Design Notes for Mac OS Game Show Programs

I am only a novice Macintosh programmer, but I would like to see more TV-style games for Mac OS. Here are some suggestions for adapting game shows for Mac OS; I have begun developing concept images for specific game shows. Mac OS X is preferred, since Apple has discontinued emulation of the Classic environment by switching from PowerPC to Intel processors.

Where appropriate, Mac OS game shows should either have a source of downloadable update files or allow users to create their own questions or puzzles. Games that use knowledge questions and categories should be designed for compatibility with category files and question files created with Kevin DeVizia’s TicTacTrivia! Editor or Vinco. The games should resemble the actual shows and take full advantage of Macintosh graphic capabilities. Brandon Bridges, Bryan Genier and Geoffrey Ludwig have created some impressive game show set designs. Brandon has also made some 16:9 images for The Price Is Right.
Male and female characters, if they appear on the screen, should be 128×128 pixels and roughly equal in number. For The Price Is Right, contestants may be divided into four groups: generic, college, military and senior. Hosts, contestants and panelists may be either cartoon figures, customizable as in Lexi-Cross, or realistic figures rendered with Poser or DAZ Studio. Celebrity sprites should be in two sizes: 64×64 pixels for panel games, such as All-Star Blitz, Battlestars, the Tom Kennedy version of Break the Bank, The Hollywood Squares and Match Game, and 128×128 pixels for games like Chain Reaction and Super Password. Naturally, the use of fictitious “celebrity guests” is preferred, to maximize repeat play value and to respect the privacy of real celebrities.
Given the mouse-driven Mac interface, game show applications should be less dependent on the keyboard (except for typing answers) than their MS-DOS equivalents. Because some questions have variant answers that are equally valid (e.g., for “Which U.S. president was fifth cousin to Teddy?” do you accept Franklin Roosevelt but reject FDR?), only two methods are viable for knowledge quizzes: Make all questions multiple choice, especially in a game for one player against the computer, or require that the host use questions printed in books or on cards. An auto-complete function for text input may be too difficult to program in TNT Basic. In the interest of fairness, knowledge questions should be carefully researched.
For Mac OS X versions of specific game shows:
- Classic Concentration: Instead of prizes, have players match pairs of distinct but related icons: geometric shapes, national flags, etc. Each game would have 12 pairs of icons and a No Match square, and each match would be worth $100. Both players keep their money regardless of who solves the rebus.
- High Rollers: Assign a random four-digit cash value to each of the three columns in the main game.
- Press Your Luck: Instead of a question round, start each player with a random number of spins (at least one, but no more than 12). If a question round must be included, make all questions multiple choice. Award three spins for a correct answer and only one spin for a wrong answer.
John Ricci Jr.’s MS-DOS implementation of High Rollers, which I used to play using the Blue Label Power Emulator by Lismore Software Systems, gives players a choice between using questions included with the game and playing in MC Mode, in which one player is the host and two other players are contestants. MC Mode requires that the host have printed questions and an actual pair of dice.
The Ricci versions of Bullseye and The Joker’s Wild do not include trivia questions. Instead, these games have category changer utilities so players can choose categories for which they have question books. Hence, three people (host and two contestants) are needed for a game. The Joker’s Wild provides 18 category icons, but some useful category icons are absent: For instance, a television set would be suitable for categories relating to television programs. Also, because it is an MS-DOS game, the category changer in The Joker’s Wild does not let you see all of the icons at once.
The BASIC Games site has Wintel versions of Battlestars, The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour and All-Star Blitz; the first two come with a Star Changer utility for renaming celebrity panelists and even hosts. The Blue Label Power Emulator did not allow me to use the required runner program in DOS mode, nor does Darwine work with PowerPC Macs. According to the readme file for The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour, a star’s first and middle names are limited to seven characters each, and the surname is limited to 10 characters. It would be better to allow 12 letters for both first and last names of celebrities, to accommodate the likes of Vernée Watson-Johnson, William Christopher and Yeardley Smith.
The GameTek version of Press Your Luck had six contestant characters, three male and three female. Players could control some and select others as computer opponents.

At present I have made my own concept images for Mac OS versions of these game shows, my assumption being that players would choose from a pool of contestant characters as in the GameTek games. My current software includes Poser 5, TNT Basic and Color It!™.

Generic two-player game, standing (e.g., Card Sharks)
Generic two-player game, seated (e.g., Eye Guess)
Generic three-player game, standing (e.g., Top Card)
Generic three-player game, seated (e.g., Three on a Match)
All-Star Blitz: Game board with four panelists
Break the Bank (1970s): Game board with seats for nine panelists
High Rollers: Host and contestants, with dice table made in Cinema 4D
Hollywood Squares: Host and contestants (improved picture)
Hollywood Squares: Panelists (modification of image by Jay Anton)
The Joker’s Wild (an improved picture, using levers I constructed from Poser primitives)
Match Game (ABC): Contestants
Match Game (ABC): Panel (using the Poser 2 low-polygon casual man and Gerald Day’s low-polygon figures)

I can provide contestant characters and other graphics (not necessarily identical to the actual game show sets), as well as questions and puzzles, to any Macintosh programmer willing to program the actual games.

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James H. Vipond