Have you ever wished that you could command a submarine, survey the sea through the periscope to locate the enemy fleet, and give the orders to fire your torpedos at the target ship? Well, now thanks to the ZX80 and the Torpedo Alley program from Zeta Software you can do just that, and for very little money.
You get this program, as you do all the Zeta programs, in typewritten format with the listings, directions, and explanations of how the program functions. This three page program has two parts: the Basic program and a machine code routine which, once entered, resides in a REM statement so that you can save and load the program with ease.
After entering the program, which is very nicely documented with comments on the right hand side of the page throughout the listing, a command of GOTO 100 produces a screen display of the view through your periscope. Each press of NEWLINE moves a destroyer from right to left across your periscope viewscreen. When you decide to fire a torpedo, you press T and NEWLINE. The torpedos leave trails through the water as they streak toward their targets. If your aim is good, the target ship explodes; if you miss, the torpedo explodes harmlessly in the water or resets the display to the next ship.
Now what would you expect to pay for such a program? $20? $10? Would you believe . . . $2? That is right! All of Zeta Software’s programs are very reasonably priced. Their catalog includes utility, educational, and game programs. A minimum number of listings is required per order and $2.50 extra for shipping and handling. Most of their programs are available also on cassette for $5 additional per order. 8K ROM and 16K RAM programs are also now available.
SYNC SOFTWARE PROFILE
Name: Torpedo Alley;
The ROM Reader
Type: Fantasy; Utility
System: ZX80
Format: Typewritten listings
Language: Basic and machine code
Summary: A lot for your money
Price: $2.00; $5.00
Manufacturer: Zeta Software
P.O. Box 3522
Greenville, SC 29608-3522
Torpedo Alley does have two limitations which some users may feel. First, the program does not keep any score of how many ships pass, how many torpedos you fire, or how many ships are destroyed. Second, because the program uses only four random speeds for the ships, you learn very quickly which ships to fire at for a hit. But, even with these limitations in 1K, the program is very enjoyable, and some of you with 16K RAMs will, I am sure, expand the program, as I intend to do.
An example of Zeta’s utility programs is The ROM Reader for $5. This program will, when used properly, disassemble the ROM or any machine code program. It requires a rather large amount of typing, so it should be saved several times during entry.
If you have only 1K of RAM, you will have to make several programs and use each in turn to get some of the disassembled statements each time. If you have 16K, you can make a simple change in the program and get it to return all 696 Z80A instructions. The program displays 10 bytes at a time and takes a little while to run, so you must be patient.
When you run the program, you must enter a starting address in decimal. The display will show the address of each byte in decimal, the contents of each byte in decimal, and the disassembled statement for each byte, such as, LD BC,NN or JP NN. When the content of a byte is a number which is being acted upon by the preceding instruction, then the disassembled instruction for that byte should be ignored. As I mentioned before, this program is for the serious devotee, and the average user will find it challenging. However, it is an excellent program for someone who has some understanding of how machine code works. The program has a search routine using the information in REM statements which works beautifully although it takes a while to run.
These two examples of programs illustrate the solid but inexpensive programs available from Zeta.