Loadstar 128 11/q11.d81/t.namystics

Text File | 2022-08-28 | 5KB | 122 lines

                               N A M Y S T I C S

                             featuring WINDOWPRINT

                        by Fender Tucker and Scott Resh

    This is another one of my little program ideas inspired by a useful ML
routine.  Actually, I got the idea for writing a NAMYSTICS program after
seeing them in an old issue of GAMES magazine, and it coincided with Scott's
WINDOWPRINT routine in what I hope is a most serendipitous way.

    As you know, I like board games and puzzles, especially when there is a
little bit of history and romance to them.  According to GAMES, Namystics
were quite popular in the 20's.  I can just imagine a flapper and her
dashing beau, sitting in a Victorian parlor sipping bathtub gin, trying to
solve the latest Namystics from the Times.

    NAMYSTICS are visual puzzles formed by laying out the letters of the
alphabet in a triangle, like this.

            A Z
           B   Y
          C     X
         D       W
        E         V
       F           U
      G             T
     H               S
    I J K L M N O P Q R

The puzzle-maker takes the name of a well-known person, place or thing and
draws a straight line from the first letter to the second, the second to the
third, the third to the fourth, and so on.  Then the polygons formed by the
lines are filled in.  The shape created is the NAMYSTIC.  The task of the
solver is to determine the name of the NAMYSTIC from just the shape alone.
Often the puzzle-maker will narrow it down a little by giving a clue, such
as Bad Actor Turned President or Legendary 98-Story Software Monolith.

     The program wasn't complete until I could give you the ability to
create Namystics for your friends to pore over, and that's where Scott's
WINDOWPRINT came in.  It allows the program, with some POKEs and a SYS
command, to print out a portion of the graphic screen -- just the portion
with the puzzle.  Underneath, in text mode, the description (or clue) is
printed.

     After you RUN the program, you enter the name of the person, place or
thing and the lines will be drawn using the handy BASIC 7.0 DRAW command.
Then move the target cursor into the areas to be filled and press SPACE and
the PAINT command fills it in.  Get them all filled in and press RETURN and
you can enter the clue, or description.  Then get your printer ready and
print the Namystic out.

    So why doesn't the program do the fills for you?  Good question.  I
couldn't figure out any way for the program to KNOW whether an area is
completely fenced in or not.  Maybe some bright logician or programmer can
come up with a way and let us all know.  I'd be happy to add the algorithm
to the program.  If you press SPACE when the cursor is outside a polygon,
you'll get exactly what you expect and deserve; the whole screen will slowly
fill and you'll wear your printer ribbon out quickly.

      It's a no-frills program, but it doesn't need them.  Some Namystics
will be easy but others won't.  I think the charm of Namystics lies in the
fact that we all have our own individual shape.  It's possible that
Namystics for two differently-named items could have the exact same shape,
but not very likely.

     WINDOWPRINT is easy to use in your BASIC programs.  Just load it into
place with this command near the beginning of your program.

BLOAD"WP128.1300",B0,P4864

There are three versions of WINDOWPRINT on this issue in case the version at
$1300 (4864) conflicts with some other routines you may be using.  I
recommend you make a variable equal to the starting address of the routine
you're using.  The other versions are at $0C00 (3072) and $1A00 (6656).

WP = 4864

To set the parameters for the "window" POKE the following locations:

WP + 3  - Printer device number (default is 4)

WP + 4  - Printer secondary address (default is 0 for uppercase graphics;
          make it 7 for lowercase)

WP + 5  - Line feed flag (default is 0 for NO LINE FEEDS; make it 1 if your
          printer requires a line feed)

WP + 6  - Starting column number, 0-39, (default is 0)

WP + 7  - Starting row number, 0-24, (default is 0)

WP + 8  - Ending column number, 0-39 (default is 39)

WP + 9  - Ending row number, 0-24 (default is 24)

WP + 10 - High byte of screen address (default is 32)

     As you can see, the defaults will print the whole screen.  The screen
address ($2000) is the normal hi-res area set when you do a GRAPHIC1 or
GRAPHIC2 command.

     This routine is an upgrade of the routine used in Barbara Schulak's
LABEL DESIGNER from LOADSTAR 128 #4.  It works with any printer or interface
that exactly emulates the Commodore 1525 format.  IT DOES NOT WORK WITH
JIFFYDOS INSTALLED UNLESS YOU SWITCH IT OFF BEFORE WINDOWPRINT IS CALLED.
If it doesn't work with your setup, but you're sure you're set up for
1525-emulation mode, you might try flipping some DIP-switches.  It's beyond
our capabilities to support all of the printer formats there are, I'm
afraid.

     I hope you enjoy NAMYSTICS.  128 programmers, I'm a fan of little,
clever puzzles like this so if you want to become famous as a LOADSTAR
author, peruse the puzzle magazines (especially out of print,
non-copyrighted ones) and send me your program.  Keep it small and
LOADSTAR-like and I'll send you small and LOADSTAR-like bundles of money for
your efforts.

FT
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