Game Shows in TNT Basic

Designed by James H. Vipond

Here are my game show projects for Mac OS X, written in TNT Basic, a free, open-source programming language. Barry Begus in Canada is helping me with coding. These games may be freely downloaded for noncommercial use, and I try to respect the intellectual property rights of others.

Game Title	Description	Source Code?	Built Application?
Secret “X” from The Price Is Right	This is one of the simpler pricing games. At present, the player does not have to earn the second and third X’s, and the losing horns are truncated.	No	Yes
Name Entry	TNT Basic has no built-in text input command, and all the workarounds previously submitted are dead links. This program allows the user to enter his or her name, displaying the characters as they are typed and assigning the result to a string variable. I intend this as one in a series of program modules, for use in several game show programs in TNT Basic. This is not only for player names, but also for answers in Chain Reaction, Classic Concentration and Match Game.	Yes	Yes
Generic Multiple-Choice Quiz (in progress)	This is a trivia quiz in which each question has four answer choices. I intend this as one in a series of program modules, for use in several game show programs in TNT Basic. The archive contains both untested source code and a plain-text question file. (first uploaded 2010 February 05)	Yes	No
Tic-Tac-Toe (in progress)	This is the source code of the basic game, which could be expanded to either The Hollywood Squares or Tic Tac Dough. I still need to work on computer strategies and determining a winner. (updated 2010 January 25)	Yes	No
Tic Tac Dough bonus round (almost finished)	This is a playable but incomplete port of the “Beat the Dragon” bonus round from Wink Martindale’s syndicated run of Tic Tac Dough. The game now plays an applause sound when the player wins. I am currently lacking a WAV file of the win music, for when the player scores $1,000 or more. (updated 2010 May 03)	Yes	Yes
Super Pay Cards! (in progress)	Because I don’t know how to read an external text file in a TNT Basic program (the user guide still assumes Mac OS 9), I have begun porting this Canadian game show.	No	No
More games are coming!	I also am creating sprites of human figures in two sizes (64×64 and 256×256 pixels) for use in TNT Basic game show adaptations.

I hope to be able to do the following in TNT Basic:

Show Aqua controls like those in the Mac OS X Finder
Program an AI opponent for a single player
Make a player selection screen like that in the GameTek version of Press Your Luck
Read questions and answers from an external data file (editor mock image)
Analyze and compare two poker hands (Super Pay Cards!)
Write to and read from a champions list: name, number of wins, total money won

Most game show programs in TNT Basic should be able to use the following modules:

Question files for knowledge quizzes, with categories and four answer choices per question
Questions formatted for panel games, such as The Hollywood Squares
Contestant sprites, like those in GameTek games
Celebrity sprites, in two sizes: 64×64 and 256×256 pixels
Anglo-American playing card deck

The following disclaimers should be obvious, but here goes:

I am developing these games on a non-profit basis. No challenge to copyrights or trademarks is intended.
These games are for private amusement only. No actual money or prizes are awarded.
The names and likenesses of hosts and celebrity guests are fictitious, intended only to maximize repeat play value. I try to respect the privacy of actual celebrities.

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