", "NSE", "NSW", "S", "NSUD", "N", "N", "NS", "NE", "NW", "NE", "W", "NSE", "WE", "W",
"NS", "SE", "NSW", "E", "WE", "NW", "S", "SW", "NW", "NE", "NWE", "WE", "WE", "WE", "NWE", "NWE", "W")
DArray = Array("DARK CORNER", "OVERGROWN GARDEN", "BY LARGE WOODPILE", "YARD BY RUBBISH", "WEEDPATCH",
"FOREST", "THICK FOREST", "BLASTED TREE", "CORNER OF HOUSE", "ENTRANCE TO KITCHEN", "KITCHEN AND GRIMEY
COOKER", "SCULLERY DOOR", " ROOM WITH INCHES OF DUST", "REAR TURRET ROOM", "CLEARING BY HOUSE", "PATH",
"SIDE OF HOUSE", _
"BACK OF HALLWAY", "DARK ALCOVE", "SMALL DARK ROOM", "BOTTOM OF SPIRAL STAIRCASE", "WIDE PASSAGE",
"SLIPPERY STEPS", "CLIFFTOP", "NEAR CRUMBLING WALL", "GLOOMY PASSAGE", "POOL OF LIGHT", "IMPRESSIVE
VAULTED HALLWAY", "HALL BY THICK WOODEN DOOR", "TROPHY ROOM", "CELLAR WITH BARRED WINDOW", "CLIFF PATH",
" CUPBOARD WITH HANGING COAT", _
"FRONT HALL", "SITTING ROOM", "SECRET ROOM", "STEEP MARBLE STAIRS", "DINING ROOM", "DEEP CELLAR WITH
COFFIN", "CLIFF PATH", "CLOSET", "FRONT LOBBY", "LIBRARY OF EVIL BOOKS", "STUDY WITH DESK AND HOLE IN
WALL", "WEIRD COBWEBBY ROOM", "VERY COLD CHAMBER", "SPOOKY ROOM", "CLIFF PATH BY MARSH", "RUBBLESTREWN
VERANDAH", "FRONT PORCH", _
"FRONT TOWER", "SLOPING CORRIDOR", "UPPER GALLERY", "MARSH BY WALL", "MARSH", "SOGGY PATH", "BY TWISTED
RAILING", "PATH THROUGH IRON GATE", "BY RAILINGS", "BENEATH FRONT TOWER", "DEBRIS FROM CRUMBLING
FACADE", "LARGE FALLEN BRICKWORK", "ROTTING STONE ARCH", "CRUMBLING CLIFFTOP")
OArray = Array("", "PAINTING", "RING", "MAGIC SPELLS", "GOBLET", "SCROLL", "COINS", "STATUE",
"CANDLESTICK", "MATCHES", "VACUUM", "BATTERIES", "SHOVEL", "AXE", "ROPE", "BOAT", "AEROSOL", "CANDLE",
"KEY", "NORTH", "SOUTH", "WEST", "EAST", "UP", "DOWN", "DOOR", "BATS", "GHOSTS", "DRAWER", "DESK",
"COAT", "RUBBISH", "COFFIN", "BOOKS", "XZANFAR", "WALL", "SPELLS")
FArray = Array(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0)
FArray(18) = 1: FArray(17) = 1: FArray(2) = 1: FArray(26) = 1: FArray(28) = 1: FArray(23) = 1: LL = 60:
RM = 57: M$ = "OK"
Testo.Text = "YOUR LOCATION IS:"

Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf & DArray(RM)
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & "POSSIBLE EXITS:" & vbCrLf
For I = 1 To Len(RArray(RM))
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & Mid$(RArray(RM), I, 1) & ","
Next I
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf
For I = 1 To G
If LArray(I) = RM And FArray(I) = 0 Then Testo.Text = Testo.Text & "YOU CAN SEE " & OArray(I) & " HERE"
Next I
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf & "========================="
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf & M$
Testo.Text = Testo.Text & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & "What is your next move?"
M$ = "WHAT"
InputString.Text = ""
End Sub
Private Sub InputString_KeyPress(KeyAscii As Integer)

If KeyAscii = 13 Then
Call Command_Check_Click
End If
End Sub

SOFTWARE
C64: How to disable the keys corresponding to joystick switches

by Attilio Capuozzo Founder of RetroProgramming Italia – RP Italia
In the 4th part of the Tutorial about how to develop a one of the 16 internal chip registers, the Interrupt Control
game entirely in BASIC V2, which you find on the group Register (CIAICR) outlined in Fig. 2.
RetroProgramming Italia – RP Italia, Felice Nardella has
inserted a very useful Table that, for convenience, we
attach to this article (Fig. 1).
The Table shows the keys – or combination of keys –

corresponding to the 5 switches of the Joystick connected
to Control Port 1 or 2 of the C64.
Figure 2
The Interrupt Control Register is mapped in memory to

location 56333 ($DC0D).
Figure 1 To disable an Interrupt source, we will set the high bit of

the Registry (bit number 7; bit value 128) to 0 (i.e. reset)
The 5 switches are the 4 directions of movement (North, and write a 1 in the bit corresponding to the Interrupt that
South, East, West) and the Fire Button. we intend to disable.
The purpose of this trick is to completely disable the use In this specific case, our purpose is to disable the generation
of these keys in programs that manage movements through of the IRQ Interrupt by Timer A, which in Register 56333
the Joystick. is controlled by bit 0.
Let's start by saying that the first operation to be done is Then you must use the following statement:
to disable the scanning of the keyboard, which usually poke 56333.1
takes place every 1/60 seconds.
Let's briefly remember that Timer A counts down from a
Keyboard scanning, as well as cursor blinking management default start value – called LATCH VALUE – up to 0. When
as well as updating the so-called Jiffy Clock, the precise it reaches 0, if the corresponding bit in the aforementioned
C64 software clock per second (the Reserved Variables Registry is enabled, the Interrupt request will be generated.
TI and TI$, of THE BASIC V2, refer to the Jiffy Clock), are
managed through an Interrupt Routine. By default CIA # 1, as mentioned, generates an IRQ
Interrupt (via Timer A) 60 times per second.
To generate (“trigger”) the Interrupt is a 16-bit counter,
called Timer A, which constitutes one of the 5 Interrupt Before leaving the program we will need to remember to
sources of one of the 2 CIAs – the CIA #1 – acronym for re-enable Timer A (and ultimately re-enable keyboard
Complex Interface Adapter (6526), the specialized chips scanning) by typing a 1 in CIAICR bit 7 and, again, a 1 in
assigned to the interview with the I/O peripherals, that bit 0 that represents our Interrupt source: poke 56333,129
is, Input/Output.
Changing the value contained in the Interrupt Control
CIA chip #1 is connected, via an IRQ type line, to Pin 3 ofRegister is not yet sufficient to achieve our purpose, namely
CPU 6510. to ensure that the user cannot use the combinations of
keys alternative to the movements of the Joystick connected
IRQ stands for Interrupt ReQuest and is one of the 2 types to one of the 2 Control Ports of the C64.
of Interrupt Hardware covered by the C64 architecture. The 64 physical keys of the Commodore 64 are contained
The other Interrupt Hardware is the NMI acronym for Non- in an array of 8 rows for 8 columns, i.e. the Keyboard Matrix
Maskable Interrupt; CIA #2 is connected, via an NMI line, (See Fig. 3).
to Pin 4 of the 6510 microprocessor.
The Keyboard Matrix is connected to the CIA #1 via 2 of
The 5 Interrupt sources of CIA # 1 can be detected via its 16 internal registers: Data Port Register A mapped to

