Tempest (video game)

Tempest
North American arcade flyer
Developer(s)	Atari Inc.
Publisher(s)	Atari Inc.
Designer(s)	Dave Theurer[1]
Platform(s)	Arcade
Release date(s)	October 1981 (1981-10)[2]
Genre(s)	Tube shooter
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Cabinet	Standard, cabaret, and table
CPU	6502
Sound	POKEY x 2
Display	Vertical orientation, Vector (color), size: 19 inch

Tempest is a 1981 arcade game by Atari Inc., designed and programmed by Dave Theurer. It takes place on a three-dimensional surface, sometimes wrapped into a tube, which is viewed from one end and is divided into a dozen or more segments or lanes. The player controls a claw-shaped spaceship (named Blaster) that crawls along the near edge of the playfield, moving from segment to segment.

Tempest was one of the first games to use Atari's Color-QuadraScan vector display technology. It was also the first game to allow the player to choose their starting level (a system Atari dubbed "SkillStep"). This feature increases the maximum starting level depending on the player's performance in the previous game, essentially allowing the player to continue. Tempest was one of the first video games to sport a progressive level design in which the levels themselves varied rather than giving the player the same layout with increasing difficulty levels.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot of the ninth level.

The objective of Tempest is to survive as long as possible and score as many points as possible by clearing the screen of enemies that have landed on the playing field. The player's ship can rapid-fire shots down the tube, destroying any enemies within the same segment, and is also equipped with a Superzapper, which destroys all enemies currently on the playfield once per level. (A second use of the Superzapper in a level destroys one random enemy.)

Enemies swirl around at the far end of the playfield, then enter the playfield and move toward the player. There are multiple types of enemy, each of which has different behavior. At higher levels, some enemies leave a spike in the middle of the lane as they travel toward the player; a spike can destroy the player's ship when the player warps out to the next playfield. Other enemies travel to the player end of the playfield and then flip from lane to lane, killing the player if they move to the lane that the player is on; firing while the enemy is changing from an adjacent lane kills this type of enemy. When all enemies in a level are destroyed or reach the near end of the playfield, the player "warps" to the next level by traveling down the playfield. As the player warps to the next level, he or she must avoid or shoot away any spikes. The player loses a ship when an enemy comes into contact with their ship, shoots it or otherwise destroys it, or if the ship hits a spike while warping. At certain point thresholds, the player earns a new ship. The game is over when the enemies destroy all of the player's ships.

The game consists of sixteen screens with unique geometric shapes, some of which are closed tubes that allow the player to loop around, while others are open fields that have distinct left and right endpoints. When all sixteen screens have been played, the sequence repeats with a different color scheme and a higher difficulty level, including the invisible (black) levels (65–80). Each sequence of levels adds additional enemies that are faster and more deadly to the player's ship. The numbered levels stop incrementing after level 99 and a random one of the 16 variations will appear after successful completion of subsequent levels.

Production

The game was initially meant to be a 3D remake of Space Invaders, but such early versions had many problems, so a new design was used. Theurer says that the design came from a dream where monsters crawled out of a hole in the ground. During the prototype stages the game was entitled "Aliens", to "Vortex" and finally titled, Tempest.^[3]

Three different cabinet designs exist for Tempest. The most common cabinet is an upright cabinet in the shape of a right triangle sitting on top of a rectangle, when viewed from the side. This cabinet sported colorful side art. A shorter and less flashy cabaret-style cabinet was also released with optional side art, and a cocktail-style table cabinet allowed two players to play at opposite ends of the table. In this configuration, the screen would flip vertically for each player.

Sequels

Jeff Minter created two authorized sequels, released long after the original game: Tempest 2000 (1994) for the Atari Jaguar (renamed Tempest X3 for the PlayStation port), and Tempest 3000 (2000) for Nuon enhanced DVD players. Minter also wrote two games inspired by Tempest: Space Giraffe (2007) and TxK (2014) After TxK was released for the PlayStation Vita, the current incarnation of Atari blocked release of the game for additional platforms.^[4]

Ports and re-releases

Contemporary ports

• An official port was released for the Atari ST.
• Versions for the Atari 2600^[5] and 5200 consoles^[6] were in the works in Atari, Inc. during 1984; unfinished prototypes exist for both of them. After the unfinished 5200 prototype was found in 1999, its original programmer, Keithen Hayenga, resumed work on finishing the port. The version for the 5200 was finally published through the AtariAge store on 7 February 2013, with an initial price of US $50.^[7] The 2600 port was also released as part of the Atari Greatest Hits compilation for Nintendo DS and iOS devices.
• An official port that bears the Atari logo was released by Superior Software for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron in 1985, and another by Electric Dreams for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC in 1987.

