Robot Tank
| Robot Tank | |
|---|---|
_-_Box_Front.jpg?lang=en) | |
| Developer(s) | Activision |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Designer(s) | Alan Miller |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
| Release | June 1983 |
| Genre(s) | Shoot 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Robot Tank is a first-person shoot 'em up written by Alan Miller for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. It is similar in design to Atari, Inc.'s Battlezone tank combat arcade video game and more so to its 2600 port. Robot Tank adds different systems which can individually be damaged—instead of the vehicle always exploding upon being shot—and weather effects.
Gameplay
The player remotely controls a robot tank in 2019,[1] using radar to find and destroy enemy robot tanks intent on reaching downtown Santa Clara, California, United States. The enemy is organized into squadrons of 12 tanks each.[2] Defeating an enemy squadron adds a reserve tank to the initial three, to a maximum of 12.[1] The game ends when all of a player's tanks are destroyed.
As the player's tank is damaged, firepower and/or visual display capabilities are irreparably worsened.[1] Enough damage eventually destroys a tank. Combat can take place at any time of day or night (displayed on-screen), which adds challenge in tracking enemy combatants by radar alone. Weather conditions, announced at the start of each level, can be clear, rain, snow, or fog. Rain slows the tank's movements. Snow causes the tank to lose traction. Fog impairs the tank's vision.
Development
Robot Tank was designed by Alan Miller for Activision.[3] At Activision, Miller made the games Checkers (1980), Tennis (1981) and Ice Hockey (1981), and his most financially successful game by 1983:Starmaster (1982).[4] Following Starmaster, Miller began developing a racing game which he halted as he described it as "unworkable".[4]
He then began working on a game about a remote-controlled tank battle which would had the development title of Robotank.[4] Miller spent about two months writing and editing code and producing about 200 pages of hand-written notes of computer print outs. Miller consulted with his fellow designers at Activision and began programming in the games graphics that included mountains, tanks and other visual features and colors. The next two months of development were spent on gameplay making video and audio and gameplay have the appropriate level of challenge. The final two months involved his colleagues playing the game and hundreds of hours debugging the game. Miller recalled that "After I finish a game, I really hate it and I don't want to see it again for months."[4]
Release and reception
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg?lang=en){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2017) |
The Wall Street Journal reported in January 1983 that Robot Tank was scheduled for release in mid-1983.[4] The game was released for the Atari 2600 in June 1983.[5]
A review in Computer Entertainer in "something new in combat games" noting its first-person point of view, and that it "the best combat game yet for the Atari 2600 system."[3]
Computer and Video Games rated the game 84% in 1989.[6]
Reviews
See also
- Encounter!, a 1983 Atari 8-bit computer game with similar gameplay
References
- ^ a b c "Atari 2600 VCS Robot Tank". Atarimania.com. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ "Robot Tank - The Atari Times". Ataritimes.com. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ a b The Video Game Update includes Computer Entertainer 1983, p. 34.
- ^ a b c d e Sansweet 1983.
- ^ The Video Game Update includes Computer Entertainer 1983, p. 64.
- ^ "Complete Games Guide" (PDF). Computer and Video Games (Complete Guide to Consoles): 46–77. 16 October 1989.
- ^ "GAMES Magazine #44". October 1983.
Sources
- "Critically Speaking..Atari 2600-Compatible". The Video Game Update includes Computer Entertainer. Vol. 2, no. 3. June 1983.
- "Availability Update". The Video Game Update includes Computer Entertainer. Vol. 2, no. 4. July 1983.
- Bunch, Kevin (2022). Atari Archive: Vol.1 1977-1978. Press Run Books. ISBN 978-1-955183-21-5.
- Donovan, Tristan (January 3, 2011). "The Replay Interviews: David Crane". Game Developer. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
- Fleming, Jeffrey (July 30, 2007). "The History of Activision". Game Developer. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
- Hunt, Stuart (2010). "In the Chair With... David Crane". Retro Gamer. No. 79. Imagine Publishing Ltd.
- Kunkel, Bill (July 1982). "Inside Gaming: Activion's Alan Miller; Games in Perspective". Electronic Games. Vol. 1, no. 5. ISSN 0730-6687.
- Sansweet, Stephen J. (January 19, 1983). "Designers are Stars in Video-Game-Field; Some Get Fan Mail;". The Wall Street Journal.
External links
- Robot Tank at Atari Mania
- 1983 TV commercial (US)
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