JUST WHAT IS P-ROBOTS? P-ROBOTS ("pee-robots") is a game based on computer programming in PASCAL. The object of the game is to design and program a "robot" that can triumph over similar robots designed and programmed by others in a real-time battle of wits and flying missiles. You control your robot by writing a procedure in PASCAL to specify your robot's behavior and strategy in its efforts to vanquish up to three other robots in a battle to the death. A variety of pre-defined P-ROBOTS PASCAL functions and procedures allow your robot to track its position on the battlefield, monitor its health or damage condition, and calculate the distance and angle to opponents from its current battlefield position. Each robot is equipped with a cannon to fire missiles, and a motorized drive mechanism to either close in for the kill of a hapless opponent or flee from a fierce foe. Optionally, robots may be equipped with bombs, a repair kit, different types of armor and warheads, a deflection shield, and/or a cloaking device. P-ROBOTS is an excellent way for the novice programmer to sharpen his/her PASCAL skills and have fun at the same time. However, P-ROBOTS does assumes that the robot designer/programmer already knows the fundamentals of programming in PASCAL. For the experienced programmer, P-ROBOTS offers a chance to see just how well you program in a programming environment where "bad" code can lead to graphic and ignoble defeat and "brilliant" code can bring triumph and glory. In addition to being enjoyed in thousands of homes, P-ROBOTS has been successfully used in a number of classroom settings -- from high school PASCAL programming classes to graduate level courses in Artificial Intelligence. "The competitive environment that P-ROBOTS creates has really sparked my students' desire to learn. Our weekly robot contests are great fun and enjoyed by all -- including me," said one high school PASCAL teacher. Another teacher has challenged his PASCAL students by offering a unique reward: any student who can design and program a robot that can beat the teacher's robot consistently, does not have to take the final exam. Version 3.1 of P-ROBOTS has a number of significant improvements over prior versions including an optional "Integrated Development Environment" or IDE, that can be used to create, edit and test (i.e., compile) your robots. When you test/compile a robot using the IDE, the compiler will identify any errors you have in your robot source code by positioning the cursor within the editor where the error occurred within your source code -- so you can very easily make the appropriate correction(s). The IDE can also be used to set up "tournaments" of robots, select various match options (such as animation speed, number of obstacles, unlimited fuel, etc.), and conduct the tournament according to the robots and options you have selected. P-ROBOTS can be run with as little as 384K of memory and a monochrome or CGA monitor. However, if your system has more memory and a better monitor (EGA or VGA), P-ROBOTS has been designed to take advantage of your hardware's greater capability. WHAT THIS DISK/FILE CONTAINS This disk contains version 3.1 of P-ROBOTS which is being distributed by SOFTWORKS as shareware. You can make copies of these files and distributed them freely -- as long as the documentation and other files are not changed. If you find P-ROBOTS of value, you should register your copy by sending $30 (for the latest version plus a nicely printed, spiral bound-manual) or $ 20 (for the latest version without the printed manual) to SOFTWORKS. See the file ORDER.FRM for details. Registered users will receive some "goodies" that are not on this disk -- including the Turbo Pascal and QuickPascal source code for a multi-tasking P-code compiler that was used to create P-ROBOTS and the pascal source code for the P-ROBOTS program itself. Read the documentation file, P-ROBOTS.DOC for details. Files on the disk: PR-DEMO.BAT -- execute this batch file to get a demo of P-ROBOTS P-ROBOTS.DOC -- the documentation file for P-ROBOTS P-ROBOTS.EXE -- the P-ROBOTS program ABASIRI.PR \ ASSASSIN.PR \ CHASER.PR \ DECOY.PR \ FOO. \ GORO.PR \ HOTSHOT.PR \ LEADER.PR \ M1_GO.PR \ M66.PR \ MARVIN.PR A collection of sample robots MECHANIC.PR / MT_FUJI.PR / NINJA.PR / NINJA2.PR / PATROL.PR / RUNNER.PR / SLANT6.PR / SNIPER.PR / SUBMINI.PR / WIMP.PR / ETC... / If you are using P-ROBOTS' "Integrated Development Environment" or IDE, you need the following additional files on your hard disk (on the same directory where the above files are kept): IDE.BAT The batch file used to invoke the P-ROBOTS' "Integrated Development Environment." PR-SHELL.EXE The "shell" program with a built-in full-screen editor and a test compiler that can be used to develop and test your robots. This program is called by IDE.BAT. POPDOS.EXE A really "nifty" utility program that can be called by hitting the key combination to invoke DOS from within another program. See POPDOS.DOC for details. POPDOS is loaded by IDE.BAT and is used to run P-ROBOTS from within the "Integrated Development Environment." P-ROBOTS.PCX A graphic title screen for the IDE which will be displayed if you have an EGA or VGA monitor. *.HLP Various help files accessed by hitting from within the IDE. If you not are using P-ROBOTS' IDE, you may delete these files to save disk space.