ASCII stands for American Stand Code for Information Interchange. It is a code of numbers that signify the letters, numbers, punctuation and other symbols used by computers. It is pronounced "ASS-KEY" (don't be dirty minded) and was created in 1963.
ASCII Control Characters
The first 32 (0 to 31) characters in the ASCII code are ASCII control characters. They are not printed or displayed. Instead, they do something specific. Unfortunately, since ASCII has been in use for a long time (since 1967) most of these control characters are outdated.
The ASCII Code Table :
| Character | Description | Decimal | Binary | Hexadecimal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nul | null | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| soh | start of header | 1 | 1 | 1 |
ASCII Games
An ASCII game is a real-time 2d game that uses only characters available in the ASCII character set for graphics (in other words, numbers, letters, and symbols). Game objects are also made of the ASCII character set. Because ASCII games are real-time, their controls are more similar to 2D games than text games, which are turn based and rely on line input.
Because most ASCII games use all the same basic concepts of 2d games, they provide a great introduction to 2d game programming without all the added complexity of dealing with 2d sprites.
ASCII Art
ASCII Art is a form of art made only of letters, numbers, and other characters found in a text character set. ASCII Art is a part of making a ASCII game — they represent the game objects.
ASCII Art BASIC Code Listings
DIAMND
The code for DIAMND appeared in the book 101 BASIC Computer Games by David H. Ahl on page 88. DIAMND was originally written for time-sharing computers and is one if the earliest examples of a program that creates ASCII art.
Related Pages
Links
- ASCII World - a website about ASCII games
- Games With ASCII Graphics
| Categories: Computer Science : Programming : Text : Strings |