These three Addison-Wesley education modules
are each listed for $39.95 suggest retail in TI's last published 99/4A
catalog dated June 1983. They are part of a series which includes the commonly
available copyright 1982 COMPUTER MATH GAMES II and VI. The I, III, and
IV modules have a 1983 date on their title screen.
I obtained them as COMMAND MODULE SIMULATOR disk
files (and now also as GramKracker files in the Lima UG software library),
and at first I thought they had never been officially released by TI. I
have never seen them advertised in Triton, Tex Comp, or Tenex catalogs.
Even Mike Wright, who has more different kinds of TI modules than anybody
else I know doesn't have these modules. I finally dicovered that Eunice
Spooner actually has one of these modules, GAMES III, complete with TI
published documentation. Even now (January 1992) it is possible to purchase
GAMES III from TM Direct Marketing, but without any documentation. Larry
Conner, a TI dealer who has sold lots of rare TI stuff to collectors told
me that all three of these rare modules have passed through his hands.
Larry said, "As I recollect, those are really neat games that make
good use of the TI's special features." Apparently only TI sold very
limited quantities of these modules directly for $39.95 each. Because of
price I doubt if they sold very many.
Quoting from page 2 of my "VI" module's
documentation: "It is essential for all of us to know and understand
how fundamental mathematics operations are performed. In order to develop
this understanding, students must have the opportunity to practice, for
only through practice can they develop strong mathematical skills. The
Computer math Games VI Solid State Cartridge is one of five modules of
math games that can help provide this opportunity. The program was designed
by Charles Lund, Supervisor of Mathematics for the St. Paul, Minnesota,
public schools and the staff of Addison-Wesley Publishing company in cooperation
with the staff of Texas Instruments Incorporated. The Games included in
the cartridge are both fun and challenging, with an entertaining, motivating
format designed to capture and hold attention."
"VI" is one of five modules?!?! The
series includes I, II, III, IV, and VI, all of which have a title screen
that names Charles Lund as author. There is no V. Apparently someone at
Addison-Wesley or at Texas Instruments doesn't know how to count! There
are some TI modules that teach this skill I believe.
The options and difficulty levels of the math
games that are in these modules make them suitable for students with a
wide diversity skill levels. The documentation for my "II" and
"IV" modules claims suitability for school grades 1 through 9.
The unreleased "I", "II", and "IV" are probably
appropriate for a similarly wide range of grades.
These rare 1983 modules offer you a choice of
text in five languages. (The older COMPUTER MATH GAMES II and IV are only
in English.) When you PRESS ANY KEY TO BEGIN you are presented with the
following options. It is suprising to see almost the entire startup menu
screen filled with selections.
- PRESS
- 1 FOR TI BASIC
- 2 FOR ENGLISH
- 3 FOR FRANCAIS
- 4 FOR DEUTSCH
- 5 FOR ITALIANO
- 6 FOR ESPANOL
All these language options function properly
in COMPUTER MATH GAMES I. However, the Italian and Spanish options are
not functional in "III" and "IV", and cause the computer
to lock up. Each COMPUTER MATH GAMES module contains several distinct games.
These games are described individually below. All have plenty of music
and colorful screen displays.
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COMPUTER MATH GAMES I:
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The game of SQUARE OFF: Two people or one person
and the computer can play against each other. You are shown a grid with
a dot on screen at the intersection of each set of coordinates. You can
chose to have coordinate 0,0 at the lower left, with positive numbers extending
to the right along the x axis and up along the y axis. Or, you can specify
coordinate 0.0 to be in the middle of the screen, with positive coordinate
numbers extending to the right and up and negative coordinate numbers extending
down and to the left of 0,0. You can specify 2-14 rows and 2-9 columns
in your coordinate system, making the game very simple or very complicated.
Each player alternately inputs a set of adjacent
coordinates in the form 0,0,0,1 (position 0,0 and position 0,1), and the
computer draws a line between these two dots on screen. If a mistake is
made and the entered coordinates do not exist or are not adjacent or already
have a line between them the player is given a second chance. Then it is
the other player's turn. The object of the game is to close boxes by drawing
the fourth side of the box and to prevent your opponent from doing the
same. When you close a box you get a free turn. The player who closes the
most boxes wins.
This game gives practice using an X-Y axis coordinate
system and in the use of negative numbers. To win requires a lot of thought
and strategy. I enjoy this game. The computer is a challenging opponent.
So are some of my children.
The game of DOT-DOT-PLOT: This is for one player.
