SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.

0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg

A quality ShareWare arcade game by EXACT SOLUTIONS.

SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) V5.0 Documentation, (C) 1990 Bruce Rosenberg

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION 11.1 Overview of the Game 11.2 Philosophy 11.3 Hardware
Requirements 21.4 Improvements in Version 5.0 21.6 Future Versions21.7 Credits
3

2.0 OPERATION OF THE GAME OF SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) 32.1 Start-up Screen32.2
Beginning Screen 32.3 Main Menu Screen 42.4 Game Instructions Screen 42.5
Game Screen 52.6 Score Display Screen 52.7 Change Options Screen 6

3.0 INFORMATION ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR GAME 63.1 Snake snatching hints
63.2 Suggestions for operating the CONTROL KEYS 73.3 Trouble Shooting Q&A 8

4.0 TECHNICAL INFORMATION ON SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) 94.1 Human factors

theory of the game 94.2 Operation of the speed-changing algorithm 104.3 Revision
History 10

5.0 COMMERCIAL INFORMATION REGARDING SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) 135.1

Intellectual Property Rights and other Information 135.2 The $10,000 International
SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) Contest 135.3 Registration Form 15

6.0 INDEX 16

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE i.

SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) V5.0 Documentation, (C) 1990 Bruce Rosenberg

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview of the Game

SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) is a fun, fast-moving, colorful arcade style game with excellent
sound effects. In this game a snake runs around on the screen and the player tries to catch it. He
catches it by moving a "bag" around the screen using the keyboard keys, getting the bag over the
head of the snake, and closing the bag. If the head is in the bag when it is closed, the player
catches the snake and gets points. Catching a poisonous Snoo Snake gives more points than
catching a nonpoisonous Snee Snake. If the player closes the bag when the snake's head is
outside but nearby; the player gets bitten. If the player is bitten, the snake runs away and the
player loses points, more for the Snoo than for the Snee. Also, after a number of poisonous Snoo
bites, the player dies and the score for the game is lost.

A status bar appears at the bottom of the playing screen. It shows important information on the
game, such as the score, game speed, and remaining playing time.
 SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg

For players who do not die, names and scores are kept in a score file which is maintained on disk
and displayed at the end of each game. The player is asked for his name at the end of each game.

The score is based on the number of points scored per minute, which is the rate of catching
snakes. This means that to get a high score, the player must constantly catch snakes as quickly as
possible and avoid being bitten. See Section 2.4 for detailed instructions.

1.2 Philosophy

One of the driving forces behind this game was to produce a challenging, tracking-type game
which does not involve violent, shoot-the-enemy mentality. We see too much violence on
television and in the movies. SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) is a subtle game which encourages
clever strategies as well as perceptual-motor speed and accuracy. SneeSnoo is not "the enemy" to
be killed; but a clever adversary whose ways must be learned. The game is a challenge on
several levels of tactics and strategy.

SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) embodies the principle of duality in a way analogous to the YinYang
of Eastern philosophy. Snoo and Yang are the male/energizing side of nature, whereas Snee and
Yin are the female/nurturing side. The same snake manifests both Snee and Snoo just as each
person manifests both Yang and Yin attributes. As you become more skilled in this game you
may find that, there is no longer a separate keyboard, screen, game, and person playing it; but
only oneness, a magical whole, a transcendent dance of nature and technology. Mentally
healthful, this game eschews war-minded shoot-em-up atavism. Use the Force!

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SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) V5.0 Documentation, (C) 1990 Bruce Rosenberg

1.3 Hardware Requirements

Unlike many arcade style games, SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) is a character-oriented, not a
graphics-mode game. This means that it can be played on all types of display adapters,
monochrome, Hercules, CGA, EGA, or VGA. It also works on color adapters which are being
used with black and white (amber or green too) monitors. Due to the CGA's ability to change
screen surround colors, it is especially colorful on machines with a CGA adapter card and a color
monitor. Because of the speed of movement, it may be difficult to play on portable computers
with long persistence LCD screens. Older LCD screens tend to have slower visual response.
Changing the LCD foreground and background colors and/or character density can help visibility.

