Ladder
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Ladder brings us back to the days of classic computer games. Back when computer games
were written without any fancy graphics. Heck, they were written without any graphics at all!
Using only ASCII characters, ladder was an addictive game that was very
popular for computers running the CPM operating system. Seeing the game,
you might be very much reminded of "Donkey Kong".
Now Ladder has been rewritten
in Java and can be played on most of todays computers.
Features:
With the new Ladder, written in Java you can:
Downloading:
Download and install the Java2 Runtime Environment (JRE v1.3 or later) from java.sun.com if you do not already have it installed.
Download the latest version of Ladder (Executable Jar - 86k)
All you need to do is double click the jar file to start Ladder!
Some systems may not support executable jar files correctly. If double clicking on the jar file does not work, try the following command lines:
java -jar Ladder.jar
java -classpath Ladder.jar com.Ostermiller.Ladder.Ladder
Other Resources
You might want to browse the source
code, or look at the JavaDoc.
Comments
Send comments directly
to the author by email.
Submit a new level to be included in the
next release.
Known bugs:
- Bonus time is not done correctly. You get 2000 for each level.
- Finishing all the levels goes back to the first level but the speed does
not increase and the bonus time does not decrease.
Upcoming Features:
- Remappable keys
- Even more levels
- Menu for sound on/off
- Different scoring for different difficulty levels
- Help menu, display instructions
- Ready, set, go!
- Cut, copy, and paste in the level editor
Version History:
- Ladder 1.1 (Executable Jar - 86k) December 2000 - Requires Java 1.3
- Major code refactoring that results in improved speed and lower memory usage.
- High score list.
- The order of levels is now like the original: you must play all levels to get a new level.
- Bugs fixed that allowed the lad to go through walls and ceilings under some circumstances.
- Lad death effect retimed.
- The game indicates that it is paused or that the game is over.
- Ladder 1.0 (Executable Jar - 68k) February 2000 - Requires Java 1.2
- The lad will move up the ladder after a jump if you press the up key during
the jump, or even before it.
- Better javadoc documentation on the source code.
- New levels: Plinko Place and One
Chance.
- Ladder 0.4 (Executable Jar - 24k) December 1999 - Requires Java 1.2
- Occassional gray flashes in the background are gone.
- Ladder is now in the com.Ostermiller.Ladder package.
- Ladder is now in an executable jar file.
- User preferences are stored in $USER_HOME_DIR/.java/Ladder/LadderUser.ini.
- Ladder 0.3a
- Beeps!
- Entire new engine for moving the lad around! The lad now can wait until
it can move in a any direction to go that way.
- Running the lad into a . makes the lad do more unpredictable things.
- Disappearing floors and gold statues no longer reappear when you lose a
life
- Keyboard shortcuts on menus.
- Adjustable font.
- Money countdown when end of level reached.
- Lad dies a horrible death of mixed up symbols.
- Speed problems fixed.
- Color choosers added for picking the background and foreground colors.
- The stats at the bottom of the screen are displayed better.
- Pausing the game from the menu works correctly again.
- The display upgraded to javax.swing rather than java.awt. This has resulted
in some major speed enhancements and bug fixes due to double buffering
native to swing, however ladder will no longer run under java 1.1.x or
less.
- Redraw errors fixed. Der rocks should never leave marks behind as they
move
- Lad moves better. Can now make a second jump in the middle of a first jump.
Also continues past ladders at the end of a jump now
- Ladder 0.2a
- .ini files to save preferences.
- Scoring, time, and number of lads working.
- All features of original game included (statues, goal, spikes, dots, etc.).
- Included the original levels from the original game.
- Background and Foreground color work better.
- .ini file support added to save some options when game is quit.
- Bugs in how the lad moves around fixed.
- The lad should not lose the keyboard focus anymore.
- Levels cycle properly.
- New game restarts at the first level.
- Java 1.2 compliance (deprecation of Thread.stop()) (Still 1.1 compliant!)
- Speed change added to level difficulty (as well as more rocks)
- New code for reading in levels that is more robust. (Doesn't care that
all lines same length for example.)
- Ladder 0.1a
- Basic game functionality.
- Ability to load a level from a text file (And save edited level).
- Simple level editor.
- Preliminary ability to change the color scheme.
- Some level difficulty (more der rocks).
Instructions:
You are a lad trapped in a maze. You're mission is to explore the dark
corridors never before seen by human eyes and find hidden treasures and
riches.
You control the lad by typing the direction buttons and by jumping
by typing SPACE. But beware of the falling rocks called Der rocks. You
must also find and grasp the treasure (shown as $) BEFORE the bonus time
runs out.
A new lad will be awarded for every 10,000 points. Extra points
are awarded for touching the gold statues (shown as &). You will receive
the bonus time points that are left when you have finished the level.
Remember, there is more than one way to skin a cat. (Chum)
Good luck lad.
Original Authors:
Ladder was originally written for the CPM operating system and the game
came bundled with Kaypro computers. It is copyrighted by:
Yahoo Software
10970 Ashton Ave, Suite 312
Los Angeles, CA
License
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option)
any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU
General Public License for more details.
Ladder
Written in Java by Stephen Ostermiller
Copyright (C) 1999, 2000 Stephen Ostermiller