SANTA'S DILEMMA by David Nowotnik from ZX Computing December 1986 David Nowotnik presents ZX's special Christmas game which can be played on any model of the Spectrum or a QL. [Note for QL version: ] [The accompanying file SANTADQL.BAS is in MS-DOS format, ] [ie. CR+LF at the end of lines; whereas SantaDQL_bas is ] [in QL format, ie. LF at the end of lines. JimG] Santa Claus is just about to leave his Grotto on Christmas Eve to deliver Christmas presents, when, to his horror, he finds that someone has left open the gates to his reindeer pen. All the reindeer have got out, and escaped into the forest. He has to recover six of them to enable him to get underway to deliver his presents. Using the cursor keys (5,6,7,8 on the Spectrum) you have to guide Santa around the forest. Reindeer are quite timid beasts, and they will move away from Santa when he stands next to them. In this way he must guide them one at a time to the entrance of the reindeer pen. At the base of the screen is a counter which tells you the number of presents which Santa has time to deliver. Naturally, this is your 'score'; the more you get, the more children will receive their presents, and the better you'll feel! Fig.1. contains the listing for the Spectrum, and fig.2. has the listing for the QL. The two programs are virtually identical in operation, so anyone keen to compare Spectrum and QL styles should find this a good example. The QL program will ask you if you want another game at the end, but with the Spectrum version you have to RUN again for a repeat game. UDGs Both programs use user defined graphics. On the Spectrum, you'll have to be careful to enter certain characters in graphics mode to provide you with the correct UDGs. Those characters should appear slightly darker in the listing; in case they aren't too clear, these characters appear in lines 520, 1560, 1580, 1730, 1790, and 1870. QL users need not be so cautious, as there are no similar traps. If you haven't met UDGs on the QL before, then glance at lines 250 to 380, where they are created and installed. There are 10 reindeer altogether, so you have a reasonable choice in retrieving the most accessible reindeer. If you want to make the game easier, or more difficult, then change the number of reindeer or trees in lines 1470 and 1520 of the Spectrum listing, or 1660 and 1760 of the QL listing. To accompany the game, there is a seasonal tune, which shows what can be done with the limited BEEP command. It also expresses a seasonal greeting from everyone at ZX Computing Monthly to all our readers. -- Another Fine Product transcribed by: Jim Grimwood, Weardale, England (http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jimg/) --