Krazy Katapilla - Peter Shaw (Your Spectrum-No.5-Page 78)





[Note: There is a followup letter on the game in issue 7, but it just    ]

[covers some suggested customisations rather than error corrections, so I]

[haven't included those changes in the program.                      JimG]





If you're a fan of the old one-armed bandits (if you can remember

them that is!) you're going to love this program. Play is simple

but addictive and extremely colourful use is made of the

Spectrum's display.

	Dead centre of the screen is the window to the action. This is

the equivalent of the wheels that tumble within the fruit machine

and comes up with a new line of objects and fruits each time you

set the wheels in motion. The particular piece of code to operate

these 'wheels' has been written in Basic, but if any of you out

there fancy converting the routine to machine code you'll much

improve the game. Incidentally, Peter would be very pleased to

hear your suggestions as to how this can be done as he didn't

quite manage to come up with the goods by the deadline (Life

isn't a line of cherries. Ed.).

	On the left-hand side of the screen is a graphic representation

of what you can win providing you come up with the right lines

on the centre window. To the right of the centre display are the

boxes for the 'gamble' routine, which will be explained later.

	The boxes at the bottom of the screen provide you with an

indication of the options open to you, such as 'Feature Hold',

'Hold', 'Collect', 'Gamble', and so on. You'll get the idea once

you get the program working. Up at the top is the Krazy

Katapilla, which can be made to 'grow' until it reaches the 

right-hand side of the screen and hits the #2 symbol - no prizes for

guessing what happens then!

	You start off the game with 10 credits, each worth lOp. Press

Enter to start the wheels spinning and one credit will be subtracted

from your rating. When each of the wheels has stopped, you

will be notified if you have won anything and the Krazy

Katapilla at the top of the screen will move a certain distance

towards the #2 symbol. If you are lucky enough to gain a 'Feature Hold'

facility, the Krazy Katapilla will stay where it is and

the next score will be added to its length; if not, it goes back 

to the start for your next turn. Should you get the message 'Hold'

flashing at you on-screen, you can hold any or all of the wheels with

the '1', '2' and '3' keys respectively.

	There is also a 'Nudge' facility which enables you to move the

wheels up or down. This is done again using the '1', '2' and '3'

keys to nudge the wheels one symbol down; the same keys are

used to nudge the wheels up, but you need to press the Symbol

Shift key at the same time. Using this feature carefully, you can

try and get one of the winning combinations shown on the left of

the screen and, who knows, you might be lucky enough to get a

'Hold' next go!

	One of the most fun features of the game is the 'Gamble'

facility. Once you have won an amount of cash, say 20p, you

will be offered the chance to 'collect' the 20p or try for 30p. 

On the right of the screen there are a number of boxes with figures 

in each - for this example, the lOp and 30p boxes will flash on and

off and all you have to do is to press the 'G' key to gamble and

then press Enter when the 30p key is lit. You'll then be offered

the chance to win 50p or 20p. If you're not the gambling type,

simply press the 'C' key at any time and you'll collect whatever

amount you're up to.

	If you can manage to ignore the game for more than a few

seconds (no easy task) the computer will begin egging you to

'have a go' with some on-screen messages at the bottom of the

screen. These can obviously be changed to suit whoever is playing

the game.

	A note for those about to type it in - all the graphics

characters are listed as lower case letters and all lower case letters 

are graphics characters. Got it? Well, go on, get on with it!





Lines 10-40     Set up the BORDER colour and switch the keys to Caps Lock.



Lines 50-90     The 'screen set-up' routine.



Lines 100-110   Finish off the screen layout and check the number of credits

you have left.



Lines 120-170   The main calling loop. This routine calls all of the

subroutines for the general running of the program.



Lines 180-270   The 'Hold' routine, which includes the 'Feature Hold'

routine.



Lines 280-600   The 'Nudge' routine. Notice that in lines 300 and 310, the

IN function has been used to detect if the Symbol Shift key is being pressed

(shown by printing 'UP' in the 'Nudge Status' window).



Lines 610-850   The 'Collect' and 'Gamble' routines. Most of this section of

code deals with the 'Gamble' feature, controlling the flashing boxes and

deciding which of the boxes you have chosen based on the split second you

hit the Enter key.



Lines 860-980   This routine checks for a win on the wheels. After the

wheels have finished spinning and have been nudged if the option was open,

the resulting line is checked against the winning combinations specified on

the left-hand side of the screen to see if you have won anything.



Lines 990-1190  The 'win' routine. When you manage to get a winning line,

this routine causes the BORDER to flash with various colours and a message

telling you how much you have won appears at the bottom of the screen.



Lines 1200-1300 This routine prints the wheels of the fruit machine in the

centre of the screen whenever the reels have to be moved - during an

ordinary spin or when the 'Nudge' option is offered.



Lines 1310-1640 This routine controls the main running of the program,

calling various subroutines when necessary.



Lines 1650-1820 The 'initialise' routine. This sets up the arrays, defines

UDGs, etc.



Lines 1830-2030 Contain the data for the second bank of UDGs (from A to U).



Lines 2040-2200 Contain the data for the contents of the wheels, the value

of the prizes, and the other various arrays in the program.



Lines 2210-2510 The 'waiting' routine. While the player is not using the

program, this routine prints up a number of on-screen messages to keep the

user amused.



Lines 2520-2660 Contain the data for the first bank of UDGs (from A to J).

These are used to draw on the screen and include the symbols displayed in

the 'win information' windows and the 'little' letters which make up the

word 'KRAZY'.



Lines 2670-2790 Draw the wheels in the centre of the screen.



Lines 2800-3000 Draw the 'Gamble' feature boxes.



Lines 3010-3060 Draw the information windows at the bottom of the screen.



Lines 3070-3170 Draw the 'win' information boxes and return to the main

program.





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TYPE: Fruit Machine 



COMMENT: 





This info file was typed by Jim Grimwood



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