Because SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) adapts its speed to the speed of the CPU, you can play it on
any MS-DOS/PC-DOS machine, from a slow, original IBM PC to a fast 386 machine. It requires
128 Kbytes of RAM, and one floppy, hard, or RAM disk drive. The snake.dat file is saved on the
same disk and directory from which the game is invoked.

1.4 Improvements in Version 5.0

Version 5.0 of SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) is significantly improved over earlier versions. It now
has much better key action for faster bag movement, speed compensation so that it will run at the
 SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg
proper speed no matter how fast the PC, a continuously self-running, auto-demonstration mode
with robot players who type in their own names, improved screens, direct exit from playing
screen (boss coming) to DOS prompt, and more. In the auto-demonstration mode you can simply
watch the robot snatch snakes (SNEESNOO as a spectator sport) or you can help the robot by
using the keyboard. This feature can be used as a training mode. See Revision History for more
details on Version 5.0 improvements.

Suggestions and comments from a number of enthusiastic SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) Snatchers
have led to this improved version. Thanks.

1.6 Future Versions

If you become a registered user, you will receive the latest version of the game. Also, after I
receive 5,000 registrations, you will be informed of the details of the $10,000.00 International
SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) Contest (see CONTEST later). A number of improvements to Snake
are under development, such as adventure-style game levels, joystick and mouse support,
individually selectable score files, rewriting in object-oriented form, and more. Although this
Shareware game is copyrighted, permission is given for short-term noncommercial use and
distribution. Development of improved future versions depend on you, the user, for support.
Please send in your registration.

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SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) V5.0 Documentation, (C) 1990 Bruce Rosenberg

1.7 Credits

Mary Wall, my Pascal instructor at Atlantic Community College, deserves credit for suggesting
development of a game as a term project and for encouraging commercialization of our projects.
I am indebted to Tom Zurinskas, Dave Schubert, Wayne Wolfe, and Tom D'Ottavi for
suggestions which led to substantial improvements to the game. Next, thanks go to my five sons,
Daniel, John, Adam, Karl and Paul for their constructive, creative ideas and for serving as test
players of the game. Neil Rubenking and Michael Day, representing Borland International on the
Compuserve board gave much patient help in the area of improving the keyboard action for
moving the bag. Finally, my wife, Anne deserves thanks for tolerating the late night noise of two
computers running SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) during the shake-down testing.

In a very real sense, the ongoing development and evolution of this game is a cooperative
endeavor for which I am grateful to the above people and others whom I may have neglected to
mention. All of us is truly smarter than any of us.

2.0 OPERATION OF THE GAME OF SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM)

This section describes the various screens of the program, gives helpful information regarding
them, and provides other information on the operation of the game.

2.1 Start-up Screen

When the game is invoked by keying SNAKE50 at the DOS prompt, an option is presented for
 SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg
toggling sound on or off. If you are some place where people might be bothered by the sound,
chose the "off" option. Following this, the start-up screen appears and asks you to wait while the
computer's speed is tested. The program needs to test the speed so it can adjust itself to run at the
correct speed on all PCs. While you are waiting, a Snee snake runs around in the lower part of
the screen. On IBM PC XTs, the speed test takes about 24 seconds. On faster machines, the time
is proportionately less. When the speed has been checked, the results are displayed on the screen.
The speed relative to an IBM PC XT is shown. This is usually about 20% less than the value
given by Norton's SI rating. It is specific for the kinds of computer functions used by the
SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) routines.

2.2 Beginning Screen

Following the speed test, the main introductory screen is shown. At the bottom of this screen an
"AUTO-DEMO" prompt appears. If you do nothing, the right-pointing arrow advances to the
right, tick-by-tick, toward the AUTO-DEMO text block. When the arrow

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SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) V5.0 Documentation, (C) 1990 Bruce Rosenberg

reaches it, the program automatically goes into a demonstration game. It will continue in the
demonstration mode until you exit by pressing a key when the AUTO-DEMO prompt is at the
bottom of the screen. While the DEMO game is playing, you can also exit to MENU by pressing
the 0 key on the number keys on the top row above the home keys or exit directly to the DOS
prompt by hitting ESC. Once in the MENU, you can enter the AUTO-DEMO mode by pressing
the 5 key.

