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Snack Attack II
''Snack Attack II'' is a ''Pac-Man''-inspired maze game released as a self-booting disk for IBM PC compatibles. It was written by Dan Illowsky and Michael Abrash and published by Funtastic in 1982. The game is a sequel to the Apple II game ''Snack Attack'' published by Datamost. Reception Richard Cook for ''PC World'' said "''Snack Attack II'' is a simple but polished program; no problems interfere with serious gumdrop gobbling. This game's improvements over ''Pac Man'' – the speedup of the mouth after it gobbles an apple, the safety boxes, the skill levels, and the different mazes – give it an edge over its famous predecessor." Will Fastie for ''Creative Computing'' said "as far as I'm concerned, it's the best arcade-style game currently available for the IBM PC. The game is ''Snack Attack II''. It's a Pac-Man clone. It's addictive and tough. It's well-built. It's fun." Corey Sandler for ''PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snack Attack II Cover
A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are prepared from ingredients commonly available at home without a great deal of preparation. Often cold cuts, fruits, leftovers, nuts, sandwiches, and sweets are used as snacks. With the spread of convenience stores, packaged snack foods became a significant business. Snack foods are typically designed to be portable, quick, and satisfying. Processed snack foods, as one form of convenience food, are designed to be less perishable, more durable, and more portable than prepared foods. They often contain substantial amounts of sweeteners, preservatives, and appealing ingredients such as chocolate, peanuts, and specially-designed flavors (such as flavored potato chips). A snack eaten shortly before going to bed or during the nig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Abrash
Michael Abrash is a programmer and technical writer specializing in code optimization and 80x86 assembly language. He wrote the 1990 book ''Zen of Assembly Language Volume 1: Knowledge'' and a monthly column in '' Dr. Dobb's Journal'' in the early 1990s. A later book, ''Zen of Graphics Programming'', applied these ideas to 2D and 3D graphics prior to the advent of hardware accelerators for the PC. Though not strictly a game programmer, Abrash has worked on the underlying technology for games, such as '' Quake'', for much of his career. Since 2014, he has been the chief scientist of Oculus VR, a subsidiary of Meta Platforms Game programmer Abrash was a game programmer in the early days of the IBM PC. His first commercial game was a clone of ''Space Invaders'' published by Datamost in 1982 as '' Space Strike''. He co-authored several games with Dan Illowsky, who had previously written the successful ''Pac-Man'' clone ''Snack Attack'' for the Apple II. Abrash and Illowsky worked to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pac-Man
originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The player controls Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called "Power Pellets" causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points. Game development began in early 1979, directed by Toru Iwatani with a nine-man team. Iwatani wanted to create a game that could appeal to women as well as men, because most video games of the time had themes of war or sports. Although the inspiration for the Pac-Man character was the image of a pizza with a slice removed, Iwatani has said he also rounded out the Japanese character for mouth, kuchi ( ja, 口). The in-game characters were made to be cute and colorful to appeal to younger p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maze Game
A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead unambiguously through a convoluted layout to a goal. The term "labyrinth" is generally synonymous with "maze", but can also connote specifically a unicursal pattern. The pathways and walls in a maze are typically fixed, but puzzles in which the walls and paths can change during the game are also categorised as mazes or tour puzzles. Construction Mazes have been built with walls and rooms, with Hedge maze, hedges, Turf maze, turf, Corn maze, corn stalks, Straw maze, straw bales, books, paving stones of contrasting colors or designs, and brick, or in fields of crops such as cereal, corn or, indeed, maize. Maize mazes can be very large; they are usually only kept for one growing season, so they can be different every year, and are promoted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-booting Disk
A self-booting disk is a floppy disk for home or personal computers that loads directly into a standalone application when the system is turned on, bypassing the operating system. This was common, even standard, on some computers in the late 1970s to early 1990s. Video games were the type of application most commonly distributed using this technique. The term PC booter is also used, primarily in reference to self-booting software for IBM PC compatibles. On other computers, like the Apple II and Atari 8-bit family, almost all software is self-booting. On the IBM PC, the distinction is between self-booting software and that which uses DOS-compatible operating systems. The term "PC booter" was not contemporary to when self-booting games were being released. Benefits * The software starts automatically, without any further action required by the user. * Copy prevention, because self-booting floppies often use a nonstandard filesystem or format. * Bypassing the normal operating sy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM PC Compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones. The term "IBM PC compatible" is now a historical description only, since IBM no longer sells personal computers after it sold its personal computer division in 2005 to Chinese technology company Lenovo. The designation "PC", as used in much of personal computer history, has not meant "personal computer" generally, but rather an x86 computer capable of running the same software that a contemporary IBM PC could. The term was initially in contrast to the variety of home computer systems available in the early 1980s, such as the Apple II, TRS-80, and Commodore 64. Later, the term was primarily used in contrast to Apple's Macintosh computers. These "clones" duplicated almost all the significant features of the original IBM PC architectures. