| Battlezone | |
|---|---|
.jpg) North American arcade flyer | |
| Developer | Atari, Inc. |
| Publishers | |
| Designers |
|
| Programmers |
|
| Composer | Jed Margolin |
| Platforms | Arcade,Atari 2600,Apple II,VIC-20,Commodore 64,ZX Spectrum,IBM PC,Atari 8-bit,Atari ST |
| Release | |
| Genres | Vehicular combat,first-person shooter[10][11][12] |
| Mode | Single-player |
Battlezone is a 1980first-person shootertank combatvideo game developed and published byAtari, Inc. forarcades; in Japan, it was distributed bySega andTaito. The player controls a tank which is attacked by other tanks and missiles. Using a small radar scanner along with the terrain window, the player can locate enemies and obstacles around them in the barren landscape. Its innovative use of 3D graphics made it a huge hit, with approximately 15,000 cabinets sold.
With its use of three-dimensionalvector graphics, the game is considered to be the first true 3D arcade game that has a first-person perspective,[13] the "first big 3D success" in thevideo game industry,[14] and the first successful first-person shooter video game in particular. This made it a milestone for first-person shooter games.[13]
The game was primarily designed by Ed Rotberg, who was mainly inspired by the top-downshooter gameTank (1974). The system was based on vector hardware designed by Wendi Allen[Note 1] which was introduced inLunar Lander and saw success withAsteroids. The 3D hardware which drove the program saw use in future games, includingRed Baron (1981).[15]Battlezone is considered to be one of thegreatest video games of all time.
The game useswireframevector graphics displayed on a black and whitevector monitor. A colored overlay tints the display green for the bottom4⁄5 where the action takes place, and red for the top1⁄5 where the score and radar screen are displayed.[13]
The player drives a tank using two joysticks, one controlling the right tread and the other the left. By moving the joysticks relative to each other, the tank can move forward or reverse (both moved in the same direction), turn on the spot to the left or right (one forward, one back) or move and turn at a slower rate (one forward or backward, one neutral). The right-side stick also has a fire button on top, which shoots the player's gun in the direction the tank is currently facing.[13]
Gameplay takes place on a flat plane with amountainoushorizon featuring an eruptingvolcano, a distantcrescent moon, and variousgeometric solids (in vector outline) like pyramids and blocks. The geometric solid obstacles are indestructible and can obstruct the movement of a player's tank while also blocking shots and can be used as shields. The action surrounds the player in all directions, including off-screen locations, forcing the player to locate the enemy using the radar display at the top of the screen.[13]
There are three types of enemy craft that appear during play, one at a time. At the start of a game, the enemy is dominated by slow tanks that are not particularly difficult to hit even when moving. As the game continues, missiles begin to appear in place of the enemy tanks; these move much faster and are more difficult to hit. Finally, the much faster supertanks appear at higher levels, which are not only harder to hit, but also attack more aggressively.
Periodically saucer-shapedUFOs will appear while making a distinctive sound to announce their presence; these do not show up on the radar and do not attack the user, but can be shot for bonus points. This is the only object that may appear while other enemies are already present.
There is a gameplay modification at 100,000 points if the proper conditions are met. When executed properly, the next appearing supertank will not attack, but will instead retreat. A tank icon will then appear at right on qualified high score listings.
Battlezone is housed in an upright full-sizedarcade cabinet with a "periscope" viewfinder. The viewfinder restricted the player's view so that the display appeared to be naturally limited to resemble a scope.[13] The game action can also be viewed from the sides of the viewfinder for spectators to watch. The game's periscope viewfinder is similar to earliersubmarine shootingarcade games, notablyMidway'sarcade video gameSea Wolf (1976) andSega'selectro-mechanical gamePeriscope (1966).[16] A later version of the cabinet removed the periscope and raised the monitor to a more normal position to improve visibility to non-players and improve ergonomics for players who could not reach the periscope.[17] A smaller, "cabaret" version of the cabinet has the screen angled upwards and no periscope.[13]
The large controller handles were adapted from earlier gear-shift controllers used on racing games, modified with a new stick shape that has internal ribs to make them stronger and adding rubber centering bellows. The right stick has a raised and LED illuminated fire button on top, and the controls were completed with a similar LED illuminated start button on the cabinet. There were two speakers, one each above and below the 19-inch monitor.[17]
With the success of theCinematronicsvector graphics games, Atari'sGrass Valley engineering labs decided to build their own version of a vector display system known as "QuadraScan" that offered a resolution of 1024 x 768.[18] Once it was up and running, they delivered the prototype unit to Atari headquarters where it was given to Wendi Allen and Rick Moncrief to develop it into a unit suitable forarcade video game use.[19] Allen decided to reimplement the driver system using analog electronics instead of digital, simplifying it and lowering its cost.[18]
