Rowboat


Rowboat intro screen Rowboat game screen
Rowboat Intro & game screen

Rowboat is a game/simulator where the player tries to control their rowboat to land gently at a dock along the river. Using both joysticks (1 for each oar), the player moves the joysticks left to right to simulate oar movement, which is used to steer the boat and somewhat control it's speed. Analog joysticks are required in order to get full control of the oars. The player starts on the right side of the river, and tries to land at the dock on the left side. If they go too far to the left, they get stuck in the rapids which drags their boat down to the bottom of the screen where it breaks apart on the rocks. If they hit the dock to fast, the dock shatters. One thing a bit disappointing is that there is no sound in the game.

This is an updated version to a game called Vectors by the same author that had just appeared in the November 1982 Rainbow magazine. This one was updated with MPP (Motion Picture Programming) techniques that had been pioneered by Arnold Pouch of Superior Graphic Software. This allows multiple animation cells for each of the 8 directions that the boat can face. Arnold made the technique freely available in the March and April 1982 issues of Rainbow, before sadly suddenly passing away from a heart attack later that year.

Title: Rowboat

Author: Geoff Wells

Publisher: Chromasette

Released: January 1983

Requires: Color Computer 1,2 or 3, Extended BASIC, 16K RAM (cassette) or 32K RAM (disk), 2 joysticks

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