10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10

Empa Kendo · Post by **Empa Kendo** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 2:35 pm

I am not sure who of you had noticed this book "10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10", which is roughly 300 pages about a single (!) line of code..

You can download it here: http://10print.org/

Whilst the book is primarily about the Commodore 64 and has an ostentatiously academic overtone, some of the sections are fun to browse through:

- the code (which also nicely runs on the VIC-20) and its variations in other 8bit BASIC dialects
- a lengthy section on BASIC and its background
- why the code is hard to write for an Atari VCS
- some 6502 machine code

What do you make of it?

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 2:42 pm

The output looks a lot prettier on a Vic-20.

Witzo · Post by **Witzo** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 3:23 pm

Haha, I accidentally ran it first in lower case mode, thinking "so what's up with all the letters M and N?".
Then I shifted to upper case. Mind blown.

adric22 · Post by **adric22** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 1:11 pm

I laughed when I saw this a few days ago.

The code is only slightly modified version of a 3 or 4 line program right out of the VIC-20 user manual.

As memory serves the program was called "Random Maze" and it actually used a random statement to generate a 0 or a 1. Then it used two IF statements to decide which CHR$ to print. At least, that is how I remember it. And yes, it looks better on the VIC-20 than the C64 due to the differences in the font.

orion70 · Post by **orion70** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 2:28 pm

I wonder why the diagonal characters in C64 do not merge - 3D mazes look awful!

Post by **Jeff-20** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:25 pm

adric22 wrote:The code is only slightly modified version of a 3 or 4 line program right out of the VIC-20 user manual.

Page 102. It actually precedes the C64 program. And looks much better on the vic.

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:34 am

orion70 wrote:I wonder why the diagonal characters in C64 do not merge - 3D mazes look awful!

They made the whole character set thicker on the c64. Probably to "hide" some of the artifacts from using higher resolution. (As discussed here: http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bul ... 7&start=15 ). There are actually duplicate characters in the c64 character set because of this. Lines on different positions on the vic-20/pet ends up as same position thicker line on the c64.

Post by **Jeff-20** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:23 pm

The effect is that the c64 lines do not seem to connect with this program. Vic looks better to me.

Empa Kendo · Post by **Empa Kendo** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:26 pm

I also prefer the VIC20 version. I am still amazed at putting out 300 pages about a single line of simple code. The book is sold out on Amazon at the moment.

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:32 pm

Someone could probably write a 600 page book about a single dot as well.

Kweepa · Post by **Kweepa** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:51 pm

Well, the code is just a kicking off point for a bunch of discussions about programming, mazes, etc.
It goes off the rails a bit in my opinion when discussing the 2600 port of the line - although I appreciate that they were geeky enough to do a 2600 port, I feel that it's there mostly because they like the 2600 and not because it's relevant to the discussion.

600 pages about a dot? No problem. A discussion of displaying a dot on various computers and display devices. There you go.

adric22 · Post by **adric22** » Sun Dec 09, 2012 1:00 pm

I created a somewhat faster routine and actually creates more interesting patterns.

Code: Select all

10 A=162
20 PRINT CHR$(205+PEEK(A)AND1));:GOTO 20

buzbard · Post by **buzbard** » Sun Dec 09, 2012 2:07 pm

adric22 wrote:I created a somewhat faster routine and actually creates more interesting patterns.
Code: Select all
10 A=162
20 PRINT CHR$(205+PEEK(A)AND1));:GOTO 20

?SYNTAX
ERROR IN 20
READY.

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Sun Dec 09, 2012 4:10 pm

Yeah, there's an extra close bracket ) that needs pairing up.

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Sun Dec 09, 2012 4:37 pm

How about this one then?

Code: Select all

0 print"{clr}M";:fort=1to126:print"MNMM";:next
1 goto1