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-molded plastic case, Rod Holt developed the switching power supply, while Steve Jobs's role in the design of the computer was limited to overseeing Jerry Manock's work on the plastic case. It was introduced by Jobs and Wozniak at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, and marks Apple's first launch of a personal computer aimed at a consumer market—branded toward American households rather than businessmen or computer hobbyists. ''Byte'' magazine referred to the Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and TRS-80 as the "1977 Trinity". As the Apple II had the defining feature of being able to display color graphics, the Apple logo was redesigned to have a spectrum of colors. The Apple II is the first model in the Apple II series, followed by Apple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snack Attack
''Snack Attack'' is a maze action video game developed by Dan Illowsky for the Apple II family of computers. It was published by Datamost in 1981. Gameplay The player controls the Snacker, a small, white, fish-like character, and moves through a maze to "eat" all the gumdrops scattered throughout. Meanwhile, the Gumdrop Guards, four enemies that patrol the maze, attempt to catch the Snacker. Green and purple barriers can only be crossed by the Snacker and the Guards, respectively. To control the character, J, K, W, and S keys are used to move the character in various directions, allowing the player to escape the aforementioned Gumdrop Guards. By eating one of several "magic stars" in the maze, the Snacker gains a set of sharp teeth and can briefly eat the guards for bonus points, sending them back to their home base to regenerate. At times, a giant jack-o-lantern appears and can be eaten for bonus points. Once all the gumdrops have been cleared, the player begins the next maz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Datamost
Datamost was a computer book publisher and computer game company founded by David Gordon and based in Chatsworth, California. Datamost operated in the early 1980s producing games and other software mainly for the Apple II, Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit family, with some for the IBM PC. It also published educational and reference materials related to computers and computer programming Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as ana .... Software Publications * ''How to Program the Apple II Using 6502 Assembly Language'' (1981Using 6502 Assembly Language by Randy Hyde , PDFby Randy Hyde * ''The Elementary Commodore-64'' (1982) by William B. Sanders, Ph.D. * ''How to Write an Apple Program'' (1982) by Ed Faulk * ''Designing Apple Games with Pizazz'' (1983) by Greg Minter and Joh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PC World
''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal technology products and services. In each publication, ''PC World'' reviews and tests hardware and software products from a variety of manufacturers, as well as other technology related devices such as still and video cameras, audio devices and televisions. The current editor of ''PC World'' is Jon Phillips, formerly of ''Wired''. In August 2012, he replaced Steve Fox, who had been editorial director since the December 2008 issue of the magazine. Fox replaced the magazine's veteran editor Harry McCracken, who resigned that spring, after some rocky times, including quitting and being rehired over editorial control issues in 2007. ''PC World'' is published under other names such as PC Advisor and PC Welt in some countries. ''PC World''s company ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Creative Computing
''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format than the rather technically oriented ''Byte (magazine), Byte''. The magazine was created to cover educational-related topics. Early issues include articles on the use of computers in the classroom, various simple programs like madlibs and various programming challenges, mostly in BASIC programming language, BASIC. By the late 1970s, it had moved towards more general coverage as the microcomputer market emerged. Hardware coverage became more common, but type-in programs remained common into the early 1980s. The company published several books, the most successful being ''BASIC Computer Games'', the first million-selling computer book. Their ''Best of Creative Computing'' collections were also popular. ''Creative Computing'' also published so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PC Magazine
''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present day. Overview ''PC Magazine'' provides reviews and previews of the latest hardware and software for the information technology professional. Articles are written by leading experts including John C. Dvorak, whose regular column and "Inside Track" feature were among the magazine's most popular attractions. Other regular departments include columns by long-time editor-in-chief Michael J. Miller ("Forward Thinking"), Bill Machrone, and Jim Louderback, as well as: * "First Looks" (a collection of reviews of newly released products) * "Pipeline" (a collection of short articles and snippets on computer-industry developments) * "Solutions" (which includes various how-to articles) * "User-to-User" (a section in which the magazine's experts answ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
