CHARACTER CODE GUIDE TO INTELLIVISION GAME CARTRIDGES BY MATTEL ELECTRONICS You have just acquired the Intellivision Computer System and have already been able to learn about programming. The computer extention of your console allows you to take advantage of the Intellivision. You can indeed recover characters or other objects of the majority of Intellivision cartridges, and animate them in games that you can easily create thanks to Intellivision BASIC. Mattel Electronics with this guide publishes the list of the main Intellivision cartridges that can be used in BASIC mode. There are three types of information. First of all, the value of N corresponds to the number of the graphic in the cartridge ROM, then Density [D] that indicates whether the graphic is composed of 1 or 2 sub-images. Finally, M indicates the number of additional images for the animation of the character. For the use of these three variables (N, D, M) refer to the guide included with your Computer Adaptor. At the end of the guide, you will find 2 programs that demonstrate the system's capabilities. So get programming and make good games. SHARP SHOT N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── (Use O=5) 0 2 2 Spaceship 6 1 3 Enemy ships (4 variations) 10 1 2 Sinking ship 13 1 2 Shots (Space Gunner) 16 2 3 Explosion 24 1 0 Torpedo (Submarine) 25 2 7 Running man 41 2 0 Player passing the ball 43 2 0 Player receiving the ball 45 2 0 Player tackling 47 2 0 Player tackled 49 1 0 Ball 50 1 0 Submarine 51 2 0 Player touching the ground 53 2 0 Player crouching 55 2 0 Player in block position 57 2 1 Monster movement 61 2 1 Monster movement 65 2 1 Monster disintegration 69 1 1 Spider 71 1 0 Arrow pointing to the right 72 1 0 Arrow pointing up 73 1 0 Arrow pointing to the left 74 1 0 Arrow pointing down 75 1 0 Island 76 1 0 Star 77 1 0 Star 78 1 0 Crosshairs pointing to the right 79 1 0 Crosshairs pointing down 80 1 0 Crosshairs pointing to the left 81 1 0 Crosshairs pointing up 82 1 0 Trésor du joueur 83 1 0 Left half of pyramid 84 1 0 Right half of pyramid SKIING N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 6 Skis at each angle 14 2 1 Skis and skier in a fall 16 2 3 Skier falling and getting up 24 2 12 Skier at each angle SUB HUNT N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 1 0 Enemy convoy ship on map screen 1 1 0 Enemy convoy on map screen 2 1 0 Submarine on map screen 3 1 0 Destroyer in sonar ping 4 1 4 Destroyer approaching in periscope 9 1 3 Troop Transport side view in periscope 13 1 1 Destroyer side view in periscope 15 1 0 Troop Transport side view in periscope (close up, left half) 16 1 0 Troop Transport side view in periscope (close up, right half) 17 1 0 Destroyer side view in periscope (close up, top left) 18 1 0 Destroyer side view in periscope (close up, bottom left) 19 1 0 Destroyer side view in periscope (close up, top right) 20 1 0 Destroyer side view in periscope (close up, bottom right) 21 1 2 Torpedo seen from the periscope 24 1 0 Gauge 25 1 3 Boat explosion 29 1 1 Smoke & fire 31 1 0 Submarine exploding during an attack 32 1 1 Explosion 34 1 0 Enemy convoy fleeing island CHECKERS N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 1 0 Pawn 1 1 0 King 2 1 0 Cursor 3 1 0 Arrow TENNIS N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── (Use O=1) 1 2 1 Ball & its shadow 6 2 5 Player running 18 2 2 Player serving 24 2 1 Player moving after serving 28 1 9 Racket during swing TRIPLE ACTION N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 1 0 Tank shells 1 2 4 Tank at each angle 11 1 4 Explosion 16 2 7 Plane flying in a semi-circle 32 2 0 Car 34 2 0 Crashed car 36 2 0 Tower 38 1 0 