2.3 Main Menu Screen

The Main Menu shows the following information:

1. BEGINNING SCREEN: Takes you back to the intro screen.2. GAME INSTRUCTIONS:
Rules of the game, what keys to use.3. FURTHER INFORMATION: Commercial info, prices,
etc.4. PLAY GAME: Just what it says; Snatch SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM)!5. AUTO-DEMO:
Watch the robot, a self-running demo.6. DISPLAY SCORES: View the top 20 scores and
names.7. CHANGE OPTIONS: Turn off sound and/or reset top 20 scores.8. FAREWELL:
See the farewell screen and quit the game.ESC. QUICK EXIT TO DOS: Get directly to the DOS
prompt.

2.4 Game Instructions Screen

You are a herpetologist for Megalop Zoo. Your assignment is to go to the Foetid Forest of
Amazonia and catch the rare SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM). Poisonous Snoo's head is a white
capital A with two dots above and it's body segments are cyan open asterisks. Nonvenomous
Snee's head's a red happy face and it's body segments are green zeros. You control movement of
a bag, which is a rectangle formed by four yellow vertical rectangles. To catch the snake you
close the bag. SneeSnoo can enter from any side. Closing the bag with the Snee head inside ,
gets 1 point, or 4 points if a Snoo. If outside bag, but within striking distance, it bites and you
drop 1 point, 2 points if venomous. Five venomous bites and you DIE!! Your score is the total
 SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg
number of snake points per minute. You have a time limit. Time in seconds remaining is shown
on the score bar. Good Luck!

CONTROL KEYS R, T, U, I keys move bag up. V or N keys move bag

down. F or H keys move bag left. G or J keys move bag right.

Space bar closes bag. During play ESC exits to DOS; 0 to MENU.

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SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) V5.0 Documentation, (C) 1990 Bruce Rosenberg

2.5 Game Screen

SneeSnoo and the bag are allowed to move anywhere on the playing field. A typical view of the
playing field with the snake, the bag and the status bar is as follows:

00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 __ _ _ 8 SNEE
SNAKE BAG __ __ STATUS BAR

Score=11.7 Time= 37 Bites Left= 3 Speed=46.3 ESC=DOS 0=MENU Send$

The playing field for the game includes all of the screen, except the bottom line, which is the
game status bar as shown above. The variables in the status bar are updated every three seconds.

The leftmost element on the status bar is the Score, which is in Snake points per minute. The
second element is playing time (in seconds) remaining. The third element is the number of
poisonous Snoo bites remaining until you die. The fourth element is the snake speed. The fastest
possible speed is 100. The last three elements are reminders.

2.6 Score Display Screen

This is a sample portion of the score display screen:

HERE ARE THE SCORES FOR The Top 20 SneeSnoo Snake Snatchers: 1. I
Zavfuz, robot # 1, scored 36 points/min; final speed = 49 2. I Rutsew, robot # 1, scored 35
points/min; final speed = 45 3. I Kilfes, robot # 2, scored 20 points/min; final speed = 36 4.
..................... scored 0 points/min; final speed = 0 5. ..................... scored 0 points/min; final
speed = 0

This screen shows a sample of computer-generated robot names and their scores from a
demonstration game.

If your score is in the top twenty, the game will prompt you to
 SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg

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SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) V5.0 Documentation, (C) 1990 Bruce Rosenberg

enter your name. After your name is entered, the score screen will appear with your name and
score in the proper place in the list. If you got the highest score, your score will appear at the top
of the list. If your score was not in the top twenty, a message stating this will appear and you will
be returned to the Main Menu screen without being shown the score display screen

2.7 Change Options Screen

The first line on the options screen asks if you want sound. After responding to this, it tells you
what display adapter you are using and gives you two lines to confirm this. Finally, it asks you
whether you want to reset the score file, snake.dat. If you say you want to reset, the program
confirms your decision before destroying history. If the file snake.dat does not exist, the program
is smart enough to detect that fact without crashing and create a "tabla rasa" snake.dat file for the
scores. After you set the options you are taken back to the Main Menu.

3.0 INFORMATION ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR GAME

The following three sections provide helpful information on improving your game. Reading and
understanding the technical material in Section 4 should also be helpful.

3.1 Snake snatching hints

Location on the screen - The easiest locations are the corners. The hardest location is the center
of the screen.

Where to look - Sometimes in tracking games it helps to not look directly at the target.
Defocusing or looking off to the side seems to improve the ability to snatch the snake.

