10 Line BASIC game programming contest

So I entered this contest earlier this year.  The challenge was to create the best game with just 10 lines of BASIC code for any old 8-bit computer.

http://gkanold.wixsite.com/homeputerium/basic-tenliners-2016

How hard can that be?  BASIC is like a second language to me.  Well I had no idea how how hard it would be to get some simple functionality and how much time I would ultimately spend on this!

My entry is called "10 RUN 10:AN ENDLESS RUNNER".  (Get it?  10 RUN 10 would be an endless BASIC loop.)  It is inspired by the simple endless runner game that the Chrome browser plays when you have no Internet connection.

http://thenextweb.com/google/2014/09/25/googles-latest-chrome-build-hidden-game-can-play-offline/#gref

My entry... 

10 RUN10:AN ENDLESS RUNNER GAME 

Synopsis 
You run so fast, people say you flash. But on this green field, you have to be careful to jump over the rock boulders and duck under the deadly black birds. How many strides can you score while staying alive? 

Features 

• c64, VIC 20 and PET versions
• Space bar to start
• Joystick up to jump, down to duck (port 2 on c64, 1 and 0 on PET keyboard)
• Two jump lengths
• Two "waves" of obstacles (second wave starts at score of 255)
• Four different death scenes
• High score
• Mega jump straight from ducking to jump (useful in the second wave where the objects can be very close together) 

commodore 64 version

VIC 20 version

PET 2001-8N Version

PLAY THE VIC 20 VERSION ON-LINE!

Space to start, Cursor Up / Down for Jump / Duck

https://www.mdawson.net/vic20chrome/vic20.php?load=http://cloud.cbm8bit.com/jim_64/10rU10-vic-tp-s.prg

I first wrote this for the commodore 64.  Then I 'ported' it to its predecessor, the commodore VIC-20.  It was so much better on the VIC-20!  I was using the PETSCII graphic symbols so they looked much larger on the VIC-20's 22 character wide screen. It also ran faster, probably due to the less characters it needed to repaint each cycle.  I actually had to add a delay!  This is a 1MHz 8-bit processor running an interpreted language!  (I also created a PET 2001 version for kicks but it's quite slow)

Here's an image of the VIC 20 program listing.  I entered the

PUR-80 part of the contest, so each line could only be a maximum of 80 characters.  However, you are allowed to use shortcuts for the keywords to get more to fit.  Honest, these all fit when the commands are shortcuts!

Full size view of program listing


Contest Results??

I got 5th place!!  I was very happy with that.
http://gkanold.wixsite.com/homeputerium/results-2016


We'll see if I do this again next year...




Downloads / Online discussion links

Here's the files in a .d64 format if anyone wants to try any these on their equipment / emulators.
http://cloud.cbm8bit.com/jim_64/10%20line%202016%20-%20VIC%2020%20-%20c64%20-%20PET%202001-8N.d64

If your loading from tape on the VIC 20, use this file (and leave the play button pressed down after the load)
http://cloud.cbm8bit.com/jim_64/10rU10-vic-tap-p.prg

(For those true commodore geeks)
Obligatory CSDB entry...
http://csdb.dk/release/?id=150281

Lemon discussions start at...
http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=725863#725863