Balloon 40 1 0 Biplane shells 41 1 1 Road center lines 43 1 1 Clouds 45 1 0 Crashed biplane? BOWLING N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 0 Top half of bowler holding ball 2 2 6 Top half of bowler throwing ball 16 2 5 Bottom left of bowler throwing ball 28 2 5 Bottom right of bowler throwing ball 46 2 1 Ball in motion 50 1 3 Ball rolling with holes 54 1 0 Pin standing 55 1 1 Pin falling forward 57 1 2 Pin falling sideways TRON DEADLY DISCS N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 7 Player running to side 16 2 0 Player in defensive position 18 2 0 Player hit 20 2 0 Player ducking 22 2 2 Player running to foreground or background 28 2 3 Player de-rezzed 36 1 0 Disc returning 37 1 3 Paralyzer stick 44 1 1 Disc bounced 46 1 1 Disc shattered 48 2 0 Half of Recognizer body 50 1 1 Recognizer head 52 1 3 Recognizer eye 56 2 0 Paralyzer Probe 59 1 0 Black Beam 60 1 4 Grid background NIGHT STALKER N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 7 Player running to side 16 2 2 Player running to foreground or background 22 1 5 Bat flying 28 1 0 Bat sleeping 29 1 0 Bullet 30 1 3 Energy bolt 34 1 1 Robot shield (set XS and YS to 1 for full size) 36 2 1 Exploding robot part 1 40 1 1 Gun 42 2 1 Spider travelling vertically 46 2 1 Spider travelling horizontally 53 1 3 Explosion 57 2 1 Blue Robot 61 2 2 White Robot 67 2 1 Black Robot 71 2 1 Gray Robot 75 2 1 Exploding robot part 2 79 2 0 Player shot 81 2 2 Player bitten 87 1 5 Parts of bunker 93 1 14 Parts of maze 108 1 14 Parts of spider web 123 1 4 Remainder of maze FOOTBALL N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 7 Player running 16 2 0 Player standing 18 2 0 Player in huddle facing to side 20 2 0 Player in huddle facing north or south 22 2 0 Player tackled 24 2 0 Player tackling 26 2 2 Player passing or receiving the ball FROG BOG N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 2 2 6 Frog jumping, left half 16 2 3 Splash, left half 30 2 0 Frog sleeping, left half 32 2 0 Frog sitting 34 2 6 Frog jumping, right half 48 2 3 Splash, right half 56 2 1 Frog climbing out of water 62 2 0 Frog sleeping, right half 65 1 5 Tongue 71 1 1 Frog falling into water 74 2 3 Insect 1 82 2 2 Insect 2 88 2 2 Insect 3 94 1 1 Insect 4 BASKETBALL N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── (Use O=1) 0 2 7 Player running 16 2 0 Player standing 18 1 3 Ball dribbling 22 2 1 Player with hands raised 26 2 3 Player dribbling 34 2 4 Player shooting 44 2 5 Player jump shooting 56 2 4 Player jumping to catch the ball 66 2 1 Player passing the ball AUTO RACING N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 0 Left side of car facing east 2 2 0 Right side of car facing east For each 11.25° counterclockwise rotation: 4 2 0 Left side 6 2 0 Right side 8 2 0 Left side 10 2 0 Right side 12 2 0 Left side 14 2 0 Right side 16 2 0 Left side 18 2 0 Right side 20 2 0 Left side 22 2 0 Right side 24 2 0 Left side 26 2 0 Right side 28 2 0 Left side 30 2 0 Right side 32 2 0 Left side of car facing north 34 2 0 Right side of car facing north BURGER TIME N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [Use a higher O value for the white portion of the chef and egg.] 0 2 1 Chef victory dance (white portion) 4 2 0 Chef standing (white portion) 6 2 1 Chef walking up or down (white portion) 10 2 1 Chef victory dance (orange portion) 14 2 0 Chef standing (orange portion) 16 2 1 Chef walking down (orange portion) 20 2 3 Chef walking up (orange portion) 28 2 3 Chef walking to the left (orange portion) 36 2 3 Chef walking to the left (white portion) 44 2 1 Chef caught (white portion) 48 2 1 Chef caught (orange portion) 52 2 1 Pepper 56 