Thank you for playing
Ashcan
(“Ashcan:” WWII naval slang for "depth charge")
Version 1.7.4, November 17, 1998
©1998 Jerry Fritschle
e-mail the author
Contents
License
Introduction
Version History
System Requirements
Installation and Removal
One-player games
Two-player matches
The Hall of Fame Menu
License
This version of ASHCAN is freeware, and may be freely shared. The only stipulations are: that the entire folder contents be distributed completely and without additions or alterations; that, since I am not charging for it, neither may anyone else; and that I must be contacted for permission to distribute ASHCAN in any CD-ROM collections (I’ll probably be flattered, and grant it).
Introduction
My name is Jerry Fritschle, and I live in St. Louis, Missouri. By trade I am a seller of photographic, video and electronic-imaging gear (and occasionally a “real” photographer). Over the last two-and-a half years, since acquiring my Mac, I have developed increasing interest in computing. In a way, this is appropriate, since my business is gravitating increasingly toward digital technology. Keep up or die!
Now, at the tender age of 40, I am learning how to program for the Mac. For the sake of continuity (and, at present, a lack of any other compelling ideas), I have been using ASHCAN as my continuing subject.
I wrote the original ASHCAN, as a high-school sophomore, in 1974. This was nothing more than a guess-the-number game, and, while the similarities to "Battleship" were obvious, my memory holds that, if anything, I was inspired more by “MasterMind.”
Now, you younger folks wouldn’t recognize those computers (an HP5000, I think, with which we communicated via modem). First, I wrote the BASIC code , then transcribed it to cards which were fed into the terminal. The game, as I said, was simple; the computer picked a random depth within the prescribed bounds, and the player had ten guesses. “Gee-you-eye” wasn’t even a phrase then. On a printer, the computer unceremoniously typed out whether the user’s guess was too shallow or too deep. Not much, but at that time we thought it was neat (and I got an ‘A’ in the class).
About ten years later, I dabbled in this some more. I was playing with BASIC programming with a friend’s Timex Sinclair computer, with all of 16K of RAM. Considering that this machine cost $39.95, it was tremendous. While doing this, I resurrected ASHCAN. While the game had not changed, I now was able to incorporate some simple graphics, and also implemented a score keeping system.
In the spring of 1998, the Timex-Sinclair version was reborn as ASHCAN 1.0, my first Mac program. The game was still the basic, dressed up “guess the number,” and the graphics gave no hint of the extent of your miss (you were either too shallow or too deep--PERIOD), but the game was certainly prettier, because it had better animation, menu commands, and, best of all, it was running in color on a Macintosh. Shortly thereafter, ASHCAN 1.5 added a little more flair to the animation, and introduced a two-player mode.
At this point, I was ready to add some sophistication to the concept of the game itself. With the help of some constructive feedback from my users, here is Version 1.7. While past users will recognize it, this is nonetheless a most different ASHCAN. Hope you like it.
Version History
Version 1.7.4
Fixed a problem where ASHCAN (developed on System 8.1-8.5) did not recognize the presence of AppleScript under System 7.x. Quite an easy fix, once I knew about it.
Version 1.7.3
When quitting, ASHCAN will restore your prior monitor settings--on request, of course. I also found a couple of teeny bugs, and tweaked the program a bit for MacOS 8.5.
Version 1.7.2
Now, instead of requiring you to change your monitor to 256 colors, ASHCAN will do it for you (after asking politely, of course). This requires that the user have AppleScript active. I also made some minor cosmetic tweaks; some users had reported that some window labels were clipped, depending on their particular system font.
Version 1.7.1
This was the first release of ASHCAN under this concept, as opposed to the older, simple "guess the number" game (Version 1.0 and 1.5). Other features:
*This document is now in HTML, with links to cut to the chase.
*Now the graphics are proportional, showing by how much you missed. But now, you're also dealing with a moving target, so you are not just concerned with the depth, but also with positioning your destroyer, and timing the release of the ashcan. You may need more than one hit to register the kill.
