Atari Star Raiders Source Code (1979)
archive.org
archive.org
https://archive.org/stream/AtariStarRaidersSourceCode/Atari_...
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/243904-star-raiders-source-...
...is this github repo of the source:
https://github.com/robmcmullen/Atari8bit_StarRaiders
The thread is very interesting itself, much technical info to be gleaned.
IMHO, that game sold a lot of Atari computers. Was written by the guy who designed the sound chip, and it was kind of a side project that turned out great enough to showcase the computers.
The particle calculations are not well optimized. While this is seen as a bug, and there is an effort to make the game run faster, many players appreciate the slowdown in battle. There is a feel associated with that which adds a lot to the overall impression of the game. It's oddly gratifying to feel it slow down as the enemy and their shots explode...
They add a lot to the game, though the author didn't intend for it to go that way.
Funny, for that time period, there are a lot of "effects" that were resource limits, or bugs that ended up making for a better experience. Little things, like getting an extra color to work with were a very big deal.
We have come so damn far...
This did cause me to pull my old 400 out of the closet. It has this cartridge in it. Turned it on, and it plays fine. My HDTV is a bit cranky about it all though.
I learned so much from that Atari 800 as a teenager.
Understanding the difference between COLOR and SETCOLOR (where COLOR didn't refer to a particular RGB, but referenced whatever happened to be in the specified SETCOLOR; this is presumably how the flashing alarm screen is implemented) taught me about indirection.
I wrote my own "Breakout" game in BASIC. At first I had a long IF/THEN to react to the joystick direction, and it slowed the game appreciably. I later found (after seeing an example in one of those magazines with the type-in-this-program's-source-code) that it's far more efficient to store offsets into an array, and update the paddle coordinates just from indexed lookups into the array.
I had an interest before this, and new some rudimentary basics, it's stuff like this that gave me the incentive and the means to learn much more.
"Red 5 standing by ..."
I remember pretending be to part of the rebel alliance in that game ... many hours spent. Thanks to the designer.
Looking at the OCR of the code that provided the foundation of a tiny part of my early years is a strangely odd experience.
The source code of a childhood ...
It came with a multi-button controller with replaceable overlays, which presaged the Atari Jaguar's controllers.
I have to mention Yoomp! Same machine, new game 30 years later:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNxICcU3bPo
Another video implies you can buy a physical version of the game (I mean cassette and diskette media).
http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/7800/games/
these games were rescued from Atari ST format diskettes that were thrown out behind 1196 Borregas when Atari closed up in 1996.
> Note: If you are going to Mirror these sources or place them onto your own site, please have the respect and courtesy to include with them - Source: www.atarimuseum.com as these wouldn't exist if I hadn't of climbed into a filthy dumpster at 3am in the morning behind the old Atari building in Sunnyvale and salvaged them and restored them from their diskettes.
If you don't know the game you need to destroy every enemy on the map. The enemies need to destroy you or all your star bases. On the map the enemies move sector to sector every few seconds (30? 60? 120?) probably depended on the difficulty level. If some enemies made it to one of your Star Base sectors you had just a few seconds to get over there and kill them all before you lost a base.
To move from sector to sector you'd go to the map, pick a sector, then press H for hyperspace. The ship could accelerate, then warp to the next sector decelerating
Add to that your ship could take damage. Normally you had 0-9 thrust levels. With damaged engines the thrust would be erratic. With broken engines you couldn't go anywhere. Normally you could fire 2 shots at from the bottom left and bottom right. Damaged then only 1 short. Broken 0 shots. Then you had shields. Damaged they'd flicker on and off. Broken no shields. One hit with shields down and you're dead! Hit a meteor with shields down you're dead.
So, if you're playing on hard you have to target the ships closest to your bases and get rid of them quick. They fire like crazy! If your shields go down or get damage you have to warp instantly or you'll be dead. No time to look at the map. Just press H now. When you warp there's a targeting reticle, on hard it move erratically. If it's in the center when you warp you'll arrive at the destination you picked on the map. If it's off by 1 inch you'll warp 1 inch off in the same direction on the map. That meant if you were good you could warp to your base without using the map. It felt so awesome to get it right.
You'd beam in. Then you have to find the base in 3d. Sensors help. Once there you have to wait for some guy to come out and repair your ship. So nerve racking when you know in a few moments some other base will be gone. Then you need to warp out back into the battles ASAP.
It all added up to some of the most intense space battles I've ever personally played in a video game.
A friend and I would take turns piloting and engineering. The trick was to make good decisions as the "engineer" player, like taking that warp when destruction was imminent, or being able to vary speed while watching the pilot deal with the baddies.
Of course, it was great fun to yell, "shields!", "map", "4", etc... too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWMf-TSWxsM
The local driving range had pinball machines, and I used to hang out among them while my dad played a round of golf, then one day this big ol' cabinet showed up. Pinball machines just didn't do it for me after that.
It was during my dad's (second) wedding. My grandfather told me he had something to show me. He brought me into the bar at the reception hall, and sat me down in front of a Space Invaders machine with a stack of quarters. The rest is history.
Just thinking about this now, I'm re-experiencing the darkened environment of video arcade, with weird electronic noises from every direction. I had a few quarters in my pocket, and I was trying to decide which machine to spend them on. The movies War Games and Tron may be iconic, but their portrayals of video arcades really didn't match my own experiences.
The end result is a really great sense of motion.
"Negative sides include, above all, that the field is so terribly new and undeveloped... time tables seem to be far to optimistic"
That problem has not been solved over the last 40 years! :)