Tank (computer game)
| tank | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio | Kee Games |
| Publisher | Kee Games / Atari |
| Senior Developer | Steve Bristow (Design), Lyle Rains (Programmer) |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1974 |
| genre | Shoot 'em up , Maze |
| Game mode | 2 players at the same time |
| control | 2x 2-way joystick with fire buttons per player ; |
| casing | default |
| Arcade system |
TTL -based, no CPUs Sound CPU: - Sound Chips: - |
| monitor | Black and white grid |
| information | 1. Game with ROM memory for graphics |
Tank (Engl. For tanks ) is a coin-operated arcade game of the genre shoot 'em up . It was made by Kee Games (an Atari subsidiary) on November 5, 1974 . It was the first game to use ROMs to store graphics data. The hardware consisted of discrete TTL modules and did not yet have a central processor .
Game description
The original game is in black and white , later there were multi-colored versions. The playing field consists of a labyrinth with small, angled blocks. In the middle there is a large, open field on which there are tank mines , which are marked by small crosses. Both players control a tank at the same time and receive one point for a hit by the enemy.
The tank is controlled with two 2-way joysticks (1 axis) and a fire button, with each joystick controlling a chain of the vehicle. To move forwards, both sticks are pushed forward, to steer they are held in different directions, to reverse both sticks are pulled back. If a player drives into a mine, one point is deducted. The game ends after one or two minutes, depending on the setting of the machine. The player with the most points wins after the end of the game.
Emergence
After Atari had founded the company Kee Games as an independent subsidiary for reasons of market policy, Tanks was the company's first new development. The two developers Steve Bristow and Lyle Rains initially wanted to create a football simulation, but decided to play with tanks during programming because they found it more attractive. The game was later distributed directly by Atari as a clone .
The slot machine was the first computer game to store its graphics in a ROM . The same hardware was used by Shark Jaws (Atari, 1975), the first game with animated characters.
Further developments and console conversions
The game was very successful, underwent numerous further developments and was ported to all major consoles of the 1970s.
- Tank II (1974, Atari arcade machine)
- Tank III (1975, Atari arcade machine)
- Tank 8 (1976) (first and so far only arcade game with 8 simultaneous players on one screen)
- Combat (1977, for Atari 2600 )
- Coleco Tank (1977, Stand-Alone -telespiel by Coleco)
- Ultra Tank (1978, Atari arcade machine)
- Panzerschlacht (1978, for Philips G7000 )
- Armor Battle (1979, for Intellivision )
- Tank Battalion (1980) (Namco arcade machine)
literature
- Matt Fox: The Video Games Guide Boxtree Publishing, London (UK), 2006, ISBN 0-7522-2625-8
- Tony Mott: 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die , Cassell Illustrated, London (UK), 2010, ISBN 1-84403-766-5
Web links
- http://www.armchairarcade.com/aamain/content.php?article.102 ( Memento from February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ^ Rusel Demaria, Johnny L. Wilson: High Score! 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill , Emeryville, Ca, USA 2004, ISBN 0-07-223172-6 , pp. 23 .
- ↑ Christian Wirsig: The great lexicon of computer games . 1st edition. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Verlag , Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89602-525-2 , p. 453 .