The Vectrex Game

Mine Storm

Introduction

I'm aware of three versions of Mine Storm and the last two versions have been included.

The first version of Mine Storm (which I called Rev. A) was completed on my last day at Western Technologies. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of the Rev. A source code.

The source code from Western Technology was given to me when I began at GCE. Like the RUM, it had been written for the old assembler and at GCE we used a different one. Some changes were made with Rev. A to accomodate the new assembler and this became the start of Rev. B.

For more information about the assembler changes, see the:

Introduction for the RUM.

I was told about a problem with my handling of the High Score and I included a fix for that problem in Rev. B. I remember being told about the problem, but I'm not certain about the details. I believe that the problem had to do with the fact that Mine Storm had an in-store demo mode and holding down one of the buttons would exit the demo and start a game. I think that this exit from demo mode would some times occur at the wrong time and cause the high score to be cleared.

I don't believe that the Rev. B version was ever put into production. The source code for this version can be found at:

Source code for Mine Storm - Rev. B

In December, I was told about a problem with the game sequencing - I believe that this must be what people call the 'Wave 13' bug. I had driven from the San Bernardino Mountains to the GCE offices in Santa Monica for a meeting. While there, Lee Chaden told me about the problem. The moment I heard it, I knew what was wrong - I was (and still am) embarrassed by such a stupid mistake.

After the meeting, I drove back to the mountains, fixed the code overnight. In addition to the game sequencing problem, I think I also included these changes:

• The mine field message was re-positioned and changed to display 3 digits
• A limit was placed on the number of remaining ship markers that would be displayed in the lower right corner. This change wouldn't affect the number of ships that remained, but would limit the number that would be displayed. No more than 7 remaining ships would actually be displayed.
• The game sequencing table was extended to 256 levels - see below. If the 256th level was reached, it was simply repeated.

Once I was confident of these changes, I blew a new EPROM and drove back to GCE in the morning. This fix became Rev. C.

Lee met with me in the morning. He wasn't expecting me and I remember that he seemed amused by my rush to fix the problem. I was told that a future production run would be the soonest it could be used. Even with a new production run, it seemed like the bug was turning-out to be popular with the people who found it and that it was unlikely that Rev. C would ever be put into production.

I believe that Rev. C eventually became Mine Storm II. This version was sent to people who found and complained about the bug.

The source code for the Rev. C version can be found at:

Source code for Mine Storm - Rev. C

Mine Laying Map