SOFTWARE
Figure 3
address 56320 ($DC00) and Data Port Register B In order to be sure to read, in one of the 2 Data Port
corresponding to memory location 56321 ($DC01). Registers, a value that comes from the Joystick, we only
have to write in advance in the 56320 Register (the Data
Actually, the physical keys of a C64 are 66 in all; the Port Register used, as mentioned, in writing) a 1 in its 8
Keyboard Matrix lacks the SHIFT LOCK key that does not bits corresponding to the 8 Columns of the Keyboard
need to be detected as it is replaced by the normal left Matrix. In fact, writing 1 in the bits of the 56320 Registry
SHIFT, the LEFT SHIFT (whose pressure it simulates), and will ignore the reading of the corresponding Columns of
the RESET key whose pressure generates an NMI type the KeyBoard Matrix (the opposite effect is obtained by
Interrupt. setting the bits of the Registry to 0).
The 56320 Registry (Data Port A) is used for writing to In BASIC V2, therefore, we will type the following statement:
select the Columns to be read from the Keyboard Matrix poke 56320,255
while the 56321 Registry (Data Port B), used for reading,
is used to read the Matrix Rows for the Column previously Ultimately, the 2 instructions that will be executed before
selected through the Data Port Register A. the next readings of one of the 2 Control Ports to which
the Joystick is connected (Register 56320 = Control Port
Just to complicate the life of us C64 RetroProgrammers, 2 or Register 56321 = Control Port 1) are the following:
the same Registers store - in the first 5 bits - the values poke 56333.1:poke 56320.255
corresponding to the 5 switches of the Joystick as well
described by the aforementioned Tutorial by Felice Nardella. We have finally achieved our long-awaited goal!
So when we go to read the contents of one of the 2 That's all folks!
aforementioned Registers we will have no way of knowing
if the bits of the Registers have been modified by the
Joystick movement (and/or by pressing the Fire Button)
If you want to join RetroProgramming Italia - RP
or by pressing 1 key (or a combination of keys) simulating
Italia group:
the 5 switches of the Joystick.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/retroprogramming/

SOFTWARE
An introduction to ARexx – part 3
by Gianluca Girelli
This article first appeared on Bitplane pages in May 2013.
ENGINE (GAME)
MATRICES, CONDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS AND The graphics engine is the software core of a video
PROCEDURES game or any other application with real-time
graphics.
It provides basic technologies, simplifies
After learning in the previous tutorial how to work with development, and often allows the game to run on
strings or, rather, how powerful the string management different platforms such as consoles or operating
instructions are in ARexx, let's go into the details of systems for personal computers. Basic functionality
typically provided by a graphics engine includes a
procedures, matrices and, above all, conditional instructions.
rendering engine ("renderer") for 2D and 3D
graphics, a physical engine or collision detector,
PROCEDURES sound, scripting, animations, artificial intelligence,
networking, and scene-graph.
Unlike other languages (e.g. Pascal), where the difference "Parser" passing the variable "phrase"
between functions and procedures is strictly and syntactically
formal (as well as conceptual), ARexx handles subprograms ; subprogram structure
very easily. From the beginning, in fact, both the author Parser:
of the language and the community of developers preferred statement 1 ;these instructions
the simplicity of use and ease of reading to the formal use the content of "phrase"
complexity of structured languages. .....
Without wanting to go too far into the theory, we will simply instruction n
remember that, while a procedure generally aims to perform return
actions/operations, a function "returns" a result. In other
words: a procedure is usually invoked simply by writing Having said that, we will henceforth use the generic term
its name, while a function (returning a result) is assigned 'subprogram' for simplicity, avoiding, if possible, the term
to a variable. 'procedure'. The reason is this: as we know, in ARexx the
variables are all "global" and you do not need to declare
For our purposes, it is sufficient to know that ARexx a variable before using it. Nonetheless, the variables used
subprograms are invoked with the command "CALL within a subprogram are generally known only to the
subprogram_name (expression,...)". calling process. To change the scope of visibility of a
The list of parameters in parentheses has no length variable, the reserved word "PROCEDURE" was then added
limitations and is evaluated from left to right. If our to the language.
subprogram is actually a function, then the last expression This statement can be used within a procedure to make
might be the variable that contains the final result. In this certain variables "unknown" to the rest of the code.
case, it might be more convenient (and conceptually “PROCEDURE”, however, can also be used, in conjunction
correct) to use the following syntax: "result = with "EXPOSE", to modify this behavior. Before looking at
subprogram_name (expression,...)". an example, let's introduce another topic: matrices.
As seen in the previous issue of the magazine, the subroutine MATRICES

is identified by an initial "label" that acts both as the name
of the subprogram and as the logical reference address We have just mentioned that in ARexx neither the explicit
to be invoked by the main code and ends with the "return" declaration nor the initial assignment of values is necessary.
statement: However, we must remember that if the variable is not
initialized, it will contain the character (s) that make up
; call example its symbol, transformed into uppercase letters. In other
pull phrase ; reads the variable "phrase" words, the value of the variable "amiga" will initially be
in input "AMIGA". This type of variable is called "simple". A variable
call Parser (phrase) ;call the subprogram can also be a compound variable, such as "amiga.2000".
SOFTWARE
In this case, the beginning part is called "stem" and array.x.y=0

includes the variable name up to the dot (included), while next y
the rest of the variable is called "node". An uninitialized next x
compound variable contains the value of its node. In other
words, if not initialized, "amiga.2000" will initially contain Does anyone still have doubts about the power of ARexx?
the value "2000".
At this point, after talking about subprograms and simple
One interesting thing about composite variables is that if and composite variables, it will be clear how the following
the stem is initialized with a given value, all possible code works:
compound variables that begin with that stem will have
the same value. That is, if to "amiga." I assign the "mythical" /* this is the main program */
value, even the variables j=1; x.1= 'a'
"amiga.500","amiga.1200","amiga.3000"e"amiga.4000" call some_variables
will contain "mythical. " say j k m /* will display "1 7 M" */
exit
It is evident the enormous potential, even conceptual,
that this type of initialization has compared to the traditional /* this is a subprogram */
one. Assuming you want to initialize a vector of 100 some_variables: procedure exposed j k x.j
elements to zero, just do: say j k x.j /* will display "1 K a" */
k=7; m=3 /* note that "m" is not exposed */
vector. = 0 return
instead of having to use the classic: Please note the call to the subroutine "some_variables",
the implicit initialization of simple and compound variables,
for i=1 to 100 the use of the stem as well as that of the instructions
vector.i = 0 "PROCEDURE" and "EXPOSE".
next i
CONDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS AND ITERATIVE CYCLES
Surprises don't end there, though. Since the "node" of a
stem can also contain other dots (ex: a.b.c), the stem also Let’s now close the present tutorial with a summary of
represents the name of the multidimensional matrix conditional instructions (already introduced in the previous
associated with it. In this case, assuming you want to issue with some examples of syntax analyzers) and iterative
initialize a two-dimensional array of 100x100 elements cycles.
to zero, the operation: Like all the more advanced languages, ARexx implements
constructs for iterating statements, but instead of having
matrix. = 0 different types of statements, it uses the following syntax:
is equivalent to: DO [repeater][condition];

