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Robot Tank
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Robot Tank
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.
The player remotely controls a robot tank in 2019,[citation needed] 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. Defeating an enemy squadron adds a reserve tank to the initial three, to a maximum of 12.[citation needed] The game ends when all of the player's tanks are destroyed.
As the player's tank is damaged, firepower and/or visual display capabilities are irreparably worsened.[citation needed] 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 and fog impairs the tank's vision.
Robot Tank was designed by Alan Miller for Activision. Miller had previously developed games at Atari, Inc. such as Surround (1977), Hangman (1978) and Basketball (1978). After leaving Atari, Inc. to form Activision with David Crane, Miller made the games Checkers (1980), Tennis (1981) and Ice Hockey (1981), and his most financially successful game, Starmaster (1982). Prior to developing Robot Tank, Miller began developing a racing game which he halted as he described it as "unworkable".
Robot Tank started out as a game about a remote-controlled tank battle which had the development title of Robotank. Miller spent about two months writing and editing code and producing about 200 pages of hand-written notes of computer printouts. Miller consulted with his fellow designers at Activision and began programming in the games graphics that included mountains, tanks, colors, and other visual features. The next two months of development were spent on the video and audio aspects and also making the 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."
The Wall Street Journal reported in January 1983 that Robot Tank was scheduled for release in mid-1983. The game was released for the Atari 2600 in June 1983. Electronic Games listed Robot Tank along with Megamania (1982), Enduro (1983), River Raid (1982) and Pitfall! (1982) as among the biggest hits for Activision in 1983.
Robot Tank was included in the compilation titles Activision Anthology (2002) for PC, PlayStation 2, and Game Boy Advance and in Activision Hits Remixed (2006) for the PlayStation Portable.
From contemporary reviews, critics such as Bill Kunkel, juvenile journalist Rawson Stovall and publication Computer Entertainer all praised the game for its visuals. Kunkel said the game's graphics was "non-parallel in the 2600 universe" noting the visual depth. Stovall praised small touches to the graphics, such as the visuals becoming screen static when the player's tank is destroyed. The Computer Entertainer review specifically praised its unique first-person point of view in its gameplay.
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Robot Tank AI simulator
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Robot Tank
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.
The player remotely controls a robot tank in 2019,[citation needed] 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. Defeating an enemy squadron adds a reserve tank to the initial three, to a maximum of 12.[citation needed] The game ends when all of the player's tanks are destroyed.
As the player's tank is damaged, firepower and/or visual display capabilities are irreparably worsened.[citation needed] 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 and fog impairs the tank's vision.
Robot Tank was designed by Alan Miller for Activision. Miller had previously developed games at Atari, Inc. such as Surround (1977), Hangman (1978) and Basketball (1978). After leaving Atari, Inc. to form Activision with David Crane, Miller made the games Checkers (1980), Tennis (1981) and Ice Hockey (1981), and his most financially successful game, Starmaster (1982). Prior to developing Robot Tank, Miller began developing a racing game which he halted as he described it as "unworkable".
Robot Tank started out as a game about a remote-controlled tank battle which had the development title of Robotank. Miller spent about two months writing and editing code and producing about 200 pages of hand-written notes of computer printouts. Miller consulted with his fellow designers at Activision and began programming in the games graphics that included mountains, tanks, colors, and other visual features. The next two months of development were spent on the video and audio aspects and also making the 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."
The Wall Street Journal reported in January 1983 that Robot Tank was scheduled for release in mid-1983. The game was released for the Atari 2600 in June 1983. Electronic Games listed Robot Tank along with Megamania (1982), Enduro (1983), River Raid (1982) and Pitfall! (1982) as among the biggest hits for Activision in 1983.
Robot Tank was included in the compilation titles Activision Anthology (2002) for PC, PlayStation 2, and Game Boy Advance and in Activision Hits Remixed (2006) for the PlayStation Portable.
From contemporary reviews, critics such as Bill Kunkel, juvenile journalist Rawson Stovall and publication Computer Entertainer all praised the game for its visuals. Kunkel said the game's graphics was "non-parallel in the 2600 universe" noting the visual depth. Stovall praised small touches to the graphics, such as the visuals becoming screen static when the player's tank is destroyed. The Computer Entertainer review specifically praised its unique first-person point of view in its gameplay.