CURSOR #16 – January 1980
“The prototype 80-character PET is a very hot new product! The screen
definition is about as good as I've seen on the best commercial CRT terminals: crisp and clear, right
out to the corners...If priced correctly, Commodore may be able to capture a large share of the
small business market.”
—Excerpted from A Cursory Glance, Issue #16
COVER
Author: Tony Schettino
Original file name: COVER16
PRG file: cover16.prg
This month's cover draws a series of random rectangles with rounded corners. The PET places the top left corner of each rectangle at a random (X, Y) coordinate and selects a random width and height. This algorithm tends to crowd the rectangles in the lower right quadrant of the screen.
The cover has an interactive component—if you press a key, the rectangles will be filled with whatever character you type.
Pressing SPACE takes you to the
table of contents for the issue.
NAB!
Author: Malcolm Michael
Original file name: NAB!
PRG file: nab.prg
NAB! is a PET version of Sega's 1979 aracade game
Head On.
The controls are responsive and the game moves along at a good pace. The display makes
good use of the PETSCII character set and the sound effects fit naturally with the gameplay.
This game is excellent.
FIRE!
Author: Brian Sawyer
Original file name: FIRE!
PRG file: fire.prg
In FIRE!, you control a Fire Department helicopter dropping water on burning
buildings. The PETSCII art in this one is effective, although the helicopter looks a little
goofy. The gameplay is solid but the controls are a bit sluggish—I suppose that while you
struggle to push the helicopter back and forth above the burning buildings, you can imagine that
you're trying to fly in high winds.
This game is all about seizing the initiative. If you don't act quickly to contain the fire, it will quickly spread and the entire screen will burn.
ALIENS!
Author: Mike Hamilton
Original file name: ALIENS!
PRG file: aliens.prg
ALIENS! is a
fixed shooter
in which you move your turret along the bottom of the screen and shoot aliens that descend from the
top. If an alien reaches the bottom, it's game over. The game starts out easy, but as the game
progresses, the aliens get faster and faster. The controls are fluid and the scrolling is smooth.
This is an excellent game.
The keyboard controls won't work on later models of the PET. I haven't tried disassembling
the program, but I suspect that the keboard is read through memory location 151 ($97),
which was a frequent cause of compatibility issues.
BONZO!
Author: Randall Lockwood
Original file name: BONZO!
PRG file: bonzo.prg
BONZO is named for The Bonzo Dog Chase, a variant of the board game
Snakes and Ladders,
(also known as Chutes and Ladders), featuring
Bonzo the Dog, a
popular cartoon character from the 1920s.
While Snakes and Ladders is normally played on a square board (usually 10x10), The Bonzo Dog Chase is played on a rectangular 13x10 board. The PET version is played on a 13x7 board, which makes it feel more like Bonzo than Snakes. It's important to get the small details right.
This game is...okay. The PETSCII board is ugly but gets the job done. There's no strategy here; the outcome depends purely on luck. If you play against the PET, keep in mind that the odds slightly favour the player who goes first.
CATCH!
Author: George Leotti
Original file name: CATCH!
PRG file: catch.prg
"Play catch with the PET," says the flyer. CATCH! is simple: the PET
sends a ball across the screen along a random trajectory and you have to intercept it
with your block. I found this one frustrating but hard to put down. The ball is difficult
to catch; a score of 3 out of 10 was about the best I could manage.