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     Download digitally archived Bally Arcade tape programs that will load with AstroBASIC (the BASIC with the built-in tape-interface).

Jekyl & Hyde Jekyl & Hyde.
By Ken Springsteen (Video Wizards).
Arcadian 4, no. 5 (Mar. 5, 1982): 47, 52-53. (Docs and BASIC Listing)
Arcadian 4, no. 6 (Apr. 9, 1982): 55. (Program Fix)

Jekyl & Hyde is a 2-player game using the hand controllers to move two figures around the lab maze. His goal is the secret formula in the maze center. The figures are Jekyls, and the first to reach the center turns into Mr. Hyde, and tries to catch the remaining Jekyl. Jekyl, in turn, continues to try to reach the formula, at which time the roles are swapped. Points are added/deducted for successful captures or wall crashes.

You can read the Ken Springsteen's letter of submission here:
  1. Jekyl & Hyde Program Submission Letter - Instructions and a typed BASIC program listing.
Lizzard Lunch Lizzard Lunch.
By Tim White.
Niagara Bugs Club Tape #1.
Niagara BUG Bulletin, 2, no. 6 (Jul. 27, 1984): 26, 28.
Arcadian 6, no. 11 (Oct. 31, 1984): 101.

No instruction were included in the Arcadian. These are the instructions for Lizzard Lunch from the Niagara Bugs Club Tape #1:

"Pull trigger #1 to begin. Use knob and trigger #1 to "enter difficulty.' 'Monitor Lizard" is the hardest game; 'tadpole' is the easiest. Use joystick #1 left and right, and knob #1 to hunt the flies. Trigger #1 makes the kill.

"Your lizzard will die of starvation if 20 flies are not caught. Pull trigger #1 to start program over. Good Eating!"

These are brief instructions for appeared in the Niagara BUG Bulletin:

"The joystick and knob position the Lizzard's tongue. After a while, your lizzard will die of starvation if 20 flies are not caught. The salamander gets faster flies than the tadpole, but the monitor lizzard is the hardest and fastest of all!"

Archiving Notes: The sound is slightly different between the Bally BASIC and "AstroBASIC" versions. The title screen is by Mike White.

Locksmith Locksmith.
By Don Crider.
Arcadian 5, no. 10 (Aug. 16, 1983): 157.

The instructions in the Arcadian and the original program submission are extremely terse. They are both the same: they each consist of a drawing of the game screen with the short note:
  • Locksmith Screen Drawing
Object - Line-up slots with arrow at top
JX moves slots
JY selects line
Archiving Notes: This program is the August 1983 $100 prize winner for the month. Unlike most programs released in 1983 (and later), Locksmith is compatible with both Bally BASIC and "AstroBASIC."

M-III M-III.
By Stanley Kendall.
Arcadian 5, no. 3 (Jan. 14, 1983): 45.

This random video art program was written February 23, 1982. Unlike many video art programs, this one ends after about four minutes and twenty seconds.

Paul Thacker notes: "The [M-III] program is a fairly simple graphical demo. It draws different size boxes vertically and horizontally, and makes some interesting patterns."

M-III Plus M-III Plus.
By Stanley Kendall, et. al.
Arcadian 5, no. 3 (Jan. 14, 1983): 45. (M-III).
Arcadian 5, no. 3 (Jan. 14, 1983): 49. ("Game Over").
Arcadian 5, no. 3 (Jan. 14, 1983): 53. (New 2 Voice Music - "Frogger Theme").

The letter that Mike White sent with this tape says, "MIII Plus is the entire 3rd issue of Arcadian, Vol. 5 in one program." It includes three short programs that run one after the other:
  1. M-III by Stanley Kendall - Video Art
  2. "Frogger Theme" by Mike Peace - Two-Voice Music
  3. "Game Over" ROM Test program - By Craig Anderson
Paul Thacker notes: "The [M-III] program is a fairly simple graphical demo. It draws different size boxes vertically and horizontally, and makes some interesting patterns."

Math Teacher Math Teacher.
By Moinuddin Ahmed
Arcadian 6, no. 6 (Apr. 20, 1984): 55.

This program is an addition, subtraction, multiplication or division math quiz.