You are again presented with a coordinate system, this time with only the
X and Y axes showing. There are initially no on screen dots at each coordinate
junction. You have your choice of putting the 0,0 location at the extreme
bottom left and having only positive numbers on the X-Y axes, or placing
0,0 in the center of the screen and having both positive and negative numbers
extend up/down and right/left from 0,0.
You are to help the computer draw a picture.
Your choices are Pine Tree, Airplane, Lobster, Dog, Car, Rabbit, Castle,
or "Any of these". The computer puts the first dot on screen
and you specify the coordinates of this dot. The next dot is then displayed
and you specify the coordinates of the second dot. The computer then draws
a line between the previous dot and the new dot. Another dot is then displayed,
and when you identify its coordinates properly a line is drawn from the
previous line to this new dot. In this way your picture is drawn "dot-to-dot"
style until it is complete. When the picture is finished you are given
a total of right and wrong guesses and told the total number of dots in
your picture. The airplane, for example, takes 20 dots with connecting
lines.
You need a good monitor for this game. It is
sometimes difficult by sight alone to accurately move from the first blinking
dot of the new picture in the middle of an otherwise nearly empty screen
back to the edge of the screen where the X and Y axes are located and get
an accurate fix on the location of the dot. It is easier with subsequent
dots, because you have the location of earlier dots to help guide you.
The game of MATH BOXES: This game requires two
human players. First you input the player's names and select the type of
number;
- 1- Whole numbers (all positive)
- 2- Integers (whole positive and/or negative numbers)
- 3- Decimals
- 4- Simple fractions
Then you select the problem type (+-*/). Finally,
you select the size range of each of the two numbers in the problem (from
-999 to +9999 if "Integers" is selected). The screen then displays
12 math problems arranged in three rows and four columns. The first player
selects two adjacent problems to solve and if correct gets a line drawn
between the two problems. If incorrect, the opposing player gets the line.
The computer gives different colors to the lines of the two players. The
object of the game is to draw a box with these lines and prevent your opponent
from doing so.
Depending on the options selected at the beginning
of the game, the game can be "gosh darn hard" even for me, or
easy enough for my first grade daughter to play successfully.
The game of BEANS AND PITS: This game requires
two human players and gives practice in interpreting numbers based on hundreds,
tens, ones, tenths, and hundredths. The computer randomly transfers beans
from a small pits (holes) to a combination of large and small pits. The
large pits represent a number composed of 100's, 10's, ones, etc. Beans
distributed to large pits stay there. Beans in small pits have to be cleared
out so that eventually they are all in the large pits. The first player
to completely clear out his small pits is the winner. This sounds confusing,
and it is. However, the computer does most of the work of moving pits about
between pits and declaring a winner, so the game is in fact fairly easy
to play.
After a winner is declared, each player is asked
the "number" represented by the beans in his large pits. If there
are 5 beans in the "1" pit, 8 beans in the ".1" pit,
and 2 in the ".01" pit the correct answer is 5.82, but being
able to answer correctly has nothing to do with winning or losing. The
winner and loser are determined randomly by the computer. Learning how
to determine the winner's and looer's "number" is the only mathematical
learning experience of the game, but has nothing to do with the random
win/lose chances. I am not terribly impressed with this particular game.
---------------------------------------------
COMPUTER MATH GAMES III
---------------------------------------------
These are all timed card games. A player gets
30 seconds to come up with the correct answer of the opponent gets the
point. Some but not all of the games suffer from the anomaly of not having
aces or face cards in the deck. Instead, players sometimes get to play
the 11 of spades, 12 of hearts, 13 of clubs, etc. If mistakes are made,
the correct answer is NOT indicated in some of these games. In most of
these games it isn't actually necessary to solve the math problems in order
to win the game. Winning is by luck, and if you can't compute your score,
the computer does it for you.
The game of WAR: (2 human players) Each player
in turn is shown two cards and asked to pick the larger of the two (eg.
10 of spades vs. 12 of clubs) by designating the card on the right or left
of the screen display. A correct answer is worth one point. If the cards
are of equal value and the player correctly recognizes this, three more
cards are dealt and the player is asked to indicate the higher of the last
two cars dealt. In this case the problem is worth 4 points. The player
with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the shortest elapsed time
determines the winner. This game is suitable for kindergarten and first
graders. It teaches RIGHT, LEFT, and number recognition from 1 to 13.