Re-releases

• The game was released for Microsoft Windows 3.x as part of the Microsoft Arcade package.
• The original Tempest was included as part of Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1 for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Super NES.
• In 2001, Infogrames and Digital Eclipse ported 12 Atari arcade games (one of them being the original Tempest) under the compilation title, Atari Anniversary Edition released for PC and Dreamcast, a PlayStation compilation titled, Atari Anniversary Edition Redux, was also released with the same number of games plus two exclusives to the Redux edition. A handheld compilation released in 2002 titled, Atari Anniversary Advance was released for the Game Boy Advance with half the number of games of the console compilation, Tempest is still included on the handheld compilation though.
• In 2005, the original Tempest is included as part of Atari Anthology for the Xbox and PlayStation 2; the PC version also had a ROM of the Atari 2600 prototype.
• Also in 2005, a port and graphical "remix" of the original Tempest was included as part of Retro Atari Classics for the Nintendo DS. This version deviates significantly from the basic rules and experience of the original game.
• On December 19, 2007, Tempest was released for Xbox 360, available for purchase through Xbox Live Arcade for 400 MS Points. This version includes the original arcade game (emulated) and an "evolved" version with updated graphics.
• On March 24, 2010, Tempest was released as a launch title on the Xbox 360 and Games for Windows LIVE virtual arcade, Game Room.

Unofficial versions

Shortly after the original game was released, an arcade owner named Duncan Brown hacked the level data and made an altered, more difficult version: Tempest Tubes. It was eventually included with Tempest in the Hasbro compilation Atari Arcade Hits: Volume 1 for PC in 1999.

1980s home computer clones include Storm for the Dragon 32 published by Microdeal in 1982, Web War for the Acorn Electron and BBC Micro published by Artic Computing in 1985,^[8] Tubeway and Axis Assassin for the Apple II, Storm (1984) for the Tandy Color Computer, and Livewire!, an Atari 8-bit family type-in game printed in ANALOG Computing in 1983.^[9]

Arashi is a 1992 freeware clone for the Apple Macintosh running classic Mac OS.^[10]

Reception

Tempest is #10 on the KLOV's list of most popular games, tied with Centipede.

The game has been cited as an influence on the careers of video game designers Jeff Minter and John O'Neill.^[11]

Tempest in popular culture

• Tempest is featured as the video game that Reggie (Catherine Mary Stewart) plays in the 1984 film Night of the Comet, and the game serves to introduce a standing thread throughout the movie. While at the movie theater that saves her from exposure to the comet, she becomes obsessed with knocking someone with the initials "DMK" off the high score list. Additionally, the identity of "DMK" is revealed at the film's conclusion when another survivor suddenly appears with the custom license plate of "DMK".^[12]
• Tempest is featured prominently in the music video for Rush's 1982 song "Subdivisions".
• Parzival must defeat a virtual reality version of Tempest in the first challenge though the crystal gate in Ernest Cline's book Ready Player One.
• Peter MacNicol's character, Larry Fleinhardt, in the television series, Numbers is seen playing "Tempest" in an arcade as he is advising Charlie Eppes (played by David Krumholtz) on a mathematical problem in the Pilot Episode. Shots of the game's screen is shown as Larry is playing the game, as well as a film shot showing that Larry has the eight highest scores. Larry is later seen playing the game again on a laptop in the season four episode "End Game".
• "Tempest" is featured in the American Dad! episode The Vacation Goo. Klaus is shown with an original arcade cabinet he bought from eBay.

References

External links

• Tempest at the Killer List of Videogames
• Tempest at the Arcade History database
• Interview with Dave Theurer at the Wayback Machine (archived June 14, 2008)