While working on the system, Allen suggested they use it to implement a version ofLunar Lander. While Allen worked on the driver hardware and Moncrief on the display system, Rich Moore wrote the software for the game.[19]Lunar Lander was released in August 1979, Atari's first vector game, but was not a great success with only 4,830 units manufactured.[18]
Another team at Atari consisting of Lyle Rains, Ed Logg, and Steve Callfee was working on araster graphics game calledPlanet Grab. When they sawLunar Lander, they asked about using the same system for their game, and the result wasAsteroids. Released in November 1979, it went on to be Atari's most successful game, with 55,000 units sold.[18]
With the system now proving a huge success in the arcades, Morgan Hoff organized abrainstorming session at Atari to consider additional uses for the hardware. Around the same time, Atari had also been experimenting with early 3D displays using a custom math circuit known simply as the "Math Box", developed by Jed Margolin and Mike Albaugh and comprising a specialized 16-bitArithmetic logic unit (ALU) including fourAMDAm2901 4-bitbit-slice ALUs.[20]. The idea of using the math box with the vector hardware seemed like a winner, and the idea of a tank game was raised at the meeting, although Hoff could not remember exactly who introduced the idea.[18]
The game's design was led by Ed Rotberg. He cited Atari's top-down arcadeshooter gameTank (1974) as the primary inspiration behindBattlezone, essentially a 3D version of that game. WhileBattlezone also has similarities to a first-person tank simulation for thePLATO system,Panther, Rotberg said he had never played that game before, but had heard of it; he stated that it "may have inspired whoever originally suggested the idea at the brainstorming meeting where it was proposed, but I seriously doubt it".[21]
Owen Rubin, who shared an office with Ed Rotberg, had the idea of making the volcano in the background erupt, and coded the animation for it.[22]
In the 1980s,Battlezone was ported to theApple II,Atari 2600,Commodore 64,VIC-20,IBM PC compatibles,ZX Spectrum, and later theAtari 8-bit computers andAtari ST. The ports to non-Atari systems were fromAtarisoft. The ZX Spectrum version was published byQuicksilva.
The Atari 8-bit version was released on cartridge in 1987 in the styling of the then-newAtari XEGS.[23] AnAtari 5200 port was scheduled for release in November 1983, but was cancelled.[24]
The Atari 2600 version uses raster graphics instead of vectors and has a third person view where the tank is visible.
The Atari ST port contains large parts of the original6502 code which is emulated.[25]
Battlezone was released in November 1980 and was a hit. Although not as successful asAsteroids,Battlezone eventually produced another 15,000 sales for Atari.[18]
Battlezone was well received, earning an Honorable Mention for "Best Commercial Arcade Game" in 1982 at the Third AnnualArkie Awards. It was runner-up, behindPac-Man.[26]: 76 David and Sandy Small called it "addictive" and mentioned the Battlezone Tunnel Vision, which makes the players drive strangely during rush hour.[27] In a more recent review, Eurogamer stated that "Atari's designers came up with some incredibly inventive and interesting games before their decline.Battlezone is one of the finer examples" and rated it 8 out of 10.[28] Fox gives it a 4 out of 5 rating inThe Video Games Guide, although he admits this might perturb some readers.[29] In 1996,GamesMaster ranked the arcade version 97th on their "Top 100 Games of All Time".[30]
Computer and Video Games magazine awarded the Spectrum version of Battlezone 30 out of 40 points, praising its technical achievements such as the implementation of hidden line removal. The reviewer compared the game to3D Tank Duel, a similar game byRealtime Games Software, opining that the latter was marginally superior to the official port.[31]
A version calledThe Bradley Trainer (also known asArmy Battlezone orMilitary Battlezone) was designed for use by theU.S. Army as targeting training for gunners on theBradley Fighting Vehicle.[32] It was commissioned by a consultant group of retired generals.[33]
Approaching Atari in December 1980, some developers withinAtari refused to work on the project because of its association with the Army,[34] most notably originalBattlezone programmer Ed Rotberg.[35] Rotberg only joined the project after he was promised by management that he would never be asked to do anything with the military in the future.[36] According to Rotberg, it took him three months of constant work to develop the prototype version ofThe Bradley Trainer.[33] Only two were produced; one was delivered to the Army and is presumed lost, and the other is in the private collection of Scott Evans,[37][38] who found it by a dumpster in the rear parking lot at Midway Games.
The gunner yoke was based on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle control and was later re-used in the popularStar Wars game.[36]The Bradley Trainer differs dramatically from the originalBattlezone as it features helicopters, missiles, and machine guns; furthermore, the actual tank does not move, but the guns simply rotate.
Due to its use offirst-person pseudo3D graphics combined with a "viewing goggle" that the player puts his or her face into,Battlezone is sometimes considered the firstvirtual reality arcade video game.[39]
It's been 36 years since Atari releasedBattlezone and effectively created the first-person shooter in the process.
1980s: First-person-shooters become commercialised:Battlezone gives life to the FPS.
But the one game that many Generation X'ers will identify with when it comes to first-person shooters belongs to Atari and the green, wire-frame worlds withinBattlezone.
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