A study after Battlezone (Atari, 1980) — no emulation, no assets, no engine. The 3D is a hand-rolled wireframe projector; the tanks, pyramids, missile and saucer are vertex lists; the type is a vector stroke font; the score panel is red because the original cabinet's monitor was black-and-white behind a red-and-green gel. W A S D drives, the trackpad aims the gun — traverse and elevation — Space or a click fires, M for sound, Esc for the menu. On a phone: left thumb drives, right thumb aims, the button fires — landscape only. One shell in the air at a time, saucers never show on the radar, and the obstacle field is dealt fresh from the date — today is sector today. One deliberate anachronism: past 2,000 points, drones — X-frame quadcopters that circle high overhead, then commit to a low attack run at a locked point. Elevate the gun and take them out of the sky, or dodge the run and catch them on the climb. Best runs sign the machine in three initials.
A study after Battlezone (Atari, 1980) — no emulation, no assets, no engine. The 3D is a hand-rolled wireframe projector; the tanks, pyramids, missile and saucer are vertex lists; the type is a vector stroke font; the score panel is red because the original cabinet's monitor was black-and-white behind a red-and-green gel. W A S D drives, the trackpad aims the gun — traverse and elevation — Space or a click fires, M for sound, Esc for the menu. On a phone: left thumb drives, right thumb aims, the button fires — landscape only. One shell in the air at a time, saucers never show on the radar, and the obstacle field is dealt fresh from the date — today is sector today. One deliberate anachronism: past 2,000 points, drones — X-frame quadcopters that circle high overhead, then commit to a low attack run at a locked point. Elevate the gun and take them out of the sky, or dodge the run and catch them on the climb. Best runs sign the machine in three initials.