3D Ant Attack

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

3D Ant Attack

Developer(s)	Sandy White
Publisher(s)	Quicksilva
Release date(s)	1983 (Spectrum), 1984 (Commodore 64)
Genre(s)	Action game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	N/A
Platform(s)	ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64
Media	Cassette
Input	Keyboard

3D Ant Attack is a ZX Spectrum computer game by Sandy White. It was published in 1983 by Quicksilva, and converted to the Commodore 64 in 1984.

The same type of isometric projection was used in Sandy White's later Zombie Zombie.

1 Gameplay
2 Images
3 Trivia
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Gameplay

The player controls either a boy or a girl (the game allows you to choose at the start) who has to enter the walled city of Antescher in order to rescue their significant other who has been captured and tied up somewhere in the city. The city is inhabited by giant ants which chase and attempt to bite the player. The player can defend themselves by throwing grenades at the ants. Once the hostage is rescued, the two must escape the city. After this, the whole thing starts again with the hostage located in a different part of the city, with each location being progressively more difficult to reach than the previous.

[edit] Images

Screenshot of Spectrum version

Screenshot of Commodore 64 version

[edit] Trivia

The game was written in a mixture of BASIC and machine code.^[1]
By exploring the empty area outside of the city walls, the player can discover a cube with lettering on its sides. This was related to a competition and plays no part in gameplay.
The ZX Spectrum version of Ant Attack has keyboard controls that many find quite difficult to use. Because of this, a hacked "new keys" version (using standard "left, right, up, down" controls compared to the original's "rotate and move forward") was created and released on the internet.
The code for the ZX Spectrum version of Ant Attack contains graphics depicting a plane although these were not used in the final game.
The city name of "Antescher" used within the game is a reference to the work of artist M.C. Escher^[2].
While both Q*bert and Zaxxon used isometric projection to good use, the shading and extra degree of freedom (ability to go up and down instead of just north, south, east and west) introduced in Ant Attack were innovative for personal computer game of the time. The author himself has proposed that it "...was the first true isometric 3D game...".^[2]