CURSOR #23 – December 1980

RECIPE

Author: Nancy Rhodes
Original file name: RECIPE
PRG file: recipe.prg

You might be tempted to assume that RECIPE is a recipe-card database system, but it's actually a sort of scaling program. I made up a recipe that serves four and asked the PET to tell me how much of each ingredient I'd need to serve 37.

The program attempts to parse your inputs into separate fields for quantity, units, and ingredient and even comes pre-loaded with some rules to handle common unit types like ounces and tablespoons. The unit conversions can be a little flaky but the fraction handling is surprisingly good—if 2½ tsp. serves 4, then the PET will tell you that 7¾ serves 37 which very close to the correct answer of 7⅔ tbsp.

AMBUSH!

Author: Phil Bayman
Original file name: AMBUSH!
PRG file: ambush.prg

AMBUSH! is a two-player strategy game in which each player tries to box in their opponent. Each turn, a player moves to an adjacent square and then bombs an unoccupied square. You can't move onto a bombed square and the first player with no legal moves loses the game.

There's no computer opponent in this one so I didn't give it a thorough play test but it looks like AMBUSH! could be a fun diversion between two evenly-matched opponents.

ORRERY

Author: Ernest Marhenke
Original file name: ORRERY
PRG file: orrery.prg

An orrery is a mechanical model of the solar system that shows the positions of the planets as they orbit around the sun. ORRERY is a digital version in which you can choose a start date between 1680 and 2280 and set the planets in motion in a PETSCII animation. You can view either the inner four planets or the outer five; there's no practical way to show all nine planets at scale using the PET's limited screen resolution. And, no, "nine planets" is not a typo—in 1980, Pluto was still considered a planet and did not lose its official planetary status until 2006.

I wanted to test the accuracy of the model, so I entered October 29, 2025 (the date of this writing), and checked the results against a modern planetary diagram. I had to re-orient the modern diagram to make the comparison, but you can see that both diagrams are highly similar. Not bad for an 8K BASIC program.

ENIGMA

Author: Alex Breed
Original file name: ENIGMA
PRG file: enigma.prg

ENIGMA is a software encryption toy based on the Enigma Machine used during World War II. You can create your own encryption keys or let the PET choose them for you. If you enter the encrypted message and set the keys correctly, you can get your original message back (padded to a multiple of 5 characters).

MWHIZ!

Author: C. T. Nadovich
Original file name: MWHIZ!
PRG file: mwhiz.prg

This one is cool! MWHIZ! is a competitive math drill where two students compete for points. Each round, the PET will show you an equality like 18/4=2.5 and the first player to buzz in and correctly identify it as either 'right' or 'wrong' scores points. A faster answer scores more points. First player to 100 points wins.

This game is not just a race—there's some strategy at play as well. You want to be first to buzz in, but if you get it wrong, you'll lose points, and the faster you buzz in, the more points you'll lose.