2 3 Hot dog walking down 64 2 3 Hot dog walking up 72 2 3 Hot dog walking to the left 80 2 4 Pickle walking down 84 2 4 Pickle walking up 94 2 4 Pickle walking to the left 104 2 3 Egg walking up or down (white portion) 112 2 3 Egg walking up (yellow portion) 120 2 3 Egg walking down (yellow portion) [N cannot be higher than 127, and so this egg animation can't be used.] - 2 3 Egg walking to the left (white portion) - 2 3 Egg walking to the left (yellow portion) [The following are accessible by setting N to 126 and maxing out M at 15. To access these pictures, set SQ value to 0 and PC value between 9-15.] - 2 - "100" point value - 2 - "500" point value - 2 - Left side of "1000" point value - 2 - Left side of "2000" point value - 2 - Left side of "4000" point value - 2 - Left side of "8000" point value - 2 - Right side of thousands point value MATH FUN N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 8 Left half of monkey running. The right half is a mirror image of the same animation. Use a second object with XM=1. 18 2 0 Lion, left half 20 2 0 Lion, right half 22 2 0 Hippopotamus, left half 24 2 0 Hippopotamus, right half 26 2 0 Antelope, left half 28 2 0 Antelope, right half 30 2 0 Kangaroo, left half 32 2 0 Kangaroo, right half 34 2 0 Rhinoceros, left half 36 2 0 Rhinoceros, right half 38 2 0 Flamingo, left half 40 2 0 Flamingo, right half 42 2 0 Panther, left half 44 2 0 Panther, right half 46 2 0 Elephant, left half 48 2 0 Elephant, right half 50 2 0 Bear, left half 52 2 0 Bear, right half 54 2 0 Crocodile, left half 56 2 0 Crocodile, right half 58 2 9 Monkey jumping into water, left half 78 2 9 Monkey jumping into water, right half 98 2 0 Zebra, left half 100 2 0 Zebra, right half HORSE RACING N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 5 Horse & jockey, right half 12 2 5 Horse & jockey, left half DUNGEONS & DRAGONS N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 1 0 Crown 1 1 0 Rat droppings 2 1 0 Bones 3 1 0 Exit ladder 4 1 0 Skull 5 1 0 Quiver 6 1 0 Player's bow 7 1 0 Boat 8 1 0 Axe 9 1 0 Key 10 1 0 Crown, left piece 11 1 0 Crown, right piece 12 1 0 Cabin (inverted) 13 1 0 Mountains (inverted) 14 1 0 Gate, vertical (inverted) 15 1 0 Gate, horizontal (inverted) 16 1 1 Woods (inverted) 18 1 0 Gate latch, vertical (inverted) 19 1 0 River bend south-east (inverted) 20 1 0 River bend north-west (inverted) 21 1 0 River north-south (inverted) 22 2 3 Warrior running 30 1 0 Arrow facing east 31 1 0 Arrow facing northeast 32 1 0 Arrow facing north 33 2 2 Cloudy Mountain 39 1 0 Tombstone 40 1 2 Expedition (each number of dots) 43 1 1 Blob 45 1 1 Bat 47 1 1 Spider 49 1 1 Rat 51 2 1 Demon 55 2 1 Snake 59 2 1 Dragon 63 2 1 Winged Dragon 67 2 1 Disintegration BASEBALL N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 1 0 Ball 1 2 0 Player squatting 3 2 3 Player running vertically 11 2 7 Player running horizontally 27 2 0 Pitcher 27 2 7 Pitcher throwing 43 2 7 Batter swinging SHARK SHARK N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 1 Player's fish, size 1 4 2 1 Player's fish, size 2 8 2 1 Player's fish, size 3 12 2 1 Player's fish, size 4 16 2 1 Player's fish, size 5 20 2 3 Shark, front side 28 2 3 Shark, back side 36 2 1 Shark dying, front side 40 2 1 Shark dying, back side 44 2 2 Blue fish, size 0 50 2 2 Blue fish, size 1 56 2 2 Blue fish, size 2 62 2 2 Blue fish, size 3 68 2 1 Tan fish, size 0 72 2 1 Tan fish, size 1 76 2 1 Tan fish, size 2 80 2 1 Tan fish, size 3 84 2 6 Sea horse (size 3) 98 2 2 Purple fish (size 3) 104 2 1 Pink fish (size 4) 108 2 1 Orange fish (size 4) 112 2 2 Crab 118 2 2 Lobster 124 2 4 Bubbles [See note in Burgertime about score objects.] - 