Controlling the bag - Everyone has her/his own way of using the control keys. Specific
suggestions and hints are included below in section 3.3.

Movement of the snake - The snake moves 5 increments in one direction before it changes
direction. The horizontal change in direction does not occur at the same time as the vertical
change in direction. The total length of the snake is 13 characters and there are up to 3 possible
changes in direction along this length. Note that the snake usually moves diagonally, rarely just
vertically or horizontally.

Size and shape of the bag - The bag is 7 horizontal spaces wide and 5 vertical spaces high. You
have a better chance of snatching a snake during horizontal motion.

Nonvenomous (Snee) vs. venomous (Snoo) snakes - You get 1 snake point for bagging a
nonvenomous snake; but 4 points if it's

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 SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg

SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) V5.0 Documentation, (C) 1990 Bruce Rosenberg

venomous. So, for high score, you should go for the venomous snakes; but you risk dying. If
you get bitten by a nonvenomous Snee Snake, you drop one snake. If it's a venomous Snoo, you
drop two snakes and after 5 bites from the Snoo Snake you die and the game is over. When you
die, your score is not recorded. The distance the SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) can strike is 2
horizontal spaces left or right of bag periphery or 2 vertical spaces above or below it.

SPEED adjustments - You might get a better score if you pace yourself and become selective,
rather than taking every snatching opportunity that comes along. Remember the one who gets the
highest score without dying is the winner.

Competition - SNAKE50 is fun to play by yourself; but the real challenge is to play against
others. The data file automatically saves the highest 20 scores. Let the AUTO-DEMO run for a
while to get some robot scores on the list to play against. Play against your buddies; form a
SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) club and organize a local contest. Send in your $8.00 registration
fees. After 5000 register, the $10,000.00 International SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) Snatching
contest will be announced.

3.2 Suggestions for operating the CONTROL KEYS One of the problems with key-activated
games is differences in placement of cursor keys. Also, it is difficult to activate the cursor keys
without sometimes losing one's finger placement. I have watched my contortionist son, Adam,
controlling games with left forefinger and ringfinger intertwined with the corresponding right
hand fingers, so he would not have to lose his anchor positions and hit the wrong keys. I decided
that there had to be a better way to provide a positional anchor.

With SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) 5.0, the control keys were selected so that the bag motion could
be controlled with the forefinger of either hand from the home typing positions (left forefinger
resting on the F key and the right forefinger resting on the J key). The following paragraph gives
detailed instructions for controlling the bag movement the way I do it. (Adam does not approve
of my method.)

Please follow along using your left hand. If the rear, leftmost part of the palm rests on the
forward edge (facing you) of the keyboard with the forefinger resting on the F (move bag left)
key, then an extension of the forefinger upward and a slight pivot counterclockwise of the hand
around the palm resting point will bring the finger to the R (move bag up) key. A slight palm
pivot clockwise and an extension of the forefinger will bring the finger tip to the G (move bag
right) key. A palm pivot clockwise and a contraction of the finger will bring the finger tip to the
V (move bag down) key. Either thumb is always in position to activate the spacebar as is normal
in touch typing. Exactly the same principles apply to the action for the right hand.

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SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) V5.0 Documentation, (C) 1990 Bruce Rosenberg

Try controlling the game with your left hand anchored as described above, I think that you will
get used to it quickly and get higher scores. Or, if you come up with a better way, use it and drop
me a line on your technique.
 SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg

3.3 Trouble Shooting Q&A

1.Q. When the head was in the bag, I hit the SPACEBAR to close it, but the snake still bit me,
how come?1.A. The head was really outside the bag when you closed it. The snake can move
between the time you decide to hit the SPACEBAR and the time the bag actually closes. You
must anticipate this reaction time delay when you try to bag the snake.

2.Q. My score is high early in the game and then goes down. Why?2.A. Your score is not the
total number of points since the game started; it is how quickly you can bag snakes. It is stated in
"points scored per minute". This is why if you bag a lot of snakes very early in the game and then
slack-off, you could have a very high early score and then a much lower score at the end. Your
score is computed as the number of snake points (1 for bagging nonpoisonous, 4 for bagging
poisonous) less the number of snake points lost due to getting bitten. This result is then divided
by the elapsed time. Your score is recomputed and displayed on the scorebar at the bottom of the
game screen every 3 seconds. So if you have a score of 25 snake points per minute at the end of
the first minute and neither get bitten nor snatch a snake during the remainder of the second
minute, you can watch your score gradually drop to 12.5 snake points per minute during the
second minute of the two-minute game. If you want a high score, you can't let up for a single
second!

