NOTICE:
This content is in the "archives" of a retired blog called Gadgetopia. It has been moved to this subdomain as it is no longer considered relevant to the site. It is being hosted here for a indeterminate period of time. Its existence at this URL is not guaranteed, and it may be removed at any time. If you would like to refer to this content in the future, you are encouraged to save it to your local file system.

Some content from Gadgetopia was moved to the technical blog on deanebarker.net

BASIC Computer Games

Originally published by "dbarker" on 2004-05-14 13:51:00Z

Table of Contents: BASIC Computer Games: Someone scanned in all the pages from the classic book “BASIC Computer Games” from 1978. I damn-near memorized this book back in the 7th grade. I programmed half the games, even though most of the time I could get them saved to tape so I lost them and had to re-type them very time I wanted to play. This was also the origin of my “copy and hack” coding strategy – I extended many of this games far beyond the author’s original intentions.

Comment by "Bob" on 2004-05-14 15:22:00Z
Holy crap! I had that book, too. Programmed them (about as many as you did) on my Tandy Color Computer (CoCo!) and saved them to cassette tape via the CoCo's cassette tape recorder peripheral. Man, to me, that was HIGH TECH stuff then. Took ten minutes to read a program off the tape and back into memory, but hey, that's what the TV was for -- just flip the splitter switch to TV mode and watch the tube while your program loads...
Comment by "Eric" on 2006-06-02 15:25:00Z
Excellent -- I have the 1980 TRS-80 edition. It was the best $6.98 I ever invested.
Comment by "malek256" on 2006-09-26 07:02:00Z
That is how I taught myself to code as well -- by reverse engineering the listings. I didn't have a computer or the money to buy any books on coding. But BASIC lent itself readily to understanding when you were a keen grade 7 kid! And when the CoCo arrived from my parents to the family for Christmas...like you Bob, I hacked away at it with that book!
Comment by "Phil Conrod" on 2010-07-16 06:15:00Z
I also started out computer programming the same way you guys did. I purchased the TRS-80 Color Computer 1 in 1980 and typed in many of the BASIC Computer Games from Dave Ahl's book. I still have a working TRS-80 CoCo 2 in my garage. I fire it up occasionally to show kids what computers were like when I was a kid. This past year I did something really crazy and very nostalgic and ported all the old BASIC Computer Games from the original book (with Dave Ahl's permission) to the new Microsoft Small Basic development environment for Kids. You can check out my website where you can download one of the Small Basic Games for free. If you want to show your kids the classic games you programmed and played when you were a kid you can purchase and download the Small Basic Computer Games eBook. The eBook includes the electronic Small Basic Source code to all of the classic game so you don't have to retype them yourself. The games play just like the original games only in Microsoft Small Basic. You can even play the original Super StarTrek with your kids and relive that wonderful feeling you got as a kid taking out the Kilingons with a series of Photon Torpedoes! Live long and Prosper...
Comment by "Phil Conrod" on 2010-07-16 06:21:00Z
I forgot to include the website address to the new Small Basic Computer Games Book: computerscienceforkids.com/SmallBasicComputerGames.aspx
Comment by "George Beker" on 2010-11-16 08:08:00Z
I'm the guy who did all those 'bot illustrations for Basic Computer Games back in the 1970s. And there is indeed a new version of the original book -- update to simple basic -- with all my 'bots and a few new ones, the first in three decades! I also put together a 'bots-only e-book -- The 'BOT FOLIO that's available at www.bekerbots.com Take a look, return to the past.