110 DIM COL(100),ROW(100) 120 GRAPHICS 0 130 POKE 752,1 210 NSTARS=13 220 FOR STAR=1 TO NSTARS 230 COL(STAR)=INT(40*RND(0)) 240 ROW(STAR)=INT(23*RND(0)) 250 NEXT STAR 310 SETCOLOR 2,0,0 320 SETCOLOR 1,0,14 410 FOR STAR=1 TO NSTARS 420 POSITION COL(STAR),ROW(STAR) 430 PRINT "#"; 440 NEXT STAR 510 STAR=INT(NSTARS*RND(0))+1 520 POSITION COL(STAR),ROW(STAR):PRINT " "; 530 GOSUB 910 540 POSITION COL(STAR),ROW(STAR):PRINT "#"; 610 GOTO 510 910 TD=20 920 FOR Z=1 TO TD:NEXT Z 930 RETURN
Such a big fuss about a missing character. ;) Listings with graphic characters were a PITA back then. Sometimes the magazine editors even made the effort to draw them into the listing by hand. (And missed out one or two in the process, just like here.)
What do You expect if You are entering such a short code ?? You could see what the program is doing and You could expect what will happen. Are You programming PCs or Apples today ?
You make me want to dust off my Atari 800 and show off some of the basic games I wrote. I spent many years and learned to use commands like x=usr(1536, x, y, player, action) to create speed routines.
The impression that I get from studying the BASIC listing is that:
The program sets up an array of star positions, 1 to 13
Then it draws the stars on screen
Then it enters into an infinite loop in which a random star is chosen to be snuffed out, or cleared from its position on screen, and this happens until all the stars are cleared.
I understand Atari BASIC perfectly, I made a few games in it myself: Worms, Blockman and Special Agent Fartski among them.
When I as in grade school back in the 80s I did a picture of space with twinkling stars and a few planets on an Apple in BASIC, a commet went streaking across the screen as well, much better than this... and self written...
Uh, those stars didn't so much "twinkle" as "go out". Maybe the program should be called "Entropy Death Of The Universe Simulator". That would be marginally cooler. You have my sympathy. I once hunt-n-pecked for three days to type in a game from COMPUTE! and this was on an Atari 400 with NO TAPE OR DISK DRIVE so it was lost as soon as I shut it off.
The great days of computing were when you had to type in stuff manually to get the programs you wanted from the magazines. You couldn't "download" anything because that sort of thing didn't exist yet. Most times the programs were buggy and you'd have to wait another month or so before there was a correction. And half the time, the description of the program was so much better than the final product, screenshot or not!
I usually lost programs if the Atari crashed before I could save (I had rev. "A" BASIC, but the rev. "B" OS on the 800). Other times the unreliable 410 recorder would sputter and I'd lose hours/days of typing. :)
Once there was a time when every person with a computer typed in programs. And almost everyone knew a little about programming. A magazine that cost $2 and a few hours of typing got you a dozen new games and stuff. And any kid with time on their hands could come up with the next great game.
I remember typing in programs. And it SUCKED! The ones without checksums were a PITA, and the ones with checksums were just tedious typing. Much better when you could get a tape/disk with all the programs for a decent price.
I thought my first BBS calls were local but they were Metro. Ended up costing $90 extra the first month. But I had $300 worth of games so I thought it was worth it. Luckily I found local BBS's.
Now that went not well.. anyway, if someone likes to type that mess in, replace the # with the graphic character of your choice like [CONTROL]+[.]
RealRaeddie 3 months ago
RealRaeddie 3 months ago
Such a big fuss about a missing character. ;) Listings with graphic characters were a PITA back then. Sometimes the magazine editors even made the effort to draw them into the listing by hand. (And missed out one or two in the process, just like here.)
RealRaeddie 3 months ago
What do You expect if You are entering such a short code ?? You could see what the program is doing and You could expect what will happen. Are You programming PCs or Apples today ?
tausendstein 3 months ago
The music sounded good for Atari, I had no idea the pokey chip was capable of producing sound like this.
CoolDudeClem 1 year ago
Anybody remember the MAC 65 cartridge for assembly programming on the Atari. That thing was hot.
SeetheTruth4Yourself 1 year ago
You make me want to dust off my Atari 800 and show off some of the basic games I wrote. I spent many years and learned to use commands like x=usr(1536, x, y, player, action) to create speed routines.
SeetheTruth4Yourself 1 year ago
once i was writin one for 1 hour, and it didnt work xp
1770studios 2 years ago
Definitely not the worst ever
MazeleyFanClub 2 years ago
lol, most of those type-in programs were severely dissapointing
Craptron2000 2 years ago
The impression that I get from studying the BASIC listing is that:
The program sets up an array of star positions, 1 to 13
Then it draws the stars on screen
Then it enters into an infinite loop in which a random star is chosen to be snuffed out, or cleared from its position on screen, and this happens until all the stars are cleared.
I understand Atari BASIC perfectly, I made a few games in it myself: Worms, Blockman and Special Agent Fartski among them.
So easy in those days, for sure!
Foebane72 3 years ago
why have to add that beats .. kills the ambient magic
CharlesDoub 3 years ago
is there a main diffrence between BASIC and ATARI BASIC
thelegendofwiked 3 years ago
hey, could i get the source code for that program???
theejumboshrimp 4 years ago
When I as in grade school back in the 80s I did a picture of space with twinkling stars and a few planets on an Apple in BASIC, a commet went streaking across the screen as well, much better than this... and self written...
chrisinmainz 4 years ago
Uh, those stars didn't so much "twinkle" as "go out". Maybe the program should be called "Entropy Death Of The Universe Simulator". That would be marginally cooler. You have my sympathy. I once hunt-n-pecked for three days to type in a game from COMPUTE! and this was on an Atari 400 with NO TAPE OR DISK DRIVE so it was lost as soon as I shut it off.
steveasat2 4 years ago 2
The great days of computing were when you had to type in stuff manually to get the programs you wanted from the magazines. You couldn't "download" anything because that sort of thing didn't exist yet. Most times the programs were buggy and you'd have to wait another month or so before there was a correction. And half the time, the description of the program was so much better than the final product, screenshot or not!
nyyterp 4 years ago
The importance of this is not how dissappointing the results were :)
In 1979 I spent 2 hours typing a program in a TRS80 and then found out I forgot to load DOS first and could not save. Now that was disappointment.
vulcanjedi 5 years ago
I usually lost programs if the Atari crashed before I could save (I had rev. "A" BASIC, but the rev. "B" OS on the 800). Other times the unreliable 410 recorder would sputter and I'd lose hours/days of typing. :)
nyyterp 4 years ago
CSAVE dude, CSAVE
zaphodb777 4 years ago
@zaphodb777 CSAVE!!!! LOL!
MrAsrgr 1 year ago
Once there was a time when every person with a computer typed in programs. And almost everyone knew a little about programming. A magazine that cost $2 and a few hours of typing got you a dozen new games and stuff. And any kid with time on their hands could come up with the next great game.
vulcanjedi 5 years ago
I remember typing in programs. And it SUCKED! The ones without checksums were a PITA, and the ones with checksums were just tedious typing. Much better when you could get a tape/disk with all the programs for a decent price.
NotATube 4 years ago
Or downloaded from a BBS for free :)
vulcanjedi 4 years ago
Yeah, like I could afford a modem, let alone the cost of the long-distance phone calls :-(
NotATube 4 years ago
I thought my first BBS calls were local but they were Metro. Ended up costing $90 extra the first month. But I had $300 worth of games so I thought it was worth it. Luckily I found local BBS's.
vulcanjedi 4 years ago