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University Daily Kansan / Friday, November 1, 1991
Student glides to success with computer game
John Calhoun has received over $2,000 from a computer game that he made for Macintosh computers.
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Two years ago, John Calhoun sat down in front of his new Macintosh computer, opened up a "how-to" book, and taught himself how to program on the machine.
By Jennifer Bach Kansan staff writer
What he developed was a computerized arcade game that he named "Glider." It was named the best arcade game for the Macintosh this year by Mac World magazine.
“It’s a small success story,” said Calhoun, Prairie Village education stu-
The process of developing the game took about two years, he said.
"Glider" and Calhoun, an education major who has taken only one computer course at the University of Kansas, did not become famous overnight.
To concentrate on developing his game, Calhoun said he had to pull out of an internship he was planning to do in Topeka.
'Glider' wins award from Mac World magazine
First he developed "Glider 1.0," the original and most basic game. In "Glider 2.0," the complexity of the game rose, and in "Glider 3.0," the game was made even more difficult.
Every player gets five "Glider" planes at the beginning of the game.
Propelled by air vents on the bottom of the Macintosh screen, a small paper airplane, "Glider," moves through a house.
success story."
"It's a small
John Calhoun
Prairie Village graduate stuaema
The object of the game is to fly the plane through as many rooms in the house as possible, scoring points and gaining extra planes by catching clocks, rubber bands and paper gliders.
Objects such as paper shredders and candles that destroy "Glider" must be avoided.
The game ends when all of the player's planes have been destroyed.
"It's a fast-paced game," he said. "And it's a completely original game. There's nothing like it in arcades or on other computers."
The game is decorated with Kansas imagery and even has tornadoes swirling at the end of the game, Calhoun said.
Calhoun first distributed the games through Shareware, a computer program that allows other Macintosh users to try out the game. If they like it and want to keep it, they are asked to
"I'm a proud Kansan," he said.
send $8 to Calhoun.
"People start giving copies of the game to their friends and before you know it, 10,000 people around the country have a copy of your game," he said.
The publishers promised him a commercial contract for the game if he would improve it. They gave him a $5,000 advance so he could purchase another Macintosh, write the game in color and improve the graphics.
The thrust of his success came when he submitted "Glider 4.0," to Casady and Greene, a publishing company in California.
He did. And the publishers now sell the game to stores on disk for $19. The stores sell the game to consumers for $29.
Calhoun receives royalties from the $19.
"I just wrote the game," Calhoun said. "The publishers took the big monetary risk on it."
Calhoun said he had made about $2,000 from the game.
Gary Coy, Wichita senior, has been a friend of Calhoun for a year and said he thought "Glider" was a fun and challenging game.
"Many people claim that there are no good games on the Macintosh," said Coy, a computer science major. "Hopefully, John's proved them wrong. I think 'Glider' is one of the best games for the Mac."
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Too Terrific for Words!
Royals owner ends Halloween tradition
The Associated Press
MISSION HILLS — Ewing Kauffman, owner of the Kansas City Royals baseball team, gives out the best Halloween treats in the area.
But after this, his 23rd year, Kauffman says he is closing the gates of his upscale Mission Hills home to those seeking Halloween treats.
Just ask the thousands of trick-or-treaters who flock to his suburban home each year from around the Kansas City area for goodies such as Royals jerseys, lunch boxes and baseball card albums.
Yesterday, a gridlock began forming in front of Kauffman's home at 4:30 p.m. and cars snaked bumper-to-bumper down the street for hours.
"Mr. Kauffman's main concern was the possibility of a child being injured," said Linda Constantine, his administrative assistant. "Some children got tired of waiting in cars, and their parents would let them out. They would come running through traffic up to the gate."
Mission Hills Mayor Bettu Lun-can said she and her children, now in their 20s, walked years ago to Kauffman's house on Halloween nights.
Constantinesaid6,000itemswereup for grabsthisyear.
For the past five Hallowewens, the city has turned the road in front of Kauffman's house into a one-way street to help control traffic, and this year, Kauffman hired nine off-duty police officers to assist.
"For the past three years, we've run out of gifts." Constantine said. "We always thought we had plenty. That was heartbreaking for those who had waited so long in line in their cars. We've just had to say, 'We're sorry, there isn't any more.'"
"For families who've raised children in the area and walked to Mr. Kauffman's on Halloween, we remember it very fondly," Duncan said. "When it became a metropolitan Halloween stop, it ceased being a neighborhood opportunity."
The Associated Press
Houdini can't escape grave, doesn't appear during séance
"After all this time, I don't know if he's going to come back now," said his niece. Marie Blood. "But who knows?"
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The table was laid with handcuffs and lock picks, but the guest of honor was a noshow at the Official Houdini Séance yesterday.
Harry Houdini didn't show up last year either. Or the year before that. Or at any of the seances held in the 65 years since his death on Halloween.
This year's seance took place a few hundred yards from where Houdini escaped from two pairs of handcuffs after jumping into the Erie Canal.
In his last years, the escape artist concentrated on exposing the trickery of psychics who claimed to be in touch with supernatural forces. He would contact her from the other
side of the grave if possible.
"Houdini never said he could come back. He just thought that if anybody could do it, it would be him," said Henry Muller, curator of the Houdini Magical Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls.
Houdini left his wife a code, no in Muller's possession, so she would know it was him: 10 circled words in a letter from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, and a list of another 10 words.
Beatrice Houdini participated in seances for a decade in hopes of contacting her husband before giving up with the memorable quote, "Ten years is long enough to wait for any man."
The sence ended after 30 minutes. Muller said the sences would continue even if Houdini never made an appearance.
"I think he'd love it," he said.
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