[instruction list]
for x=1 to 100 END
for y=1 to 100
where:
Porting - "repeater" can be: FOREVER, a single expression (to be
evaluated) or a complex expression in the form "name=espr1
Porting indicates in computer science a process of [TO espr2][BY espr3][FOR espr4]”;
transposition, sometimes even with modifications, of - "condition" can be: [WHILE esprA] or [UNTIL esprB];
a software component aimed at allowing its use in a
different execution environment from the original - and "instruction list" can be any sequence of language
one. instructions.
Two activities linked to but distinct from porting are With regard to conditional constructs, they are presented
emulation and cross-compilation.
in the following forms:

SOFTWARE
===========================================
IF expression[;] THEN[;] statement [ELSE[;]

CONCLUSIONS
statement]
At the end of this first block of three tutorials, we should
have achieved all the knowledge needed to write our first,
or:
truly complex program. In the near future, also thanks to
the article published in issue 17 and related to "Game
SELECT when_list [OTHERWISE[;][instruction_list]]
Coding", we will start building a game "engine" [BOX] for
END;
textual adventures. Although ARexx was born as a "scripting"
program, the code will be written with the most modern
where:
programming paradigms in mind, in order to facilitate the
- "when_list" is composed of one or more constructs in the
eventual "port" [BOX] in other languages.
form "WHEN expression[;] THEN[;] instruction";
- and "instruction list" can be any sequence of language
Further insights into the use and syntax of ARexx can be
instructions.
found in the texts quoted in the literature.
In the code snippet below you can see the use of the just-
So don't miss the next round of articles: "Game Coding
mentioned constructs as used in the textual adventure
with ARexx".
"cyber.rexx", written for educational purposes by the author
of this article. To introduce its scope, this is the subprogram
that manages "navigation" within the game world, for the Using the examples
sake of simplicity implemented as a two-dimensional matrix
As reported in previous articles, to use the examples
of "X" rows and "Y" columns. you have to save the script in text mode in the format
"name_script.rexx".
We have so clarified how the navigation works: we modifiy To launch the script just type from shell
X,Y coordinates according to the desired destination. As ">rx name_script.rexx"
or simply,
an example, “go east" means moving one location to the ">rx name_script"
right and it translates into the statement y=y+1 (while x
remains untouched).
== = ====== = taken from cyber.rexx == ==============

Go:
if find(Situation.5 7.Pos,name)>0 then say ‘you
BIBLIOGRAPHY
can't go '|| name
else do - Mike Cowlishaw "The REXX Language: A Practical
select Approach to Programming" (1985) Prentice Hall.
ISBN 0-13-780651-5.
when name='NORTH' then x=x1
- Chris Zamara, Nick Sullivan "Using Arexx on the
when name='SOUTH' then x=x+1 Amiga" (1991) Abacus Software Inc. ISBN 1-55755-
when name='EAST' then y=y+1 114-6.
when name='WEST' then y=y1 - AmigaOS 2.0 Manuale di sistema
- http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_engine
when name='UP' then x=x1
- http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porting
when name='DOWN' then x=x+1
otherwise say ‘I don't understand. Try again’;
say; return
end
Pos=(x1)*maxcol+y
do i=1 to 6
if Situation.i.Pos~='' then say Situation.i.Pos
end
end
return

RETROHISTORY
Happy Birthday Monkey Island!

by Edoardo “Edward Scissorhands” Ullo
There are important anniversaries that cannot be weight of this absolute masterpiece, in fact, the game has
overshadowed. Thirty years ago, it was October 15, 1990, some of its horror moments. Be it, of course, mitigated by
LucasFilm published The Secret of Monkey Island, a a lot of humor: “No animal was harmed during the production
point-and-click adventure by Ron Gilbert and other of this game," one reads in a warning.
developers who would then leave a mark in the industry
(see Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman). Remember the splatter scene where the antagonist of the
series, ghost pirate LeChuck, dismembers the body of
Sheriff Fester Shinetop whose looks he took to get rid of
our “hero”? Well, if that's not horror. In addition, although
in a comical and very light way, there is a lot of talk of
voodoo. And that's how our blond hero manages to take
the rampaging ship to Monkey Island despite the crew's
very nice self-mutiny. We certainly do not explain how:
the older ones will remember it, the younger ones will be
able to play it and have fun.
This is a game that, in its four diskettes of the Amiga

version but also in its Pc edition, has entered history for
many reasons. Starting with the crazy protagonist, that
Guybrush Threepwood who carelessly wanted to become
a fearsome pirate but who – punctually – was mocked by
everyone. Yelled in every way and made fun of both the
old merchant and the guardian of the island of Melée (the
fairytale island in the depths of the Caribbean that serves
as the background to the first part of the game) who thanks There is also a troll... or something like that that hinders
to his falcon view like Mr. Magoo was able to immediately us and does not let us cross the bridge, except to keep us
recognize the person in front of him apostrophe with a going after a "lavish” meal.
"Hello dandy”! Not to mention the music. Plenty of
atmosphere and catchy to the very strange dialogues,
puzzles, duels and various things.
But, you may wonder, what does The Secret of Monkey

Island have to do with a Halloween issue? We'll give you
the answer immediately. Apart from the importance and
What about cannibals? They're usually to be feared. And

of course: they are ruthless, fierce enemies, who eat other
human beings. But in The Secret of Monkey Island we find
them healthy and attentive to salt and cholesterol.
Commendable. However, our Guybrush will also have to
face a hellish labyrinth but to overcome it he will need a
RETROHISTORY
special compass: the navigator's head. It is the only one in afirst-rate horror game or production. In The Secret of
able to find its way in this Dante Alighieri’s maze where Monkey Island, on the other hand, we find them mixed
mushrooms grow. This is truly a talking head kept alive with irony and carefree.
by a special magic of Monkey Island cannibals.
What's next? Another potentially horrendous nuance is

undoubtedly the one you experience in the passage where
you arrive at the pirate ghost ship LeChuck to save Elaine
Marley making in spite to a party crew. You have to become
invisible to rip off these undead pirates so lucky to have
met LeChuck alive that he killed them and enlisted them
as undead.
In short, everything that traditionally should be on

Halloween: ghosts, cannibals, a talking head, voodoo magic. What’s the success due to? Super writing, fantastic, brilliant
dialogues, written with both heart and head.
Ingredients that if mixed together would logically result
This is the prototype of the perfect point-and-click
adventure, at least for productions from the early 1990s.
The sequel is equally spectacular and more long-lasting

but perhaps has a little less charisma than its predecessor
we celebrate in our Halloween issue.

