Creating ADVENTURE
programs on the
BBC MICRO
by
Ian Watt


INTERFACE PUBLICATIONS
44-46 Earls Court Road
London W8 6EJ

ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY

London * Reading, Massachusetts * Menlo Park, California * Amsterdam
Don Mills, Ontario * Manila * Singapore * Sydney * Tokyo

© 1983 by Addison-Wesley Publishers Limited and
Interface publications

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.

The programs presented in this book have been included for their instructional value. They have been tested with care but are not guaranteed for any particular purpose. While every care has been taken the publishers cannot be held responsible for running mistakes that may occur.

Typeset in England by Commercial Colour Press, London E7.
Printed in Finland by Werner Söderström Osakeyhtitö,
Member of Finnprint.

ISBN 0 201 14678 9

ABCDE 89876543

CONTENTS:


Foreword -- Tim Hartnell iv
Chapter One -- The Adventurer 1
Chapter Two -- A Model Adventure 4
Chapter Three -- Captive -- A complete adventure listing 35
Chapter Four -- Conversion Notes 40
Chapter Five -- Dracula -- complete listing of another adventure 51
Chapter Six -- Journey -- complete listing of another adventure 67
Chapter Seven -- Improving Adventures 80
Chapter Eight -- Now write your own Adventures 83

APPENDIX:

One -- The commands and their meanings 90
Two -- The objects and their uses 99
Three -- How to solve the adventures 111

FOREWORD


There's little chance that one day you'lI get the opportunity in real life to explore labyrinthine cave systems, battle dragons or discover chests filled with gems and gold. But with your BBC Microcomputer, and this book by Ian Watt, you can at least experience all this, and more.

Since two programmers -- Crowther and Woods -- wrote the first adventure program on a mainframe computer at Stanford University over a decade ago, role-playing programs have proved firm favourites.

As you'll discover by reading and applying the ideas in this book, inventing adventure programs is an enthralling experience. You play the role of creator, devising and developing a complete mini-universe, complete with its own laws and logic. Once you've mastered the tricks of the adventure writing trade which are revealed in this book, you'll know how to invent environments which are self-consistent, mappable, and which can be discovered and explored by players.

Part of the immense interest which lies in adventure gaming comes from the sense of discovery players feel, as they work out how parts of the adventure 'universe' fit together; as clues are deciphered to solve the problems the program poses; until the game yields up its final secret.

It takes skill to create adventure programs which can provide lasting challenges to players, to write adventures which are challenging, satisfying and fun. In this book, Ian Watt shares the secrets of adventure-writing with you. And, as a bonus, there are a number of complete, ready-to-run adventure programs for you.

Down into the mist we go, stalking through the murky woods. Look out! What's that swooping down from the tree? And is that a diamond I see reflecting the starlight, at that bottom of that ravine?

The world of adventure awaits. Pluck up your courage now, and follow the guidance of Ian Watt into that wondrous world.

Tim Hartnell
April 1983

(Tim Hartnell is the author of a number of books for the BBC Micro, including 'The Book of Listings' (BBC Publications), 'Games BBC Computers Play' (Addison-Wesley /Interface) and 'Let Your BBC Micro Teach You to Program' (Interface Publications)).