2 1 Jellyfish LOCK & CHASE N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 1 Lupin (light blue portion) 4 2 1 Lupin (yellow portion) 8 2 0 Lupin (red portion) 10 2 7 Policeman walking horizontally 26 2 7 Policeman walking vertically 42 2 8 Policeman stomping feet UTOPIA N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 1 0 Cursor 1 1 0 Fishing boat 2 1 0 Patrol Torpedo boat 3 1 7 Boat sinking 11 1 3 School of fish 15 1 0 Pirate ship 16 2 4 Rain cloud 26 2 5 Hurricane 39 1 0 Fort 40 1 0 Factory 41 1 0 Crops 42 1 0 School 43 1 0 Hospital 44 1 0 Residential buildings 45 1 0 Occupied force 46 1 0 Patrol Torpedo boat (again) 47 1 0 Fishing boat (again) 48 1 8 Boat sinking (again, but with extra starting frame) ARMOR BATTLE N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 0 Tank in reserve 2 2 8 Tank in action, left side (each of 9 angles) 20 2 8 Tank in action, right side (each of 9 angles) 38 1 0 Shell 39 2 6 Explosion 53 2 0 Destroyed tank HOCKEY N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 0 Goalkeeper 8 2 4 Player skating 18 2 6 Goalkeeper falling and rising 32 2 4 Player somersaulting? 42 2 0 Player in Penalty Box POKER AND BLACKJACK N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 3 Dealer's shifty-eyed expression 8 2 0 Dealer smiling 10 2 0 Dealer frowning 12 2 3 Card spinning 20 2 3 Dealer's hand passing the cards 28 1 12 Card ranks, northwest corner (starts at Ace, then 2 to King) 41 1 0 Heart suit, southwest corner 42 1 0 Heart suit, southeast corner 43 1 0 Spade suit, southwest corner 44 1 0 Spade suit, southeast corner 45 1 0 Diamond suit, southwest corner 46 1 0 Diamond suit, southeast corner 47 1 0 Club suit, southwest corner 48 1 0 Club suit, southeast corner 49 1 0 All ranks except 10, northeast corner 50 1 0 Rank 10, northeast corner 51 1 0 Card backside pattern 53 1 0 Active player arrow TRON MAZE-A-TRON N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 2 4 Flynn running to the right 11 2 0 Flynn standing 13 2 6 Force Field 27 2 2 Zap 37 1 3 MCP eye 41 1 9 MCP mouth 51 2 0 Bit gun sight (frame) 53 1 1 Bit gun sight (center) 55 2 1 Force shield 59 2 5 Flynn running north/south 71 2 6 Recognizer 85 2 8 MCP fireball attack SEA BATTLE N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 1 0 Fleet of 1 ship 1 1 0 Fleet of 2 ships 2 1 0 Fleet of 3 ships 3 1 0 Aircraft Carrier 4 1 0 Troop Transport 5 1 0 Battleship 6 1 0 Submarine 7 1 0 Destroyer 8 1 0 Patrol Torpedo Boat 9 1 0 Mine Layer 10 1 0 Mine Sweeper 11 1 1 Torpedo shell 13 1 4 Gunfire (5 sets) 18 2 5 Explosion 30 1 0 Crosshairs 31 1 2 Boat sinking ASTROSMASH N D M DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 0 1 0 Gun 1 1 4 Player shots (5 sizes) 6 1 0 Small asteroid 6 2 3 Large asteroids (4 types) 14 1 3 Spinner 18 1 5 Explosion 24 1 3 Guided missile 28 2 4 Ship from Meteor facing north, then counterclockwise to west 38 1 0 Shot from Meteor 39 1 2 UFO 42 1 0 UFO shot Example of demonstration program [Try it with Tron Deadly Discs, Night Stalker, or NFL Football.] 1 CLR 300 GSUB 10000 4 H=0 310 CLR 5 For A=40 TO 239 320 PRIN "TAKE A GOOD LOOK." 6 BK(A)=7 330 GSUB 10000 7 NEXT A 340 O=0 20 PRIN "MATTEL ELECTRONICS PRESENTS:" 350 N=0 360 D=2 40 DATA 123,124,125,128,129 370 M=7 45 H=H+1 380 CALL GRAB 46 IF(H=150)GOTO 200 400 CLR 50 DATA 148,133,134,135,143 410 PRIN "THIS CHARACTER CAN" 60 DATA 130,173,163,183,168 420 PRIN "CHANGE COLOR," 70 DATA 153,174,175,164,208 430 GSUB 10000 80 DATA 209,203,204,205,188 480 CO(0)=7 90 DATA 195,210,213,214,215 490 PRIN "BECOME ANIMATED," 100 READ T 500 GSUB 10000 110 R=R+1 530 SQ(0)=60 115 IF(R=7)R=8 540 PRIN "GROW IN SIZE," 120 BK(T)=R 550 GSUB 10000 130 IF(R=15)R=1 560 YP(0)=70 140 GOTO 40 580 XS(0)=1 200 CLR 590 YS(0)=1 210 PRIN "YOU CAN PROGRAM" 610 PRIN "AND MOVE." 220 PRIN "WITH ECS EVERYTHING" 630 XV(0)=50 230 PRIN "THAT GOES THROUGH" 640 GSUB 10000 240 PRIN "YOUR HEAD. SO WITH" 675 YP(0)=110 250 PRIN "SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS" 680 GOTO 1 260 PRIN "DRAWING A PERSON" 10000 FOR A=1 TO 200 270 PRIN "SWIMMING PRESENTS" 10010 NEXT A 280 PRIN "NO DIFFICULTY." 