GAME TESTING
TRUE LIES
Year: 1994
Publisher: Acclaim
Platform: Snes
Genere: Platform
In my last review, I talked about a face with the enemy.

revived passion for 16-bit
consoles, so I want to present During our journey it is easy to
another title for Supernintendo encounter civilians who are often
discovered a little by chance: I'm on our line of fire and who we
talking about True Lies. absolutely must try not to hit. In
fact, after three civilians were
killed, we lost our lives.
The graphics are well cared for

with colourful sprites and always
new and varied settings. The many
explosions are amazing as well.
Levels are very long, deep and rich

The game was released by Acclaim in detail and perhaps, being nine
Entertainment in 1994, in plus a bonus, in the long run they
conjunction with the release of the could be a bit repetitive.
homonymous movie starring
Arnold Schwarzenegger. Nothing to say even on the sound
compartment with listenable and
In fact, our hero Harry Tasker looks different music for every level and
like the legendary American actor effects always appropriate.
and our adventure follows, level by
level, the plot of the movie. To enrich everything there are
screenshots of the film, naturally OUR FINAL SCORE
From a graphic point of view, it is a pixelated, which introduce the
top down game, with the classic theme of each mission.
isometric view from above that » Gameplay 90%
resembles both The Chaos Engine In conclusion, if you do not know Compared to the megadrive
and Shadowrun. this title I strongly recommend you conversion, this one for super
rediscover it. Moving our Schwarzy nintendo has controls that
At the beginning of each mission through bullets, explosions and respond impeccably, offering a
we are armed only with a gun but various ambushes is really fun and really fun gaming experience.
during our adventure we can also we find ourselves immersed in a
collect a pump rifle, a machine gaming experience that has not
gun, a flamethrower, grenades and been replicated in other titles of » Longevity 80%
anti-personnel mines and we can this kind for the SuperNintendo.
It takes several hours to finish this
easily switch from one weapon to
title and maybe nine levels, plus a
another with a simple button. by Querino Ialongo
bonus, are a bit too much and
In addition to weapons, we can they could result repetitive for
also collect ammunition, keys to some people.
open hidden passageways and first
aid boxes to recharge our energy.
With another key instead we can
make a leap forward to escape the
bullets or to find ourselves face to
GAME TESTING
BILLY MASTERS Year: 2020

Developer: Paco Garcia
WAS RIGHT
Genre: Point-and-click
adventure
Platform: Windows
Nobody believes Billy Masters. adventure game in the Maniac Mansion

graphic style and a plot inspired by
A 16-year-old American in the 80s films such as "The Burbs" or
and 90s accused of taking drugs in "Disturbia".
high school and slandering his teacher The atmosphere of the game is a
for serious crimes. mixture of nostalgia of the 80s, classic
Tired of his outrageous attitude, his suspicion films of the same period
parents imposed the most complete and a teenage movie.
curfew on him until he apologizes to Classic point-and-click that recalls
his teacher. the system designed for Maniac
Mansion by Lucas Film and I must say
that it still works perfectly.
Funny, never trivial, well matched in
puzzles... irreverent in dialogues and
plot and in some places even
disconcerting (a cartoon graphic with
very strong themes, resounding!).
Nice technical realization that catapults
us on a Commodore 64 of the times
of Maniac Mansion, but fast and precise.
The strength for me is instead a
soundtrack suitable for gaming
opportunities, it really got me involved. OUR FINAL SCORE
Unfortunately, it is neither long nor
impossible, but it will take you a few
hours to play.
Find it free on the developer's website:
https://postmoderdventures.itch.io/
» Gameplay 80%
billy A well proven point and click
or by giving a small amount to the game which reminds of Maniac
Problem is, his teacher is a real programmer. Mansion.
psychopath and he's up to something Well structured plot, good
in the neighborhood. Available for Windows in English, puzzles. Beautiful.
Billy's in the corner, and he's gonna Spanish, Catalan and German (locations
do everything he can to make his are great).
case... Until it's clear that Billy Masters
was right. This Halloween upload this game and » Longevity 60%
remember that... Billy was right! Not very long unfortunately, but
What a great game! Perhaps not a fun. Passed with full marks.
masterpiece, but a breath of fresh air by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini
(which then so fresh, it recalls the
good old days) between the incredible
fps, rpg and ultra-technological
partners made of absurd framerate
and 4k.
Are you really having fun with these
numbers? Are you really interested in
knowing if having fun is at 60 fps or
less? All right, let's just drop it and
get back to the game.
Billy Masters Was Right is a short
Page 50 of 64 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 ISSUE 4

GAME TESTING
PROJECT
Year: 1989
Developer: Dynamix
Publisher: Electronics Arts
FIRESTART
Genre: Action/adventure/
survival horror
Platform: Commodore 64
"Captain's log - February 13, 2061 - with pseudo 3D isometric graphics.

PROMETHEUS research spacecraft. The spacecraft consists of several
rooms, fixed and sliding. Our hero can
The mission funded by the Science move freely on the ship and with the
System Foundation was a failure. possibility of defending himself with
Experiments to create "super men" a very effective laser gun but with a
with extraordinary physical abilities limited number of ammunition available.
have been a complete failure. How
could I have agreed to be a part of Some terminals that can be
this crap? encountered during the game contain
The passage of corporations in the diaries and staff journals of the
name of power and money created Prometheus, through which the player
monsters. We're all dying and... in the will learn what happened inside the
silence of these walls no one can hear spaceship. You can also find some
us, but we hear them and their claws. objects that can recharge the
character's energy or provide new
Here they are, they're coming in..." ammunition or other objects useful
for resolving the game.
This could be the start of Project
Firestart, set aboard the abandoned Occasionally, following a player action
Prometheus and full of corpses. The or at predetermined points, the game
lead agent, Jon, will move within the pauses to show the player a screen
facility trying to figure out what showing the protagonist, another
happened through the logs, trying to character or one of the monsters,
save the only survivor and run away giving the player the opportunity to
before detonating it. better see their appearance.
An incredible plot for an incredible
game, often forgotten but which really As we said, Project Firestart is an
opened a genre years before Resident action video game created on
Evil or Silent Hill. Commodore 64.
Project Firestart is an action game It was designed by Jeff Tunnell and

GAME TESTING
OUR FINAL SCORE
» Gameplay 85%
Difficult and not suitable for
classic arcade "purists". Once
inside the game you will not be
able to stop easily.
» Longevity 85%
The Prometheus will not be
released in a moment. Many
hours of play.
Damon Slye and published by Electronic above all, but above all the thing).
Arts in 1989. Players of the time were not accustomed
to alien enemies so disgusting and
To all intents and purposes it is to be leathery compared to the standard.
considered the first example of survival
horror with multiple endings, conceived Difficult, violent, distressing...
ten years before the most famous games Beautiful.
of the genre.
A real killer application for Commodore
The gloomy atmosphere, the feeling 64. Never been out for other systems,
that the enemy is hiding around every envied by owners of more powerful
corner and that sense of powerlessness machines.
when you're out of ammunition made
it fast at the time and gave it a halo of Try it locked in your room... With only
mystical mystery. The magazines praised the C64 on, your joystick and the silence
him for the concept and for the game of the space station where...
system, the players were astonished at
the realization but then complained No one will hear you scream.
about the anomalous difficulty and a
totally different approach. by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini
Graphically stunning, varied and made

with this isometric graphic that gave
the player ample breath, something
unprecedented in other titles. A title
that reminded us of the atmospheres
of horror films and skis of the time (Alien

GAME TESTING
LUIGI'S Year: 2001

Publisher: Nintendo
MANSION
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Survival Horror/Action
Platform: Game Cube
"Mariooooooooo..... Mario! " not the first time he put himself in the
How many times by pressing the A role of the protagonist. Ten years
button of the Cube did we make Luigi earlier, he starred in "Mario is Missing!"
repeat this sentence? Me very often.
Luigi's Mansion is a title conceived by The story is simple: Mario was
“Mamma” Nintendo that gave life to kidnapped by the Boo, the popular
a saga very often underestimated, but ghosts of the series. For this
with an appeal, a style and an excellent characteristic, in the wake of the
gameplay. This first chapter was Ghostbusters' films, Luigi will find
released in 2001 (2002 in Italy) as himself facing them with a vacuum
the first title for the newborn Game cleaner and a Game Boy Horror with
Cube. the aim of exterminating the more
than 50 rooms of the haunted palace
It's part of the big series of titles to free up his brother after having
devoted to Mario and it had a remake obviously defeated the evil King Boo,
on DS and a beautiful third episode the final boss. Each room contains
on Switch. secrets, traps or moments of fear (up
to a certain point, ndN).
Upon its release it was criticized by
magazines and game experts, who It is in the gameplay that this first
superficially labeled the title "childish" episode presented itself as various
and simple. But everything improves and original, with ideas that still make
over time (wine, for example, ndN). it incredibly modern and never boring.
Let's go with order. The same formula proved to be
successful and remained almost
The game is fundamental to the history identical in the new chapters. This is
of the brand, as not only valorizes a an incredible strength. The use of the
character often in the background wonderful Nintendo cube joypad is
compared to Mario; Luigi who becomes masterful. The controls are very
an unexpected protagonist. This game comfortable and complete with the
basically does two things: detaches balanced use of all the buttons and
itself from the concept
of the series of a classic
platform and above all it
mimics the numerous
survival horrors that
prevailed in that
period.
An experiment never
attempted before by
Nintendo and that was
not understood by the
magazines. This is
something that should
be considered
innovative and
incredible!
Few people know,

however, that Luigi was

GAME TESTING
the analogue stick. "different."

