How Fast Are You?

A time on its own is just a number. What makes it a game is the machine having an opinion about it — telling you whether you were lightning-fast or half asleep. So read the jiffies and hand down a verdict. And while you're at it, catch the player who tries to beat the system by pressing early.

10 PRINT CHR$(147)
20 POKE 53281,0
30 PRINT "WATCH THE SCREEN..."
40 GET A$:IF A$<>"" THEN 40
50 W=INT(RND(1)*120)+60
60 FOR T=1 TO W*8:NEXT T
70 GET A$:IF A$<>"" THEN PRINT:PRINT "TOO SOON!":END
80 POKE 53281,1
90 TI$="000000"
100 GET A$:IF A$="" THEN 100
110 RT=TI
120 POKE 53281,0
130 PRINT
140 PRINT "YOUR TIME:";RT;"JIFFIES"
150 CO=2:R$="SLOW"
160 IF RT<45 THEN CO=7:R$="OK"
170 IF RT<24 THEN CO=3:R$="QUICK"
180 IF RT<12 THEN CO=5:R$="LIGHTNING!"
190 POKE 646,CO:PRINT R$

The verdict is lines 150–180, and they work by narrowing down. Line 150 assumes the worst — CO=2:R$="SLOW", red. Then each line below checks for a better time and overwrites the verdict if it's met: under 45 jiffies is OK (yellow), under 24 is QUICK (cyan), under 12 is LIGHTNING! (green). They run top to bottom, so a fast time passes every test and ends up with the best rating; a slow one fails them all and keeps SLOW. Then line 190, POKE 646,CO:PRINT R$, sets the text colour and prints the word, so the verdict looks like what it says.

The other new line is the cheat-catch. Line 70 — GET A$:IF A$<>"" THEN PRINT:PRINT "TOO SOON!":END — runs a GET before the flash. If the player's already mashing the key, A$ isn't empty, and the program calls them out and stops. It's a small guard, but it's the difference between a test of reflexes and a test of who can hold the key down.

That's Reflex. A flash you can't predict, a clock that measures to the jiffy, an instant GET, a time in seconds, and a verdict in colour — with a cheat caught before it starts. The machine doesn't just react with you now; it judges you.

Try this

• Set your own bar. The thresholds — 45, 24, 12 — are yours to move. Tighten them and LIGHTNING becomes a rare prize; loosen them and everyone's a hero.
• Best of three. Wrap the whole thing in a loop that plays three rounds and adds the times up, then rate the total. One lucky flash won't carry a slow player any more.

What's next

You've measured the player; next you'll count for them. In Volume 1 comes Tally — score that climbs, a bar chart drawn straight to the screen, and numbers that grow before your eyes.