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From: peril@extro.ucc.su.oz.au (Peter Lisle)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Re: Black Box game for the HP-48SX
Message-ID: <1991Apr7.055320.9091@metro.ucc.su.OZ.AU>
Date: 7 Apr 91 05:53:20 GMT
References: <1991Mar30.100309.8447@metro.ucc.su.OZ.AU> <210003@hpsgm2.sgp.hp.com>
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Organization: Uni Computing Service, Uni of Sydney, Australia
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In article <210003@hpsgm2.sgp.hp.com> ngsl@hpsgm2.sgp.hp.com (Shuh Lit Ng) writes:
>There is one other rule that you forgot to
>mention:
>
>     When an atom is at the edge of the box,
>     a ray on either sides of the atom will
>     be reflected.
>
>This feature is not very well taken care of in the 48
>program, because the ray does not get reflected back
>to its original path, but instead goes to the adjacent
>row/column.  Can this be corrected?

I realized about this problem and was going to mention it in the Bugs
section but then forgot about it.

What the program does is that it notices the atom on the edge and prepares
to do a refraction.  After performing the refraction it then notices the ray
is already on the edge so it thinks the ray has already emerged.

A fix should be possible, just edit TRACERAY to handle this special case.

By the way, I was not aware of this rule, and I thought the current
implementation was acceptable.  Now that you have mentioned it, I might
include it in Version 1.1.

You also mentioned something about the "original" version of the game.
Do you have the "official" instructions for the original version?  I
have never seen the original version.  My implementation was from
memory of a Commodore PET version that I have seen published in a
magazine some ten years ago.

>Also, it'll be super if the option of number of atoms
>and rays are given to the user, just like the original.
>I know the size of the box is limited to the 48 screen,
>but maybe the width can span wider than 8 columns?

The number of atoms that the program generates is in the variable NATOMS
and the maximum number of rays the user can fire is in the variable MAXRAYS.
This is mentioned in the "Program Description" section of the documentation
and you are allowed to change the contents of the variables.

It should be possible to generalize the program so that the user can select
the box dimensions.  I'll think about it for Version 1.1.

>All in all, a great effort!  Thanx.
Thank you.

By the way, I noticed that you are from HP Singapore.  How are things there?
I am planning a visit in early May.  Any interesting 48SX goodies for me
to purchase? (not that my wife will let me, but never mind)

Chris Tham, masquerading as Peter