OUR FINAL SCORE
As in the legendary Ghostbusters movie, If you have a Game Cube, I can't not
Luigi, rather than fighting or jumping
on his opponents, sucks them using » Gameplay 95%
the Poltergust 3000, which sucks up It is a well designed and
all sorts of ghosts, from simple generic playable product. The
ghosts to those in "frames" that haunt gameplay is well calibrated, the
the house up to the most complicated story fast and captivating and
ghosts and the very fast Boo. you will immediately feel
immersed in the mission in
The use of the vacuum cleaner is not search of Mario. Excellent the
limited to simple vacuuming, but you use of the joypad.
can use the Poltergust to move objects,
suck in curtains and blankets, vacuum recommend it, but it also runs in » Longevity 80%
coins, bonus objects and keys (essential emulation with the Dolphin. It is not an blockbuster, but it
for opening rooms to explore). is a title that will keep you busy
You can find it in the remake version on each time you take it off the
The real strength of this chapter certainly DS and on Nintendo stores. shelf and put it in the Game
remains the use of the objects and Cube.
elements that serve our protagonist to I mean, play it!
advance in the game and higher in the
villa. Starting with the simple vacuum by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini
cleaner it can be leveraged with
extraordinary powers up to the Game
Boy Horror, a device that allows us to
observe the surrounding environment
and receive information on the objects
we encounter on our way; but also acts
as a map of the entire building, helping
the player by indicating the locked
rooms, those already completed and
those accessible (because we have
perhaps found a special key to access
them).
This particular object can also indicate

the presence of ghosts and even have
the function of inventory, indicating the
amount of money, gems, spectra that
we possess.
Critics, as we said, criticized the game

by branding it as a beautiful title but
"short and for kids".
Certainly the missions will not be billions
and it will certainly not take thousands
of hours to finish it, but it is a beautiful,
serene and relaxing game (despite the
ghosts).
Beautiful to play in front of TV in the

dark right on Halloween, maybe with
your son, a scaring ghost, and a
frightened face of Luigi laughing all
together at home. This makes it special
and, finally, the critics have reassessed it.
If it were an alcoholic it would be a good

brandy to enjoy calmly by the fire, but
it is a video game and it is well made,
playable and very beautiful to watch.
A perfect example of how Nintendo is

GAME TESTING
CANNON
Year: 1993
Publisher: Sensible Software/
Virgin
FODDER
Developer: Sensible Software
Genre: Shoot'em-up/Real-time
strategy
Platform: Amiga
Those who owned a Commodore in most cases to

Amiga in 1993 could not help but eliminate the enemy's
add to their video game collection presence on the
this small masterpiece created by territory (including
those geniuses who had given bases and military
Europe (and the world) the installations) while
definitive football game: Sensible trying to lose as few
Soccer. soldiers as possible
(the survivors were
The English coders had another increased from mission
fantastic idea: to recruit thousands to mission) brilliantly
of small men in delicate pixel-art using Commodore
(as indeed were the players of Amiga's trusty mouse
Sensible Soccer) and place them as the only control
in equally delicious scenarios system.
designed with a view from above
to make them become as the title The game was not
of the game says “cannon fodder” really a real-time
or a goliardic and direct way to strategy (genre that
make us try directly on our monitors was born in those years
that the war had never really been due to Dune 2 on
so fun "War has never been so Amiga) but a lot of
much fun". quick strategy behind
our arcade actions
Playability at the top within series would still make the
of missions of increasing difficulty difference between the
where obviously the purpose was life and death of our

GAME TESTING
OUR FINAL SCORE
» Gameplay 96%
A successful mix of real time
strategy and shooter, with so
many classy touches and a
playability so high that can
hand down win the challenge
with time.
» Longevity 95%
As said above Cannon Fodder
is a brilliant video game that,
along with many others, has
helped to fix in our hearts the
creativity that permeated the
early '90s by making us love
the Commodore Amiga
systems.
The game was then converted

little digital soldiers. the song "War has never been so on most of the platforms of the
much fun", the icing on the cake for time, had a sequel called
A masterpiece of playability (and a product really worthy of being Cannon Fodder 2 and a 3D
game design) that contemplated replayed again today. remake not made by Sensible
the use not only of standard firearms Software in 2011 called
but also rockets, tanks and by Flavio Soldani Cannon Fodder 3.
everything that could have been Unfortunately the sequels were
useful to get to the promotion of not able to reach the quality of
our troops avoiding making them the first chapter.
become small crosses scattered on
the hill where new resources were
recruited between one level and
another.
A masterpiece of game design that

pushed us to exploit the territory in
our favor.
In the jungle they could camouflage
us among the trees (but enemy
soldiers could also do it) while in
the Arctic areas we had to pay
attention to the ice without counting
the mines, the traps hidden in the
vegetation, and dozens of other
classy touches (such as the
possibility of injuring only the
enemies who then writhed and
screamed from pain waiting to be
finished).
That made the world of Cannon

Fodder an immersive and exciting
experience by treating a raw theme
like war in a detached and fun way
as it was actually announced in the
initial theme song composed and
sung by game designer Jon Hare or

GAME TESTING
MICRO MAGES
Year: 2019
Developer: Morphcat Games
Genre: Platform
Platform: Nintendo NES
"Do not be a magician - be magic!" one shot to kill the opponents, but
Leonard Cohen increasing the levels we will face more
" coriaceous" opponents who will
Micro Mages for the Nintendo need several shots.
Entertainment System, developed by During your exploration, you'll find
Morphat Games, is a vertical sliding chests and treasures to help you. In
platform game that sees us as a each box we will find several useful
magician just arrived in an ancient bonuses like a fairy who will give us
demonic fortress to save the princess a shield to protect from opponents
from the forces of evil. shots or a feather that will give us the
chance to fly… And much more.
The journey inside the fortress will
place our hero in pink tunic in front Every 16,000 points (collected with
of great treasures, horrible creatures bonuses or destroying the enemies)
and deadly traps. Only thanks to his we will be awarded an extra life.
magical skills and his climbing skills There are also checkpoints, as in any
the little magician can reach, with our respected platform, usually located
help, the top of the tower. at the middle of the level and really
useful during the longest and most
There are 4 towers to pass: complicated routes (the third world
The Haunted Dungeon - an old lost for example).
tower full of bats and skeletons and The game also has a convenient
where a huge ghost screams at its password system to save the location.
victims to kill them. Passwords will be provided at the end
Valhalla Tower - where the Goblins of each tower.
are building a structure that leads to Once we reach the top of the towers
Valhalla. we’ll be faced by their big bosses.
The Jungle Temple - built inside a
dormant volcano and ruled by the
Prince of Darkness... and finally
Last Tower - The last tower is the
somewhat mysterious headquarters
of the supreme evil that trapped the
princess.
The main mechanic of the game is to

cast spells against enemies with the
A key of the joypad and use the jump
(on the B key) to climb up to the top
of the various levels. The jumping
action on the wall is easy enough to
be performed thanks to responsive
controls and a perfect control of the
main character in every situation.
The level of challenge is quite various.

