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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbatt!ihnp4!cuae2!djmolny
From: djmolny@cuae2.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sources.games
Subject: Re: ATC now runs on System V (Actually a shell escape discussion)
Message-ID: <7430@cuae2.ATT.COM>
Date: Fri, 16-Jan-87 10:05:10 EST
Article-I.D.: cuae2.7430
Posted: Fri Jan 16 10:05:10 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 17-Jan-87 05:30:23 EST
References: <7121@cuae2.ATT.COM> <1225@ucbcad.berkeley.edu>
Sender: usenet@cuae2.ATT.COM
Reply-To: djmolny@cuae2.UUCP (-DJ Molny)
Organization: AT&T - /app/eng, Lisle, IL
Lines: 28

>>I modified Ed James' ATC game to run under System V, folded in
>>Mark VandeWettering's sorting fix, and added a shell escape ('!').
>
>Ack! No!  ... REAL Air Traffic Controllers don't get to go to the bathroom.  
>								--ed

The hell they don't!  I dunno how many times my calls to "REAL Air
Traffic Controllers" have gone unanswered, only to have the controller
come back on after a few minutes saying, "Sorry, 09U, I was on the phone
to O'Hare." (Honest).  Other times, a substitute controller has taken over
for a short while until the original controller returns.  Obviously, the
first guy had to "trot" off and take care of personal business. :-)

Seriously, I do have a phone on my desk that rings frequently, and
I am obligated to answer it, even over lunch hour.  The shell escape
feature does not save the game, and it clears the screen to prevent
players from studying the situation at leisure.  Yes, the "frazzle factor"
adds to the sport of the game, but a no-pause game is just not practical
for some of us.

If the shell escape feature is offensive to many players, it could
be surrounded by an ifdef.  Comments, please?


-- 
						Regards,
						DJ Molny, N9609U
						ihnp4!cuae2!djmolny