This is an excerpt from a January 4, 1983 letter to Bob Fabris that is part of the "Bob Fabris Collection." Mr. Ahmed, an Arcadian subscriber from Canada writes, "Please find attached a programme called math teacher which I hope young fans of Astrocade will enjoy and use it to brush up their math." Mr. Ahmed supplied a printout and some documentation. The program was printed sixteen months later in the Arcadian, but the instructions were not included. Here are the instructions from Mr. Ahmed's original program submission:

Math Teacher, Description of Programme
Programme is in Astro Basic.

After inputting the programme press run and go. The computer will ask for your choice of addition, subtraction multiplication or division. After you enter your choice the computer will then ask the level of difficulty and the number of questions you wish to solve. Input both. The computer will then print out the question and wait for your answer. If the answer is wrong, the computer will print out the correct answer and moves on to the next question. At the end of the exercise results are automatically tabulated and percentage score is printed out.
  1. Math Teacher - Comments and Instructions
Memory Contents - Binary Memory Contents - Binary.
By Max Manowski and Brett Bilbrey.
Arcadian, 1, no. 6 (May 4, 1979): 43

This is a machine language utility for BASIC. This program takes a decimal number as a memory location for input, then prints out the memory location's address, followed by the contents of the memory location in "AstroBASIC" decimal format. Then the program prints out the contents of the memory location in binary format (also in "AstroBASIC" format). Since "AstroBASIC" PEEKs at locations two bytes at a time, the binary output will be 16-bits. Finally, the output will be in hex pair, reverse order (i.e. $FF00 = $00FF).

The instructions for this program from the May 1979 issue of the Arcadian are:

Memory Dump listing was written by Max Manowski to yield a binary output for a selected memory location. Brett Bilbrey has modified it to give a full 16-bit answer, and added the comments to go with it.
  • Line 10 asks for the input for the desired location, the machine prints that location and then the PEEKed decimal number
  • Line 20 calls for a conversion from decimal to binary, and displays binary
  • Lines 30-90 calls the decimal to binary conversion,performs a 'ones compliment' on the number and calls the display routine
  • Line 1000 stores the decimal number as a binary in @(X)
  • Lines 2000, 2010 provides the display routine for the binary number
What you will get looks like this arbitrary example: The location I requested is 2049
   2049         5727          .decimal
          0001 0110 0101 1111 .binary
Memory Contents - Hex Memory Contents - Hex.
By Gary Moser.
Arcadian, 1, no. 6 (May 1979): 44.

A machine language utility for BASIC. This program takes decimal input for a beginning memory address and an ending memory address. It then prints out the hex pairs. The output is not in "AstroBASIC" format- the hex pairs are in the correct order.

An overview of Memory Contents - Hex appeared in the May 1979 Arcadian:

The memory dump program by Gary Moser prints its answer in the hexadecimal language. Se what you get for the answer to location 0006. If it is 61, then your machine is like mine, and if it is 66, it is like Tom Wood's. If something else, then we have more variants on the street.

Memory Display Memory Display.
By Chuck Thomka.
Arcadian, 1, no. 8 (July 1979): 67

Instructions from the July 1979 Arcadian:

This is a nice memory dump program that displays the decimal and hexadecimal location numbers (addresses) and data. It will do whole blocks of dumps by giving a starting and ending address. It will increment the address by the entered amount if you only want to check every 1000th location, for example.

Use negative location numbers to check the upper memory:
   -32767 = 8001 hex
     to
     -1   = FFFF hex
Metropolitan Attack
Metropolitan Attack!
Uncredited, but probably by Dale Low.
ARCADIAN 6, no. 11 (Oct. 31, 1984): 99-128.

This is a Missile Command clone written for "AstroBASIC."

Michael Prosise reviews the game (briefly) in his December 1983 Game Player column: "Metro Attack. Three cheers for Dale Low! This is a game I could really get excited about! It is the best Missile Command simulation I have ever seen. It contains selectable levels, turns, players, bonus energy points, whew! In short, this game has it all! My personal favorite."

See the program's notes for many additional details about this program, including how it came to be archived.

Microtrek Microtrek.
By Bill Andrus.
Arcadian 1, no. 11 (Oct. 31, 1979): 88-89.
Arcadian 2, no. 1 (Nov. 29, 1979): 4. (Corrections and Suggestions)

Instructions from the November 1979 Arcadian:

Microtrek is a very small but interesting version of the Star-Trek game. This version was originally shared by the North Carolina TRS-80 User Group. In playing, watch your energy level and remaining time.