During the journey we will meet several
opponents and traps that will make
the game never boring and very
compelling. Initially we will only need

GAME TESTING
OUR FINAL SCORE
» Gameplay 90%
Smooth, dynamic and well
balanced. It won't bore you
and will keep you hooked to the
joypad to complete all the 4
worlds of the game.
» Longevity 65%
...4 Worlds that are a little bit
few and once you get the
patterns of opponents and the
logic of the puzzles it will be
easy and fast to finish the
game. Such a shame...
Classic monsters which represents a The soundtrack is simple and fits

challenge that is not simple but even perfectly to the game. Not obsessive
not too difficult, once you have learned or repetitive, it serves as background
the attack patterns. for the adventure.
This is a big plus. This well-balanced
difficulty makes Micro Mages a Painful notes... Few, but there are. The
compelling one. game is not impossible once you
understand the patterns of levels,
There is also a multi-player mode, very opponents and traps and only 4 worlds
well implemented and quite fun. As long seem too few. Too bad because with a
as at least one player is alive, we won't few more levels it would be the absolute
lose the character's life. Players killed "masterpiece" of new productions for
along the way will turn into ghosts with the 8-bit NINTENDO.
the power to freeze opponents and help
survivors. They can also destroy crates The game is available in download on
and scribes with the hope to find a fairy Steam and Itch.Io and runs on all
or a bonus that will bring them back to emulators for the Nintendo console
life. (Mugen, Nostalgia...) but I recommend
As in the most classic platform of the you to do as I did: buy the cartridge
80s, once the a round is completed and equipped with the manual and a very
the final boss is defeated, it will be well crafted package!
possible to start over with an increased
level of difficulty. The cartridge can be ordered at:
What can I say? A new game, well https://www.brokestudio.fr/product/
structured and with great level design micro-mages-nes/
and perfect gameplay.
by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini
The graphic is impressive. Detailed,
animated with care (the little magician
is featured with incredible animations,
ndN) and everything moves smoothly.
A product that makes very good use of
the Nes's capabilities and that does not
even have a slowdown or flickering as
we often see in games for the 8-bit
Nintendo.

GAME TESTING
Year: 1993
Publisher: Id Software
DOOM
Developer: Id Software
Platform: Pc MS DOS, Atari
Jaguar, Super Nintendo, Sega
Mega32x, Sega Saturn, Sony
Playstation, 3DO, Amiga.
Genre: FPS
Hunting rifles, chainsaws and demons. an ultra-decorated surface with a

All this has been and is Doom, and diabolical appearance.
although this concept seems silly and
fanciful, it is actually one of the key The various levels of brightness give
ingredients of this legend of video rise to claustrophobic corridors, with
games. flickering or oscillating lights or even
black like pitch.
But why all this success?
In 1993, a number of controversial Movies like Alien were obviously key
titles had problems. Most parents and influences, the main theme of the
trade associations fought the violence franchise has always been inspired
in Mortal Kombat or the controversial by HR Giger, immoral marriage of meat
Wolfestein 3D (Doom's father). They and machines and, like many great
were the violent and bloody titles that previous games, level design is abstract
were on the market. rather than realistic, and surprising
Did the controversy also break out on rather than trivial. The enemies look
Doom? Yes, but in smaller quantities. fantastic, they have incredibly detailed
The title was released on the shareware and gruesome death animations, and
market and also spread in the world because they are actually photographed
by fans word of mouth. sculptures, they have an almost realistic
feeling. A heterogeneous group of
The trade associations were silenced undead and demons that has become
by the sales of the game and especially almost iconic as the Goomba in Super
by the players themselves! It was a Mario Bros or the ghosts in PAC MAN.
just niche product for the period.
Zero plot (okay, a little bit, ndN) and Appearance is only part of the equation,
is the protagonist relevant? Not even with the sound completing the package
a little. in the best possible way.
Doomguy, our general space marine In addition to a classic MIDI soundtrack

was an example of experiential (remember MIDI?) inspired - and
storytelling, through the player himself slightly torn - by metal legends such
instead of simply being exposed to it. as Black Sabbath, Metallica, Megadeth
Obviously, the element that made it and Judas Priest, among others, as
so engaging (in addition to the first- well as some slower ambient and
person perspective) were its fantastic mood-enhancing melodies such as
visual effects, similar to a Brutal Death the cherry on the cake.
Metal cover; they were banal but
fantastic ...And violent ...Oh, they were All the sound effects, from the powerful
ultra violent!!! explosions of weapons, to the screams
and growls of alarmed enemies, are
For a period of time, this pixelated just perfect - and wait for a carnivorous
tribute to action and horror movies infernal bull made of steroids who
has been the next generation of video wants to finish you off! Hearing the
games. Every subsequent FPS game echo of the roar of the gigantic
on PC, console and even Amiga was Cyberdemon; sounds like coupling
in the same style as Doom. ferocity and pain.
Despite his age, it is still exceptional.
The graphics appear realistic, almost But in all this pureness we find a stain,
gritty, whether it is a simple wall or a stain that, especially in these times,

GAME TESTING
OUR FINAL SCORE
» Gameplay 95%
Immediate, intuitive, fast,
frenetic... Many weapons, levels
and hidden bonuses. Lets you
play and makes you play like
crazy.
» Longevity 95%
Many believe that Doom is just
a relic from the past; an
important relic, of course, but
nothing more. False! The
creation of Id Software is not
only pioneering, but also one of
the best video games ever
makes us understand the age of this never feel bored, especially since every
made; a brilliant work of a
product. What is it? Well... Our hero time a key is collected, some areas will
company whose mentality was
can't tie his shoes, look at the mouses... be repopulated.
practically quite similar to what
I mean, he can't lower his eyes or even
independent developers do
raise them because three-dimensionality Over the years, fans of the saga have
today. A game of players for
was still “a Prototype" and not yet fully created hundreds of maps, mods,
players. It's beautiful, it's fast,
implemented (it will arrive a few years additional layers and systems to make
it's deeply compelling,
later with Quake and Descent). this product eternal. Some of these
immense in single and superb
products are incredibly manufactured
in multiplayer.
That makes Doom old, makes it a like Brutal Doom from which the series
It's Doom, and it's here to stay
masterpiece from another era. restarted again.
until the Hell burns!
Where we haven't concerned by
photorealism, 60 fps, 4k/8k or ultra- It was just adrenaline! No regenerative
realistic engine. health, no guidance on where to go
We were just thinking of using chainsaws next, no artificial intelligence with scripts
to gut every Cacodemon in the world. and no specific covers to hide behind
something.
At the time of its release, Doom was
criticized arguing that it was a simple Run like a madman between levels,
game in which waves of enemies were shoot down demons after demons,
shot down; enemy after enemy. It was collect useful objects.
far away from the truth.
This was DOOM and this is DOOM again.
This is not the usual Left for Dead, but
a game in which we will find a complex by Carlo N. Del Mar Pirazzini
design of fantastic levels, full of traps,
with intelligently positioned enemies,
tons of secrets and many situations in
which you will need to think to not being
slaughtered by demons.
The keyword when it comes to high-

level design is "balance." The enemy
count is high, but not so high as to make
repetitive firefights; there are many
traps, but they leave enough room for
the player to react and confront them;
ammunition is limited, but enough to
do the deed and, finally, while part of
the fun is trying to find a key to open a
door or a switch to lower an elevator,
it is managed in such a way that you

