CREEPY CAVERNS
By ANTHONY RAMOS
SYSNOPSIS
Creepy Caverns is a fast-paced action/adventure game for one player.
It requires BASIC and one joystick, and runs on all Atari computers.
Users of 16K cassette systems must RUN the program in two parts, as explained
below.
Warning: This is not a game for the claustrophobic! An evil creature,
the Megawump, has rounded up a horde of bloodthirsty monsters who roam
the countryside at night, raiding small villages and hoarding their ill-gotten
treasures in the musty caverns they inhabit. Your task is to enter
these caverns, retrieve as much treasure as you can, and collect the magic
objects needed to kill the Megawump. You'll find two monsters in
every room. They come in three varieties: pythons, trolls and hydras.
Each is more vicious than the last, and each is worth 1000 points dead.
To succeed in your quest, you must avoid these monsters,
and pick up bags of gold (worth 50 points) and jewels (80 points) from
their caverns. The caverns also contain quivers of arrows.
Each red quiver contains five "smart" arrows. These arrows, which
are also red, guide themselves to the nearest monster when fired.
Orange quivers hold five "dumb" arrows, which fly straight, and thus must
be aimed more carefully.
Other magic items that are hidden in the caverns include
a gold amulet, which protects you from the Megawump's lightning bolts,
and a gold key that opens a magic chest. By opening the chest, you
gain the magic sword with which you can kill the Megawump.
As you find and use these objects, a tally is kept at the bottom of the
screen. The left number shows the number of smart arrows you have;
the right number shows the number of dumb arrows. You'll also see
representations of the key and the sword, once you've found them.
To use an item, press the left and right arrow keys on the keyboard to
move the arrow indicator on the screen to the item you wish to use.
You need not point the amulet to use it. Press the joystick's fire
button to shoot an arrow or to use the key or sword. To aim either
an arrow or the sword, push the joystick in the direction you wish to shoot
or slash before pressing the trigger.
To kill the Megawump, you must have possession of three
dumb arrows, the amulet and the magic sword. When you enter his room,
first shoot him with the three arrows. Then, after he has changed
color (which indicates vulnerability), use your sword. Show the Megawump
no mercy!
When the title screen first appears, you'll see "Press
START." Wait until the word "START" flashes, however, because the key doesn't
respond until then. To pause during the game, press the space bar;
press any other key to resume play. To end a game in the middle and
then restart it, press [ESC].
HOW TO USE THE PROGRAM WITH 16K CASSETTE SYSTEMS
Type in Listing 1, check it with TYPO, and SAVE it to cassette.
Next, type NEW to clear memory, and type in Listing 2. Check it with TYPO,
and SAVE it to another cassette. Turn off the computer and then turn
it on again. LOAD Listing 2, then insert a blank cassette into the
program recorder and press RECORD and PLAY. Next, type RUN, When
the computer beeps twice, press [RETURN].
At this point, the program writes a number table to the
tape. After the number table is written on the tape, turn the computer
off and then on again. LOAD Listing 1, then insert the tape with
the number table and rewind it. Type RUN, and the program will load
the number table into memory.
HOW TO USE THE PROGRAM WITH (MINIMUM 32K) DOS SYSTEMS
We've published the TYPO table in two parts for the benefit of readers
who have only 16K of RAM. You should type in, SAVE and check each
listing separately. When both of your TYPO tables match the published
versions, you can merge the two programs. First LOAD Listing 2, delete
lines 5000, 5095, and 5096, and then LIST it to disk. Next, LOAD
Listing 1 and delete lines 5050 and 5060. Now ENTER Listing 2 to
merge it with Listing 1, and SAVE the two together as one program.
Anthony Ramos, 16, will be a senior at Brookside High School in Sheffield
Lake, Ohio, this fall. He purchased his Atari 400 with the Proceeds
from a summer job, and says that he used every programming technique he
knows-some of them courtesy of Antic-in Creepy Caverns. Anthony
also provided the drawings that accompany this article.
Listing: CREEPCAV.BAS Download