Command Summary:
  1. Move to Sector (row,column)- On an 8 x 8 quadrant of sectors, you can move to any legal, unoccupied sector. If you are adjacent to a Starbase, you are docked, restoring your energy and in a safe haven from which to fire. If either sector command is zero, the command is cancelled.
  2. Move to a New Quadrant-extends search for Klingons and Starbases.
  3. Fire on Sector (row, column) - Watch energy. Again, if either value entered is zero, the command is cancelled.
  4. Sensor Report(of current quadrant): * are stars; B is StarBase; K is Klingon; and E is Enterprise
  5. Status Reports - These are optional, upon-request displays
An extended version is available from Bill at $1.50 your tape, 3.50 on his.

Archiving Notes: I'm not sure if this version has corrections and suggestions added. Microtrek was included on page 10 of the 16-page "Welcome to the Fascinating World of Arcade Programming!" compilation that was provided by the Arcadian.
  1. Welcome to the Fascinating World of Arcade Programming!
The program probably differs slightly from its original appearance because it was converted to work with "AstroBASIC."

Monster Chase
Monster Chase.
By Alex Morales.
The BASIC Express, 3, no. 3 (July/August 1981): 34.

Here is a short fun game that everyone can enjoy playing.

The object is to 'stay alive' (keep away from the Monster) for 10 moves. At level one this is pretty easy, level two is a little harder, and at level three it is almost impossible!

You are "Y" and can only move up, down, right, or left. The Monster "M" can also move diagonally.

More Art - Prog. G-III. More Art - Prog. G-III.
By Stanley Kendall.
Arcadian 5, no. 2 (Dec. 3, 1982): 28.

A short overview of this program was included in the December 1982 issue of the Arcadian, "A graphics demo of small boxes on the screen. Note the menu system."

Morse Code Practice Morse Code Practice.
By John Hedstrom.
Arcadian 6, no. 8 (Jun. 30, 1984): 70.
Arcadian 6, no. 8 (Jun. 30, 1984): 79. (Additions: Notes and Fixes)

This program was found in the Bob Fabris Collection. These instructions are condensed from the original printing of the program and the follow-up with bugs fixes in the next issue:

Morse Code Practice will enable you to brush-up on your code. The timing has been adjusted to accepted standards. You can select between given categories including a "custom" selection.

Speeds 1-9 correspond to 36, 24, 18, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, and 7 words per minute. In the Custom mode, 9 characters are needed to make an entry. If your item as only six characters, then add three spaces to fill out the required 9. The punctuation selection requires 10 array values to be added [these are listed in Arcadian along with array entry program].

Name Combined With Nicomachus Name Combined With Nicomachus.
By Hank Chiuppi.
Arcadian 2, no. 9 (Jul. 28, 1980): 72.

No instructions were included with the original printing of this program in the July 1980 issue of the Arcadian, but short instructions were printed on page 11 of the 16-page "Welcome to the Fascinating World of Arcade Programming!" compilation that was provided by the Arcadian.
  1. Welcome to the Fascinating World of Arcade Programming!
"The computer attempts to guess a number you ahve chosen by asking three questions. The player has to do some arithmetic to supply the answers.

The original version of Nicomachus by David Ahl appeared on page 117 of Creative Computing's 1978 book called BASIC Computer Games. The complete instructions for that version of the game are:

"One of the most ancient forms of arithmetical puzzle is sometimes referred to as a "boomerang." At some time, everyone has been asked to "think of a number," and after going through some process of private calculation, to state the result, after which the questioner promptly tells you the number you originally thought of. There are hundreds of varieties of the puzzle.

"The oldest recorded example appears to be that given in Arithmetica of Nicomachus, who died about the year 120. He tells you to think of any whole number between 1 and 100 and divide it successively by 3, 5, and 7, telling him the remainder in each case. On receiving this information, he promptly discloses the number you thought of.

"Can you discover a simple method of mentally performing this feat? If not, you can see how the ancient mathematician did it by looking at Lines 80-100 of the program.

New 2-Voice Music - Frogger Theme New 2-Voice Music (Frogger Theme).
By Mike Peace.
Arcadian 5, no. 3 (Jan. 14, 1983): 53.

An example program that plays the theme song from the arcade game Frogger using two voices.

The beginning of the article starts:

"Everyone has been mentioning the 'New Sound' coming from some of my latest games. Well I guess I'll let you in on how it is done. Most of the music you have heard from the Astrocade has been a kind of "Organ Music," nothing like what you hear at the arcades in games like Frogger and Venture and all kinds of others. I made a small discovery, and it's very simple to do music like the big boys do. Here is a short program and some music from FROGGER. Once you get it all keyed in, you'll hear the difference and I'm sure you'll like it."

