SpeedWaller

SpeedWaller is a two-line AppleSoft Basic program implementing a two-player graphics action game.

I wrote SpeedWaller many years ago (1989?), and upon recently finding it deep in the recesses of my filing cabinet, I decided that it was high time that I released it to the public. SpeedWaller was written in response to the numerous two-line AppleSoft Basic programming contests I used to see in Apple ][ magazines all the time such as Dr. Dobb's Journal. I wrote SpeedWaller over a period of many months in my high school computer lab during study hall, since there was little else to do. The last three months I remember distinctly because I was trying figure out how to shave off ten more characters in order to get it to fit in two lines. Crazy. :)

To the dismay of my future self, I was so exhausted with the game that when I was finally done I never submitted it to any of the contests, thereby missing out on endless fame, fortune and glory.

The program is, to the best of my knowledge, the only two-line two-player graphics action game in existence.
(Well, in Applesoft Basic, anyways, which has a 239 character limit. Sure, you could write a whole operating system in one line of C, it would just be a really long line)

You can download a disk image with speedwaller or you can run it directly on an Apple ][ emulator in your browser courtesy Apple][js. Just type "RUN SPEEDWALLER"

Explanation

The game is remniscent of Tron Light Cycles or Snafu, if those are familiar. The game consists of two 'cars' - represented using lo-res blocks - that the players drive around the screen. Each car leaves a trail behind it. The game continues until one of the players crashes into one of the trails or the walls of the screen. The object is, of course, to trap your opponent and stay alive longer.

If you are looking for a real Tron clone, I recommend glTron.

If you don't have a second player, then you can also try to challenge 'yourself' by driving both cars and seeing how long you can stay alive. There is a counter that keeps track of time at the bottom of the screen for this purpose.

When the game is over, you can hit a return to start again. To stop the game, type <control-c> while the game is running.

If you try it out, please tell me what you think, via email, at:

"Never before has so much been done with so little."
- The maintainer of the massive Apple ][ repo at openix (now gone)

Typing In SpeedWaller

This program must be typed in exactly as shown, WITHOUT spaces, on an Apple II computer (or emulator). Both lines are exactly 239 characters which is the line limit in Applesoft Basic. Taking off the last 10 characters took a full 6 months of work.

For example: 

]1ONSCRN(X,Y)<>7ANDB<>0ANDSCRN(U,V)  etc...

Running SpeedWaller

Keys to play the game: 
       Player 1                Player 2

           W                       I

           ^                       ^
           |                       |
       A <-+-> S               J <-+-> K
           |                       |
           v                       v

           Z                       M

The Program

(Okay - it's three lines - but the REM comment doesn't count. :) 

0 REM SPEEDWALLER - COPYRIGHT DAVID LJUNG - I RETAIN ALL RIGHTS AND
  OWNERSHIP OF THIS SOFTWARE - TO CHANGE AT MY DISCRETION - THIS REM
  MUST REMAIN WITH THE PROGRAM UNCHANGED.  CREATED 1988-1989 BY
  DAVID LJUNG - EMAIL [email protected]

1 ONSCRN(X,Y)<>7 AND B<>0 AND SCRN(U,V) <> 7 GOTO 2: HOME : GR :
  X=10 : Y=20 : U=30 : V=Y : I=201 : J=202 : K=203 : M=205 : W=215 :
  A=193 : S=211 : Z=218 : O=1 : Q=-1 : P=49152 : COLOR=7 : HLIN 0,39
  AT 0 : HLIN 0,39 AT 39 : VLIN 0,39 AT 0 : VLIN 0,39 AT 39 : VTAB 22 :
  ? "WASZ IJKM  "C : ON B=0 GOTO 2 : CALL -678 : RUN
2 PLOT X,Y : PLOT U,V : B=PEEK(P) : G= B<>Z AND B<>W: H=B<>A AND B<>S :
  O=G*(O*H+(B=S)-(B=A)) : L=H*(L*G+(B=Z)-(B=W)) : G=B<>I AND B<>M :
  H=B<>J AND B<>K : Q=G*(Q*H+(B=K)-(B=J)) : R=H*(R*G+(B=M)-(B=I)) :
  X=X+O : Y=Y+L : U=U+Q : V=V+R : FOR N=1 TO 99 : NEXT : C=C+1 :
  VTAB 22 : HTAB 12 : ? C : GOTO 1
Type it in like this mess: 
1ONSCRN(X,Y)<>7ANDB<>0ANDSCRN(U,V)<>7GOTO2:HOME:GR:X=10:Y=20:U=30:V=Y:I=201:J=202:K=203:M=205:W=215:A=193:S=211:Z=218:O=1:Q=-1:P=49152:COLOR=7:HLIN0,39AT0:HLIN0,39AT39:VLIN0,39AT0:VLIN0,39AT39:VTAB22:?"WASZ IJKM  "C:ONB=0GOTO2:CALL-678:RUN
2PLOTX,Y:PLOTU,V:B=PEEK(P):G=B<>ZANDB<>W:H=B<>AANDB<>S:O=G*(O*H+(B=S)-(B=A)):L=H*(L*G+(B=Z)-(B=W)):G=B<>IANDB<>M:H=B<>JANDB<>K:Q=G*(Q*H+(B=K)-(B=J)):R=H*(R*G+(B=M)-(B=I)):X=X+O:Y=Y+L:U=U+Q:V=V+R:FORN=1TO99:NEXT:C=C+1:VTAB22:HTAB12:?C:GOTO1
Total characters: 239+239 = 478 (16 characters are for "instructions" and the counter)

Copyright

I retain all rights and ownership to this 'software'. Redistribution without fee is permitted so long as my name remains and the original, unmodified code is present. I also retain the right to give ownership of this software away at my discretion.

AI Postscript (2026)

After almost 2h of work, claude opus model 4.7 was able to cut some characters by rewriting the equations for the graphic offsets, and by accomplishing that it could then move the peek variable to the 2nd line (another unneeded 3 chars) and also cleverly realized that my four vlin/hlin could be replaced with for loops, taking off another 4 characters. Well played, AI. 
1ONSCRN(X,Y)<>7ANDB<>0ANDSCRN(U,V)<>7GOTO2:HOME:GR:X=10:Y=20:U=30:V=Y:I=201:J=202:K=203:M=205:W=215:A=193:S=211:Z=218:O=1:Q=-1:COLOR=7:FORD=0TO39STEP39:HLIN0,39ATD:VLIN0,39ATD:NEXT:VTAB22:?"WASZ IJKM"C:ONB=0GOTO2:CALL-678:RUN
2PLOTX,Y:PLOTU,V:B=PEEK(49152):E=1-(B=WORB=AORB=SORB=Z):O=O*E+(B=S)-(B=A):L=L*E+(B=Z)-(B=W):E=1-(B=IORB=JORB=KORB=M):Q=Q*E+(B=K)-(B=J):R=R*E+(B=M)-(B=I):X=X+O:Y=Y+L:U=U+Q:V=V+R:FORN=1TO99:NEXT:C=C+1:VTAB22:HTAB10:?C:GOTO1
echo '[q]sa[ln0=aln256%Pln256/snlbx]sb3135071790101768542287578439snlbxq'|dc