10020 RET Example of demonstration program: BURGERTIME HOT DOGS ICE SKATING Create this program first [and remember to RUN it too]: 10 O=0 80 CO(1)=1 20 D=2 90 O=2 30 M=3 100 CALL GRAB 40 N=72 110 CO(2)=2 50 CALL GRAB 120 O=3 60 O=1 130 CALL GRAB 70 CALL GRAB 140 CO(3)=6 Once the characters are displayed, clear lines 10 to 140 (with DEL) then enter the program below. [The command is DEL 10,140] 10 GOTO 300 240 PRIN "INTELLIVISION" 80 FOR G=0 TO 12 250 PRIN "COMPUTER EXPANSION." 85 FOR V=0 TO 3 260 FOR L=0 TO 200 90 SQ(V)=20 270 NEXT L 100 XV(V)=RN(0)-50 300 CLR 110 IF(XV(V)<30)SQ(V)=0 320 FOR C=80 TO 199 120 IF(XV(V)>-30)SQ(V)=0 330 BK(C)=13 130 IF(XV(V)<0)XM(V)=1 340 NEXT C 140 IF(XV(V)>0)XM(V)=-1 350 FOR B=200 TO 239 150 NEXT V 360 BK(B)=7 160 FOR Q=0 TO 3 370 NEXT B 170 IF(XP(Q)<130)XV(Q)=-20 380 FM(4)=6 180 IF(XP(Q)>35)XV(Q)=20 390 PRIN "BURGERTIME HOT DOGS" 190 NEXT Q 400 PRIN "GO ICE-SKATING." 200 NEXT G 204 FOR A=0 TO 3 420 FOR T=0 TO 100 206 VS(A)=-1 430 NEXT T 208 NEXT A 440 FOR O=0 TO 3 209 CLR 450 XP(O)=88 210 FOR Z=0 TO 20 460 VS(O)=1 220 NEXT Z 470 NEXT O 230 PRIN "PROGRAM ON MATTEL'S" 480 GOTO 80 IMP. BUROSERVICE PARIS - R.C. PARIS B 562 111 948 [Translator's notes begin here] I should start by announcing that I'm glad this document exists. At one point, I wanted to create such a document myself. There are some games that manifest erratic behavior when trying to fetch graphics, as if code is being executed. Word Fun is one example. I thought Sharp Shot was another game where you couldn't fetch graphics without incident, until I read in this document that you have to use O=5. As with all the other ECS programming documentation that Mattel released however, I found the BASIC code riddled with inconsistencies and plain errors. I discovered a few issues when reviewing the sample programs at the end of this document, and a couple places where I had to add notes of my own where important data was simply missing. It was obvious that I would have to do some rewrites to the code when I saw mixed-case text and even diacritics within the PRIN statements. Similarly, translating to English caused a loss of at least one line of text in each program. Within the lists of characters, I also found quite a few mistakes, and I took it upon myself to revise those lists. The first game, Sharp Shot, listed object 50 as "ball in player's hand" - but when I viewed that object in ECS BASIC myself, I discovered the submarine! What was listed as the "submarine (4 variations)" as object 6 with a 4-frame animation (M=3) were the 4 types of enemy ships that pass by. Not uncommon were the wrong number of frames for a particular animation, such as the swung Tennis racket or the jumping frogs in Frog Bog. Then I discovered objects left out in Night Stalker. Object 29 was listed as "Invisible Robot" and had 6 animation frames. In fact, object 29 is the bullet, and the four pictures that follow are the four frames of the Energy Bolt shot by the Black and Invisible Robots. (You may recall that the instruction manual displays the three unique frames of the energy bolt in lieu of a displayable image for the "Invisible Robot".) The two pictures that follow - the second is a blank