gorilla.bas

Created: 2008-12-26 02:42 -07:00 | Views: 25

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gorilla.bas is a Qbasic game that was included with Windows 3.1 installations. Basically, it involved two gorillas standing on opposite ends of the screen on buildings of random size. The object was to use the right combination of angle and velocity to hit the opponent with an exploding banana. Upon success, the winning gorilla would dance by moving its arms up and down in an alternating pattern.

During one particular game, Adam and Josh couldn't think of names for each player. Somehow, the name "Zeke" was settled upon for player one. Due to lack of originality, they decided to name player two "Ezekiel", the full form of "Zeke". When Josh typed in the name, however, he accidentally added a period at the end, making the name appear much more formal and straightforward. They determined that the proper pronunciation of player two's name was "...Ezekiel.", nearly pronouncing the punctuation itself.

Adam and Josh would occasionally play gorilla.bas at a friend's house. Their friend, upon winning, would often say along with the monotonal sounds of the gorilla's victory dance, "I - am - scratching - my - big - balls - to - day". Because we were young, half the enjoyment was from saying "balls", as it wasn't proper for children our age to say.

The Golden Ratio

The Golden Ratio was a combination of angle and velocity that served as a barometer for future shots. Starting with an angle of 45 and a velocity of 70, slight tweaks could be made in order to find the lethal combination as quickly as possible.

Often times, if they didn't feel like taking the game seriously, Adam and Josh would use the combination of an angle of 1 and a velocity of 300 (the minimum and maximum values) to throw a supersonic banana which would "drill" far into a building. The banana would travel so fast that, if on a direct path with the opposing gorilla, it would pass right through without registering.