CHIPWITS DOCS WRITTEN BY: THE HELIX THANX TO: THE I.C. Chipwits is a game very much like Robot War. You program you robot to collect the good stuff like pies, cups, oil cans, and disks; and you also program the robot to destroy the bad stuff like those bugs that shock your robot, the weird looking face. And the bomb which can not be destroyed has to be avoided. 1. First you drag down the warehouse menu and you select an unused slot, or if you want to write over a previous robot select an already occupied slot. 2. Goto the workshop menu and select "ENTER". From here is where you will be programming your robot. Programming your robot: The program always starts out at the stoplight. The little pointer attached to the lower right hand boz of the stoplight is the direction flow of the program. Goto to the box to the right of the stoplight and press the button (This is how you move the cursor around). You then have to select an operator, which is a command to the robot. But some commands require an argument, like the eye for example. OPERATORS: Starting from upper right working down as how you would read a book. Eye: Allows the robot to see in front of himself. The robot can cover all the spaces in front of him. (requires an argument) Hand: Allows the robot to touch the floor in front of him. This command covers only the space directly in front of him. (requires an argument) Nose: Allows the robot to "sniff" out what is in the room. This covers the entire room. (requires an argument) ????: I have no idea what this waffle-like shape does. Linker: This looks like a railroad track. This is like a connector it perfroms no specific command. It just connects from one box to another in case you run out of space. (requires no argument) Train?: I don't know what this icon looks like but I know what it does. It is the movement command for the robot. (requires an argument) Musical note: This makes a noise, but I don't see the useful purpose in this command (Requires an argument) "+": I don't know what this does. (Requires no argument) "-": Me don't know this one either. (Requires no argument) An arrow pointing to a train: This assigns a variable to the movement memory of the train. This command is used if you want the robot to do something over that it previously done. The robot only has enough room to store 3 variables. If you assign new ones, the last one is cleared and everything is shifted down one. (Requires an argument) An arrow pointing to a question mark: This is like the eariler one except it does not deal with direction of movement. It deals with the objects in the game. i.e. pies, disks, etc (Requires an argument) An arrow pointing to a cup: This assigns a variable to the memory of the robot also. But it is a value in a sense. For example, in Applesoft you may use the command "X=4" then later say "If X=4 then ..so on..." You can do that in Chipwits. This command is the assinging function in this process. The "If.. then.." part of the function will be mentioned later. (Requires an arugment) An arrow pointing away from "X": This is a command to throw out the most recent entered variable, entered by the top three command. When the upper-most variable is thrown the variables are all shifted up one. (Requires an argument) Electric Generator: This is the defense mechanism in the robot. When this command is called upon, a bolt of electricity is fired. The electricity goes the way the robot is facing. This command is used to kill the dangerous objects in the game. i.e. those bugs and the funny faces. (Requires no argument) The train with an "=" sign under it: This is used in conjunction with the command that has an arrow pointing to a train. When an variable is assigned with that command, this command acts lP}e the "If..=...then" part of the function. (Requires an argument) The "?" with a "=" under it: This command is like the previous one. This command checks to see if the most recent variable equals the one you asked for. If it does the value is (T)rue and if it does not the value is (F)alse. (Requires an argument) The cup with a "=" under it: Same as above, except it works with a value. (Or in this case an amount) (Requires an amount) The cup with a "<" under it: Same as above, except it is not equal that is being asked, it is less than. (Requires an amount) A grabber: This is the hand of the robot. This is how the robot picks things up to be eaten. The robot gets points for things eaten. (Requires no argument) A boomer-rang shaped object: This servers as the command "RETURN" It performs the same function as in Applesoft. It returns the program from a sub-routine. (Requires no argument) A looped arrow: This command restarts the program. In a sense it means "start over from the stoplight" (Requires no argument) An interface card: This command allows you to expand the length of the program. It branches the main program into sub-routines. For example, you can have a different sub-routine handle one task, like moving, grabbing things, and so on. And to return from the sub-routine you use the boomer-rang shaped thing. The program continues with the box that follows the departure point of the main program. (Requires an argument) A "T" connected to a "F": This is a randomizer. For example, if you don't want your robot following one set of commands all the time (One set of commands often leads to a loop) you can use this command at the beginning of your program. There is a 50% chance for (T)rue and 50% for (F)alse. Arguments for EYE, HAND, NOSE, ARROW ABOVE "?", ARROW UNDER "?": Pie: a prize that is worth a certain amount of points. Cup: A prize, to my knowledge has no point value. Disk: A prize worht points. Oil can: Worth points Floor: The ground "?": The most recent variable assigned to the "?" memory. Bomb: a destructive object that can not be electrified. It must be avoided. Funny face: This destructive object can be electrified with the electric generator. Bug: This bug shocks your robot, and this is not good for your robot. This bug can also be destroyed by electricty. Wall: This is the wall. Door: This is a door. Arguments for Train, Arrow above train, arrow under train: The arrows indicate which direction of movement. Up arrow: Move foward Down arrow: move backward Left: Turn left Right: Turn right Arguments for Interface Card: The letters A, B, C, D, E, F. These are the amount of room you have to work with on your program. You have 6 pages of programming room not counting the main page. Argumens for Arrow above "X": The three variable stacks:Train, "?", and cup. This removes the most recent variable. Arguments for the commands to do with the "cup": There are cups filled to a different amount. This is used for the numbers. The least filled cup means 1 and as it gets filled more the numbers increases. Or the numbering can go the opposite way. It is just a matter of interpretation. After you have made a robot, save it if you like. Then to enter your robot to his mission, goto the Missions menu and select "start mission", and watch your robot work. If you need to de-bug your robot. Select "step" from the OPTION menu. This will make your robot preform step by step. The number in the bottom right corner is the box the program is on.