Why a MBASIC PONG game doesn't work as fast as hoped ...

[Walt Perko]

Hi, 

It's not that the game isn't a tiny challenge, but it is pretty slow, not just between the two computers, but also the PONG BLOCK zig-zagging across the screen ... 

The idea was to take advantage of the VT-100 Graphics in TeraTerm.  The odd thing is despite the slowness, it's still kind of a challenge to play.  

The game isn't perfect, RESTARTs on it's own when you lose, but the fun is to keep the block going between the two computers.  

Slowing down the serial ports to 1200 BAUD would probably be the best play with faster screen settings for the block move and 0ms PAUSE for the serial 9600 link pause.  

The setup:  

Two Altair 8800c computers with a free 88-2SIO serial port.

Staring Computer:  

B0>MBASIC DECPONG2
BASIC-80 Rev. 5.21
[CP/M Version]
Copyright 1977-1981 (C) by Microsoft
Created: 28-Jul-81
21048 Bytes free

DECPONG FOR ALTAIR 8800, 88-2SIO, AND DEC VT-100

WHAT IS THE PONG CONTROL PORT ADDRESS? 22
HOW LONG SHOULD THE PAUSES BE? 50
SERIAL BYTE PAUSE FOR 9600 BAUD? 500
IS YOUR PADDLE ON THE LEFT OR RIGHT (L/R)? L
SERVE FIRST (Y/N)? Y
INITIALIZE PONG PORT (Y/N)? Y
TEST PONG LINK FIRST (Y/N)? Y

PONG LINK TEST ON CONTROL PORT 22  DATA PORT 23
RUN THIS TEST ON BOTH ALTAIRS.
TYPE A KEY TO SEND IT.  RECEIVED BYTES WILL PRINT.
TYPE Q TO LEAVE TEST AND START DECPONG.
SENT 65
SENT 67
RECEIVED 68
RECEIVED 69
RECEIVED 70
RECEIVED 71
RECEIVED 73
RECEIVED 74

Opponent Computer:  

A0>MBASIC DECPONG2
BASIC-80 Rev. 5.21
[CP/M Version]
Copyright 1977-1981 (C) by Microsoft
Created: 28-Jul-81
21048 Bytes free

DECPONG FOR ALTAIR 8800, 88-2SIO, AND DEC VT-100

WHAT IS THE PONG CONTROL PORT ADDRESS? 20
HOW LONG SHOULD THE PAUSES BE? 50
SERIAL BYTE PAUSE FOR 9600 BAUD? 500
IS YOUR PADDLE ON THE LEFT OR RIGHT (L/R)? R
SERVE FIRST (Y/N)? N
INITIALIZE PONG PORT (Y/N)? Y
TEST PONG LINK FIRST (Y/N)? Y

PONG LINK TEST ON CONTROL PORT 20  DATA PORT 21
RUN THIS TEST ON BOTH ALTAIRS.
TYPE A KEY TO SEND IT.  RECEIVED BYTES WILL PRINT.
TYPE Q TO LEAVE TEST AND START DECPONG.
RECEIVED 65
RECEIVED 67
SENT 68
SENT 69
SENT 70
SENT 71
SENT 73
SENT 74

Remove the .txt so the filename is DECPONG2.BAS and run under MBASIC or BASIC-80 with a VT-100 or higher (e.g., VT-525) terminal.  

[Walt Perko]

Hi,  

I moved a couple of RS-232 cables around and made a direct connection between the two computers. 

I think a Multi-Player game via modems would be the most fun where a player chooses a specific player (by number?) and takes a shot, the message “Shot On Its Way” could display on the screen and the user would have maybe 10-seconds or less to select a target and bounce the shot to another opponent … never the same opponent each shot. 

Not sure how-to setup a modem server to connect to multiple players …

For a two-player game, it would just be what angle the shot returns between 1-5 …

Maybe somebody else can improve the game, make changes to make it more competitive? 

 

.

[Walt Perko]

Hi,  

I posted a demo of DECPONG-1 on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo7uYDsaoH8

.