textfiles/apple/DOCUMENTATION/chipwits

                        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.