Super-Wumpus

SUPER-WUMPUS, by Jack Emmerichs, is an exciting computer game incorporating the original structure of the WUMPUS game described in the book "What To Do After You Hit Return," published by the People's Computer Company, along with added features which make the game even more fascinating. Programmed in both 6800 assembly language and BASIC, the game is not only addictively fun, but also provides a splendid tutorial on setting up unusual data structures (the tunnel and cave system of SUPERWUMPUS form a dodecahedron).

The game begins with the player (hunter) somewhere deep within the Wumpus's cave, which consists of 20 rooms connected by tunnels. The rooms form the vertices of a dodecahedron and the tunnels form its edges. Therefore, each room has three tunnels connecting it to other rooms. The player starts in one of these rooms while the Wumpus is asleep in another. The hunter begins with five arrows or darts with which to shoot the Wumpus. Each arrow may be used only once. In the 6800 assembler version of the game, the object is to kill the Wumpus before he (she? it?) can find and eat the hunter. After watching several people become the blood-thirsty killers of an animal that they knew nothing about, and being of much more humane sentiments, I decided to change the object of the BASIC version of the game to that of immobilizing the beast so that it can be tagged with a beeper. When the beast wakes up, it will lead the hunter out of the caves and that is the only way the exit can be found. The play of the game is the same for both SUPERWUMPUS versions but there is less violence in the BASIC version.