The Very Best of Atari Inside/The Very Best of Atari Inside 1.iso/sharew/spiele/action/spacewar/spacewar.doc

Text File | 1995-08-15 | 9.5 KB | 176 lines

        SpaceWar: The Next Generation

       Copyright 1992 H.Jones,Derivative Design Syndicate
             "One of our games is both the same"

This is a modernised, colourful version of the classic (some say the first)
computer game, SpaceWar! for the Atari ST. It should work on any ST, although
it has only been tested on  two TOS 1.62 STe's. It works fine on a Hard Disk,
as it was developed on one. Needs a COLOUR screen and two joysticks. It will
run from Medium res okay, and restores res/palette on exit.
A Roboshift, MoJo or other Mouse/Joystick switchbox is also very handy!

The on-line hacker Jargon File, version 2.9.9, 01 APR 1992 has this
to say about Spacewar:

":SPACEWAR: n. A space-combat simulation game, inspired by
   E. E. "Doc" Smith's "Lensman" books, in which two spaceships
   duel around a central sun, shooting torpedoes at each other and
   jumping through hyperspace.  This game was first implemented on the
   PDP-1 at MIT in 1960--61.  SPACEWAR aficionados formed the core of
   the early hacker culture at MIT.  Nine years later, a descendant
   of the game motivated Ken Thompson to build, in his spare time on a
   scavenged PDP-7, the operating system that became {{UNIX}}.  Less
   than nine years after that, SPACEWAR was commercialized as one of
   the first video games; descendants are still {feep}ing in video
   arcades everywhere. "

From this it is obvious that this game is an integral part of computing
history. It is also a fun two-player game. This version features a range
of gadgets for the ships, not just hyperspace, variable gravity,
lightsource shaded ships, a gravitating particle system, real inverse-square
gravity (rather than some lesser non-newtonian gravity),sampled sound
and a Duel mode.

How To Play:

  As it says above, Spacewar involves two spaceships orbitting a lonely star.
They each have a supply of torpedoes (photon ones, if you're a trekkie), and
basic rotate/thrust controls à la Asteroids. The ships are controlled by
joysticks in ports 0 and 1 (under the keyboard on STFM/E's). The 'stick in
the mouse port is for the red player, t'other is for blue.
  At the main menu it is the blue player that can move the cursor to select
game options, or the cursor keys and space-bar can be used. See later for a
full discussion of the options here. Selecting 'Normal' on the right of the
menu starts a standard no-tricks game.
  The game consists of 15 rounds (shown in the bottom centre of the screen),
each lasting until a ship dies. The score works as follows: if a ship is shot,
the opponent scores a point; if a ship hits the sun, they lose a point and the
opponent gains one; if the ships collide, no-one scores. After one of the
ships dies, the game runs on for a while. This is to make sure that the killer
didn't just get lucky, and really *is* in control of their craft. If not, then
any damage (hitting shots/sun) counts as usual.
  At the end of 15 rounds, if the game is a draw then 3 more rounds are played.
This goes on until a winner is found. There is no draw in SpaceWar.

  When the game is running, the space-bar will pause it. Also, when the game
is running (not paused), Undo will get you back to the menu, ending your
game.
  The ship controls (nearly forgot!) are left/right to rotate the ship, and
forward to thrust. Fire fires. This used to be called an 'action' or 'red'
button on some computers/software. I guess this reflects the war-like nature
of computer games. Pulling back on the stick triggers a Mystic Special Feature
- see below for more info.

The Menu Options:

  The Menu lets you setup the way the SpaceWar universe works. Firstly, in the
middle column, you can set how strong the gravity is. None is rather boring.
Strong is very hard to manuevre in.
  Recoil, in the top-right, sets whether the ships recoil on firing a shot. Off
for SpaceWar Classic, on for a bit of a twist.
  The Features column (left) sets what happens when the Joystick is pulled
back. For SpaceWar Classic, this should be Hyper (as in Hyperspace). From the
top these are:

  None:        Does Nothing (what did you expect?)

  Flip:        Turns the ship through 180 degrees instantly. This is a handy
               for some nifty swerves, and for firing on a pursuer.

  Hyper(space):Drops the ship into another dimension briefly. It reappears
               somewhere else, a split-second later. This may dump you in the
               sun, or the other ship or a torpedo. It is also worth knowing
               that your original speed and direction are retained. If you
               are moving fast, Hyperspace can be *very* dangerous!. Use with
               caution.