GAME TESTING
NINTENDO VS Year: 1986

Developer: Taito
TAKESHI
Genre: Platform
Platform: Nintendo FamiCom
Welcome to this new episode dedidated the great "Gialappa's Band".

to Japan; according to our internal
"Halloween-calendar" it is the second https://youtu.be/kyLzDuAkqn8
part of the 666th episode which
officially corresponds to the 14th https://youtu.be/8t2T4jGI6G0
episode on Japan on RMW! Enjoy the
reading and when you have finished https://youtu.be/tsuj4XkadUg
reading the article, I hope you will
agree with my full belief that the review The program was animated by reckless
of this video game is particularly Japanese who were striving for
relevant to this special issue! impossible, comic - unsafe challenges:
the ultimate goal was to conquer
We are talking about a video game Takeshi's virtual castle. This series
inspired, indeed created, by the was a success, but the video game
sparkling mind of the famous "Beat inspired by Takeshi's works was very
Takeshi" (two beats: in the sense of problematic.
the rhythm of comedy because at the Back to the video game. At the dawn
beginning he performed in comic of this story, Taito was licensed to
duets). create a video game dedicated to
Takeshi Kitano is one of the world's Takeshi's identity.
most famous film characters, especially
in Japan. He's a very authoritative The problem is that Takeshi was
public figure. He's an actor, director, involved too much in the game
screenwriter, editor, film producer, processing activity, leaving no room
television host, television author, radio for the video game maker experience:
host, comedian, writer, painter, singer, a very dangerous choice!
and video game author.
He is considered one of the most It is said that Takeshi created the
important living oriental directors due whole plot of the game in one night,
to the unmistakability of his style, the at the bar, the famous Izakaya bars,
radicality and innovative strength of where a thousand colourful saucers
his filming. Often his movies are focused and glasses with surreal shapes and
on Japanese mafia (Yakuza), not always contents mingle mercilessly inside
appreciated or taken too seriously. the stomach, causing bizarre and
unpredictable digestive as well as
Given his fame, it was mandatory to psychosomatic alchemies.
create a video game dedicated to his
interesting character. Taito producers in the bar recorded
Did I say video game? Or a nightmare everything Takeshi proposed. Takeshi
with open dreams? In any case, it is wanted a completely different game
present in the top ten of the worst from the others of the time: he
Japanese games. succeeded perfectly in the intent,
unfortunately in the negative sense
In fact, the game has even won the of the phrase.
first prize as the worst game for
Nintendo FamiCom. The presence of such a famous celebrity
would surely have sold infinite copies
Some parts of the game are traced of that video game, regardless of the
back to the philosophy of his famous quality of the game itself. I assure you
TV show "Takeshi's Challenge" or that I possess it and that I love
"Takeshi's Castle" known in Italy as retrogaming, but at the same time,
"Never Say Banzai", commented by unfortunately, I too feel disgusted by
GAME TESTING
this unfortunate work. It is useful to 7) there are porn situations, you can
remember that Takeshi hated electronics, drink whiskey and play Pachinko OUR FINAL SCORE
mobile phones, emails and his ideas 8) inside the Pachinko room we can
were always mixed in a bizarre only advance to the next levels if we kill
combination of tradition and madness. the people who are beating us
» Gameplay 1%
Takeshi has really created an awkward 9) we will be able to fly aircraft, even
cartridge for Nintendo FamiCom. an aeroplane, but it will not be able to
land and therefore we will crash to the It's a traumatizing experience!
Moreover, during the development of ground unnecessarily, resulting in game
» Longevity 1%
the game, Takeshi was involved in an over
extramarital scandal and ended up in 10) the end of the game is a small
the papers. drawing with Takeshi's face that says You can't wait to turn off the
The editor of the newspaper that "congratulations" FamiCom!
published the news was even beaten 11) plus numerous other strange things
by Takeshi himself (along with his that I absolutely do not want to remember
followers) during a violent rapture of or describe...
madness: from that day on the great
Takeshi who belonged to the historical It seems like a tragicomic, violent and
comedic duo "Beat Takeshi" was enriched absurd work, created by a person who
with the qualification of "Beat Takeshi" hates video games: a logic typical of
in the sense of "to beat up". Takeshi who really hates electronics
and video games.
Away from television for a few months, Perhaps this logic was really wanted
he obviously returned more famous by Takeshi, with a macabre conscience.
than before and completed his unfinished No one will ever know. No one will ask
business, scheduling numerous future Takeshi for an explanation. Few will
engagements. remember this troublesome game. I
think Nintendo is not even happy with
The game consists of a very simple the presence of this article, patience,
platform, with several elements and I will try to make it up to you with a
bonuses to discover. In short, it is a letter of apology!
platform where you have to make the
classic decisions to advance at the level. Even the creators of the "Strategy Guide"
The music is frustrating, a loop without to complete the game have “cold
harmony, not listenable at all. The sweated”, facing such an absurd,
English translation, fortunately, is irrational and illogical game.
excellent.
If you will find this cartridge in Tokyo's
https://youtu.be/j_RH518LyOk thrift stores, you absolutely must take
it, it is a collectible monstrosity, with
There are many peculiarities of the the consequent monstrous logic of
game, I will not be able to list all of them collecting prices. Unfortunately, the
since I have played it three times and manual is even rarer. I don't own it either.
I will certainly not play it again in the
future: Well dear readers, I very much hope
that this review has respected the
1) if you throw punches in the air 20,000 "horror" soul of Halloween, goodbye
times on the title screen you get directly to the next issue, I promise you that we
to the end of the game will return to normal talking about
2) there are levels where you have to Japanese madness!
attach the second pad equipped with
a microphone and sing like in the Karaoke by Michele "Conte Ugolino"
halls
3) we can divorce and/or beat the shit
out of wife and children (remember that
the game is officially released by
Nintendo!)
4) we can beat our employer
5) we can beat the cops and at the same
time be beaten by them, losing energy
6) we can beat everyone like crazy and
be hated by everyone and above all be
beaten by people who hate us

