mindmaster

The game of Mastermind for the Commodore 128

Loading the Game

Copy the disk image file to a floppy disk or open it with a Commodore 128 emulator, such as x128 in VICE.

On the Commodore 128 (in 128 mode only), type the following. (Note that an emulator might do this for you automatically.)

LOAD "*",8
RUN

Playing the Game

Mindmaster is a code-breaking game where you attempt to guess the correct combination and sequence of several colored "pegs" that have been randomly selected by the computer.

Game Options

On the initial screen, you have four options:

• Press N for Normal mode (equivalent to original Mastermind)
• Press E for Expert mode (equivalent to Super Mastermind)
• Press C for Custom mode
• Press Q to Quit

If you've already played a game, pressing the spacebar will start a new game using the options you previously selected.

Game Modes

If you select normal or expert modes, the game will immediately begin. If you select custom mode, you will be prompted to customize the following values:

• the number of guesses you have (rows)
• the number of pegs per row (columns)
• the possible number of peg colors

Here's a summary of the available game modes:

Mode	Rows	Columns	Colors
Normal	10	4	6
Expert	12	5	8
Custom	2-20	2-8	2-13

Note that colors may be repeated and no blanks are allowed in the solution.

In-Game Controls

1. Move the flashing arrow up and down using the up and down cursor keys.
2. To select a colored peg, hit the spacebar.
3. Use the left cursor key to undo a selection.
4. Selecting the column's last peg will submit your guess.

Feedback and Winning

Once you submit your guess, a set of zero or more feedback pegs may be displayed to the left of that row.

• Each dark grey peg indicates that one peg in your guess is the correct color and in the correct position.
• Each white peg indicates that one peg in your guess is the correct color, but in the wrong position.
• No feedback pegs are shown for a peg that is the wrong color, i.e. no pegs of that color are present in the solution.

You win if you guess the code before you run out of guesses.

Compiling

Install development tools appropriate for your platform, including GNU Make.

You'll need to install VICE (for the petcat, c1541, and x128 executables). On macOS using Homebrew:

brew install vice

To compile and automatically run using the x128 emulator:

make

Notes

I originally wrote this in 1991. The original version used a joystick in port 2 to play, but I recently updated the controls to use the cursor keys and spacebar to make it easier to play in an emulator.

The game uses a custom character set that I created, as well.