CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
ECE 291
Spring 1998
Carol Jackson and Shiow-Jiau Yung

In this wacky game of chance, your mission will be to complete the 291 MP before the due date. The catch is, though, that certain characters -- some familiar and some not-so-familiar -- have stolen the beautiful code you completed 10 days ahead of time. Thus, you must traverse the campus, sometimes even crossing *gasp* south of Green, to catch the thieves and reclaim your code. As you embark on your journey, 320x200 graphics and sound clips will keep you company. Don't get too comfortable, though, because the clock is ticking...

This game presents the player with predetermined scenarios and a variety of choices from which the player must choose in order to proceed. The amount of progress the player makes toward the goal depends on factors such as the character the player chooses, the decisions the player makes, and the dilemmas, to be determined at random, with which the player is presented.

The game begins with 10 days remaining until the MP due date, and the time remaining decreases with each decision the player makes. The player encounters random characters in random settings and must attempt to make the choices necessary to acquire unique pieces of code from said characters. The time remaining and the number of pieces acquired are displayed in the Status Window at all times.

Each time the player confronts a character, three choices are displayed in the Message Window. The player progresses by clicking on one of the choices with the mouse. If the result is positive, the player receives a piece of the MP; if not, the player must continue searching. An appropriate amount of time is deducted for each action the player chooses (e.g., it takes longer to stand in line at the bank on a Friday afternoon to bribe Professor Lockwood than it does to buy Taco Bell to appease a hungry character).

Once time has run out, the player must demonstrate the MP to a 291 TA. If the MP is complete, the player will receive a Gold Star for Programming Excellence. If not, well, you'll see.

• ChooseCharacter
  • Description: Allows player to choose a character to play. Displays choices to screen and takes keyboard input from player.
  • Inputs: Keystroke
  • Outputs: Player
  • Calls: None


• DisplayChoices
  • Description: Displays choices to the screen. Player moves by clicking on a choice with the mouse.
  • Inputs: SituationNumber
  • Outputs: ChoiceNumber
  • Calls: GetMousePos


• DisplayPercentCompletion
  • Description: Called by ShowStatus to display how many pieces of the MP the player has acquired.
  • Inputs: PartsCompleted
  • Outputs: Screen
  • Calls: None


• DrawBackground
  • Description: Draws the location of the player.
  • Inputs: Background
  • Outputs: Screen
  • Calls: None


• DrawCharacter
  • Description: Draws character.
  • Inputs: Character
  • Outputs: Screen
  • Calls: None


• DrawPlayer
  • Description: Draws player.
  • Inputs: Player
  • Outputs: Screen
  • Calls: None


• GetMousePos
  • Description: Loop until valid mouse position is clicked.
  • Inputs: None
  • Outputs: AX = Choice Number or 0 if Exit
  • Calls: None


• LoadPCX (from MP4: Everitt 3-D)
  • Description: Loads and decodes a 320x200 PCX file into memory and sets VGA palette registers to those unused by the image.
  • Inputs: AX = Destination Segment Address, DX = Pointer to a Null-Terminated String Containing the File Name
  • Outputs: Fills destination with image data. Fills VGA palette registers with image colors. Uses ScratchPad to hold compressed image data.
  • Calls: None


• Move
  • Description: Moves player from current location and situation to next. Updates TimeRemaining, PartsCompleted, and Background.
  • Inputs: Character (use with lookup table CharacterPart to get part associated with Character) PartsCompleted (use with lookup table PartsAcquired to check whether or not player already has the part), SituationNumber (use with lookup table TimeDeducted), TimeRemaining
  • Outputs: Background, PartsCompleted, and TimeRemaining.
  • Calls: Random


• NewCharacter
  • Description: Generates new character at random.
  • Inputs: Randval
  • Outputs: Character
  • Calls: Random


• Random (from MP3: The 15-Puzzle)
  • Description: This routine generates and returns a pseudo-random number by multiplication and addition of large prime constants to a random number.
  • Inputs: Randval
  • Outputs: AX = Random number between 0 .. 2^16-1
  • Notes: The random function is defined below:
    R(1) = Randval
    R(i+1) = Randval = (K1 *R(i) + K2) % MaxValue, where R(i) is the random value generated in the i-th call to the subroutine. Randval is a variable that holds the initial random value and is updated with the result after each call to Random. K1 and K2 are two large, prime-valued constants. MaxValue = 2^16-1 (0FFFFh)
    Hints & Observations The first call to Random returns the original random number seed. Perform multiplication and division using the 16-bit unsigned operations.
  • Calls: None


• ShowScreenBuffer (from MP4: Everitt 3-D)
  • Description: Move 320x200 pixels of screen data from ScreenBuffer to the screen. Then it clears the ScreenBuffer.
  • Inputs: ScreenBuffer
  • Outputs: Screen. Clears ScreenBuffer
  • Calls: None.
  • Notes: Use string opcodes to transfer data. Use 32-bit registers for optimal efficiency.


• ShowStatus
  • Description: Displays Status Window in upper right corner of screen.
  • Inputs: None
  • Outputs: Screen
  • Calls: DisplayPercentCompletion, ShowTimeLeft


• ShowTimeLeft
  • Description: Called by ShowStatus to display the time remaining.
  • Inputs: TimeRemaining
  • Outputs: Screen
  • Calls: None

Last Update: 14 April 1998 04:15