3.Q. How come the snake keeps biting me?3.A. Work on your accuracy and ability to anticipate
where the snake will move. Pace yourself and don't get trigger-happy.

4.Q. My score never gets on the top 20 list. Why?4.A. You need to improve your skill or reset
the score file using option 7 from the main menu.

5.Q. My boss caught me playing this game at work. How can I stay out of trouble?5.A. ESC,
escape key, immediately exits the game and returns you to the DOS prompt. Next time select the
no-sound option, so your Boss can't hear it!

6.Q. I can't see the moving snake and bag very well on my laptop LCD screen. How can I
improve it?6.A. Try changing the display from black-on-white to white-on-black or vice versa or
change the color translation palette.

7.Q. The display isn't very good on my composite black and white

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monitor running with a CGA card. How can I improve it?7.A. Go to DOS and run the MODE
BW80 command. Upgrade to an RGB or a composite color monitor.

8.Q. How can I print the top 20 score screen?8.A. Access the score screen from the MAIN
MENU, hold the left SHIFT key down and then press the PrtScr key. Make sure your printer is
turned on, has paper in it, and is ON-LINE. You can also use a screen capture program, like
SNIPPER.COM, which is available via PCMagNet.
 SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg
4.0 TECHNICAL INFORMATION ON SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM)

4.1 Human factors theory of the game

The game involves an adaptive, two-dimensional pursuit tracking task. The player tries to follow
a randomly moving target with a reticle (bag) and when the target is within the reticle presses a
button to capture it. SNAKE50 is much more than a simple pursuit tracking task such as steering
a car along a highway. And the rates of motion of the target can exceed the bandwidth of the
human controller.

The upper limit of human eye-hand tracking closed-loop frequency response is 0.6 Hz or 1.7
seconds per cycle. This is relatively slow. It is much slower than the maximum key tapping rate
of one finger, which is about 5 times per second (5 Hz) or 0.2 seconds per cycle. For the
engineers in the crowd, a typical continuous human operator mathematical transfer function is:

K * (exp ( -0.17S ) / ( 0.63S + 1 ));

where S is the Heaviside (or LaPlace) operator.

Such an equation can be used to simulate how a human might control a dynamic system, like
flying an airplane or steering a car. But humans behave much more cleverly than the above
equation. They can learn the periodicities in the control task and anticipate the next motion
which might occur. It is possible to anticipate SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM)'s motion.

SneeSnoo can move much faster than the human can follow it, as can be seen when the snake
runs away. Thus, its speed must be reduced to provide a reasonably difficult tracking task.

4.1.1 Programming the Robot Tracker/Snatcher

It was not easy to make a robot tracker/snatcher which performs as poorly as a human does. With
judicious use of the RANDOM function and bag closing errors I was able to arrive at a detuned
robot which approximated human scores. However it is easy to see the dynamic differences
between a robot and a human player.

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The typical eye-hand simple reaction time of the human is 180 milliseconds or about two-tenths
of a second. By knowing the humans' maximum tapping rate, visual reaction time, the size of the
bag in number of snake increments, the increment rate, and the random snake-motion algorithm,
and the ability of the human to track the snake's periodicities, a creative SNEESNOO SNAKE
(TM) Snatcher Programmer might be able to figure out a robot player algorithm which would
more realistically simulate a human playing the game!

4.2 Operation of the speed-changing algorithm

 SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg
When you select PLAY GAME, the initial speed of the game is set to moderately fast (SPEED =
50). SPEED shows the speed of the game in percent of the maximum, which is 100. As you play
the game, the current operating value of SPEED is displayed in the score bar at the bottom of the
screen. If you are skilled, SNAKE50 automatically speeds up. If you are a beginner, it slows
down to a level where you can comfortably play it. It speeds up at a faster rate than it slows
down, so it pushes each player to his or her own skill limit.

