Stephen and Andrew Weir present an exciting quiz game for youngsters
Snail Trail
Snail Trail is a superb educational quiz for children, the object being to help Suzie the snail win a race against her five animal friends - Willie the worm, Belinda the bird, Percy the penguin, Charlie the car and Desmond the dog.
The farmyard is in uproar as Willie, who is to be the first competitor, slithers up to the starting line.
Farmer Giles raises his gavel and taps three times on the rickety old gate. A hush descend over the expectant crowd as the old man explains the rules.
Five challengers take on Suzie in a test of her knowledge of animals. Each question is multiple choice and the fastest competitor will win the race. Let the contest begin.
Sadly, Suzie isn't very fast so you will have to help. When each question appears, tap the SPACE bar until the pointer is opposite the answer that you think is right. Press RETURN to confirm your selection.
If you answer correctly, you will receive a tick and Suzie will move forward. An incorrect answer, however, will result in a cross and Suzie's opponent racing ahead.
Don't spend too long on your answer either, because time, and animals, wait for no snail.
Included in the program is the facility to add your own questions. These should be constructed in the following format:
1401 DATA Question, Correct answer, Up to four incorrect answers,"*"
For instance:
1401 DATA Which of these is an omnivore?,A Human being,A dog, A cat, A hedgehog, A lion,"*"
There is space for ten lines of data between 1400 and 1409, although the program can be renumbered to recover more space if you wish.
The last line of data must be the word END, as this flags the end of the questions and answers.
Game Controls
SPACE - Moves pointer, RETURN - Confirms answer Q/S - Sound Off/On
Variables
creatures
Number of animals
level%
Current level of play
choice
Number of answer given
answered
True when a question answered
won
True if the snail wins
name$()
The animals' names
Procedures
main
The main loop
assemble
Assemble machine code
big()
Print large text
sprite
Print the sprites
arrow
Print the pointer
bench
Set up the screen