Ken Silverman's QuickBasic Page

Here's a small sampling of QuickBasic 4.5 programs. QB 4.5 can now be found here. Many of these also work in QBasic (which used to come with DOS and early versions of Windows). The ones that don't work in QBasic usually just require a simple hack for mouse support: by adding this "int86old" function: moushack.txt. I selected programs that have the most historical value to me, and also ones that are easiest to explain. I had to apply small hacks to some programs to make them run well on current hardware. When doing this, it destroys the original file date. In the following chart, I have done my best to find the original file dates, or the time when the program was fully implemented on the hardware it was designed for.

Download all QB programs here:
KENSQB.ZIP (155,484 bytes, 12/28/2006)

Filename:Date:Requires:Description:
GUESSER.BAS 04/23/1989 -Yet another number guessing game with bells & whistles.
ONO.BAS 07/30/1989 -Uno-99 card game simulator (originally developed on HP Series 200).
ATOMS.BAS 10/22/1989 -This atom simulator helped me study for chemistry class (originally developed on HP Series 200).
TICTAC.BAS 10/22/1989 -Tic-tac-toe game with computer AI written the long way. Use keypad to move.
IMPOSQUE.BAS11/10/1989 -A silly game with impossible questions.. years ahead of "Deal or No Deal" : )
BOWL.BAS 11/24/1989 -A bowling game, based on a similar game I saw on the Apple II.
SNATCH.BAS 12/09/1989 -Protect the garden! Blow away squirrels, etc.. sorry, no graphics : P Inspired by my dad's gardening hobby.
MONOP.BAS 12/23/1989 -Monopoly board game (originally developed on HP Series 200).
SLIME.BAS 01/13/1990 -Interesting animation - no interactivity. All done with code.
GOLF.BAS 01/20/1990 QB 4.5A 2D minigolf game. Press space bar 3 times to swing. The 2nd press controls distance. Hit a 3rd time when the swing meter crosses the top of the blue for best direction.
XGAME.BAS 02/18/1990 -Solitaire board game: pick up points then touch the end. Controls: Arrows:ESDX, Diagonals:WRZC.
HUNTMNST.BAS03/20/1990?-Clone of Hunt the Wumpus on TI-99 4/a. Use Arrows to move; Space+Arrow to shoot.
MONEY.BAS 0?/??/1990 QB 4.5A silly game where you must pick up money before the monster does. Control fully with mouse (no buttons). Always exit room to the right. (originally developed on HP Series 200)
SEARCH.BAS 07/12/1990?-Find the treasure: a PC equipped with VGA graphics! (Sorry, Mac users..) Oddly enough, this is a clone of a similar game I saw on the Apple II!
LOGO.BAS 08/21/1990?QB 4.5My first programming environment! Based on logo from the Apple II, this supports most of the fundamental syntax, including 'repeat' and sub-functions. It also has a built-in text editor! (Press Alt+F to toggle text editor).
HANGMAN.BAS 02/14/1991 -Hangman game to help study word lists for english class.
SURVIVE.BAS 08/09/1991?-7th grade english project: a text adventure based on the book "Island of the Blue Dolphins". Originally written on the Kaypro II. When it came time to demo my project, I forgot the secret code! (which btw, is 'K','J','S') Use capital E,S,D,X as arrows to move.
WASTER.BAS 08/28/1991 -Text adventure with grid. Type '0' to get past the initial prompt. The rest should be self-explanatory. (originally written on Kaypro II, then HP Series 200, then PC)
TREAS.BAS 06/27/1992?-Treasure hunt text adventure originally written on Kaypro II (1985-6?). Use E,S,D,X to move. (added graphics when porting to PC)
SNAKE.BAS 06/27/1993 -Smooth panning vertical scoller in text! Runs best fullscreen. Controls: Arrows&Space or Left/Right shift. This is a clone of an old game I saw on the Apple II.
KPIPE.BAS 11/20/1993 -Pipe dream clone. Press 'K' to begin the game. Using any other key will result in a very short game! : P
HARDMAZE.BAS12/10/1993 QB 4.5High resolution maze generator. Uses VESA driver. Navigate with arrows. Press Space bar to show solution, and Enter to re-generate maze.
POOL.BAS 05/15/1994 QB 4.5A buggy 2D pool simulator, inspired by my stay in Texas.
CUBES.BAS 12/28/1994 -An early test program for what later became the Cubes5 engine.
ANTIX.BAS 04/06/1995?-A clone of an old game made by the same guys who created tetris.
SHORPATH.BAS07/30/1996 QB 4.5Find the shortest path between 2 points inside a concave polygon. I was seeing if I could improve the AI for Duke3D's bots. Draw CCW polygon with space bar, enter to finish, shift+enter to optionally draw an inner loop (be sure to draw inner loop CW), then space again to select starting point. I never got around to adding wall thickness. For the Duke bots, I ended up using a much simpler hack which simply assumed polygons were convex. It turned out to be sufficient in most cases.
PLANORB.BAS 01/11/1997 -Planetary orbits in 2D. I was testing Kepler's laws (proper elliptical orbits) for my Globe program.
KCALC.BAS 05/23/1997 -A utility for expanding and simplifying polynomial expressions. For example, "(x-y)(x+y)" results in: "+x*x - y*y".
POLFILL.BAS 07/25/1997 QB 4.5Fast concave polygon filling routine. Uses similar techniques to the Build engine by grouping lines together before the sort.
VESAMODE.BAS08/16/1998 QB 4.5A quick VESA test program (segmented modes only).
SOLAVATE.BAS09/03/1998 QB 4.5A test program to find the best angle to mount solar panels. They would have been installed wrong if I hadn't written this program!
LIGHTFIL.BAS06/01/2000 QB 4.5Fast 2d visibility/lighting algorithm. Uses a cool palette trick to clear the screen quickly.
KBLOBS.BAS 09/26/2000 QB 4.5Metaball demo. Use Ins/Del to insert/delete points, mouse to drag points, left button+mouse up/down to change amplitude.
TRIANGUL.BAS10/27/2000 QB 4.5Fancy triangulation algorithm. Draw polygon with space bar; finish loop by plotting on first point. Press Enter to toggle fill. Rare glitches killed this project.
VORONOI.BAS 10/02/2001 -Tests the speed of 5 different methods for calculating a voronoi diagram bitmap.
P3COMP.BAS 11/11/2001 QB 4.5Expression compiler for SSE instructions (branching not supported). If you uncomment line 13, it will run alternate code showing the accuracy of the RCPPS/RSQRTPS instructions.
18WHEELR.BAS12/14/2004 QB 4.518-wheeler truck simulator for turning and parallel parking. Mouse=steering wheel, Ctrl=gas pedal, Alt=Brake
SUDOKU.BAS 07/18/2005 -Sudoku solver, written within 3 hours after discovering the puzzle in the newspaper.
TRIANGU2.BAS08/01/2005 QB 4.5Another triangulation algorithm. This one is a bit simpler: it splits the polygon into horizontal trapezoids. Used by Polymost for 2D textured map view. Controls similar to TRIANGUL.BAS. Press 'F' to show filled triangles.
KDEFLEX.BAS 04/10/2006 QB 4.5GUI and AI for "Deflexion" board game. (a.k.a. "The Laser Game"). Use Arrows&Space to select piece; ',' and '.' to rotate piece, and Enter to move piece.

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