Manufacturer: Atari
Year: 1980
Class: Wide Release
Genre: Space
Type: Video Arcade
Monitor:
Sound: Unamplified Mono (requires one-channel amp)
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Abstract
You control a yellow crab-shaped shooter that travels along the outside rim of a 3-dimensional tunnel, shooting enemies down the alleys of the tunnel while avoiding any coming down the alleys. The tunnel takes on many different forms, and the shooter has a special "superzapper" that enables it to kill all enemies present in the tunnel.
Technical The game is generally known for its monitor problems. An excellent vector monitor fix-it guide has been written by Gregg Woodcock and is available at http://links.magenta.com/havoc/atari/vector/html/vector.html
Another very excellent tutorial for monitor issues is located at http://plop.phys.cwru.edu/repairfaq/REPAIR/whole/F_VAtari.html#VATARI_031
The game's sound is generated by two Atari Pokey ICs which provide a total of eight voices. The Pokeys handle various other tasks, such as interpreting the spinner. The video is handled by the Atari Vector Generator which has its own RAM and ROM. The main program ROM is 20k. The processor is a 6502 running at 1.5mhz. Overall, the hardware is loosely based on Atari's line of 8-bit home computers. The spinner is actually a digital input device with four bits of resolution.
Clay Cowgill has conditionally committed to creating a cartridge-based system for this platform. http://arcade.gameshop.com/tempest-hw/cart.txt
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