| ★ AMSTRAD CPC ★ GAMESLIST ★ MOLECULE (c) COMPUTING WITH THE AMSTRAD ★ |
Computing with the Amstrad |
Fire rays into an observation chamber to deduce a molecule's structure in this intellectual puzzle by DANIEL BISHOP MOLECULE is a game of logic and deduction for one person. The object is to deduce by experiment, as quickly as possible, the structure of a molecule which is set up for you by the computer. You must fire rays into a chamber and observe how the atoms in the chamber absorb, reflect and deflect these rays. As atoms make up the molecule, by noting the path of the rays you will gather clues to its structure.
Each game is virtually unique and an intellectually stimulating puzzle. When you run the program the bottom of the screen displays all the alphanumeric commands for use during the game. In the centre of the screen is a large rectangle with a panel along each side. The rectangle is the chamber and the panels are where the rays are fired from. In the top panel is a small flashing rectangle, your cursor, which you move around using the arrow keys. It can be moved into any of the panels, as well as the chamber itself. It has wrap-around. The chamber and panels are initially empty but as the game progresses various symbols will appear in both. However within this chamber, although not visible, are a number of atoms which make up the molecule. Each atom is the size of the cursor. Your job is to find where the atoms are in the chamber. Initially there are only three, but in harder games there may be up to five. The atoms are stationary throughout the game. To help you find them you fire rays into the chamber and the results give you clues as to the atomic locations. To fire a ray move the cursor into any panel, which at this stage consists of eight units. The chamber itself is a rectangle of 8 x 8 units. When you have done this, press Z. Immediately one or two symbols will appear in the panels, one of which will always be inside your cursor. These are the clues. When you fire a ray it travels into the chamber from the cursor position. A symbol appears inside the cursor to show where the ray was fired from. Rays travel only up, down, left or right, and never diagonally. Also to make things more difficult the^rays are invisible. Wherever the ray emerges from the chamber, another symbol appears. As rays travel through the chamber they will be affected if they come close to, or hit, any atoms. A number of things can happen and you would be well advised to study the example diagrams carefully to understand how rays can be absorbed, reflected and deflected. If the ray is absorbed, a white A appears inside the cursor, if reflected, a white R and if deflected a coloured D appears inside the cursor and another of the same colour turns up wherever the ray emerged. So if there is absorption or reflection, only one symbol appears. But if there is deflection, there are two. Two important points. You may not exceed 12 deflections (24 coloured symbols). If you do get as many as this, which is unlikely, you cannot fire any more rays and must proceed to the end of the game. Secondly the computer will not stop you from firing rays where rays have previously been fired. There is no point in doing so, since you already know the result. Also you will be penalised. After you have fired a few rays you should start gaining some idea as to where the atoms lie. To help you visualise the set-up, you may place atom markers in the chamber. Simply move the cursor into the chamber and press Z. You may place as many markers as you like. You may also remove ones you have previously placed. To do this, simply move the cursor over the atom marker and press Z again. When you think you know where all the atoms are you are ready to finish. First make sure that each location of a suspected atom is marked. Also make sure that any excess atom markers are removed. When you feel that the chamber display shows the exact arrangement of atoms press M. Golden yellow atom markers will then appear in the chamber showing the true locations of the atoms. Your atom markers will turn yellow if they are correct, but remain white if they are wrong. Your score for that game is printedat the bottom of the display. The lower your score, the better you have done. To start a new game, prqss M. You get one point for every symbol in the panels, and five for every atom that was in the wrong place, extra or missing. So to achieve a low score it is important not to fire more rays than absolutely necessary and to be as sure as you can about the molecular structure before pressing M. Throughout the game you'll see the command keys displayed at the bottom of the screen:
When you first run the program the computer will by default give you a molecule with three atoms to find. You can change this by pressing 4, 5 or R. You needn't keep pressing these keys at the beginning of every game. Just press 3, 4, 5 or R when you wish to change. CWTA |
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