8 BIT SOFTWARE
To :999 (All)
From :2J3 (Chris Richardson)
Program: Amazed Knight By D2N V.Horgan.
Two games by Victor appeared in 8BS-47.
They were 'Horse Race and Amazed
Knight. The info I gave with the
programs was a bit terse to say the
least.
The two games were accepted by 'The
Electron User' for publication.
Unfortunately, the magazine packed up
before the games appeared. Victor dug
them out and submitted them to 8BS. I
clapped them onto 8BS-47 after giving
them a quick once over.
After the dust had settled a while
later, in a quiet moment, I had a
closer look at Amazed Knight and must
admit spent quite a while playing it.
What at first appeared to be quite an
illogical game gave me hours of fun.
Two problems:
1. No buffer flush, causing the
character to continue moving after
letting go of the keys.
2. The finish screen was not visible.
I fixed these problems with a new line:
165*FX21
That fixed the character movement.
A change to line 2870 and 3500:
2870IFV%=140980PROCclear:VDU26:PROCwin:
END
Then remove COLOUR 0 from line 3500.
This fixed the finish screen problem.
Later versions of 8BS-47 (v3 onwards)
have these alterations.
To see which version you have, examine
the TITLE of the disc using *CAT.
From: 3PM (dp-j)
Subject: CALENDAR 8BS-47
The introductory note is in error.
The 3rd Sept 1752 became the 14th Sept
resulting in the loss of the 3rd to
the 13th inclusive. ie 11 days 'lost',
not the 11th to 13th as stated.
The year end was decreed to be on the
31st Dec instead of 25th Mar thus
curtailing 1752 to 9 months. So prior
to 1753 dates between 1 Jan and 25 Mar
are often designated 1751/52 etc. for
clarity. This has no effect on the
calendar as such, as indeed changing
the tax year end would not.
The calendar is a means of keeping
track of the planetary motion and the
assignment of a year end (as opposed
to the definition of a year) is an
arbitrary choice.
I have submitted (see program CALad) a
calendar for any month from Jan 1AD to
Dec 3999AD which takes account of the
changes including the absence of a
leap year in 4AD.
The original program was by K R Smith,
written for TRS 80 machines (I think),
covering 25000BC to 20000AD! I rewrote
it for BBC's, corrected for the years
prior to 5AD and terminating at 3999AD
since I understand that some further
adjustment may be legislated for year
4000AD. So the Papacy had better start
now if the Galileo fracas is not to be
repeated.
I like Mr Smith's method (which itself
may not be unique) and have left the
program, although much modified, still
credited to him.
Take a look at Sept 1752.
BLAM!