The Best of Creative Computing Volume 1 (published 1976)
Geowar (review of Geowar)
READY TO GO? (1=YES, 0=NO) !1
GOOD LUCK!
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 120
NO LUCK -- TRY AGAIN.
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 130
A NEAR HIT. ENEMY HAS RELOCATED.
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 131
....BULLS EYE.... 3 HITS -- A DIRECT HIT ON 2 OF THEM! 3 DOWN --
2 TO GO. <-- MULTIPLE HITS ARE POSSIBLE
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 140
NO LUCK -- TRY AGAIN.
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 150
NO LUCK -- TRY AGAIN.
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 160
....BULLS EYE.... 2 HITS -- A DIRECT HIT ON 1 OF THEM!
GAME TOTALS: 2 HITS AND 3 DIRECT HITS ON 5 SHOTS. <-- TOTALS THE GAME
(HARD TO BEAT IT!)
READY FOR A NEW GAME? (1=YES,0=NO) !1
FIVE NEW INSTALLATIONS HAVE BEEN BUILT AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS. GOOD LUCK!
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 145
A NEAR HIT. ENEMY HAS RELOCATED.
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 144
A NEAR HIT. ENEMY HAS RELOCATED
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 131
A NEAR HIT. ENEMY HAS RELOCATED.
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 130
....BULLS EYE.... A DIRECT HIT! 2 DOWN -- 3 TO GO.
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 125
A NEAR HIT. ENEMY HAS RELOCATED.
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 126
A NEAR HIT. ENEMY HAS RELOCATED.
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 127
..CONGRATULATIONS.. A HIT. 3 DOWN -- 2 TO GO.
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 150 <-- HELP GIVEN ON LAST SHOTS "TOO HIGH" OR "TOO LOW"
TOO LOW -- TRY AGAIN.
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 170
TOO LOW -- TRY AGAIN.
ENTER DEGREE OF SHOT 180
..CONGRATULATIONS.. A HIT.
GAME TOTALS: 4 HITS AND 1 DIRECT HITS ON 24 SHOTS.
READY FOR A NEW GAME? (1=YES,0=NO) !0
<-- TOTALS FOR ALL GAMES & AVERAGE
TOTALS FOR 2 GAMES: 6 HITS AND 4 DIRECT HITS ON 34 SHOTS
AN AVERAGE OF 3.40 SHOTS PER TARGET
REVIEW OF GEOWAR
by Gregory Yob
The editor of any publication has a dilemma. There's
lots of material, but most of it is of low quality or presents the wrong
viewpoint for his magazine. I am sure this is true of computer games as
evidenced by the game of GEOWAR which was given to me by the editor of Creative
Computing. As a dedicated games-lover, these comments are offered in the hopes
for better games. In fact, please correspond with me if you share (or reject) my
views.
Let's get down to business. GEOWAR is another of
those "shoot the enemy with missiles (phasers, lasers,
zap-beams, MIRVS, etc.)" games. In some ways I liked it: in most I didn't.
THE TECHNICAL LEVEL. Programming GEOWAR or an equivalent game requires a good
knowledge of BASIC in many ways. Noted in the program were the uses of arrays,
pointers, subroutines, library functions and a defined function. As a problem
for a final exam (do the flowchart) GEOWAR is excellent. Writing and debugging
GEOWAR is a fine term project for second-semester programming.
THE LEVEL OF CLARITY. The instructions for GEOWAR are muddled a bit. lt took me
two readings to understand that the first quadrant instead of the full 360
degrees was the playing area. I offer an improved
diagram of the playing area (there wasn't any, a mortal
30 UNITS- I 90 DEGREES
I E
I E
I E
I
I E
10 UNITS- I------ I .
I CLEAR. E
I ZONE . 0 DEGREES
YOU---.===========================
10 30
UNITS UNITS
Field of Play
+SCARE+--+--+
. . . . .
+--HIT+==+--+
. ! ! ! .
+--+--D--+--+
. ! ! ! .
+--+==+==+--+
. . . . .
Scare/Hit Diagram +--+--+--+--+
sin for tactical games) and a new version of the
HIT-SCARE diagram (see figures). If you are to use a
grid, show the points clearly!!! If your range of fire is limited, MAKE IT
CLEAR!!! This is a usual case of
pictures vs. kilowords.
TUTORIAL LEVEL. What does GEOWAR teach? Possibly
about angles... Mostly it is a game of guessing.
Guessing strategies are very clearly done in STARS. In
a sense, GEOWAR is a five-number version of STARS.
Regarding angles, STAR TREK is much more effective
and lots of fun! I notice the games authors live in
Chicago. A visit to Urbana and a tour of the games on
PLATO is well worth the effort. I particularly suggest
MOONWAR, CONOUEST, NOVA and ROSE. MOONWAR is the most effective angle-teacher I
have ever met. (All other games lovers should also try PLATO. Try DOGFIGHT!)
ESTHETIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL LEVEL. This is where
I am most annoyed with GEOWAR. lt's another hunt
and kill game in an era where mutual co-operation in
complex systems is a vital need. Missiles and cartesian grids are very common in
computer games, and in writer's words, "the theme is a bit overdone". If we must
teach of war, think about these situations:
a) an Army Artillery unit
b) a destroyer at sea
cl a jet in a dogfight
d) ICBMs (Minuteman, Polaris)
In each situation, the techniques and obiectives differ. Hitting the target is
only a small part of the game. Many neat games ideas can come of these
situations viewed as part of a larger system, i.e., the artillery unit as part
of supporting a commando unit.
WHAT I'D LIKE T0 SEE:
1) Games using several players in different and mutually dependent roles.
2) Social, Economic and Ecological themes vs. War
3) An interesting field of play (as in HUNT THE WUMPUS) with variations and
topography
4) The player's advantages to be the results of their
actions. (the RND function is much over-used and
often destroys the skill-learning aspects of a game)
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