There are two rates of speed change. The switch over occurs at SPEED = 60. Below 60 the rate
of change is faster, above 60 it is slower. A SPEED of 80 is difficult, 90 is very difficult, and 100
is nearly impossible. The program's decision to change SPEED hinges on the number of snake
points you score in a 3 second time period. If above the criterion, the speed increases, if below
the criterion the speed decreases and if equal to the criterion it does not change. This adaptive
action is a kind of machine intelligence which keeps you working near your upper tracking speed
limit.

4.3 Revision History

Version 5.0 04/22/90 - MAJOR RELEASE. Changed bag movement keys to home keys and
sped-up key action via INT09 handler. Bag now moves smoothly at 60 spaces per second.
Added auto-demonstration mode which uses a robot player and show-cases the entire program. It
can be used for an unattended display. The robot player not only tracks and catches the snake but
also types in its name for the score list. Added a speed adjustment routine which enables the
game to be played at the correct speed on any PC. This involved a major redesign which changed
from using the DELAY function to using the MOD function to move objects every Nth game
cycle. If the machine speed is 10, then the objects move every 10*Nth cycle. Improved the main
introductory screen which now shows Snee and Snoo Snakes doing their dance. This involved
redesign to make the snake procedures more modular. Changed the dance sound for the
poisonous Snoo to simulate a rattlesnake sound. Changed the blue scorebar background to black
for better visibility on B/W monitors. Improved colors on the information

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screens. ESC is now programmed to exit directly to DOS from both the normal and AUTO-
DEMO playing fields and the menu. Source code is due for a major rewrite, for which I plan to
use TurboPascal's Object-Oriented-Programming.

Version 4.0 12/04/87 - Incorporated a demonstration mode using a robot player. This version
suffered from key action problems and received limited distribution without a .DOC file.

Version 3.2 09/12/87 - Minor improvements.

Version 3.1 08/02/87 - MAJOR RELEASE. Distributed via several BBSs. Changed key for
closing bag to Spacebar instead of F10. F10 is awkward to use on the PC Jr. and keyboards with
function keys across the top. Limited maximum delay to 240, since, for novices, the game was
slowing down too much.

Version 3.0 07/05/87 - Made snake a linked list instead of a 2D array. Made game speed increase
 SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg
as skill increases. It now adapts to both machine speed and the persons' skill. This is a major
improvement in the game. Restructured code.

Version 2.9 06/03/87 - Improved bag movement procedure by incrementing movement by 1, nbj
(Number of Bag Jumps) times. This permits the bag to move to the screen extremes. Changed
bag symbol.

Version 2.8 02/01/87 - Changed back to the standard keypressed and read(kbd,ch) actions, which
along with cbreak are working well. Position of cbreak is critical, see comments in source code
for procedure menu.

Version 2.7 01/31/87 - Finally got good keyboard action. Must use "Cbreak := false;" before the
chkkbd; keydo; routine and then "Cbreak := true;" after it. This has the effect of deactivating
break checking, $C-, during keyboard sensing. In $C+ the keyboard buffer gets emptied in order
to look for a ^C. Improved the death display and shortened it. Changed so after dying go back to
the menu instead of to DOS. This required using "if dying then EXIT;" several times to retrace
the original path through the calling procedures back to the menu.

Version 2.6 01/25/87 - Instead of "if keypressed then read(kbd, .. " am using procedure KEYDO
which uses inline code. No noticeable improvement in keyboard action, however. Various
improvements suggested by Wayne Wolfe. Bag brightens when bagshut and takes on color of
snake head when snake bagged. Added cursor suppression for both mono or c/g.

Version 2.5 01/19/87 - Made snakebiz and bagbiz independent of each other. Both are now called
from procedure playgame. Snakebiz does not call bagbiz; but bagbiz calls snakebiz for the snake
dance after biting.

Version 2.4 01/17/87 - Added fanfare for bagging venomous snake.

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SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) V5.0 Documentation, (C) 1990 Bruce Rosenberg

Version 2.30 01/16/87 - Bag symbol changes to appropriate snake head and color when bitten.
Plotbag changed so only pass 2 instead of 4 parameters. Use of Quickeys.com speeds up cursor.
Fastout added for function 7 normal exit and F1 key.

