IN OUR premier issue we asked readers to write a great 2K program and win a chance to have their programs sold nationally. We would like to thank all those who took the time to enter. It has taken us till our fourth issue to announce the winners due to the huge number of entries. All were good; our judges headed by Elaine Lum have decided that these ten are the best. They are presented here in no particular order. Each winner has received a contract to have their programs published both on cassette and in book format.
WINNER: Douglas S. Williamson, Gainesville, Florida
TITLE: Diffusion
DESCRIPTION: You must defuse a bomb before it explodes. There are 100 possible wires to try for the three connections. You only have enough time for 18 tries; after each you are told whether the charge is too high or too low. One of the wires will immediately set the bomb off.
WINNER: Bruce Harding, Holding, Maine
TITLE: Carom-2
DESCRIPTION: This is a great billiard game for 2K. It is a three-cushion table and you can hit in two directions. Your cue can be shifted up or down. Bruce says of the contest: “Having been spoiled by 16K and 64K memory we had not before enjoyed the challenge of 2K programming. It was quite an ordeal and we used almost every byte-saving trick we have ever heard of. Thank you for this challenge.”
Thank you for a great game.
WINNER: Daniel C. McConnell, Manchester, Vermont
TITLE: Munch
DESCRIPTION: Your computer randomly places 10 “seeds” on the screen. You send your “animal” across the screen to eat seeds (each is worth 25 calories). The T/S computes how many calories your animal used to eat the seeds. Unfortunately, one of the seeds is poisonous. You can exit the game at any point and see how many calories your animal has collected to that point.
WINNER: Todd MacDonald, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
TITLE: Crazy Farmer
DESCRIPTION: Your automated farm machinery has gone crazy. Your chickens won’t stop laying eggs. You must catch each egg in the first barn, then move to the next, which has a lower roof. It gets wild and woolly as the number and speed of the eggs increase.
WINNER: C. Lynn Fate, Manchester, Vermont
TITLE: Where
DESCRIPTION: You must guess the position of yours or the computer’s symbols. The closer you get, the faster the game plays. Conversly, wrong answers slow the game down. This game is a good deal of fun to play. You have to have quick recognition of symbols and a fast reaction.
WINNER: Robert J. Mioura, Worcester, Maine
TITLE: Highway
DESCRIPTION: Drive your car (an inverse X) along a highway filled with medians, potholes and closed lanes. There are 12 different sections which include random left and right turns. The game moves well and can be replayed by pressing CONT.
WINNER: Andrea Boles, Memphis, Tennessee
TITLE: Monster from Mars, Merlin
DESCRIPTION: In this game, you must catch the monster, Merlin, inside the cage. The monster is tricky, not savage, but sly. If Merlin escapes the game starts over again automatically.
Andrea has packed a good game into the 2K of memory.
WINNER: Steven R. Rindone, Cerritos, California
TITLE: Walls of Eryx
DESCRIPTION: In Walls of Eryx from a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, a space explorer must find the way back to the spaceship. The game sounds simple, except the walls of an invisible maze separate the explorer from the ship. You must act as the guide through the transparent maze — but watch out for surprises.
WINNER: Greg Adams, Norfolk, Nebraska
TITLE: Battleship
DESCRIPTION: The computer hides four ships in a 10 × 10 grid (the ocean). You must find and sink them using the least amount of ammunition. This is a one person, cut-down version of the classic battleship game. Greg suggests to do better in the game, you should use FAST mode.
WINNER: Christopher Raynak, North Ridgeville, Ohio
TITLE: Strike Force
DESCRIPTION: You are dragged out of hyperspace to face a fleet of aliens. They can only be destroyed by hitting them at a single point. To make the battle even more difficult, you must destroy them in correct order. You have until you are crushed, or use all your shots (20 of them), or destroy the alien fleet.