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106 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
106 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
Copyright (C) 1978 William A. Kornfeld
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CHASE - A Real Time game for VT52's
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CHASE is real time game (e.g. space war, MAZE, etc.) with the distinction that
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it is played on a VT52. The game is played by two players who must both be
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present at the same physical terminal. It can in principle be used on other
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character display terminals but may require redesignation of some of its
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command characters to retain their current positional mnemonic significance.
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CHASE can be played over phone lines with as little as a 300 baud modem or over
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the net (though response may be somewhat unsatisfactory).
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To setup a VT52 for CHASE make sure of the following:
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1. CAPS LOCK is set!
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2. The terminal is not in one of the VT52's special modes (i.e. graphics
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or alternate keypad). This can be assured by momentarily turning off
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power to the terminal.
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After the game has begun you will notice a maze appear on the screen and
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four characters: X,x,O, and o. The two X's are controlled by the person on
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the left side of the terminal and the O's by the person on the right side.
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The two large letters are known as "chasers" and the two small letters as
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"chasees". The object of the game is to have your chaser "catch" (bump
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into) the opponent's chasee. The game can be thought of as two simultaneous
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chases happening concurrently in the maze. Each player plays both offense
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and defense. Each player specifies directions for the two pieces under
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his/her control. They may move anywhere in the maze as though they cannot
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be moved through the wall of the maze. There is one additional constraint:
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a chaser cannot move through the opponents chaser nor a chasee through the
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opponents chasee. In addition to a pieces normal function it can also be
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used to block. In this way the two chases interact and can lead to
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sophisticated strategy with experienced players.
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Pieces can be made to move in any of four directions (or held in place) by
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appropriate keystrokes. Once a piece is put into motion it will remain in
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motion at a constant velocity (same for all pieces at all times) until it is
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explicitly told to stop or it reaches an obstruction which it cannot pass.
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Each piece is controlled by a group of four keys (one for each direction)
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arranged so that the players do not have to watch the keyboard as they enter
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commands. In each group of four keys 3 are at the same level and 1 is directly
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above the middle of the 3 keys. The lower 3 keys are respectively left, down,
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and right. The upper key is up. The middle 3 fingers of each hand should be
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placed on the 3 keys. In this way commands may be entered easily. As an
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example the X piece is controlled by the four keys: A,S,D, and W. The middle 3
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fingers of the left hand of the X-player should be placed on A, S, and D.
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Hitting D once will start the X piece going right until it either hits
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something or another command is given. Similarly for A, S, and W with left,
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down, and up. The four command pads are:
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BIG-X little-x
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A T
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S D W F G H
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BIG-O little-o
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[ 8
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; ' { 4 5 6
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^^^^^These four numbers are typed on
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typed on the numeric keypad to the
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right of the normal keypad.
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If a piece is going in a direction, giving the command to travel in the
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opposite direction once will stop the piece. Giving it twice will start the
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character in the opposite direction. If a piece is going in a direction and
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the command is given for it to go in an orthogonal direction it will
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immediately start in that direction. Note that if a piece has been travelling
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in a direction and hits an obstruction (usually the wall of the maze) it will
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act as if it is still going in that direction with respect to future commands.
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Games continue until a chaser has caught a chasee. The program pauses then for
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a few seconds to report the victor and the score. When done it prints "READY".
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Hitting RETURN will start a new game (with the initial positions of pieces
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switched to be fair). If the display gets screwed up for any reason hitting
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LINEFEED will freeze the game and do a redisplay. If the program screws up, it
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may be started fresh from the top level LISP by typing (CHASE).
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It doesn't take long to get reasonably comfortable with the controls. It is
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easy however to get confused as you control the two pieces simultaneously.
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Part of the skill to develop is in how to overcome this confusion. This also
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enters into strategy. You can count on your opponent to get confused in
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certain positions and can take advantage of that fact. This happens, for
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example, when his/her 2 pieces cross paths or when they are both in opposite
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parts of the maze and doing difficult manuevering. Strategy also includes
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using your chaser to block the opponents chaser on defense and using your
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chasee to block the opponents chasee on offense. It is important to always
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remain on the offense. Beginners quickly give up offense when the going starts
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getting rough. This only makes things worse in the end.
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There is one unfortunate bug that I have not exorcised where the program
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breakpoints just before restarting the game. If this happens just hit
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CTRL-G and then type (CHASE) for a refresh.
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This game is protected by US Copyright. No implementation may be undertaken
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for any commercial purpose without prior consent from William A. Kornfeld.
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