118 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
118 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
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LADDER
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The classic CP/M game Ladder reverse engineered in Turbo Pascal.
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Original GitHub repository: https://github.com/mecparts/Ladder
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Additional information and compiled version by Anna Christina Naß
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acn@acn.wtf
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I've added a compiled LADDER.COM file for just playing the game (on a
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VT100 terminal at about 8 MHz, eg. a RC2014), and added more information
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on compiling the game.
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Keys
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The file LADDER.DAT is the configuration file that holds the key
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definitions. These can be changed by using LADCONF.COM (the terminal
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definition in LADCONF is not used! This LADDER uses the Turbo Pascal
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terminal definitions).
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The default keys in this LADDER.DAT are:
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Up = 8 Down = 2 Left = 4 Right = 6
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Jump = Space Stop = Other
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(Jump and Stop are not configurable)
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Also, "bell" sound is enabled and "wise crack marks" are disabled.
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Compiling notes from Anna:
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To compile LADDER, just use Turbo Pascal from the TP/ directory. It's TP
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3.0A for CP/M-80, only without the demo source code.
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- Copy the TP files together with the LADDER files to one disk
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- The terminal definition is already set to ANSI and the speed is set
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to 8 MHz (for a standard RC2014), so running TINST is not needed
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- Run Turbo Pascal using TURBO
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- Set the compiler options to "compile -> Com-file" (press O, C, Q)
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- Compile LADDER.PAS: press C (Compile), then enter ladder as Work
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file name.
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This should result in a LADDER.COM file.
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The rest of this file is mostly the README from the original repository.
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ORIGINAL README CONTENT:
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About
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This is a rewrite in Turbo Pascal of the classic CP/M game "Ladder",
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originally written by Yahoo Software (not Yahoo!).
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Ladder is an ASCII character based platform arcade game similar to
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Donkey Kong. You travel through levels with platforms and ladders where
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rocks fall down from the top while you collect statues before reaching
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the exit.
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Back in 1999 Stephen Ostermiller made a version of Ladder in Java.
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Later, Mats Engstrom of SmallRoomLabs started another version in of
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Ladder in golang. Between my own memories of playing the original game
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on a Kaypro, and Stephen Ostermiller's and Mats Engstrom's code, I was
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able to come up with this version.
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This version will use the original LADCONF.COM configuration program and
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LADDER.DAT configuration file. Since this version is a Turbo Pascal
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program, the terminal configuration portion of LADCONF isn't used,
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though it still does set up the movement keys, sound and back chatter
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options.
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Compiling the game
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You'd need Turbo Pascal, of course. You'll also need to edit
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LADCONST.PAS to set the cursor on and off sequences for your terminal.
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LADDER.PAS is the main part of the program. I've successfully compiled
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this on a 58K CP/M system, so available RAM isn't a particularly
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critical limitation.
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Once you've compiled LADDER.COM, copy LADCONF.COM to the same user area.
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If you don't have a LADDER.DAT file, when you run LADDER the first time
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it'll automatically load LADCONF to set up the movement keys and
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options, then transfer you back to LADDER.
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Limitations
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At the moment, once you've successfully completed the 7th distinct level
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(Gang Land), the program just cycles through all 7 seven levels over and
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over again until the bonus time becomes too short to actually finish a
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level. If anyone knows what the original program actually did (I never
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managed to get anywhere near to completing the original game), let me
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know and I'll see what I can do.
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The Delay(ms) call in Turbo Pascal only works for a Z80 running at up to
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32MHz (and TINST will only allow you to specify a value of up to 20MHZ
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if I recall correctly). So if you're trying to run this on a system with
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an effective clock speed of greater than 32MHz, you're going to have to
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come up with another mechanism. That's not an insurmountable roadblock
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though; on my 144MHz-Z80-equivalent RunCPM box running on a Teensy 4.0,
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I patched the Turbo Pascal runtime to make a call to a BDOS extension I
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created to call the Arduino's delay() function. Works like a charm. If
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your system includes any kind of millisecond counter you can read,
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that's a good spot to start looking.
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References
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Original Ladder game Ladder in Java Ladder in golang
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