A 100 Mhz Pentium did, in 1994, running ChessGenius in the Intel Grand prix.
14 karma · joined August 12, 2024
Download: https://orac81.itch.io/flyover
Controls (or use Joystick): SPACE/SHIFT/FIRE = Drop bomb. S = Toggle sound on/off. M = Toggle fast/slow. X = Quit game.
The object of the game is to eliminate the (Yellow) Special targets and progress to the next level. As your plane flys across the screen, you can drop bombs onto the numbers in the rocky cavern below. You loose a life if you miss the targets and hit the rocks, or if you dont drop a bomb during a pass.
The height/direction of the plane is random, you do not control that. The bombs descend at an angle, then travel vertically down through the numbers and targets. If the bomb hits a column sideways-on, then numbers above the hit point collapse down. The higher a bomb is dropped from, the deeper it penetrates. The plane colour indicates the height of the plane. You start with 5 lives, and get a bonus life every 2 levels.
The top line shows the score, the number of targets left, the level, and number of lives left. The maximum score possible is 65535. Special targets score more on higher levels. During play hit M to change speed, S to toggle sound, X (or ESC) to quit.
For C64, C16 & ZX, you can select Joystick #1 or #2. For the ZX the first joystick is Sinclair i/f #1, the second the Kempstone joystick. The ZX sound uses the AY8912 chip in the Spectrum 128, running the program in 48K mode.
HINTS
As you play, you will find that single isolated targets are difficult to eliminate. It is much easier to remove them if numbers are left on top, so try to hit columns sideways (in the middle) to achieve this. Try to eliminate central targets first, and work outwards, leaving a crust of numbers on top of the targets. Since you do not control height/direction, its is important to keep a balance of targets on both sides of the cavern. This is a "one button" game, so careful choice of targets is a key strategy
my original Basic version of Flyover was published in Dec 1982 "Vic Computing" magazine, you will find that version as "bas/Flyover.tap", in the bas folder.
The Seawater (Solar) Greenhouse is an interesting relatively low-tech idea for inexpensive desalination, turning sea water into fresh water. The Greenhouse concentrates energy directly from the Sun, to evaporate salt water, collecting the fresh water as condensation. It doesnt need any other energy source directly for desalination, just a much smaller amount to run the pumps that move the seawater to and around the Greenhouse. This can be powered by Solar Panels, but apart from the pumps/panels, the rest of the Greenhouse could be built from materials similar to an ordinary Greenhouse, at a capital/running cost far below that of a traditional desalination plant.
There is already a working 20 hectare system in Port Augusta, South Australia, where the process is used to generate water for commercial salad crops. It is an idea that has been around since the 1990s, but yet to be very widely exploited, so there is much that might be done to improve the efficiency of the existing systems, and reduce costs. The ideal system might be a kit of parts that can be assembled in any hot arid area that is near the coast, and generate cheap fresh water.
Maybe it can supply some areas of recent wildfire damaged forest, to help water/protect new trees during summer droughts.
Given current climate concerns, this might be an idea whose time has come.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seawater_greenhouse
A.M.
Download with source:
https://github.com/orac81/miniapples/raw/refs/heads/main/lif...
https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=105285
This is a "size-code" version of the classic LIFE game, for the Commodore C64, C16, C128, VIC20, PET40/80. The smallest version is 126 bytes (see smallbin folder), but I recommend using the slightly bigger version with built in edit and help.
To use, just edit using the PET editor to create the patterns using the letter "O" for the cells. Note that the program is very simple, ie. it doesnt handle screen wrap properly. But it is quite fast.
The "small" version needs the user to edit before running. Put the "run" command on the 2nd line. This version needs VIC20 users to type: POKE 36879,8:print chr$(5)chr$(147) before editing.
To avoid all that, use the "big" version!
The small version can be 114 bytes if the basic stub is removed and the code started with a SYS.
Released as FREE/GPL3 software, source included.
Sage is a 32 bit Windows program, which should run on any version from XP up to Windows 11.
It has a very wide range of features, levels, analysis, game replay/save/load, handling PDN game databases, endgame "perfect play" databases (6 pieces, 30 billion positions), large opening databases, and so on.
Sage can play Checkers on any size Board from 4x4 to 12x12. It can also play Italian rules checkers.
Or you can just enjoy a simple game of Checkers!
For more details/source for Orac, Dynamo and Sage see here:
CASCADE is a classic strategy game for MSDOS from the 1990s. It can run on nearly any classic PC, from XT/8086/CGA up to Pentiums with VGA graphics. It uses some simple VGA hardware assisted scrolling effects.
The code shows some of the hardware tricks and hacks programmers from this era used.
Find it at github, download "racer20.zip" from:
github.com/orac81/miniapples
or on vogons: https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=102592
Play original 1994 shareware version: https://dos.zone/racer-1994/
RACER is a vintage shareware MSDOS car racing game from the 1990s. It uses VGA MODE-X graphics mode to achieve hardware assisted smooth scrolling. I implemented a simple form of sprites for the cars in this game, and it shows some of the hardware tricks and hacks programmers from this era used. The exe is only 15k! (lzexe)
Enjoy!