*A "Top-ten"; list of high scores is kept, and updated, in a file. This file is kept in the Preferences Folder, where it will also be used, in future versions, to hold user-defined preferences.
System Requirements
*MacOS 7.1 or better, with QuickTime. The version accompanying this document is a FAT-binary; 68K and PPC versions are also available.
*256 Color Display.
*Internet Config extension, for systems prior to 8.5; otherwise 'Internet Access' (no big deal; it’s just for the e-mail link in the “About..” window).
*AppleScript (optional, to allow the game to adjust the monitor depth itself).
Installation and Removal
Well, there's nothing to the installation. Just put the folder where you want it. To remove the game from your system, trash the folder , and remove the &"Ashcan Preferences&" file, which it left behind, from the Preferences Folder of your System Folder. It's a simple matter to transfer the folder to another computer. If you want to keep the"Hall of Fame&" intact, also copy the prefs file to the Preferences Folder of the destination system.
One player games
Select “One player” in the “Welcome...” window, and enter your name. When you’re ready, the computer will randomly set the submarine’s depth between 160 and 460 feet , and the game screen will appear. By default, your ashcan has been set for 300 feet, and you have ten ashcans at your disposal.
The submarine will not appear until you have positioned your destroyer, and dropped anchor. You move the destroyer by holding these keys:
Fore: Left Arrow
Aft: Right Arrow
Adjust your ashcan’s depth setting by holding these keys:
Decrease: Up Arrow
Increase: Down Arrow
When satisfied with your position and depth setting, press X to anchor. The sub responds to this cue, and will shortly appear. Then, on your command....
Drop: press the spacebar
Now, the suspense builds. You will either miss, kill, or inflict some degree of damage. Ten ‘damage points’ or better are required for a kill. A direct hit will do this immediately, a solid hit will score three points, and a glancing blow will earn one.
The submarine’s depth does not change during the course of a single round, so you are able to adjust your depth setting, positioning and timing. Game scoring is “stroke play,” like golf; the lower, the better. Failure is scored as 11.
When the scoreboard appears, you may quit ASHCAN, or hit ‘continue’ to start another game, with the sub at a new depth. ASHCAN keeps track of not only your current score, but also your cumulative score, and best score of the session. Additionally, any scores that qualify for the “Hall of Fame” are so recorded.
Important note: If you accidentally press the drop key before anchoring, the ashcan will drop as soon as you anchor. I originally considered this a bug, but then decided that I’d leave it alone, since wartime commanders have to deal with stress--i.e, tough luck!. Depending on the circumstances, you may still be able to reposition your ship before anchoring, to compensate for this.
By the way, if you’re not happy with my choice of keys, be assured that I plan to allow user-defined keys in the next version. For the time being, though, I found that getting this one 'out the door' was conducive to marital bliss.
Two Player Matches
Hope you didn’t jump here without reading “One Player” first. The differences are really pretty minor and intuitive. The biggest difference is that, on the startup screen, there is now the option of having the sub’s depth set manually by the opponent. If this is selected, a window for this purpose will appear at the beginning of each round. If the entered value is out-of-range, the opponent will be politely chided by the computer, which will proceed to establish a random depth for that round only.
The Hall of Fame Menu
You may view the history of the ten-best scores by selecting “View Hall of Fame” from the File menu. I expect that this file will eventually fill up with “ones” and “twos,” so you may, at your pleasure, delete the file by selecting “Delete Hall of Fame.” As with other aspects of the game, the size of the Hall of Fame is also something which will, in a future release, be user-defined.
Thank you for playing ASHCAN. I appreciate any and all feedback. Flamers, however, take note: if you’re contemplating some sort of witticism along the lines of “Ashcan...Trashcan,” I’ve already heard that line. In fact, I was expecting it for months before I actually got it.
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