Fireball

Fireball sees you defending the Earth from aliens who are trying to land using
ladders (!). Your job is to delay the invasion for as long as possible by
launching fireballs from a conveyor belt, which will destroy the ladder directly
above it. Depending on the length of the ladder, a score is awarded for each one
destroyed.
  Easy? Well, no. It is not quite that simple. As you use a fireball, it is not
replaced, and you are therefore limited to a certain number of fireballs.
  To achieve a good score, you should allow the ladders to get near the ground,
but if you let them get too low, a single mistake will mean an untimely end to
your mission.
  To fire at a ladder, position your launcher directly under the ladder you wish
to fire at, and press the fire key. If there is a fireball above the launcher,
it will be catapulted upwards. If not, you will have to wait until the conveyor
belt delivers one.

The controls are:
  1 - Launcher left
  2 - Launcher right
  0 - Activate launcher (fire)

  The game ends when a ladder reaches the ground. You will see an alien descend
and, if your score is one of the six best, you will be asked to enter your
initials. Only letters, spaces and full stops will be accepted - other keys will
produce no response. Your score will then be displayed in the 'hi-score table',
which remains on-screen permanently (as well as your current score and a
reminder of the control keys).
  To play the game, type in the listing as shown, and start using RUN.

  Store on tape using:

  SAVE "FIREBALL" LINE 1

Some important lines:

80           Engages CAPS LOCK.
200          sc is the score, x is the launcher's position.
220          a$ holds the positions of remaining fireballs.
240-260      Print playing area, fireballs and launcher.
280          l holds the length of each ladder.
500 and 510  Choose which ladder to lower, and add another segment to the chosen
             one.
3000-3350    Launch fireball.
8000-8160    Landing sequence.
8200-8205    Test for hi-score
8320-8580    Entry of initials.
8600-8800    Table adjustment.
9000-9340    Screen and table construction.
9500         Prints hi-score table.
9600 on      Prints title.


-- 
transcribed by Matthew Westcott <gasman@raww.org> 2004-04-25
from "Giant Book of Spectrum Arcade Games", (c) 1983 Fontana Paperbacks