  Shield:      Casts a glassy shield around the ship. This repels torpedoes.
               If you hit the other ship with it's shields down, then you kill
               it! If you both have shields on, then you emerge unharmed. The
               shields offer NO protection against the sun. You also lose
               control of the craft while the shield is on. Obviously,
               thrusters and guns can't operate from inside an impermeable
               shell. The shield has a limited lifetime. Use with caution.

  Retro:       Gives an instant backwards blast of thrust. Handy for fast
               escapes and avoiding the sun. Could also blast you into
               the other ship/sun/torpedoes etc. Not altogether a safe option.

  As you can see, all the gadgets have a plus *and* a minus side. The more
powerful the gadget, the easier it is to be burned by it.

  In 'Normal play', both ships have the same feature, decided by the menu
selection. In 'Duel play', a special screen appears before the game itself
begins, allowing each player to choose a feature, *without the other player
knowing what it is*. The tactical non-use of your 'secret weapon' until
strictly necessary is an interesting addition to the game.

Also, pressing Undo on the Menu screen will quit back to the GEM desktop - or
whoever's desktop you  use (Neo,Kaos,GEMINI(yay!) or whatever).

Special Thanks and Without Whom:
    Bob Mellish for Playtesting, Stars, and a friendly HD!
    HiSoft (Devpac ST - The Best - Looking forward to v3.0)
    JayBee and Roy (CrackArt - Nice one - No Brushes/Brush Size ?!?)
    Dave Staugas and The Delta Force (NeoChrome/NeoMaster)-why didn't Atari
        take the Master on board?
    GFA Data-Media (GFA-BASIC - ta ST Format !)
    Tangerine Dream and The Orb for calming sounds.
    The Prodigy, Skinny Puppy, Slayer and Motown for exhilarating sounds.
    Warren Long, for using up so much of my valuable programming time with
        *his* Spacewar last year.
    The PDP-1 Hackers for a Classic Game Idea.
    Axe of Superior for Pack-Ice. It has saved me at least 100k
        of graphic and table space in this game.

Don't know what to do next, possibly a multi-player Elite-clone, or
Multi-paradroid (One of the best games ever, Paradroid 85/90).
I am very much in favour of two/multi player games, with MIDI links etc. I
think the best opponent in a game is usually another person. This gives a lot
of games a real competitive/malicious edge, and improves them no end. Expect
more DDS multi-player games. If you haven't yet, try and find at least 4 of
your closest friends, and play MidiMazeII. This really shows the potential of
such things. It was 16-player MidiMaze on the Atari stand of the '87 PCW show
that turned me onto multi-player stuff.Brill.

Any suggestions for either welcome.

Howdy to Penguin and his mate Guy (who may well read this).
And to Xyvark, Knightman, AH, D_Gently, Hackbear, Spoil, Haq, Goemon,
Donald_d and all on #atari.

This game is not shareware. It is *free*. No charge should be made for it other
than for the copying and media it is stored on. I have heard bad things about
German PD libraries but leave this game to travel the four winds and the great
tendrils of the Internet unchallenged. Would some net.friend please upload this
to atari.archive (terminator) for me? I have trouble with FTP to them. Ta.
Although this isn't shareware, if it gives you some enjoyment, I'd
be interested to hear from you anyway. Send me some interesting software and
I'll return your disk with something else on it. Probably half-done bits,
other PD/Shareware stuff or... MolSys !!!

Bob Mellish and Howard Jones (mostly Bob) are also the developers of MolSys ST.
Probably the best Molecular Modelling system for the ST. At the moment it is
shareware with a £10 registation fee to get you full source (for personal use
only) and the printed manual (when I've finished it). The program is highly
intuitive, interactive and nice-looking. It will allow very fast building and
manipulation/measurement on a large variety of organic molecules.

This has been sent to various PD libraries in the past. SouthWest did always
have a current version, but they've been badgered into packing up now by a
rather strange and localized copyright raid. Write to us (with a disk) for a
copy. Mono Only (for now). Not nearly so good with an emulator.

I (HJ) am currently porting it to the PC where I have half of both a DOS/VGA
and MS Windows 3 version. I'm looking at doing an OSF/Motif one too.
Write now for more info!

Howard Jones, 1/11/92

12 Fountains Garth, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 7RH, United Kingdom
[this is my home address, during college time, replies may take longer]

Email: c/o [e-mail] (mark 'for howie', not my acct.)
IRC: you'll find me in #atari most days :) I'm 'howie' there.