Chris Crawford on Game Design

Input and Output

Back in those days, we were so constrained by hardware limitations that we had to think long and hard about what could and could not be expressed through the hardware. For example, the tiny terminal looked something like what appears in Figure 13.3.

Figure 13.3. Tiny terminal.

Here's what the display means: The “3” on the upper left means that you are looking at the current situation for your Tank #3. It is at map coordinates 1504 and facing in direction 2 (upper right). The “F” means that it is currently engaged in firing at an enemy tank. After firing, it will move one hex in direction 2, then another hex in direction 3. It has ...