Ladder
Ladder brings us back to the days of classic computer games. Back when computer games were written without any fancy graphics at all! Using only ASCII characters, ladder was an addictive game that was very popular for computers running the CPM operating system. Now Ladder has been rewritten in Java and can be played on most of today's computers. This version includes all the original levels and several new ones. It also comes with a level editor so that you can make your own.

System requirements
  • Tested with JRE version 1.6.0 Build 27 GA5 (2013-02-17)


Ladder on an eComStation machine with Open JDK


Installing Ladder
Download the file ladder_1_3.jar. Create a folder (directory) "ladder" or something similar which fits your needs. Copy the file to the new created folder (directory). That's it! There is also a manual, you can find that on the ladder homepage

The used ladder.cmd file
Ladder works with Open JDK in OS/2-eCS. I have made a "ladder.cmd" file with the following contents; 
@echo off
set CLASSPATH=
set BEGINLIBPATH=[drive: java]\JAVA160ga5\bin
set path=[drive: java]\JAVA160ga5\bin
[drive: ladder]
cd [drive: ladder]\ladder
java -Duser.home=[drive: ladder]\ladder -jar ladder_1_3.jar 2>ladder-bugs.txt
I use 2 separate folders (directories), one for Java and one for Ladder with the files created by this program. The references used in the cmd file;

  • [drive: java] = drive with Java
  • [drive: ladder] = drive with Ladder

should be replaced by real drive letters. Adjust the file from the distribution below, ie. different drive and directories. Save "ladder.cmd" and copy it to the "ladder" folder(directory) or your choice of folder(directory).

Create a new program object. Specify the path and file name: "[drive: ladder]\ladder\ladder.cmd". In the tabpage Session check the boxes "OS/2 window", "Running as an icon" and "Close Window to end program". In the tabpage General you can enter the name "Ladder". The download also has an OS/2 icon.

I want to point out that this is a way to start the program, OS/2 and its successors do have much more ways for starting a java program.

Parameters / options explained
  • The specification "-Duser.home=[drive: ladder]\ladder" will ensure that Ladder will save all necessary files in own directory instead of saving them in the home directory.
  • The addition "2>ladder-bugs.txt" ensures that errors are saved in the file "ladder-bugs.txt". The 2 in "2>" is not a typo! The file stays empty on my machine, good sign.

Download
In the file you can find all necessary files, all drive letters in the command file are on set to C:. You can download it here: ladder-os2.zip.

revision June 14, 2020