Version 2.20 01/15/87 - Changed bag back to V2.0 way while eliminating 1 or 2
additions/subtractions in each bag move and halving the number in each bag plot. Changed as
many integer variables to byte as possible to increase speed. Made snake trail array 10 chars
long. Shortened sound durations. Initialized trail array and deltx etc.in playgame to eliminate
stray bits of snake on initial startup.

Version 2.10 01/14/87 - Changed Trail from 2 - 1D arrays to 1 - 2D array. This sped-up game.
Changed bag to 3D array; but this reduced game speed.

Version 2.00 01/13/87 - Make snake deadly at times, if bitten twice then die; but get 4 points if
 SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg
bag it. Speed-up menu. Improve introductory screen.

Version 1.09 01/09/87 - Hide cursor during playgame. Colored border added. Should change so
don't use recursion, i.e., snakebiz calls bagbiz which calls snakebiz.

Version 1.08 01/08/87 - Improved score bar update. Changed vertical bag increment "bagjmpy".

01/08/87 - Scores updated every 2 seconds. Score bar given background.

Version 1.06 01/04/86 - Minor screen changes, added DOC file. Added score file reset to options
are.A. Score file now declared only once. Fixed problems when aborting a game.

Version 1.05 01/02/87 - Added F1 to abort game if boss comes in during play.

Version 1.04 12/24/86 - Made improvements suggested by Dave Schubert.

Version 1.03 12/22/86 - Made improvements suggested by Tom Zurinskas.

Version 1.00 12/1/86 - Thanks are due to my Pascal instructor, Mary Wall, who suggested writing
a game for a term project.

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SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) V5.0 Documentation, (C) 1990 Bruce Rosenberg

5.0 COMMERCIAL INFORMATION REGARDING SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM)

5.1 Intellectual Property Rights and other Information

This game was written in TurboPascal 5.5 (R) Borland International. It consists of about 1700
lines of code. It is -not- freeware! You may try it on a temporary basis and share it with others.
If you use it a lot, then please register and encourage development of further games by the author.
It may be offered by user groups for a nominal fee and placed on computer bulletin boards
(BBS's). Consideration will be given to offers from commercial firms regarding licensing on a
royalty basis. Send an $8.00 check to register, get latest version on disk, and to be notified about
the $10,000.00 INTERNATIONAL SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) CONTEST. This contest will be
held after 5,000 people send $8 each. It's up to you! This offer is for personal use only. It is not a
license for commercial use.

Send inquiries and checks to (See Section 5.3 for Order Form):
 SneeSnoo S n a k e TM Version 5.0 Users Manual
Copyright (C) 1990 by Bruce L. Rosenberg
EXACT SOLUTIONSBruce L. Rosenberg 23 N. Chelsea AvenueAtlantic City, NJ 08401

Any suggestions for improvements or ideas for games can be mailed to the above address, via
voice phone evenings at (609) 345-4712, or leave message on Compuserve to 73547,402 or on
BIX to Brucifer.

5.2 The $10,000 International SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) Contest

The contest rules are follows:

1. Contestants must be registered users of the latest SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) version.

2. Details of the contest will be sent to all registered users after the number of registrants exceeds
5,000 people. It's up to you SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) players. If you want the contest to be
held, you have to register. It's up to you!

3. Following notification, all registrants who wish to apply for the contest must complete the
official application form and enclose a notarized printout of their snake.dat file containing their
attestedly authentic highest scores with the most recent SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) Version.

4. The data from these returns will be summarized and returned to all applicants. This enables
the applicants to see how their scores compare to others.

5. All those deciding to compete must send an entry fee (amount

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SNEESNOO SNAKE (TM) V5.0 Documentation, (C) 1990 Bruce Rosenberg

to be determined) to cover costs of conducting the contest over and above the prize payments.

6. The total prize will be $10,000.00, one-quarter of the $40,000.00 gross receipts from the 5,000
registrations. This will be split three ways as follows: 1ST PRIZE $5,000.00; 2ND PRIZE
$3,000.00; and 3RD PRIZE $2,000.00.

7. The contest will be conducted in Atlantic City, NJ. Contestants must pay for their own
transportation and local accommodations.

8. Further details and registrant counts will be included in future releases of SNEESNOO
SNAKE (TM).

This document was prepared using Wordstar 5.5C (R) MicroPro International Corporation.