image - form the animation for the blinking shield of the White Robot and above, if you set the object's XS and YS values to 1 to view it at the same size used in the game. One of the two flying pieces of a destroyed robot is in a much different position (75) than where originally listed (right after the other one). At that point, I fetched the remainder of the graphics used to draw the background: the bunker, the walls, and the spider web. Getting back to the sample programs, I thought I would use this space to add comments of my own. Starting with the first program: Lines 20 and 30 I consolidated to fit both lines of text into a single line of code. Line 20 now fits into exactly 39 characters, the maximum number allowed for a single line. Notice there are two spaces within the text so that "PRESENTS" is left-aligned with "MATTEL" so it does not wrap between the two lines. Although you can omit the space between "PRIN" and the opening quotation marks, the BASIC interpreter will add one anyhow. You can observe that by simply entering "LIST 20" at any time after you've created that line. If you're curious to know what the DATA lines are for before running the program, they create the letters "ECS" in solid color tiles over a background that has been painted white. That is why there is a line to skip ahead to color 8 (gray) when 7 (white) is reached. After the highest color value 15, it cycles back to 1, and then increments in the next loop iteration. That leaves out the first two colors, black and blue, but if you were to alter the line to cycle back to -1, the number of available colors would then be 15, of which 30 - the number of DATA values - is a multiple, causing the letters "ECS" to no longer appear to twinkle. Within the large amount of text, I refrained from adding a comma after "SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS" because it would land in the farthest column on the right of the screen. The BASIC interpreter would then skip a row, because a newline would happen at the beginning of the next row. In other programs of mine, I've put that to use where I wanted to skip a printed row, or where it didn't matter. The thing to watch out for is whether the opening and closing quotation marks are lined up one above the other. If so, you've reached the limit of printable text in a single line. As for the lines to make the object grow: if you have experience writing indie games, you might be aware there are two bits available for an object's vertical size, giving you four possibilities. Combine that with the "double image data" bit, and an object can normally be half a row in height up to eight rows. ECS BASIC takes charge of the low-order bit, forcing an object to be 1 row in height, whether it uses double image data or not. Setting the YS value gives you control over only the high-order bit, quadrupling its height to 4 rows. All the subroutine calls to line 10000 provide for a time delay. Coloring, animating, and resizing/repositioning the displayed object all happen after the time delay. The final demonstration however, setting the object in motion, happens first before the time delay. After that, the demo loops back to the beginning, positioning the object below the bottom boundary rather than using "VS(0)=-1" to hide it. There isn't much to comment on the "Burgertime hot dog ice-skating" demo, because it works if entered as-is. If you're using an emulator, be aware that the apostrophe is entered with Shift + right arrow. The plus symbol is entered with Shift + 5 (which you need for the first demo), and the question mark, if you ever need it, is entered with Shift + down arrow. EOF