GAME TESTING
Year: 1989
STORMLORD
Developer: Nick Jones,
Raffaele Cecco, Huges Binns
Platfom: Commodore 64
Genre: Platform
Another autumn although very At the end of each level there is a

different and particular, another bonus that will earn you several
Halloween coming up with some points and perhaps even an extra
last-minute limitations and another life.
review of a game in theme with the
Halloween night. It's up to you to find out what kind
of bonus it is and how to collect
A Night that is perhaps one of the points and lives and then move on
few that makes you feel the spirit to the next level and free other
and the greed; since every year fairies: fairies that grow
entertains many Europeans and numerically from level to level.
Americans and especially us, video
players, thanks to the horror titles Completing your task will not be
that were already popular on the easy; I remember perfectly those
“breadbin” at the time. I had hateful worms that came out of the
played and tried many of them, but ground at the speed of light and
one that struck me particularly, made me lose a third of the lives
especially for the soundtrack that and also some riddles solved in the
scared me, was Stormlord. wrong way, which forced me to
start again since the very
Even this game I discovered by beginning.
pure chance, assuming that case
exists, on a newsstand, whose The game came out on different
name I do not remember in Italian platforms and by playing the
(but I do the English one!). various versions I was able to make
a comparison of the graphic and
After the welcome screen, the music; they are the two elements
game presents itself as a sliding that most characterise this game Commodore 64 version
platform, in which you impersonate and as always the music of the
an elderly warrior wizard who Commodore 64 version is the best
jumps, fires flames and teleports one!
(and all despite his age).
Stormlord also had a sequel very
The purpose of the game, as well similar to the first chapter but with
as to overcome each of the four linear scrolling and end level
tough levels, is to free up the bossese; maybe it was not as
imprisoned fairies and solving successful as the original one but it
puzzles with the right objects; for was still worth our time and our
example the key to open the doors, energy. Amiga version
honey moves the swarm of bees
etc... If you are forced to observe the
Meanwhile dozens and dozens of
demonic creatures are ready to
curfew on Witches' Night, get this
game together with many other
OUR FINAL SCORE
block the way and make the game beautiful and ugly horrors that
even harder. have made the history of the C64 » Gameplay 60%
and be sure to turn off the lights! It's easy to die... But as soon as
Fortunately, since the beginning we you get used to...
have eight lives to complete the Happy Halloween!
entire game and, believe me, it will » Longevity 70%
not be a piece of cake, like most by Daniele Brahimi Only four levels? Play it, then you
games of the time (sorry if I'm a bit will tell me!
repetitive).
100,000 times, Thank You! Disclaimer
A few days ago we made an announcement on our official Facebook page to RetroMagazine World as an aperiodic magazine
celebrate the 100,000 downloads of all our publications. entirely ad-free is a non-profit project and
falls off any commercial circuit. All the
Unfortunately, Facebook posts are rather termporary and disappear pretty published material is produced by the
quickly, swallowed up by other posts and the frenzy with which we approach respective authors and published thanks to
their authorization.
the everyday news. Together with the entire editorial staff, we therefore felt
necessary to come back again on this subject and to Thank our readers once again! RetroMagazine World is licensed under the
terms of: Attribution-NonCommercial-
Those who have been following us for some time may know that we do not ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA
like to report numbers and statistics. We rather prefer the human aspect and 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-sa/4.0/
the emotions that we can arouse with our articles. Feedbacks and/or
compliments received for a particularly appreciated article, are our most This is a human-readable summary of (and
important award. not a substitute for) the license. You are free to:
But this time I'd be lying if I say this number didn't make any sense to us. Share — copy and redistribute the
material in any medium or format
This number, big, round, high-sounding, awakened our ego and... We wanted
to celebrate! Adapt — remix, transform, and build
upon the material
It is relevant to say that this number is only a part, certainly the largest, of
the absolute total. Some sites mirror our magazines and we have also found The licensor cannot revoke these
freedoms as long as you follow the
some of them on archive.org. This is certainly another point of pride for all of us. license terms. Under the following terms:
But let's stop talking about what we have achieved. Attribution — You must give appropriate
Reached objectives are already part of the past, while we, apart for computers :- credit, provide a link to the license, and
D, are always oriented towards the future! indicate if changes were made. You may
do so in any reasonable manner, but not
in any way that suggests the licensor
During the last internal editorial staff meeting, we discussed many points that endorses you or your use.
we would like to complete in the near future. There are several projects we
hope to be able to announce very soon, but what we would like to see more NonCommercial — You may not use the
and more is the active participation of our readers with their contributions. material for commercial purposes.
ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or

Now more than ever there are so many people working on projects dedicated build upon the material, you must
to retrocomputing. New hardware devices, emulators, games and programs distribute your contributions under the
are released almost daily and it's hard to keep up with everything given their same license as the original.
amount and the speed at which they are announced.
No additional restrictions — You may not
apply legal terms or technological
If you, who are reading, are part of one of these projects, please contact us. measures that legally restrict others from
We would like to give everyone visibility and a voice. doing anything the license permits.
As we have always said: RMW is your magazine!
Francesco Fiorentini
RetroMagazine World
Year 1 - Issue 4 - NOVEMBER 2020
Chief Editor
Francesco Fiorentini
Managing Editor
David La Monaca
Editing Manager
Marco Pistorio
Web Manager
Giorgio Balestrieri

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A "therapy" for Covid-19? We have the solution!

Carlo Nith Del Mar Pirazzini • Edoardo Ullo

Page 2 of 64 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4

LM80C Color Computer

The chip is easily interfaced to any CPU. In fact, it requires

Figure 3: Logical ORs for selecting read and write

the ﬁeld (ﬁgure 4). This pin, depending on the level it

The ﬁrst OR on the left is used as a "main switch”: only if

Page 4 of 64 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4

The TMS9918A video chip

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4 Page 5 of 64

chip can independently handle each individual pixel and

As a boy, I used to analyze ingenious little programs

which PLOT and UNPLOT modify the graphical 5 REM "USELESS"

One diﬃculty that can be encountered in converting a

Fig. 6 shows a small game for ZX 81, which appeared Figure 7

However, a SCREEN$ function has a weakness. For

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4 Page 9 of 64

It's a shame SCREEN$ only works with ASCII

Figure 10: screenshot of the game in Fig.9

[Bon82] R.Bonelli, "Guida al Sinclair ZX81", Gruppo Editoriale Jackson, 1982,

[Lis84] LIST n.1, Jan-Feb 1984, pag.28,

[Lis84b] LIST n.5, Sep-Oct 1984, pag.92,

LIST issues (not complete):

Page 10 of 64 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4

NOTE: I also created an Excel spreadsheet to automate the

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4 Page 11 of 64

simply write the corresponding character directly into the

Line 1220 prints the back of the spaceship (the spaceship

Another peculiarity of the Simons' Basic is the PRINT AT

The movement of the alien spaceship is managed by two

Once the position of the spaceship has been calculated,

Page 12 of 64 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4

I had to rewrite all the IF - THEN - ELSE conditions to ﬁt

29 rem chars redefined

69 rem create the background

998 rem ship movement

3000 rem crash

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4 Page 13 of 64

3499 rem game over

5000 rem bomb routines ­ br=bombrow ­ bl=bombline bf=bombflag(0/1=n/y)

6000 rem chars redefinition

Page 14 of 64 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4 Page 15 of 64

6499 rem dinamic level management

7000 rem draw the background

10000 rem write the intro

Page 16 of 64 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4

Unlike Francesco, I did not have time to complete the work

Figure 2 - The tiles used in the game

Another thing that had to be limited was the "range" of

Page 18 of 64 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4

As for the main loop of the game, it is quite simple and

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4 Page 19 of 64

@DISPLAY 1, {X=#CENTER, Y=#CENTER, Width=1280, Height=720, HideTitleBar=True,

@FONT 1, "neuropol", 36,{Engine=#FONTENGINE_INBUILT}

state=0 ;must be global variable

Page 20 of 64 RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4

If bomb_x_coord>=904 And bomb_x_coord<952 Then result=15

Local x=328 ;coordinates of first tile to be drawn

DisplayBrush(140, #CENTER, #CENTER) ;background

RETROMAGAZINE WORLD YEAR 1 - ISSUE 4 Page 21 of 64

CreateClipRegion(1, #BOX, 190, 53, 928, 623)

5000 rem bomb routines br=bombrow bl=bombline bf=bombflag(0/1=n/y)

1815 '> Description of the location