The game of FLASH: (1 or 2 players) You get to
select the maximum value on the cards (2-13, no 1's). Next the type of
problem is selected:
- 1-Arithmetic
- 2-Reduce the fractions
- 3-Squared arithmetic
If you select "1-Arithmetic" you then
get to select addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. The first
three are intiger (whole number) problems with intiger answers. Division
requires that you specify an integer quotent (always at least 1, never
0) and an integer remainder. For example, 6 of clubs divided by 4 of spades
gives a quotient of 1 and a remainder of 2.
"3-Reduce the Fraction" presents a
fraction (numerator-slash-denominator ) and asks for the reduced form as
a single fraction. For example, the game accepts "10/9", not
1 1/9, as the reduced form of "10/9".
"3-Squared Arithmetic" gives you the
additional choice of 1-Addition or 2-Subtraction. You have to calculate
the square of the displyed problem, as in (10-4)^2. You need to know your
MULTIPLICATION number facts in addition to your addition/subtraction facts.
The game of IN BETWEEN: (1 or 2 players) The
highest card in the deck can be between 3 and 13 (no aces or deuces). The
computer displays 3 cards and asks, "Is the middle card between the
other two in value? 1-Yes 2-No". If the display is 9-7-7, the correct
answer is NO. As does WAR, this game teaches number recognition and also
the relative order of the recognied numbers.
The game of TWENTY-ONE: (1-3 players). The computer
is dealer and an additional player. The dealer's complete hand is shown
at the start of each hand with one dealer card not showing. Players are
given 2 cards and asked if they want more cards. The usual Blackjack rules
apply. This is the only game where face cards are so identified (as J,Q,
and K instead of 11, 12, and 13). When the deck is exhausted the computer
reshuffles the cards and play resumes.
There is no betting. Players and the dealer just
win or lose hands indefinately until they tire of the game. Other than
the lack of betting the game is very realistic. It is as good as any of
the other "Blackjack" games written for the TI.
The game of ZERO: (1-3 players) Here the red
cards have positive points and the black cards have negative points. The
game is played like TWENTY ONE or blackjack, except that the object of
the game is to have a score as close to zero as possible.
----------------------------------------------
COMPUTER MATH GAMES IV
---------------------------------------------
The game of NIM 25: (one player against the computer)
This is the old "pick up anywhere from 1 to x blocks and the person
who picks up the last block wins" game. Barry Traver has discussed
the mathematical basis behind this game in recent issues of his disk magazine.
There are 25 consecutively numbered blocks to
be picked up. Number 25 is the last to go. You are given the option to
go first or second and asked to chose the maximum number of pieces that
can be picked up in a turn (max of 2-25). Unless you learn the secret the
computer will usually win. Math skills are not needed to play or win, but
it is fun to try and figure out the number of the highest numbered block
that will be left on screen after each "pick up".
The game of MATH DARTS: (2-3 players) You can
select the number of players, the type of math problem (+-*-), and the
maximum and minimum possible values for the numbers in the FIRST NUMBER
+-*- SECOND NUMBER problems. Once ranges are selected, the computer randomly
puts 10 numbers within the range on the left side of the screen as a target.
Opitonally, the players can select the specific numbers to be placed on
the target. A colorful man appears and throws two darts at the target.
The numbers hit by the darts are the two numbers in the math problem. You
get 10 seconds to solve each problem.
The game of 500: (2-4 players) This game gives
practice in recognition and interpretation of decimal numbers. You see
a nice graphic of a baseball pitcher throwing the ball, which stops midway
towards the batter. You are then given a problem to solve. If solved correctly
within 10 seconds the batter hits the ball in the air. If solved incorrectly
the batter hits a grounder.. You can chose the maximum number of digits
to the right and to the left of the decimal place. Problems are of three
types.
- 1- "What is the compact form of 700+50+9+.4+.03?"
The answer is 759.43.
- 2- "What is the expanded form of 509.43?"
The correct answer is 500+9+.4+.03.
- 3- "In the number 711.5 the number in the
tens place is what digit?" The answer is one.
The game of WOODCHUCK: (1-4 players) You can
select +-* or / problems, and you can specify the high and low range of
numbers to be placed on each of two dice. Then either the computer randomly
generates numbers within this range on the dice or you select specific
numbers within the ranges to be on the dice. You also have the option on
your turn to roll the dice or to pass. Math problems ask you to +-* or
/ the numbers on the two dice. The answer is the number of points you earn,
and your goal is to accumulate a specified number of points. Just to make
things interesting, every now and then a dragon appears on the dice when
they are rolled. The dragon eats all of a player's points and the player
must start over from zero. The dragon makes this game really maddening!
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SUMMARY
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There is a lot of variety in these games. I like
some better than others. They are all entertaining and they all make good
use of music and color graphics.
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