Task: Try BASIC Programs from a Micro Adventure Book
Needed: BASIC, Micro Adventure Book #2
Time: 1-2 hours
Introduction
When I was a kid I loved the ‘choose your own adventure books‘. It was really fun to participate in how the story took shape. I didn’t find out until later that there was a series of books called Micro Adventures that allow you to participate by typing in and running BASIC programs that were part of the story. I never had these books as a kid but am sure I would have loved them. I ordered a used copy of the second book titled Jungle Quest (1984) by Megan and H. William Stine off Amazon to give this a try. It was really fun! The main character is a high-school aged spy that helps the government carry out secret missions. It is written in the second person and you are the main character. Here is the PDF on archive.org if you don’t want to purchase a copy. I have typed in all of the programs, tested them, and provided them below as text files that you can copy into your emulator or type in directly on an Atari 8-bit computer.
Instructions
The instructions are very simple. Start reading the book. When you come to a program open and run the BASIC code below and follow the instructions in the book. Note that I have already modified the BASIC code to run on an Atari. The book is a very easy read and shouldn’t take more than an hour or two to finish.
Program 1 – Encoder/Decoder (Page 4)
Program 2 – Element Analysis (Page 25)
Program 3 – The Idol’s Eye (Page 61)
Program 4 – Maze (Page 77)
Program 5 – Beam Deflector (Page 105)
Comments
I plan to get the full set of 10 books. They seem to be readily available online from Amazon and other used book sources for about $5 to $10 each. There appears to be a second series from the same publisher called Magic Micro. There are four volumes in this set. Have fun!