The article and music for this program are available:
  1. New 2-Voice Music - Frogger Theme - Original article in text format
  2. New 2-Voice Music - Frogger Theme - Music (in WAV Format)
Nim Nim.
By Robert Hilferding
Arcadian, 3, no. 8 (June 8, 1981): 86-87.

Nim is a one or two player game where the object is to force your opponent into taking the last piece. Starting with fifteen boxes, the players alternate in removing one, two or three boxes. (KN determines the number, TR removes the boxes.) In the one player mode, the computer determines how many boxes it will remove.

The program permits options in who starts, and the degree of difficulty option in the one-player mode. Beginning options are entered through the keypad while play options are executed through the hand controllers.

The original version of Nim from 1981 has not yet been archived.

Allen W. Skaggs sent the Arcadian a modified version of Nim in 1983. It was not published, but it is included in this archive. The modified version is part of the "Robert Fabris Collection."

O-Jello O-Jello.
By Clyde Perkins (Perkins Engineering).
Arcadian 2, no. 5 (Mar. 24, 1980): 38, 41. (Bally BASIC Version)
Best of Arcadian - 1980 (Tape). (AstroBASIC Version)
Arcadian 5, no. 2 (Dec. 3, 1982): 40. (Blue Ram BASIC Version)
Arcadian 5, no. 4 (Feb. 18, 1983): 56. (Blue Ram BASIC Correction)

Instructions from the March 1980 Arcadian:

O-Jello by Clyde Perkins is a version of Othello. The object is to have as many of your pieces on the board as possible. You play to 'capture' as many of the opponent's pieces as possible-- this converts them to your pieces (of course, it works the other way, too). You do this by placing a piece (with the hand controller joystick) in a spot adjacent to the opponent's, where his is now sandwiched between two of yours and then pressing the trigger.

The instructions from Best of Arcadian - 1980 are slightly different:

1 or 2 Players. The object is to capture and retain as many spaces as possible using the rules of Othello. You can capture a space if it is occupied by your opponent, and you can sandwich him between your existing spaces and the new one. Pull the Trigger to register the move. You will see the computer checking all possible moves when it is Up, in the 1 player mode.

Archiving Notes:

The O-Jello audio tape introduction and instructions by Clyde Perkins are available. These are in FLAC format and have also been transcribed. The introduction has the O-Jello rules that Clyde Perkins placed before and after the Bally BASIC game. Also included in a summary of how the program works.
  1. "O-Jello" Audio Instructions (Part 1), Time - 1:04 / Size - 1.41MB
  2. "O-Jello" Audio Instructions (Part 2), Time - 6:01 / Size - 7.98MB
  3. "O-Jello" Audio Instructions (Transcription)
Old Bent Nose Old Bent Nose.
By Bob Wiseman.
Arcadian 3, no. 9 (Jul. 09, 1981): 96-97. (Original Printing)
Arcadian 3, no. 11 (Sep. 11, 1981): 111. (Music Addition by Skip Atkinson)

Thse are the instructions from page 97 of the July 1981 Arcadian:

This is a two player game played on a five by five grid. The object of the game is to get three of your markers in a straight line, horizontally or vertically. Player one uses plus sign markers; player two uses zeroes. On the grid, twelve pairs of faces are hidden. When it is your turn, use the JX and JY on the game controller to maneuver the reversed box to the square that you want to guess. Pull the trigger. Now guess another, trying to find the matching face. If the two faces that you have exposed match, then your marker is put on those squares. The first player to get three of his/her markers in a line (not diagonally) wins. But watch out!! Old Bent Nose is hiding out there too. If you pick his square, your turn ends and Old Bent Nose trades places with another hidden face. This game combines guessing, memory, and strategy.

One Man Bowling One Man Bowling.
By Bob Heckman.
Arcadian 4, no. 11 (Sep. 06, 1982): 106.

Here is an overview of this game from the September 1982 issue of the Arcadian:

This program follows the usual game format, but in this case it is for one player only. Use TR(1) to start the game and roll the ball. For Bally BASIC and "AstroBASIC."

Paraschot Paraschot.
By Tim White.
Arcadian 7, no. 1 (Jun. 01, 1985): 8-9.
Niagara Bugs Club Tape #1.
I've combined the instructions from the June 1985 Arcadian and the Niagara Bugs Club Tape #1:

This is a one-player game. The object is to parachute to a landing pad, then pick up the paratrooper. Trigger #1 stops the craft and "Geronimo!" Joystick down opens the parachute, and joystick left or right guides you to the landing pad, and moves the spacecraft for "beam up." The momentary arrow shows wind direction, but not velocity! The longer you wait to open the parachute, the greater you score! You get six jumps per game. Pull trigger #1 to start another game.

Archiving Notes: This game is written for "AstroBASIC" and uses some machine language. The title screen on the Niagara Bugs Club Tape #1 is by Tim's brother, Mike White.

The Pits Pits, The.
By Rex Goulding.
Arcadian 3, no. 10 (Aug. 12, 1981): 108.

These are the instructions from the August 1981 Arcadian:

"The object of the game is to move the small dot in the upper-left corner past the pits to the end of the medium-size box in the lower-right corner. The clunker is that the pits move up the screen all the time and can catch you. Each time the screen rolls up, it counts as one move. A successful trip in 16 moves is doing well."

This game is extremely simple, and doesn't take long to play (just a minute or two)... but that's great, because the game is quite addicting. You'll find yourself have "just one more go" over and over again.

Polo Polo.
By Bob Hensel.
Arcadian 4, no. 9 (Jul. 06, 1982): 86-87. (Original Printing)
Arcadian 6, no. 6 (Apr. 20, 1984): 52-53. (Reprint)

These are the instructions from the page 87 of the July 1982 Arcadian:

"Polo is a two player game where the object is to score the most goals before time runs out. The computer will roll the dice and indicate the player who is up by making his horse blink off and on. The player then determines the best direction to move (up, down, diagonal), the number of squares on the dice, and uses JX and JY to make his move. If he lands in the opponent's goal he scores 5 points. If he lands on one of his own 'Lucky Horseshoes' he scores 1 point and gets another turn, else play passes to his opponent. Each player has 15 seconds to make his move, or lose his turn. A defensive player can move his goalie up or down using JY. When time runs out, another period can be played by setting JY(1)-1. A new game is started with JY(1)=-1."

Pool Pool.
By Bob Hensel.
Arcadian 3, no. 9 (Jul. 09, 1981): 94-95.

The Arcadian rarely included pictures or screenshots of the type-in programs. This game is an exception. There is a rough drawing of the game to give the player a general idea of what to expect:
  • Pool Drawing
These are the instructions from the July 1981 issue of the Arcadian:

Pool is a computer version of the Billiards game 8-Ball. The computer will rack the balls and break. The direction of the cue ball is controlled by JX(1) and JY(1). The length of the shot is controlled by the cue stick at the right of the screen. After selecting the desired angle and length, pull the trigger TR(1) to make the shot. The direction of any other balls hit by the cue ball is controlled by KN(1). If KN(1) is at its center, the other balls will continue in the same direction as the cue ball. Turning KN(1) all the way clockwise or counterclockwise will deflect the balls 45 degrees from the path of the cue ball.

Pop Art (Circles)
Pop Art (Circles).
By Ron Picardi.
Arcadian 3, no. 7 (May 08, 1981): 77.

The Arcadian contained no instructions for this video art program. Ron's program submission letter said only this about the program, "A self-running art program that features some unusual graphic patterns."

Printing With AB Printing With AB.
By Al Rathmell.
Arcadian 5, no. 2 (Dec. 3, 1982): 43.

This is a short driver program for using a printer with "AstroBASIC" and the old-style printer interface that was popular to use with Bally BASIC. Two identical copies were found in Bob Fabris' tape collection. One had the typed label "PRINTER :INPUT %(20258)". The other had a handwritten label which says these lines (which are are commands from the article):
   *PRINT :INPUT %(20258) to load
   %(20124)=20258;LIST;%(20124)=11531
The full instructions have been OCR'ed and are available as part of the archive.

A Z80 disassembly of the machine language program has been made; it is available within the archive.

Puzzle Puzzle.
By Bob Wiseman
Arcadian 2, no. 7 (May 19, 1980): 64.

The Arcadian had no instructions or comments about this program. There are a few comments in the BASIC listing that say, "Plays like '15 Puzzle,' using joystick to move letters."

This game is like a 15-puzzle, but with the alphabet instead. After the program starts, it takes about forty-five seconds to mix-up the puzzle and then begin.

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